Stepping into our Passion

I'm writing this post as I am attending the Millionaire Speaker Camp in Chicago. This time around I am here not as a student per se (though when can you truly avoid being a student in any situation?) but as a speaker and coach to those formally going through the process.  I have the opportunity and luxury to watch these individuals struggle to uncover their message, to give voice to their why, to push beyond their existing barriers, to carve out something 'new' for themselves.  These people inspire me.  They should inspire you.

The attendees in this program are looking for a way to give voice to the knowledge, expertise and passion inside of them.  They have something to share and are struggling to create a process for doing so.  Many have never spoken in front of groups before.  Many are introverts who are not comfortable in doing so. Most are not looking to create a speaking career to create celebrity or fame but simply because they know this is the venue they require to reach the most people with their message.

In short... these are people with a mission and the passion to make it happen.  And they are willing to push through the barriers and fears that would hold them back and prevent them from doing so.  They have small wins, they have setbacks but they keep bouncing back and plugging themselves back in.  I have been given the gift of being able to share in a small part of their journey.  They are making me laugh, making me cry and making me applaud until my hands hurt.

I want the same for each of you.  I want you to be kicking your fears to the curb, standing up and saying 'I will not settle for less any longer.  I will not BE less any more'.

But... you have to be willing to take action.  You have to be willing to take a step, however small, that moves you into your voice and your passion.  We all have a passion and purpose.  We all have a reason that we are here, for ourselves and those around us, that requires us to play big.  Certainly bigger than we likely are right now.  Even one small step begins to create a desire for more.  It gives you a taste of what could be that creates a hunger for more.  What are you hungry for right now?

I am blessed to be spending time with a group of individuals that are hungry.  They are out to change the world and it is inspiring to watch them reach out and grab onto what they need to make it happen.  Fears are shaken and sloughed off, barriers are broken and left shattered in the wake of their growth and their change.
I wish the same for you.  You need to wish the same for you.  You need to not only wish for the same but to step up, step out and start.  This is your time to make things happen for you and there is never a better time than NOW!

Building Habits - One Step at a Time

If you're like most people, you've likely got some bad habits kicking around that you would like to change,
or perhaps have some 'good' habits you'd like to adopt.  Possibly you have even tried stopping a bad habit in the past (or starting a new good one), only to abandon the attempt as it proved too difficult for you to achieve or stick with.  For some people, the all-or-nothing approach works.  They define the 'new' habit or system they want to adopt, replace the old ineffective one with it, and... keep doing it until it is comfortably ensconced as the new habit.  They make it seem easy.

For many of us though, it's much more of a struggle.  We want to lose weight, exercise more, stop smoking, meditate, read more, get up earlier... we have endless lists of things we'd like to do that prove almost impossible for us to make happen.  We then get demoralized by our attempts and settle in trying to 'live with' the fact that we just aren't cut out to be thinner, healthier, smoke-free...

In these cases, we need to try a different route to our end goal, not to abandon it as unobtainable.  We need to take a more counter-intuitive route.  Consider the following.  When IBM had the most dominant sales force of any organization, they did so by assigning their team the lowest sales quotas of any of their competitors.  The thinking was to give their sales force quotas that weren't daunting.  They wanted their people to feel that the goal was obtainable, not to be too intimidated to even begin.  They found that not only did their sales people pick up the phone and start calling, they worked to exceed the assigned quota.

The idea then is to start small.  Give yourself a target that is so easily achievable that you can't help but to exceed it, creating an instantaneous win.  By the time you have reached that point you have likely created enough momentum that you continue a number of steps beyond your target.  Reaching a goal is always motivational.  Exceeding your targets... more so.  It becomes self-perpetuating.

If you want to... start flossing your teeth every day, start out by planning to floss only one tooth.  Odds are... once you've flossed one, you can't help flossing them all while you're at it.  Finding the time in your morning routine to floss your teeth every day can seem like too much time that you don't have.  Flossing one tooth?  Much easier to fit into your schedule.

If you want to... begin running 3 kilometres every day, start out by planning to just run around the block.  Odds are... you'll begin to find that once you're dressed and out there, you'll run further.  Perhaps not every day to start but you'll hit days where the sun is shining, your stride feels smooth... and away you go.

If you want to... write a book, start out by planning to write 2 crummy pages a day.  Not good pages, crummy pages.  Who couldn't write two bad pages?  Odds are... once you sit down to write you'll find you hit a groove and write more, and better.

In each example, we have set a low enough target that it is not intimidating.  Often, the biggest hurdle for people to face is simply in starting.  Make the target low enough that beginning isn't an issue, that you are excited to start because you think... 'I can do that!'  Once we start the second biggest hurdle kicks in which is sticking with it.  When the goal is set too high we can easily become discouraged or demoralized.  It becomes easy to abandon our attempts, believing we'll never make it, that we aren't cut out to do it.  We quit before the new habits have a chance to take hold.  If we get our wins early in the game though, if we build it in such a way that we exceed our expectations consistently, then we have built in the positive reinforcement of our efforts.  We continue.

When we're looking to change our habits what is important is not how fast we make it happen, but that we make it happen.  If the all-in approach works for you... great!  If not, try the approach described above.  Both paths get you to the same end destination.  Which route you take to get there will only be questioned by those who want to replicate your success.