A Nemesis Named Normal

nobody's normal.com

This morning I watched a Bloomberg interview with a chief economist talk about the housing market being half-way back to "normal." According to the report the data suggests that the housing market produced gains over the past two years. So as the fundamentals of our economy stay weak, and the Christmas bonus for many was keeping their job, the suggestion of normal is nothing more than a pacifier to quiet your call for change and belief in better.  The call to be normal is a nemesis to personal growth and relational awareness.

There is quite a bit of self-serving security in one's ability to say they are "normal" since the statement incurs that while you may have faults, at least your not like that guy! All the while "That Guy" is saying the exact same about you! The concept of normal never takes into account your own uniqueness, and instead values your ability to blend in.  As you blend in, personal frustration kicks in as the gravitational pull of normal anchors your ambition to personally evolve.

Relationally, normal excuses you from valuing the healthy differences in your spouse or your board room because they operate outside the models of marriage and business that your experiences grew accustomed to.  The numbing power of normal will keep you at bay, while the outliers who understand that normal is nothing more than a crisis of comparison, will grab hold of the fundamentals and sail beyond horizons to a land that eventually will be called normal when the masses catch up.

Your one of a kind finger print confirms your intuition. You are not normal. Just as a priceless one-of-a-kind masterpiece holds value for its intrinsic uniqueness, so we too add more and gain more from our surroundings when we daily mature our own unique talents and relational opportunities.

Win Today!

Victor

Obstructed by The Obvious

Last week, I was reminded of a metaphor that compared the jellyfish to the salmon. You see, the jelly just floats where the current takes it, while the salmon works to fulfill its calling despite the current.

We all experience those moments when clarity of responsibility meets the convenience of circumstance.  It's that moment when you know what you must do within the realm of your responsibilities, and or pursuit of your goals, but there is a fatigue factor that overstates the rationale for not doing the work. In other words, you allow yourself an excuse to be common.

Extraordinary is uncommon for the simple fact that most will operate in the ordinary currents of life. Excuses can become justified to your own conviction because they appear to be obvious obstacles to others.  Pulling the wool over ourselves, the substantial change of current can make us feel justified for bypassing the opportunities to dig deeper.

It's no wonder why television networks continue to pump out crime series such as C.S.I (insert your city here)...we all admire those professionals that will go beyond the obvious to solve the mystery! Most will continue to be obstructed by the obvious road blocks, while a few uncommon will own the moment and dig through the inconvenient to find the edge. Make no mistake, it is easier said than done, but it still remains a matter of our will. A will that is, and always will be, ruled by our moment by moment choices.

Win Today!

Victor

An Uncomfortable Truth

"One of the most difficult things everyone has to learn is that for your entire life you must keep fighting and adjusting if you hope to survive. No matter who you are or what your position is you must keep fighting for whatever it is you desire to achieve.” -  George Allen

I've often heard it said that in order to achieve we must first get comfortable with the uncomfortable.  I firmly agree, and have concluded for myself, that the first step in finding this comfort zone is to first agree that life doesn't have an arrival point. There will never be day on this earth when you will wake up to the crowning announcement "You arrived...now sit back and relax." You can win the lottery, marry the person of your dreams, and even win a Super Bowl, but still, you will wake-up the next day to new challenges that will call you out to keep growing.  

The legendary football coach George Allen points out that the struggle hasn't singled us out for misery.  On the contrary, once we can make peace with this uncomfortable truth of life, we can then adapt and avoid the get rich quick mentality that the generations of renown never tolerated.

Win Today!

Victor

 

Over watering?

If you are going to grow a garden, one would think that an abundance of water would always be a key ingredient to its success.  Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting the owner of a nursery who informed me otherwise.  As my wife and I shopped the floor of the nursery showroom, the owner was busy hosting a workshop for the customers. As he presented, his energy and zeal for growing plants overflowed when customers asked him to discuss his profession.  While I enjoy working in the yard, unfortunately, my enthusiasm for plant growing is overshadowed by the fact that I have more plant and flower tombstones in my backyard than actual plants.

As I listened in to the owner's conversations that he was sharing with his customers, I was struck by the discipline to never over water a plant.  Certain plants that he was selling appeared parched to my untrained eye, but I quickly learned that the condition of the soil of these plants was in fact healthy (If that plant was in my backyard it would be damp 24/7).  Needing to know more, I then piped up to express my gardening ignorance about watering.  Stan looked me in the eye with all of his conviction to say..."That is the number one reason plants die."

While our intentions may be well founded, it is quite possible that we are over watering our own lives and the lives of those we are responsible for.  Comfort is quaint, but comfort has never been equated with growth when you and I read about success stories. It may be that our constant quest for comfort is in actuality rotting our potential. If challenges are in the midst, embrace the learning and adaptation that the situation may be igniting, instead of defaulting to the over watering dysfunction that comes so easily.

Win Today!

Victor

Isn't your life worth gold?

The 2012 Olympics are here. With it comes the demonstrations of our worlds finest athletes showing off in a matter of seconds, the fruit of a life-time of preparation.  As the multiple countries cheer on their champions, we are reminded through competition the commonality that borders can't erase, which is our humanity. No matter the flag that they represent, the back stories are all threaded with a common theme. Each athlete had to make the decision to wake up each day over the course of the last four years of training, and re-affirm their own exhausted nervous system that "this is worth it."

It's inspiring to us all when we watch others perform at their best. What we often forget is that their "best" performance had more to do with the multiple days in the dark where the only crowd cheering was the lone voice of self as a reminder to not give up. 

We can easily correlate hard work and self-sacrifice with athletic achievement.  However, when it comes to the "routine" measures of life, the correlation suffers to connect self-sacrifice to the value of personal achievement. Athletes, will say "No" a thousand times to the any decision that can be disruptive to the pursuit of gold, while others who compete daily in the zero sum arena of life may choose to flow like water and fall into the current of comfort and convenience.

Seek out gold with our lives, since a well-lived life is far more valuable and influential than a medal.  Each decision we make can alter our existence for the good or bad. Perhaps not for ourselves, but for for the loved ones who are counting on us. The sport of rowing is a great example of what it means to prepare, compete, and coordinate the actions of conscience. Below is a behind scenes look at the level of commitment and dependence that the Canadian rowing team had to give each day to be prepared for their next opportunity.  It is a reminder for us all that someone is counting on us today to be our best. Your life is worth gold...Win Today.

Win Today!

Victor

Fresh Eyes

Life guard on duty- Silive.com

Cooling off in a pool is a summer ritual for many of us.  Seeking out a little heat relief, my family and I spent last week doing just that.  During those pool outings I learned a valuable safety technique from the hotel's pool life guard team.  Having been too busy in my past vacations to have ever recognized this strategy, after the fact, I appreciated just how simple and intelligent the team's pool safety plan to be.  While what I am about to write may be common knowledge for some, for me it was a profound human performance learning moment.

Every 30 minutes, without leaving a pool unattended, the life guards would rotate duty stations at the various hotel property pools.  At first, the cynic in me thought the pool's budget crunch must have cut the hours down for their teenage workers.  Finally, after watching a full rotation of the life guard staff, it dawned on me...The lifeguard staff is rotating to maintain fresh eyes!  By rotating, the life guards were forced to re-examine each pool customer status and the over-all threat assessment of the pool environment.

You see, whenever we enter into an unfamiliar environment such as an office, house, social encounter, or in this case a pool, our alertness rises because our brain must re-assess the threats and opportunities.  Fresh eyes can pick up on details that the comfortable perceive as irrelevant to the mission. Once comfort and familiarity creeps in, we soon begin to tone down our alertness to the details. In the case of the life guards, the purpose of the rotation was to re-awaken the alertness of each life guard by forcing their minds to constantly reassess.

This raises the question of whether or not we are missing the details of life because of familiarity and routine. Whether it be relationally, work orientated, or even physically, our human performance can benefit by a set of fresh eyes.  You can come up with your own list of productive ideas once you give thought to the principle of fresh eyes, but for starters, here are some simple "Fresh Eyes" tips.

1. Take a different path home on your commute: You may discover a new restaurant, or just revive an appreciation for your community.

2. Re-arrange your office: The new desk, and or book shelf alignment can re-energize your thinking.

3. Get up and move: Getting up to move around every 30 minutes actually can reduce your risk for heart disease and diabetes.

4. Go for a walk with a loved one: If this is out of the norm, it may brush off the cobwebs in the communication portion of the relationship, because taking a walk provides the opportunity to experience new stimuli together.

5. Listen instead of having to have all the answers: Leaders have to lead. However, the trap that leaders often fall into is the feeling that they have to have all the answers.  Apply some fresh eyes by taking the time to genuinely listen with appreciation.  You can still make the final decision, but it will now be with the input of an additional vantage point that happens to be true for the rest of your group.  Often times, that additional information can be the freshen up seasoning that takes an idea to the next level.

Win Today!

Victor

Playing hurt...Don't get sidelined by a bruised ego. Part 2

The essence of effective leadership can be summed up as the ability to create perceived provisions of beneficial direction and solutions for the greater good of the mission. To do so, followers must believe their leader to be trustworthy. Nevertheless, trust equity never gets credited when the game is in hand. Trust can only be built when challenges arise, otherwise there is no need for your leadership.  How you handle your own emotional hurt when the challenges arise, will determine the ceiling of success for your group.

Playing hurt as a leader begins by understanding your own susceptibility to being emotionally hijacked. Emotions fuel immediate action.  However, immediate action by a hi-stake leader more often than not can leave a great deal of collateral damage.  When threats arise, the leader must learn to manage his/her own defense mechanisms which seek to serve self.  By doing so, a leader sets themselves up to demonstrate that go-to ability the group needs for mission execution.

The next time your ego takes a hit and would prefer the bench instead of the battle, try regaining your competitive edge by following these 4 steps to stay off the emotional stretcher.

1. Stop - Stop and review what just happened.  Unless you are in a physical threatening situation, you have time. You don't need to react immediately. Doing so will keep your neocortex (thinking part of the brain) engaged in order to slow down the emotional hijack.


2. Oxygenate - Breathe. Growing up we were always told to breathe and count to ten.  Breathing deeply will further engage the neocortex.

3. Appreciate - Mirroring neurons often serve to replicate the behavior of the threat. By doing so, you can by default become a thermometer instead of a thermostat. By appreciating the other side of the table even the least bit, you alleviate the combative element and activate some empathy for the perceived threat's position. It doesn't mean you agree, it just means you are able to operate from a more strategic vantage point.

4. Survey the landscape and focus on the facts - The military has an after the fact exercise that they call an After Action Review (AAR). By being able to review the scenario that triggered the hijack, you can then retrain you emotional toughness. The review helps you identify what triggered you and become more familiar with trigger situations in general.  As your training progresses, you will be perceived more and more as the leader that is calm under pressure.

At the end of the day, the bottom line is what most leaders will be judged by. Yet, what produces that bottom line is the very human followership that counts on you to stay in the game and provide the winning game plan.

4 steps are adapted from Sport New Zealand's ideas for game management.

Playing Hurt...Don't get sidelined by a bruised ego. Part 1

Kirk Gibson 1988 World Series home run

Athletic heroics are often tied to scenarios whereby a leader of a team refuses to give in to a physical hurt for the chance to keep competing.  Forgoing the bench, the hero plays through the pain that is all too common with competing at a high level. We often cite this as the ability to play hurt.  Injury mandates that a player is sidelined to prevent any additional harm.  "Hurt," on the other hand, calls into question the mental toughness of an athlete's ability to play through the inevitable twists, bumps, and bruises that come with the territory.  For leaders, ego twists, bumps, and bruises come with the territory when you are the tip of the spear. The cares and critiques of multiple stakeholders are constantly orbiting your day, and will call into question your ability to "play hurt."

Decisive moments are happening all day, everyday. In those moments, your ego will take a few knocks that can undermine your best impression management efforts.  Like the athlete refusing to allow a twisted ankle to keep them on the bench, all leaders must come to grip with their ego toughness.  If your day doesn't involve any such challenges, then you are most likely a manager instead of a leader.

Make no mistake, the athlete jumping back into the game is feeling discomfort.  However, instead of bowing out, he puts his own feelings aside for the mission's sake. This issue is the crux of why over 70% of leaders fail or derail in their careers. The leaders being promoted today for success as a specialist, are falling for their lack of the interpersonal skills (toughness) to serve a mission instead of themselves. 

In the fast paced and competitive world of today, a leader's ability to play hurt emotionally is an ever appreciating asset.  Ego toughness will determine whether or not their attitude remains functional, or falls prey to the dysfunctional. Exponentially, the same will hold true for the attitude of the organization as they follow the leader. 

Win Today!

Victor

Want in one hand and work in the other...

Life from the top of the brain - Dr. Crawford

There are those moments for everyone when frustration about the current circumstances gets the best of us. It's those moments when our reality is far from our expectations, and we begin to re-consider whether or not it's worth the pursuit. The pain of moments like this only discombobulate us all the more when we compare ourselves to other personal and professional peers; as if the context of both situations are somehow the same. Whether or not you are currently encountering one of these moments, let's be reminded that the feeling that comes along during times of doubt is in actuality your future knocking.

For some, this stuck in the mud feeling can be the edge of depression, and for others it can be anger. But for us all, it is a crucible moment to decide if we will wade deeper into achieving our worthy goals, or if we will defer them to never. My father reminded me recently about a saying that helped him lean into the reality of the here and now when times became harder than he'd like; which is "Want in one hand, and work in the other...then look and see which one begins to fill up first."

Our want is the intrinsic motivation that compels us to create and move. Yet, like any good intrinsic motivator, our want is rooted in emotion. Emotion is always the spark that ignites the fire, but if not managed properly with productive action, that same spark could be the culprit that burns down the house. Emotional intelligence research tells us that our emotions can work against us when situations appear over-whelming.  Instead of inspiring us to productive activities, our Limbic System may compel us into a closed loop of anxiety since our situational sense of coherence feels lost (See image above).

If you find yourself stuck in a moment, remember that just like when you check your location on a map in a mall directory, action is the next step once you've discovered the dot that states YOU ARE HERE.  Re-assess your situation and then begin to incrementally move forward with intentional and practical productivity.

Now I know that moving forward is easier said than done, because in those times of frustrated want, moving forward can feel like your pushing a boulder up a hill.  When you come upon this juncture, it matters most to just manage the moment instead of trying to hit the home run. A suggestion for moving forward is to try prescribing yourself one of the following seven essential mental activities. In doing so, you'll have a better shot at re-igniting the work compliment to your want.

  The seven essential mental activities: 

• Focus Time. When we closely focus on tasks in a goal-oriented way, taking on challenges that make deep connections in the brain. 
• Play Time. When we allow ourselves to be spontaneous or creative, playfully enjoying novel experiences, which helps make new connections in the brain. 
• Connecting Time. When we connect with other people, ideally in person, richly activating the brain's social circuitry. 
• Physical Time. When we move our bodies, aerobically if possible, which strengthens the brain in many ways. 
• Time In. When we quietly reflect internally, focusing on sensations, images, feelings and thoughts, helping to better integrate the brain. 
• Down Time. When we are non-focused, without any specific goal, and let our mind wander or simply relax, which helps our brain recharge. 
• Sleep Time. When we give the brain the rest it needs to consolidate learning and recover from the experiences of the day.  

Seven Essential Mental Activities by Dr. David Rock, executive director of the NeuroLeadership Institute and Dr. Daniel Siegel, executive director of the Mindsight Institute and clinical professor at the UCLA School of Medicine.(2011)

The Locker Room

After the crowds empty the bleachers, and only silence remains, there is an mental echo of inclusion that once bonded kindred spirits. For some who have played team sports, their memories of their playing days have less to do with the actual games and more to do with their locker room camaraderie.  The memories remind players of a time when they once belonged. Times when they would walk into the facility after a practice with a feeling of total exhaustion. The coach provided the love/hate motivation that made the collective group feel satisfied for having fulfilled a work load that alone they would have never attempted. The locker room is an atmosphere that substantiates meaningful connections for all who have endured physical trials that at one time or another, brought everyone in that room to the edge; when quitting made more sense than persevering.   Despite the depth chart, peer respect remains, since having seen each other at their worst the fact prevails that everyone puts on the same jersey.  Coming out of the tunnel, you and your fellow teammates are one, because together you have experienced much. The locker room gave the athlete the community retreat to make sense of it all.  When the playing days end, the social support systems aren't so easily identified, and we all move on to achieve our existence instead of connecting with it.  In the back of our mind a fading hope lingers that the next achievement will create that meaning we want.  All the while, research supports that when life takes us beyond our sense of coherence, in actuality it's the anchors of community that gives us the motivation to carry on.  Are you losing ground in this area?

On the surface, one would assume that today we are more connected than ever due to the dramatic rise of technology and social networking. It isn't so. Communication transactions may be on the rise, but emotional and social intimacy is on the steep decline. The crowd may be growing all around you, but the feeling of being alone is all the more prevalent, like tear drops in the rain.

A validity of life is essential.  Yet, what many strive to find in achievement, in actuality we find with more frequency among the constellation of meaningful connections in our life (Kahn, 2007). While connection is skyrocketing, it is the meaningful piece that evades us.  Sherry Turkle, discusses this phenomenon in her latest TED talk titled Connected, But Alone? See below.  In the presentation, Sherry discusses how our smart phones and online persona's are redefining human connections to a fault. "As we expect more from technology, do we expect less from each other?" Sherry also asks us to "think deeply about the new kinds of connection we want to have."

Whether it be a family, a social club, an intimate relationship, support group, work based, or a church; The metaphorical locker room is a place that we all still need in order to experience our authentic selves.  This is a place where genuine humanity is appreciated far above transactional exploits. Even more, it's a place where followers, stats, and tags will never replace the inherent need for human intimacy.  In the fast pace of life, risk being engaged in community, because you will always need a place where the true you can be at ease and transparent.  In doing so, to your relief you will discover that no one has it "all together" and that your hard times are similarly shared by others all around you.  What you feel isn't unique to you. You aren't alone.

Win Today!

Victor

Brain training...Finding focus amongst the distractions

Brain Neurons

Every now and then, I carpool with a friend of mine.  When we do, I usually pick him up at 7:30 am in front of the Starbucks off the freeway.  Last week, I happened to arrive 5 minutes late.  In my friend's haste to multi-task a coffee in one hand and a live call coming through the cell phone in his other, when 7:30 am came, he mistook another person's car for mine.  We both shared a good laugh after he told me that he actually attempted to get into the stranger's car while on his cell phone.  The driver of the vehicle was taken back as my friend kept trying to open the locked handle with frustration. Racing through his mind were thoughts of "Why won't Vic open the door for me?" "Can't he see my hands are full?!"  To his credit, the wrong vehicle was of similar make, model and color, but similarities only go so far.  The driver of the other car was a good sport about it all while my friend explained his mental fumble. 

 The world moves at a fast pace.  As technology advances so does the expectation for our own ability to keep up with the fire hose information flow.  Your attention is always on call and in demand.  If not careful, the implications of each moment could misrepresent your good intentions.  Managing the moment isn't a new phenomenon, it's just that we live in a day and age whereby the value of the moment is inflated in relation to the pace at which we move.  Business transactions are global, and the market is always open somewhere.  Yet, no matter how confident we believe we are with our ability to multi-task, a recent finding called the "Cocktail effect" suggests otherwise.

As a matter of survival, when distractions are all around us, we only have the ability to focus in on one thing.  Our selective attention described by the cocktail effect, infers that we are limited to one constructive objective with each moment.  Consequently, our ability to discern what matters most with each moment becomes all that more valuable.  Some may feel like they do just fine with being decisive in a fast paced world, but just moving things along to check a to do list can be even more disastrous then doing nothing at all.  Activity for activity's sake often overlooks the big picture and just leans upon personal biases.  Take a step back and ask yourself "Do I have all of the information for that moment?" Maybe, maybe not. Fortunately, our brains can  adapt to this 21st century phenomenon.  However,  requirements for maximizing the moment is a skill that requires incremental training.

Similar to the an athlete taking the next step up in levels, the brain can learn to adapt to the pace of information if in fact it is being trained properly. When an athlete moves up, their performance is limited in relation to the learning curve it takes to get used to the advanced speed of the game. The jump from high school to college may be fundamentally the same schematic load, but the speed at which a player processes the information exponentially increases as the athletic mean of the competition increases. First experiences for a newcomer to college athletics can make them feel like a squirrel trying to cross the freeway.  Eventually, given time and experience, the game appears to slow down for the newcomer.  Now we all know the game didn't compassionately slow down to accommodate, in actuality the newcomer adapted by becoming faster!  By embracing the challenge, the athlete competed with focus and attention in the moments that were presented, since they refused to be left behind.

While we can all agree that training and athletics go hand in hand, it begs the question "Why do we feel intruded upon when the game of life takes us to a new level?" Instead of leaving your personal and professional moments to chance, take an approach to lean into your new limitations.  As an athlete makes training a norm for their weekly schedule, we too can benefit from a daily regiment of mental training.  A great tool that I recently found is Lumosity.  Lumosity is a mental training website that provides me with exercises that help to train my moment by moment strategic awareness.  Thus far, I've found their prescribed training methods to be fun and challenging as they take me through a variety of mental awareness puzzles and games.  I hate to sound like an add, but in my brief time of using their service, the mental training is making the game of life is appear to slow down for me.  My daily challenges haven't left me, but the intentionality is making me more aware of the flavor and value of the moment.  I will be sure to suggest the site to my commuter friend so that he can excel in his next Cocktail Effect moment.  (Below is a video discussing the findings of the Cocktail Effect.)

Win Today!

Victor

Good intentions...Can of worms

Your best intentions can be the culprit behind your social aggravation. Those well-intended niceties spoken to the people in your daily sphere were supposed to have communicated a sense of "you matter." Instead, ambiguous discussions were recycled into fuel for the optimist to create an alternate perception that puts them in a better light.  Later, when time and misinterpreted intentions are full grown, and the hoped for fruit is nowhere to be found, the person that you felt you communicated your decision compassionately with, suddenly becomes your integrity's nemesis.  What you believed was a soft letting down, or a simple surface interaction, was actually a moment of truth for the other person.

Letting others feel that they matter is a motivating activity that we certainly need more of if we are to create a productive environment.  However, like any veteran change agent knows, activity can always have a shadow side.  In this case, the shadow side of a well intended surface interaction is how the other person weighs the content of your discussion.  Since we are emotional first, the information you intended may in actuality have been processed through a favorable lens that filtered the facts to support a hope for their own desired outcome.  When timelines and anticipation collide, the disappointment felt by your counterpart is exponentially more in comparison to what it would have been if affection was balanced with attention during the initial conversation.  The fallout can be as simple as a trust debit, or as grand as your character/brand defamation. Before you know it, the person's disappointment is being delivered to anyone who will give them an ear. All the while, you can't believe how your good intentions turned into such a can of worms. Making one feel that they matter is much more than nice talk.  It must be done with a sincerity of interaction. Here are five tips I'm learning to help ensure that my next honest attempt at making others matter is a successful one.

Sincere listening requires an honest ear - When someone wants your attention, it doesn't mean you have to give them their way to communicate your appreciation. While it is much more convenient to skirt the hard facts and frame your position so that it lets others leave your office with a positive feeling, eventually this will only hurt you and the organization all the more.  Sharing the facts notwithstanding the emotion, respects the person.  Even more, it is interpreted as an honest ear.


Know your setting - Casual answers should be reserved for casual settings.  If you are in a work environment, understand that you are interacting in the midst of the greatest emotional triggers for others. Their livelihood.  Weigh your words so that when the day ends, false hope doesn't go home with those you spoke with throughout the day.

Know your audience - The weight of your words changes depending on who you are speaking with. If you are speaking with your child, your words are like the oracles of God. If speaking amongst your buddies, they can be as light as a feather. Slow down, and take account of the parties involved. Making others matter takes recognition.

Recapitulate -  Ordering food is an emotional event for us. Drive-thru service restaurants understand that an order gone wrong can set off an emotional thunder that will echo to many other potential customers.  This is why they spend so much time training the cashier to repeat the order.  In the same manner, take the time to summarize what you are agreeing to or stating.  This will help reduce the confusion that may occur due to the emotional filter that the other party has on.

Write down your responsibilities - Did you agree to a follow-up on anything? Even if what you said was a casual "yeah maybe," in the other person's mind it's something that will occur. Following-up with that person may be a marginal cost to you, but it provides finality for the other person.  Write down or record the slightest of follow-up responsibilities that you may have insinuated.

Each interaction is a purposeful moment.  BRAND YOU is counting on your ability to manage it correctly. In the end, good intentions managed well, will serve to enhance the respect others have for you as a stand-up guy or gal who make others genuinely matter.

Win Today!


Victor

Leaning into limitations...Making the impossible possible

Bungled attempts at one-man flight

"I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” – Henry David Thoreau

In human history, there have been things in this world that have appeared impossible. However, as time and ingenuity progressed, impossible then evolved into limitations that just took time to be figured out.  Mankind wanted to fly.  In themselves it was impossible. Yet, through an industriousness mindset and a lot of failure, flying became possible. 

Even to this day, when flight has lost its marvel, "impossible" limitations still surround us all. How we interpret those limitations will determine if we use them to grow or diminish. If seen as ambition fences, limitations will wrangle our aspirations to the point of feeling boxed in.  Eventually, the boxed in feeling gives way to hopelessness; robbing the very dreams that we believed we were supposed to somehow achieve.  On the other hand, as it pertains to you and me, limitations may not be the fences at all. In fact, they may be the tutors that will serve to draw out the behavioral adaptations to make"impossible" possible.

When impossible occurs, the issue isn't zero-sum. The core of the matter is; what are you really trying to accomplish in the first place?  For Oral and Wilbur Wright, the goal was that of transportation. Could a human being efficiently transport themselves from point A to point B in a straight line?  Air travel would accomplish this.  Instead of creating wings so that the traveler could individually experience the romance of flying like a bird,  a larger encompassing vehicle was needed to be built in order to accomplish air travel.   Impossible made possible.

I am very fortunate to have had the privilege of speaking with many a person who, from my vantage point, were living the "dream." Through our conversations exchanged, I learned that while such persons may be experiencing a life full of accomplishment, their day to day "dream" job has headaches like any other position. Those headaches are just called by different names.  For some, the title of their achievements still lacked in providing the self-worth fulfillment that they hoped would come with their professional arrival.  When limitations arrive in your life, ask yourself, "What am I really trying to achieve?"  If re-framed, limitations can be the catalyst to positively re-invent ourselves.  More often than not, our envisioned goals are just models of achievement that we associated with self-worth.  Once limitations are re-calibrated, our endeavors may find the traction to discover an even greater avenue for a more fruitful actuality.

Recently, I viewed the life on film story about Manuel De Los Santos. Manuel is a Dominican living in Paris who lost his leg in a motorcycle accident. With the loss of his leg, he also lost his dream of playing baseball.  Through a series of insignificant events, he significantly changed his mindset and his life. In the video below, Manuel encourages us all with this statement, "I think for me, and for many, the most important thing is to try and find something that (makes us) feel good. When you feel good, the impossible becomes possible."

Win Today!

Victor

Is your world still flat?

As I prepared to attend a funeral for a relatively young man, the words of King Solomon echoed in my mind.  "The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure (Ecclesiastes 7:4)."  The reality and brevity of life crystallize with clarity when one happens to attend this everyday human occurrence.  Life is happening now. Without warning it can be gone tomorrow.  Not to go off on a morbid downer, but as Solomon is stating, the reminder should in fact inject productive action into our everyday lives.

Zombie Workforce...What happens when we don't matter

YOU MATTER

As a person in authority, you can always create activity. You have the power to do so, since you hold  the proverbial whip. The question isn't if the expected activity is happening on your watch, that's the minimum.  The real question is whether or not you are a leader who can engage activity.  In this depressed time of our economy where  by we have lost the gushing optimism that used to over-flow not so long ago, it has been replaced with a barricading pessimism from the hurtful lessons learned.  Over the course of these recent years, we've seen money easily slip away.  Hopefully, by now we've realized that money is only a necessary unit of trade and not what makes us matter. What good is a self-worth that can easily be taken away.  As the fallout of the economy continues, we are also seeing a human productivity fall out that goes beyond the lost homes and unemployment rate. Throughout this down turn, the workforce has lost its humanity and has been transformed into an emotionless cog. Or, at least the bean counters would like to think so.  The holy grail "bottom line" has created a fear fueled loyalty to those fortunate to be working that resembles activity, albeit minimum. A work force can only keep up the work activities in the fear of being fired for so long.  Eventually, the person loses all engagement and becomes a zombie worker.

The Armagedon of ambiguity...Canada set to drop the penny

"That will be $4.01."  Says the clerk at the store. "Oh, you don't have a penny?" "Oh well, I guess I'll just  have to round it up to $4.05." Are you ok with this? If you are Canadian, you will have to be ok with it soon.

Canada has declared that it will be dropping the penny from their currency, citing budget cut-backs and anecdotal claims that the penny only adds to clutter on our dressers. When it comes to financial transaction details, the future of Canadian money exchange between customer and clerk will come down to either the round up or cash-less option.  As it pertains to us, taking the penny out of circulation is symbolic of removing the fine print out of fundamentals.

When you lose the details, you lose the envisioned whole.  Having the principle to manage the fine details in daily living is how we build our lives on solid ground instead of ambiguity.  Ambiguity is a word that has never been associated with success or strategic. Does the Canadian removal of the penny reflect societal trends that we are now ok with living in ambiguity?

It's something to consider, because in the end, the person with the power will make sure they end up on the positive side of the rounding up phenomenon soon to come.  I don't foresee the commerce giants being "OK" with rounding down, since they know darn well that a penny earned over multiple transactions will quickly add up to millions.  The American for Common Cents, understands the broad implications for this tiny transactional tool by stating,  "The increased cost to consumers will be felt in everything from the grocery store to the gas pump. Pennies add up to millions of dollars every year for charities across the country. Simply put, the penny plays an important role in our everyday lives and in our nation's economy." Our daily penny-type actions will always add up.  While you and I may not have much influence in Canada's recent decision, however we can use this as a wake up call for our own life. Take the power position and demand that you value the details in your life, before time and ambiguity eventually add up to regret.

Win Today!

Victor

The penny principle... simple achievement overlooked

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  Big achievements always bring us great gratification.  Yet, like any good thing overdone, the caution to us all is to beware of achievement bubbles.  Like all of the bursting bubbles that we have had to endure in our recent economy, can we be allowing our mindset to be bubble blinded?  Achievement bubbles leave us feeling unfulfilled and insignificant if we aren't continually achieving "great things" relationally and professionally despite the fact that you have achieved much already.   The Penny Principle reminds us to maintain a present-mindedness about ourselves so that we don't overlook the subtle moments and opportunities in front of us that will eventually add up to a life well lived.  How do you practice the penny principle in your daily life? 

Win Today!

Victor

So where do you see yourself in 5 years?

  So where do you see yourself in 5 years?  This is a common interview question that just the other day I myself found regurgitating to a potential hire.  As the words fell out of my mouth almost effort-less like a rehearsed script, I caught myself wondering, "Now why is 5 years the magic number?"

  As someone who manages employees, I like to know what the career plans of my co-workers are so that I can help our time together be one of growth and vision. However, as I look at my personal life, I could have never have answered that question 5 years ago with absolute surety.  From my own experience, life has proven to be more unpredictable than predictable.  The 5 year plan can be a rigid trap if you aren't able to mange the ever-changing moments that we encounter each day.

  Life is happening right now for me and you. In it all, I'm learning that achieving is more about living with a vision in your heart while managing the moment with a present-minded attitude. When I do so, it has allowed me to be in tune with the personal and professional moments of life that eventually adds upon other moments that eventually equal achievement of vision.  In contrast, my regrets in life have more to do with mismanaging the moment, whereby I miss the person in pursuit of the goal. 


  Leonard A. Schlesinger, Charles F. Kiefer, and Paul B. Brown recently published in the Harvard Business Review blog network an article that considered the wonder of the 5 year-plan as it pertains to career planning.  In it they concluded that career planning is more about a "Direction based" vision fulfillment than a detailed plan. They suggest the following guides as a means of "Acting your way into the future you want (HBR, 2012)." I believe this growth-minded list of suggestions can have merit in all aspects of our personal and professional lives.

1. Determine your desire
2. Take a step toward it
3. Incorporate what you learn from taking that step
4. Take another step
5. Learn from that one
6. Repeat until you have a job, your own business, or have achieved your goal

Win Today!

Victor

Derailed by disillusion

A month has already gone by in 2012.  February here we go. By now, many of us have shelved our sincere New Year's resolutions, and or, are frustrated by our lack of achievement.  This is common and unfortunate. Fortunately, there is still hope. Instead of waiting for another new year's day to come as a catalyst for one more personal change journey, let's take a closer look at exactly what we are striving for. Perhaps, the goal we are aiming at is actually one that is unrealistic for anyone

Albert Einstein was keenly aware of the deceptive annoyance of mis-placed standards. As a culture, our targets of personal excellence can be forever moving. We are often judging worth by misguided filters influenced by media market trends, or even by previous personal moments that we are either trying to outgrow or duplicate.

Self-worth, is a motivation for all of us. Who likes not feeling good about themselves?! No one. In our pursuit of happiness, let's take caution to make sure that our limited time and energy isn't being directed towards a red herring.  For example, ABC News recently posted a story titled "Most Models Meet Criteria for Anorexia, Size 6 is Plus Size." In it, ABC reveals the atrocious beauty standards of models in comparison to realistic health standards.  The story is accompanied by a video which reveals pictures of comparison that bring to life the real meaning of stupidity. Self-worth is fleeting when we seek to achieve it through  someone else's unrealistic external standards.  Lets be our best in this life for our own sake. There is only one you, and that in itself is a crucial element for the criteria of "priceless."

2012 is already a busy one

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I don't know about you, but 2012 has jumped on me like a spark on dry grass.  A day hasn't gone by where I'm not juggling more demands than I care to admit. Getting up earlier to find more time in the day has it's limits.  A friend of mine recently told me that there are "24 Hours in the day...then there is the night." While he was joking with me about my attempt to find more time in the day, it makes a sarcastic point when it comes to the short-term productivity spike of just not sleeping.  No sleep only seduces you into thinking you are more productive. So what now? My demands aren't going away, but in actuality are they all really do at the same time? No. The key is to be present minded with each waking moment so that those folks who are depending on you can have your best. So how do we do that?

Information without application just tends to add to the clutter. While great information may trigger us for short-term action, it usually winds up in a fizzle since there isn't any practical planning for the change. Today I came across an article regarding a new book titled "Organize Your Mind, Organize Your Life," by Margaret Moore and Harvard psychiatrist Paul Hammerness.  In it, the book outlines a practical plan for de-cluttering our brain for follow-through action.

While we may feel like life has got us boxed in, our brains are still driving us. Having a method of organizing our thoughts, in order to attain a more functional and effective position, is key to managing the moment. Moore and Hammerness have taken the discoveries of neuroscience and created a plan that appears to  the give the reader an action orientated mental map for arriving at a place of mental focus.  After reading the plan, it is apparent to me that the work of neuroscience is maturing to the point of producing applicable and practical information for the real-life tasked and time crunched folks like you and me.  Like any other behavioral adaptation, this plan takes some change equity. However, the cost of reorganizing our thoughts appears worth it after reading the article. See article here.

Win Today!

Victor

Getting ready for a new beginning.

Once again, we've crossed the threshold of a new year. While 2012 has been predicted to be full of apocalyptic events, you may want to plan on still be here in 2013. The end of the world is a one time deal. If it does happen, there's not a darn thing that you and I can do about it.

Now that we just freed up some of our limited mental energy for more pressing matters, let's take the opportunity that each new year brings, which is a willingness to change.  Every new year brings resolutions. Seeing a need to change is powerful, since it is the energy behind every great evolution. Understanding how to harness the full potential of that energy is the next step.  Wanting to change is good, actually taking the steps to change is great! To understand the wall of opposition that is inevitably facing us all, we must first take a look at some science.

The law of conservation of energy asserts that we are constantly reverting our activities towards the most efficient state. Hence, our window of opportunity to succeed with a lifestyle change is limited.  Odds are the purchase of the new gym membership will most likely only serve to change our bank account instead of our physical appearance, unless we grab the concept that change is inefficient. Don't be shocked by just how hard it is. You and I are no stranger to this idea, since we've been experiencing it our whole lives. We learned to walk by many falls and we learned to drive by many stalls. The constant for both examples was our passion to achieve the new reality. Passion is the fuel for change. Spend it wisely by planning out your change, and or by identifying a change marker that is attainable.  In order to learn more about the challenge that the law of energy conservation presents, here's is a video clip from that great science show, Regis and Kelly. Move the cursor to the 2:35 mark for the "spiked ball" demonstration. Happy New Year!  Let's make it great.