Tag Archives: Choices

Dealing with the “F” Word

One of the realities we all face is not always succeeding at something the way we would like to succeed.  Many times we get results much different than we originally planned.  Unfortunately when this happens most of us call this f…  f…  failure (shudder, shudder.)

I hate the word and all the negative images it garners.  It has turned into a useless word, serving no purpose except to foster pessimistic and depressing feelings.  Instead of “well that didn’t work, what else can I try” has turned into “that didn’t work; I guess I’m hopeless and nothing will ever work.”  In a way, “failure” is a lot like its cousin “can’t,” in that it allows us to give up or quit. 

Like some many things in our life, how we decide to react to this “f” word is our choice.  We can choose to use it as a learning experience to grow or a pit of despair that stops us in our tracks.  While we all would like to succeed the first time through on all of our endeavors (me included), in reality we don’t learn from succeeding; we learn from failing.

If you don’t believe me, think of any invention ever created.  Start to look into its history and you’ll find stacks of “failures” before it was ready to be famous.  What brought each of the great inventions into being was the ability of its creator to see failing as a next step instead of an end step.

You can win at failing too by learning from your experiences.  Choose to have a different perspective; one that finds the opportunities in the situation instead of the giving up.  Trying something that doesn’t work only makes the method incorrect.  It’s not personal.  Method’s not working has nothing to do with who you are; just what you did.   The follow three keys will help you turn “failure” into a means to grow and learn:

  • Keep focus on the method; not the person (you)
  • Look at the situation
  • Learn from the experience

There will be times when you look at the situation and learn, you’ll decide the best course of action is to quit what you were doing and focus on something completely different.  Make it your conscious choice.

Remember, it’s not about how many times you fall down; it’s about how many times you get back up.  The easy part is you only have to get back up one more time than you’ve fallen to be on your path to success.

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A is for Attitude

It’s the alpha of success and everybody has one.  A positive attitude can compensate for a lack of knowledge by making it easier for you learn and for others to teach you.  People who cultivate consistently positive attitudes expect great things; work hard for those things and are more likely to achieve them.

Here are some simple things you can do, now, that will help to develop a good attitude:

Use a clock radio that plays music that is soft and pleasant to wake you up. Don’t use a loud alarm clock.  Okay, some of you are laughing at this one because you’re saying that soft and pleasant music won’t help you get up but keep you sleeping.  Guess you’ll have to pass on this one; remember, the loud alarm you need to wake you doesn’t add to your positive attitude.

Allow yourself enough time to prepare for the day’s activities at a civilized pace. Don’t get up at the last possible moment. Yes, this may mean you have to go to bed a little earlier.  What are you willing to sacrifice to have a better attitude and more success?

Think of three specific things you can be grateful for while sitting on the “throne.” Do this every day! Don’t worry about how original you are.  You’ll feel better inside and out.

Think about the positive things you expect to accomplish today. Don’t listen to news of the world’s problems or worry about your own problems while you are getting your day started.  Giving your worries a rest for a few minutes goes a long way in helping you have a better attitude and, many times, will give you new insight into some of those issues.

Eat a healthy breakfast. No, a cup of coffee and a cookie do not qualify as a healthy breakfast.  Studies have shown this not only helps your attitude but also curbs the midmorning munchies and aids in a healthier body.  This one may take a while before you get used to it.

If you read the paper while eating breakfast, skip the negative “stinking thinking” news. Skim the headlines to keep yourself informed. Read the comics before you put the paper away, and be sure to make yourself laugh. Yes, I said MAKE yourself laugh!

When you think positively about yourself, you work harder at what you want to do and give up less easily.  When you think more positively about your colleagues, employees, spouse and children, you build stronger and more productive relationships which leads to greater success at work and at home.

Cultivating a positive attitude isn’t always easy.  However, the more you work on it the easier it gets.  If you think you are already too busy and don’t have time think about how much time you spend watching television or just surfing the Internet each day.  If you reduce one of these activities by just 30 minutes per day you will have captured more than 7 ½ full 24-hour days.

Which will help your attitude and success more – 7 days a year watching television or 7 days a year building your future?  The choice is all yours.

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Your day; Your Choice

 “This is the beginning of a new day.  You have been given this day to use as you will.  You can waste it or use it for good.  What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it.  When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind… let it be something good.”  ~Unknown Author

Every morning we awake to a whole opportunity for us to choose.  We can choose to live today just as we did yesterday or we can choose to live differently.

What did you choose when you woke up today?

I decided do something that I revisit every now and then just to remind myself what’s really important.  As I was walking out to get the newspaper I stopped and just listened for a moment.  Then I smelled the air and looked around.

It was early, just before the sun rose completely.  The air was cool with spring morning dampness.  I could hear a number of birds singing their morning song and an occasional car driving by the house.  Two little dogs barked at something, probably me, and a peacock cried out (yes, I have a neighbor who has peacocks.)  Looking around, all the colors were shades of gray and I stood watching as the day colorized with the growing light.  I took a deep breath and felt the relaxation and the wondrous possibilities of a new day dawning.

It doesn’t have to be morning to do this little exercise.  You can do it right where you are and right now.  Give it a try, stop for a moment and look around you.  Pay attention to the details.

How does the air feel; is it hot or cold?

What do you see that stirs you emotionally; making you happy or sad?

If you go outside to let the dog out, pick up the mail or just take a walk notice the sounds and smells around you.  Take a step, stop, and look around.  Examine your all too familiar surroundings and notice something new.

Why?  Because being more aware of your surroundings will help you to look at life a little differently.  And looking at life a little differently will help you to find new ways to accomplish the tasks on your list.  And accomplishing the tasks on your list gets you one step closer to completing your goals.  And completing your goals helps you to achieve your dreams.

At the end of the day, when your head rests on your pillow, how will you look back on this day?  Did you waste it or use it for good? 

What will you choose when you wake up tomorrow?

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Choices, Choices Everywhere

Every day we make hundreds and hundreds of choices, most of which are unconscious and overlooked.  For instance, when you choose to get up in the morning you make the choice of putting your feet on the floor and standing up instead of falling out of bed.  It’s not a choice you give a lot of thought to but it is important and mostly made subconsciously. Okay, sometimes we are not that steady on our feet and we may choose to stand up but your body falls anyway depending on the night we had or other issues.  My point is you make the choice of getting up; it doesn’t just happen. 

Other choices we make have more thought involved with them.  How about driving down the road and deciding to run the yellow light or wait for the next green?  Maybe you’ve run so many yellow lights that it doesn’t seem like much of a choice to you but you are making a choice and the more unconscious this choice is the more dangerous it becomes.

With all the choices you make, three basic rules apply:

  1. Everything in your life is a choice
  2. You, and you alone, have the final say in your choices
  3. There are consequences to every choice you make

I can already hear the arguments regarding the first rule.  I’ve been thinking a lot and every instance I can think of comes back to a choice you make.  Even the death argument holds true.  I concede that you don’t get a choice of when you die but you do get a choice on when and how to live.  There are many choices you can, and I expect do, make that help you to keep living like eating food, staying healthy and avoiding dangerous, life threatening situations.  So even life and death are a choice you make.

Same holds true for the second rule.  Worst case scenario is someone wants to force their will on you; that’s their choice not yours.  Your choice is to fight them or go along and depending on how you perceive the third rule, the consequences, will have a huge impact on how you choose.  We might be influenced by others’ choices, but we decide for ourselves whether to follow their decision or one of our own. 

The hardest of these rules can be the third, every choice has a consequence.  Luckily, most of our choices have consequences that we like and want.  When you choose to pay your heating bill you have the benefit of being warm in the winter.  However, if you choose not to pay for the groceries at the store the consequence will probably be jail time.

What does all this mean?  These rules open up the possibilities in your life.  They mean you don’t have to feel stuck in any situation; you can make a choice and change that situation.  They mean you don’t have to settle for the consequence of a choice; you can choose differently to change the consequence.  They mean you no longer have to feel like someone else is dictating your life; you choose your path.

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Perspective: Our Window on the World

I looked at several online dictionaries as well as one hardcopy dictionary for the definition of perspective.  I found essentially two definitions:

  • A method of showing distance in art by making far away objects smaller.
  • A way of judging how something is in comparison with other things.

I’d like to focus on the second description since I work more in life than in art.  According to this one, perspective is how we make judgments regarding our world and everything in it; be that good versus bad, important versus not, or difficult versus easy.

In essence, perspective is an opinion; it is your opinion.  By virtue of this definition, your perspective can never be wrong, unless you make it so.  It can also be changed based on new knowledge or just a feeling.

I love looking at how my own perspectives have changed over the years.  A simple example is how I see the trees and forests while driving down the road.  For a long time I would see the scene as if a picture, the trees were there along with other features of the terrain but it was all flat.  A few months after I started my own business and what seemed like all of a sudden, the trees and terrain became three dimensional.  I started seeing the layers and recognized that some trees were closer than others.  Logically, I know it was never flat and yet in my mind’s eye that is how I saw them.  I imagine a contributing factor was my hurry to get to my job everyday and focusing on that which helped me to miss the world around me.  What’s interesting is that I know when I’m stressed or in more of a hurry now because I start to see the scene as flat again.  It’s a good reminder to relax and refocus on what is important in my life. 

When was the last time you paid attention to your perspective?  Take a moment, right now, and stop – look around; what do you see?  Share your perspective and what it means to you.

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Rules to Hiring Your Next Consultant (Part 3)

This is the last part of the series.  It is amazing how many people we can find to help us when we know exactly what we are trying to achieve and how our organization is likely to react to the changes.  Now that you’ve winnowed the list of potential consultants, it is time to find who will work best for, and with, us.

Rule #5 – Polish Your Negotiations

Keep in mind is that you are not looking for the lowest-cost consultant. You’re looking for the most cost-effective results.

Define clear performance expectations. They will help you and your consultant to succeed.

Can you finance the consultant from the cost savings you expect to see? Is this realistic?

Can you pay in stages, when you pass various (well-defined) milestones? What happens if you set a maximum payment for the project, and the work is incomplete? What happens if you pay by the hour, and the hours add up faster than results? Can you build in incentives for completing work ahead of schedule or under budget?

Look for any of these warning flags:

  • Incentives to not finish on time / budget.
  • Incentives that might bloat project hours or cost.
  • Milestones structured more for the consultant than for you.
  • Time frames that seem unreasonably long or short. There should be a logical explanation for the timing of your project.

Sometimes it is helpful to play dumb or naïve. If you suggest something contrary to the above rules or warning flags, what happens? Do you get good advice, or do you get taken? If you get the feeling that a shark has just smelled blood, perhaps this isn’t the best consultant for your organization. On the other hand, if the consultant courteously points out the danger of your suggestion, and offers a sounder approach, perhaps they will be as diligent when you hire him.

Rule #6 – Go With Your Gut

You’ve done a lot to get here: defined the problem; ensured that your organization is ready for the change; researched possible consultants; and sifted through to find the most appropriate ones for this job.  Following these rules will gain you a lot of information. Take your time, absorb the information and pay attention to what your gut is telling you about a particular consultant.

Remember, your brain does an incredible job of analyzing subtle, even subconscious cues. Your gut feeling comes from your brain’s analysis. Trust it. 

Now, stand tall and make your decision.

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Rules to Hiring Your Next Consultant (Part 2)

Finding for the right consultant to achieve your goals becomes a lot easier when you have a structured plan to following.  In Part 1, we talked about defining the problem and establishing a supportive contact.

Rule #3 – Unearth Potential Candidates

Don’t get too hung up on particular credentials or levels of experience when you begin your search for a consultant. There are many good people out there. You are not looking for people with certain certificates on their walls. You’re looking for people who can help solve your problem.

Use key phrases from your problem definition (Rule 1, above) to search the web. Check the yellow pages. Talk to customers and suppliers. Talk to competitors, if you can.

When you have a reasonable number of candidates, it’s time to make a short list. Talk to references, and of course talk to your candidate consultants.

Include these questions when you interview potential consultants:

  • How did they learn the basics of this industry?
  • What approach sets them apart from other consultants?
  • What approach sets them apart from others with more experience?
  • What kind of challenges did they overcome to get results for their clients? How did they measure those results?
  • When have they failed, and how did they handle that failure?

The last question may be very telling. We all make mistakes and handle them in different ways. Can you work with someone who cannot or will not admit mistakes? Good consultants will acknowledge the possibility of errors in planning or execution – and you should feel confident that they would handle them with integrity and competence.

Overall, when you talk to the consultant, do you get the feeling that you’re both getting more confused? Or that everything is falling into place and a sound approach will be developed?

Rule #4 – Sift the Gems from the Dirt

You’ve made your short list and are looking into the candidates with more detail.

Is the consultant more interested in talking you into an easy sale of what they have (a particular software, methodology or widget, for example), or in working with you to uncover the truly relevant variables, and to develop an effective solution?

You don’t have to winnow the list down to a single best candidate.  In fact, there may be many that are qualified to help you solve your problem.

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Rules to Hiring Your Next Consultant (Part 1)

Hiring a consultant is easy if you don’t care about the results.  Surprisingly, many companies have hired consultants that have cost them a lot of money and produced little of what they hoped to achieve.  Luckily there are six rules that can help make sure you hire the right person to get the proper results.  I developed these rules with a good friend and business associate, Roy Gawlick.

Rule #1 – Define the Problem

Detailing the problem you are trying to solve or the results you’d like to achieve helps to determine who can help you best.  Use these questions to help summarize the problem for the consultant and for you:

  • With what do you need help? Why is this problem important?
  • What is going wrong? What is going right? What results would you like to see improved?
  • What are the costs and benefits of action – and of inaction?
  • Is this an urgent problem? What are the time constraints? What other constraints do you face?
  • Who are the key players and decision-makers?
  • What resources (funding, equipment, suppliers or customers, staff with particular abilities or corporate memories…) are available to help implement a solution?

Remember, if you have a difficult time defining the problem, you will have a difficult time identifying the solution, and the right consultant.  But don’t try to make this step perfect. What you really need is a starting point, so do the best you can with the time you have. You may even find that you need one consultant to help define the problem and a different one to find the best solution.

Rule #2 – Be a Good Client

Make sure the consultant’s key contact with your organization has the authority to approve or reject work in progress, and to arrange support within your organization. If your organizational groups are not all on-board, it will be hard for the best consultant to make any real progress.

  • In your organization, who suffers, and who benefits, from the current situation? Who will suffer or benefit from change? What incentives are there for individuals or groups in your organization to support the consultant? What incentives are there for them to oppose the consultant?
  • Will your staff have or make the time to help the consultant identify issues and implement solutions? Or are they too caught up in their regular duties?
  • When the consultant needs approval for an issue that will affect groups differently, how will your organization make the decision the consultant needs?
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To Change Or Not To Change

The biggest difficulty with discussing change is the vastness of the areas change can encompass.  To make this complex topic more manageable, let’s categorize change into one of three levels.

Level 1 change would be the no thought and no choice changes in our lives.  One example would be aging.  While we might fight to keep our bodies from breaking down, we have no control over the fact that with every passing moment we are aging.  Another example of level 1 would be the seasons.  Aside from living at the equator, everyone lives in areas where each season is marked with some kind of change.  Yes, it is your choice of where you live but you have no say in how the seasons play out, just how you deal with them.

Level 2 changes would be ones where little thought and energy is needed to enact.  Some examples would include buying food and putting gasoline in your car.  When the cupboards and refrigerator are running low on food you have to change your routine to go to the store and purchase more.  Even if part of your regular routine is shopping for food, you still make choices about what food you buy.  If you are part of the small percentage of people who always shop at the same time and always buy the same items then this could get elevated to level 3 should some change happen.  The same holds true for putting fuel in our cars.  Most of us don’t stop by the gas station at the same time on the same day each week; most of us go when our car tells us it is low on fuel.

Level 3 changes are the ones that give us the most grief.  These are the ones that require a fair amount of thought to perform and usually more energy.  Examples would include learning a new skill, like driving a car for the first time, or trying a shift in our lives, like leaving our job or changing a relationship.  These are the ones we dread the most.

When asking the question, “to change or not to change,” it’s the level 3 changes most people want to avoid.  We’re okay with level 1 because, well, we have no choice.  Level 2 doesn’t bother us much because they’re part of our normal living experience.  They can be inconvenient at times, like getting home to find the refrigerator bare and having to go back out for food, but we don’t give them a lot of thought.  Level 3’s on the other hand cause us pain, agony, anxiety, and just about every other negative adjective you can bring to mind.  They’re also the ones that, once accomplished, can bring us the most happiness, joy, and good fortune imaginable.

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Fate or Personal Choice

Many years ago, during one of my life coaching classes, I took part in a discussion of fate versus personal choice.  It wasn’t surprising, because of the subject matter, to see everyone in the class pick the argument that our lives are totally ours to choose what to do.  I found myself standing alone among two dozen people.  My argument is that life is both.

I’ve always had a hard time making the argument for one versus the other.  To say everything is fated takes away any freedom in our choices and to say that everything is personal choice takes away the possibility of a bigger picture (a view larger than all of us combined.)

I maintain that the universe, God, the collective consciousness – life – has at least an overview of a designed path for each of us.  Within that design we have the free will to choose whatever direction we want, including the ability to go completely opposite of the big picture.  The issue that arises is that life isn’t always clear about which direction it wants us to take.  This leads to a lot of bumbling around, testing different options, and making some less than perfect moves.

What I’ve found is if the desired direction is a very important one, life will keep throwing it in front of you, no matter how many times you wonder away from it.  Writing this blog is a good example.  I’ve been told by a multitude of people over the past four or five years that I should be sharing my thoughts with everyone.  I kept choosing to not do it, and yes I had plenty of excuses of why I couldn’t do it – it wasn’t always a conscious choice to turn away.  Yet, time and again someone else would bring it back to my attention until now when I decided to follow it.

I don’t know why it so important for me to write this regularly, but it is.  Maybe it’s to help you with your life path choices.  Maybe it’s to help me with my life choices.  Maybe it’s some of both.  While the final goal may not be clear, it is clear this is what I should be doing and I’ve made a choice to do it.  I can say that a part of me is relieved and excited about this path while another part is scared and stressed, but that’s a story for another day.

The point I’m trying to make is life has a design, a fate if you will, for each of us.  At the same time, we have the free will to choose whatever direction we want to follow, regardless of how that fits with the big design.  The best part of being able to make our own choices is that we never have to stay with any one choice.  If one way isn’t right, we can go another way or another way.

If you find yourself really stressing over the path you are on, it’s probably because there are new choices for you to make.  Is it time to make a different choice to get a different, and maybe better, result?  Who knows it might relieve the stress and increase your life’s excitement.

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