Daily Thought Archives: January 2010

January 1
CHANGE DOESN'T COME COMFORTABLY
Change is always difficult, as it is making us feel uncomfortable, and we don't really like the feeling of being uncomfortable. However, if growth is good, and growth requires change, then being uncomfortable is necessary for our growth. Therefore, our power to change comes from focusing on the growth (the benefit) versus the change.

January 2
PREPARING YOURSELF FOR SUCCESS
Most people don't achieve success as they don't invest the time to prepare for it. You often hear about someone achieving overnight success. However, there is really no such a thing. Their preparation, over years and years, have enabled them to act successfully in the moment their opportunity came.

January 3
FOCUSING ON THE VALUE YOU BRING
There's a huge difference between activity and accomplishment. Some people focus on the activity, but the successful people focus on the accomplishment, as they have understood it is the foundation of their success. It is not what they do, but the value they bring to others. Focus on the value you bring, and success will find you.

January 4
FLEXIBLE ON THE HOW
Once we have defined what we want and why we want it, we then need to focus on how to get there. However, there is never a straight path to anything in life, and we need to be flexible on how to achieve what we want. When one way doesn't work, we just need to find another way.

January 5
EXTENDED FOCUS & CONCENTRATION
The ability to focus on the important and to concentrate on it until completion is one of the key factors that drive success. Successful people have this ability to keep their focus and concentration for extended periods of time (and much longer than others can).

January 6
DIFFERENT RESULTS REQUIRE DIFFERENT ACTIONS
We all do it, and expect different results even though we haven't been doing anything different. Different results are driven by different actions, and these different actions are driven from different thoughts. Bottom line, to get something different, do something different.

January 7
THE ART OF SETTING GOALS
Setting goals is part science and part art. As a leader, how we set goals for our people is important, as the goals can become a big motivator or even a de-motivator if incorrectly set. Therefore, the goals we set have to take into account both what needs to be accomplished, as well as the individual who is accomplishing them.

January 8
GETTING PAST THE INITIAL NO
Ask any salesman, and they will tell you that some of their best customers initially said "No". A "No" can have many meanings and often it just means "Not Yet". Having persistence is the difference between taking the "No" and moving on, or keeping at it until you get a "YES".

January 9
LOSING A KEY INVESTMENT
Successful leaders look at their people (especially their key people) as an investment. If their key people leave the company, they view it as a lost investment. When we view our people as an investment, will put a stronger emphasis on growing that investment versus letting it sit idle.

January 10
EMOTIONAL SIGNIFICANCE TO THE EXPERIENCE
Our brain stores every experience we had in our life so far. However, we can only recall a fraction of those experiences. Why? It often comes down to the level of emotion that is attached to the experience. We might not remember what we had for lunch yesterday, but can recall vividly what we had for lunch on our wedding day!

January 11
SETTING A SUSTAINABLE PACE
Sometimes, leaders take on new positions and want to make a big difference fast. Changes begin to happen, performance goes up, and suddenly there is an expectation that the same pace will continue. Experienced leaders make sure that changes are made and performance is generated at a pace that can be sustained.

January 12
OLD BELIEFS NEED TO BE REPLACED
Our beliefs drive our behaviours, so if we want to make significant behaviour change, then our beliefs must change as well. Just as it is better to replace a behaviour than to adapt one, it is the same for our beliefs. To drive a change in behaviour, we need to focus on replacing an old belief with a new one.

January 13
WITH PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE
Our growth comes from both our self development and the people we interact with. In order to grow faster, we should focus on investing more time with people we would like to be like. By interacting with these people, we will pick up the key behaviours that will speed our growth.

January 14
DEMANDING, BUT WITH FLEXIBILITY
The best leaders are demanding, because that is what drives everyone to use the potential that is inside them. However, being demanding is done in many ways and with an individual by individual approach. Understanding how to "push" and "motivate" each person is a key skill of all successful leaders.

January 15
THE INTANGIBLES CREATE THE TANGIBLE
Success is never driven just by one thing, but by many things. In fact, the little things that seem insignificant can create some very significant results. It is often the invisible to us (the intangibles) that creates success (the tangibles) in others. As they say, the little things matter.

January 16
UNDERSTANDING WHAT MAKES MONEY
There's one attribute that all successful business leaders possess, and wish everyone in their organisation did too. It's understanding how the company makes money. Too often people will focus on various productivity measures, and miss the real factors (the drivers) behind how the company makes money.

January 17
GIVING THE TEAM THE SPOTLIGHT
There are two types of leaders. One type haa a focus of "look at me", while the other type's focus is "look at my team". Leaders who create sustained success focus on creating heroes versus being the hero, and always look to give the team the spotlight.

January 18
LEARN THROUGH ASKING QUESTIONS
We always learn more by listening versus talking, and asking the right questions helps us learn even faster. The power of questions in learning is not so much our first questions, but our follow-up questions. That's when we really gain more insight and ideas from others. It's about "Asking your Way to Success".

January 19
HELPING OTHERS FIND THE SWITCH
We never really motivate others, we just enable others to motivate themselves. The best leaders understand that their role is helping their people find that motivation that inside them. They focus on helping others find that switch that turns their motivation on.

January 20
REMOVING THE BARRIERS
If we try to do anything new, success is often created not just by the quality of our ideas, but by our ability to remove the barriers to the changes. Successful leaders focus on removing barriers, and this enables their teams to deliver the changes and succeed.

January 21
ACTIONS CONSISTENT WITH OUR BELIEFS
Our actions are always consistent with our beliefs, even though we sometimes forget this and try to change our behaviours (our actions) without changing our beliefs. Successful people always start with their beliefs first, because if the beliefs are right, the actions will be right.

January 22
ACHIEVEMENT MANAGEMENT
You know, we cannot really manage time, as we are all given a fixed amount. However, we can manage what we achieve with this fixed amount of time. In many ways, success is the result of managing achievement versus managing time.

January 23
KEEPING THE HORIZON IN FRONT OF US
Life is really about realising our potential and enjoying the pursuit. We do this by living our life with feet firmly on the ground, but always with the view of the horizon in front of us. The only way to realise our potential is to keep our focus on the future (the horizon in front of us).

January 24
CHOOSE YOUR ORGANISATIONAL BATTLES WISELY
Politics is everywhere, and in every size company. Some people are more skillful than others in this area, and those who do it best, choose their organisational battles wisely. Those with great political skills make wise choices on when and when not to use their "influence".

January 25
INVITE DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW
The best way to develop better solutions is getting everyone's input and all their different views discussed. When you discuss an issue from all different sides, you increase everyone's understanding of the issue, and that helps to ensure that an overall better solution is developed.

January 26
CLARITY IS POWER
The word "Clarity" is probably the most powerful word in the English language. Why? Because clarity drives action, and everything we are not clear about stops us from taking action. That's why we always achieve more success when we have clarity on both the what and the why. It drives more action.

January 27
WHEN DO WE COMMIT?
A key indicator for success is around when we choose to commit. Most people are waiting to have all the answers before they commit. However, the people achieving great things commit before having all the answers. Their "Belief" in making it happen drives their commitment and action.

January 28
MOVE FASTER ON PEOPLE ISSUES
Every leader encounters people who are just not fitting in or delivering on expectations, and there's always a desire to give them a chance to improve. However, when a leader realises that the improvement is not happening, he or she must act right away. Leaders rarely move too fast on people issues.

January 29
PREPARE LIKE A CHAMPION
If you were to follow a few champions during their daily life, you would see one trait they all have in common. When they commit to do something in their life, they also commit to do the preparation to do it well. When you prepare like a champion, you will become a champion.

January 30
MAKE TODAY COUNT
People who achieve great things in their lives have the future (their dreams) in their minds all the time, and it's providing their life a direction. However, they can only move in that direction by taking action each day towards it. They make each day count by taking at least one action towards their dreams. You can too.

January 31
KEEPING THE TRIVIAL TRIVIAL
The world is made up of both happy and unhappy people, and each person gets to determine themselves which one they would like to be. The happiest people are good at keeping the trivial trivial, as most unhappy people get that way by turning all their small problems into big problems. Remember to keep the trivial trivial.