• Newsletter Sign Up

• Business Links

  • AHRI
  • David Allen
  • Fistful of Talent
  • HR Magazine
  • HR Thoughts
  • Incentive Intelligence
  • Life Hacker
  • Personal MBA
  • Productivity 501
  • The Coaching Institute

• Friends n Mentors

  • Miles Burke
  • Steve Pavlina

• Categories

  • Blogging (5)
  • Business (21)
  • CRM (10)
  • Development (19)
  • Education (2)
  • Goals (3)
  • Hacks (2)
  • HR (1)
  • Leadership (1)
  • Management (12)
  • Not for Profit (1)
  • Productivity (2)
  • Sales (3)
  • Start Up (1)
  • Success (20)
  • TGIF (1)
  • Uncategorized (1)
  • Vision (1)

• Tags

  alignment Business goal Success Vision
• 

No matter who we are, we want to be more effective.

In fact, I’ve noticed that the people who are passionate about being more effective are generally those who are already quite successful! They have an internal driving force that motivates each of us to do more, be more, achieve more.

So, if you’re in that place right now and have “achiever’s block” (like writer’s block but worse) then we need to know to quickly get ourselves to that next stage quickly and effectively.

One thing you can do is to dredge up the past - but in a good way. Think of a few times when you made a leap of some kind. Maybe it was changing careers, or making the leap to management. Perhaps it was starting your new business and you realised you’d created a very solid customer base. Maybe you’d started a new hobby and become, in quite a short amount of time, an expert in your field.

Every one of those achievements came with specific actions, specific thinking and specific modifications when things weren’t going smoothly. And, you did it. Just you. Maybe with some support, advice and reinforcement from friends and colleagues but, in the end, you achieved your goal.

So, it stands to reason that the same thinking, actions and tenacity might get you to where you want to go. Sure, you’ll learn new things as well, but you sure ain’t gonna learn them sitting on your arse! As Guy Kawasaki says in his book, The Art of the Start, just get going. Do something, and reference off your achievements of the past.

I’m suggesting you do it in quite a structured manner to make it easier.

Here’s a few ideas to help you get (re)started.

1. Get an index card (the size doesn’t matter) - think of the last major achievement you made and begin to write.

• Write down what you did to achieve it.
• Write down who’s help you enlisted.
• Write down an indication of the hours you put into it.
• Write down how long it actually took you to make the achievement.
• Write down how you felt ‘during’ the work and then how you felt when you achieved it.

2. Look forward - use the above points as a ‘template’ to work towards your next major goal

• Begin to write down the tasks you’re going to need to do in order to move you towards your goal.
• Who’s help will you need in order to get advice or expertise?
• Write down the hours you’ll put into the task each week and what small milestones you want to achieve each week
• Be ready to write down your frustrations that you may experience and then write down what you’ll actually do when you feel these frustrations (who will you call on, what activity will you set yourself to do etc etc etc)
• Also write down what you plan to do when you achieve your goal

3. Set the Deadline - every achievement without a deadline is just a dream so make sure you set a deadline to meet for your goal.

Stay tuned for more …

Many people have seen this already but it never ceases to amaze me how someone so unassuming is just waiting to be ‘discovered’.

Watch as Paul Potts puts on a perfect performance. But also watch the judges reactions to him before he sings and then when he starts. Simon Cowell’s reaction is priceless with the pen in his mouth!

Now the key question as you ponder this is not, “How many Paul Potts do you know?” but “What is the Paul Potts inside you?”

Have you ever ridden a motorbike? For those that have, this article will have you nodding your head in agreement. For those who haven’t, you’ll pick up the idea and have your own examples.

I have just got my open class motorbike license here in Australia. Nothing special about that except for two things:

• I have never ridden a motorbike before
• I’m 44 years old!

It was born out of rising fuel prices (necessity) but soon became a passion. Riding a motorbike is not being able to ride fast, its being ably to fly low!

I wish I had learnt to ‘fly’ earlier. Read more