What are you not trying because you don’t feel qualified or ready?
I love this quote from Bruce Lee because it calls it perfectly…greatness is present in everyone, even the average person, but it requires effort to achieve.
With all the opportunity for distraction available to us…literally in the palm of your hand…we often fall prey to Distraction Over Action. We know that the next task or project is going to be taxing, stressful, or lengthy so we opt for a “quick” distraction. That quick distraction turns into a long one, the BAM…off your game.
One of the best ways I’ve found to defeat DOA is with block scheduling. Schedule a block of time, say 20 minutes, to focus on one task. Turn off all your notifications, don’t check email or answer the phone…just focus. You will be amazed at what you can accomplish in a short period of time.
How do you avoid DOA and get that To Do list knocked out? Leave your best tip in the comments!
Do you have what it takes to become an overnight success and turn everything you touch into a win? Are you sure?
Sometimes when I’m having a conversation with someone looking for a business and life coach I will ask them this question. Often they seem genuinely surprised that I’d ask such a question. But it’s a necessary question.
If you’re going to win in business, you have to have confidence in yourself! No one else is going to do it for you!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTzmeMQcmFU
Confidence is the residue of execution. The more you execute, the more your confidence builds. And as your confidence builds, so will the success of your business. There is a direct relationship!
Think about it, would you rather go with the doctor that “thinks” they can solve the problem or the one that “knows what the problem is and what to do?” You’re customers feel the same way!
So what if you don’t have the confidence yet? Well, this is where fear and courage make their appearance. Your lack of confidence will create fear, and fear is a good thing. It gives you an opportunity to step out in faith and demonstrate your courage!
All other things equal, when you’re in the heard and everyone is huddled up, afraid and unsure what to do next, they will follow the first person to step out front and say, “follow me.” It might as well be you!
If you are not sure what steps to take next, don’t know how to execute to achieve your goals, or just need some help putting together a plan, I can help. DM me or find me on my website at www.ThomRigsby.com.
How bad does it have to get before you will take action?
You’ve probably heard that all human action is driven by one of two things, avoidance of pain or achievement of pleasure. It’s Independence Day here in the US and as I’m writing this I wonder…was it pleasure or pain that motivated the Founding Fathers?
As you are reading this right now, there is something you want to do. Something you want to accomplish. It might be a big, legacy type outcome…or maybe something small, like a raise or a promotion. In either case, you have to do something to make it happen.
See, the truth is that you already have the freedom you seek, you’re just keeping it locked behind excuses! All you have to do to have the freedom you so long for is just choose to act!
Now, bear in mind…choices come with consequences and freedom comes with responsibility. You have the freedom to choose friends that will build you up and support your journey…and that comes with consequences related to your existing friends. And then there’s family…
It’s kind of like getting your driver’s license. Yes, you get an immense amount of freedom when you can finally drive yourself where you want to go. But you’re also doing so in a 2,500-pound projectile that is more than capable of killing you and others. With that freedom comes great responsibility!
So today, as you celebrate our nation’s freedom, remember:
– freedom isn’t found in waiting for the answer
– freedom isn’t found in researching and reading
– freedom isn’t found in sitting still
No, freedom (and it’s requisite responsibility) can only be found by being bold, brave, and taking action!
What action will you take TODAY to move yourself one step closer to the life and lifestyle you crave? Leave a comment and let me know!
Do you ever feel overwhelmed by your circumstances?
You may have heard me say that opportunity is just a set of circumstances…facts or conditions that surround you. But is it possible to have so many opportunities or circumstances that we get stuck and can’t make ANY progress? Well, sure, it’s possible…so what do about it?
When you are feeling overwhelmed by circumstances, it is rarely the volume of opportunity that is causing the problem (that doesn’t change very much over time). Rather, it is the relative weight you are assigning to the opportunity or the outcome.
Sometimes, the weight is appropriate…get out of the street or be hit by that truck…but more often than not, the weight is arbitrary, just something you made up. If you made it up, you can change it!
In my life and business coaching practice, I see this a lot around goals (or expectations of outcomes). You start a business and expect million dollar results in the first year…then when it doesn’t happen, or it’s slow, you start looking at everything you need to do to improve…and there’s a lot…and BOOM…you’re overwhelmed!
This is one reason I came up with the P4F model for planning and GSD. It will help you find the five most important things to focus on today and prioritize them to create results.
I’ve made a short video about P4F and how it works. You can find it on my website at www.ThomRigsby.com/P4F. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, take a 6-minute breather and watch the video…it will change your life!
Have you found work/life balance yet? Neither have I and there’s a good reason why…it doesn’t exist! [read more]
You have been sold a bill of goods, a pig in a poke, whatever axiom you want to use. The idea that work goes in one box and life goes in another, then somehow, if you are PERFECT they’re supposed to balance out, is just a bunch of bunk!
Okay, so if work/life balance is a load of…um…fertilizer, then what SHOULD you expect?!
Here’s the deal…you need to work. There is something deep in your soul that wants to enjoy the reward and the value you get from seeing an accomplishment of your labor. And that work is just part of your life! Get it? There’s no work-life balance, there’s just life, and work is a big part of it!
When most people say they want more work-life balance, they’re really saying they want more life and less work! Is that you? If it is, that’s fine, just be honest about what you’re asking for!
The reality is that you are uniquely gifted, talented, and placed to do work that matters, and when you’re doing the work that matters TO YOU, you will enjoy it. Don’t compromise!
Are you doing the work you are gifted and talented to do? Or are you doing the work that will make you the most money? Just something for you to consider before you read that next book or watch that next video promising to give you something you already have!
We’re almost halfway through the year, are you struggling to reach your goals? That’s a good thing, here’s why.
We hear a lot these days about how things should be easy. Great example: minimum wage should be a living wage. I don’t know about you but there was a time in my life where I worked three jobs and my wife worked two…5 jobs between us…to make a ‘living wage.’ There was nothing easy about it, but we did get one very valuable thing from it.
I’ve always been blessed to know that the best things in life cost you the most, and not always in money. Having to work hard for anything gives us a greater appreciation for the value of that thing. That’s one reason I’m so fond of saying your employees will never love your business the way you do, they haven’t lived the struggle.
It’s also one reason I make it challenging to get into my business and life coaching practice. I don’t want to convince anyone that they need help, I want them to know they need it!
So be thankful for the struggles. They give you an opportunity to demonstrate greatness and they make the reward that much sweeter!
If you are having difficulty reaching your goals for 2019, or maybe you haven’t even set any goals yet, I can help! DM me or send an email to thom@thomrigsby.com to see if you have what it takes to enter the program!
transformation for the week: From afraid to confident / courageous For Today: Finding the will to win
Do you have what it takes to win? Are you willing to do whatever it takes?
I had a terrible boss once. No, I mean REALLY bad! Combine that with my stubborn streak and what do you get? I became determined to stay at the company longer than he did. That vision, that mission, gave me the will to put up with a LOT of crap!
For many people, the ‘will to win’ is something soldiers or athletes need but you don’t need it in your role, right? Well, maybe! I hate to break this to you but every day won’t be a great day, in fact, some days will be downright terrible. But even those aren’t the days when you need the will to win.
When you’ve been working on that big pitch, trying to land that game-changing client, or working diligently to open a new store…then you lose! The pitch get’s accidentally deleted, the game-changing client goes with someone else. The new store has a new neighbor…your biggest competitor!
Would you answer your phone the next time it rings if you KNEW the call would change your life for the better? What if it MIGHT change things for the better?
Many people, maybe even you, look at an opportunity as a single big-thing delivered with a bow on top and a card with instructions. The outcome is guaranteed, just plug it in and the world is yours!
But just like many a birthday or Christmas present, the reality of that present is much different than what you’ve built it up to be. Oh yeah, it’s awesome to rip open the paper and see the gift you’ve been hoping for. Then you open the package and the dreaded “Some Assembly Required” or “Batteries Not Included” annotation that you overlooked on the outside of the box becomes painfully real.
So now that gift that you wanted more than anything else just lost a bit of its luster, work is required and now, maybe, you want it just a little bit less.
It’s hard to turn on the television, scan through the YouTube feed, or read through entrepreneur forums without finding a title similar to, “Looking for the next opportunity.” You’ve even seen it on LinkedIn “Between Opportunities.”
The problem is too many people are saying opportunity when they really mean gift. They want a plug-and-play solution when the reality is…it’s not that simple!
You are uniquely gifted, talented, and placed to do work that matters, and that work will call to you. Ever had an idea that just wouldn’t go away? Maybe it was a product idea. Maybe it was an open-ended offer to join a startup. You may find a career and income, maybe even prosperity without it, but you’ll never find fulfillment and the joy of knowing you are answering the call!
Whatever yours is, it is calling to you because THAT is YOUR work that matters. If you’re not answering the call, it’s not too late (remember yesterday! You’re not a tree!) If you’re not sure what that nagging emptiness is, I can help! Just ask.
So why, exactly, are you comparing yourself and your life to someone else? Do you REALLY want THEIR life?
It’s pretty easy for us to look at someone else’s results and say, “Yeah, I want that!” But that’s only part of the story. You don’t know the in’s and out’s that it took for them to get there. You don’t know what they gave up to have what they have. But most importantly, YOU’RE NOT THEM! What motivated them to reach for this goal may not even be on your radar!
When you compare yourself to others you tend to compare the most negative version of yourself against an idealized version of them. When you do that, of course you’re going to come out on the short end of the stick!
But why are you worried about them in the first place? Why don’t you come up with your own idealized outcome and start working toward that! The great thing about the world we live in today is that you can literally dream up just about anything and make it your reality! Heck, Elon Musk wants to live on Mars… so he’s working on it! Will he achieve it? Who knows…and who cares! If he finds his joy doing his art trying to get to Mars, he’ll be a happy guy.
So what is YOUR Big Hairy Audacious Goal? What’s that one thing that you want more than anything and you’re reluctant to share with anyone else? That’s your BHAG, and if you have a need for comparison, compare yourself today to yourself yesterday and the progress you’ve made toward that BHAG!
Yep, that’s right… I know why you haven’t started yet…and so do you!
You’ve convinced yourself that you’re doing the “responsible” thing by studying, gathering more information, and making sure all the i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed. Oh, and you just found another book or YouTube video about it that you need to read, then watch, then study the differences to figure out … I can’t even finish typing that sentence!
The reality is you’re afraid, but not afraid of failure. No, we all fail, every day. Sometimes in big, spectacular way but more often in small almost insignificant ways that have a funny way of training us!
No, you’re not afraid of failure… you’re afraid of the perceived ego shot that would go along with failure! PRIDE is keeping you from stepping out and playing your role in the universe! PRIDE!
“But Thom, you don’t understand…I have a lot to lose if I get this wrong.” I’m sure you do! In fact, that’s EXACTLY WHY you NEED to step out. Do it! Don’t jump in the baby end of the pool, hit that deep water that will challenge you. (Because it’s that challenge that makes the whole thing worth it…but that’s for another day!)
Stop letting your pride deprive the rest of us of the art your unique set of talents and gifts are intended to create! Your being selfish…stop it! Stop asking “What else do I need?” and start asking “What if I did!”
When you’re ready to get off the bench and make great things happen, DM me. I will help!
PS – Today’s quote comes to us from none other than THE @JockoWillink, “Stop researching every aspect of it and reading all about it and debating the pros and cons of it…Start doing it”
