Advanced Coaching Solutions

The 2008 election will surely be known as one of the most memorable, albeit longest election campaigns in history. For some it seemed to drag on forever and many desperately waited for the campaigning to be over.  I know some who seem to have even “closed their eyes” and hoped it (along with the financial crisis) would all go away. But for those who kept their eyes wide open, they learned lessons that provide keys to creating and capturing their own success.

Nobody disputes that Barak Obama ran the most powerful and skillfully crafted campaign in memory and had a brilliant team of coaches and advisors to keep him on track and on task. Yet 3 words continually used to describe him by media friends and foes reveal the basis of success of what many reflect was a most unlikely candidate, let alone winner – focused, disciplined and confident. Examining these 3 keys and applying them – or getting help to develop them – can totally change your business and personal life.

From the inception of his campaign, Obama consistently demonstrated an amazing focus – a clarity of vision and purpose that guided his mission, his message, the kind of candidate he was and the way in which he responded, adapted or chose not to respond to circumstances. Everything he did was designed to keep that vision in sharp focus which maintained motivation to persist. At the basis of all great success is a focus fixed on a clear vision, and it’s clear that he held that vision for some time. It didn’t begin with this campaign but rather, the campaign sprung from that vision.

If I heard it once, I heard it dozens of times – he was described as “extremely disciplined.” Anchored by the focus of a powerfully clear vision, discipline becomes much easier, even natural. Such discipline drives execution of strategy, which is critical for success. Poor plans magnificently executed will trump the best plans not executed – every time. What shone through that discipline? Years of disciplined study of influential and charismatic leaders as well as years of practice emulating them. Discipline seems a decision this candidate made long ago.

Confidence is contagious and invites others to join in – especially if they are struggling with uncertainty or fear. I was struck by several commentators’ remarks at the then President-elect’s victory speech, which were something like: Considering the massive and mounting crisis that he’s walking into, he seems remarkably confident of his ability to step in and take charge. Everybody likes to deal with a winner and confidence is one of its hallmarks.

Focus, discipline and confidence – they were key winning factors to propel Obama to the White House. Make them the Winner’s Edge for you and your business!

Until next time,

Larry Gassin

Have you spent any time and money on hiring a “branding” expert to help with your business and sales?

There is an old adage in the estate tax planning field – “if you don’t provide your own trust and will, when you die the state will provide one for you” — but you probably won’t like it.

The same thing is true with regard to your business name, reputation, image, and appeal. If you don’t consciously “brand” yourself – or watch what “brand” you demonstrate you are – others in the marketplace — your customers and prospects — will do it for you. Not only might you not like it, but it might cost you plenty: lost referrals, lost business from existing customers and worse – lost customers!

I’m not suggesting you need to go out and hire a “branding” consultant. I am suggesting you be aware that de facto “branding” is happening EVERY day and with EVERY customer interaction. YOU need to define and design your proactive responses so you don’t have to RE-act and make things worse.

If you’re absolutely clear on your company’s vision, values, mission, goals and the strategies to achieve them – that will form the foundation of any “branding” you would pay for. These can be simply incorporated into the structured way you do business and approach customers and their referrals. (If you’re not clear on these key aspects of your business, perhaps you should consider working with and being supported by a professional business coach).

How have you branded yourself — or let others brand you? What is your market’s perception of your position and place, your professionalism and competence, the quality of your services or products, of how easy it is to do business with you, of your character and integrity?

For example, if you sell specialty printing items, are you known as that “predominantly pesky persistently pushy printer of promotional products”? Or are you warmly welcomed as that “marvelously magical mastermind of money-making marketing materials”?

Perhaps you are a banking officer. Are you perceived as a “classically conservative cantankerously crusty critical curmudgeon of cash” that causes clients to cringe when they approach for help? Or does your bio read “blazingly brilliant blisteringly bright business-building banker” who breeds loyalty and referrals from clients?

Whether you’re a business owner, executive, attorney, CPA, sales professional, contractor, consultant, school principal, director of customer service, or ______(fill in your blank), every day in every interaction your “brand” is being created and it absolutely affects your opportunities and success.

There’s a choice to make. It’s up to you to choose who makes it!

ACTION STEPS

Here are two action steps you can take to help control “brand you.”

First, pay close attention to how you interact with customers, new prospects and everyone you come in contact with. Notice your “responses” and how they are received and perceived by others. Are you being defensive or confident and assured? This will help you recognize that defacto “branding” is taking place continually and how effective you’re being. It will also help you recognize how you have branded yourself in your own mind. You can’t consistently sell yourself in a way that is inconsistent with the brand you think you are.

Next, go out on a limb and survey some of your “best” and “worst” customers. Find out how they have branded you and why. Ask what brand they need you to be and what are some steps you could take to “build” that brand. It may feel a bit risky out on that limb, but remember, out on the branches is where the fruit is.

Until next time,

Larry Gassin

Of ALL the things you think about, do you ever think about – what you think about? Have you ever thought that it matters?

Norman Vincent Peale, Napoleon Hill, W. Clement Stone and others understood what Earl Nightingale called “The Greatest Secret” — the power of the mind to change, achieve, conquer, and create. They understood the biblical injunction found in Proverbs – both a declaration of the human condition and the great promise of its change – that “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”

What you tell yourself – not only matters – it absolutely controls your life. It determines the quality of your life and the results you’ll experience. A rose by any other name may not “be” a rose at all – but what someone else tells you it is, or what you think it is. The same holds true for us. We must constantly watch our self-talk — the most important feedback of all.

Dr. Maxwell Maltz made the landmark discovery he documented in his book “PsychoCybernetics” that the sub-conscious mind, and the body, can’t distinguish between reality and what is vividly imagined. Countless experiments have been conducted through the years that verify this.

I refer to the principles that encompass this whole phenomena as the T.E.A.R.S. syndrome: Thoughts give rise to Emotions which lead to Actions that generate Results which are Symptoms (both positive and negative – of either success or sorrow) of what we were thinking about.

It’s well known among experts of human achievement and performance that we move toward our dominant thought – we become what we continually think about. Well, this ALMOST always holds true. As I heard Brian Tracy once remark, if it were always true then most young men would become young women by age 20 and people that love to overeat would become a pizza!

Our dominant thoughts are often determined by who we listen to. Who do YOU LISTEN to? Why them? Often, others put you down to make themselves feel better, saying things like, “Don’t waste your time. I was going to try that, but I realized it wouldn’t work!” or “If it was that doable, then don’t you think everybody would be doing it?” (NO, because everybody else may be afraid of trying or hearing these “put downs”!)

Some well known examples of people that come to mind are Lucille Ball, Michael Jordan, and Walt Disney. Lucy was told by her first acting teacher to do anything with her life but act, and especially not comedy. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. Walt Disney was told by the editor of the newspaper that he worked for that he should do something else because he just didn’t have any imagination! Thank goodness for all of us that they didn’t listen to these other people but persisted in nurturing their own dominant thoughts.

Do you ever feel that other people, circumstances or “things” are blocking your path to success? While they may contribute, these are merely external environmental factors. The distance between us and everything we want is only 6 inches – the 6 inches between our ears.

STD’s

There is a distinct difference between what Winners see, think and do compared with others. Winners See Touch Downs – Losers Self Talk Down.

Winners see with or through a “vision.” Winners see opportunities and openings in obstacles. They see chances and choices for change in challenges and they see triumph in trials and tests.

Winners watch what they think – is it empowering or disempowering? Does it help them focus on and move closer to achieving their goals or hold them back? If it holds them back, they let go of it quickly and replace it just as quickly with a winning thought.

Haven’t you ever felt that you have much more potential than you’re experiencing? You’re right – you do! What do you need to do to “get out of the way” of your own success?

Think differently – think different thoughts. Think, learn, be and do things differently – as well as do different things – so you can achieve different results.

Much like a Michelangelo working with a plain looking piece of marble and converting it into a masterpiece, I KNOW there’s a winner inside each of you – just waiting to be discovered and let out. But YOU are the sculptor – YOU hold the key.

No doubt you’ve heard the sentiment expressed that one of the saddest things in life is when someone “dies with their music still in them.” What keeps you from singing YOUR song? What are you thinking? Can you understand better the saying, “Whether you think you can or you can’t – you’re right!”?

Of ALL the things you think about, do you ever think about – what you think about? It’s critical! T.E.A.R.S. of success or of sorrow. It’s all up to YOU. And THAT’s something to think about!

ACTION STEPS

Here are two action steps you can take to immediately go to work and start to master your thoughts to help create habits of success that will lead to your desired results:

First, study the T.E.A.R.S. concept until you “get hold” of it. Understand that even random Thoughts give rise to Emotions which lead to Actions that generate Results that are Symptoms (positive or negative – of success or sorrow) of what you were thinking about. Look at what you are experiencing. Is it what you want? Start with whatever point stands out and “work” backward and forward through the event chain to identify each of the aspect of the T.E.A.R.S. equation in that particular circumstance. This will increase your awareness of the power of this cause-and-effect relationship.

Next, when you face a challenging situation, ask yourself this simple question, “What would a Winner See, Think and Do?” in this circumstance and then immediately “Do it!” This will help your self-confidence and begin developing the habit of embracing empowering thoughts.

Until next time, all the best and keep winning!

Larry Gassin

The big secret behind the life-changing phenomenon “The Secret” is that its principles have been known for thousands of years by millions of people, but used and applied by a relatively few. Called by many names, these ageless, timeless, treasured truths of wisdom and inspiration have massively changed lives and even the world in which we live. Authentic principles of power and causes of action, the foundation for many of them is found in the inspired writings that have been preserved and handed down for centuries. Those who have studied them understand they have multiple levels of interpretation and application and that they readily fulfill the declaration that “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”

This is from a series that focuses on one such principle at a time to provide a brief business and/or personal success application that may act as a “teacher” with a personal message for you. As you are “ready,” may you be inspired and prosper abundantly, as you define that. Most especially, I urge you to commit to take action to develop and apply these spiritual secrets of success in your own life and business to enjoy greater success – starting today.

The Principle

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

—Proverbs 22:6

Application – It is significant to note the proverb doesn’t say “tell a child” or “show a child”, but rather “train up” a child. We’ve all trained something – our pet, our hair, our muscles, our voice, our hands to play a piano or guitar, our ability to aim at a target, etc. It takes focus, time, patience, consistency of effort, and repeated action toward a specific result within the framework of a pre-determined purpose.

Among the many qualities of children are their ability to be both flexible and resilient, their desire to please, their level of trust, their wanting to “do things right” and their need for clearly delineated limits to successfully accomplish this and feel good.

Whether you’re beginning a new personal relationship, a new job, closing a deal with a new customer, accepting a new client, or setting a new goal it is important for you to set the standards – the bounds and limits of the relationship – right from the start. This will clearly “set the expectations” for the relationship as well as encourage maximum performance by both of you. This is the surest path to have it the way you want it to be so you can maximize your opportunity to serve that individual or client as you intend and achieve your desired results. “Train up this new ‘child’ in the way it should go” and you will be able to enjoy the fact that as time passes it “will not depart.” Then, you’ll be living your life by choice, not chance, and that’s The Winner’s Edge.

Action Steps

Identify one key relationship, activity, transaction that is either frustrating you, depleting resources, or not generating the results and opportunities you need. Evaluate how clearly the boundaries and expectations have been set, determine how best to change those, and go to work to increase the clarity of these in the minds of all parties, starting with yourself.

This is the 3rd and last in a series of 3 Steps to Extraordinary Success. So once you’ve identified AND accepted your dream – or better yet – embraced it – and made a determined decision to pursue it, kind of like Rocky Balboa when he said to his opponent, “Go for it!” – how do you develop the 3rd step to achieving extraordinary success? That step is the discipline to do it.

There are many techniques and strategies, but here I’ll just share 3 simple, yet powerful ones, you can use immediately.

1. MAKE A PROMISE – KEEP A PROMISE

Practice being aware of what you say you’ll do. LISTEN to yourself. Treat each commitment as a promise – make them sparingly and keep them religiously. We need to also realize that we say things that others take as implied promises. If you say you’ll do something, then the world, but most importantly YOU, must be able to “go to the bank” on the FACT you’ll do it.

When my children were younger and needed to go someplace and I would offer to take them, many times they would say, “we want mom to take us because we can’t count on you.” Too many times I said I’d be home in time to take them to an activity and would just barely make it, causing them stress as they had others counting on them. Finally fed up, my then 9-year-old son tapped me on the chest and said, “Dad, when we’re supposed to be somewhere at a certain time, it’s like we’ve promised someone. Listen dad, here’s how it really is – when you have to be somewhere, early is on time, on time is late, and late is absolutely unacceptable!” “OUCH!” Pain inflicted by a 9 year old – and lesson learned.

It’s been said that it’s a greater compliment to be trusted than to be loved. Haven’t you ever known someone who loved a person, but didn’t trust them? MAKE A PROMISE – KEEP A PROMISE! It’s the difference between a casual contribution of convenience and a conscious commitment of character – and it’s ALL the difference in the world – especially, in the world of success and achieving your dreams.

2. BUILD AND USE STRUCTURES, SYSTEMS OF SUPPORT

Develop, hire, outsource, put in place methods, routines, structures and systems that will support you achieving your dream by forcing – or reinforcing – you to do what is needed. A simple example would be wanting to get up early in the morning to walk or jog, but repeatedly wimping out on your goal by making excuses to hit the snooze button on the alarm clock. Am I the only one who’s done that? When we do, we are simply losing the battle of mind – over – mattress.

What’s one structure you could use? Get an exercise buddy who you know will be waiting on the corner for you. By being accountable for your commitment, you’re more likely to keep it.

A great example of someone who successfully used the strategy of methodically relying on a structured routine was gymnast Peter Vidmar. Years ago he committed to himself and his coach that he would be the last one out of the gym each day, and would undertake his hardest and most concentrated practice for 15 minutes each day after everyone was gone.

At the Olympic level, that’s tough to do – especially when everyone else is trying to do the same thing! But he did. Just 15 minutes a day – 6 days a week – for those many years. He made a promise and kept a promise. He employed a structured routine that reinforced his best. It gave him the confidence and winner’s edge that comes with such integrity and commitment. He was in the process of living his dream and he achieved it – 4 Olympic Gold Medals!

3. THE SELF-DISCIPLINE OF VISUALIZATION

Denis Waitley called self-discipline “the power of doing within, when you’re doing without.” You have probably heard of the process of visualization, but may think it couldn’t make a difference, or think you don’t have the time. I’m here to tell you it DOES work, and it provides the fuel to feed the fire that keeps your dreams burning, possible, and alive. It helps keep the things you set in motion – MOVING!

The critical thing to understand is that, just like self-talk, we all engage in visualization in some manner every day. But when we control it, by deliberate practice, we help control the results we experience.

The account has been recorded of Major James Nesmeth – prisoner in Vietnam for 7 years in solitary confinement in a cell 4-1/2 feet high and 5 feet long. During his solitary confinement he committed to “playing” a full round of golf each day. He had been an average weekend golfer, shooting in the mid-to-low 90’s. Each and every day he “practiced” walking each fairway, picking up and smelling each blade of grass, feeling the breeze, swinging his clubs, etc.

He never actually touched a club that entire time. Since he couldn’t go anywhere and wasn’t in a hurry, he took just as long to play 18 holes in his mind as it would have really taken. Not once did he miss a shot – never hit a hook or slice, and never missed a putt. He played 18 holes – 4 hours a day – 7 days a week – for 7 years -vividly visualizing and focusing on his dream. A few days after his release, even though he was weak and frail, having been cooped up in that small 4 -1/2 feet high, 5 feet long cell – he played his first “real” round of golf and took 20 strokes off his former game! It was JUST LIKE HE HAD PICTURED IT in his mind!

Three simple techniques – (1) make a promise – keep a promise; (2) set up structures and systems of support and (3) the self-discipline of visualization. By the way, you don’t really have to do this 4 hours a day. I have clients who find 2 or 3 daily 20-minute “visualization workouts” powerful and very effective over time.

You see, people who are successful at achieving and living their dreams understand that we shape our habits, then our habits shape us. They don’t like doing unpleasant tasks any more than we do, but they get help when needed – often from coaches – to develop the habits of success in doing those little things – that make a BIG difference! It’s really simple to them. They know we become slaves to our habits, so the key is to develop great habits – habits of success – and then confidently surrender!

CONCLUSION

What’s YOUR dream? When you’re pursuing it, life is ALWAYS more fun and fulfilling. Remember, you’ve got to have a dream to make a dream come true. But don’t let it overwhelm you – because you DON’T have to do it alone. There are role models, support systems, and experienced coaches – all of which can help accelerate your confidence, competence and rate of success! GO for it! I know you CAN do it!

Dare to Dream – Determine to Decide – Discipline to Do – Three steps to achieving the extraordinary success that will help you step into your greatness and achieve The Winner’s Edge!