Category: Productivity

Reaching a Milestone: Another Opportunity for Reflection

Four years ago, I started writing articles and mailing a newsletter. This article is the 200th article I have written and posted. It is a milestone. A step in a journey, but not the goal. I did not set a target of writing 200 articles. I began this process only to convey ideas that I thought would help others. But along the way, I learned that it helped me also.

Those of you that read my articles regularly know my purpose and passion is to help people expand their awareness, grow belief in themselves, and discover new opportunities for success. It is what I do as a coach and trainer at New Roads Leadership. When I help my clients, I want them to examine themselves, and really learn about their values, their passions, and their habits.

Most people would tell you that they know what they value. They could describe their values with words like honesty, loyalty, and openness. But to truly know your values, they must be challenged. How do you react to adverse situations? The clearer you can visualize your potential actions, the more effective you can be at living your values.

For me, writing these articles provides a forum for my own analysis. I am able to take an idea, and explore it. I can recall situations that were affected by my values, and reflect on lessons learned. I think and challenge myself. I can seek alternatives that would have served me better, and actions that would create better results. I search for excellence, improvement, and success.

I plan to keep writing. My hope is that my words can continue to challenge your thoughts. I am looking forward to my next 200 articles.

Does Frustration Get In Your Way?

I get angry with myself when I become frustrated. I don’t think I am an angry person, but yet I get frustrated at times at the silliest things. For me it can be as simple as slow moving traffic, coffee that has gone cold, or my favorite shirt being in the laundry when I want to wear it.

What is the point of frustration? My frustration is not felt by those around me, unless I act out my frustration. Then they see the results of my actions. They only know me through my actions.

So what do I need to do? Eliminate frustration.

Impossible? Maybe. But I can learn to get past it quicker. I can learn to pause and reflect on the moment and not let the feeling of frustration control me.

Usually it is just a matter of looking at the bigger picture. Or stepping back and looking at the situation from a different perspective. We can train ourselves to be better at taking this simple pause and reflect moment. When we do, we will realize that most of the things that frustrate us are meaningless.

We get frustrated when things happen differently than what we expect or plan. If we become less focused on our expectation, and more focused on making the best of every situation, we will have a new world of opportunity before us.

Frustration is just a form of selfishness. We want things our way.

Does frustration get in your way? What do you do to overcome frustration in your life?

3 Critical Attributes Everyone Should Consider for a Healthy Work Environment

What does a healthy growth environment look like in the corporate workplace? Although there are many considerations, I think there are three critical factors.

1. Committed to employee development.  A company must match action with their words in regards to employee development. For some companies employee development is an exercise on paper not backed up by action. A company must make employee development as strategic as other corporate initiatives. A healthy environment also refrains from punishing mistakes. Instead it takes the opportunity to learn from the mistake.

2. Willing to make changes for growth. A company must be willing to create development assignments. It must be willing to provide new opportunities and new challenges. In most cases this will require changes to the organization design. A company organizations structure should be built with the strengths of their employees as an input, rather than trying to fit employees into a fixed structure.

3. Willing to spend money for employee development. A company must invest money in their people… effectively. By effectively, I mean that the opportunities must match the needs. Much of the corporate training these days only provides training that meets the legal requirements related to employment. Also consider development opportunities are not limited to training, and are best if the are matched to individual strengths.

Why should you want to create or work in a growth environment? Because the result of matching good employees and a healthy growth environment creates success.

Compare it to the success of a motion picture:

  • If you have a good script but bad actors, your film will barely get noticed.
  • If you have a bad script with good actors, your film will fail. And people will wonder why those actors ever signed for that film.
  • If you have a bad script and bad actors, no one will ever notice. Very few people will ever see it.
  • If you have a good script with good actors, your film will rise above the other films with which you are competing. You will have a winning combination.

Do you want a winning formula? Put great employees in a healthy, growth environment! How is your current environment? What makes it great or poor?

Understanding the Gap of Intention: Know Yourself

We have dreams. We want to achieve our goals. At times we actively pursue them, and at other times, they remain as only ideas.

Most of us face a gap between our intent and our actions. We struggle to complete what we intend to achieve on a daily, a weekly, and a yearly basis. Why?

We are influenced by our optimism, and we are influenced by our internal desire for success. We set stretch goals and have big dreams. But why does it require so much focus and hard work to follow through on our intent? We know what we want to achieve.

If we examine the gap between our intent and our actions, we may discover our results to be based on several other potential gaps. Here are four to consider:

1. The gap between how we see ourselves, and how we really are. This is an extension of the gap between intent and actions. We judge ourselves based on our intent, not on our actions. So this gap can perpetuate the original gap.

2. The gap between what we think we know, and what we really know. We assume we know enough to achieve our dream, but each step requires learning. We sometimes underestimate the time to learn and take action. We sometimes forget to factor in the required failures that give us the knowledge and experience required.

3. The gap between how much time we think we will spend, and the time we really spend. Only a small number of people, who are actively working on their goals, finish their daily action plan. We push ourselves to achieve more, and yet we underestimate the interruptions, and the other activities that demand our attention.

4. The gap between the amount of effort we believe it will take, and the level of effort it really takes. We have to be persistent in our efforts to succeed. When things get tough, we need to keep going. To understand this gap just think about all the people that start their exercise and diet plans in January and then give up before the end of the month. These people underestimate the effort required to achieve their goal.

How do we close the gap between our intentions and our actions? I am not convinced it can ever be closed. We are always striving for more. But we can increase our success by knowing ourselves, increasing our awareness, and investing in our personal growth.

How are you closing the gap you have between your intentions and your actions?