Execution is tough isn’t it? Why? Because it calls for a change in behavior, something that not many people find it easy to do.  In order for us to change behavior we need to stop doing something in favor of starting to do something new.  A shift in priorities, from moving  priorities that are no longer important to start doing those things are now considered important.

As we plan to stop doing something in favor of starting to do something new, there is another concept playing on our mind – having confidence that we can make the change. But, is it really a matter of having confidence to do something?  Most of us would start off by saying that with more confidence we would try different things, like learning to ski, losing weight, asking for a raise, looking for a new job, changing careers.

My question for you is, what are you confident about in your life and how did you get to the point of being confident?

The answer is that you gained confidencethrough aquiring more competence. With that said, then, our efforts to change behaviors, or to pursue our dreams,  by waiting for confidence to come to us means we have been waiting for the wrong reason. You have had dreams to pursue but you have held back due to the presumed lack of confidence to move ahead when all along it has really been a lack of competence that you needed to develop.

You have been waiting to gain confidence to change when in fact you should be developing the competence to change.

So where does the acquisition of competence come from? Being a life long learner. Being willing to dream big, to shift priorities. A strategy to help you Dream Big is outlined in the last section of Someday Isle, which you can find by clicking on the button on this website.

I am going to offer four steps to help you acquire the competence  to gain the confidence to make the changes you seek.

• narrow your focus to 1 to 3 goals, don’t let the eyes get bigger than the stomach. One to three goals should be quite manageble and experience some success.
• identify what you can influence, what is measureable that leads to acheivement of your goal. Losing weight is your goal. The number of pounds you lose is measurable and is the indicator that you are nearing and achieving your goal.
• keep score since most people play differently when they keep score
• create an accontabilty source to keep your foucus. It is most helpful to have an accoutability buddy to urge you on, give you feedback. keep you focused on the goal.

So, let’s tie in execution of new behaviors with the acquisition of competence that will lead you to greater confidence to change in the direction you seek. Competence breeds confidence!

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I would refer you to James Kouzes and Barry Posner’s book, The Leaderhsip Challenge, and their discussion of the five  practices of exemplary leadership. I drew some points made above from notes I took from a webinar on Dr. Stephen Covey’s 4 Disciplines of Execution.

Well, when you wonder how anyone can give 100% or more consider this mathematical exercise. Perhaps it will shed some light onto your understanding.

If: A=1%, B=2%, C=3% . . . .X=24%, Y=25% and Z=26%.

Then:

Knowledge = 96%

Hardwork = 98%

Attitude = 100%

Perseverance = 131%

Persistance = 129%

And don’t think that a bunch of ‘hotair’ will get you by. Hotair equals a miserly 71%.

So knowledge of what needs to be done and hardwork alone don’t put you over the top as requested. Attitude gets you to 100% and a good dose of Persistance and Perseverance take you way over the top!

The same holds true for goals and dreams. One might have the correct tools to achieve goals but without the right mindset – attitude and perseverance, for example - those goals become what they started out as, dreams.

When you stop to plan your goals, to pursue your dreams, remember that the right mindset of attitude and some perseverance allows you to give more than a 100% and takes you over the top towards successful realization!

DREAM BIG – AND TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT CAN MEAN TO YOU CLICK ON THE BUTTON TO THE RIGHT TO GET YOUR COPY OF SOMEDAY ISLE!  YOU WILL LEARN THE STRATEGY THAT TAKES YOU WHERE  YOU DREAM TO BE!

I came upon some interesting information form a friend of mine, Kordell Norton, in a newsletter from him. He writes, “. . . don’t START doing things but first STOP doing things.”

Interesting in that the reason we plan is to avoid or eliminate doing those things that keep us from accomplishing other things.

We are all faced with being pulled ’seven ways from Sunday’ day in and day out. Having a set of priorities for the day, the week, the quarter, the year, helps us to decide where our precious time should be spent — doing what is important and not urgent.

Now, if we weren’t doing things that interferred with doing what’s important then we wouldn’t have to plan, would we? We are already doing what we should be doing. But we get involved in doing this and that and at the end of the day, we ask, “What did I get done today? NOTHING!”  That leads to being frustrated, out of control of our own destiny, being a passenger in someone else or something else’s plan.

So, the next two steps and only two steps you need to take are: 1.Stop doing what your are doing! What do you need to stop doing in order to move to the next level? The second next step is use a strategy of DREAM BIG as found in Someday Isle which is available by clicking on the button in the right column and see what might be holding you back from moving forward in 2010!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Someday Isle is now available for your reading pleasure!

Unlike “War and Peace” this is a quick read, an enjoyable and a challenging one. Read along as Ivan and Abel each pursue life in their own way but in the end, find some common ground as to how to achieve their dreams in life. Specifically, a strategy for YOU to follow is the result. 

After reading Someday Isle you will have a tool, a strategy that guides you from the ’shoulda’, ‘woulda’ and ‘coulda’s of life into greater self-fulfillment. What’s holding you back? What is keeping those dreams in the clouds and not in front of you as goals to achieve?

You can purchase your own copy of this motivational story right on this site buy clicking on  the BUY NOW button to the right.

Recently, I was enjoying time with my granddaughter as we engaged in a few games of the junior version of Monopoly. She is such a pleasure to spend time with but that isn’t the object of this post. As we played (by the way she trounced me three games to one!) the concept of Abundance Mentality came to mind. Dr. Stephen Covey speaks about this concept when he addresses his 4th Habit – Think Win-Win.

Now the junior version of Monopoly is much shorter than the marathon Monopoly games I played as a youth. As we traveled around and around the board, buying properties, paying rents and collecting rents as we went to enhance our wealth, it came to mind how easy it is for us to enjoy the thrill of success – receiving rent money – and the anguish of loss – paying out to the other person. We vascillated between Abundance and Scarcity as each of us passed GO! My monopoly dollars came and went as did hers, until finally one of us was out of money! 

The scenario of this game is aligned with a Win-Lose mentality but what came to mind is how we react to the ebb and flow of abundance and loss. How we react when dreams are achieved and hopes dashed.  How some people have big dreams – owning the board – while others DREAM BIG and plot a course of success as opportunites come to us.

We all have big dreams – owning Park Place or Boardwalk – which may come about but only with the right throw of the dice and being in the right place at the right time – a task that is not easy to arrange when we let someone, or something else – the dice, control our goals.

While most people have big dreams, others DREAM BIG and identify opportunities for personal fulfillment and success. Planning, exploiting opportunities along the way, setting little goals to acheive bigger ones and measuring out successes step by step will put us on a track of success. We may not have the Boardwalks, Park Places, railroads and utilities but we can enjoy still enjoy an abundance of personal wealth.

How do you approach a state of Abundance or the state of Scarcity? What goes into your planning to realize greater self-fullment, productivity, goals and dreams?

By following a strategy outlined in the soon to be released, Someday Isle, you will propel yourself forward and experience an Abundance mentality that overrides any Scarcities that come along. Someday Isle will be available on or before December 12th. I know you will find this motivational parable about the choices we can make to achieve greater self-fullment to be an enjoyable read.

Send me your email address and I’ll notify you as soon as copies are available. Mention you heard about Someday Isle on this website and receive free shipping for any and all copies you request. The investment is only $9.95 per copy. I can be reached at ron@rongrusy.com.

DREAM BIG AND REVEL IN YOUR JOURNEY!

Is it not the role of leadership to provide the vision and not the details for the populace or an underling group of people to follow? Is it not the essence of leadership and team work to see that a vision is pursued through debate, study, revisions, all of which keep the vision in perspective to fulfill?

Is not this debate, etc. meant to come up with a product/result that is far better for the populace or organization than what might have originally been envisioned?

Reflecting back on an earlier post involving the carrot, egg and coffee bean, in the case of healthcare reform, is the end result going to be an aromatic cup of coffee? I know this is treading on your political viewpoint as to whether coffee, a hard- boiled egg or a limp carrot will result; but, give it some thought in terms of leadership in general? Is not a vision provided by the leader and refined by the team being accomplished?

What are your thoughts?

ron@rongrusy.com

I am in the process of publishing my first book!  YEA!!! The book title is “Someday Isle” and you’ll hear more about it later. It is a story about the choices people can make in the pursuit of their dreams, not big dreams but dreaming BIG.  To dream big requires  making some changes in ones behavior, thoughts and the way they look at personal fulfillment and happiness.

I am going to share with you the strategy that came out of that book to guide you through the pursuit of your dreams. This strategy is built around key action words from DREAM BIG.  Here is that strategy for your contemplation:

D – dare to be the driver of your own dreams and not the passenger is some else’s plan.

R – raze the barriers that are holding you back from realizing your dreams.

E – exploit opportunities that surround you to further your pursuit of fulfillment.

A – hang out with achievers, seek mentors who you see as achiever’s of their own fulfillment.

M - measure your progress towards your dreams, one step at at time; have a scale to measure your progress.

B – believe in yourself and your dreams.

I – imagine how you will feel when your reach your goals and realize your dreams.

G – create an attitude of gratitude towards those who followed your journey towards greater self-fulfillment.

Here’s to your dreaming big!

Let’s take a postive outlook and say that you prefer to produce a change that improves your lot in life, moves  you ahead towards a goal or dream.  With that said, if you were with me two years ago, you would have shared my astonishment when I stepped on a scale at my physician’s office and the nurse announced that I weighted 292 pounds! Unbelievable, as I had not weighed that much in my entire life. Where did all of those pounds come from? The reality of that news was hard to accept.  To ease my pain, I jokingly tried to bargin with the nurse by suggesting that my clothes and shoes that day weighed a lot. “Not that much,” she wryly responded.  Then I suggested that my weight issue was not my fault as I was built like my grandfather, who had a big stomach and lived to the ripe old age of 95. “Good for him,” was all she offered.

Well the reality of being overweight was before me, or should I say on me! A change towards better health was needed. I set a goal of losing 20 pounds and this would dictate a change in diet and exercise level. It was Summer at the time and I enjoyed being outside playing golf, working in the yard, taking walks so the exercise piece was in place. My physician suggested I take up the South Beach Diet program, which I did.  Lo and behold with my goal and steps to reach my goal in place I set out to lose the 20 pounds.

• I wasn’t going to abdicate to others the responsibility for my weight issue
• I clearly defined my end goal
• I was going to measure my progress with the physicians scale.

Do you creat a plan to face your adveristy? Do you include a method to measure your progress and achievement of your goal?

Most people treat the need to change much like a New Year’s Resolution – here today and gone tomorrow! Perhaps they decide they are too busy, too old, too poor, too tired — or too fearful to create a change in their lives. YOU can rise above most people by:

• clearly defining your goal and the desired end result
• create successive steps that lead to that goal
• decide what scale you will use to measure your success — would your scale be in dollars earned. pounds lost, new clients gained, dollars saved?

This process worked for me and within less than 3 months, I had lost my 20 pounds. This same process will work for you and get you where you want to be!

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil.  In the first pot, she put carrots, in the second she placed eggs and in the third she placed coffee beans. In about twenty minutes, she turned off the stove. She fished the carrots and eggs and placed them in respective bowls. The mother asked the girl to feel the carrots. She did and noted they were soft. She asked to to take an egg and break it. The girl pulled off the shell and noticed the hard boiled egg. Lastly, she asked her to sip the coffee.

“What does all of this mean, mother?”

The mother explained. The carrots went in hard, strong unrelenting. However, once boiled they became soft, pliable and weak. The eggs went in delicate with its thin outer shell protecting the liquid interior. After the boiling, its interior became hard. The coffee beans were unique, however. After they were boiled, they chagnged the water.

“Which are you my dear?”

Which are you? How do you respond when adversity strikes?

• Do you wilt and lose strength like the carrots?
• Does your exterior remain the same but your spirit harden?
• Or, like the coffee beans, do you take advantage of adversity, change the situation into a ‘flavorful’, positive turn around?

In the end, does adversity cause you to elevate to a higher level of performace?

What steps do you take when faced with adversity to regain stability or to refocus on what’s important to achieving your goals?