When
happiness seems elusive in your closest - most intimate - relationships, look
for ways to engage each other in positive ways. As you do so, let your focus be
on enjoying your very precious time together. Endeavor to not take each other
and what you are sharing for granted because, life can change on a dime. Set
your intention on enlivening the energy that has sustained your valuable
relationship to this point, and shine gratitude on the gift that is your relationship.
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Monday, October 27, 2014
Business Times Column #85
What Blockages Limit Your Business Success?
Article date: Oct 21 2014
Marcus Straub
If you’re similar to the business owners and managers I
work with, you strive to keep your operations running as efficiently,
smoothly and with as few interruptions to the flow of business as
possible. As you endeavor to prevent or remove any blockages that limit
your happiness and success as an entrepreneur, there are a number of key
variables to keep in mind.
The different bottlenecks or barriers to business success
that create blockages come in many forms: ineffective systems and
procedures, poor customer service, inconsistent quality of products and
team members who lack the skills and behaviors necessary to communicate
effectively. There are also less than effective hiring practices,
on-boarding and training; poor teamwork and low morale; and team members
whose lack of desire and negative attitudes prevent them from
performing at consistently high levels. These are just a few of the
common blockages I work with owners and managers to identify and
eliminate to drive business performance and success.
Are you aware of the internal variables that could be
limiting your operations? If you’re not mindful of your company’s
blockages, your lack of awareness will prevent you from addressing them
at all. Is this really a viable option if you want your business to
stand out in the marketplace? If you are aware of the blockages in your
business, then you’re positioned to take the critical next step of
understanding what they are, why they exist and how much they’re costing
you in real terms.
To make more sense of how you can identify and eliminate
potential blockages that will keep you from optimal levels of
performance and success, let’s look at a few common culprits:
Communication: Ineffective communication is a primary, and
often times leading, barrier in many businesses. For this reason,
effective communication — communication that accurately conveys
information, images, feelings and desires so that all parties are on a
similar, if not the same, page — must be highly valued and strongly
encouraged. Clear and specific communication allows people and systems
to work together seamlessly for superior results.
Attitude: While skills can be taught to individuals who
want to learn, attitude is a different beast all together. Although many
team members are hired for their talents, it’s their attitudes and
resulting behaviors that determine in the long run if they’re a blockage
in your business. Team members might be qualified to perform their jobs
at a high level. But if they bring a consistently negative attitude to
the workplace, their performance will be poor and invariably disrupt
your operations in multiple ways. Negativity and bad attitudes are a
deadly virus you can’t allow to spread throughout your company.
Desire: A lack of desire means team members don’t care
enough to deliver superior job performance. When people don’t care, they
also lack commitment and loyalty and are less efficient and productive.
These team members will consistently produce poor quality products and
services, resulting in dissatisfied customers. Just one team member can
negatively affect the overall positive efforts of an entire team. They
have a dampening effect on team moral and damage the work environment.
When an owner or manager tolerates this type of attitude, they lose
credibility with the rest of the team.
Talents and skills: All members of a professional working
team must possess the basic skills required to perform their jobs. If
not, they’ll only take away from the smooth and efficient operations of
the business. While a person lacking the necessary skills to do the job
potentially could constitute a good hire, they must compensate for that
with a strong desire to learn and grow. Otherwise, it’s a waste of time,
effort and money to bring them on.
Think of blockages within your business in terms of a
traffic jam. Progress and efficiency grinds to a halt. Frustration
grows, tempers flare and everyone starts looking out for themselves.
Errors increase, accidents occur and the blockage only grows worse. Once
you are through the traffic jam, though, all of these things are
reversed and there’s a feeling of relief and satisfaction as you’re
freed to continue down the road to happiness and success.
Inaction in addressing the blockages to the flow of your
business will only compound the situations curtailing your company’s
overall performance. Explore your business to see what blockages to the
smooth and efficient flow of your operations you can discover. Write
them down and strongly consider hiring a qualified professional to
assist you in eliminating the blockages in your business for good.
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Coaching Tip #1048 "Inside Out"
Your
internal state determines how well you deal with the external world. When the
waters within are calm, warm and gentle and the sun is shining you are easy
with others, confident and steady in how you handle challenges and at peace
with your reality. Endeavor to weather the rough waters within and to bring a
calmness to the mental, physical and emotional storms that hide the warmth,
strength and happiness that is always there for you.
Friday, October 17, 2014
Coaching Tip #1047 "Shine From Within"
The brightness of dimness of your light has an absolute effect on you, others and the world around you. On cooler days when the sun goes behind the clouds you can quickly get chilled causing you to tighten up and seek insulation from the cold. When the sun comes out from behind the clouds you are instantly warmed causing you to relax and open up. Who you are - positive or negative, happy or sad, calm or angry, compassionate or judgmental - will have a very similar effect on you and those around you. Shine from within and watch how your relationships and life grow brighter.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Coaching Tip #1046 "What Do You See?"
For those of us who get to see the world around us every day It can be easy to take the gift of sight for granted. After all, it's always been there for us. However, being able to see is a gift, not a right. Anyone who has lost their ability to see the world, and even for those who through the aging process have experienced the deterioration of their sight, have an understanding of this truth.
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Business Times Column #84
Are You Unconsciously Building End-of-Life Regret?
Article date: Oct 7 2014
Marcus Straub
The second most-cited regret of people at the end of their
lives is this: “I wish I hadn’t worked so much.” It’s an
extraordinarily powerful and telling statement given all the things a
person could possibly regret when looking back at the life they lived.
For those who have a lot of life still to live, this perspective from
the end of life points toward the wisdom in taking a different and more
conscious approach to work and business.
The people who expressed this deep-seated regret
acknowledged spending too much time on the treadmill of work while
sacrificing valuable time with their spouses, children, extended family,
friends and even themselves. They also allowed their personal dreams
and lifetime adventures outside of financial success to pass them by.
The profound truth is that once gone, these moments and experiences can
never be recaptured.
During a discussion with a “successful” businessman, he
asked about my recent vacation to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico. After
sharing with him how I had turned my business off for five days to focus
on time with my wife, he replied, with obvious regret in his voice, “I
wish I could say that.” This type of wishful thinking constitutes the
very foundation of a silent and growing regret that must be caught early
and turned around. If it isn’t, it will likely lead to behaviors that
will become a top regret at the end of life.
The thought of becoming wildly successful financially —
along with all the accolades that come with it — can become extremely
addicting because it feeds the ego. As with any addiction, it has the
ability to take over, blinding us to a more comprehensive picture of
life and all that it has to offer. When this happens, it creates a
situation where we’re out of balance, ultimately limiting the feelings
of happiness and success for which we strive.
There’s a common and prevailing mantra in business about
making as much money as you possibly can, about being successful at all
costs. There’s no doubt that being as profitable as you can and standing
tall above your competitors constitutes a primary aim in business. The
question is: At what cost?
A business owner whose sole focus is on making as much
money as possible typically has the perspective that his or her team
members should have the same focus. By forgetting that these people also
have lives, hopes, dreams and desires, they come to demand more and
more from them. The reason is simple: When the focus is solely on money
and the accumulation of wealth, people and their happiness and
well-being are discounted and forgotten.
One aspect of my work with business owners is to help them
see the bigger picture of their lives — to discover within themselves
what they value and whether what they’re sacrificing in their pursuit of
riches is truly acceptable to them.
Once my clients develop solid skills in balancing life and
work, they begin to make different choices in how they allocate their
time. Through this fundamental change they come to experience a more
profound form of success — one that still includes financial gain (often
more than ever before), but isn’t solely focused on it as a driving
force in life. In turn, there’s typically a trickle down effect on their
team members as their life and work balance is encouraged and
supported.
It’s important to understand that once your children are
grown, your youth has faded and your health has deteriorated, the
forsaken dreams you left behind in the pursuit of money can’t be
recaptured. That time has passed forever. We all know of people who
worked their whole life to make enough money to travel and enjoy the
many pleasures of life only to discover that by the time they’d
“arrived,” they were unable to do so because they’d waited too long.
Your life is happening right now! There’s room within it
for everything you desire, including making money and enjoying the
multitude of other things that bring you happiness and pleasure. Once
you’re conscious about your life and work and have the skills in place
to create vital balance, you won’t have to work so hard to experience
the happiness and success you want. And you won’t regret having worked
too much.
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Coaching Tip #1045 "What Do You Believe?"
Your
beliefs - about yourself, others and anything else - are the guidance system
for the outcomes in your life. Your belief in any given moment literally
determines your thoughts, actions, words and feelings in that experience.
Whenever you find yourself dissatisfied with the quality of your personal
experience, challenge your own beliefs to discover where YOU are getting in the
way of the happiness and success you desire.
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