Archive For: Work Life Balance

Who’s Looking After You?

We had a fabulous weekend away at this old butcher shop that has been converted into a B&B with a very French feel. It was lovely and relaxing.

By the way, when I say “We”, I mean four of our friends and myself. My gorgeous wife had to stay at home.

I would have loved for her to join us but she was very unwell and I couldn’t afford to get sick as I am off to Singapore on Thursday to deliver two different presentations at a conference and I am just getting over an ear infection.

We talked about it and decided that she would probably just stay in bed for the weekend so I stocked up the fridge with yummy foods and then cleared out of there before the dreaded diseases got me.

It was a tough call. I wanted to be comfort to my gorgeous wife but I also got it was very important to look after myself and my own health. If I am not prepared to make tough decisions about my own health, who will?

So who’s looking after you?

Want to Achieve It?

As I write this we are in Mid May. The year is almost half over.

Are you almost half way to reaching your goals?

I was fortunate to be published in the highly regarded Leading the Way magazine on what it takes to REALLY achieve your goals and I thought others would appreciated it as well.

You can check out the article here.

What Do You See?

Is it just me or is there more and more negativity in the world today?

It seems not a day goes by without something else in my stream about people being killed, tortured or at the very least being treated badly.

It is not only people, it is also the planet and other important elements of life.

That can make it hard to remain positive and see the good in the world.

Abraham Lincoln said, “People are as happy as they make up their mind to be.”

This is also true about how we see the good in the world. For all the negativity and drama (for that’s what sells news services) there are also immeasurable events of goodness and greatness happening.

I choose to focus on the good and great things that happen and look to how I can add to that rather than get swept up in the negativity and trolling of the drama. Not only does this make me feel better but it makes me more fun to be around.

So what do you see?

PS An excellent article in Psychology Today expands on this further about Why We Love Bad News and concludes with the same outcome. We get to choose our influencers and our mood set.

How Good Are You?

Successful people often operate under a cover of feeling “not good enough”.

Many corporate leaders (particularly women) are expecting a knock on the door and their leaders to come in saying, “we know all about you. Who do you think you are to be holding this position?”

Not surprisingly, this never happens. In fact, it is usually the opposite. They usually achieve more and receive praise from their peers and superiors.

STILL they doubt themselves.

The reason they are successful is that they do not let this seed of doubt stop them from taking the action they need to. They also acknowledge their insecurities as well as their success.

It’s ok to feel “not good enough” just don’t let the feeling control you.

So, how good are you?

Happy Birthday to Me!

It’s happened again!

Another year has passed and I had another birthday on the weekend. It’s my 47th and every year just gets better.

I received a stack of birthday messages including birthday bacon. The birthday bacon below is from my lovely friends The Kemps.

Even though it is my birthday, I want to give YOU the presents. So for this week if you order my Get More Inspiration book, I will give you, in addition to the existing bonuses at www.GetMoreInspiration.com, a copy of the How to Bring Home the Bacon recording from the recent Taking Care of Business show.

Head over to the Get More Inspiration website to order the book package and I will give you this recording worth $39 at no extra charge.

Until next time, it’s Happy Birthday to me and keep on having fun.

What Are You Planning For?

Much to their disgust, kids all over Australia are heading back to school today. You can almost hear the collective sigh of relief from parents everywhere!

It is interesting how much planning people do for their holidays that they DON’T do for the rest of their lives.

As the holidays approach, the planning starts for trips, adventures, play dates and even “just keep them busy” activities. Now that it is over many people revert to “let’s just see what happens”.

Success starts with a plan.

Whether you are planning financial success, lifestyle success or corporate success, success starts with a plan. Once you know what you want, then you need to create a plan of action, which is closely followed by taking that action.

So what are you planning for?
What is it that you want to achieve?
What is it you want your family to achieve?

It takes effort, it takes discipline, it even takes compromise but the results are worth it.

So what are you planning?

Freedom (At Last)

Saturday night I had the great joy of hosting a Trade Show and Gala Dinner for one of my fabulous clients.

Like most Gala Dinners, there were awards, formalities and speeches. Once that had happened, it was time to relax and celebrate. This event had a great band that was really suited to the audience. They were called The Chosen Few. Dinner done, formalities over and so the band started.

The dance floor was empty!

Now I know that people are like sheep. No one wants to be the first person on the dance floor, they are waiting for others to go first. As part of what I do for clients, I will typically find someone during the course of the dinner who is happy to dance and then set the example by hitting the dance floor first. On Saturday the lovely Sam from The Cartridge Family joined me on the dance floor.

I know why people don’t want to get on the dance floor. They are scared of what others will think, whether it is their outfit, how they dance or some other thing people are scared of being judged.

Eleanor Roosevelt is quoted as saying, “What other people think of me is none of my business.”

The freedom of letting go of what other people think and just enjoying the moment meant that Sam and I had a great night on the dance floor. There were others sitting around the edge just bursting to get on the dance floor (they were dancing in their chairs almost) but when we invited them to join us, even when there were more people on the dance floor, they declined.

So where are you denying yourself freedom by being constrained by what other people think? What will you do today to give yourself the gift that freedom is?

How to Get The Help You Need

In business and in life, people often lament that nobody offered to help them. No one gave them the assistance that others received.

Today I will share with you the magic secret to get that help you need. It is mysterious, confronting and it can be challenging.

Are you ready?

YOU ASK FOR IT!

My gorgeous wife has been trapped at home on the couch with a broken foot for three weeks and she has another three weeks to go. She is slowly going out of her mind (and that’s just putting up with me) so she needs some entertainment. She has been calling her friends and arranging lunch dates, cup of tea dates and “just get me out of the house” dates and they have willingly answered her call for help.

My mentoring clients have approached me saying, “I want to take my business to the next level” or “I would like to have a social life” or whatever their need is and we are working together to create that.

In my professional association, speakers will often approach other speakers saying, “I want to be able to do some of what you do, can you give me an hour of your time and share the secrets.” They willingly do so to help grow the industry.

So what do you need? Now find the right person and go and ask for it.

The recurring theme in discussions with clients as they plan their year is saying NO.

In life, it is what you say NO to that will determine your success not what you say YES to.

As the old saying goes, “If you want something done, ask a busy person.” It is up to us to maintain our focus on what counts and what is important. We can only do this by saying NO to distractions, NO to worthy causes that don’t serve us, NO to procrastination, NO to events we don’t want to go to but are too nice to say so, NO to amazing business deals that will shift us off course and not give a decent return, NO to opportunities that stroke our ego but do not serve our purpose, NO to things our gut tells us not to do but our head says yes.

Often, saying YES is the easy way out. Standing in our power, in what we know is right for us as a person, a parent, a business owner, an employee, a community member and a family member can be hard. But it is this path that leads to success.

What you say NO to will determine your success, not what you say YES to.

One of the things business owners need to say No to is their customers. Not all of their customers but the ones that no longer serve them. The demanding ones that chew up all of your time but then don’t buy from you. The ones that take months to pay and always have an excuse. The ones that haggle on price every time they deal with you.

The best thing to do with this kind of customer is send them to your competition. You are better focussing on the customers that rave about you, that effortlessly refer you, that know your value and willingly pay your invoice on time. A key to doing this is to know your niche, know your target market, know your value and rarely stray from that zone.

Saying No to unsavoury customers means you free up space to service the quality customers in your niche, it saves the massive energy drain and it also increases your profitability.

What you say NO to will determine your success, not what you say YES to. So, who and what do you need to say NO to so you can increase your success?

A Sea of Humanity

I had an interesting wait last week.

I was coming back from a performance skills conference and as you can see from the picture above, bad weather cancelled all the flights leaving except for one.

Luckily I was able to get on that one flight. But with a packed airport, massive delays and a load of families with their plans sent askew, I was able to see humanity in action.

The airline staff were doing a great job but they had to put up with a lot. Some people insisting that they were important, some exclaiming that they would miss their important event, others chatting to their kids about what a great adventure it was, some getting excited that it meant another day on holiday and some with a zombified look on their face not knowing what to do.

The range of emotions and responses was amazing.

What would you have done? There is no right answer of course. I like to try and see the bigger picture and my part in it. No matter what, the weather was NOT the airline staff’s fault and they were the ones who could serve me best to get to where I want to go.

Ah the humanity!

Get More Success from 2015

Can you believe it is the start of another year?

As we get older the years seem to pass more quickly so it becomes even more important that we make the most of the time presented to us. That means no more New Year’s Resolutions. They are a complete waste of time. Most people don’t even expect to keep them, so why would you make them?

Let’s take our success up another level by focussing on the five core elements we need to experience outrageous success.

Creation

The first element is to spend some time creating the ideas you want to implement for 2015. Be careful! It is very easy to make this a fantasy list. Only include what you REALLY want to achieve. If you have no passion or drive for an idea it will slip by the way side and get pushed out of your mind by someone else’s priorities that seem more urgent.

Some of you won’t need this step. You are already crystal clear what your focus is for the year. You know what you want to achieve and you are already headed in that direction. Fantastic! The reality is, that if you don’t write it down it is more likely to slip down your list of priorities. Make sure you spend the time to list your target achievements for the year.

If you are not sure where to start, pick a theme or focus for the year. Too often we are distracted by the minutia of our multiple goals. Have a single word or single statement theme for a year will keep you on track for what really counts.

Inspiration

The second element is all about getting excited. Surround yourself with ideas, images, people, and resources that get you excited about what you want to achieve.

You also need to protect yourself from negativity. You don’t need others stealing your dreams and inspiration. People who say, “what do you want to do that for?”, “that’s stupid” or “what a waste of time” will not help you achieve what you are after. Family and close friends are particularly good at doing this. They do it under the guise of “protecting you” but sometimes you don’t want the protection.

Inspiration is not something you have once and then it’s done. You need to set yourself up for success by having an “Inspiration System”. That is some process or system that continues to deliver inspiration.

Here are some ideas that have worked for others:

Watching TED videos
Reading inspirational books
Regular inspirational newsletters
Vision boards
Mastermind groups
Inspirational music
Powerful quotes

Different things work for different people. Find out what works for you and put it into place

Motivation

People confuse motivation and inspiration.

Quite simply, Inspiration is external. It comes from hearing other peoples experience, creating a goal to achieve, having a coach or some other external factor as described above.

Motivation is internal. It comes from you. No one else can give you motivation only inspiration.

This is why an inspiration system is so important. Motivation is like trying so save water in a leaky tank. You use water every day and also some naturally leaks away. If you are not continually topping it up you find yourself without any at all.

Legendary speaker Zig Ziglar famously said that “Motivation is like personal hygiene – you need to attend to it every day.”

Some days you may only be able to rustle up enough motivation to get out of bed and other days you are an achieving dynamo. What you need to be able to do is to establish a system or process to ensure that you are getting regular bursts of inspiration to address your own levels of motivation.

Activation

Now it is time to make things happen.

Too often people talk a lot about what they want to achieve or tell you what they are going to do. It is important to remember that “Action is the magic word not Words are the magic action.”

All the inspiration and motivation in the world will do you no good if you do not take action. So break your Focus, Goals and Objectives down into tasks and give them a priority. Now apply that motivation and take action.

If you need to, set yourself up for success by having an “Accountability buddy”. This is someone who you make commitments of action to and then regularly check back with to track progress. This can be a paid coach, your mastermind group or someone on your team. Knowing you are accountable to an external person seems to add an increased importance to the task than if it is only in your own head.

Be wary in the activation phase.

Our “Urgency addiction” makes it very easy to become very busy on tasks that don’t move us closer to our goals for the year. It is worth taking a strategic view point on a regular basis to ensure that you are working on what counts and not just busy work or getting sidetracked on items that are important for others but not for yourself.

The focus must always be on the Activation element as this is where results are generated. The previous elements purely support this element. This is part of being Outcome focussed. Your focus has to be on achieving the ideas and objectives your came up with in your Creation phase.

Success will come if you do whatever it takes to sustain the Activation.

Celebration

If you make celebrating success a habit, success will become a habit.

Once you have achieved your goal or objective, it is imperative that you celebrate accordingly. The degree of celebration needs to match the importance of the objective. Some of your celebration will cost money and others wont.

Add to your inspiration and motivation by deciding at the very beginning what your celebration will be for each of your achievements. Don’t wait for only the significant achievements either. Sometimes the smaller more repetitive elements also need to be celebrated.

How does 2015 look for you?

The first thing you need to do is throw away those new year’s resolutions and free yourself up to have some really success.

If you employ these five elements with discipline and get ongoing support, you can’t help but have a successful 2015.

Give Up on Your Resolutions Now

Sorry if that title comes off a little negative.

But let’s be frank, come April you will probably struggle to remember what your New Year’s Resolutions let alone be on the path to achieving them.

Previously I have referred to them as New Year’s Revolutions – because every year we like to give them a turn!

If you want proof of this hypothesis, look at any gym. For the first half of January you can hardly get access to a piece of the equipment. After that, it all goes back to normal and the regulars get back to what they do best.

Here is an easier approach. Select a “Focus” for the year. My business partner, Danielle Storey calls it a theme.

A Focus is a short statement or even a word that is your overarching focus for the year. I would even recommend put a post of it at your desk or somewhere you see it regularly. Then each day ask yourself the question, “How can I stay true to my focus today?”

My focus for 2015 is to Consolidate. I have just released my new book, I have some recent CD products, a couple of months ago I received my international accreditation and I have a new Executive Assistant on board so now I have to turn this solid base into increased business and increased success.

Let go of the New Year’s Resolution, pick a focus. What is your focus for 2015?

What a Nightmare

Winston the Wonder Dog

This is Winston.

He is our 15 month old toy poodle. Yes he is very cute. (I like to think he takes after me!)

This morning at 5:30am he was howling like a banshee.

I went to the laundry (where he sleeps) and picked him up. He was shaking. It seems that he had a nightmare and it really distressed him. I held him close, let him know everything was ok and he was safe.

Life is like that.

Sometimes things happen and your situation becomes a nightmare. It could be a work project, it may be a relationship, your health or even your business can become a nightmare. When this happens, it is important that you have someone to support you and let you know you are safe and everything is ok. Then you can start to address the problem and find a solution.

Who will you turn to and who can turn to you?

IT’S ALMOST HERE! The Get More Inspiration book is currently being printed. There is a very strong chance you can get yours before Christmas. Visit www.GetMoreInspiration.com to find out more about the book and how to order it.

Are You Inspired?

Inspired

On Saturday I was fortunate to host a 40 year anniversary for one of my clients at the Crown Paladium room.

It was better that fantastic, it was inspirational.

With short presentations showing how far the organisation had come, announcing some amazing financial results (in an industry sector that has been hit hard) all coupled with a very funny comedian and a fabulous band.

The message it got across was, “We are in a fantastic position and the future is bright for us all if we keep working at it.”

While everyone enjoyed the celebration, many also received inspiration for the future.

Inspiration can be fleeting so it is important to draw it from the simple things happening around you. From the big corporate event to acts of nature surrounding us and all those events in between.

Are you inspired? I don’t mean are you energised and jumping out of your shoes, but are you excited about the day and all it brings? If not, do what it takes to Get More Inspiration from the world around you.

So are you inspired now?

Warwick In Action

If you are looking for more inspiration, my new book Get More Inspiration comes out on Janury 5th, 2015.

To celebrate this release I am giving away almost $400 of bonuses with each book.

Visit GetMoreInspiration.com to discover more and order your copy now.

Ask not for whom the internet trolls
It trolls for thee

(apologies to Hemmingway)

Trolling is easy.

Look at any social media site and you will see examples of it. Wikipedia defines it as “a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people.”

Too often, a discussion that starts out as a healthy debate with valid concerns transitions into a “slinging match” with someone finally activating Godwin’s Law. (Godwin’s law being where someone accuses another of being Hitler or a Nazi)

Trolling is nothing new. It has been around on the internet since the 80s with discussion boards rife with it. New technologies equated to new forums for Trolling. Politicians seem to have been trolling for years.

The shifts in to a more self-centred society seem to be a breeding ground for more trolls and troll like behaviour. Even people we know, who seem so polite and rational have succumbed to trolling. Some may say that road rage is a form of trolling, so are we surrounded by trolls?

Truth be told, most of us have a relative (typically being an Uncle with drinking issues) who seem to troll our family events. It is even more likely that you have some kind of troll at your workplace. The worst case is when the troll is your boss.

So how do you catch a troll, or at the very least, minimise their impact. As with most things, it is easier to catch a troll when they are small and before they get momentum. Once they have been activated they are almost impossible to catch.

Here are some Troll Hunters Guidelines for you:

Never Ever Feed the Trolls

A troll’s power increases with their feeding. What feeds a troll is attention. They don’t care if it is good or bad, any kind of attention will do. Godwin’s law is usually activated when two or more trolls start a flinging match with each other. Trolls cannot hear rational argument or a different perspective. It is not worth even trying. You can prevent significant damage just by following this guideline.

Set Boundaries for the Trolls

If you need to have a conversation or you are about to communicate something you know may be a little contentious, set the rules. If you run a page, group, or site set the rules up front. Trolling escalates when the commentary becomes personal so set the rules that you welcome comments about the idea or concept but unsubstantiated comments about a person or entity will not be tolerated. You can say something about their behaviour or ideas but not about them. Ensure that you also state the consequence of that action. Whether the comment will be deleted or the user will be blocked, it is up to you.

Never Tolerate Trolls

Should troll like behaviour start, shut it down quickly. Whether it is a conversation with the person, a direct message or a preventative deletion of the comment, do what it takes to kill the troll behaviour before it even starts.

Yes, the internet and life would be better without the trolls. Unfortunately, they are here to stay. What these guidelines will do is help you minimise the impact of trolls in your life.

Happy hunting!

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