Jason Womack

I am at my best when (a picture to go along with our newsletter this week!)

If you subscribe to our newsletter, look for this week's issue to outline a strategy for being at "your best."

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Here is a picture to go along with our upcoming newsletter:

Got Mac? Need gifts? Check out Jodi's next class offering!

Well, you know I can't begin to say enough about how "great" a class this will be.

So, get your MacBook in your bag, and join Jodi for 3 great hours!

Spread the word...

Hey, what's that distracting your learning?

Did a little research this morning after my most recent trip consulting for a few Investment Banks in Europe last week. It seems that now (more then ever, they are saying) people have more than "just" work on their minds when they are AT work. So...what's the big deal?

Read on...

The study compared 10 healthy people in their 60s and 70s to a dozen younger volunteers, ages 22 to 36. Their brains were scanned while they looked at photographs of people they did not know. As each photograph was displayed for one second, the volunteers were asked if they'd seen it before in the study.

Have you ever felt "a little bit distracted?" If so, check out this article by Mr. Malcolm Ritter.

For years, I have talked about the importance of learning in "less distracting" environments. As a high school teacher, I didn't ask my students to study in quiet environments because they could NOT learn while watching TV or listening to music. Instead, I attempted to show them that they could learn FASTER and EASIER by focusing in on what they need to do!

I know, I know...nothing new. But, I do have a question to ask of my own self: What will I do today, in total focused concentration?

To get myself geared up for an experiment, I re-viewed this TED Talk by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

Would you like to attend a Mastering Workplace Performance Event? (In Phoenix, AZ)

I am presenting a workshop next week in Phoenix, Arizona.

An organization called High Achievers is sponsoring a 3-hour Mastering Workplace Performance seminar December 4th, from 8am to 11am.

Click to find out more about this event, and to sign up for the presentation.

It is actually an open seminar, and the “price is right!”

If there's anybody there at work who you know would like to come, please pass this along to them.

Also, if you have any other contacts in the Phoenix area, please feel free to pass this along...we’re hoping to “fill the room!”

Technorati Tags:
Personal Development, Mastering Workplace Performance, High Achievers

I'm thankful...full of thanks, that is

The balancing act...work and life.

Walking the fine lines of "anticipation" and "expectation," I find it more important than ever to slow down from time to time (or, as Elliott Masie reminded me recently: press pause) and reflect on what I've got:

Health
Family
Friends
Hope
My athletic abilities
My home
...and...so...much...more.

Have you ever found it easy to get caught up in what "isn't?" For a moment, right now, I'm completely fascinated by what is. Quick, off to watch some TED Talks!

*thanks for the picture, piston9 - at flickr

Mentors...and goals. How are you doing with them?

Technorati Tags:
Mentors, Personal Development

I was reading a book this week on "collaboration" in the not-for-profit workplace, and I started taking several notes in my own journal. Recently, I co-facilitated the coordination of a mentoring program for one of our US-based clients. The idea is to pilot the program with several partners and "career-starters," and then implement similar "learning-mastery" programs in other offices around the world.

It just so happens that client is a large NGO. But, I'm still finding similarities to the kinds of leadership and learning development issues they are facing to the very same areas of focus our corporate clients are dealing with day-to-day in their offices.

In fact, this week I am here in London working one-on-one with a senior executive as we study and dissect their own workflow, productivity and leadership practices. Having facilitated these "workflow-coaching" sessions for the past 9 years, I can anticipate of few of the things that we'll address in our few hours together. Among them will be:

1) Watch your promises - to others, and yourself. It seems that we're making more and more promises, faster and faster these days. A lot of our work comes down to watching very carefully what you say YES to, and then managing those "yeses" to completion.

2) Set up your setup for success - look at your organizational and workflow systems. How are you managing your E-mail, your tasks, your calendar(s) and your ideas? Reading a book on organization, watching a video on focus and workflow attentiveness and attending a course outlining productivity best practices are all great ways to study HOW you work, so you can be more effective in WHAT you have to do.

3) Get someone on your "team." Ok, so I'm writing a full article on this topic for LifeHacker.com this Sunday (check out our past LifeHacker articles here). I hope that you'll take the time, energy and focus necessary to align yourself with a mentor or coach who can help push, pull and encourage you on your way from where you are, to where you think you're heading. The great thing about working with a mentor - especially one who gets to spend an hour or so each month with you over the course of a year - is that they will see where you are going, and make suggestions you might not necessarily come up with on your own.

So, action items...here you go:

Write down 3 possible candidates for a new mentor.

Write down 30 possible goals you would ask a mentor to help you with.

Pick one mentor...pick ONE goal. Go for it, between now and next December. Let's see what happens!

On to another day of seminar-ing in Europe

On my way to work, I'm reflecting on a wonderful day here in Zurich yesterday!

After spending a good 7 hours out-and-about, including a wonderful, local lunch and a movie (in one of the most amazing movie theaters I've been in ever!), we even got a little snow late in the day!

This is an amazing town, and with a month before the big Christmas holiday, the streets and stores are already in full swing; decorations, sales, and shopping is going non-stop! (Though, I have to admit I was surprised by how many stores were closed yesterday...I mean, I know they all close on Sundays, but...it would seem like with the economy and all...)

So, off to the office at St. Peter's Place!

Social hour - London: Marriott West India Quay

If you're anywhere nearby tonight - Thursday, 20 Nov 2008 - come on by at 6pm for a quick "hello" while we're in town.

I am presenting seminars, while Jodi is meeting with coaching clients...spreading the word about Mastering Workplace Performance! It's busy times, and we're happy to be working in London. See you tonight!

Send an E-mail or give me a call on my UK mobile...contact info here...

What a room to work...here in New York!

Do you know when you're at your best?

The Middle School Parent Resource: Show #31 - "I am at my best when...

Those of you who have attended our seminars know we talk about "being at your best." Well, in this less-than-5-minute-interview, Joe asks me about that philosophy. So, get a piece of paper and pen, and get ready to have some more ideas about how you can live and work in a more balanced way...

...by being at your best!

What if you could get back to balanced "on call?" One of the things I've learned over the years, from teaching full-time in a high school classroom, to moving my "classroom" to teach courses in 42 of the 50 states and a dozen countries is that good days are not accidental.

It takes a bit of "front-end" effort to create a better day, a balanced day. In this interview, I talk about one of the things I do to remind myself what I need...I hope you get an idea or two!

By the way, do me a favor. up in the top of this link, you can pre-order Joe's new book,

Parents' Guide to the Middle School Years.

If you are raising, mentoring or coaching a teen-ager, you NEED this book!

Tags: JoeBruzzese, Thinking-Forward