When I first "met" Benjamin Zander, back in October of 2000, I was sitting in the front row of a Learning conference put on by http://www.masie.com/. Sitting there, I took this photo:
Some 10 years later, almost, I have seen him two more times live, shared the stage at the same conference in Las Vegas, read the book he and his wife wrote (three times), and watched several of his videos online. In just a few minutes, you'll get a sense of who and how he is. With each interaction, I walk away knowing there is more...
...more to see
...more to do
...more to learn
...more to have
...more to give
If you have a few extra moments, here he is doing his magic for an audience at a TED Conference...
I recently read a blog post written by a mentor of mine about motivation and focus. Here's the first paragraph (with the link to the full article at the end...):
I've been asked a few times, how do I stay motivated to physically train? I had to think about that for awhile, because I didn't really know the answer. The motivation just seemed to be there, but I didn't know exactly why. I may still not know the full answer, but after some reflection, I did discover a few things about myself. (italics are mine...)
The most impactful part of this post was the sentance above that I put in italics.
Self-study, self-reflection, self-awareness will go a LOOOOONG way in uncovering our motives for action, our interests, and our priorities. Next, consider writing down as many answers as you can to this question:
What is my motive* for today?
*motive |ˈmōtiv| noun 1 a reason for doing something, esp. one that is hidden or not obvious
Ready? We start soon! Join The Womack Company online Mastering Workplace Performance program (request your invitation here) and:
Over the following 40 days, reach new heights of:
1) Productivity 2) Work/Life Performance 3) Daily and Weekly Achievement
In the Mastering Workplace Performance Coaching Program, you will engage in and practice timely and RELEVANT management techniques. These will make a difference in your job, your career and your life.
Learn what the world's best leaders and individual contributors know about:
Organization
Prioritization
Productivity
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(that's right, we strike-through the word Balance... it's not about balancing; for us, it's about performing!)
Want to know more? Contact me today (click the Email me button above and to the right), and make a decision to make your best...BETTER!
My in-laws bring me their copy of Worth Magazine. Recently, I've been following the "billionairs-saving-the-planet" stories on CNBC, the Financial Times, and other publications. Worth wrote about it as well...
I've been waiting to get around to reading the past few issues, and this time in Lake Tahoe has been great for that! (So far, I've read through about 20 magazines and 3 books that were "on the shelf".) In the October-November 2009 issue, I read about Roger Muller, who founded the "Stay-Focused" organization.
Here's his story: He found his purpose while spending time with his brother, who is in a wheelchair. They went scuba diving and here's what Roger said, "When I saw him out of his wheelchair, how much enjoyed the freedom of diving..."
If you read the mission from their website, here's what you'll see:
Stay-Focused offers teens and young adults with disabilities the opportunity to become certified SCUBA divers, and, through that experience, learn lasting lessons about life and achievement.
What's inspiring you? What can you do about it? Go...build it!
Walking away from reading this how-to-do-it manual, I already know I'm going to implement two tips I am taking away. As you read the rest of this blog post, ask yourself if these would fit your current situation:
1) Ask for help. I know there are a couple of projects I've taken on that are a little bit bigger than me. I wrote down 7 of them, and next to each one, I wrote the names of three people who I cold call for just a little bit of: - information - inspiration - accountability
2) Narrow my focus. When Jodi and I started our company in 2006, we had no idea how big to dream. When she started her "latest" company, she lasered in on a need she saw in our local economy (click here to learn about Jodi's "Women's Business Socials" events). Subsequently, she has spoken in London, England and Venice, Italy. Next October, she will be speaking at the W.I.N. Global conference in Paris, France!
Now, we're both recognizing the absolute necessity to get to the CORE of what The Womack Company does...Thinking it, Inking it, Making it available...
Last August, Mark and I shared a conversation (link here) about life, productivity, triathlon and "life engagement." Since our conversation, I've had a monthly recurring reminder to visit his blog and catch up on his recent articles. Today, I read one he wrote in July, 2010. When I got here,
“And be joyful. Go places. Do things. Enjoy yourself. Spend time with friends. Create memories. Accomplish great things.”
I stopped, and reflected on those seven prompts. You'll see that I did write a comment on Mark's blog (feel free to add one yourself!). Then, so I can say I did, I followed my own coaching:
I watch a TED talk or two each day. Sometimes, a short one...Other times a long one. Either way, for 3-25 minutes each day I'm informed, inspired and encouraged to give more, learn more and work more.
When I speak in front of groups, around the world, my seminars generally start some time between 7-9 in the morning. Occasionally, I'm "accused" of being "too energetic" early in the morning. Seminar participants ask me, "How much coffee have you had today?" My response, every time: "Better than coffee, I started my day with TED.com!"
Here's one I watched recently. If you have not yet heard of John Underkoffler, here is the beginning of his presentation...
We're 25, 26 years after the advent of the Macintosh, which was an astoundingly seminal event in the history of human-machine interface, and in computation in general.
It fundamentally changed the way that people thought about computation, thought about computers, how they used them and who and how many people were able to use them. It was such a radical change, in fact, that the early Macintosh development team in '82, '83, '84, had to write an entirely new operating system from the ground up.
Now, this is an interesting little message, and it's a lesson that has since, I think, been forgotten or lost or something. And that is, namely, that the OS is the interface. The interface is the OS. It's like the land and the king in "Arthur"; they're inseparable, they are one.
When I talked with a buddy of mine about growing up in a restaurant (lots of "productivity" lessons there!), he said I should visit the "no time to cook dinner" page.
As a kid, I remember learning about all kinds of things that happened "behind the scenes." It's probably why I'm so interested not so much in what people do for a living, but how they do it.
Here is one of my favorites! If you have a few minutes, treat yourself to some new ideas!
Last fall, both Jodi and I spoke at a conference ( online ) with many experts out there. One guy that I shared the virtual stage with, Gary Vaynerchuk, (scroll down a bit...) is someone I continue to look to as we build and promote the "brand" of The Womack Company.
We help people do more...So they can do more!
[That is, do more of what they HAVE to do...So they can do more of what they WANT to do!]
When I went over to Amazon.com the other day to check out our book, The Promise Doctrine, I saw that people who looked at our book also looked up Gary's book, Crush It.
Want chapter 2 of our for free? (To send to your Kindle!) Just go here...
Here's Gary on the CBS Sunday Morning show recently...(growing up in the French Restaurant, Le Printemps, as a kid, I remember the scenes of Napa shown in this video!)
Hey, psst...Do you have an extra $25? Want to see something cool? Check out our Kiva.org club!
I've been a HUGE fan of this work (some of you know this, already!) and I continue to find myself inspired simply going through the lists of people looking for small loans. For $25 (and a little donation to Kiva...Only if you want) you can be the change we could see in this world!
Want to see a "feel good" story? Check out the link below...