An Egg Timer! The cure for getting the unwanted done

As I write this article the clock is ticking. My time is running out and I love it! Years ago I discovered a tool that has made me more effective and I found that tool in my Grandmothers kitchen. Her beloved egg timer which she used to make soft boiled eggs. Only, I have repositioned it from great breakfasts to increased productivity! It motivates me to do the things I do not want to do. For example if I have 3 hours to write a great blog post it takes me the entire 3 hours! If I have 30 minutes to write a great blog post it takes me the entire 30 minutes. The scary thing is that the 30 minute post is often better than the 3 hour one! Why? Because when I have extra time I will waste it. When I don’t have the time I stay on track. Maybe you have experienced this phenomena back in college when term papers where due. If you are like most students, you did them the weekend or the night before they were to be turned in! Our minds love deadlines. The sooner that deadline is the more it focuses our attention. Focused attention is the key to productivity and an egg timer can be worth its weight in gold. The Key to increasing your productivity with the egg timer is to set ridiculously short deadlines and then pound like crazy. Play a game with yourself have all your attention focused on the task at hand until the buzzer goes off. For example: You hate washing the dishes, folding the laundry, unloading the dishwasher, sending thank you cards, logging calls in your cms, blogging, writing or even stuffing envelopes. Once you pick your unwanted task, grab the egg timer. Set it for a ridiculous time say 5 minutes to wash all the dishes. Then attack! Be like a samurai, do nothing else except dishwashing. Allow nothing to distract you or take you off your track until the egg timer frees you from washing bondage. You will notice something in that 5 minutes. You will notice that you completed more than you normally do.
Here comes the fun… either reset your timer to finish the task or go tackle something else for 5 minutes. Focused attention produces focused results. Embrace the egg timer, it will set you free! BTW I still have 5 minutes on mine….. http://www.online-stopwatch.com/bomb-countdown/full-screen/ Anybody can do practically anything for 5 to 30 minutes so do the things you do not want to do with the help of Grandma’s egg timer and then set the timer and attack!

Stone Goat – God? Lawn Ornament?

Sometimes it is tough to live in a world of craven images. Who or what do I bow down to on a daily basis? As I sit here in my office working with some of the highest producing sales people in the country, I’m always amazed at how much the stone goat outside my window projects power and commands my attention. I have never been formally introduced to the stone goat but he is always in my line of sight. I originally thought the stone goat was a piece of decorative lawn art but my opinion changed when the goat started speaking to me. His little voice began to tell me that he mattered and he demanded better real estate in my front yard. A talking stone goat is hard to resist so he got what he demanded. The stone turtle was ignored and the ship anchor was moved to make way for the stone goat.  You may be thinking I’m crazy, a stone goat can’t talk, but my mind has a great ability to keep itself entertained.  As a matter of fact all minds have this power. Your mind is so powerful you too can turn stone goats into Gods! With a little bit of thought and consciousness you can make any of your personal lawn ornaments into Gods. Its really not hard, simply declare: “Stone Goat, I grant you the ability to affect my equanimity. I care deeply about what you say to me. I will be beholden unto thee.”

 

Okay, before you get concerned that Coach Ken has finally lost his mind and is heading to the top of the mountain with an orange robe on cloud of purple smoke…I am afraid to say, not yet. The Stone Goat story is based on a conversation that I had with one of my clients who is having some problems with a family member. The root of the problem is that my client cares deeply about what this family member thinks of him. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t want your family members to think well of you. It would be nice for all of our family members to think well of us, but do you really have control over how someone else feels about you?  REALLY? Are you going to become a marionette puppet to try to please others?  Are you consciously going to raise the status of the Stone Goat to God?

 

Will you choose to be beholden unto your father or your mother-in-law? Why would you grant someone such power over you?

 

Here is the answer: You choose who your Stone Goat is. The lawn ornament in my front yard is covered with flowers and burnt offerings. At least I have consciously chosen who I am beholden unto. You?

The curse of the “Best”

Once you are the “best” at something you are giving up control or responsibility of your outcome. Your way is then defined by others. By a pure definition you can never control what others think of you or how they define you. So in fact you transform from victor into victim. To be “best” means you are compared to someone else. Your very nature is incomparable. Business is a game that can only be played and never won. It is your design that matters only. I am not saying not to compete but true competition only occurs with the self. The only thing that matters is the design. If competition helps call forth the design than compete whole heartedly but if you are just competing to win to be the “best” you will suffer greatly for greatness and glory are fleeting and most dangerously those traits are in the eyes of others.

“What do you think now of me Roark?” said Toomey.

“I don’t think of you.” Howard Roark

Fear

A quote:

“It’s not that we fear the unknown. You canot fear something that you do not know. Nobody is afraid of the unknown. What you really fear is the loss of the known. That’s what you fear.” Anthony DeMello – Awareness The Perils and Opportunities of Reality

Wisdom for a Capitalist

Some wisdom shared with me from a capitalist who owns multiple businesses:

In a nut shell it comes down to a few things.

1. All business’ is the same on a basic level. Decent cash flow, manage debt, great staff, great service. Find things you can do to increase the future value so there is something to sell down the road. The devil is in the details.

2. Care about the results not the process. Let the staff figure out the best way FOR THEM to get the job done unless there is compelling reason to do it Your way.

3. Everything is my fault when it does not go as you planned. Find things that work and repeat – find things that don’t and don’t repeat.

4. Never eat off the business till it has so much net income that you can afford too. So – that means your core business has to be able to pay for your life and be able to devote some dough to the new business if needed. The Arkansas business is 5 years old and no one has taken out a dime yet. The owners get no salary, we pay nothing but our expenses and use our income to drive more business and pay down debt.

5. And clearly a lesson you already know, when walking through a mine field —follow someone.

OK now to find a way to ring the cash register around here today.

Top 10 things to look for in a Business Coach

Finding a business coach can be as challenging as finding an honest used car salesman. Okay, maybe it’s not that hard, but it can be difficult if you don’t know where to look or what to look for. When I started as a business coach nearly a decade ago, no one knew what business coaching was. Inevitably I would get ‘what’s a business coach?’ from anyone who asked what I did for a living. The good news is that most people know what business coaching is as it has become more mainstream. Most people even get the importance of having a business coach for themselves and their team as they equate the importance with a professional athlete having their own athletic coach. The bad news is that as the coaching industry is becoming known as being a somewhat glamorous profession to be in, as a result there are a lot people hanging their shingle on the door and calling themselves a professional coach. So how do you sort through the crowd to find an effective coach? To help you find the right coach for you, I have devised a list of the top 10 things to look for in a quality business coach:

Beware of the Coach who has no Coach

You want to find a coach that has been coached themselves. This is vital to an effective coach as it provides the coach a first-hand experience of what it is like to be in your seat as the client. They learn what is effective from the client’s perspective.

Experience and Reputation

There are so many schools for coaching these days (another testament to the popularity of the profession). Many offer various accreditations. Accreditations are cute, but nothing beats someone who has years of experience. I know plenty of people who have several letters after their name that they were not born with, but it doesn’t necessarily make them an effective practitioner. Experience and reputation are much more important then the quantity of letters after their name.

Clients who Champion the Coach

You will want to know that the coach has clients that will advocate for them. A great coach will have many fans that they can sort through and give you the name of a couple of clients who have similar objectives as yours that they can put you in contact with if you choose. A great coach has many diehard fans and clients who have been with them for years.

Many Stories of Tremendous Results

You don’t want a coach who just has a couple of stories of mediocre results. If they don’t have any clients who have doubled or tripled production, cut work hours in half or other amazing results, move on until you find one.

Understands your Industry

You don’t need a coach who has worked in your industry, but you do need a coach who understands your industry. Someone who has worked with others in your industry understands what people in your industry go through. They understand the challenges and how to overcome them. They hear a breadth of experiences from different people that they can share with you.

Understands the Psychology of Business and the Individual

One of the most important requirements of a coach is that they have an understanding of the psychology of business, as well as the individual. You want someone who will work with both you and your business – not just your business. Someone who only tells you want to do in business is called a consultant. Consultants are great, but many times it is the psychology of the individual that prevents them from getting to the next level. Working with someone who knows how to work with the mind of the individual is extremely valuable.

Caters the Process to You

While there are many common challenges that businesses and individuals share, you are still a unique and special snowflake (to a degree). Many of today’s large business coaching companies and franchises have a cookie cutter approach that they teach to their coaches. While this is good for their business, it is not always good for yours. All good coaches will have certain philosophies and processes that they follow, buy into and have found effective, but the good ones mold their process to you. Be sure to find a coach who will cater their coaching to your specific needs.

A Candid Approach

Beware of the coach who tells you all that you want to hear. It is nice and comforting, but not necessarily in your best interest. You want a coach who will tell you the things you need to hear, not just what your friends will tell you. Honest input, even if it stinks to hear, will benefit you tremendously. Candidness is perhaps one of the greatest benefits of having a coach.

Just a Few Degrees of Separation

A good place to start is with someone you know who has worked with a coach and who has gotten results from their coach. If you don’t know someone who has worked with a business coach before, then speak with one or two of the prospective coach’s clients.

You Resonate With

The relationship between you and your coach is vital to your success. You need to trust your coach as you will share various aspects of your world, some more personal then others. Your coach will be your guide and your mentor so you want to have a solid relationship with him or her. You may not know your coach when you first start with him or her, but you should certainly feel a rapport or feel that he or she truly understands your needs in your initial consultation (which you should NEVER have to pay for).

Taking on a business coach is exciting as it brings new hope and life to your business. It doesn’t matter what level you are at in business, all businesses can benefit so long as the client is coachable. If you have made it this far on your own, you can only imagine how much further you can make it with a coach.

Written by Lauren Eichner of www.RevenueBlitz.com, a Free, Interactive Business Coaching program. Lauren has been a business coach with Getting Results (www.GettingResultsCoaching.com) for nearly a decade. In addition to coaching hundreds of clients over the years, Lauren has also coached many coaches over the years as the head coach of an organization prior to starting Getting Results.

Relationships by design

A quick reminder:

Acknowledge the characteristics you want ignore the characteristics you don’t. Acknowledgement is a powerful design tool. People will accept acknowledgement and will resist criticism. The fastest way to change behavior is positive reinforcement. Focus on what you want to see in others. Stop correcting.

The Economy is collapsing choose:

A. Stock up on ammo and canned goods?
B. Keep your head in the sand and ignore the signs?
C. Solidify your tribe?

Whatever your choice there will be consequences to your actions. It may always be a good idea to have plenty of ammo and canned goods but if it comes to that we are all screwed. The ostrich effect is not a bad idea because I believe the media drama is hyped and the economy is already clearing and becoming more efficient but what do I know? So gentle readers the proper answer is C to solidify your tribe.

Human beings from time immemorial have been tribal in nature. It is how we survived despite not having sharp claws, big tusks and heavily muscled bodies. Our ancestors banded together to take down the saber tooth tigers and mammoths. We no longer live in hunter gatherer societies but our ancestry follows us today. Studies show that a human being roughly has 215 friends and 1,000’s of acquaintances. That is a lot of people so how do we know who should be in our tribe?

A tribe takes care of its own. A tribe can help you get that job or lead, or financing that you will need. To quote Napoleon the pig from Animal Farm “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.” This tribe concept also applies to our clients so which of our clients are more equal than others? Who is in the first class cabin of your business? Who are the people that you take care of? If you are answering, “I treat all of my clients equally” my retort is that you are screwed. Why? All of you clients are not equal. Some of your clients pay you a lot of money and they like and trust you. While other of your clients pay you little and drive you crazy. Makes you wonder doesn’t it?

If you do it right your tribe will help you weather these economic challenging times. Your tribe will be anchored by your first class cabin. The hardest part about creating a first class cabin is that you have to discern. Yes you will have to discriminate against your clients for they are not equal. No one ever said life was fair.

The criteria for discernment is simple and it is explained in detail here: http://www.revenueblitz.com/interior.asp?id=22

Build your tribe and thrive.

Does Your Mindset Serve You?

We all have a filter in which we color the events of the world as they unfold. Do you know what color your filter is? In a previous post I waxed about the distinction of the eagle and the chicken.  Today I will add another character: Eeyore the donkey.

Events will always be unfolding and how we color that event will continue to enhance the theme we have for our business and or life. With my clients I enforce a principle: “You are the sun and whatever you shall shine upon shall grow.”

An Eagle mindset will use the filter that the world is unfolding exactly as it should and whatever unfolds will serve me. For example a client leaves: the Eagle will interpret this event as a good thing that will create the space for profitable clients to appear.

A chicken mindset uses the filter of fear that what is unfolding is scary and we must always exercise caution and fear because the hawk is always circling. For example a client leaves:  the Chicken will interpret this  as the beginning of a mass exodus and panic with a massive explosion of desperate sales activity.

An Eeyore mindset is everything that unfolds as a continuation of his sentence: “this always happens to me”  For example a client leaves: Eeyore will see this as proof that he is not very good at what he does and question why he is in the business in the first place and go into a depression.

Now the funny thing about mindset is that it’s made up but does it serve you? Think about it if you believe that everything that unfolds serves you it will! If you believe that things unfold to suppress you,the suppression will continue! Mindset is made up ultimately by you and no your mother did not permanently scar you by making you wear your sweater.

How do you change Mindset? Attention. Ask yourself what are you making the event unfolding mean? And does that meaning serve you? Are you thinking like an eagle? A chicken? Or Eeyore?

The choice is always yours.

A Chicken Koan

Which is more significant?
An Eagle or a Chicken
Depends upon the Hunger