The Power Of Focus

If I asked you to write down ONE problem getting in the way of your success, could you do it?

It can be hard to narrow the field down to ONE specific problem because different situations present different problems. In business, the ONE problem could show up in a variety of forms: If my prices weren't so high, I’d have more sales. If I had more prospects, I’d be able to exceed my quota. They show up in life too: If only I was thinner, I’m sure I’d be happier. If I had gone to school for just one more year, I could get a better job…. You get the idea.

Trying to solve multiple problems at once is likely to result in a lot of stress and frustration, and very little progress. A better approach is to decide which problem is most urgent and pressing right now. Once identified, you can focus your time and energy on coming up with a plan to resolve the situation.

It sounds like it should be easy enough to do, so why don’t people do it?

·        Sometimes it’s easier to have a good excuse for a problem than it is to take action and do something about it. People expect less out of you when you have a really good excuse. Of course, the down side of excuses is that people probably won’t have as much respect for you—or your work.

·        Really good excuses make it easier for people to ignore thoughts and desires about having or getting more out of their job, or their life. If someone is not where they want to be, they don’t believe it’s because of anything they have or haven’t done. Instead, they blame a list of seemingly valid excuses for not being able to tackle the ONE big problem standing between them and their success.  

·        People don’t take the time to adequately identify the problem. When they don’t, they are not able to come up with an adequate solution. Instead, the problem becomes hidden behind a multitude of excuses that slowly and steadily begin to wrap their way around all of the other problems—even the ones that would have been easy to deal with.

So welcome to 2016. Is there ONE business or life problem you want to work on solving to make this new year your best year ever? Quite simply, it’s your choice. Either you decide to let excuses stand between you and your success, or you come up with a plan for stepping outside old and worn out comfort zones.

Identify your most pressing problem, come up with a plan for solving it, write your plan down RIGHT NOW, and carry it with you. Anytime you realize you’re about to start making excuses, reread your plan, and for goodness sake, follow it!

Alan Luoma is a Sales Coach with extensive experience in industrial sales, sales management, and sales and product training. He holds key accounts with a national sustainable packaging company, is a motivational speaker, and provides sales training to individuals and groups. He is a member of the Hartford Springfield Speakers Network. You can view his profile on LinkedIn, or contact him at Luoma@snet.net

The framework to outwitt the devil. Part 1 - Intro

You can be exposed to many different philosophies, models, ways of thinking, and technologies when studying self improvement.

Many of these philosophies seem to conflict.

So how do you internalize this wisdom in a way that is useful for you?

The answer is personal for everyone.

My mentor told me about Napoleon Hill's Outwitting the Devil and this book has become my answer.

Outwitting the Devil: The Secret to Freedom and Success

Written by Napoleon Hill in 1938. Deemed to controversial to be published. It was hidden in a drawer for over 70 years. 

In 2011 the book was finally published long after the death of Napoleon and his wife.

Over the next few months, I will be sharing my interpretations and wisdom gained from this book.

It is my intention to give you insights into my philosophy, simplify your belief system, and bring you happiness.

Today's I am writing about the history around the writing of this book.

Napoleon Hill met Andrew Carnegie in 1908.  Mr Hill wanted a way to pay for law school. Mr Carnegie wanted a factual record of what made men successful.

The result was 20 years of research and interviews with over 500 individuals viewed as successful and 2000 who where called failures.

Napoleon Hill received no pay for agreeing to this opportunity and had to "hustle" to make a living. 

In the 30 years it took to write write Think and Grow Rich and Outwitting the Devil the world experienced World War I, The Roaring 20's,  The Great Depression, and the beginning of World War II.

Napoleon personally faced poverty, the lost of his savings and his home in the Catskills Mountains, and had to run for his life.

This experience was needed to discover what Andrew Carnegie calls your "other self"'.  Stay tune for next month's post about the "other self"'

If your looking for health and happiness coaching please visit me at 

www.michaelegerhealthcoach.com

24 Seconds to Fail

Merry Christmas Everyone!!! I wish you a safe Happy, Healthy and Successful New Year. My gift to you is this link and my personal football story that occurred in 1967.  Please invest 7 minutes and 50 seconds to watch this video first then read the rest of my Blog.

The title to the video is "The Greatest Comeback That Never Was". It makes you think what is going to be the outcome to this story. In 1967 I had the opportunity to try out for a sandlot football team in my hometown of Indian Orchard, MA called the Eastfield Rams. I had a burning desire to play football since I was 5 years old. At the age of 9 the opportunity arrived to play football and in 1967 I was a walk on for August try outs for the Eastfield Rams Football Team. There were only a couple of small issues. I was overweight, uncoordinated, slow runner, and could not catch a football to save my life. However, I could hit and tackle like a freight train. The month of August in 1967 was boot camp for the Eastfield Rams and it was grueling. The workouts were twice a day or known as (2-A-Days) and were very intense. Many kids that came to play and were in good shape and had ability to make the team easily but they QUIT. They were focused on the short term pain and ridicule that we faced during the harsh workouts. They lost sight of the big picture. I knew that the Head Coach highly disliked me and was very disrespectful of me. He figured I was going to quit after the first day. I defied every negative expectation he had of me and every negative outburst of me in front of my fellow players. The quality, poise, precision, attitude and level of success with any sports team starts with the Head Coach (The Leader). Some of the other players began to disrespect me along with the coach. They basically followed the leader. Through it all I had survived 30 days of August Boot Camp and it was time for what used to be called "Cut Day". This was the day that the head Coach eliminated players that he didn't want on the team. "Guess who was on the Cut List?" ME! This is where 24 seconds to fail comes in. Failure is a pure result of failing to act, failing to complete your mission, failure to stand up for yourself and to speak up for what is right at anytime without fear of reprisal. It is stepping out in faith knowing what you need to do at that moment and know it MUST be done.
If you watch the video above this team had made one of the greatest comebacks in high school history. With 24 seconds left they were celebrating, crying, wallowing in victory and just want to kick the football off let 24 seconds run off the clock and be inducted into Hero History forever. It wasn't to be! They took theirs sights off the mark and failed. They celebrated 24 seconds too soon. 
Getting back to me and August 1967 "Cut-Day". As the Head Coach read off the list of who wasn't going to be on the team ironically I was the last one called from the list. When he dropped the hammer on me said: " Slosek your off the team". My 24 second clock started ticking. In this short span of time I had to defend myself  it became one of the key moments that changed my life forever. I jump in the middle of the circle of standing players where the Head Coach was and looked him directly in the face and said: "WHY?" I haven't missed a practice, I supported the team in every way, I have improved my skills, I have learned every play, I have lost weight, I put up with your disrespectful attitude for 30 days. "I DESERVE TO BE ON THIS TEAM!!" An amazing thing happened. The assistant coaches sided with me and told the coach the exact same thing. Eventually, Coach folded and I remained on the team. This began a 10 year football career. I played 5 years with the Eastfield Rams, 4 years High School and made All-City as a Tight End and played 1 year of College before I hung up the cleats as a Wide Receiver.
In this life all of us will eventually will be faced with situations that will start our 24 second clock. When that day arrives will you be prepared to overcome any situation and win the day?
                                              *         *         *         *         *
All the best.
Sincerely,
John Jr.

John Slosek with Welterweight Boxing Champion of the World
Marlon "Magic Man" Starling his record  45-6-1-1 back in November 2014.
John is an 30 year Insurance Agency Owner in Chicopee, MA.
He will speak for groups and seminars on request. He will make himself available for speaking engagements if your speaker cancels last minute.
His forte is business development and personal growth.
He can be reached at Inspiringwealth@aol.com or by text at 413-246-5037.

100% Focused!

As I rounded the street corner, I could see my house in the distance. Almost home, I thought. I had been running for 45 minutes and the muscles in my mind and body were balanced. Pure bliss. If you are a runner, you can relate to that mind/body balance. That feeling of being in tune with the present – 100% focused.

In business, as in life, it can be a challenge hitting that 100% focused mark, while many other “urgent” pressing matters may be filling up our mind, body and calendar. This accumulation of thoughts saying “finish me now” creates that all too familiar stressful mood, which throws you out of balance. This uneasy mood decreases our focus, as we feel the need to do all the priorities on our to do list – at the same time.

Not. Going. To. Happen.

How can we get grounded, when we feel we may be spiraling out of control?

Try to focus more.

Today it is so easy to be rattled with everyday distractions such as texting, email, phone calls, visitors, meetings, and other pressing matters that seem to be hitting you all at once. The trick is to do…

One. Thing. At. A. Time.

I know what you’re thinking, “That’s impossible!”

Don’t believe me?

Try it for 3 days this week.

What are your priorities?

Make a quick list. Rank them, and start working on one task at a time. If you are working on a month long project, devote one full 100% focused hour to that project today with zero distractions. When that hour is up, go onto your next task. It may be a smaller task or the next phase of another project, but give that 100% focus as well. This will be tough at first, but you must curb the desire to check that smart phone every 5 minutes. You are working on new thought "muscles", so a little "soreness" is normal.

Upon completion of your 3 day challenge, you’ll see the amount of work you accomplished in just 3 days. And you will feel great, like when I rounded the street corner. If you decide to continue past 3 days, great things will begin to happen. Colleagues in your company will begin to take notice in the quality of work you’re presenting on a regular basis, increasing your reliability and integrity. This will lead to more confidence, which in turn can lead to a possible promotion and eventually more money in your pocket. All because you decided to make the commitment of being 100% focused at work.

As a Professional Organizer, Speaker, Author, Podcast Producer & Host, Rick Woods helps residents and businesses make room for clarity, by getting rid of the clutter that gets in their way.

Listen to Rick's free weekly podcast "Make Room For Clarity", which focuses on interviewing business & health experts by visiting www.makeroomforclarity.com.

Inquire about Rick's professional organizing business, "The Functional Organizer, LLC.", which focuses on decluttering, organizing, paper filing and time management by visiting www.tforganizer.com.