Forget Positive Thinking and Try Power Thinking Instead!

When Jerry first lost his job, he was angry. It wasn't fair! He had seniority and better sales figures than at least three other division heads who still had their jobs. Then he got depressed and down on himself. His confidence slumped and he began to believe he wasn't as good as the others after all.

As time went on, his outlook mellowed a bit as he began to assess his skills and talents against the requirements of various positions he applied for. Finally, after a number of interviews and a couple of times getting into the final running for a job but losing out, he said, "Yes, it's tough to keep slogging away day after day, but I'm just trying to stay positive."

Has Jerry has turned the corner so that his emotions no longer negatively interfere with his job search? After all, isn't positive thinking supposed to be one of the secrets to success?

Not so fast... While positive thinking is certainly better for Jerry than being stonewalled by anger, dragged down by depression, and even getting "realistic" about his prospects (a terrible trap - don't do it!), positive thinking is nowhere near as effective as Powerful Thinking. And Jerry is nowhere near mastering that yet.

Powerful Thinking generates thoughts that propel you forward and eliminates thoughts that hold you back. Positive thinking is like staying in "park." Powerful Thinking actually shifts you into a forward gear.

Here's how you can generate Powerful Thinking for yourself:

1. Inventory those recurring, doubtful beliefs you have about yourself. You know, the ones that hold you back, like "I'm too old to start a new career" or "I'm deathly afraid of public speaking" or "My boss [husband, child, parent, co-worker] just doesn't value me [and since I respect their opinion, I doubt my own value]."

2. Craft an opposing true, factual statement, just like in debate class. "I have experience on the job that is unparalleled in the industry." "I am completely comfortable talking about my opinions and knowledge with people who I know and trust." "I really deliver for my boss/husband/child/parent/co-worker when they need me." Notice that these are not made-up 'positive' thoughts - they are true, factual thoughts.

3. Consider whether the opposing statement has the possibility of being at least equally true as the corresponding doubtful belief. If not, keep crafting opposing statements until you have one that could at least be equally true. All we're going for here is 50/50.

4. Here's the Power. Your brain finds it impossible to carry two opposing thoughts of equal weight. It demands that one dominate the other. So when you have two equally weighted but opposing thoughts, you can now choose which one to carry. Choose the Powerful thought!

It is a mindset: Every time the doubtful thought pops up, simply replace it with the equally true, opposing one. After awhile, your brain will be trained to carry that new thought as the primary one. This takes some practice, but learning how to generate and then choose Powerful Thinking means that you can redirect your thoughts literally in a nano-second! 

When you catch yourself doubting, immediately craft an opposing statement and override the doubt, even if the big, scary doubt has some element of truth to it. Remember the opposing statement is also true, so choose it instead. Get out of "park," develop Powerful Thinking, and get in gear!

Linda Spevacek is an innovative speaker, author and coach who can help you create prosperity across all aspects of your life. For speaking topics and programs, visit www.ExpertProsperity.com

Fifty Shades of Succcess

Last summer I quickly read "50 Shades of Grey" so I could be in-the-know and find out what all the fuss was about. The book isn't great literature by any stretch, but it did highlight one primordial fact of life: "to each his own."

Our own individual tastes, desires and ways of doing things run so strongly through us that, when we try to adapt to what others dictate, we lose something of ourselves.

I'm not saying everyone should run rampant doing whatever you want, driving whatever speed you want, disregarding the needs of others. But I am saying that every time you have to give in to something that's just not "you," a little piece of "you" gets compromised. Over time, lots of little pieces of us have gotten compromised; sometimes so much is lost that we may not even know our true selves anymore.

Understanding your core values, your core instincts, your core needs - are all essential to your success. Find work that is in alliance with these. Find partners who are in alliance with these. Find friends who are in alliance with these.

Find yourself, and you will find success. 

Linda Spevacek is a coach, author and speaker who teaches professionals how to shine! Find out more about her speaking topics and training programs at www.ExpertProsperity.com

Are you lying to yourself?

It's important to know that your mind plays “dirty” tricks on you.  That is, your perception of reality is never reality itself.  Rather it is your mind’s version or internal representation of reality. 

This causes blind spots – beliefs you have that cause you to be unaware of factors and situations that are causing your business success strategies to fail.

Example: “It’s impossible to find and hire good people.” 

Blind spot#1: Frequently the reality is that you need to hire people because too many have left because they weren't having a positive work experience. Chances are they weren’t acknowledged or rewarded for good work, not ever asked for their opinion, or didn’t have a sense of belonging to the team. (And many more)  Many of them give up and stop producing because they believe no one truly cares.

Blind spot #2:  Since the people on your team are not trying anymore, it looks like they don’t care.  In reality, they feel disconnected and unappreciated…so they stop doing their best.  This change can occur within a few months after being hired.

It’s complicated and there is not enough space here to give it a more analysis.

Developing strategies and plans is a healthy practice for leaders to do. However, if your strategies include significant blind spots they are doomed from the outset.

Remember, you filter every experience through your own learned behaviors, experiences, beliefs, values, interests and states.  As a result, this filtering process distorts, deletes and generalizes your sense of reality. It feels like you know the truth.  Often it is not real.

• Where are you missing critical external cues that your strategies need to be adjusted?  
• Where are you over-estimating your abilities or those of your managers and leaders?  
• To what extent are you attached to your own strategies as being correct that you cannot perceive better ways of reaching your destination?

 The first step to get past blind spots is to be aware of every thought, assumption, belief (disguised as fact) and point of view with which you currently identify.  Challenge it. Especially when you believe you are right.

Find out how to clear your blind spots and create greater success in your company.

Contact me, Ann Meacham, at ann@leadyourteams.com or call 860-788-3504.  Click here to schedule a Free Leadership Strategy session.

Overcoming obstacles to take your business to the next level

 
Doing things the same way you always have will not propel your business to the greater level of success it could have. You owe it to your clients to provide the best service possible, not just really good service but great service. And you owe it to yourself to have a business that is not only financially successful but also rewarding.

Sometimes you have to take a step backward to propel things forward.

My story helps to make this point. After building a very successful financial planning and asset management practice, it became obvious to me that in order to take the business to the next level I had to make major changes. I made the decision to take a six figure pay cut and put more money back into the business. Technology was updated. The office was remodeled for better work flow. And hiring and training new staff put the right people in place. Within two years not only had I made back the money I lost, but the net income to the business was greater and on the right path to continue to grow.

Think about how you have been running your business and if you stay on this same path, where your business will be in one and three years. Is that where you want it to be? If not, determine the changes you need to make to get things on the right path. If needed, hire an expert to help. Sometimes you have to spend money to make money.   

You need to constantly improve your business to stay ahead of the competition or you run the risk of being left behind by others in your field that offer better or more current service.



Nancy D. Butler Brief Bio

After building a business from scratch as a single parent with no other source of income and only $2,000 to her name, to approx. $200 million in assets under management, in 2007 Nancy sold her practice and became a national professional speaker, business coach and award-winning author. She now helps business owners do a better job for their clients and improve their bottom line and helps individuals live more successful, fulfilling lives and realize their dreams. 

Nancy has been quoted in many local and national publications including USA Today, Money Magazine, Playboy magazine, The Chicago Tribune and The Day and has been a speaker for major corporations such as Pfizer, General Dynamics and Dow Chemical. Nancy has also been a guest on several television and radio shows.

Contact Nancy for a free consultation at nbutler@aboveallelse.org.

Over 7.2 million people miss out Christmas presents!

In the last quarter of 2014, the North-pole International Centre for Excellence (NICE) boasted that Santa was a five nines organisation and the world could relax knowing that everybody would get the right present on time..

Process Guru Siobhan Sherman (a six Sigma Black Belt) ran the numbers and came up with shocking finding: running a five nines organisation wasn't good enough for global impact and accuracy. Based on current estimates, 7.2 million people missed out on Christmas! (Subsequent Intercontinental Statistical Testing [SIST], has shown this to be the case).

Earlier this year, North-pole spokesperson "Alf on the shelf" said that the core principle behind Santa Clause’s  excellent supply chain delivery organisation was the checklist. Alf boasted, not only do we use checklists, we check them twice! 

Nevertheless, 7.2 million people woke up on Boxing Day wondering whether or not they've been naughty or nice. So far, no comment from Alf on the shelf on how the North Pole organisation intended to correct this problem and ensure it does not happen again.

The harsh lessons we have learnt from this Christmas season can be summed up in one word, CHECKLIST!

If you want your organisation to compete with a world class supply chain like Santa's and make a positive impact on the world, you have to ask yourself, do you have a checklist? Do you use your checklist? Do you check it twice? Anything less will leave unhappy customers

checklists ensure that things get done in an organized and consistent way. They are the key to overcoming "task saturation", where the flow of incoming data and tasks is so overwhelming that one becomes paralyzed and unable to take action.  Checklists can be used as an audit tool to see if you are utilizing best practices in your current and future plans.

As shocked as we all are about the 7.2 million mistakes uncovered after last Christmas, this tragedy could have been much worse had Santa and his elves not used checklists.

Are you smart enough to use checklists? 

Maybe the first place you could use them is on your New Year's resolutions :-) .

Happy New Year from Tony Sherman, the Implementation Rabbi, at Impact Teams. My your checklists bring you prosperity throughout 2015.

There's Still Time To Finish Strong!

Muscle Memory Needs a Workout, too!

How's your year shaping up? The last week of the year may seem too late to salvage it, especially if your results have been less than you had hoped for. But how harmful is that mentality - the one that lets you just give up, that lets you off the hook, that accepts defeat even though the race is not yet over?

The problem is this: once you take the easy exit, it becomes easier and easier to continually excuse yourself, until you stop really trying to achieve anything! Remember, mental habits are like muscles -  you must exercise them in order for them to perform well. So, let's set up your mindset to achieve a strong finish, no matter how short the time is.

1. Think of at least 10 positive things you have accomplished this year. Big or small, it doesn't matter.

2. Think of at least 5 things that you have done for others this year.

3. Think of at least 3 things that others have done for you this year.

4. Think of ONE thing that you could knock off and get done if you gave it 30 minutes.

5. Do it, or think of something else and do that.  Just ONE thing!

Whether you consciously realize it or not, this simple set of exercises just shifted your mental muscle memory from slack-off mode to action mode. By acknowledging your accomplishments, your brain recognizes achievement as a normal part of its routine. By recalling what you have done for others, your mind becomes laser-focused on producing value. By appreciating what others have done for you, gratitude moves in and greases the mental gears. By actually taking action and doing something, anything, your mind holds success in its most recent memory and remains poised and ready to perform again and again.

A success-oriented mental mindset can be built in a day, or even an hour.  There's plenty of time to finish strong. Wishing you a Happy, Healthy and STRONG Year, both now and in the New Year!

Linda

Linda Spevacek is an innovative speaker, author and coach who can help you create prosperity across all aspects of your life. For speaking topics and programs, visit www.ExpertProsperity.com