Ted Talks Part 5

TED Talks

Part 5 Reflection

Today, knowledge is becoming more specialized than ever before according to Chris Anderson author of TED Talks. TED Talks is a breath of fresh air in today’s times, as well as, some good old fashion common sense. TED Talks reminds us that all knowledge is connected into a giant web and that public speaking skills are going to matter in the future even more than they do today.

Everyone probably realizes by now that computers are taking over specialized knowledge from us human beings. So, what do you think is going to eventually become the only thing left for us humans? That’s right. We’re going to need to go back to being more human by utilizing more contextual knowledge and more creative knowledge. We’re going to have to develop a deeper understanding of our own humanity according to Anderson.

We develop this deeper humanity through the speaking renaissance that’s taking place today in public speaking, as well as the TED Talks taking place all over the world. And even more important, thanks to the Internet these talks are also accessible to all of us. In the very near future, we’re going to have to learn from people outside of our specialties or fields in order for us to develop a deeper understanding of our world and our role in it.

Online video is providing visibility to the best talent in the world and also has a massive incentive to improve upon what is already out there. People are becoming YouTube stars in their niche communities through a thing called, “crowd accelerated innovation”. It’s the most exciting application in the world of ideas and to improve upon ideas. We have this amazing laboratory right at every one of our own fingertips, which is rooted in public speaking and presentation literacy through the digital world that is streaming right into our homes and even into some of our pockets on our handheld devices.

When we finally do reach our goal of giving a TED Talk, let’s try to remember that it’s not the end, but just the beginning. In addition, it also isn’t about being safe, secure, and right. It’s about creating something that will breed further ideas and be impactful. The future isn’t written yet. We are all collectively writing it together. “There is an open page on every empty stage waiting for our contributions,” says Anderson. Let’s go get ‘em and do our part to contribute to a new and improved better world!

Dan Blanchard is an award-winning author, speaker and educator. To learn more about Dan please visit his website at: www.DanBlanchard.net. Thanks.

TED TAlks Part 3

TED Talks

Part 3 The Preparation Process

Should we use visuals? Well, according to Chris Anderson author of TED Talks, that’s up to us. One-third of TED speakers don’t use slides. But, two-thirds do. Slides are good when using the revelation tool of sharing ideas. They’re also good for explaining. And of course there is the aesthetic appeal. However, beware, no slides are better than bad slides. If we really want to use them, we might want to get professional help with our slides.

Some things to be aware of when using slides is that even though a picture is worth a thousand words because it shows and tells; we should limit each slide to a single core idea. Also, don’t put bullet points on slides because people will mentally leave us and read ahead. Instead, do something like putting a question on a slide, or a photograph, or video, maybe even some animation or perhaps just some key data will do nicely.

As mentioned earlier, visuals have aesthetic appeal. It’s actually okay for us to show a lot of images to help increase the audience’s delight. Some speakers even have a system that shows a new image every few seconds as they’re talking. If using pictures, remember that a black background will make it look like we are using a black border and will really help our images pop.

Here are some things to beware of. Don’t use multiple type effects in the same line. Don’t use bullets or dashes. And resist underlining and italics. Don’t put too much on one slide. Instead, let’s use feeds. It’s wiser to build onto the slide through clicks. Also use 24+ font size. We can use context photos, but have to be careful that they don’t look like year book photos. And we shouldn’t show videos longer than 30 seconds. Nor, show more than 2-4 videos. We should also avoid fancy transitions. It’s better to just go to cuts. And remember, with graphics, less is more. Finally, we need to always practice on the equipment that we’re going to use.

Should we script or not script? Or use some sort of combination of the two? Anderson believes that scripting can help us make the best use of our time up there on that stage for those short 18 minutes. But, scripting also has the danger of sounding like we are reading it. And even if we go the extra mile of fully memorizing the speech it can still sound off. Like it’s not real or authentic. Anderson calls this awkward place the, “uncanny valley”. The bottom line is that the best speeches come off as if the speaker is sharing his or her ideas for the first time.

It’s almost best to go somewhere in between scripting and not scripting. Write the speech. Make an outline. Memorize the opening and the closing. Then have a few notes for everything in between. Don’t worry. The audience won’t mind if we take a peek at our notes from time to time. A good way to do this is by taking a sip of water and glancing over at our notes before we continue our talk.

However we approach preparing for our speech, the most important thing is to practice, and practice a lot. The practice isn’t about trying to memorize our speech, it’s about becoming more comfortable with being up on that stage and in front of that crowd. When we’re more comfortable, our audience is more comfortable too. And that’s a good thing.

Anderson also expresses to always prepare a speech that is 9/10 of the time that we are given. Prepare a 54 minute speech for a 1 hour presentation. And a 16:12 speech for our 18 minute TED Talk. This gives us time to pace ourselves, pause, screw up a little bit, milk the audience and basically have some breathing room. This breathing room will add to our level of comfort and thus add to the level of comfort and joy our audience is experiencing.

Now, not to put any more pressure on ourselves, but we need to remember that in this modern era there is a tug-o-war for people’s attention. This is especially true in online formats like TED Talks where people can just click away. Our first words really do matter. So, let’s not waste them away with small talk.

A good way to open our speech could be with a dose of drama. Think about the movie industry. How would they approach this subject in the opening minutes of their movie? Another good strategy to open with is to ignite their curiosity. The best way to do this is by asking a surprising question that creates a knowledge gap our audience’s minds fights to close.

A third approach to opening our speech could be as simple as just showing an impactful slide, video or object. Finally, one can also open with teasing the audience a little bit by using words that excite curiosity like, “reveal”. This strategy encourages our audience to go on our journey. However, beware, if we tell them everything in the first 30 seconds they will have no reason to go on our journey with us. So, do tell them with some hints of where we’re going with this little talk, but don’t immediately tell them everything in your opening.

Dan Blanchard is an award-winning author, speaker and educator. To learn more about Dan please visit his website at: www.DanBlanchard.net. Thanks.

Ted Talks Part 1

TED TALKS: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking by Chris Anderson

Part 1: Foundation

  

          Every piece of human progress has happened because humans have shared ideas and the collaborated to make it happen. We need people to step forward out of the shadows and share their ideas on today’s problems. Thankfully, we have the avenue of public speaking to do this. Speaking is an ancient art that is wired deeply into our human minds. And now thanks to the Internet, our campfire talk is open to the whole world. We all have something valuable to say. And as along as we say it authentically, in our own unique ways nobody can argue that point.

Speaking successfully and authentically could start for many of us as early as our school years if our schools would just resurrect “rhetoric”- the art of speaking effectively. Schools should make speaking effectively the 4^th R. Many would agree that today presentation literacy has the potential to make the biggest impact. It could do the most good going forward for our youth and our society, especially in this new multi-media digitally connected streaming world.

A talk can open doors and transform a career. And yes it’s scary! But, fear can be a good thing in that it will help us have the energy and will to prepare. It can be done! Everywhere we look, we can see people who have overcome their fear of public speaking from Eleanor Roosevelt to Warren Buffet to Princess Diana. If we can talk to a group of friends over dinner, then we can speak publicly and even go as far as to give a TED Talk.

The central thesis of Chris Anderson’s book, “TED TALKS: The Official Guide to Public Speaking” is that anyone with an idea worth sharing is capable of giving a powerful talk. Confidence doesn’t matter. Stage presence doesn’t matter. Neither does being a smooth talker. The only thing that truly matters is having something worth saying. The good thing is that we all have far more worth sharing than we’re presently aware of. We all have a blind spot and can’t easily see what’s unique and special about ourselves. Asking those who know us best will help us uncover the shining star that we all have hidden somewhere deep within us. 

Now, if we think we might have something special worth sharing, but are afraid that we don’t know enough about it yet, don’t sweat it. Anderson has a solution. And it’s a simple one. Let’s just put ourselves on a mission to find out more about what we have that might be worth sharing. And if we find ourselves dragging our feet on it, then let’s just simply sign up to give a speech on it. The fear that will immediately follow will be enough to get us moving, get us learning, and get us growing again.

Focusing on what we want to give our audience and starting where they are at is a great foundation for building our speech. However, when building our speech we need to be careful that we are giving and not taking. NO SALES PITCHES! No rambling either. The audience’s time is valuable. Let’s not disrespect them by not thoroughly preparing our speech and then wasting their time through our own rambling. Also, let’s not talk just about our organization; no matter how interesting we may find it. I guarantee you that others won’t find our job or place of employment as interesting as we do. They can’t love it like we do because they don’t work there and aren’t familiar with it like we are.

Since the point of our talks are to say something meaningful, Anderson shares that it helps if our speeches have a throughline that ties together each narrative. Think of a throughline as a strong rope that we attach each element to that are parts of our ideas we’re building in others’ heads. We want to make the audience’ take-away obvious. And we make it obvious by knowing our audience and not trying to jam too much stuff in too short of a time. Cover less and the impact will be more. Anderson encourages us to plan our 18 minute TED Talk and then cut it in half. And then cut it in half again. Hmm…

Once we have a throughline in 15 words or less, then it’s time to plan what we’ll attach to it. Some of the tools that speakers use to build ideas are connection, narration, explanation, persuasion, and revelation. Most speakers use one of these idea-building tools or a mix of them. We’ll explain them more in the next section. 

Dan Blanchard is an award-winning author, speaker and educator. To learn more about Dan please visit his website at: www.DanBlanchard.net. Thanks.

Grit Part 7

Growing Grit from the Outside Continued

     

       So, what’s another way us parents can build more grit in ourselves and our children? Simple. Join a gritty team. Join a winning team. Join a team where it’s normal to get up early, work hard, and stay late. When we reside in a culture that is gritty, then acting gritty just seems normal. It’s just what we do. After all, the concept of conformity is a very powerful one. Most of us will conform to the culture that we’re living in, whether we know it or not.

            The Finnish people even have a word for the culture of toughness that they live in and acclimate to. That word is sisu. They believer that just by being Finnish it makes the people in Finland grittier, tougher, or sisu, whether they know it or not. Pete Carroll, coach of the Seattle Seahawks professional football team calls it competing. If you’re part of the Seahawks culture you’re always competing. And in Coach Carroll’s culture, the word compete doesn’t mean one wins and one loses. Instead, it means to bring forth the best in all of them.

Which, leads me to my next point. If you don’t have a winning gritty culture or team to join, then create one of your own where your own grit will rub off onto your teammates, co-workers, or even your own children. Hey, it’s sort of like the great John Wooden of UCLA basketball fame would say, “Success is never final; failure is never fatal. It’s courage that counts.” So, choose to have that courage and build that grit in yourself. Then pass it around so others too can get a little more cultured.

Closing

What we accomplish in the marathon of life depends a lot on our grit, passion and perseverance for long term goals. Sadly, an obsession with talent distracts us all from this simple truth. And makes no mistake about it, most of us are distracted. We love the mystique of what someone becomes, we’re not very interested in what it took, or the becoming part that was required for them to reach their full potential and mastery.

            The good thing is that we can all choose to work on our own grit and becoming grittier. We can grow our grit from the inside out through some exploration and perseverance and we can also employ others to our cause and grow grit from the outside in.

            Becoming grittier is excellent for all of us because becoming grittier makes us emotionally healthier. Considering all the crazy stuff we have seen seeing in the news lately, I think you would agree with me that our society being a little more emotionally healthy would be a good thing that could benefit all of us.

            In conclusion, I say stay curious my friend. Curiosity usually has an undercurrent of optimism that accompanies a growth-mindset. Curiosity, in the end, may be the best companion to true grit. Get your gritty self out there and somehow get your hands on Dr. Angela Duckworth’s book, Grit. You’ll be happier that you did. It will improve your outlook on life like it has for me. Grit reminds us that we don’t have to go down that road of learned helplessness. Given enough time and grit, we can make our dreams come true by becoming even grittier.

 Dan Blanchard is an award-winning author, speaker and educator. You can learn more about him at: www.GranddaddysSecrets.com.

Grit Part 6

Growing Grit from the Outside

   

         The Latin meaning of the word parent is ‘bring forth’. We need to bring forth interest, practice, purpose and hope in all the people that we care for and care about. We have to show our children, according to Dr. Duckworth, that it’s not about us and what we need, but that it’s truly about giving the kids all that we got. We have to do this, even when it’s not easy because kids need demanding and supportive parenting or other words, ‘tough-love’ in order to build some grit of their own.

            However, remember that we don’t need to be a parent to make a difference. If we just care about them and get to know them and what’s going on in their lives, we can make a positive impact. I’m sure that we have all heard the old African proverb, that it takes a village to raise a child, right?

            Besides parents growing grit from the outside in their own homes with their children, extracurricular activities is another great way to build grit. With extracurricular activities there is usually a more objective adult standing in for the parent who is also demanding and supportive. In addition, this other adult and the extracurricular activity itself is designed by nature to cultivate interest, increase practice and produce purpose and hope. And the beautiful thing is that it really doesn’t matter what the extracurricular activity is because all extracurricular activities are playing fields of grit. So, let’s sign our kids up for something so they can spend at least part of their week doing hard things that interest them.

            You see, this is how it works… School is hard for our young ones, but for many it’s also boring, or at least not intrinsically interesting. Texting their friends is interesting, but not hard. Extracurricular activities, on the other hand, can be the best of both worlds… They can be hard and fun. In addition, kids who participate in extracurricular activities fare better on every conceivable metric.

            Dr. Duckworth talks about a study began in 1978 by Warren Willingham who was the director of the Personal Qualities Project, and which still remains to this day as one of the most ambitious studies ever done to discover what determinants help young people become successful young adults. What he found was the extracurricular activities are a great indicator of future success.

But here was the real secret though… Kids who participate in more than one extracurricular activity and took part for more than one year, who also somehow made great strides became the most successful young adults off all, regardless of what their S.A.T. scores were, or what their grade point average was.

Harvard University has picked up on this fact and bases at least part of their admissions on this. Bill Fitsimmons, the former Dean of Admissions for Harvard says that kid who was consistent and succeeded on one of the extracurricular playing fields of grit, could use that energy and determination for something else purposeful like getting good grades at Harvard, even if that kid no longer participates in that extracurriculars. Sadly, many high schools are facing budget cuts today and are cutting their extracurricular programs…

            According to Dr. Duckworth, without directly experiencing the connection between effort and reward that seems to go hand-in-hand with extracurricular activities, all animals, humans included, default to laziness. Calorie-burning effort is after all, something evolution has shaped us to avoid whenever possible. Taking away extracurricular activities and then accusing kids of being lazy doesn’t seem to add up correctly though. We are the adults. We need to do better.

            Are you doing everything in your power to make sure that our children have opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities and build some grit of their own?

 Dan Blanchard is an award-winning author, speaker and educator. You can learn more about him at: www.GranddaddysSecrets.com.

Grit Part 5

Grit from the Inside Out Continued

       

     As youngsters, it’s hard to think beyond our own basic needs. As we mature we learn to think beyond our own basic needs and it causes our passions to mature and become grittier. Which then causes us to operate on a higher level beyond our own self-interest and causes our passions to also include purpose or desire to help others. This purpose may start off as self-interest and then develop into purpose. And that’s okay because we have to start somewhere.

            In addition, Dr. Angela Duckworth’s book Grit show us that when we help others survive, they can also help us survive. So, it really is, in the end, in our best self-interest to help others. But, unfortunately, we can’t always see this when we are young and less gritty. In the end, this new sense of purpose developed through maturity is also a very powerful motivator.

            Eventually, developing a purpose can lead to one having a calling. Dr. Duckworth believes that we would all like to have a calling. But, unfortunately, most of us don’t have this calling. We can’t seem to find our calling. To tell you the truth, we’re not going to find our calling; we’re going to develop our calling just like we develop our own interest and our own passion. We don’t have to go anywhere to find our calling. It’s right here in what we’re doing every day. But, unfortunately, very few people recognize this.

            For example, most adults go to work most days. However, not all of us are fully engaged in our jobs because after all they are just our jobs, right? However, some of us have found more meaning in the work we do every day and have put in the extra work to change our jobs into a profession. This was a choice and this was something that these few choose to do. Out of these few, and even smaller segment choose to do even more extra work to make their profession their calling. Every day when all the others are going to their job, these special few aren’t going to work, they’re going to their calling.

            Let me explain some more. In the parable of the bricklayers, everyone has the same occupation but their subjective experience- how they themselves viewed their work- couldn’t be more different. The first bricklayer says, “I am laying bricks.” The second bricklayer says, “I am building a church.” And the third says, “I am building the house of God.” It’s a choice. Which choice are you making every day? Are you choosing to be gritty every day and develop that very satisfying calling?

            If you’re not choosing to be gritty every day, well then, start right now to choose to be gritty every day. And if you find yourself having some trouble doing this, then find a purposeful role model to emulate and borrow some grit from until you can more fully develop your own. In addition, always remember the old Japanese proverb, “Fall seven, raise eight!”

            Since this author of this article was voted most optimistic in high school and it’s a trait that has stuck with him throughout the years, he is happy to say that Dr. Duckworth feels that optimism and grit go hand-in-hand. Don’t let the world steal your smile. Paint that smile on your face if you have to. Dr Duckworth says to develop and protect that optimistic growth-mindset that Dr. Carol Dweck talks about in her book, Mindset and your natural consequence will be in becoming grittier.

            Just beware though, only telling yourself or another to be optimistic is just the beginning. People also have to overcome real adversity in order to rewire their brains to look similar to those who already have grit. So here is the path laid out for you. Be optimistic with a growth-mindset, engage your inner self-talk and preserver again, and again, and again over adversity. It’s sort of like what Teddy Roosevelt said about the strenuous life being the good life and how he doesn’t think another man has ever had as much fun as he has in all his endeavors.

            Now I must ask you, which bricklayer are you?

 Dan Blanchard is an award-winning author, speaker and educator. You can learn more about him at: www.GranddaddysSecrets.com.

Grit Part 4

Grit from the Inside Out Continued

According to Dr. Duckworth the author of Grit, knowing that the little nuances that non-experts can’t see is what keeps the experts going, and thinking back to developing a passion and career that goes along with that passion, one can now more clearly see how it could be difficult to know if something is a good fit until you try it for a while and learn to see some of those nuances… And furthermore, learn to enjoy those nuances…

            Learning to stick it out long enough to really learn what hard work is all about is a good thing. Finding joy in the simple nuances that others can’t see is also a good thing. And taking your time to develop your passion over the long run is also a good thing too. All of these are good because they build us grit, and in the end make us happier and more successful. Besides, think of the opposite of this. Mindlessly going through the motions without every really improving can be its own form of suffering. And many would say that this kind of suffering is way worse than the 10,000 hours or 10 years of deliberate hard practice that it took them to excel and become an expert.

            So, what is this deliberate practice and how do we get the most out of it so we too can march down that 10,000 hours or 10 year road to greatness? Well, to start, experts try to do things that they can’t yet do, fail, and then learn what to do differently. And how do they do this, you ask? First, they clearly define a stretch goal, then they use their full concentration and all-out effort. Next, they look for immediate and informative feedback. Then they use repetition with reflection and refinement until they master their stretch-goal. The once difficult then becomes ordinary for them. Finally, they repeat the process of picking a new stretch-goal and do it all over again.

            I know this doesn’t sound easy. As a matter of fact, I know this sounds hard. And that’s because it is hard. However, there are a few things that we can do to make the hard more doable. First, set a routine where you do these hard things at the same time every day. Routines are godsend. You get up every morning, lace up your running shoes and just go. It’s just what you do… Having to decide every single day to do a hard thing would be a nightmare for most of us. Few of us would ever consistently follow through on doing our hard deliberate practice that is needed to make us champions if we had to make up our mind about it every single day. The brain is very good at coming up with excuses for not burning extra calories.

            In addition, believe it or not, we all can learn to embrace challenge rather than fear it. And we can embrace this embracing by simply relieving ourselves of our own judgement that gets in our way of enjoying the challenge we really want to and really need to face.

            Let’s think about this for a moment. When we were babies or even toddlers, learning from mistakes didn’t bother us at all, right? So, why do we let it bother us so much now? If we did that as a baby we would have never stood upright, taken those first few steps, and then kept right on taking those steps right into a walk and then eventually a run. Doesn’t the grownup version of ourselves have a spine just as strong as or even stronger than the baby and toddler version of ourselves?

            The truth is that not only are our backbones bigger and stronger, but so is our grit as we age and mature. Growing grit is just a natural progression. When we are young, we don’t really know yet what we want. As we age we experience enough to know a lot more about the world and what we really want. Furthermore, we better understand the big picture and the role synergy and legacy plays within it.

            Are you willing to put in the time and effort through hard deliberate practice to grow some real grit and become that expert?

Dan Blanchard is an award-winning author, speaker and educator. You can learn more about him at: www.GranddaddysSecrets.com.

Grit Part 3

According to Dr. Duckworth, a Gallup Poll found that 2/3 of adults aren’t truly engaged at work. Sadly, few people do what they love. It looks like those countless commencement speeches that constantly say to follow your passions really are on to something important here, aren’t they?  The few who are lucky enough to follow their passions into a career field feel extremely satisfied, are usually more productive than their peers and many times don’t really feel like they have worked a day in their lives because their vocation is really their advocation.

            So, why isn’t everyone doing this? Why isn’t everyone following their passions and landing in the perfect job that brings them eternal satisfaction and happiness? Dr. Duckworth thinks that it might be because too many people think that one’s interest and one’s passion is something that one just finds or discovers somehow. However, that’s not how it works. Although, there is some degree of discovery involved in finding one’s interest and passion, a much bigger and powerful component of interest and passion is development. One has to actually develop it!

            If you can remember your old school guidance counselor driving you crazy in high school, like the author of this article can, when our counselors used to brow beat us while telling us that we had to know exactly what we was going to do with the rest of our life then reading Grit will help you. It will help you realize that high school is way too early for most of us to know what we want to with the rest of our lives, or what our passions are. For most of us, passion is something that really is developed rather than just internally pulled out of oneself or just ‘found’.

            Furthermore, we’re not supposed to immediately fall in love with our first job. It’s a mistake and an unrealistic expectation to think that one can just go try out a job and instantly fall in love with everything about the job. The perfect match just isn’t out there, especially for beginners. It’s sort of like relationships. With these unrealistic expectations that many young people have today about everything fitting perfectly and how it shouldn’t be hard, they just jump from one relationship to another or from one job to another never spending enough time to develop a true passion and grow some grit.

            Hey, it’s not our fault that we do this hopping around thing. It’s just natural for us humans to want to jump from one thing to another. Unlike animals who have instincts, when we humans are born, as babies we need to learn through experiencing new things. This basic experiential learning helps keep us alive. Thus, novelty, change and variety is a basic human drive that formed its genesis in the survival of our species.

            The trick though to building ourselves some grit is to fight these natural impulses and then eventually even learn to use them to work for us, instead of against us. For instance, for the beginner, novelty is anything that they haven’t encountered before. For the expert, novelty is the nuance. Nuance is what keeps the experts or aspiring experts going while others get bored and quit. Nuance is what most non-experts misunderstand. They can’t see what the expert can see.

            So are you moving on too quickly, or are you sticking it out to develop your passion and build some grit?

Dan Blanchard is an award-winning author, speaker and educator. You can learn more about him at: www.GranddaddysSecrets.com.

Grit Part 2

   

        Grittier people are more about stamina than intensity. The most dazzling human achievements are not really overnight magical performances with herculean intensity, but in fact, the aggregate of countless individual elements, each of which, in a sense is nothing more than ordinary. But, with these ordinary small acts done consistently and correctly, and all together over time, it can’t help but produce excellence! Believe it or not, mundanity produces excellence. It’s a hard sell, but it’s true!

            Dr. Duckworth author of, Grit believes that effort is so important in one’s success that it actually factors in twice to the success formula. You see, one cannot have true skill without applying some effort to obtain skill. And at the same time additional effort will make that skill productive. Potential means nothing in the end without a lot of effort to build that skill and then use that skill through effort for however long it takes to win, which by the way, builds even more skill.  In Grit, Dr. Duckworth says that she is finding it more satisfying in sticking with something for as long time in order to become an expert who can see and do what the ordinary cannot than to continuously keep starting over as a newbie with potential.

            In 1940 Harvard University began what is today the longest study ever conducted on human development. George Valliant, continues to this day, to follow up on the men that took his 1940 treadmill test that was designed to physically and mentally punish them regardless of their level of talent of fitness. In the many decades that followed, he found the ones that pushed through the pain the longest ended up being better psychologically adjusted throughout their adulthood than the others who had quit earlier.

            Oh, by the way, modern day mega blockbuster, Hollywood superstar Will Smith says that he is no more talented than anyone else. However, he is willing to die on that treadmill before he’ll let his competition force him off of it. Do you think Will Smith might know a little something about the Harvard treadmill test study that began way back in the 1940s? How about grit?

            You see, in the end, the evidence appears to be overwhelming that consistency of effort over the long run is everything. And sadly, we tend to quit too often and too soon. Let’s try to be a little grittier and let’s stick it out a little bit longer. Who knows what might happen if we do?

            The good thing here is that grit isn’t fixed. We can actually develop grit and develop more grit if we’re already a little gritty. However, in order to develop this grit we need to develop an interest. Not find an interest mind you, but to develop one. Next, we have to use our capacity to practice, then become purposeful, and finally never lose hope. Basically, it all comes down to the fact that if we get knocked down and we stay down, grit loses. If we get back up, grit wins.

            Do you get up time after time?

Dan Blanchard is an award-winning author, speaker and educator. You can learn more about him at: www.GranddaddysSecrets.com.

Grit Part 1

   

        Angela Duckworth has just written a great book called, Grit. In her book she talks about what grit is and how we can grow it from the inside out, as well as the outside in. Take heed though, over the years many terms have been used that may sound like grit, but shouldn’t be confused with grit. Such terms as conscientiousness, self-regulation, self-control and executive-control and a few others do in fact have value in creating self-improvement and a higher quality of life like grit does, but differs from grit because grit emphasizes more of a long term passion over short-term control in what is doing and trying to accomplish.

            So, what kind of person is a gritty person? Well, Dr. Duckworth shares in her book that grit paragons are satisfied with being dissatisfied. In their own eyes their own performance is never good enough. They are grateful for their continual improvements, but they also know that there is always room for more improvement. They’re driven to constantly improve and enjoy the journey filled with all the hard work just as much as the highlight film and medals at the end. In essences, they believe that raising to the occasion has nothing to do with talent and everything to do with attitude. Grit paragons love to compete. They hate to lose. And maybe even more important, they love to keep going after failure when most others tend to give up.

            Those who defy the odds are especially gritty. Grittier kids stick it out longer in order to graduate high school. They stay on the job longer, thus are more often employed. They get advanced degree in college. But, surprisingly, many of the grittiest kids of all are the ones who graduate from two-year colleges where the dropout rate can be as high as 80%. Those who overcome adversity that causes many others to quit become especially gritty.

            Talent is constantly romanticizing our society. But the truth is that talent distracts us from what’s even more important… effort. Psychologists have long debated why some people are more successful than others. This on-going debate goes back to at least the spirited debates that Francis Galton and his very observant half-brother Charles Darwin used to partake in. Darwin was always surprised that talent continued to dominate Galton’s short list of what made people successful.

            The father of modern psychology William Henry James said that us humans live far within our limits and are only half-awake. Why? Well, Dr. Duckworth seems to believe that it is because many people are distracted by talent. Both their own talent and the talent of others is derailing them. If they blame others’ success on others being naturally more talented then it lets them off the hook for not being as successful as others. Furthermore, it makes the status quo okay. So why try? In addition, if they focus only on their own talent and the highlights of what they have become, chances are they never will put in the hard work necessary for actually becoming that person that they truly can become. Our culture fixation on talent, and constantly defaulting to the easy explanation of success through the well-known talent story is hurting us far more than it is helping us.

            Even the great Charles Darwin admitted to his half-brother Sir Francis Galton that he was never really that smart or talented. He was observant, but certainly not any more talented than others. Darwin equates his success to the fact that he would think about problems long after others had given up.

            So, now you must ask yourself if you have been fixated on talent at the cost of grit. Focus on the effort and overcoming adversity and you’ll become grittier.

Dan Blanchard is an award-winning author, speaker and educator. You can learn more about him at: www.GranddaddysSecrets.com.

Start with Why part 5

Everything that I have mentioned here over the last several months is just the tip of what Simon Sinek talks about in his book, Start with Why. He goes on in his book to give many more examples of companies and individuals who have figured out their WHY, as well as how to express their WHY in a way that people can easily understand. In addition, Sinek also points out many companies that used to know their WHY and how to express it, but have lost either their WHY or their clarity of message over time and are now floundering.

            So, what can we do with the powerful information in Sinek’s book? Well, the first thing everyone should do is go get the book, read it, take notes and then try to apply his wisdom and insight. Get ready though for your mind to be over-whelmed with possibilities of the quality of life you could be living if you can just figure out your WHY and how to effectively express your WHY.

            Finding your WHY doesn’t come from looking forward into the future like some wizard, it comes from looking back. So, look back in your past and take inventory of your life. What were the best times in your life? When did you feel totally in control? When were you absolutely positive that you were doing the right thing and knew you were exactly where you needed to be? Now let me ask you WHY. Why did you feel so good and positive during those moments? Doing this simple exercise will help you begin to find your true authenticity. From the starting point of your true authenticity you can begin to successfully move forward with confidence to better understand WHY you do what you do.

Finally, you will be able to put all your future decisions through your WHY filter thus making your life a lot easier, less stressful, more productive, and more Zen like. I know Steve Jobs would approve of this, but please do shower and keep your shoes on at your next meeting. Figure out your WHY and consistently use your WHY filter for all future decisions and you too will start to attract others like you who can become part of your team in making this world a better place. No more hesitating. Go get the book. Read it and do what you have to do to figure out your WHY, express your WHY and succeed in fulfilling your dreams.

Dan is an award-winning teen leadership author, speaker and educator. You can find out more about Dan at: www.GranddaddysSecrets.com. 

Start with Why part 4

 Someone who has done a good job with figuring out his WHY and then explaining it in a way that others too can clearly see what his WHY is was Steve Jobs of Apple Computers according to Simon Sinek. Apple’s ability to remain one of the most innovative companies year after year, combined with their uncanny ability to attract a cult-like following, makes them a great example to demonstrate many of the principles of The Golden Circle and knowing your WHY.

            Apple’s products give life to their cause. Apple “thinks differently” and everything they do demonstrates their WHY, which is to challenge the status quo. Apple wanted to give the individual sitting at home the same power as any big company. Apple wanted to empower the little guy. And this is a pattern that Apple has adhered to over and over again with all its different products from computers to phones to animated movies.

            It shouldn’t be surprising that Apple wants to challenge the status quo when one thinks about its founder and CEO Steve Jobs. Jobs grew up in the 1960’s when the youth were challenging authority and the status quo. For many years, while trying to build his company, Jobs would show up to important meetings wearing no shoes and not have showered. He would be barefoot in those important meeting with his not so-pleasant smelling feet up on the table ruffling the feathers of many more traditional people who were present.

            Hey, that’s just who Steve Jobs has always been. And growing up into an adult with a business didn’t change him. Until his death Jobs has always been the same Steve Jobs that he has always been and so has his WHY, which was always consistently demonstrated over time with everything his company and products have done.

            When one is as good as Jobs was with explaining and showing his WHY, soon a cult-like following takes place because it’s no longer about the product as much as it is about the people who buy the product. These people are not loyal to the product because it’s a superior product that’s better than all the others. They are loyal to the product and brand because it is a good product that says a lot about who they are as people, as well as what they want to express to the outside world about who they are as people through using the product and showing off the brand.

            Essentially, there is no difference between Apple’s customers, employees and shareholders. What they buy or do may be different, but they all have the same WHY and they all want the world to know it by associating with Apple, its products and Steve Jobs when he was still alive. In essence, Apple is not really a company that sells computers. It’s a company that is changing the world by challenging the status quo, and empowering the individual who just so happens to also sell computers among other things by the way.

            Next month I will talk to you about how to find your WHY and what to do with all the great information in Simon Sinek’s book, Start with Why.

Dan is an award-winning teen leadership author, speaker and educator. You can find out more about Dan at: www.GranddaddysSecrets.com. 

Start with Why part 3

 Simon Sinek repeatedly says throughout his book, Start with Why that people don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it. And WHY you do it is your root cause or root belief that is buried in your inner soul and background. It’s who you are and what you stand for. It’s demonstrated by everything you have done in your life and everything you are going to do from this moment on. Your WHY is basically your authenticity and what other people can expect to get from you when they deal with you.

            “Unfortunately” says Sinek, “most of us aren’t very good at digging deep enough within ourselves to truly find our WHY, and for the few that do innately understand their WHY, even fewer are capable of expressing their WHY to others. Thus, the general population doesn’t know what they stand for and aren’t loyal to them or their brand, as evidence of the customers quickly leaving one brand for another that is having a sale.

            Sinek says that these difficulties in getting others whose brand is our brand and who are what we are to understand our WHY and becoming loyal to us is not our fault because expressing ourselves is rooted in our biology. Sometimes it’s tough to be just a mere mortal.

            Let’s take The Golden Circle that looks like a dart board with the bull’s eye in the middle and pull it out into a three dimensional figure so that now it resembles the shape of the human brain. The bull’s eye WHY has become the center of the brain and now represents our more primitive prehistoric limbic brain. The outer layer now consist of our newer neocortex brain. Our newer outer neocortex brain is where our language develop center resides. Thus, most of us usually have no problem saying in words WHAT we do. However, with our WHY residing in our older inner primitive limbic brain that has no capabilities for language it becomes very difficult for us to put our WHY into words. That’s why us humans love symbols, logos and pictures to tell the world our story and WHY we do what we do. The HOW part of the brain resides somewhere in the middle of these two brains and thus the ability to put our HOW in words is a bit easier than our limbic brain WHY but still somewhat fuzzier than our neocortex brain WHAT.

            Some of us will actually try to put words to WHY we do what we do, but those words or reasons, are often wrong, and we don’t even know it. Remember, our WHY centered primitive limbic brain doesn’t have language capabilities. Thus, once again our difficulties in expressing our WHY is rooted in our biology of being human, which means it’s not our fault that we struggle with telling ourselves, as well as others our WHY. However, regardless of whose fault it is, it is still our own responsibility to take charge of our lives and improve in our WHY area. If we do, us mere mortals, who are also amazing humans can eventually develop our own human success story in both pictures and words that will draw others to us from far, faraway places.

            Next month I will talk to you about a man who was pretty good at figuring out his WHY and expressing it to others.

Dan is an award-winning teen leadership author, speaker and educator. You can find out more about Dan at: www.GranddaddysSecrets.com

Start with Why part 2

 Last month I introduced you to Simon Sinek, his book, Start with Why, and The Golden Circle. This month let me help you better understand The Golden Circle. Picture The Golden Circle as three circles or rings inside each other, each bigger than the next or maybe smaller than the next depending in which direction you are going. The smallest ring or circle is the bull’s eye just like on a dart board. Can you picture it? Good. Dead center, the bully’s eye, is our WHY. We can all see that the bull’s eye is the smallest circle or ring and thus it would be the hardest to hit, right? The WHY that resides in there is also the hardest for us all to hit as evidence by very few companies or people being able to clearly articulate WHY they do what they do. This area is the ultimate test, as well as the area that will bring the greatest success if we master how to hit it.

            The next biggest circle or ring after the WHY is the HOW. This one is easier to hit than the bull’s eye WHY because it’s a bigger target. More people innately better understand how they do the things they do. More people understand HOW they do what they do than people who understand WHY they do what they do.

            The final big outside ring or circle is the WHAT area. Obviously one can see this is the biggest area. We all intuitively understand that this is the easiest area to hit because it’s the biggest. In this area of WHAT usually every single company and organization on the planet knows what they do. Most of us individuals know what we do too? Some however are better at knowing HOW to do it; thus, they are a little more successful than the WHATS. And remember even fewer of us in The Golden Circle know WHY we do what we do, and thus this is the smallest and the most successful group up according to Sinek.

            Next month I will explain how biology plays a big part in The Golden Circle and our WHY.

Dan is an award-winning teen leadership author, speaker and educator. You can find out more about Dan at: www.GranddaddysSecrets.com. 

Start with Why part 1

Simon Sinek’s book, Start with Why is so good that I have read it multiple times. He wrote his book because he wanted to inspire people to do things that inspire them. He found that just a few people have found the secret to doing only the things that inspire themselves. This small group of people have discovered the secret of inspiration by constantly asking themselves why they want to do what they are doing. Furthermore, with every answer they came up with to their WHY question they then asked themselves again why on that one too until they were successfully able to get to the bottom of why they were doing what they were doing. Finally knowing WHY truly motivated them to become successful.

            The rest of us who are not in this small happy elite group tend to answer and think in the WHAT terminology when thinking and talking about what we do. We tend to think and talk about WHAT we have done or what we plan to do instead of WHY we are doing; unfortunately, at the expense of our own personal inspiration. People who understand their WHY are more inspired than those who do not.

            In Simon Sinek’s own words he says, “Our greatest leaders and influencers in the world all think, act, and communicate in the exact same way- and it’s the opposite of what everybody else does.” Sinek calls this powerful idea of a new way of thinking, acting, and communicating The Golden Circle. And it all begins with WHY.

            I believe that most of us would like to be able to inspire others. I know I do. But Sinek’s book expresses that most of us don’t know how to inspire others so instead we do what is easier; and that is to manipulate. Businesses do this manipulations thing all the time by just dropping their prices and running a sale. Sinek says that there are only two ways to get people to act. You either inspire them or you manipulate them. If you want to inspire them, like I do, then you need to understand The Golden Circle and know your WHY.

            Next month I will explain The Golden Circle and talk to you more about your WHY. Until then, go forward, learn all that you can and think deeply about your WHY.

Dan is an award-winning teen leadership author, speaker and educator. You can find out more about Dan at: www.GranddaddysSecrets.com.