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Posts Tagged ‘Goals’

Wednesday Wellness: Realize, Visualize and Achieve Your Goals

By Tammy Parkinson | November 9th, 2011 0 Comments

If you want something, but can’t imagine actually having it…how can you actually have it?

When I work with weight loss clients and they want to lose for example 30 pounds, but can’t really imagine themselves even 5 pounds thinner, it’s often likely they will struggle in getting to their goal. Not impossible…but difficult.

If we work with fitness clients who want to run a marathon for example, but cannot envision themselves running 5 miles, it’s (pun intended) an uphill battle.

If you want to earn $1,000,000.00 this year, but have no idea how to get there and can’t visualize yourself coming up with the funds to even pay your property taxes in 6 months, chances are the bigger goal may not be attained. Again, not impossible, but certainly very challenging.

The belief system that we CAN, that we are CAPABLE, and that we can CREATE our goal is vital in order to more readily achieve our desires.

So, back to our weight loss person, if he or she can picture themselves 5 pounds thinner (I mean really hold on and believe in that picture of themselves), 10 pounds thinner and so on; then picture how they will feel when they reach their goals, the reality of the goal is much more attainable.

Realize your goals, visualize yourself achieving them, and think about how it’s going to feel when you DO achieve them; then go for it!

Thoughts on Leadership | Leaders Know How to Attract Attention

By Gino Blefari | September 1st, 2011 0 Comments

To accomplish anything in life as a leader, you’re likely going to need help from other people. Regardless of how talented or accomplished you are, you can’t always assume that you can count on attracting and retaining the attention of others. It will be more and more challenging and rewarding to hold onto the attention of those who matter to you.

Attention provides leverage. The more people leaders can attract and motivate to join them on a challenging quest or initiative, the more impact they are likely to achieve. So, what are effective ways to attract and retain the kind of attention that helps leaders to address the challenges they face? Here are four steps that build on each other.

1. Embrace mystery - Frame the more difficult problems that are relevant to you and need to be solved. Help people to understand why these are such significant problems and why so many people have been unsuccessful in trying to solve them. It probably will not attract the people looking for easy answers, but it can attract those who are naturally curious and looking for stimulating challenges.

2. Focus inquiry – Don’t try to suggest answers. Frame interesting questions instead. Help people gain perspective by posing questions that intrigue and motivate them to start investigating the mysteries that lie ahead.

3. Excite the imagination – Provide some “what if?” scenarios to illustrate the possibilities that await those who manage to come up with creative answers. Paint the pictures but make it clear these are only pictures. Stimulate people to pursue the questions with a lot of energy and creativity.

4. Be authentic – If you are not genuinely engaged in addressing these problems yourself, you will not be able to sustain the attention and effort of others to come up with creative solutions. On the other hand, if you are on a quest yourself, leading by example, you could have a contagious effect and the encounters you have can help both sides to learn from each other.

Do these techniques actually work? Well, think of how Martin Luther King excited and mobilized a broad group of people to tackle some very challenging social problems. On a completely different level, one leading tech company in Silicon Valley regularly attracts the attention of the venture capital community by sharing its most difficult technology problems and suggesting that they would buy the start-ups that come up with creative solutions to these problems. Or look at the way professional astronomers have mobilized a global network of passionately engaged amateurs to learn more about the vast universe beyond this planet.

This kind of attention is priceless and powerful. All leaders need to find ways to generate it and harness it. This is not just an opportunity, but increasingly an unavoidable obligation. Leaders are all experiencing increasing economic pressure as individuals and institutions. In this kind of environment, leaders not only need leverage, but also need to more rapidly improve their performance.

Leaders get better faster by working with others. To do this, they first need to attract their attention. If they fail to attract that attention, they will not get better faster in an increasingly competitive global economy, and they could be overlooked. That is why attention is becoming more valuable at the same time that it is becoming rare.

Wednesday Wellness | Practice Perfect Technique.

By Tammy Parkinson | August 31st, 2011 0 Comments

Bonnie Kathleen Blair (born March 18, 1964 in Cornwall, New York) is a retired American speed skater. She is one of the top skaters of her time, and one of the most decorated athletes in Olympic history. Blair competed for the United States in four Olympics, and in her Olympic career won five gold medals and one bronze medal.

Once interviewed, she indicated she never trained for power or speed, but technique. If she perfected her technique, then when race day came, she always knew she would skate her best.

In our daily habits, are we perfecting our technique, or are we always hoping to win the race, by being faster and stronger at any cost?

I’ve learned that when we push hard to “win” we usually compromise safety and often can injure ourselves at a devastating cost.

If we can tighten up our finesse, our technique by how we train, such as running in better alignment with our body, or slowing down our yoga practice to stretch our muscles safely instead of “pushing” the pose, or even fine tuning our “practice” of how we order our meals at restaurants, then we will get into such a rhythm of technique that when “race day” comes, everything else will fall into line safely and efficiently.

Since I learned this “mantra” of Bonnie Blair, I have given great thought to how I train when I water ski, cycle, workout with my trainer and when I practice yoga. It was a powerful statement for me to train a different way…in all areas of my life. I hope this can offer you some insight to your daily habits as well and as some say… “slow down to speed up”!

Thoughts on Leadership: How to Turn Failure into Success

By Gino Blefari | August 25th, 2011 0 Comments

“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career; I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty six times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over in my life. And that’s why I succeed.”
-Michael Jordan, 2006

Failure. We all experience it. Most of us see failure as a negative thing, which makes sense; it doesn’t feel good to fail. We all want to succeed and failure feels like a setback to that goal. What we don’t realize is that failure presents an opportunity to learn, grow and succeed. Check out Michael Jordan’s “Failure” Nike Commercial.

Michael Jordan is a fun example to look at. When most people think about this basketball legend, they’re not immediately thinking about how he didn’t make the varsity basketball team his sophomore year in high school. They’re not thinking about the times he lost the game-winning shot. They’re thinking about his achievements: six-time NBA champion, five-time MBA MVP, 14-time NBA All-Star, two-time NBA Slam Dunk Contest winner, Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year.

Michal Jordan’s success was real. People like to say that he was born a “gifted” basketball player, that Mark Zuckerburg was born a technology genius, and that Martin Luther King was a born leader. What we fail to realize, though, is that none of these successes were born that way. No one is born to play basketball, create a social media phenomenon, or to be a legendary leader.

Turning failure into success is hard work. It takes dedication and vision. When I was a brand new realtor my first coach Tom Hopkins taught me an important philosophy on failure and rejection that has resonated throughout my entire real estate career. He said “I never see failure as failure, but only as a learning experience. I never see failure as failure, but only as the feedback I need to change course in my direction. I never see failure as failure, but only as an opportunity to improve my sense of humor. I never see failure as failure, but only as an opportunity to practice my techniques and perfect my performance. I never see failure as failure, but only as the game I must play to win!”

Learn from some of the greatest champions on earth how to take the reigns and turn losses into wins – adapted from Adam Appleson’s book, “7 Steps to Turn ‘Failure’ Into Success:”

Grin and bear it.
When Michael Jordan came across rejection, he met it by practicing more.
Take a time-out.
The greatest ideas were founded when men and women were away from their usual routines. Albert Einstein was on vacation in the Apennine Mountains when we wondered what would happen if a ray of light became imprisoned.
Assess whether your current plans are realistic.
If things aren’t happening as fast as you’d anticipated, by the deadline you set for yourself, the deadline may not have been realistic. Don’t be afraid to make new plans and pursue them.
Get support.
Have a team behind you to get you through the rough times and keep you motivated!
Play a game called “15 Ways…”
Grab a sheet of paper and brainstorm 15 ways you can overcome whatever obstacle is standing between you and your goals. The first five are usually pretty obvious, but the last 10 are usually a bit harder to come up with, and often surface the innovative solutions you hadn’t thought about already.
Pick a hero.
Every time you fail and want to give up, ask yourself what your hero would do, then go do it!
Go out and execute every day.
Commit to doing one thing for your dreams every day. You know the saying, “genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration.”

True leaders do not fear failure; they know how to use failure to their advantage. Like Michael Jordan said, he has failed over and over again, and that is why he succeeds. Take chances and don’t be afraid to fail, it could be the secret to your success!

Review your goals before moving forward.

By Tom Tognoli | August 22nd, 2011 0 Comments

Here is a great question…Where will you be in ten years from now if you keep going the way you are going? Reflect for a moment on last week and ask yourself this question…”if I do exactly what I did last week, every week for the next 10 years where will I be personally…professionally…spiritually…in my relationships with those I love and care about the most…how will my health be…what will my bank account look like in 10 years from today?

So many people fail to realize that success at anything in life is the result of little successes achieved over a very long period of time. Truly successful people are long-term thinkers. They know that they must build upon each achievement and constantly learn new and better ways of doing things. A regular review of your progress is essential part of goal setting. A goal is a little more than a wish unless it has a timetable for completion. Make sure your plan for your life includes short, medium and long term goals. Revise your goals as things change…check them off when they are completed and set new bigger goals for yourself as you grow. And take time to reflect often to make sure you are on the right track.

Make it a GREAT week!!!!

Wednesday Wellness : Is there a perfect body shape for all activities?

By Tammy Parkinson | August 18th, 2011 0 Comments

Over the weekend, I joined a riding group in the Sierra Foothills on a “bike shop” ride. It was completely last minute and I went more for the comradery, exercise and scenery. I only knew one or two of the 50+ riders.

As I hopped on my bike, bleary eyed at 7:30 in the morning, I was quickly humbled by the level of athleticism. It was everything I could do to keep up with the “middle/slower paced” group.

On a 4 hour bike ride, you really have time to think and ponder ideas. One that kept coming up for me was the varieties of shapes and sizes of each of the riders.

One might “assume” a fit rider would be tall, young, lean, and have muscular legs. I have to tell you, the age range was from late 20’s to late 60’s, and just about every height and weight passed me by at some point! (and I mean ripped by me!)

I kept thinking about what “athleticism” or an “athletic” body is. Society dubs what “should” be a perfect shape, yet these perfect shapes often have no strength or health. We are “shaped” as apples, pears, eggplants, green beans and about any other vegetable or fruit we can dream up! That doesn’t mean we aren’t “perfect” if we have something other than a magazine emphasized body. What we DO with our shape, how we emphasize what we are designed by nature to do is up to us; and if we hone in on what our specific body is good at…we can improve in ways we can’t yet imagine!

I find that I excel better at endurance sports and get crushed at most fast quick activities (that doesn’t mean I don’t have fun…I just don’t do as well!) I know several who have beautiful perfect “shapes” but are challenged on a 3 mile walk.

Who is to say what our “perfect” is except ourselves (and maybe our doctor). As long as we try to do what we can with our physical bodies, our best is a gift!

Go out there, look around, notice what you like to do and what you find your body likes. Explore new things; try your hand at activities you are inspired by. No one but YOU can know what you are capable of! Maybe I’ll see you ripping by me on a bike ride!

Monday Mojo: Tell me to kiss off, but don’t blow me off

By Tom Tognoli | August 15th, 2011 0 Comments

Earlier this month my close friend, who is a VP for a company here in Silicon Valley, and I went with our families on vacation together to Maine. While on the trip, I was talking with my buddy about some of the keys to being successful in life. We decided that if you want to know one sure fire way to completely sabotage your growth and success in business it would be to blow people off.

One of the biggest things that drive successful people crazy is when people blow them off or give them the old “well…maybe” brush-off. What makes successful people successful is they are DESISIVE and they hate it when they leave someone an email or a voicemail (sometimes 2 or 3 of them) and it is like their messages vaporize into space. It is why most people have hundreds or in some cases even thousands of emails in their inboxes. These types of people don’t want to deal with situations that may be uncomfortable so they blow the sender off instead of just dealing with it. If you want to make a simple job seem a lot harder then just keep putting it off. Most people are people pleasers and they may not have the courage to deliver bad news directly. They will duck dive around the issue at hand instead of just saying NO. They will just reply with” maybe”, “I will get back to you later” or they will blow the matter off all together. I am here to tell you that procrastinating your decisions in life is a death wish for your business and relationships.

If you want to make more money, be more successful, create not only better but also lasting relationships, be more respected, and downsize the amount of stress in life, find the courage to just say it like it is. Don’t avoid it. The person you are dealing with will not always like your answer, but trust me, even if your answer is NO, they will appreciate not being put through the ringer and they will respect you more for it. Tell them “yes” or tell them “no”, but do not tell them “maybe” or worse yet, don’t blow them off just because you don’t have the courage to say NO.

My message is simple this week. Be decisive and have the courage to communicate your decision. I promise it will have a huge positive impact on your life and business.

Thursday Thoughts: Bob Parsons’ 16 Rules for Success in Business and Life

By Gino Blefari | July 7th, 2011 0 Comments

Bob Parsons, founder and CEO of GoDaddy.com, the largest accredited domain registrar in the world, sold his company for $2.25 billion this last week on July 1. Parsons credits his success in leadership, business and life in general to 16 rules he developed and lives by every day. The rules cover everything from specific advice for problem solving and decision making to more general lessons about the way the world works. I want to share Parsons’ rules here:

Get and stay out of your comfort zone. Nothing significant happens when we’re in our comfort zones.
Never give up. Almost nothing works the first time it’s attempted. Just because what you’re doing isn’t working, doesn’t mean it won’t work. It just means that it might not work the way you’re doing it. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it, and you wouldn’t have an opportunity.
When you’re ready to quit, you’re closer than you think. There’s an old Chinese saying that goes like this: “The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed.”
Accept the worst thing that could happen and make it a point to quantify what the worst thing could be. Very seldom will the worst consequence be anywhere near as bad as a cloud of “undefined consequences.” Parsons says his father used to tell him when he was struggling to get his technology company going, “Well Robert, if it doesn’t work, they can’t eat you.”
Focus on what you want to happen. Remember that old saying, “As you think, so shall you be.”
Take things a day at a time. No matter how difficult your situation is you can get through it by focusing on the present and not looking too far into the future. You can get through anything one day at a time.
Always move forward. Never stop investing. Never stop improving. Never stop trying new things. The moment you stop improving your organization, it starts to die. Make it your goal to be better every day in some small way. Remember the Japanese concept of Kaizen: Small daily improvements eventually result in huge advantages.
Be quick to decide. Remember what General George S. Patton said: “A good plan violently executed today is far and away better than a perfect plan tomorrow.”
Measure everything of significance. Anything that is measured and watched, improves.
Anything that is not managed will deteriorate. If you want to uncover problems you don’t know about, take a few moments and look closely at the areas you haven’t examined for awhile. You’re guaranteed to find problems there.
Pay attention to your competitors, but pay more attention to what you’re doing. When you look at your competitors, remember that everything looks perfect from a distance. Even the planet Earth looks like a peaceful place from far enough way.
Never let anybody push you around. In our society, you have just as much right to what you’re doing as anyone else, provided that what you’re doing is legal.
Never expect life to be fair. Life isn’t fair. You make your own breaks.
Solve your own problems. You’ll find that by coming up with your own solutions, you’ll develop a competitive edge. Masura Ibuka, the co-founder of SONY, said it best: “You never succeed in technology, business, or anything by following the others.” There’s also an old Asian saying: “A wise man keeps his own counsel.”
Don’t take yourself too seriously. Lighten up. Often, at least half of what we accomplish is due to luck. None of us are in control as much as we like to think we are.
There’s always a reason to smile. Find it. After all, we’re really lucky just to be alive. Life is short. Parsons says his little brother always reminds him, “We’re not here for a long time, we’re here for a good time!”

The biggest leadership takeaway for me from Parsons’ 16 rules is Rule #7: Always move forward. By focusing on small daily improvements, you’ll eventually see huge advantages. This is doable, positive and a great leadership philosophy. Now get out there and do it.

Wednesday Wellness: Perfectly Imperfect

By Tammy Parkinson | March 23rd, 2011 0 Comments

Why is it so hard for some of us to admit that we aren’t perfect? Why do we expect ourselves to be excellent at something we’ve never even tried before?

As a trainer, I’m used to people saying to me, “Oh, I’m terrible at balance.” Or, “I must whine and complain more than any other client you have!” And I always assure them, no, you’re not terrible at balancing–that’s why you’re practicing. And no, you’re not whining and complaining; what you’re doing is hard because it’s new and you’re not expected to do it “right” the first time out. Yet we continue to have these unrealistic expectations and sometimes, if you’re like me, you can take it to an extreme and truly beat yourself up for not doing it “right” or doing enough of a given activity. (As though there was some measured amount and the “enough” police are on the lookout for me!)

In order to be perfect, it would mean we reached the pinnacle of what we are doing–there is no more room for growth and there is no error. Which is of course IMPOSSIBLE. When I meet a client for the first time, I try to assure them that I expect them NOT to understand what I’m saying, to ask questions and to make mistakes. Just like I tell my 8-year old daughter–homework is for learning and for making mistakes so we can keep practicing and learning. Training is homework. Life is homework. The challenge I have is in applying that to myself…

If you’re at all like me (anal retentive with perfectionist qualities, and in denial that you’re a perfectionist because you’re not perfect yet!), you struggle to accept that you are exactly where you are supposed to be at any given moment. And that life is messy. Not everybody shows up; not everybody does it my way; not everybody sees it my way; and each day is meant to be different than the preceding and following one. Grrrr….I’ve been a salmon swimming upstream my whole life fighting (literally) this truism of life.

It’s only been since I started “practicing” yoga (I love that we call it that!) about a year ago that I began to see the beauty of making mistakes, of falling down, of striving to be better for oneself but not necessarily to “prove” anything to anyone else. That is why yoga is a called a practice because we never arrive at a destination. Instead, we “practice” in order to do the act repeatedly so as to gain skill. And one day may be “easier” or “better” than the next, but we are taught to just let it be. Tall order for this girl! But I’m learning, slowly, gently, that it is indeed easier to be perfectly imperfect and at ease in my own skin, rather than itchy and scratchy because I never QUITE do it good enough.

I used to live my live by the credo, “I’m not enough.” You could truly fill in the blank with any word and it would describe me. As of late, I’ve adopted the motto, “I love myself the way I am, and still I want to grow.” –Jai Josefs

Try it on for size. Be perfectly imperfect. You might just find that you like it.

Written by Stacia Carney
Body Firm Certified Personal Trainer

Wednesday Wellness: The Ripple Effect

By Tammy Parkinson | March 16th, 2011 0 Comments

Could you imagine in the span of a few years you could accomplish over 30 world fitness records including 52,003 sit-ups in 32 hrs 17 min., 30,000 jumping jacks in 7.5 hrs, 13,013 leg lifts in 5 hours 45 min., 1,000 sit-ups with a 45 lb. pound weight on your chest in 39 min., cycling over 500 miles without a bike seat, and finishing 5,428 crunches in an hour on your 47th birthday?

These are just a few of the accolades completed by my friend, mentor, and trainer Steve Sokol. To put it lightly, he was an inspiration. I would watch him work with clients of all fitness levels, all ages and even though he could out train almost everyone, (on the planet!) he was humble.

The world lost Steve last Monday to an automobile accident. In the last week, hundreds of friends, clients, (who were also friends) family and fitness associates spoke up about Steve. So much has struck me about what a committed and dedicated man Steve was, but what was a common theme was the “pebble in the pond” effect he had on so many lives. Yes, he held 30 world records, yet his every day commitment to his health, family and integrity, day in, day out was what inspired people. Steve walked the talk. He never asked anyone to do anything that he wasn’t willing to do himself.

Even the tiny things Steve said and did so many of us will remember and carry on because of his faith in himself and in all of us. Even greater than his love of fitness was his love of his family. He knew beyond anything he could claim in The Guinness Book of World Records, the honor and commitment he held towards his wife and son were greater. He was an example of what it is like to love passionately and live beyond boundaries.

No, he wasn’t born with an Olympic gene pool; he actually had a severe illness when he was young. He found a love of cycling when he decided to ride to work at HP way back when because gas prices were soaring. His mind was strong and his will even fiercer.

Not all of us can ride 500 miles on a bike without sitting down, shoot, I complain about how sore I get in 30 miles while I AM sitting down, but we all have within us honor, strength, commitment and humility.

In honor of this amazing man, I hope to inspire you to be your own pebble in a pond, one whose ripple effect continues over a lifetime.

Posts Tagged ‘Goals’

Wednesday Wellness: Realize, Visualize and Achieve Your Goals

Thoughts on Leadership | Leaders Know How to Attract Attention

Wednesday Wellness | Practice Perfect Technique.

Thoughts on Leadership: How to Turn Failure into Success

Review your goals before moving forward.

Wednesday Wellness : Is there a perfect body shape for all activities?

Monday Mojo: Tell me to kiss off, but don’t blow me off

Thursday Thoughts: Bob Parsons’ 16 Rules for Success in Business and Life

Wednesday Wellness: Perfectly Imperfect

Wednesday Wellness: The Ripple Effect

Gino on success

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