Posts Tagged ‘motivation’

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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:

  1. Get and stay out of your comfort zone. Nothing significant happens when we’re in our comfort zones.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.”
  4. 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.”
  5. Focus on what you want to happen. Remember that old saying, “As you think, so shall you be.”
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.”
  9. Measure everything of significance. Anything that is measured and watched, improves.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. Never expect life to be fair. Life isn’t fair. You make your own breaks.
  14. 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.”
  15. 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.
  16. 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.

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Monday Mojo: Chill

By Tom Tognoli | March 28th, 2011 0 Comments

Many years ago when I ran track, our track coach always had us keep our index finger and our thumb touching each other during our event, because when you do that, you cannot clinch your fist…clinching your fist and tightening up is a natural tendency when you are sprinting. Why not clinch your fist you ask…because you waist energy and effort…it actually slows you down.

A couple of years ago I was running quarter mile sprints with a group of people a couple of times a week.  If you have never tried to sprint a quarter mile, about ½ way through your body starts to feel like it is going to shut down…it becomes painful and you can feel like you are going to pass out from lack of oxygen…you feel like you are going to fall flat on your face.  Usually about ½ through the quarter mile our trainer would be screaming at us from across the track to relax, relax, relax…he was yelling at us to relax so we don’t struggle. When we relax, the most amazing thing happens, we actually run faster…while when we grit and try to run faster, we slow down.

Chill…

Looking at these hands, which one do you think is more at peace and more likely to get what it wants in life?  Is it the fist or is it the open hand?  Which one most represents you?  How does that apply to us in our lives?  Are we more likely to get what we want when we are threatening, intimidating, tense, stressed, uptight, and beating on something…or are we more likely to get what we want when we are compassionate, relaxed, at peace, loose and open?

I think we all know the answer to that question.  Now don’t get me wrong…we still need to work our ass off…we need to be discipline…we need to be organized…we need to be focused…we need to be accountable.  However, in addition to those things we need to relax.  If you are a runner, golfer, skier, tennis player, etc. any coach will tell you to be successful and play at the highest level you need to be able to play loose during process.  With the first quarter of 2011 behind us, remember as we attack our goals and ambitions that to go faster we must relax…to hit it farther, we must relax…to accomplish our goals in life and in business, we must relax…to win, we must relax!!!!

Play hard and loose this week…play like a winner and you will be one!!!!

Chill.

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Monday Mojo: Burning Desire

By Tom Tognoli | March 14th, 2011 0 Comments

How is it that two people with the exact same God given talents can do exactly the same activities, but one excels beyond all measure and one fails?

We see it in sports all of the time. For example we will see two great wide receivers enter the NFL out of college. The expectations by all of the analysts and professionals are for them to be both superstars. They both get drafted in the first round, go through training camp and make it through their first few seasons. Then one gets cut and the other goes on to becoming an MVP and ultimately gets inducted into the Hall of Fame. Why?

As I mentioned last week, one of the most important keys to success is having a system, a schedule and then being disciplined enough to hold yourself accountable to do whatever it takes to follow your system/schedule. There are a lot of great books out there on the benefits of accountability, scorekeeping for success, tracking your activities, etc. Heck, if you want to lose weight and go to Weight Watchers, Nutrasystem, or one of the other weight loss programs out there, monitoring and tracking your exercise and what you eat is the key to success. Why is it then that this works for some, but not for MOST? Of course it’s because some follow the system and most don’t…most cheat. Why?

Why do MOST cheat and not succeed and others stick with it? Weight loss in every case is really a life or death decision…right? It may not be immediately obvious, but we know those who are overweight have a higher probability of disease…cancer, heart disease, diabetes, etc. Now, if life or death is not enough motivation to hold someone accountable to doing what they need to do, what will? What causes one wide receiver to get cut and one to become an MVP?

BURNING DESIRE

Let’s talk first about what Burning Desire isn’t. It isn’t fear of failure, desperation, someone forcing you to do what you need to do, or doing something for someone else. It is not casual, easy going, waiting, hoping, etc…

So, what is Burning Desire? It is a drive deep, deep, deep down inside of EVERYONE of us that will motivate us and gets us excited, thrilled and fired up beyond measure about the possibilities. It is that thing that gets you so excited you wish you didn’t have to take the time to sleep.

Unfortunately, in many people it is covered by year upon years of complacency, vulnerability, discouragement, and believing we are a victim. Burning desire is the drive to do what needs to be done even when you don’t want to do it. It is passion, enthusiasm, love…it is POWER!!!!!!!!

What is the key to unlocking our Burning Desire? Unfortunately there is no one master key that opens up that lock for everyone. Every lock is different and it is up to each of us individually to find our key. I would recommend spending time every single day praying, focusing, visualizing and working on discovering what your Burning Desire is. The first step is to start looking. It will not happen overnight, but when you find it, it will be like someone lifted 1,000 pounds off of your shoulders. You will feel like you can fly.

Remember Jennifer’s story Opposite George in Monday Morning MOJO from a few weeks ago? She found her burning desire. Read it again if you don’t remember… Opposite George

Go get um!!!!!!

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Create a little chaos

By Tammy Parkinson | February 16th, 2011 0 Comments

At Body Firm we work with many who are looking to lose weight, eat healthy, lose fat, gain muscle and in general feel awesome!

Often when someone starts a new health or workout program, our bodies respond fairly quickly…at first. Then all of a sudden they hit a “plateau” which can cause frustration and decreased motivation.

This happens outside the gym too! We gain momentum, get detoured and our attention shifts elsewhere, leading us to disappointment.

As my trainers and I can attest, this is when it’s time to mix things up! I see food diaries all the time and the client is doing great, their bodies have just gotten used to the same foods and the same movements.

If this happens to you, in fitness AND in life, consider a different routine. Do things your body and mind aren’t used to! Try foods you haven’t had for a while. Get out of your normal habits and step out of the boundaries!

I have one client who takes belly dancing, another who just started running and conversely another who is only lifting heavy weights for the next few months!

Not only will different movements create a little “chaos” in your body, your mind will be challenged as well.

Consider trying this if you are in a plateau in your body or your mind!

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Thoughts on Leadership: What Leaders Can Learn from the San Francisco Giants

By Gino Blefari | November 4th, 2010 0 Comments

It’s been an amazing week here in the Bay Area as we watched our San Francisco Giants win the 2010 World Series against the Texas Rangers, in just five games. We can take a lot of inspiration from this winning team – their teamwork, strong will, motivation, strength and perseverance can teach us many successful leadership lessons.
 
At the beginning of this baseball season, no one would’ve predicted the Giants would come out on top. Many said this win couldn’t be done. But the team ignored the commentary, focused and they did it. Perhaps the greatest takeaway from this unexpected victory is the power of teamwork. The Giants are not a team carried by one or two stars. They are a team that works together 100 percent of the time.

Teamwork is defined in Webster’s New World Dictionary as “a joint action by a group of people, in which each person subordinates his or her individual interests and opinions to the unity and efficiency of the group.”

This does not mean that the individual is no longer important; however, it does mean that effective and efficient teamwork goes beyond individual accomplishments. The most effective teamwork is produced when all the individuals involved compliment their contributions and work towards a common goal.

In 1999, I had the opportunity to spend some time with Steve Sax, a former second baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers. I was quick to bring up the 1988 World Series where the LA Dodgers beat the highly favorite Oakland A’s, who clearly had the best players such as Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire and Dennis Eckersley, to name a few. I recall mentioning to Steve, “The best team didn’t win the World Series.” To this day I can still remember Steve’s reaction as he took a great deal of offense to my comment. His response back to me was distinct, “Maybe the A’s had the better players, but we definitely had the best team.”

To succeed at any task, everyone who is involved needs to combine efforts. If everyone does their job well, then it increases what the team can accomplish. The teamwork ideal has to be recognized by everyone. Great things can happen if individuals master the fundamentals and work together as one unit. Each person has a unique role and that role must be recognized and appreciated.

Legendary baseball player Babe Ruth explains: “The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.”

Teamwork is something that must be a high priority and given constant attention. Every player needs to understand how important it is for them to work smoothly together if they want to be successful. Each player must be dedicated to the whole team and be willing to act unselfishly. When challenges arise (as they always do), the team needs to have the resources, accountability and commitment to deal with them in a constructive and positive manner. A sense of teamwork and effective teams will play an integral part in this.

For a better understanding of teamwork, the following are eight characteristics of effective teams that pertain to your path to leadership:

  1. The team must have a clear goal.
  2. The team must have a results-driven structure.
  3. The team must have competent team members.
  4. The team must have unified commitment.
  5. The team must have a collaborative climate.
  6. The team must have high standards that are understood by all.
  7. The team must receive external support and encouragement.
  8. The team must have principled leadership.

In your business career, stop and take a look at how you can truly become a part of a team. On each given day each team member has got to do their job and know someone will step up and help win the game or achieve a goal.

What distinguishes Intero is our company Value #5: “Team”. Collectively we can accomplish more than we can alone. Everyone is a contributor and we succeed by pulling together rather than relying on one or two stars. As San Francisco Giants player Pablo Sandoval said, “We don’t have a star but we have a team.” This will be the legacy of the 2010 San Francisco Giants.

What would you like your legacy to be in your business career? Just about everyone has the will to win and the desire to succeed. However, not everyone has the will to prepare to win or the will to do what it takes to succeed. If you have that, perhaps you will be the next Edgar Renteria or Brian Wilson.

Look at what working together as a team can mean for your business. If you play the game right as the San Francisco Giants did, you too can become a successful leader on your way to the top.

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Thoughts on Leadership: Motivation Leads the Way

By Gino Blefari | October 28th, 2010 0 Comments

Motivation is everything. It sparks action that leads to achievement. It opens up possibilities. It inspires people to work. It is crucial to effective leadership.

To lead with purpose – to lead toward any goal – you will need strong people to follow you. To gain followers, you need trust. All of this requires that your people are motivated. That motivation will help to create trust in their leadership and will move them to get things done.

Leadership without motivation will surely fail.

Mike Ferry, founder of The Mike Ferry Organization, a leading real estate coaching and training company, is an example of a leader who motivates with great success. He has a natural ability to teach and train real estate agents to achieve their personal and business goals.

Just last week, Mike wrote about motivation and leadership in a monthly newsletter to Executive Management Group Brokers and Managers. He talks about the trickledown effect of motivation – how it starts from the top with the leader. But who motivates the leader, you may ask? Mike does such an extraordinary job explaining this. The way he inspires agents to produce at high levels is amazing.

The following excerpts are from the Mike Ferry Organization October 2010 Newsletter #7:

One of the more difficult parts of our jobs as a leader is the ability to continually motivate our salespeople to do something productive.” If you look carefully at the word motivation … there are two distinct parts to the word. Part one … “motive” … part two … “action.”

You’ve seen the question asked time and time again, “Who motivates the motivator?” The motivator does not need to be motivated if they have strong, specific, exciting, challenging goals that they are passionate about and driven to achieve. When the leader does not have specific goals for themselves that are exciting and inspiring … then you as a leader are going to have a very difficult time motivating others to take actions, just as it’s difficult for you to motivate your staff when they have no goals and objectives.

So obviously, it’s a trickledown effect. You and I as leaders have to have specific goals and objectives that we’re excited about every day and can’t wait to achieve. When we have those types of goals and objectives, our attitude about success and achievement and taking actions becomes very apparent to those people around us. Our very presence in the office… from the moment we walk in the door … how we walk to our office … how we carry ourselves … how professionally we’re dressed and look … the smile on our face … to the tone of our voice … tells everybody that sees us our level of motivation or “lack of it.” So the truth is it becomes extremely difficult to motivate your salespeople into action every day if you’re not a motivated person yourself.

So the real job that we have in front of us is to be an inspired … enthusiastic … energetic … smiling … “happy to be around person” … all of the time when our salespeople are around us. If we’re not, we will then in essence be de-motivating our team.

At the same time, we have to sit down with each and every salesperson and determine their level of motivation so in all of our conversations with them, we can discuss how the activities they’re involved in lead them to the achievement of the goals they set. If they don’t have specific goals and objectives, it’s our job to help them set them.

Are you prepared to take on this task? If the answer is yes, let’s go do it … if the answer is no, we need to talk.

Motivation is an ongoing process. As a leader, you will find yourself constantly motivating your team to get things done and to far exceed expectations. Consider this your top priority and you will find that a lot of other things fall into place.

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Wednesday Wellness: It’s never too late

By Tammy Parkinson | August 4th, 2010 0 Comments

How often have you heard, “I’m not going to change my habits, I’m too old, I’m too set in my ways.” Or how many times have you told yourself, “Ahhh, it’s just too much work, it doesn’t matter if I start changing my eating habits or exercising differently, I’m too old for it to make a difference anyway.”

From my chair, often I hear folks get defeated before they begin. They’ve already talked themselves into believing that no matter how hard they try, they can’t make much of a difference in their health. Really? How can “not that much” be a bad thing? Wouldn’t it be better to think you can make a small change (anything) every day, adding up to years of better health?

Well, enter two amazing clients I have had the pleasure to work with recently.  Dell and George. They are a married couple and wanted to become healthier; together. Dell wanted to lose a few pounds, know which foods are healthier as well as becoming more flexible and mobile. George wanted to “lose his pooch” (cutest thing I’ve heard in a long time) and eat foods to help his memory in addition to becoming more flexible and mobile. The kicker is George will be 90 in 2 months and Dell is young and vibrant at 86 years of age! What an inspiration to see people completely open to changing their health and knowing (not hoping) that improved fitness and nutrition will extend their lives and live with enhanced quality.

I’ve been working with them for just over a month. George has lost his pooch and Dell has lost several pounds as well, which has motivated her to continue not just with weight loss, but with adding vital nutrients and flexibility into their lives! In addition, they are exercising more frequently and are not just losing weight, but feeling better, moving more and making much much healthier and easier choices. They’ve motivated their children as well!

Whenever I think of them, I am completely inspired to continue on my own healthy path. We need more Dell’s and George’s in our lives to challenge our traditional boundaries and to open our minds to long and healthy mindsets!

Next time you feel you are “too old” remember that if George can lose his pooch at 90 and Dell has cut out her favorite fast food treats and replaced her menu with healthy low sodium choices; maybe you will realize you are quite young and change can be easily made!

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Wednesday Wellness: Are We Done Yet

By Tammy Parkinson | July 21st, 2010 0 Comments

Yesterday, I was at the tail-end of one of my yoga classes when a new person in class asked, in a slightly louder voice than she intended, “Are we done?” I’m sure she was hoping with all her heart that it was!

At the time, it was pretty comical, however it got me thinking: Are we ever really done? Or maybe more precisely: are we beginning, ending, or always moving?

Doesn’t it seem that whatever task or event we are working on we’re benchmarking it as if we are starting or working towards finishing?

If I look at my industry of health and wellness, I meet cool folks all the time who are looking to “begin” a training or nutrition program so they can reach their “end” goal and in their minds “finish.”

Truly, though, this life is just that…a life journey. Sometimes we are traveling a little slower than others, sometimes we are reaching a pivotal goal and other times we are renewing our commitment to something, yet through the ebb and flow of all of this, we are always IN it, always moving, always striving. The only time we really begin is when we are born and well, you know when we truly end (at least in this body).

Enough of the heavy stuff! Seriously though, maybe we can take a look at our week a little differently right now and consider what we are IN and the joy of the momentum, the newness of projects and the satisfactions towards reaching a goal. If we only look at when we start and when we are done, are we really enjoying the middle…which is actually our life! Think about this heavy topic and contemplate stepping out of the limits of a time clock and rather start being IN the entire process, for life!

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Monday Mojo: What are you going to get rid of in your life?

By Tom Tognoli | March 8th, 2010 0 Comments

What are you going to get rid of in your life?

What are you going to stop doing in your job?

What are you going to give up?

Yes…you heard me right, what are you going to give up?

What bad habit, crap in your office, clutter at home, food in your cabinet, or unproductive thing in your schedule are you going to either get rid of or stop doing?  Because before you can start doing something good, something right, something that is going to get you what you want, you need to start by giving something up. Not only will it clear room for what you need to do to CRUSH IT, but usually the thing you need to give up is in conflict with your goal.

For example – you want to lose weight, but the cabinets are filled with cookies, Cheetos, crackers and other garbage. You need to get rid of the crap and fill the cabinet with healthy food so you can begin to achieve your desired weight.

You want to get organized and under control with your home life or at work, but when you walk in your house or office it looks like a bomb just went off. Grab a roll of garbage bags and if you don’t absolutely need it either throw it away, sell it on Craigslist, or donate it.

You want to finally start saving some money for the future, but you can’t seem to save a dime because you have NO extra money. But somehow you can find the money to hit Starbucks or Peets once or twice a day. Start with brewing your own cup of coffee instead. It will save you $25 – $50 a week or $1,250 – $2,500 a year depending on how frequently you go. Oh, and don’t forget the taxes you pay on each cup of coffee. So if you combine the cost of the coffee and taxes on each cup, that may be as much as $2,000 -$5,000 a year you could invest in your 401K or IRA instead, tax free! Invest $5,000 a year into your retirement account and if it earns a 10% return, that’s close to $300,000 in 20 years.

You want to get to the gym to get fit and healthy and feel good, but you are spending all of your time on Facebook playing Mafia Wars and Farmville games. Stop the Facebook game addiction and hit the gym instead!

Enough said. To get more of what you want, give it up. Get rid of it. Stop doing it.

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Wednesday Wellness: You Can Do It!

By Tammy Parkinson | February 10th, 2010 0 Comments

Today I met with a new client to Body Firm; I’ll call him “Bob”.  We’d never met before, but I liked him instantly.  (Of course…I like all our clients!!)

He shared with me a pivot point he had about 3 weeks ago.  He was on a “health vacation” and was asked to go kayaking with the other group members.  Basically, they had 2 participants and they needed a 3rd. He felt the reason he was asked was because he was there, and if he didn’t go, the other 2 wouldn’t be able to.  He thought about the daunting feat of getting on a kayak in the middle of the ocean and thought: “No way…I can’t!  I never have and I never will…I CAN’T!”

The kayak leader somehow convinced him to try it.  He relented and found himself in the middle of tropical waters in the kayak, thinking “I DID IT!  I CAN!”

He then began to consider all the things he hasn’t done because he thought he couldn’t.  For instance, he had never ever ridden a bike!  He has never ran more than 100 yards…the list goes on!  It wasn’t because someone told him he couldn’t; in fact he is a very cool, fun, outgoing person and a very successful professional. He just made up his mind, at some unknown point, that there were certain things he could never do!  At that moment on the kayak, he decided to make some changes and try new things – to drop the T from CAN’T.

When he got back to California, he hired someone who teaches adults how to ride a bike and learned in less than a few hours something he resisted for nearly 40 years!

Now he is beginning a training program at Body Firm and has completely changed his perspective of what he CAN do…what he is willing to try!

It made me think of how many times I’ve heard people say: “I would never be able to do that,” or look at the idea of a fitness goal or weight loss goal as though they were climbing Mt. Everest, without a down jacket.

If we go into the idea of something new, telling ourselves we will fail, we will!   If we try and are open and commit to trying, we might trip a few times, but the mere concept of going for it, can propel us to a myriad of successful new adventures!

What have you told yourself you can’t do and what are you willing to do about it?  Do you think maybe you CAN?!

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