Smart Ass Success Teleseminar Week 3: Creating an Awesome Plan! with Robert Bradford

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Avish

The third session of the Smart Ass Success Teleseminar Series is tonight! (7PM EST).

Tonight’s expert is Robert Bradford.  Robert is the author of “Simplified Strategic Planning”, and CEO of the Center for Simplified Strategic Planning. Robert works with CEOs to help them create strategic plans that help them reach their goals, leverage their strengths, and outpace the competition.  The topic of today’s call is, “Creating an Awesome Plan that Will Get You Results (That You Will Actually Follow!)”

On the call, Robert and I will talk about:

  • The 2 biggest mistakes people make when creating their plans
  • The 5 elements that go into a truly great plan
  • Why you should NOT “pay your dues the way everyone tells you to.”
  • Key questions to ask yourself to identify your strengths, determine what you need for a successful plan, and to figure out how to bring value to the market.
  • How to think in both the short and long term in your planning
  • Ways to create a plan that minimizes your weaknesses
  • What the “Island of Profitability” is and how you can use it.

And much more!

This call is going to be awesome, and there’s still time for you to get in on it!

Just visit the Smart Ass Success Teleseminar Page and sign up now. There is both a Free and a Paid option:

  • Free – Sign up for free and you can listen in to the call (as well as the five remaining calls live, each Tuesday night at 7PM EST)
  • Paid  – Sign up for the paid version and you can not only listen in to all the remaining calls live, but you’ll also get MP3 recordings of all the calls (even the past one(s)), as well as PDF transcriptions and over $80 worth of awesome bonuses!

Don’t delay! The call with Robert is today, so sign up now to listen in to all the awesome insight and advice!

Smart Ass Success Teleseminar Page

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Guts Without Intelligence (Otherwise Known as “Stupidity in Action”)

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Avish

Motivation. Guts. Chutzpah.

Whatever you call it, when it comes to achieving goals, it all means the same thing:

“The willingness to take action and try something, even if the chance of success is low.”

Great sentiment, and a very useful too. However, gumption on its own is not by any means enough, as I recently saw.

One of my Facebook friends, Megan Reilly Kristel (pay careful attention to her name) posted an interesting status update recently:

I’ve decided to start posting all of the stupid emails I get asking for a job, because I can’t deal with it alone anymore. Here is today’s winner:

“Hi Kristel! I was wondering if you hiring by any chance? If not now, maybe in a nearest future or next year sometime? I am passionate shopper with no experience in retail but I would love to learn from scratch and help people to look amazing.”

How many things do you see wrong with this? 

Wow. Just…wow…

Take a long look my friends, because that’s the future talking to you.

Let’s answer Megan’s question and see how many things we can find wrong with that email. Let’s ignore the big picture ones about “not providing a compelling reason why the recipient should care about you,” and, “not offering any value,” and just go with the basics:

  • Messing up your contact’s name. “Kristel” is her last name, not her first. If you don’t bother to pay attention to a minor detail like that, why would a person want to hire you?
  • Typos – “I was wondering if you hiring…” Really? “…you hiring…”? I feel that sentence needs to start with a “Yo!” Like, “YO! You hiring??” Then it might work As is, her first two lines start with a) mistaking the contact’s last name for her first and b) a typo that makes her sound stupid
  • Grammar – It doesn’t get much better. The next line, “If not now, maybe in a nearest future…” boggles my mind. I can’t think of a scenario where, “maybe in a nearest future,” makes sense. I would think that if the sender had just read over the email once before sending, some of these problems would have been caught. 

Perhaps I am being unfair. Maybe the sender’s first language isn’t English. But if that was the case, shouldn’t she have asked someone to look over her email first??

As sad as that email is, I was even more shocked when someone posted this response:

“I see a desperate person who simply needs a job to eat and put a roof over her head. Like so many millions of others. Who cares how she said it. She has guts to want to try and that’s the real message.”

No. No it’s not.

A truly desperate person would have done whatever it takes to maximize their chance of success. By doing simple things like checking their grammar, reading through their message before hitting “send,” and not confusing the recipient’s first and last name!

No, this is not an example of a desperate person with guts. This is an example of a stupid person who’s too lazy to put forth any real effort.

This is one of the problems with the motivational/self-help industry. It makes success seem easy, like anyone can attain it with little effort.

I’m a pretty motivational guy (really, I am), and I am part of that industry. I am all about setting big goals, reaching for the brass ring, and going for it.

However, all those come with a simple caveat: When you do them, don’t be a dumbass about it!

Should you apply for a job you are not qualified for? Sure, provided:

  1. You take the time and effort to put your best foot forward
  2. That time and effort doesn’t take you away from doing things that can realistically move you towards your goals

The real message here is that if you have something you really want, take the time to put in some thought and effort to maximize your chance of success.

Guts (or motivation, or gumption, or chutzpah, or whatever you want it to call it), is a great thing that many, many people could use more of. I am thinking specifically of the many smart people who often “intellectualize” themselves out of trying for new opportunities. These are the people who look back on their life and say, “I could’ve,” or “I wish I had.”

On the other hand, applying guts without intelligence is like running east looking for a sunset; You may take a lot of action and feel like you are moving towards something, when in fact all you are doing is spinning your wheels and wasting everyone’s time (including yours).

I absolutely want you to dream big. As big as you can, and then a bit bigger.

At the same time, I want you to be realistic. Realistic not in the goals you set for yourself, but realistic in the plans you put together to achieve those goals. And realistic in your implementation of those plans, so you take the proper steps to actually achieve them.

The next time you consider setting or working on a big goal, consider a simple formula:

1 part guts + 2 parts intelligence + 3 parts action = Maximum chance for success!

***

Want help putting together a great plan? Then this week’s call with Robert Bradford is jus the thing for you! It’s week three of the seven week Smart Ass Success Teleseminar Series, and Robert shares a ton of great ideas on putting together a great plan that will get you results – and that you will actually follow!

Sign up for the free version and you can listen in at 7PM EST on Tuesday, November 15th. Sign up for the paid version and not only can you listen in, but you’ll also get MP3 recordings of all 7 calls! Plus transcriptions of each call! Plus over $80 in bonuses!

Don’t delay! Sign up now:

Smart Ass Success Teleseminar

 

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7 Simple Ideas to Achieve Success the Lazy Person’s Way!

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Avish

This past Tuesday was the second session in the Smart Ass Success Teleseminar Series. I had an awesome interview with Bill O’Hanlon, and he shared

Below I have posted a six minute clip from the interview, as well as 7 simple ideas I got from talking with Bill about “The Lazy Person’s Guide to Success!”  (there were many more…).

If you’d like to get the full audio of Bill’s call, plus a bevy of bonuses and access to 6 more calls with awesome experts (along with the recordings and transcriptions), you can still sign up. Just visit the Smart Ass Success Teleseminar page and sign up now! Regardless of when you sign up, you’ll get the recordings of all past and future calls.

Here’s the sample:

Week-2-Bill-OHanlon-LazyMan-Sample

Here are seven simple but powerful ideas to kick-start your creativity:

  1. The key to “working without working” is to discover and tap into the type of energy that charges you up – what makes you feel blissed, blessed, pissed, or dissed?
  1. Follow your energy and passion even if you don’t yet know where that will lead. The first step is to go deep with your passion; they payoff will come later (plus, it will be fun!)
  1. If you want to monetize your passion, you have to get your knowledge and passion out there in a tangible form (books, blogs, podcasts, interviews, speeches, etc.) Position yourself as an expert, and from that you can start earning money.
  1. To accept feedback without getting depressed or feeling criticized, pay attention to feedback about your actions – things you can change – and ignore feedback that criticizes you and who you are. (i.e. ignore, “You’re arrogant.” Consider, “You didn’t take enough questions from the audience.”)
  1. If you find yourself being overly affected by negative feedback, you may not have tapped into the right energy (see #1) or you haven’t dug into it deep enough. The right “rocket fuel” energy helps you push through negativity and resistance.
  1. To change your behavior, just do one thing different. Make it small – don’t try to change everything at once. Make a small change, even if it in and of itself seems insignificant. It will lead to bigger things…
  1. .When you get knocked down, get up, do something different, and ask yourself, “Where is my energy directing me now?” Listen to it and take action.

Thanks for reading (and listening)!

Remember, there’s still time to sign up for the Smart Ass Success Teleseminar and get all the recordings, transcriptions, and bonuses! But hurry, because once the Series ends, the offer will be gone!

Posted in Audio, Business Advice, Lists, Motivation & Success | Tagged | 2 Comments

Simple Communication Mastery: Listen, Respect, Consider, Respond

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Avish

I firmly believe that all your interpersonal issues would go away if everyone in your life (yes, including you) was able to communicate masterfully. You may not always agree with everyone, but with some simple but powerful communication skills, you could eliminate drama, stress, arguments, and miscommunication.

Unfortunately, you can’t force all the other people in your life to adopt awesome communication skills (though you could send everyone you know an email about this blog…hint, hint…).

However, you could start by adopting superior communication skills yourself. This won’t eliminate all your problems because other people are still involved, but it should help you greatly reduce them.

Communication should not be all that tough. Most communication breakdowns happen because people open their mouths and say things without thinking first. This is pretty sad, since what you say and how you say it can greatly impact the people around you.

This is even truer for managers and leaders. A Manager with poor communication skills can hold an entire company back and make the lives of every one of his employee lives’ miserable.

The sad thing is that it’s not really all that hard to communicate effectively. To start, if people would simply Pause, Breathe, and Think (The “PBT” method) before talking, the world would be a better place.

However, the PBT system is mostly a way to catch yourself from saying and doing stupid things. In this post, I am going to share with you a simple four-step process you can use in conjunction with PBT to communicate in a way that builds relationships, heads off problems, and prevents miscommunication.

The process is simple: Listen, Respect, Consider, Respond.

1) Listen

It all starts with listening. Real listening. The type of listening where you stop doing the five other things you usually do when others talk to you. Where you stop thinking of other things and put 100% of your attention on the speaker. Where you don’t start formulating your response within two seconds.

By doing nothing more than simply listening, you will achieve greater rapport and understanding than ever. You will also be much better prepared to communicate a response that the other person hears and accepts. In fact, it is even possible to motivate others with the simple act of listening.

Real listening is simple, but so few people do it. Just remember to shut your mouth, open your mind, push away other thoughts as they come up, and put your full attention on the speaker.

2) Respect

Before you open your mouth and respond, and even before you start formulating a response, remind yourself to respect the other person. You may not agree with them. They may even be flat-out wrong. However, they are still a person, and most likely a person you will continue to have very regular contact with. Respect the relationship before you respond.

Also, respect the fact that all people are different. Just because you don’t feel a certain way doesn’t mean that others won’t. Understanding and connection start with simply respecting the differences we all have.

3) Consider

A critical component of the communication process is to actually consider what the other person is saying, and to also consider the impact of your response:

Consider what the person is saying – It’s amazing how many times we listen to others but completely ignore what they are saying. Take a moment to actually consider their opinion, even if you initially disagree with it. You may ultimately disagree, but by taking a few seconds to consider it, you avoid the snap responses that lead to arguments, negativity, and bad feelings.

Consider the impact of your words – What you say and how you say it can tremendously impact the person you are speaking with. They can also impact the relationship. And through those two things, they can impact the quality of your own life. Too many people have only one communication style and never bother to consider how that style will be received by the listener. Before you open your mouth to respond, consider how your message will be received and what impact those words will have.

Incidentally, this is what I think separates thoughtless managers from evil ones. The thoughtless just never consider the impact of their words. The evil ones consider the impact, are aware of the negative (usually unnecessary) impact, and continue anyway. They enjoy it. They revel in. That, my friends, makes them evil…

4) Respond

Once you have listened fully, respected the person you are speaking with, and considered both their opinion and the impact of your response, then it’s the appropriate time for you to respond.

If you’ve done the first three steps, responding should take care of itself. You’re fully aware what the other person wants, you are coming from a place of respect, and you are being considerate. How could you not come up with a thoughtful, relationship solidifying response at that point?

The only mistake you could make at this point is to not respond at all. When you’re having an in-person conversation, you will of course respond (ok, this may not be true. My friend from the Horrible Bosses post would often have her boss end the meeting by storming out in a huff. What a dumbass).

In other forms of communication, specifically email, the “responding” step often gets missed. Because of its asynchronous nature, you have time to listen, respect, and consider. But sometimes we forget to respond!

You’ve probably sent a well thought out, well crafted email, only to wait days for a response (which sometimes never comes!). And you’ve probably been on the other side, where someone is waiting for a response from you but you keep putting it off.

Communication is a two way street. Make sure you respond!

Won’t This Take a Long Time?

It may seem like this form of communication will take a long time, written out like it is. At first it may, as you’ll really have to slow yourself down and remind yourself to go through these steps.

However, as you practice this process, it will get easier and more natural, and eventually it will be second nature. At that point it will take barely longer to communicate this way that it does to respond without thinking.

Besides, the time you will save by avoiding arguments, negativity, and miscommunication will more than make up for the slight bit of extra time you will spend listening, respecting, and considering.

While it would be ideal to be able to force everyone around you to communicate this way, that’s probably not possible. However, condition yourself to follow the four steps above and I promise you your communication skills will improve, the stress and drama in your life will go down, and you will build greater rapport and stronger relationships.

P.S. If you like this post, why don’t you share the love and click the Facebook “Like” button at the top of this page…?

***
Smart Ass Success E-BookDo you want help making better long term decisions? How about help figuring out what exactly it is that you want? Or maybe you know, but your problem is that you don’t know how to put together a plan to get you there?  Or perhaps you have a plan, but never feel motivated to follow it? Or you jyst get easily derailed when things go wrong? If so, than the Smart Ass Success! Learn the 7 Steps to Getting What You Really Want – Even If You Have No Idea What That Is! FREE E-Book is for you! It addresses those questions (and more) to help you get on the path towards figuring out what you really want – and then getting it! Don’t let another year pass you by. Click here to download your free copy now!

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Smart Ass Success Teleseminar Week 2: The Lazy Person’s Guide to Success with Bill O’Hanlon

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Avish

The second session of the Smart Ass Success Teleseminar Series is tonight! (7PM EST).

Tonight’s expert is Bill O’Hanlon, professional speaker, author of thirty-three (yes, 33!) books, and licensed psycho-therapist with over 30 years experience. He’s even appeared on Oprah!

On the call, Bill and I will discuss how you can:

  • Discover your inner rocket fuel that will propel you to success with less effort and give you a clear direction for your life
  • Use crises, setbacks and tragedies to reset your direction and up your commitment to success
  • Deal with criticism and negative feedback, even when it makes you want to give up
  • Stumble your way to success through failures, mistakes, and cluelessness and make progress, even when you are not exactly sure what you are doing
  • Simple strategies for breaking free of ruts and habits that are holding you back in your life and career
  • Shift from trading time/services for money to a sustainable no-work income base

This call is going to be awesome, and there’s still time for you to get in on it!

Just visit the Smart Ass Success Teleseminar Page and sign up now. There is both a Free and a Paid option:

  • Free – Sign up for free and you can listen in to the call (as well as the five remaining calls live, each Tuesday night at 7PM EST)
  • Paid  – Sign up for the paid version and you can not only listen in to all the remaining calls live, but you’ll also get MP3 recordings of all the calls (even the past one(s)), as well as PDF transcriptions and over $80 worth of awesome bonuses!

Don’t delay! The call with Bill is today, so sign up now to listen in to all the awesome insight and advice!

Smart Ass Success Teleseminar Page

 

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Five Habits of Highly Horrible Bosses

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Avish

I have a good friend who has a horrible boss. Horrible. Just…awful.

Every time she tells me about something he does at work, I think to myself, “How do people like this exist in the world, much less rise to positions of power?”

After her last story, I thought to myself, “Is he even remotely aware what horrible, terrible, ineffective leader he is?”

Probably not. You can’t be aware that you suck that hard and not do anything about it.

This means that he must think he’s doing a good job!! That’s ridiculous.

So, as a public service to all the people out there suffering, working for horrible dumbass bosses, I have put together a list of five things that horrible bosses do on a regular basis.

If you supervise others, please read this list with an open mind and ask yourself, “do I do any of these things?” If you honestly answer “yes,” it doesn’t mean you’re a bad person, it just means you need to work on your management style. Awareness is the first step, and “knowing is half the battle.”

If you unfortunately work for a horrible boss, see if there’s a way you can get them to read this post. At the very least, share it via FacebookLINK and TwitterLINK so others can see it and spread it for you. Maybe it will make its way to the right eyes…

1) Use Public Shaming as a Motivational Tool

You suck, and now everyone knows it!

Some bosses have a tendency to berate and dress down their employees in very public places. They do it in front of colleagues, customers, prospects, leads, and sometimes the general public.

This is a ridiculous, stupid practice. If you’re not sure why, here are a few reasons:

  1. It diminishes their authority and credibility in front of their peers, customers, students, etc. That sucks.
  2. It is not a forum that allows the employee a chance to discuss, explain, and get clarification.
  3. Public criticism is usually about telling someone they’re wrong, not about how they can improve. They’re not the same, and simply telling someone they are wrong rarely accomplishes anything.
  4. It makes the customers, other employees, students, etc. wary. A culture of fear is rarely productive.
  5. It makes other managers wary and fearful of when you’re wrath will fall on them.

Maybe this last one is why some bosses publicly berate their employees; they want everyone to be fearful. If that’s you, you need to realize that this creates a culture of people who will never take risks, never innovate, never strive to be the best, and only do as much as they need to avoid your criticism.

What to do if this is you:

Learn to control your emotions! The next time you are about to criticize someone, pause, breathe, think, and take a look around. Are there other people around? If so, set up a meeting to discuss the employee’s behavior in private.

2) Set Impossible Goals and then Say, “Just Get it Done”

Don't bother me with questions, just get up there!

Good and great bosses push their people to do more and be more. However they also understand how to set realistic expectations, and they support and help their staff grow.

Horrible bosses push their people to do more and be more, but they set ridiculous expectations and offer no support.

I know bosses who would set super high objectives and when their staff pointed out to them that they:

  1. Didn’t think it was possible
  2. Didn’t know how to go about even beginning (and then asked for help)

They were told, “Just get it done!”

“Just get it done”? Really?? That’s basically saying, “Yeah, I have no idea what the hell I am doing, what the hell I want, or how the hell you can get it for me, but I don’t care. I just want it.”

It’s like a petulant child who doesn’t care that the toy store is closed – they want the new Optimus Prime Transformer now!!

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

As a manager, it doesn’t matter what you want, and it doesn’t matter what you need. What matters is what your people can do, and what you can help your people do.

What to do if this is you:

Get a clue and communicate! Work with your staff to set objectives that push them a little but that they can achieve without burning out. Then support your people when they struggle and make it your priority to help your employees flourish.

3) Be a Big Fat Hypocrite

Nyah nyah! Guess what I get to do and you don't!

For some, becoming “the boss” is awesome because the rules suddenly don’t apply to them anymore. They either make the rules, or they enforce them, so if they choose not to follow them, who’s to tell them they’re wrong?

Hypocrisy can be obvious. For example, you tell your employees they can’t eat at their desks, but you chomp down on a McDonald’s happy meal every day at yours. However, it can also be subtle. Say, when you get pissed when employees don’t respond to your email fast enough, but you regularly ignore and forget theirs. Dumb, dumb, dumb…

This one to me seems like it should be the easiest one to avoid. How can you possibly get pissed at others about stuff that you do yourself?? It makes no sense.

And yet, this is also probably the one that is most commonly found in workplaces around the world. I think it happens for three reasons:

  1. The boss is on a power trip, and doesn’t believe that rules that apply to others should apply to him.
  2. The boss is obtuse, and never thinks beyond whatever is directly in front of him. He can’t connect his criticism of you with his own behavior, because he is incapable of having more than one thing in perspective at a time.
  3. The boss is an idiot who doesn’t understand how logic works. Not only is he too stupid to understand his hypocrisy, he’s too stupid to really even understand what hypocrisy is. Until he’s on the receiving end of it. Then he’ll rant and rave like a lunatic.

What to do if this is you:

Take a long look in the mirror. Before you fire off a critical email or dress down an employee for bad behavior, ask yourself, “Do I ever do this?” Be really, really honest with yourself here. Look through your old emails if you have to. Make it a personal policy to lead by example.

Side-but-related-note: Don’t establish B.S. policies if you don’t know what they mean. That is, you can’t have an “open door” policy all the time if you keep your door closed all day and then get annoyed when people stop by to talk about something. That’s not an “open door” policy. That’s an “I read a management book once, didn’t understand it, but tried to implement it anyway,” policy.

4) Ignore Questions and Requests

Pshaw! I have no time for you and your silly questions...

As a boss, one of your jobs is to help your employees do their jobs to the best of their ability. If they come to you (in person, on the phone, or via email) for help, advice, or insight, it is a fundamental part of your job that you respond to them to the best of your ability.

If you ignore them, then you are a horrible boss.

Yes, you are busy. Yes, you have lots to do and things fall through the cracks. Yes, you really wish your people could be perfect and brilliant and accomplish exactly what you want without you having to help them.

Oh well, Ding Happens. Welcome to the real world.

The most common place you’ll see this is in requests for feedback. Your boss gives you a task, so you put something together. Then you send it over to them and say, “Here’s what I’ve done, is this what you’re looking for?” They never reply. You finish the work to the best of your ability. You show it to your boss. He flips out because it’s not at all what he wanted.

But wait, it gets worse – sometimes, you’ll have the exact scenario above, but your boss will reply and say, “It looks fine,” and then, when you show him the finished product, he flips out because it’s not at all what he wanted.

Crazy? Yes. Sad? Yes? Does it happen? Oh yes.

What to do if this is you:

Respond! Yes, you’re busy. So is everyone. You have to realize that in many situations you are the number one bottleneck to your employees’ productivity. Answer their questions, give them feedback, and get out of their damned way!

5) Use Passive Aggressive “Blanket Communication” for Criticism

Attention! Some of you suck. That is all.

Ah, blanket communication. The last bastion of the weak manager…

You’ve probably received this type of message before, most likely in an email:

Please note: some employees are creating sub-par reports. Please make certain that you follow ALL guidelines in the policies and procedures manuals. Sub-par-reports will no longer be tolerated, and if the quality of the work continues at this level, steps will be taken…

The problem with this type of communication is that it goes out to everyone. It goes to people with sub-par reports. It goes to people with great reports. It goes to people with ok reports. It goes to everyone. And that’s just stupid.

The problem is that when you send it to everyone, everyone will start to wonder if the email is meant for them. That creates anxiety and dissension. People who were doing things well may make unnecessary changes and start doing worse.

If everyone is doing sub-par work, then everyone needs to be reprimanded (and be taught and guided). If however, only a few people are doing sub-par work, then grow a pair and do your damned job and talk with them one-on-one!

Yes, I said “grow a pair” because I am convinced that the “blanket communication criticism” happens for one of two reasons:

  1. The boss is too weak and non-confrontational to actually have a direct conversation with the sub-par employee(s), so he figures it’s easier to put it in a vague email. Weak sauce, my friends, Weak sauce.
  2. The boss is a bully and knows that his blanket communication will create a bit of anxiety which will keep people a bit on edge. This will allow the bully to maintain his power.

If you’re #1, then grow a pair and be a real leader. Have the tough conversations that are part of your job and make the employee and organization better.

If you’re #2, then grow up, take a long look in the mirror, and realize that your short term strategies for success are not only going to condemn you to a life of mediocrity (at best) but will also make the live of your good, smart, hard-working employees unnecessarily miserable.

What to do if this is you:

Do your job! Stop running away from the uncomfortable responsibilities of your job. Have one-on-one conversations, learn how to give evaluations and feedback, and stop making everyone crazy with blanket communications. That’s all there is to it.

One Additional Note

With all the hubbub and pressure of work, here’s something that bosses, especially the horrible ones, forget:

As a boss, you have an extremely high impact on the lives of your employees. That is a responsibility and a privilege. 

No, this doesn’t mean you should coddle people and let bad behavior slide and try to be everyone’s “buddy.”

However, please remember that the person who works for you is a person. They have feelings, and a life, and hopes, and fears, and dreams and aspirations.

If you’re a horrible boss, you’re not just hurting the company, or not getting the most out of your people, or increasing turnover and losing great people. If you’re truly horrible (and based on anecdotal evidence, there are a lot of horrible bosses out there), then you are also crushing dreams, destroying hopes, reducing health, and negatively impacting the quality of life of the people who work for you.

Sound grandiose? It’s not. It’s the way it is. And if you disagree with that, then take a good look in the mirror. If you don’t realize that your actions as a boss can tremendously influence the lives of your employees, then you may very well be a horrible boss…

Question: What have I missed? Please share your examples and insight on other “Habits of Highly Bosses” in the comments below!

***
conference speakerAre you planning a management retreat or meeting and looking for a great speaker to share simple ideas your leaders can use to be less horrible (and actually be amazing!) with humor and energy? Then visit Avish’s Conference Speaker page now!
 

Posted in Business Advice | Tagged | 1 Comment

7 Simple Ideas to Kick-Start Your Creativity

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Avish

This past Tuesday was the first session in the Smart Ass Success Teleseminar Series. I had an awesome interview with Scott Ginsberg, and he shared a ridiculous amount of information and a ton of ideas anyone can use to tap into, improve, and apply their creativity.

Below I have posted a five-or-so minute long sample of the interview, as well as 7 simple ideas I got from talking with Scott about supercharging my creativity (there were many more).

If you’d like to get the full audio of Scott’s call, plus a bevy of bonuses and access to 6 more calls with awesome experts (along with the recordings and transcriptions), you can still sign up. Just visit the Smart Ass Success Teleseminar page and sign up now! Regardless of when you sign up, you’ll get the recordings of all past and future calls.

Here’s the sample:

Week-1-Scott-Ginsberg-Creativity-Sample

Here are seven simple but powerful ideas to kick-start your creativity:

  1. Waking up excited to hit the ground running comes from knowing who you are. Once you know who you are, what you do, and why you do it, motivation takes care of itself.
  1. “Stop planning and just write.”
  1. If you want to access your creativity, start each day “vomiting” your thoughts onto a page or screen. It doesn’t matter if it’s legible or makes sense. Just dump and delete.
  1. If you want to beguile inspiration, develop a system to not only write down but also organize, categorize, and access your ideas.
  1. If you get a good idea, write it down, even if you don’t know what you’re going to do with it.
  1. Something that’s a bad idea now may turn out to be a brilliant idea later.
  1. Make a list of twenty things you do that are a waste of time and stop doing them.

Thanks for reading (and listening)!

Remember, there’s still time to sign up for the Smart Ass Success Teleseminar and get all the recordings, transcriptions, and bonuses! But hurry, because once the Series ends, the offer will be gone!

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The “Magic Formula” of Awesomeness: Preparation + Volume + Adjustment

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Avish

Want to be awesome? Super! You just need to make sure you have three important components in place.

Miss one, and your likelihood of achieving awesomeness goes way down. Hit all three, and you shall soon find yourself rolling in the success you want and deserve.

The three components are: Preparation, Volume, and, Adjustment.

Preparation

I honestly believe that too many people spend too long, “getting ready to get ready.” However, that doesn’t mean that some preparation isn’t a good thing.

Before you get started trying to achieve a goal, it’s a good idea to do some preparation:

  • Identify, with great clarity, what that goal actually is
  • Create a plan to get there
  • Identify your strengths, weaknesses, and potential obstacles along the way
  • Get an idea of the resources you have and will need.
  • Gather a list of information you still need
  • Acquire the skills ad knowledge you need to begin

Don’t use this stage as chance to procrastinate! It should not take very long. If you find you’re in “preparation” for more than a few days, then perhaps you need to break your large goal up into smaller ones.

Volume

“Volume” is about the action you take. The more action you take, the more results you will get (and the faster they will come).

I recommend two things:

  1. Start with the highest volume possible that you can realistically and consistently maintain over time without burning out
  2. Gradually but consistently increase that volume over time.

As long as you don’t burn out and give up, higher volume is better than lower. This is true in writing, marketing, selling, and for just about any other goal you want to achieve.

Adjustment

“Adjustment” is actually made up of two parts:

  1. Analyzing your efforts and results to see what’s been working and what hasn’t
  2. Altering your plan accordingly

Regular reviewing your progress and making adjustments along the way is a critical component of accelerating your success. If you don’t make adjustments, you eventually plateau, and a plateau is only a small step away from backsliding.

Why all three?

Trying to achieve a goal by applying just one of these three components is pretty silly:

  • If you just prepare, then you never take any action or accomplish anything
  • If you just take action, you end up spinning your wheels and wasting a lot of time end energy.
  • If you just analyze, you do nothing but criticize yourself and others. 

Even applying only two of these components is less than optimal:

Preparation + Volume without Adjustment 

You can create a great plan, and then take massive action to implement that plan. However, it’s important to periodically step back and analyze:

  1. Whether Your plan is actually working
  2. Whether conditions have changed
  3. Whether you still event want what you are going after

If you don’t, you might end up spending a lot of time and energy reaching a goal you don’t care about. 

Preparation + Adjustment without Volume

This is the most common mistake I see people make. They think a lot, create a plan, take a little action, and then obsessively analyze what worked and what didn’t. There are two problems with this approach:

  1. Without a large volume of data, you can’t be sure your analysis is correct. Just because you tried something once or twice and it didn’t work doesn’t mean it’s a bad strategy.
  2. Without a large volume of action, your success will come slowly, if at all. The “volume” phase is where you actually do something. The more you do, the more opportunities you create.

Volume + Adjustment without Preparation

Volume and adjustment without preparation can work, but it requires luck. If you just jump in and start taking massive action and then see what works and adjust, you can make some things happen. However, without preparation you may end wasting a lot of time and effort. The cyclical nature of this process does mean that your “adjustment” phase will morph into your next round’s “preparation” phase, but in general you are better off preparing a bit first.

Remember, to achieve your goals, and to do so with less time and effort, make sure you are applying all three components:

  1. Prepare yourself
  2. Take a high volume of action
  3. Adjust your approach based on the results you get (or don’t get)

If you’re struggling, stop whining about it and instead ask yourself, “Which of these three steps am I missing?”

Find the missing step and you are on the road to awesomeness. Miss it, and your likelihood of achieving awesomeness goes way down…

P.S. Hey, if you like this post, why don’t you share the love and click the Facebook “Like” button at the top of this page…?
***
Smart Ass Success E-BookDo you want help making better long term decisions? How about help figuring out what exactly it is that you want? Or maybe you know, but your problem is that you don’t know how to put together a plan to get you there?  Or perhaps you have a plan, but never feel motivated to follow it? Or you jyst get easily derailed when things go wrong? If so, than the Smart Ass Success! Learn the 7 Steps to Getting What You Really Want – Even If You Have No Idea What That Is! FREE E-Book is for you! It addresses those questions (and more) to help you get on the path towards figuring out what you really want – and then getting it! Don’t let another year pass you by. Click here to download your free copy now!

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Why Setting a Future “Start Date” for Your Goals is a Dumb Thing – and 6 Things to Do Instead

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Avish

Have you ever set a goal or planned some kind of “life change,” and then looked at the calendar and decided that instead of starting right away, you would be much better off starting on a day that was a few weeks away? I have, and let me tell you, this may be a bad, bad idea.

Today is the first of November, and it’s going to be a big month (you might say I am planning on doing something great this month…). In addition to lots of creative and professional goals, both my girlfriend and I decided that we would spend November eating very clean and healthy. You know what that means: lots of veggies and lean protein, no processed foods, no junk foods, nothing deep fried. (Good God what am I getting myself into?!)

As November begins, I realize this is going to be harder for me than her for two reasons:

  1. She’s been eating pretty well already.
  2. I have been eating horribly. Really, for about a month – just…horribly

Why have I been eating so poorly for about a month now, you might wonder? Well, there’s a simple, if sad, reason for that…

We made this decision about a month ago. Since then, anytime I’ve had the idea in my head to make a healthy eating choice, a little voice has popped up and said, “November is when you’re going to be healthy, so enjoy yourself now.”

I have even finished up an unhealthy meal (usually consisting of something deep fried, something processed, something fatty, and something grossly oversized – often all in the same item) and said, “Man, I can’t wait for November 1st.”

Yes, I would eat unhealthy, and then consider looking forward to November so I could finally eat healthy.

What can I say? I’m a ridiculous human being…

However, I would guess I am not alone in this. This specific story may be a bit extreme, but I am sure there are many people (yourself included, perhaps…?) who set a time and date to start something, but then spend all the lead-up time to that date not only not doing anything, but actually acting far worse than they would have otherwise.

This doesn’t have to be just about fitness. It could be anything:

  • I’ll stop smoking on Monday (so let me smoke extra now!)
  • I’ll start writing next Friday (so let me not write anything or even think about my book now)
  • I’ll clean my house this weekend (so let me be even more lazy than usual about picking up after myself now)
  • I’ll stop using my credit cards and start paying down my debt on the first (so let me buy just a few more final things now)
  • I’ll start saving for retirement next year (don’t even get me started on this one…)

Picking a goal is super. Having a starting date is good. Using the fact that you have a starting date to be far worse than you would otherwise is stupid and counterproductive.

Have you ever met someone who actually likes to gain weight the week before they start a new diet and exercise plan? This allows them to have a higher starting number with weight that will come off quickly so they’ll feel like they’re making progress right away. I know someone like that. And he looks eerily like myself…

If you are in the process of setting a goal for yourself, here are six pieces of advice to help you avoid making the same mistakes I did:

1) Move the Start Date Closer

I understand that some plans are inconvenient to start right now (more on this in a moment), but does your starting date need to be so far away? The more lead time you leave, the more interruptions that can occur, and the more temptation you will face to “live it up for a while”. I suggest you seriously reexamine your reasons for delaying. Chances are you really can move the start date a lot closer. Which brings us to our next point…

2) Start Now

Yup, I suggest you don’t wait at all. Start today. Or tomorrow morning at the latest. Usually when you hold off on starting on a path it’s not because you have to delay, it’s because you want to delay. Setting a future start date is just a form of procrastination. If you are delaying starting right now, then chances are you are not 100% committed to the task, which means you’re setting yourself up for failure anyway (if that’s the case, you may need to shrink the goal, which we’ll get to in a moment) . Rather than delaying, start right away. If you find yourself resisting, work on your commitment level first.

3) Let Go for the Need for Significant Dates

There’s no law that says you have to start on New Years Day, your birthday, the first of the month, or on a Monday. It is perfectly acceptable to start working on a new goal on a random Wednesday in October. Waiting for a significant date is another form of procrastination, and is usually just a way to give yourself permission to avoid doing what you know you should be doing and to indulge in bad behavior for a while. Read the “Start Now” point again and…um…start now.

4) Consider Ramping Up Instead of “Starting”

Let’s say for whatever reason you can’t go “whole hog” for a couple of weeks. Maybe there’s a legitimate logistical reason or maybe you just can’t quite commit. Whatever the case, instead of doing nothing at all for the next two weeks, use it as a “ramp up” stage. So if you’re plan is to eat healthy and exercise regularly, starting in two weeks, then set a smaller goal like, “Eat 1 piece of fruit a day,” for right now. Use the time between now and your “start date” to make a little progress and get yourself in the mindset for change.

5) Understand and Maintain Your Status Quo

Even if you don’t “ramp up,” you’re still better off not going crazy before you star your goal. One bad meal the night before you start eating healthy? Not a big deal. Three weeks of eating crap before you start eating healthy? That’s a problem (trust me, I know of what I speak…). If you’re going to wait to start (despite what I said above), then do your best to maintain your status quo. This of course means you have to first understand what the status quo is. Take stock of what “typical” is for you and then commit to at least maintaining that. It’s not great, but at least you’re not getting worse.

6) Shrink the Goal

One reason you may be considering a future “start date” is because you have set a giant goal for yourself. When the task is too big, your mind gets overwhelmed and procrastination (and out-and-out rebellion) begin. Rather than setting a giant goal that you plan on embarking on a month from now (when you’re “ready”), just set yourself a smaller goal that you’re willing to start on right away. Making some progress is better than making none – or regressing.

Wish me luck this month – it’s not going to be easy, but it’s going to be fun! And if you’d like to join in and do something great for yourself too, you can – just check out this post.

And remember, when that little voice pops up and gives you great reasons why you should pick a date in the future to “start” working on your goals, tell it to shut up and just get started now…

P.S. Hey, if you like this post, why don’t you share the love and click the Facebook “Like” button at the top of this page…?

***
Smart Ass Success E-BookDo you want help making better long term decisions? How about help figuring out what exactly it is that you want? Or maybe you know, but your problem is that you don’t know how to put together a plan to get you there?  Or perhaps you have a plan, but never feel motivated to follow it? Or you jyst get easily derailed when things go wrong? If so, than the Smart Ass Success! Learn the 7 Steps to Getting What You Really Want – Even If You Have No Idea What That Is! FREE E-Book is for you! It addresses those questions (and more) to help you get on the path towards figuring out what you really want – and then getting it! Don’t let another year pass you by. Click here to download your free copy now!

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Smartass Success Teleseminar Starts Tomorrow!

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Avish

I just wanted to give you a quick reminder that the Smart Ass Success Teleseminar starts tomorrow, Nov 1.

The first call is with Scott Ginsberg – it’s an awesome, content filled session with a ton of great ideas you can use to ramp up and unleash your creativity and figure out what you really want. I honestly believe the content on this first call alone is worth the price of the entire series…

Remember, there are both free and paid options for the Teleseminar Series.

For more information and to sign up for either version, visit: http://www.SmartAssSuccessTeleseminar.com

The call with Scott is at 7PM EDT on Tuesday, November 1st. People who sign up for the paid version will get the MP3 recording the next day, so if you can’t make the call you can still get all the great info. Paid registrants will also receive over $80 worth of bonuses as well as PDF transcriptions of the teleseminar.

Don’t delay – sign up now to get all the great info from Scott’s call (plus 6 more to come!)
http://www.SmartAssSuccessTeleseminar.com

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