January 5th, 2010
People who have achieved their goals knew what they wanted in the first place. They decided what to go after, and they went after it. One of the most compelling reasons why people do not get what they want is that they never decided what they wanted! They never defined the desires of their hearts in complete detail.
Why don’t you know what you want? Why isn’t it spelled out in detail in your mind? Most likely, it is because you have lost touch with the desires of your heart. You were probably taught that you couldn’t have whatever you wanted. You were probably taught that it was more important to do what made other people happy. Seeking your happiness was considered selfish, so you learned not to define your happiness. Now, you find yourself completely unaware of what your preferences are, how you really want to live your life, and what your goals are for your life.
Take back your life! Start honoring your preferences, no matter how small they seem. Even if you don’t know what you prefer, pretend you do, and make a decision. You’ll be more keenly aware of whether that decision made you happy or not and you will learn your preferences!
Commit to this new belief: You deserve to have everything exactly the way you want it. Make it a priority to begin to know your wants and desires. Start simple by making a list of things you want to do and things you want to have. Keep writing until you find some of your core values, such as wanting to have loving relationships, to make a difference in your world or to be financially secure.
Think of what you love to do with your time. Write down several things that you love to do, and then make a list of all the ways you can think of to be making a living doing those things. Create a detailed description of the vision you have for your ideal life. Don’t limit yourself. Dream as big as you possibly can from your perspective right now.
In detail, what is going on in the financial area of your life? How much money do you make? How much do you have in savings and investments? What about your real estate? What kind of house or houses do you own? Create detailed visions of all the major areas of your life, your ideal career, your recreation time, your ideal body and physical health, your relationships with family and friends, your spiritual life, and the community in which you live. Create and write down your ideal vision for each area and review it on a daily basis.
All you have to do at this point is clarify your vision to yourself. Don’t worry about how it will happen right now. Once you have a clear picture of what you want going through your mind, the steps and opportunities to get it will appear. When you have completed your ideal vision of your life, share it with a supportive friend. Don’t let anyone talk you out of it! More than likely, they want the same thing for themselves but believe it’s impossible. Deciding what you want is the first step to getting what you want. Don’t put off creating your vision!
1. What do you want? (target)
2. Where are you now?
3. What steps are needed to get you there? (goals)
4. Why now?
5. Who will I have to be to get there?
6. When get there…then what?
7. What do I want to keep the same (in my life)?
I know, these questions may seem simplistic at first, but as a good friend of mine, T. Harv Ever says, “Most people don’t get what they want, because they don’t know what they want.” This first question is probably the most powerful, if answered correctly.
To answer the first and third question I recommend the SMARTER goal method. This takes the SMART goal method and adds a twist.
Specific – A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal. To set a specific goal you must answer the six “W” questions:
• Who: Who is involved?
• What: What do I want to accomplish?
• Where: Identify a location.
• When: Establish a time frame.
• Which: Identify requirements and constraints.
• Why: Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.
Measurable – Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set. When you measure your progress, you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to continued effort required to reach your goal.
To determine if your goal is measurable, ask questions such as……How much? How many? How will I know when it is accomplished?
Attainable – When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop the attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to reach them. You begin seeing previously overlooked opportunities to bring yourself closer to the achievement of your goals.
You can attain most any goal you set when you plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame that allows you to carry out those steps. Goals that may have seemed far away and out of reach eventually move closer and become attainable, not because your goals shrink, but because you grow and expand to match them. When you list your goals you build your self-image. You see yourself as worthy of these goals, and develop the traits and personality that allow you to possess them.
Realistic – To be realistic, a goal must represent an objective toward which you are both willing and able to work. A goal can be both high and realistic; you are the only one who can decide just how high your goal should be. But be sure that every goal represents substantial progress. A high goal is frequently easier to reach than a low one because a low goal exerts low motivational force. Some of the hardest jobs you ever accomplished actually seem easy simply because they were a labor of love.
Your goal is probably realistic if you truly believe that it can be accomplished. Additional ways to know if your goal is realistic is to determine if you have accomplished anything similar in the past or ask yourself what conditions would have to exist to accomplish this goal.
Tangible – A goal is tangible when you can experience it with one of the senses, that is, taste, touch, smell, sight or hearing. When your goal is tangible, or when you tie an tangible goal to a intangible goal, you have a better chance of making it specific and measurable and thus attainable.
Intangible goals are your goals for the internal changes required to reach more tangible goals. They are the personality characteristics and the behavior patterns you must develop to pave the way to success in your career or for reaching some other long-term goal. Since intangible goals are vital for improving your effectiveness, give close attention to tangible ways for measuring them.
Evaluate – Your goals are not set in stone and will change from time to time. Constant evaluation of your goals is essential to reaching your goals. Change factors must be taken into consideration during your evaluation. Factors such as change in volunteer status, change in family or job responsibilities, or change in available resources may affect your stated goals.
Re-do – After a careful evaluation then you should re-do the goals that need changing and continue the SMARTER goal setting process.
Goal development and goal setting is process that changes and needs evaluation. The process of developing, initiating and following through on the SMARTER goals setting model is cyclical and should be continually worked on. As a sectional staff member, your personal and organizational goals should be examined critically at least once a year.
You’ll notice that I classify “what you want” as the target and your action steps as your goal. Here’s why. You desire, what you want to change is a fix point, that is a target. In order to get there you must take action, and most likely massive action.
So, how to hold yourself accountable for these actions? That’s where the goals come in. The goals are the actions you take in order to progress towards your target. For example, if you wanted to release 10 lbs of fat (that would be your target) your goal would be to reduce your caloric intake by 500 calories per day and increase your output (exercise) by 500 calories per day.
As long as you hit your goals, your target automatically gets closer to you. DO you see the power in this?
By using these 7 mental strength questions and by applying the SMARTER target process you’ll be able to make magnificent changes in any part of your life.
Tags: employees, motivate employees, motivating, motivation, relationships
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May 12th, 2009
Leadership is one form of dominance in which the followers more or less are willingly accepting direction and/or control by another individual. It is an influence process, the dynamics of which are a function of the personal characteristics of the leader, his/her followers, and the nature of the specific situation. Having others buy into an idea or goal because they want to is a true mastery.
During a challenging economy it is not the time to think that you have a capitve audience because jobs are hard to come by. If you do, “all will all come out in the wash” so to speak. You will begin to find that quality of work will begin to suffer, new ideas will not shared and production will be lackluster. This is the time to show your stuff and demonstrate your leadership skills. Bring out the side of you that understands individual circumstance and sincerely be part of the team. Walk the floor, have more meetings and have fun.
Do you walk in each morning making eye contact, conduct one on ones without relying on your supervisors to do it for you, do you keep things interesting by offering ongoing cross training opportunities? Is there a recognition wall, department newsletter and recognition program in place? Leadership style is something that you create placing your own personality on the title, leader.
A few examples of poor leaders:
The imperalist, an arrogant leader who walks around as if he/she was strolling amongst peasants. Their visits are so infrequent that when they are seen in departments, they cause a state of panic.
The climber, if there is no promise for prestige by attending a meeting or socializing with the lower ranks, forget it! They will not make an effort to even say hello; they will pass peers and subordinates in luncheons as if they were complete strangers leaving a trail of loathers behind.
The absentee manager, sometimes a good guy/gal but never around when you need them. They take the safe route at all times, skip important and perhaps confrontational meetings and fold under pressure. They are not supporters of the cause unless it is an easy one.
If you are interested in developing your staff and building motivational climates which result in high levels of productivity, as well as human satisifaction in the short and long run, then you need to think about your commitment to your role as a leader. Leadership style is the pattern of behaviors you use when you are trying to influence the behavior of others as perceived by them. While your perceptions of your own behavior and its impact on others is interesting and important, it tells you only how to “Intend” to act. Unless, it matches the perceptions of those you are trying to influence, it is not very helpful. For example, if you think you are “an empathic, people-oriented manager,” but your people think you are “a hard headed”, task-oriented person only, ” whose perception of reality will they act on – yours or their own? Obviously, their own.
How to provide direction and communicate to your employees:
a) Communicate clearly when providing instruction. Ask for questions, consistently check for understanding and their input along the way. Provide a clear statement about expectation, when the task is needed to be complete, where they can go for questions and remind them if they need assistance to communicate it right away.
b) Demonstrate and leave examples of the desired task or request.
c) Check in and see how things are going.
d) Provide kudos along the way to demonstrate appreciation and to provide a continued incentive.
Now more than ever be an active participant. Give praise and recognition on a regular basis with a fun sprinkled throughout. Host Fun Fridays with games and potlucks. Keeping the atmosphere positive will quickly result in good results. Experience the benefits of your efforts and enjoy it too!
Tags: incentive, incentives, motivating, motivational, motivational programs, rewards
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April 24th, 2009
Your self-concept is made up of three parts, each of which affects each of the others. Understanding these three parts enables you to put your hands on the keyboard of your own mental computer. When you learn to take charge of the development of a new and positive self-concept of selling, you can then control your sales destiny for the rest of your career.
Determine Your Direction
The first part of the self-concept is the “self-ideal.” Your self-ideal largely determines the direction in which you are going with your life. It guides the growth and evolution of your character and personality. Your self-ideal is a combination of all of the qualities and attributes of other people that you most admire. Your self-ideal is a description of the person you would very much like to be if you could embody the qualities that you most aspire to.
Strive Toward Excellence
Throughout your life, you have seen and read about the qualities of courage, confidence, compassion, love, fortitude, perseverance, patience, forgiveness and integrity. Over time, these qualities have instilled in you an ideal to which you aspire. You might not always live up to the very best that you know, but you are constantly striving to be a better person in light of those qualities that you value so highly. In fact, everything that you do on a day-to-day basis is affected by your comparing your activities with these ideal qualities and your striving to behave consistently with them.
Clarity is Essential
Successful salespeople have very clear ideals for themselves and their careers. Unsuccessful salespeople have fuzzy ideals. Successful salespeople are very clear about being excellent in every part of their work and their personal lives. Unsuccessful salespeople don’t give the subject very much thought. One of the primary characteristics of successful men and women in every walk of life is that they have very clearly defined ideals and they are very aware of whether or not their current behaviors are consistent with their idealized behaviors.
Set Challenging Goals
Part of your ideals are your goals. As you set higher and more challenging goals, your self-ideal improves and crystallizes. When you set goals for the kind of person you want to be and the kind of life you want to live, your self-ideal rises and becomes a greater guiding and motivating force in your life.
Your Future is Unlimited
Perhaps the most important thing for you to realize is that whatever anyone else has done or become, you can do or become as well. Improvements in your self-ideal begin in your imagination, and in your imagination, there are no limits except the ones that you accept.
What is your ideal vision of the very best person you could possibly become? How would you behave each day if you were already that person? Asking yourself these questions and then living your life consistent with the answers is the first step to creating yourself in your ideal image.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, dream big dreams. Set big, exciting, challenging goals and ideals for yourself in every part of your life. Allow yourself to imagine a wonderful life ahead.
Second, think about how you would act if you were an outstanding person in every way. Then, practice being this person, as though you were acting a role in a play. You’ll immediately notice a difference in your behavior.
Tags: crm, incentive, incentives, motivating, motivational programs, point rewards
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March 9th, 2009
Positive self-expectancy is the first, most outwardly identifiable quality of a top-achieving, winning human being. Positive self-expectancy is pure and simple optimism: real enthusiasm for everything you do. And optimism is expecting the most favorable result from your own actions.
There never was a winner who didn’t expect to win in advance. Winners understand that life is a self-fulfilling prophecy. And they know that you usually get what you expect in the long run. So winners accept the belief that hope and a deep, unbreakable faith — forged into a fundamental attitude of positive self-expectancy — is the eternal spring from which all creative, motivating energy flows.
The idea that faith conquers all has been verified from biblical times to current-day medical histories to daily stories of heroism and come-from-behind victories and rags-to-riches success we read about every day in the newspapers. They’re human biographies of greatness we read about, hear about, and watch on TV. And we marvel over these special people who pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.
Let me ask you this: Did it ever occur to you that you, also, are one of these special people? Well, you are! You see, most of the real winners in life are so busy contributing, they don’t even think of seeking publicity for their acts. Most of them are discovered by the media, caught in the act of winning. Only a few famous people are winners, and only a few winners will become famous people. That’s because success is a very individual thing. Success is the way you spend your minutes doing your best for others. It is the way you take the talent you were born with, and the knowledge and skills you have since developed, and use them fully, toward a purpose that makes you feel worthwhile, according to your own individual, internal standards.
In your quest for excellence, there are two powerful sets of great expectations affecting your life. First, there are the expectations that others close to you have for you. And then there are the expectations that you have for yourself. While we all try to rise to the expectations others have for us, there is no question that our limitations and success will be based, most often, on our own expectations for ourselves. What the mind dwells upon, the body acts upon.
As a behavioral scientist studying the lives of thousands of winners and losers, I find that “psycho,” the mind, is your own best fortuneteller to forecast the actions of “soma,” the body. And understanding this mind-and-body, psychosomatic relationship is the key to understanding the importance of the first, most outwardly identifiable quality of a winner: that of positive self-expectancy. Winners expect another good day, a promotion, a raise, to find a parking place, a productive meeting, and a harmonious family life — and they usually get them. Winners know that their actions will be controlled by their current obsessions. Losers generally expect more of the same frustration, more problems, the loss of a job, a dull evening, bad service, and failure. Most importantly, losers expect to feel bad and get sick — and they do.
Careful studies of the life histories of thousands of widely differing people have shown that the probability of health changes, such as sickness, accident, even pregnancy, can be predicted. We are learning that all disease is not necessarily caused by germs. All of us have germs, but only a few become ill as a result. Instead, the cause of disease is loosely linked with the way individuals react to life. The link between stressful life changes, expectant anxiety, and health changes seems to be associated with the body’s immune system, which makes antibodies to fight foreign material and germs. Situations that arouse fear and anxiety suppress antibody production as well.
Distrustful situations may also upset production of hormones, which have a role in emotional balance. An emotionally upset individual is much more prone to accidents.
But what does all this have to do with positive self-expectancy and winning attitudes? Simply this: Mental obsessions DO have physical manifestations. You do become that which you fear. You get what you suspect. You are that which you expect to be. This power of the self-fulfilling prophecy is one of the most amazing phenomena of human nature. What do you expect for yourself? You should expect the best. The winners in life, believing in the self-fulfilling prophecy, keep their momentum moving upward by expecting better jobs, more money, good health, better family relationships, financial security, warm friendships, and success.
All really successful individuals fervently desire and expect to win — no matter what curve life throws at them. Think about Helen Keller, who graduated magna cum laude and devoted her entire life to the service of others, although she had been deaf and blind since infancy. Franklin Delano Roosevelt had polio. The modern artist Matisse created some of his best work when he was nearly blind, aged, and bedridden. A young woman named Patti Catalano overcame the self-destructive habits of overeating and chain-smoking to become one of the top 10 marathon runners in the world. I remember a little girl who took her optimism from the back streets of Harlem to the center court at Wimbledon — Althea Gibson. In spite of their handicaps, they expected to do their best. They wanted to achieve and expected to excel.
But there’s more to positive self-expectancy than meets the eye. Medical researchers have discovered that the body produces natural morphine-like substances that operate on certain receptor sites in the brain and spinal cord. These natural internal opiates are called endorphins. Secreted and used by the brain, endorphins reduce the experience and screen out unpleasant stimuli. In fact, the presence of endorphins actually causes the feeling of well-being.
In one related study, actors were wired to electrodes and connected to blood catheters. They were then asked to perform various scenes. When they portrayed characters who were angry or depressed, endorphin levels dropped. But when the scene called for emoting joy, confidence, and love, endorphin levels shot up dramatically. Science has shown that positive thoughts produce endorphins. Endorphins, in turn, encourage feelings of optimism and well-being. So it works both ways. You sing because you’re happy, and you’re happy because you’re singing. Sixty to 70 percent of the population who visit physicians are sick as a result of an emotional feeling of stress because of the pressure they feel from life. That’s why it’s critically important to remember that the key to winning positive self-expectancy is to understand that in the long run, every individual receives just about what he or she expects. And if you have faith that if you do things the right way, you’ll be rewarded accordingly — you’ll be a winner!
Optimism is a way of life. Some techniques for generating a greater attitude of positive self-expectancy include the following: First, look at problems as opportunities — search for the favorable aspects of every situation. Next, learn to stay relaxed and friendly, no matter how much pressure and tension you’re under. In the beginning, it’s likely that you’ll have to fake it. But the truth is that both calmness and courage are learned habits, and there’s no better way to learn a good habit than by actually getting in and doing it and living it. Next, and this is very important, in dealing with other people, instead of griping, try praising. In place of cynicism, try optimism. Instead of being unhelpfully critical, try being constructively helpful. You know these are learned habits, too. And everyone is dependent on others for at least part of their own positive self-expectancy.
And next, get excited and enthusiastic about your own dream. This excitement is like a forest fire. You can smell it, taste it, and see it a mile away. Everybody loves a winner. But nobody crowds around a loser’s locker room. Don’t run around with the doomsayers who look up and shout that the sky is always falling. Optimism and realism go together. They are the problem-solving twins. Pessimism and cynicism are the two worst companions. Surround yourself with the “no-problem, can-do’ type with big dreams like your own. It’s the excitement of the big dream that carries you through the setback that you encounter. The single most outwardly identifiable quality of a winner is positive self-expectancy — optimism. It’s the key to good health. It’s the key to happiness, and it puts the favorable inclination toward the achievement of every goal you set. Positive self-expectancy is the winner’s edge.
Tags: incentives, motivate, motivating, rewards and incentives
Posted in Articles | 1 Comment »
February 16th, 2009
Positive self-expectancy is the first, most outwardly identifiable quality of a top-achieving, winning human being. Positive self-expectancy is pure and simple optimism: real enthusiasm for everything you do. And optimism is expecting the most favorable result from your own actions.
There never was a winner who didn’t expect to win in advance. Winners understand that life is a self-fulfilling prophecy. And they know that you usually get what you expect in the long run. So winners accept the belief that hope and a deep, unbreakable faith — forged into a fundamental attitude of positive self-expectancy — is the eternal spring from which all creative, motivating energy flows.
The idea that faith conquers all has been verified from biblical times to current-day medical histories to daily stories of heroism and come-from-behind victories and rags-to-riches success we read about every day in the newspapers. They’re human biographies of greatness we read about, hear about, and watch on TV. And we marvel over these special people who pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.
Let me ask you this: Did it ever occur to you that you, also, are one of these special people? Well, you are! You see, most of the real winners in life are so busy contributing, they don’t even think of seeking publicity for their acts. Most of them are discovered by the media, caught in the act of winning. Only a few famous people are winners, and only a few winners will become famous people. That’s because success is a very individual thing. Success is the way you spend your minutes doing your best for others. It is the way you take the talent you were born with, and the knowledge and skills you have since developed, and use them fully, toward a purpose that makes you feel worthwhile, according to your own individual, internal standards.
In your quest for excellence, there are two powerful sets of great expectations affecting your life. First, there are the expectations that others close to you have for you. And then there are the expectations that you have for yourself. While we all try to rise to the expectations others have for us, there is no question that our limitations and success will be based, most often, on our own expectations for ourselves. What the mind dwells upon, the body acts upon.
As a behavioral scientist studying the lives of thousands of winners and losers, I find that “psycho,” the mind, is your own best fortuneteller to forecast the actions of “soma,” the body. And understanding this mind-and-body, psychosomatic relationship is the key to understanding the importance of the first, most outwardly identifiable quality of a winner: that of positive self-expectancy. Winners expect another good day, a promotion, a raise, to find a parking place, a productive meeting, and a harmonious family life — and they usually get them. Winners know that their actions will be controlled by their current obsessions. Losers generally expect more of the same frustration, more problems, the loss of a job, a dull evening, bad service, and failure. Most importantly, losers expect to feel bad and get sick — and they do.
Careful studies of the life histories of thousands of widely differing people have shown that the probability of health changes, such as sickness, accident, even pregnancy, can be predicted. We are learning that all disease is not necessarily caused by germs. All of us have germs, but only a few become ill as a result. Instead, the cause of disease is loosely linked with the way individuals react to life. The link between stressful life changes, expectant anxiety, and health changes seems to be associated with the body’s immune system, which makes antibodies to fight foreign material and germs. Situations that arouse fear and anxiety suppress antibody production as well.
Distrustful situations may also upset production of hormones, which have a role in emotional balance. An emotionally upset individual is much more prone to accidents.
But what does all this have to do with positive self-expectancy and winning attitudes? Simply this: Mental obsessions DO have physical manifestations. You do become that which you fear. You get what you suspect. You are that which you expect to be. This power of the self-fulfilling prophecy is one of the most amazing phenomena of human nature. What do you expect for yourself? You should expect the best. The winners in life, believing in the self-fulfilling prophecy, keep their momentum moving upward by expecting better jobs, more money, good health, better family relationships, financial security, warm friendships, and success.
All really successful individuals fervently desire and expect to win — no matter what curve life throws at them. Think about Helen Keller, who graduated magna cum laude and devoted her entire life to the service of others, although she had been deaf and blind since infancy. Franklin Delano Roosevelt had polio. The modern artist Matisse created some of his best work when he was nearly blind, aged, and bedridden. A young woman named Patti Catalano overcame the self-destructive habits of overeating and chain-smoking to become one of the top 10 marathon runners in the world. I remember a little girl who took her optimism from the back streets of Harlem to the center court at Wimbledon — Althea Gibson. In spite of their handicaps, they expected to do their best. They wanted to achieve and expected to excel.
But there’s more to positive self-expectancy than meets the eye. Medical researchers have discovered that the body produces natural morphine-like substances that operate on certain receptor sites in the brain and spinal cord. These natural internal opiates are called endorphins. Secreted and used by the brain, endorphins reduce the experience and screen out unpleasant stimuli. In fact, the presence of endorphins actually causes the feeling of well-being.
In one related study, actors were wired to electrodes and connected to blood catheters. They were then asked to perform various scenes. When they portrayed characters who were angry or depressed, endorphin levels dropped. But when the scene called for emoting joy, confidence, and love, endorphin levels shot up dramatically. Science has shown that positive thoughts produce endorphins. Endorphins, in turn, encourage feelings of optimism and well-being. So it works both ways. You sing because you’re happy, and you’re happy because you’re singing. Sixty to 70 percent of the population who visit physicians are sick as a result of an emotional feeling of stress because of the pressure they feel from life. That’s why it’s critically important to remember that the key to winning positive self-expectancy is to understand that in the long run, every individual receives just about what he or she expects. And if you have faith that if you do things the right way, you’ll be rewarded accordingly — you’ll be a winner!
Optimism is a way of life. Some techniques for generating a greater attitude of positive self-expectancy include the following: First, look at problems as opportunities — search for the favorable aspects of every situation. Next, learn to stay relaxed and friendly, no matter how much pressure and tension you’re under. In the beginning, it’s likely that you’ll have to fake it. But the truth is that both calmness and courage are learned habits, and there’s no better way to learn a good habit than by actually getting in and doing it and living it. Next, and this is very important, in dealing with other people, instead of griping, try praising. In place of cynicism, try optimism. Instead of being unhelpfully critical, try being constructively helpful. You know these are learned habits, too. And everyone is dependent on others for at least part of their own positive self-expectancy.
And next, get excited and enthusiastic about your own dream. This excitement is like a forest fire. You can smell it, taste it, and see it a mile away. Everybody loves a winner. But nobody crowds around a loser’s locker room. Don’t run around with the doomsayers who look up and shout that the sky is always falling. Optimism and realism go together. They are the problem-solving twins. Pessimism and cynicism are the two worst companions. Surround yourself with the “no-problem, can-do’ type with big dreams like your own. It’s the excitement of the big dream that carries you through the setback that you encounter. The single most outwardly identifiable quality of a winner is positive self-expectancy — optimism. It’s the key to good health. It’s the key to happiness, and it puts the favorable inclination toward the achievement of every goal you set. Positive self-expectancy is the winner’s edge.
Tags: incentives, motivate employees, motivating
Posted in Articles | Comments Off
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