Make It Great! with Phil Gerbyshak

Free e-course: 10 Kick Ass Ways to Supercharge Your Life

All I’m going to say is, you need to sign up for this free e-course! No catch, no strings attached, just put in your name and e-mail, and get 10 ways to supercharge your life. it’s not from me, but from someone who ALWAYS inspires me to kick ass in my life, Pam Thomas. You can read about why she is giving this away here.

Big Picture Patch: Why You Should be Happy Right Now

In just 120 seconds, Gary Vaynerchuck shares with us the true secret to happiness in this video. He calls it his Big Picture Patch or BPP for short.

The concept is quite simple: Whenever life gets you down, or life is on a big high note, keep the BPP in mind. The BPP is the health and happiness of the 5-10 people closest to you.

Simple exercise to think about your BPP

Grab a sheet of paper and write down the 5 people that mean the most to you in your world.

Are they happy?

Are they healthy?

That’s it, and I like it. It's simple, and it helps keep things in perspective.

How's your BPP?

The Speed of Life and What it Means to YOU!

Guest article by Tony Jeary, Author of Strategic Acceleration: Succeed at the Speed of Life

The speed of life is a global condition that presents a strategic challenge for everyone.  The speed of life combines excessive amounts of unrefined information with a glut of choices and opportunities and presents itself in the form of confusion and distraction!  How well we function within this constant condition determines value, competitive advantage and the ability to create results that will convert a vision or a dream into reality.  These issues are always important but in tough economic times they are absolutely critical to success.

The speed of life can't be stopped but it can be understood and leveraged in a positive way.  It is a fact that knowledge and information have always been a cornerstone of power, influence and achievement!  However, the speed of life generates so much information it creates distractions that unwittingly lead people into well-intentioned busyness.  It is a form of busyness that marginalizes results.  The solution is to identify and deploy high leverage activities that harness the right information at the right time and focus on action that will move the results needle! 

The only thing certain about the speed of life is uncertainty.  It is impossible to accurately forecast future conditions over a long period of time and an  approach based on the principle of 'going as far as you can see -- so that you can see farther'  is needed.  Such a strategy is created by concentrating on the three strategic issues that matter most:  Clarity, Focus, and Execution.   

CLARITY

If you have no cohesive vision there is little chance of achieving sustained success in a bad economy.  Think about this:  Most organizations have adopted vision and mission statements; however, many within those organizations find it difficult to articulate the vision or mission, without reading it.  This condition is typical and may be evidence that there is no real  clarity about the vision and how to achieve it.  Unless there is clarity regarding a vision -- there is no vision!

When businesses have clarity concerning their vision it lives!  It also creates zeal and passion for the commitment and determination needed to execute the vision.  The vision itself becomes able to pull everyone forward.  The pulling effect is created because clarity impacts people at the level of belief and produces voluntary change in attitudes and behavior. 

Clarity is achieved when we have an unfettered view of our vision and understand what we really want, why we want it, the value of doing it and the highest purpose for doing it! 

FOCUS

Focus is the opposite of distraction! At the speed of life, success hinges on the ability to cut through the clutter and focus on the high leverage activities that directly impact results. Focus is not something that comes naturally for most people, and that is why it is a skill that must be learned, polished, and practiced. Specifically, focus is a thinking skill that is acquired as a result of mental discipline.

Because the human mind serves as a connector of facts and information, fresh input is the raw material of creativity, opportunity recognition and problem solving. The mind is always hungry for new information because it stimulates thought and is fulfilling. Unfortunately, basic process of thinking provides the opportunity for distraction. Distraction is always the path of least resistance and the most natural activity for the mind to embrace. The speed of life offers up scores of opportunities each day that lure us into distractions that gobble time.

Between today's conditions and tomorrows hope is a gap that must be crossed. In that gap is every goal, objective and action step that must be taken to be successful. Achieving focus is a matter of identifying the high-leverage activities in the gap that powerfully impact results and developing the mental skills to insure they receive the time they deserve.

EXECUTION

The ability to persuade others has a direct impact on achieving superior results, faster, which is what the speed of life demands. As we gain clarity and develop our focusing skills, the need to concentrate on high-leverage activities becomes paramount. However, identifying and focusing on those activities is only the beginning. Once our high-leverage activities are known the challenge of actually doing them becomes the issue. People must be persuaded to focus on these activities and to act quickly This always involves exceeding expectations.

There is more to exceeding expectations than adopting the idea as a strategy. Exceeding expectations has its greatest impact when it is adopted by individuals as a way of life. When you have a group of people who are willing to exceed expectations in the normal course of their daily activity a powerful force for superior results is created.

People in businesses and organizations are persuaded to exceed expectations based on the positive strategic presence of their leadership team. Leaders create images of influence in the minds of those they lead and those images define the organizational perception of leadership.

It is this overall persona that creates what I call Strategic Presence. Leaders are constantly creating positive and negative Strategic Presence based on their values and their behavior. The most important fact about Strategic Presence is that it produces two possible reactions in others. It either produces voluntary cooperation or it produces various forms of resistance. If the Strategic Presence of leadership is highly positive, people will be more likely to support the vision of leadership. If the Strategic Presence of leadership is negative, people will not be willing to exceed expectations. They may actually try to undermine the goals of leadership!

The key to persuasion is Strategic Presence and the ability to communicate strategically is the foundation for both. Organizations frequently treat communication as a collection of skills, or just another training or coaching objective. This idea represents a tactical approach to communication. If execution can be seen as a train rolling down a track to a predetermined destination, communication is the engine that powers the train! If you can't communicate effectively you will not execute effectively.

About the Author

Tony Jeary, author of Strategic Acceleration: Succeed at the Speed of Life has been and continues to be the coach to the world's top CEOs and high achievers for more than 20 years. His clients include the Presidents of Wal-Mart, Firestone, Shell, Samsung, New York Life, and the United States Senate, to name only a few. An advisor to many, Tony Jeary has invested his life and career in helping others discover new clarity for their vision, develop focus on direction, and create powerful execution strategies that strategically impact achievement and results. Tony is happily married and blessed with 2 great daughters. Learn more about Strategic Acceleration at www.strategicacceleration.com or visit Tony Jeary at www.tonyjeary.com

Google is (and diamonds are) FOREVER!

Two Quotes:

"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently." - Warren Buffet

"It takes 20 years to build a reputation, and five seconds of stupid behavior to ruin it. Remember: Google is (and diamonds are) forever."  - Phil Gerbyshak

Points to Ponder:

Google is FOREVER!

I teach this in every social media talk I give.

If you put it on your MySpace page, someone will find it.

If you put it on your Facebook profile, someone will find it.

If you put it on Flickr, someone will find it.

If you put it on your blog, someone will find it.

And though that’s a big risk, that’s NOT the biggest risk.

If you do something mean to someone, and they write about it, it’s on the Internet FOREVER!

Google is (and diamonds are) FOREVER!

Are you acting like it?

Diamond (pink) courtesy of clagnut

Two Questions to Change Your Life

• If you inherited $20m right now, would you spend your days the same way you spend them now?
• If you knew that you had only 10 years left to live, would you stick with your current job or career?

Those are the 2 questions Sital Ruparelia challenges us with to get your career back on track. I have no doubt those will help you get your career on track. This is a very tough economy, one that’s forcing us all to re-evaluate what we REALLY want.

So I thought about these questions, and I realized, the answers to those questions are not what I want to be known for. They’re not how I want to be measured at the end of my days.

I want to measure my success at the end of my days in another way.

• If you inherited $20m right now, would you spend your days with the same people you spend them with now?
• If you only had 10 years left to live, how much would you be sad about what’s left on your bucket list?

These are the 2 questions I’m going to invest much of my 2009 finding the answers to, and making the changes to align my life so I can answer YES, and NOT MUCH.

I’m going to work on my people bucket list, and my experience bucket list, and start being more honest with myself.

What are you investing your energy in this year?

Is the end worth it, or are there changes you need to make?

Be honest with yourself, and make it great!

2009 is your time to shine! Make it GREAT!

Speak Less, Listen More

Prefer to listen to this post while you focus on the picture? Go ahead and take a listen.

Speak less.

Listen more.

But this requires me to slow down. To savor the moment.

To listen to the tiny whispers that I usually tune out from, because I don’t want to hear what they have to say.

Speak less.

Listen more.

It’s easy to say, but tough to do.

I have to live intentionally to make it work, but I can. It’ll be worth it.

The whispers are getting louder for me. I am starting to hear them. Lately, they’ve told me to focus on me.

New concept for me. I like to give, I don’t like to receive.

It’s good. The whispers are very good.

What do you hear when you listen for the whispers,

When you turn off the TV, your email, your Twitter, and just listen for the whispers.

Are you afraid of what might happen if you speak less and listen more?

Happy Monday! Happy EVERY day!

Speak less, listen more photo, courtesy of Shermee

Want to make 2009 your best year ever? You MUST read this article

If you’re looking to create an amazing 2009, there is 1 article you MUST READ:

12 Changes for 2009

This is the most comprehensive yet simple article about creating a great new year I have read (and I read a LOT of articles).

It’s got a little bit of everything:

• Learning
• Financial
• Your resume
• Exercise
• Eating Right
• Goals
• Obstacles to Success
• and so much more!

Go read 12 Changes for 2009 right now. If you make the changes John Richardson suggests, you WILL make it a GREAT year!

What's Your Word of the Year for 2009?

Christine Kane has a new take on new year’s resolutions. Instead of setting resolutions (which don’t work for most of us), she advises to pick a word that resonates with us and use that as your word to build your year around.

I can do that, and you can too!

So sit softly and think about what your word will be. Maybe it’ll take you 5 minutes, maybe it’ll take you 5 hours, but sit quietly and think about it.

Here’s my 2 words:

Receive (not take)

Acceptance (not settle)

Let me explain them so I understand them better myself.

Receive

When I think about where I am in my life, I realize that I have been a giver my whole life. My parents got divorced when I was 7 years old, and my mom worked a LOT to keep 3 boys fed and in clothes. I always felt like I should do whatever I could to take care of my 2 younger brothers. I always gave all I could. I still do.

This year, I’m going to receive some of the blessings that come my way, instead of saying “no thank you.”

I always felt like this was taking. I realize now this is receiving. Receiving what others want to bless you with is a blessing to the giver…and to the receiver.

Wow, major awareness for me!

In 2009, I am going to receive more.

Acceptance

I firmly believe people are capable of achieving as much as they want to do. And intellectually, I’ve always known people are not as capable of achievement as me. I know I am a very fortunate person, that I have a ton of stamina, and that if I set my mind to something, I am determined to make it happen. I am not bragging, I just know this from all the year’s of standardized tests I’ve taken and all the year’s of comparison against my classmates. I always heard I had a lot of potential (with the exception of a few folks who told me that I couldn’t, and then I would prove them wrong. But I digress.).

I thought everyone heard that they had a lot of potential.

I realize now that is not true. Not everyone hears how much potential they have. Some people heard “You might make it if you try hard enough.” Others might have heard “You don’t have any potential.” Or worse, they heard “You’re a loser and you’re never going to amount to anything.”

I’m not saying any of these things are or are not true about you. I am just saying that for me, I need to accept that not everyone is me. Not everyone wants to be me. Not everyone can be me.

I am me, and you are you, and I am okay with that.

I’m not settling on your potential, or on mine. I am just accepting that we all have different styles, different skills, different abilities, and different things that make us tick.

Like I said, intellectually, I always got this. I love Marcus Buckingham and his ideas on strengths-based leadership. I lead this way. I just didn’t accept it as truth for me.

In 2009, I am going to accept the truth more.

Questions for you:

What is your word of the year for 2009?

Where are you going to put your attention?

I’d love it if you’d leave a comment here, but it’s more important to me that you find something powerful for you to focus your energy on.

Make it a GREAT 2009!

Buddha’s hand courtesy of rumpleteaser

How Are You Measuring Success?

As 2008 draws to a close, I find myself thinking about how I’m measuring my year. It’s been quite a year for me, so I’m measuring it in a very unique way.

Want to know how I measure success?

Click over to How Are You Measuring Success? that I wrote for Joyful Jubilant Learning last week.

Yardstick courtesy of Pink Moose

Navigating Through Volatile Times

Note from Phil: This is a wonderful guest article from Andrew J. Sherman, author of Road Rules: Be The Truck. Not the Squirrel. As this year comes to a close, this is the perfect article (and the perfect book) for you to pick up and think about for 2009. I hope you enjoy this article.

Navigating Through Volatile Times

These are volatile and unpredictable times for all of us.  The forecasts for 2009 and beyond are murky at best and we all need to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

In my book, Road Rules:  Be The Truck.  Not The Squirrel.  I discuss the twelve (12) strategies for navigating the highway of life.  In Chapter 8, the road rule known as “Be An All Weather Driver” is discussed and focuses on the need for all of us, regardless of our professions, our family situations, our unique assets or our special challenges to be ready to drive down the road of life during all types of weather conditions.  To expect or assume that you will always get to drive on a clear or sunny day is a misnomer and will leave you unprepared for the challenges that life brings to us everyday.  The weather in our lives will never remain constant and we are all suffering from what has been the “perfect storm” on an economic front.

The skills and discipline to understand how adverse weather conditions affect your path in life is critical to both survival and success.  When the going gets tough, the tough get going.  You will not always have a warning sign when weather conditions change quickly and you will need to adjust your driving style accordingly.  The ability to adjust your driving skills and the characteristics of your vehicle to current weather conditions is also a metaphor for how you need to live your life.  We put snow tires or even chains on our vehicles to adjust to snow and ice in the harsh winters and then take them off when Spring approaches. 

What adjustments do you need to make to your outlooks, perspectives and actions as weather conditions or seasons in your life change?

The successful people that I know and respect are durable and flexible.  They avoid “one trick ponyism” and pay careful attention to weather and road conditions and adjust accordingly.  They instinctively know when it is okay to drive faster on a clear and open road and when to slow down when navigating an icy downhill path.  Others seem to have been built to move at only one pace – they travel only at high speed and eventually crash and burn or move too slowly and the opportunities pass them by.  Others often carry cargo which is either too far ahead of its time or which is stale, rotten or obsolete by the time it reaches its destination.

As discussed in Road Rules, being the truck and not the squirrel depends on your willingness to be decisive as part of your commitment to being an all weather driver.  Trucks have drivers that are willing to make decisions fairly quickly and be accountable for the results of their decisions, good or bad.  They neither make decisions too quickly nor vacillate until it is truly too late.  They are trained to understand the consequences of their actions (or inactions).  Colin Powell said “if you have less than 40% of the information you need to make a decision, then it is probably too soon.  If you have more than 70%, it is probably too late.”  General George S. Patton said “a good plan passionately executed today is far and away better than a perfect plan tomorrow.”  These were both generals who understood the difference between losing a battle and winning the war.

Being a truck demands that your decision-making systems (who makes decisions, how they are made, when they are made and what adjustments are made in response to road blocks) must allow for (and tolerate) lost battles as long as the focus long-term is on winning the war.

In our travels down the road of life, we will encounter winter driving conditions (some of us more than others).  There is no safe speed when driving on snow and ice.  Every stretch of highway will appear differently depending on the time of day, the temperature, the severity and intensity of the snow, the angle of the sun, the degree of salting and road treatment, etc. – but you can be assured that it will be dangerous.  You will need to adjust your driving style and provide more space between you and the other drivers.  You will need to start slowing down sooner before you come to an intersection or make a turn.  You will need to keep special supplies on hand in the event that you get stuck or the weather intensifies.  You must take the time to really get a feel for the roadway and test your brakes from time to time to find out how well you can stop.  Your critical fluids – anti-freeze, gasoline, oil and windshield fluid should all be filled to capacity.

Stormy weather conditions may mislead you into thinking that you are reaching your destination faster than you really are and that the challenges may increase as you get closer to home.  There is a difference between moving forward and just spinning your wheels in snow or ice.  You may be applying the same pressure to the accelerator, but are not making any forward progress.

Think about the challenges and situations in your career or at home that are akin to driving in snow and ice – did you adjust your driving style?  Will you next time?  Or did you skid out of control, with your driving wheels losing traction on the pavement, only to glide left or right but certainly not forwards?

Be an all-weather driver.

• Know how to adjust your speed and style to the road conditions which lie ahead.
• Plan.
• Prepare.
• Adjust.
• Keep Moving Forward, Not Side to Side.
• Don’t get caught driving too fast or too hard on a surface with thin ice.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andrew J. Sherman is a Partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Dickstein Shapiro LLP, with over 400 attorneys nationwide.  Mr. Sherman is a recognized international authority on the legal and strategic issues affecting small and growing companies.  Mr. Sherman is an Adjunct Professor in the Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program at the University of Maryland and Georgetown University where he has taught courses on business growth, capital formation and entrepreneurship for over twenty (20) years.  Mr. Sherman is the author of seventeen (17) books on the legal and strategic aspects of business growth and capital formation.  His eighteenth (18th) book, Road Rules Be the Truck.  Not the Squirrel is an inspirational book which was published in the Fall of 2008.  Mr. Sherman can be reached at 202-420-5000 or e-mail ShermanA@dicksteinshapiro.com.