A principle of growth which too few act on, states that the best opportunities are always aligned with what you truly desire. You can create many great opportunities if you follow a few specific rules.

Why is this so? The premise:

Look at it this way. If you rely on current thinking and old familiar ideas, you will stay exactly where you [...]]]>

Anytime you have a problem, imagine it as a demand for new ideas. Problems are a call to action. They are telling you to learn or do something you are not now doing.

Look at it this way. If you rely on current thinking and old familiar ideas, you will stay exactly where you are now.

Conversely, once you commit to making things better for yourself, new and far better ideas will come to you.

 For most, the route taken is endless contemplation of the problem. Back and forth, yes-no-maybe thinking and indecision blend and justify indecision.   It can become an endless, closed loop. With new ideas, things progress.  With no new ideas, you can’t change much of anything.

Stop waiting for better ideas – they may not arrive:

Waiting for better ideas is a failed approach to progress. More often than not, waiting is covering for a “I better hold on” strategy. Not a very good strategy if you want progress.

How to get better ideas – fast:

 Look closer at your thinking on a given topic (something important that you are/were hoping to do).  Track back a few weeks and review what you were thinking. If you do this, you will better understand why you get the kinds of ideas you get.  Ideas always sync with expectations. The problem is that most of us allow conditions to trump positive expectations.

A simple rule of thumb is that the ideas you get generally reflect the attitude you have toward the topic. Positive, negative, uncertain or anything in between will leave you creating ideas that support that outlook. Be on the lookout -Not so much for the ideas, rather, look first at your underlying attitude toward the topic.

This is not as hard as you may think.  Try it for one week on one topic. Track your attitude and the ideas that came to you.  Any correlation?

Eventually, you will be able to “refresh” your idea bank and keep it that way. This skill is key to your inventory of creative skills. . .

Plan and act toward your long-term success.

Cheers,

Richard L Reardon

People can sabotage their future by paying too much attention to what is going on around them. Rather than receiving ideas from a positive vision of the future, they get pulled, turned and wrapped up in problems of the day. They are condition driven. They are unknowingly overinvested in today’s actions at [...]]]>

People can sabotage their future by paying too much attention to what is going on around them.  Rather than receiving ideas from a positive vision of the future, they get pulled, turned and wrapped up in problems of the day.   They are condition driven.  They are unknowingly overinvested in today’s actions at the expense of creating a future.

This post will provide questions and tips on how you can create your own personal vision.

Why visions evaporate: 

The number one reason people head in the wrong direction is because they are thinking too small.

If you stay with past routines that have become habit, or process too carefully, you will underestimate your talent, your potential and your inner desire to have more. Ironically, what was a great opportunity both financially and personally never amounts to anything.  By giving energy to the small things, they control your week, day month etc., the idea of possibility never occurs.

Having a vision requires that you accept things you may not now see.

 Why vision works:

The need to grow is a basic human need. When you grow, you satisfy your highest need to accomplish and contribute. The vision is simply your own view of how you want to grow. Vision works because humans want to move forward which requires that you see where you are going.

Questions to help you develop your vision:

Answer these three questions, starting with the ones you checked. Each question is designed to help you decide what goes into the first draft of your personal vision.  This process is always a “two steps forward and one backward type exercise”.

1. Looking out 18 months, decide what you most want to accomplish?

2. What is the purpose behind your work? In other words, why do you want to do this work and how does it align with the vision of your future?

3. What is your core talent or talents that you are expecting to use as a part of this vision?

How do you know you are making progress?

• You will be able to draw a picture of the future state you are moving toward
• You will feel energized and focused
• You will better appreciate that you are not your job and that a higher purpose is pulling you forward

Good luck beginning your process. .

Cheers,

Richard Reardon

Individual success is achieved when you:

Rationale:

When you truly enjoy what you do and are proud of how [...]]]>

Individual success is achieved when you:

• Pursue opportunities that match your talents
• Know how to trust yourself to always act in your best interest
• Put an end to limiting yourself by automatically looking to the past for ideas

Rationale:

When you truly enjoy what you do and are proud of how you do it, you increase your odds for success 1000 fold.

Here is why:

• Work is primarily a vehicle of self expression
• Self expression is creating value for yourself and others
• Self expression demands that you use your natural  talents
• Talents, when used, surface and leverage your potential to be great

Nice average people:  A choice:

Most people are average. Nothing wrong with that, maybe.   It is a choice people make to be OK with what they have.  Assuming that we are all here to grow and add value, being comfortable with what you have doesn’t seem a very wise choice.  When you take a more creative stance, you realize that your tomorrow is today amplified.  That alone gives you a lot more reason to make better choices about what you want and where you are headed.

How to uncover and build on your natural potential:  Actions.

• Start thinking about what you want.

• Avoid thinking about what you believe is possible. That orientation is loaded with 1,200 inner reasons why it is not possible and an equal amount self doubt.

• Practice cultivating the belief that what you want comes with both the talent and potential to make it happen.  This is the most difficult step, and is where people turn back.

• Increase your standards by 5 or 10 times.  Pull away from the old familiar ways of doing things.  This process is about your excellence.  Just assume that you can deliver 50% more energy, passion, creativity, leadership, results than ever before.

• Expect that you will handle every current situation in the coming weeks with renewed creativity and applied energy to move it forward, resolve it and learn from it.

• Watch daily and consciously surface the challenges that you are facing.  Some will be from your inner environment and others will be in the outer environment. Expect both.

• Stay zoned in on current conditions. No skipping off to the future or next week.  Just look at your current reality to find what is next to be solved by you.  The idea is to fully complete what is in front of you so that you can move on or be ready for whatever is next.

• Don’t rush, cut corners or be wondering where this leads.

• Do not conform to existing conditions. That will only drag you down and stop all progress.

Why do this? Key points:

• It is the fastest, most efficient and rewarding way to know exactly what  you have of value to offer to yourself and others

• It guides you to use the talents you now have. It is a lot easier than struggle or being on the endless search.

• You will never have more talent than now, so why delay?

• Talent used surfaces and leverages your potential.

• Accessing talent and potential frees you to pursue higher objectives.

• You will surface enormous potential for creativity and fulfillment.

• You can recapture thousand of hours that can be better spent improving any area you want improved.

• You stop wasting time working on things that you just don’t enjoy.

Potential and fulfillment is right in front of you. Just examine your present situations to discover unlimited resources and opportunities.

As you do this, continue week after week to focus not only on what you want to do but also why.  Your potential is hidden in both, but the why usually will be more attractive as a pull. Remember that every situation you face is solvable by you. It is there to encourage you to solve it so that you can evolve.  Challenges are a major ingredient to developing potential.

Cheers

Richard L Reardon — 310 838 0900

..Knowing your purpose gives you freedom and control over your direction

Purpose work is specialized because it takes time and involves important aspects of yourself that are usually hidden from view. That is why it is neglected by most people.

As a result, lack of purpose always creates hesitancy, unclear direction, [...]]]>

..Knowing your purpose gives you freedom and control over your direction

Purpose work is specialized because it takes time and involves important aspects of yourself that are usually hidden from view.  That is why it is neglected by most people.

As a result, lack of purpose always creates hesitancy, unclear direction, and on-going uncertainty.  In addition, a lack of purpose keeps you operating from the old “self concept” which, in turn, can make you obsolete.

The Purpose of Purpose:

The use of purpose frees you from the day-to-day, recurring, same old cycle to focus on your own big picture goal.  Since that goal is tied to an intrinsic desire, purpose pulls you forward, insures that you are doing what matters and what you do best.  It is the more practical way to create a life with meaning and significance.

Getting Started:

It is difficult to discover your purpose. We get distracted and overwhelmed with current day pressures and have little energy left for this type of discovery work.  Just the same, the benefits far outweigh the effort.

Start today.  If you have not figured out what it is you want more than anything, it is time to uncover it.

Start by listing all the things you want. I suggest one list for work related things and another for personal things.  Build these lists over several days. Put the lists aside after fifteen minutes and come back to them the next day.  Continue doing this until you are comfortable that most of what you truly want is on those lists.

Review and sort and prioritize until you have chosen the single most important item from each list.  Copy that want onto separate sheets.  These will be your worksheets to capture ideas and create images of where these wants can lead.

Keep the sheets with you each day and keep adding ideas. If you devote just 20 minutes per day, you will be amazed at how many great ideas you will get.   You will also begin to notice circumstances and opportunities that can help you move this process forward.

Remember, you are simply in the early stage of discovering what you want. Take lots of time. Purpose work is not a one-time, hurry it up process.

Why all this work?

To help you get motivated, here are a few of the reasons to do this:

* You will be able to live up to your potential

* Your personal and financial net worth will increase

* You will enjoy more business and personal success

* Your decisions will be made based on your purpose

* You will build a growing list of accomplishments

* You will stay fresh and relevant because of the annual re-work process

* You will know you are being useful and contributing great value

Action idea:

Do not delay. Create these two worksheets as described above.

Cheers,

Richard L Reardon

We all have stories about how hard it is to change. Why do we dislike change so much? Because doing things in the same way (read same old, same old) eliminates the need for thinking. Thinking is hard. And thinking fresh ideas to pull you forward is really hard. Or, is it?

If there is one thing we all need to accept it is that the information age is forcing us to change, to grow and to reinvent who we are.

Think of your current job. How many things have changed just over the past [...]]]>

Self insight, strengths, and the process of re-inventing yourself                                     #65

If there is one thing we all need to accept it is that the information age is forcing us to change, to grow and to reinvent who we are.

Think of your current job. How many things have changed just over the past 18 months?  Have those changes given you insight on where you need to learn, to grow or to adapt?

Adapt how you think & what you think:

I once took several classes from a great trader who is a strong advocate of “learning how to adapt” our thinking.   His point is that many people fail to see the connection between their own deteriorating conditions and the fact that they have not changed.

When your world changes and you don’t, you will be left behind.  It is as simple as that.

Conversely, to accomplish the new conditions that you want, you must determine what you need to learn so that you can grow into the better condition.  Sounds obvious, but most of us will either fight or ignore the condition instead of growing.

2 action steps:

Seek feedback on your core strengths and what you can do to improve them. This will help you know where to build and where you lack skills.

Decide where you can begin to reinvent yourself. Consider where you are now, what you want to learn and where you expect to be. That will help identify the steps you need to take.

I hope that you can use this as you plan the rest of the year.

Cheers,

Richard L Reardon

310 838 9900

For years, our sales team was required to make predictions on the success for major sales initiatives. Everyone had to briefly describe what the sales action was intended to accomplish and the reasoning behind the idea in the first place. Then they would write their prediction and opinion of the intended action.

We all understand the value of knowing the actions you will take toward your goals. When you begin your week knowing what you want to get accomplished, you are miles ahead of the game.

Unfortunately, most of us don’t know what actions to take. We are far more likely to simply do [...]]]>

We all understand the value of knowing the actions you will take toward your goals. When you begin your week knowing what you want to get accomplished, you are miles ahead of the game.

Unfortunately, most of us don’t know what actions to take.  We are far more likely to simply do or respond to whatever comes along.

Nothing better to do?

This is another way of seeing that people do things because we don’t have anything better to do (as Thomas Leonard would teach).

Something better to do:

If you want to advance much faster toward your goals, start each week with three images in mind:

1. What do you want to accomplish this week. Make it pin point specific. No vague, unspecific dreams or weak ideas.  
2. What do you expect will happen this week?  Know from the inside what you expect to happen and why that is preferred.  Note the distinction between your expectations and your actions.
3. Now decide the needed actions.

The fact is we always act in line with what we expect.  This is good news, for once we clarify what we want to have happen, we can adapt/change and choose the actions needed.

Idea for action:

1. Choose one area of interest and track what actually happens during the week.  Keep notes.  Observe and register what happens. Do not analyze or try to fix. Just notice.
2. Now compare what did happen with what you expected to happen.
3. Decide what actions you might have taken if you had had different expectations.

Yes, this takes repeated practice.  But it is far more beneficial than going around the barn repeatedly.

Summary :

Your expectations are the driver behind what you do, and, subsequently, the key to what you achieve.

I hope you will try this.

Best,
Richard Reardon