I love autobiographies, and within the last month, just finished both of these. As someone who is a huge Stones fan, and someone who loves American politics, both these individuals were of interest to me. As someone who worked in Afghanistan in 2005, it was interesting to read about Bush’s rationale for starting the war there after the attack on America on Sept. 11, 2001.

Last week, after a friend of mine pointed out what eclectic reading tastes I had, I got me thinking. So many of us, myself included, are very habit bound and do the same things day in and day out. I love the following joke, which illustrates that point: What’s the difference between a rut and a grave? Answer: The depth.

So often, without even realizing it, we do things on autopilot. Habits become ruts, which we CAN take to our grave. To avoid this all too common trait, shake it up once in a while, by exposing yourself to different people and different perspectives, like I did by reading the autobiographies of those polar opposites, Keith Richards and George W. Bush.

Doing so will broaden your horizons, and give you perspectives that you wouldn’t have without this exposure to people, experiences and ways of thinking that are not your own. This is one of the more powerful services that I provide for my coaching clients, because different perspectives lead to different options, which lead to new and sometimes surprising results.

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To gain a new perspective on something you’ve been wrestling with, expose yourself to some opinion, person or experience that isn’t normally on your radar. This might include joining a book club, going to a talk on a subject that doesn’t interest you, or hanging out with some people that think differently than you.

By doing so, what did you learn about yourself, about others and about your world view? As Dr. Phil says, “How’s that (current perspective) working for you?” If it is, continue on. If it isn’t, what about your recent exposure to something new can you use and integrate, to help you be a more effective you?

At its essence, that’s what coaching is about, deepening the learning and furthering the action. Or, as Maya Angelou says, when we know better, we do better.

That is, until I had marketing and business coach Chris Makell, on as a guest, during day three of the New Year’s edition of the What Successful People Know Success Summit.

“I want more people to wallow in their success,” Chris said, as she urged listeners to join her Think Big and Play Bigger Revolution.

The subject of Chris’ call was self sabotage, something that too many of us do. According to Chris, we do it because of our fear of success, not failure. We’re afraid of the unknown impact, of what succeeding at something will do to our lives, so we stop after taking a few steps. As this is largely unconscious on our part, what’s a girl or guy to do?

According to Chris there are three steps to overcoming our fear of success. The first is to rally our friends around, to support us and to lovingly point out what we’re doing. The second step is to examine what we’re afraid of, as fears get smaller and lose their power under closer examination. Part of this step is wallowing in the successes that we’ve had to date. Chris says by doing so, we become more comfortable with success and with defining ourselves as successful individuals. Step three, after identifying our fear of success and examining our fears, involves taking baby steps toward what we want to accomplish.

As Chris, the CEO of Radiance Marketing says, who are we to deny the world our talents, our abilities, that only we can bring?

And as Marianne Williamson wrote, in this fabulously popular quote:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

- Delay taking action and making decisions because you feel you need to gather more facts.

- Have a hard time knowing when to wrap up the research phase of a project, because you’re worried you don’t have enough information to complete it.

- Get stuck in the middle of a project if changing circumstances suggest the need to make adjustments.

- Feel that you’re using your time well as long as you’re gathering information for a project.

If you answered “yes” to any of the above statements, you need to recognize that procrastination is keeping you from achieving all that you can in life. Many people delay taking action by convincing themselves they need to gather more facts. Successful people know that having too much information can be as problematic as having too little.

Set deadlines for yourself, even when you don’t have to. You will never be able to gather all the facts. You must learn when to say “enough already!” Make the best decision based on the facts you have now. The important thing is to act.

We live in an increasingly complex world; our information-gathering techniques can’t keep up with all the changing circumstances that affect our lives. We cannot control many of these circumstances, and we cannot control how other people respond to them.

Force yourself to act. Whatever decision you make today, you will have to rethink it-and almost certainly modify it-when circumstances change. No matter what you decide to do now, you will need to make corrections as you make progress toward your goal. Delaying a decision in order to gather more facts is one of the most common ways that people waste time.

Michelle Shaeffer, home schooling Mother of three and a very successful entrepreneur has time management down to an exact science and was full of useful tips for those listening to the call. There are three calls remaining in the summit. To register/check it out, click here. If you can’t make the calls, but are interested in getting MP3 downloads, the transcripts and over $500 in FREE bonuses, click here.

Michelle is a wise old soul and a wealth of wisdom for someone so young – she shared that she just celebrated her 29th birthday for the second time. Some of the points that stuck out for me during her talk:

- The importance of having a vision for your life, it makes choices easier.
- Don’t delegate what you can automate.
- Being busy doesn’t always mean you’re productive; it’s important to distinguish the two.
- At its core, time management is really about self management.
- Keeping a time log of where you’re spending your time can be a real eye-opener. Doing so will reveal whether you’re honouring what’s important to you – in coaching we call these values – and whether your activities are giving you the highest return financially.
- Simple, easy ways to re-energize yourself including eliminating your home and work environments of clutter and eliminating tolerations that sap your energy.
- Realize that by saying yes to something, you’re saying no to something else and
- The importance of knowing your time personality. Are you a deadline junkie, a perfectionist or a socializer? Each time personality has its strengths and weaknesses. Identifying your type can increase your productivity.

Thanks Michelle, for being part of the summit.

Some of the more fascinating pointers (at least to me) were the three things that he said will doom a relationship. The first is about compromise. Although conventional wisdom is that we should do this, Owen said it’s a no-no, because neither person gets what they want when couples compromise. The second was as he said, a little bit of a no-brainer, that lying dooms relationships. We lie because we don’t want to suffer the consequences of telling the truth (our partner’s disappointment, their anger, or fill in the blanks). In telling our little white lies, we undermine the foundation of our relationship. And the last thing that will doom a relationship is operating without a vision for it. A way of rectifying this is by starting the New Year revisiting your current relationship vision and updating it or tweaking it if the partners feel that’s needed.

Other experts presenting during the summit include: home schooling Mom and entrepreneur Michelle Shaeffer (Tuesday), business coach Chris Makell (Wednesday), Fortune 50 HR Professional Joy Moore (Thursday) and I on Friday. All calls are available for 24 hours after the call, but you must register first at http://whatsuccessfulpeopleknow.com

If you want to invest in yourself and your success library, you can get the MP3 recordings and transcripts of all five presentations, plus over $500 in FREE bonuses (including a half hour career consultation with Joy Moore) click here

So what would you love to be doing, day in and day out, if money wasn’t an object? And although it might not be optimal time right now for you to make a drastic career change, how can you start doing some of it in your every day life?

View the YouTube video where Chopra defines success here.

Remember, just because it’s urgent for someone else DOESN’T mean that it has to be urgent for you. As the saying goes, someone else’s lack of planning doesn’t mean that it should be an emergency for you!

For more tips on time management, join us for the FREE New Year’s edition of the What Successful People Know Success Summit, being held Jan. 10-14.

Make a list of everything you’ve been putting off at work. Not just the big things, but all the little things, too. Make another list of everything you’ve been putting off at home-large tasks and small ones. If you can’t think of anything right away, walk around the house. Walk through the yard.

Make another list of things you’ve neglected to do regarding your personal relationships. This could include letters, emails, phone calls, visits, family trips, and vacations. Then make a list of all the things you’ve put off doing for yourself: taking a class, starting exercising, or eliminating a bad habit.

Don’t worry about prioritizing your lists. Get the juices flowing by writing down everything that comes into your head. Wondering why I asked you to do this? First, you’ve probably been putting off more things than you realize. The first step in overcoming anything is realizing that it’s a problem and this includes procrastination. Procrastinators can go to ridiculous extremes to explain their inability to take action.

Second, I asked you to do this exercise to underscore the importance of getting started. A failure to act breeds doubt, which in turn eats away at your self-confidence and your diminished self-confidence increases your indecision. The result? Paralysis, which keeps the vicious circle of inactivity alive.

After recognizing that procrastination is a problem, focus on one thing you’ve been postponing. Take some action in that area, you might want to begin with something small to get the ball rolling.

Finally, remember the Pareto principle, which states that 20 per cent of our activities delivers 80 per cent of our desired results. For every task you’re about to start, ask yourself if the work needs to be done at all. Learn the difference between busyness and productivity. Just because you’re busy doesn’t mean that you’re being productive.

To learn more success tips, join us for the FREE virtual success summit, What Successful People Know. To register, learn more, visit: http://whatsuccessfulpeopleknow.com

Happy Planning!!!!

If you continually put off tasks you fear; if you tend to avoid situations and events that terrify you, then your fears have grown out of proportion. Every time you decide not to do something because you’re afraid of failing, your self-confidence takes another hit. There is only one way to overcome fear, it’s to feel the fear and do it anyway. Over time, doing what you fear will allow you to one day laugh at the imaginary fears that have kept you from becoming all that you can be.

Get started by establishing some goals. Prioritize. Measure your progress. Ask friends and office mates for feedback. Adjust your goals if necessary. Reward yourself when you finish jobs.

Being proactive, instead of reactive, and overcoming your procrastination will decrease your stress. It will also give you more time to spend it where you want to: not worrying about what you’re afraid to do.

1. I get discouraged when I think about all the problems I have.
2. I often wonder why my life is not as rewarding as it could be; many people around me seem to be living more satisfying lives than I am.
3. I have trouble focusing on my goals; I’m easily distracted at work.
4. I tend to put off getting started on projects because I’m always thinking about the things that can go wrong.

If you answered “yes” to any of the above statements, make a commitment to start improving your attitude immediately. Wondering how to do that? Read motivational books, listen to inspirational recordings, and associate with positive thinkers.

We are chiefly responsible for our feelings. While we can’t always control what happens, what we can control is our reaction, and this in turn impacts the outcome. Don’t let a negative attitude stand in the way of your happiness. And never, ever make an important decision when you’re feeling down.

The following tips can help you improve your attitude and overcome procrastination:
- Focus on the solution, rather than the problem. The more you focus on your problems, the more discouraged you’re likely to feel. Procrastinators tend to focus on all the reasons not to move forward, instead of focusing on the goal they want to achieve.
- Give your full attention to whatever you’re doing. When you concentrate on the things that can go wrong, you can’t stay focused on the job you’re doing. Failure is the inevitable consequence of a lack of focus.
- Don’t focus on all the things that can go wrong. Focusing on the hazards involved in trying to do something will almost always convince you to give up before you start.

This advice doesn’t mean you should throw caution to the wind. It’s enough to know what the dangers are, be prepared to respond to them, and then move ahead with the project-confident in your ability to handle whatever comes up.

People who dwell on all the things that could go wrong never get anything done. Productive people have learned to focus on the opportunities. By concentrating on the benefits of successfully completing a project, you will have won a major battle in the war against procrastination.