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Stop Wasting Your Time Off

2012-01-31T10:10:00.000-05:00

Somewhere, somehow, somebody decided that vacations & weekends are the reward for all of our hard work. The result? We slave 50 weeks a year so we can sun tan for 2. We stare at our computer all week so we can stare at our TV all weekend.

Then the alarm buzzes on Monday morning and we hit the snooze button once, twice, thrice, or more, squeezing out every last drop of our "free time" before heading back to the grindstone.

That's a sucky way to live. And it's completely backwards to the way it's supposed to work.

Vacations and weekends are supposed to be refreshment, not reward. If you have the right mindset, your time away from work should re-energize you and re-charge your batteries so you get up each Monday and actually look forward to going to work. Any other use is a waste of your precious time.

No, this is not the talk of a madman, nor is it the talk of someone with a perfect life full of sunshine and rainbows every day.

I've had crappy jobs. During those jobs I relished my vacations as a reward for putting up with all the crap. In retrospect, those vacations weren't rewards. They were temporary escapes. And they were almost always ruined about half-way through by the thought of returning to my crappy job in a few days.

I've also had some great jobs that I really enjoyed. The vacations I took during those jobs were some of the best vacations I've ever had, and not because they were in some exotic location or five-star resort. It's because the purpose of those vacations was different. Instead of escaping, I was re-charging. Instead of trying to forget about my job, I was trying to gain new experiences. Instead of comparing my great vacation to my crappy job, I was actually having thoughts on vacation about how to do my job better when I returned.

So my question to you is: do you work to vacation better or do you vacation to work better? Are you working for the weekend (anybody remember that Loverboy song from the 80's?) or are you using your weekend so that you can work better next week?

Ok, so there's a little bit of the idea here that if you enjoy your work, your time off will likely be that much more enjoyable. Glad you picked up on that. I'm all for people finding work that engages and inspires them. But there's something else.

How you use your weekends and vacations is important. Let me rephrase that: WHY you use your time off is important. And when you think about the why, it might just change the how.

We've got a weekend coming up (we always do, right?). What if you think differently about this coming weekend? What if you decide that the most important purpose (the why) of this coming weekend is to refresh & re-energize yourself so you can hit the ground running next week full of energy and excitement about your job? Will you spend your time and energy any differently this weekend?

Will you clear your schedule a bit so your weekend isn't crammed full of activity?
Will you take some time to read something that inspires you in your work?
Will you take more time to connect to your family (you know, the people you work so hard for during the week)?
Will you unplug your electronics? Smart phone, too?
Will you exercise at least a little bit?
Will you spend some time in thought & reflection instead of filling every minute with sports, TV, movies, and the endless parade of other typical weekend distractions?
Will you spend any time in service to others?
Will you take a few moments to recognize all the good things in your life and work?

I preach this all the time, but it's always worth repeating because it's so important. You'll spend at least 40 hours at work each week. That's 2000+ hours each year. 100,000 hours in your lifetime. Are you maximizing those hours with the kind of positive energy that helps you make a difference in your work and in the world? Or are you spending all that time just so you can go jet-skiing this weekend?

So I'm dying to know what you think. Did this resonate with you at all? I'd also like to know what you might do differently this weekend to refresh & re-energize yourself instead of simply escaping work for a few days. Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts.

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How To Give Everybody What They Need

2012-01-25T07:39:00.001-05:00

Ever see a sound board in a recording studio or at a concert? You know, the kind with hundreds of knobs, buttons, and sliders, and banks of blinking lights that rival the bridge of the Starship Enterprise?

We've got one of those at our church that allows us to control the sound of the microphones, instruments, etc. that we use during our worship services. There's a section on the board (which I captured part of in the picture above) that controls which sounds get sent to the the individual monitors throughout the auditorium. There are several different monitors besides the main speakers that everyone hears. There's a monitor for the choir. There's a monitor for the keyboardist. There's a monitor for the vocal team. There's a monitor for the drummer.

Why do we have so many monitors?

Because they all need to hear a different mix. The drummer wants to hear the keyboard and the bass. The choir wants to hear the piano and our worship leader's microphone. The keyboardist wants to hear the guitar. The vocal team wants to hear a little bit of the band and a little bit of themselves.

As the guy at the sound board, it's my job to not only mix the music for the general audience, but to also make sure all the performers get the right mix for them. I'll be honest, mixing the overall sound for the audience is way easier, partly because I'm in the audience (our sound board takes up the back row of one of the sections) so I know exactly what it sounds like.

But the monitors? That's a different story. I can push little buttons on the board and hear what's being sent to each monitor through my headphones, but depending on how loud the main speakers are, how many people are in the auditorium -- and about eighteen other factors -- the sound coming out of any given monitor and the sound coming through my headphones can be drastically different.

This leads to some very creative, and tragically inconsistent sign language between the people "on stage" and the crew at the sound board. One person will point to the keyboard and then point "up" to indicate they need to hear MORE keyboard in the monitor. Simultaneously, a person on the other side of the stage will point at the keyboard and then point "up" to indicate the keyboard in their monitor is TOO LOUD. I just thank God I'm not relying on them to tell me if it's safe to cross the street.

There are several key actions that I must take each week if I want to make sure that each person can perform at his or her best during the service:

1. I ask them what they need before we begin.
2. I set the levels to their preference.
3. I walk up to the monitors during our "sound check" so I can hear exactly what they're hearing.
4. Once the service begins, I watch each person on stage closely for those crazy hand signals.
5. I make adjustments as needed and watch the faces of the performers for signs of relief or irritation.

Hmmm, sounds like the role of a good manager, huh?

Let me translate the steps into workplace language:

1. Ask your people what they need to be successful. It's not really one question. More like a series of questions or conversations where you learn what makes them tick, how they like to work, and what keeps them from being their best.

2. Set them up for success. Once you know what will help them be their best, make it happen. Get them that new laptop, turn their desk toward the window, move their chatty neighbor to another part of the building, set up a reward system. You get the point.

3. Spend time face to face with them, in their environment. See what it's like in their shoes. Ever see the TV show, "Undercover Boss?" The bosses on that show get lots of reports on paper, but reports don't tell the whole story, do they? There's a whole world of information you can only gain firsthand.

4. Check up on them. Don't just monitor their production or their "numbers." Monitor their needs. Sometimes you'll see things they're not mentioning because they're too busy. Are their light bulbs burned out? Are they spending too much time fighting with the 10 year old copier? And if you've established a good relationship with them, they'll tell you exactly what they need to keep rockin'. But sometimes only if you ask.

5. Adjust as needed. Over time, you have to monitor less and less, but you should never assume everything is set and you never need to adjust again. Stuff happens. Always does.

I know way too many managers who try to manage everything without ever crossing the threshold of their office. If your boss is like that, this might just be one of those articles you print out and anonymously place on his/her desk. Of course, if they're that kind of boss, they may never leave their desk, so you'll have to be creative. Hey, maybe this article will help YOU, too!

Lose Your But

2012-01-17T09:45:00.002-05:00

"But, but, but..."

My least favorite response in the whole wide world.

I don't care what comes after the buts. Doesn't matter. Whatever it is, it's an excuse, or an escape hatch devised to get you out of something you'd rather not live up to.

But, but, but...

I'm too busy

That's not my job.

That's HER job (same as previous response, by the way)

I don't have enough money.

That's not fair.

It's too hard.

I don't have the resources.

I don't know how.

I have kids.

It's too cold.

It's too hot.

I'm too old.

I'm too young.

I'm a man.

I'm a woman.

They'll never let me.

Is any of this sounding familiar?

I'll admit it, whenever I've heard myself utter a "but, but, but..." it is always in response to something I simply don't want to do. So in the 1.5 seconds it takes to say "but, but, but..." my brain concocts an excuse.

And then I remind myself that successful people get up every day and - instead of doing what they want to do - they do what needs to be done.

I know people in wheelchairs who ski on mountains.

I know people who build businesses without an MBA.

I know single moms who work full-time AND raise good kids.

I know employees who pay their own way to conferences they really want to attend.

Every one of those people inspire me with their no-excuses attitudes and their no-excuses ACTION.

Ever catch yourself saying "but, but, but..."? Maybe not out loud, but in your head?

S-T-O-P IT.

Lose your but.

Your but may be keeping you from bigger, better things...like success, adventure, and fulfillment.

FREE COFFEE FRIDAY THIS WEEK!

2012-01-10T22:53:00.000-05:00

Every so often, we find ourselves with a completely empty day at sparkspace. We're thankful it doesn't happen very often, but in a weird way we kinda like it, too. That's because we can open our doors for...

FREE COFFEE FRIDAY!
Friday, 1/13/12
8am-5pm

sparkspace will be open (and free) all day this Friday to anybody who wants to escape the office for an hour or the whole day. We've got great wifi, free Crimson Cup coffee (or soft drinks if you prefer), and loads of comfy furniture.

You can even bring other people with you! Keep in mind, though, that the entire space will be open to the public, so private meetings will not be possible. Free Coffee Friday is like working or hanging out at Starbucks...only bigger and with better coffee.

Click here for directions to sparkspace.

See you Friday!

Wake Up Your Work This Year

2012-01-08T15:26:00.001-05:00

Here's one way to wake things up this year: take a breakfast break.

I recently heard about a group of co-workers who decided to start their day once in awhile with a "breakfast break". They all show up at their office, then head to a diner around the corner from their building and begin their day by building relationships over breakfast burritos. Then they work through lunch instead of taking a lunch break. They don't do it every day, but every few weeks it gives them a creative boost to rearrange their day this way.

I know you're saying to yourself the same thing I said when I heard about it: "What an AWESOME idea!"

Simple shifts like this will shake you out of your boring, repetitive, mind-numbing routine. It's like taking a different route to work. Your brain sees different sights, your body has a different experience, and new ideas are more easily sparked.

Get your creative juices flowing by trying something new on a regular basis.

Come in late and leave late.
Come in early and leave early.
Work a super long day one day, and a super short day the next.
Meet a mentor for coffee.
Invite someone to coffee that you could mentor.
Take the long way to work.
Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
Get off on a different floor and meet three new people before getting back on the elevator.
Have a staff meeting standing up.
Have a staff meeting in the park.
Suspend all staff meetings for two weeks.
Go for a run in the middle of the day.
Write down your top 5 goals every single day.
Write down your top 5 goals every single day in crayon.

Doing things the same way over and over may be efficient, but it sure can put your brain to sleep.

You'll spend 2000+ hours at work this year. How many of those will you be awake for?

Give Your Brain Away

2012-01-07T12:01:00.000-05:00

If I had to put my finger on the most influential thought I've experienced in the past year, my finger would not hesitate to put itself on this one:

Give your brain away.

Ok, that's my phrasing of the idea. The original idea came from Leo Babauta, author of the wildly successful Zen Habits blog (one of my personal favorites). Leo doesn't copyright anything, he just puts it out there. He even reminds you once in awhile that it's not copyrighted and you're free to do whatever you wish with his thoughts and writings.

At first I thought he was nuts. After all, I've always learned to copyright everything to "protect what I've created." In other words, to hopefully someday make money with it.

But the concept of giving my brain away made me realize just how small I had been thinking. And how ridiculous it was to try to claim ownership over something that I'd already given away.

Think about it. If you write or speak something and then publish it in any way, you just gave it away. It is now out of your head and out in the world. Unless you can gather back all of the books, blogs, Facebook and Twitter posts, YouTube videos, and water cooler stories about it, you've pretty much released ownership of it...whether it has one of those little c-in-a-circle marks attached to it or not. The only way you can truly own something is to keep it to yourself.

And ideas that you keep to yourself don't even do YOU any good. So what's the point?

I recently saw a marketing professor from a major university give a presentation based on the research that she had done. She shared facts and figures, flow charts, graphs, and a few conclusions she had drawn from her work. And then she said, "I see may of you taking notes and that's ok, but please remember that this data and the models and charts I've shared with you are MINE."

I'm sure the people at my table wondered why I had such a big smile on my face. I was actually trying not to laugh at the absurdity of what she had said. You can't share something, then claim it to be yours. That's like giving somebody a bite of your filet mignon, then telling them, "Remember, that juicy piece of steak you're about to swallow really belongs to me."

Oh yeah? Try to get it back.

That's when I started giving my brain away for real. I removed copyrights from my writing and even started tagging many of my posts and newsletter articles with a note that says "Republish this article! You always have permission to republish our articles. Period. No fine print. Go for it. And thank you."

A copyright has never stopped a thief. Never will.

Spending time and energy worrying that somebody will steal your idea only robs you of the energy required to create and share even more ideas.

Please don't mistake my generosity for charity. I like to make money. I want to make a gazillion dollars. I'd settle for a bazillion, but a gazillion would be even better. I've realized that the more of my brain I give away through my writing, videos, etc., the more people are willing to pay me to share my ideas firsthand through keynote speeches and workshops. Funny how that works.

Giving my brain away somehow magically creates space for more ideas, too. I'm pretty sure that's because my brain is a lot like my garage. If I try to keep what's in there, well, that's all I'll ever have room for. But if I empty it out and give it away? Ah, now there's room for more.

Let go. Give your brain away. Share your brilliance. You will be amazed at the freedom, energy, and prosperity it brings.

P.S. Republish this article! You always have permission to republish our articles. Period. No fine print. Go for it. And thank you.

Don't Bury Your Brilliance

2012-01-06T09:02:00.000-05:00

"Brilliance always looks like crazy at first."

Behold the reason you hide your brilliance. You have an idea, or a talent, or a dream that is pure brilliance...and it just seems crazy.

So you convince yourself to bury your brilliance, using a dump truck full of self-doubt:

I have an idea that will help make our company a lot of money, but my bosses will think it's crazy.
I think I'm pretty good at the violin, but maybe I'm just crazy.
I really want to hike the entire Appalachian Trail, but that's just crazy, right?
My friends keep telling me that I should write a book, but I think they're crazy.
I told my parents I wanted to join the circus. They said I was crazy.

What is your idea, talent, or dream that just seems crazy?

Brilliance always looks like crazy at first.

SO WHAT????

Bury your brilliance long enough and you'll bury it permanently.

That's not a metaphor.

Some day you will die. And all of your unused ideas, talents, and dreams will buried with you.

The people who really "got" this message didn't even stick around long enough to read this last paragraph. Because they dropped everything to start living their brilliance this very minute. And that, my friend, is the must un-crazy thing you will ever do.

The Only Two Goal Setting Articles You Need

2012-01-05T16:37:00.001-05:00

This time of year there are about a gazillion articles, blog posts, newsletters, blog posts, teleseminars, webinars, and podcasts on how to set your goals for the coming year.

Thought we'd make it easy for you and give you two posts from two of our favorite blogs. That way, you don't have to weed through a million, billion, or gazillion articles to find the good ones. Certainly there are more out there than these two, but really, how many articles on goal setting do you need?

Well, we think you need at least these two. The other gazillion? That's all you, my friend.

Six Keys To Achieving Big Goals by Michael Hyatt

How To Achieve Your Goals from the Marc & Angel Hack Life blog

Ready, set, GOAL!

Does the Universe write YOU notes?

2012-01-04T09:16:00.000-05:00

Ever heard of "Notes From The Universe?"

It's a daily email from, yep, the Universe. And I'm a big fan. Sometimes I think Mike Dooley (the guy who writes the notes) has a hidden camera in my psyche because often the message is EXACTLY what I need to hear. Other days, I simply get a kick out of the peppy, clever writing. I've been subscribed for about a year now and it has never disappointed.

For instance, here's today's note:

If you were able to look back at your most brilliant successes, stunning comebacks, amazing catches, and smokin' ideas, Mark, and you were to find that virtually all of them seemed to materialize out of thin air, when you least expected them, and that they had exceeded even your greatest expectations at the time, how excited would you be about the new year and whatever else I've got up my sleeve.

Hubba hubba,
The Universe

Take my name out, insert yours, and read it again. Then when you're done smiling, and think about how great this year can be for you...if you'll let it be.

By the way, I like to think God (the Universe's real name) is personally writing me the note, which makes my smile that much bigger. I'm pretty convinced there's a higher power helping me on both my good and bad days. 'Cause if it was just up to me, there would be far more bad days I'm sure. I mean I'm good, but I'm not THAT good. :)

The "Secret Ingredient" to Success in 2012

2012-01-03T16:31:00.003-05:00

I wanted to do something special to kick off the new year, so I instead of an article, I put together a free video. Spend a few extra minutes with me as I share with you The "Secret Ingredient" to Success in the coming year andThree Things You MUST HAVE to put the ingredient to work.

The video is 15 minutes long, but worth every moment. :)

In the video, I also mention our upcoming Step Back/Spark Forward Visioning Event. If you're interested in really propelling yourself toward your goals this year, you should grab a seat at this event before they're all gone.

>>Get the full details and registration info here.

Next Year Will Be Better...If YOU Are

2011-12-15T15:38:00.000-05:00

If you had a crappy year this year, read on. If you had a great year this year, read on.

If you had a crappy year:

Next year will be full of exciting new opportunities.

Next year will be a year of learning, growing, and succeeding.

Next year will be overflowing with abundance.

Next year will be better.

But only if you are.

If you had a great year this year:

Next year will be even more full of exciting new opportunities.

Next year will be a year of even more learning, growing, and succeeding.

Next year will be overflowing with even more abundance.

Next year will be even more better (yes, I know the grammer is incorrect).

But only if you are.

How next year turns out for you is not up to your boss, your company, the economy, or Barak Obama. How next year turns out is entirely up to you. Are you prepared? Are you open? Are you excited?

Your year will only be better next year if YOU are better. So, what are you doing right now to be a better YOU next year?

- Are you making any new plans?

- Are you learning anything new?

- Are you creating any new relationships?

- Reading any new books?

- Attending any new classes?

- Having lunch with any new people?

- Getting a new haircut?

- ANYTHING NEW?

New isn't always better, but better is always new. If you'd like to have a better 2012, you might just have to try some new things. Because there is one thing for certain: if you keep doing exactly what you're doing now, you'll keep getting exactly what you're getting right now.

I know a lot of you will be off over the next few weeks, so to those of you lucky enough or smart enough to have vacation left to burn, let me wish you a happy holiday.

For everyone else, I'll see you next week!

3 free videos from sparkspace

2011-12-12T09:38:00.001-05:00

In Friday's post we announced a free 3-part video series about how to prepare for an amazing 2012.

I know things can get kind of crazy on Fridays and you might not have been able to read the post yet, but I wanted to encourage you to make time for these great videos I shot with nationally recognized speaker and author, Jason Barger.

They're each only about five minutes long, but they're packed with some great ideas and challenging thoughts to help you move toward a great new year at work.

Click on the link below to get the first video. We're only going to keep the videos up for about a week, so I suggest checking it out right away.

http://www.sparkspace.com/video1.htm

When you get to that page, be sure to sign up for the next two videos. By the way, you're totally welcome to share the videos with anybody you wish (just do it soon because they're only up for a short time).

Here's to an amazing 2012!

Mark Henson

chief imagination officer

sparkspace

How To Be Even More Amazing In 2012

2011-12-09T09:22:00.001-05:00

Friday night is pizza night at Casa de Henson. I always enjoy swinging by the drive through at my local Donatos for two reasons: 1. I love the smell of pizza in my car, and 2. I love seeing how prepared they are for the inevitable Friday night rush. They have pizza boxes literally stacked floor to ceiling.

In case you didn't know, pizza boxes are shipped and stored flat. The employees then have to pop them into the shape of a box. I've seen stores do this as the pizzas are made, and that's ok...if things are slow. But Friday night? Fuggeddaboutit. Way too crazy busy at most pizza joints.

My local Donatos gets it. They understand that it's very wise to use their downtime earlier in the day or earlier in the week to get those boxes ready. Somebody somewhere in the organization said, "Hey, wouldn't it be easier to rock those pizzas out if we didn't have to stop and pop a box together every time?"

2012 is coming. It's going to be crazier and busier at work next year. You know it is. It ALWAYS is. When you're in the middle of the craziness, it's hard to stop and say "Hmmm, I wonder how I could get better at what I do." Instead, you usually think "Holy crap, why wasn't I more prepared?!"

I have a belief that everybody wants an even more amazing place to work next year. You want work to be fun, challenging, exciting, and rewarding. To achieve that, I think you also know that you'll have to be even more amazing, too.

You want to be more amazing, you just don't know how. And when you're "in the weeds" (i.e., slammin' busy & extra challenged), that's when you really need to be more amazing, but you have no time, energy, power, or control during those times to stop and work on yourself.

One of my collaboration partners is Jason Barger, author of Step Back From The Baggage Claim. Jason & I got to talking about the very dilemma I mentioned above. We had so many great ideas during that conversation that we quickly decided we had to figure out a way to share them with you.

So, we've put together a FREE 3-part series of short videos full of ideas and tips for how to prepare to be more amazing at work in 2012. Each video is only 5-10 minutes long. We encourage you to watch them all, share them, comment on them, and give yourself some time to think about the ideas and how you can apply them headed into the new year.

Click on the video to get started. If you can't see the video, here's the link: http://www.sparkspace.com/video1.htm

Consider these videos and the ideas they contain as an early Christmas present...to yourself.

See you next week.

Is Your "Service Radar" On The Wrong Setting?

2011-11-29T09:52:00.001-05:00

Meet Jason. He's my new hero.

Jason works at World Market in Columbus (specifically the one near Tuttle Mall) -- the only store I braved during Black Friday.

I was on a mission: to seek out and purchase a chair that was at an insanely low, "one day only" price. I entered the store with purpose, made my purchase, felt great about my self-control, and then made the mistake of looking around "just for a minute."

Well, when my minute was up, I found myself holding about 16 small items in my bare hands...and I was still browsing. Darn you, Black Friday fever.

Then, as if by magic, an empty basket appeared between me and the shelf full of, um, well, I can't even remember what I was looking at because the basket grabbed my complete attention.

I turned to see the very friendly face of Jason, who also owned the arm offering me the basket. "You need this," said my new friend. He was right. My hands were full. If I was going to take advantage of any more bargains, I would need a basket.

Sure, Jason knew that if I had a basket I was likely to buy more stuff, therefore ensuring a healthier bottom line for his store and more job security for him and his co-workers. But, honestly, I didn't get that vibe from Jason. What I felt instead was that Jason had my back. He saw that I had a need and he proactively did something about it. In fact, I wasn't even quite aware I had the need until Jason offered a solution. He didn't wait for me to drop something, or until I started desperately screaming "WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE BRING ME A BASKET FOR MY BARGAINS????"

Believe it or not, as great of a customer service story as this is, I want you to apply this to how you serve your team. Do you ever notice a co-worker who could use some help and you think to yourself, "I'd like to help, but I'm kind of busy right now." Or you wait to see if they'll figure it out themselves, which of course completely lets you off the hook guilt-free if they succeed.

We all have a "service radar." It has two settings: Proactive and Reactive. The default setting for our radar is reactive mode - "if they ask, then I'll help." What I love about Jason is that he has tuned his radar to proactively look for customers that need help. And it didn't take much effort at all to make a noticeable difference in my shopping experience.

When people think of the greatest team players in an organization (and the greatest service people anywhere), they don't think of people who only help when asked. They think of people who help freely, unselfishly and, most importantly, before they are asked.

Oh, did I mention Jason is the General Manager of his store? I noticed a similar helpful vibe from many of the other staff members. Coincidence? Not a chance.

The Top Five Things I'm Thankful I DON'T Have This Year

2011-11-21T08:23:00.001-05:00

As you sit around the dining table on Thanksgiving -- right before you pass out from that extra bite of turkey or tofu -- be sure to give thanks for all the wonderful things you've been blessed with this year.

Oh, and don't forget to give God a big 'ol high five for the things you DON'T have as well. Because sometimes those are the best gifts of all.

Here are the top five things I'm thankful I DON'T have in 2011:

Debt. Nothing has created more possibility in my life than being debt-free.
An ex-wife. I'm still quite happy with my first (and last) wife, thank you.
Disease. I've got a lot of contribution I still want to make to this world. Disease would kinda put a damper on that.
My 12-year-old piece of doo-doo mini-van. Never knew how bad it really was until I replaced it with something much, much better (paid for with cash, by the way...see item #1).
Lame employees. Been there, done that. Business is a whole lot more fun when you work with people that "get it."

What's on your list? I'd love to hear what kinds of things you're glad you DON'T have in your life right now. Share with the world by leaving a comment.

Happy Thanksgiving! See you next week!

A WAY Better Golden Rule

2011-11-15T12:52:00.001-05:00

Every once in awhile, a thought pops in your head that bounces around inside your brain and ends up affecting everything you think, say, or do.

I had one of those thoughts this week.

I was facilitating a workshop with a group of really smart leaders when someone mentioned "The Golden Rule". As you know, The Golden Rule encourages you to "Treat others the way you'd want them to treat you."

As a human being, I've always tried to live by that rule, just like you have. And it's a good rule to live by.

But as a leader, my job isn't to put good karma out into the world and hope it returns to me. My job is to positively influence my staff, my business, our guests, our clients my family, and my community.

Enter my brain-rattling thought:

What if we rewrote the Golden Rule to make us completely accountable for the influence we have on others? And what if we wrote it...and spoke it...and lived it...out loud and often to those we lead instead of a hopeful mantra we quietly whisper to ourselves?

What if our new golden rule sounded like this:

"Treat other people the way I treat you."

Imagine if you said that out loud to the people you lead or even those you work side-by-side with. Makes you think hard about how you treat the people around you, doesn't it?

You can even modify it to fit multiple situations:

"Treat our customers the way I treat you."

"Treat your teammates the way I treat you."

"Treat our vendors the way I treat you."

"Treat your friends the way I treat you."

"Treat your sister the way I treat you."

"Treat the dog the way I treat you"

Ok, the last one is probably unnecessary because we all treat our dogs better than most of the people in our lives. But for the rest of the statements, you have to ask yourself "Would I really want my staff/friends/family to treat other people the way I treat them?"

I'm pretty sure most of you answered "Absolutely, I treat people GREAT!" But research tells a different story. 40-50% of people in America are not happy in their current jobs AND the majority of people who leave a job don't leave because of the job itself or the company as a whole. They leave because they don't like their BOSS.

So, ask yourself again...brutally honestly this time..."Would I really want my people to treat others the way I treat them?"

It's a good question to ask whether you consider yourself a leader or not. Let it rattle around in your brain today. I'd love to know how you feel about this challenge! Leave a comment and share your ideas & insights with your fellow readers & leaders.

One last thing: If you're a leader and someone forwarded you this article or left it anonymously on your desk, read it with the spirit in which it was likely given: your people want you to be the best leader they've ever worked for. It all starts with how you treat them.

Change Your We Into Me

2011-11-09T14:43:00.000-05:00

One of the most dangerous words in the workplace is the word, "we".

You see, too many people toss around the word as a way to disguise their complaints as suggestions.

"We need to communicate more effectively."

"We should have summer hours like ABC company does."

"We need to stop wasting money."

The word "we" absolves individuals of accountability. If "we" are supposed to be responsible for something, then who exactly is responsible? We implies everybody. And if everybody is responsible, then nobody is responsible.

What most people mean when they say "we" is "anybody but me". And many times, they really want to say "our leadership", but they don't have the nerve to say it.

If you want change to occur, you have to change "we" to "me". You are the only person you have complete control and influence over. You can wish other people will change. You can even try to coach & develop others into the people you'd like them to be. But you and I both know that's like pushing an elephant on rollerblades up a hill.

Try changing your we to me when you'd like something to change at work and see what happens. When you hear the word, "we" in a suggestion, simply ask yourself, "Who, again?"

Example:

We need to communicate more effectively.

Who needs to communicate more effectively?

Oh yeah, I meant ME.

Just so you know, your very next thought will be "Crap, now I'm accountable." Sorry. But if you want change, YOU need to be part -- or the start -- of the change.

Now if you say "we" when you really mean someone specific (other than yourself), knock it off. Go straight to that person and tell them. "Bob, you and I seem to have a communication breakdown, can we talk about it?"

By the way, context is everything. "We" is a great word to use when discussing battles, losses, and victories because it says we're a team, we fight together, and we win and lose together. That's a phenomenal attitude. Go team! You are given full permission to use "we" in such cases.

Pay attention to your language this week. See if you slip a "we" in there once in a while. We all do it (see, I just did it, too). When you hear yourself start a sentence with something like "We should...", stop right there, turn that W upside down, and accept the challenge that positive change might end in we, but it always starts with me.

What Have You Missed?

2011-11-03T22:29:00.000-04:00

Our community of followers has grown like crazy this year, and I am very thankful for that. It means more and more people are creating positive workplaces, building better teams, and serving their companies and their customers better than ever before.

But it also means that many of our newer followers haven't received all of the great articles we've published in the last year. So, I thought this might be a nice time to play a game of catch-up.

In case you missed them (or just want to read them again), here are links to our ten most popular articles from 2011 so far:

Surround Yourself With Positive Nouns

What Do You Need To BE This Year?

The Half-Crazy, Uber-Positivity Generator

The Top Five Causes of Negativity At Work

Two Things Every Meeting Needs

What Does Your "Next G" Look Like?

Don't Avoid The Rain

Newsflash: You Are Not A Cat

The Most Powerful Positivity Tool Ever Invented

Do What You Hate

Champions Vs. Cavemen

As always, we love it when you share the articles with your team, spouse, friends, bosses, colleagues, and complete strangers. And you always have our permission to republish the articles any way you wish. Spread the positivity, baby. That's all we care about.

Don't Be Afraid To Ask!

2011-10-25T14:29:00.000-04:00

In one of my keynote presentations, I ask an audience member to set off a "live" mousetrap using only one hand. I know, sounds fun, right?

Here's how it goes 99% of the time:

1. The volunteer joins me on stage at which point I inform him/her of the challenge. Men usually puff up in bravado. Women often let out an involuntary "you're kidding me, right?" nervous laugh. Doesn't matter, I still smell their fear.

2. There's a long, awkward pause while the participant ponders possible solutions to the challenge, wonders whether I have good insurance, and imagines what life will be like with one less finger.

3. The volunteer eventually reaches their sweaty, shaky hand toward the trap. I stop them before they do something they might regret and ask them if there is anything they could do to eliminate or lessen their fear.

4. They think for a second. Nope, guess not. Here comes that hand again.

5. I stop them again. This time I ask if there is any information that they might find helpful BEFORE they set off the trap with their sweaty, shaky hand.

6. The smart ones will light up and say something like, "Yes! It would be great to know how to do this without hurting myself." The not-so-smart ones just reach their hand out again.

7. At this point I ask WHO they should ask for this information. They always look puzzled and then say "I dunno, my friends?" This answer always amazes me because the way they say it tells me they clearly don't think their friends are all that clever. I almost always have to give them the right answer, which is: ask the person who's done the activity more than any other person in the room. Ask the expert!

8. Blank stares.

9. It's me, dummy! Ask ME! Ok, I don't say the dummy part out loud. But I'll be honest, I think it sometimes.

10. Finally they ask me how to do it safely. And -- being the nice guy that I am -- I explain it to them, I demonstrate it for them, and then they successfully set off the trap with one hand. We haven't lost a finger yet.

We all do this, don't we? For some reason, most of us have this overwhelming need (habit?) that drives us to try to figure everything out by ourselves. And many times there's an expert in the next cubicle, office, or phone extension. Even if we think about reaching out, we stop ourselves with an excuse like:

"She's busy, I shouldn't bother her."

"I'm smart. I can figure this out."

OR the worst excuse of all:

"People will think I'm stupid if I ask for help." This one is the silent killer because it is the root excuse 99% of the time whether we know it or not. One of our top fears is looking stupid to others.

Let me ask you, what looks more stupid:

A. Asking for help even when you "should" know the answer?

B. Not asking for help and wasting time trying to figure it out by yourself when you could get the answer in two seconds from someone more knowledgeable than you?

Hmmmm. I'll go with B.

No, I don't want you to become a lazy bum that can't do anything himself and has to ask for instructions and advice on everything. Those people never hesitate to ask and have no reservation. You could never be one of those people if you tried, so don't worry about it. In fact, I'm not even concerned that some of them might read this article because they simply won't. They'll just ask you what it said. :)

So the next time you start to feel frustrated, anxious, or otherwise stressed out because you don't know how to do something, think about who might know what you need to know.

Then ASK them.

You might think you look stupid, but in reality you'll make them feel smart! And I'll help anybody who makes me feel smart, won't you?

See you next week.

Get Your Life In Whack

2011-10-19T13:31:00.000-04:00

Don't you love the word, "whack"? It's a completely nonsensical-sounding word, yet it carries several meanings in our language.

You can "whack" somebody with a stick. That's not the same as poking them or hitting them. A whack feels different. And the person you whack usually doesn't deserve it.

You can "whack someone upside the head". That's a very specific action, similar to a slap in the face, but typically happens on the back side of the head in an upward motion. And, unlike getting whacked with a stick, the recipient usually DOES deserve it.

You can "whack" (i.e., kill) somebody, but only if you're in the mafia. They're the only ones who use the word that way. And you have to say it with a thick New Jersey accent or it just doesn't sound right. You may also interchange "Make 'em sleep with the fishes". Again, only if you're a gangster.

"That's whack" was street lingo for awhile. It meant "that ain't right", which was also street lingo for awhile (and still is in the deep south, I believe).

When something is "out of whack", it is typically out of balance in some way. There's something not quite right and it's making the whole thing not work properly. Picture a tire that's not properly balanced. It wobbles and shakes and makes the tire perform poorly all the way around. In turn, the entire car wobbles and shakes and doesn't handle the way it should. The tire is out of whack, therefore our entire driving experience is out of whack.

We'll tolerate that tire about a week before the vibration drives us nuts and we finally drive to Sears and beg them to balance our tires and smooth out our ride.

Our ride then becomes back in whack.

But what happens if you make it past that first week of tire shaking? You get used to the vibration, don't you? It becomes your norm. You don't even notice it after awhile. And if you never drive or ride in another car, you completely forget that your tire is out of whack. You become oblivious to the fact that your car could perform way better and your ride could be so much more enjoyable.

What about your life? Same principles apply, yes?

When an area of your life is out of whack, it can cause your whole life to become less than ideal. But if you ignore the part(s) that are begging for attention, you eventually stop noticing. It becomes your norm. Worst case? The part that's out of whack crashes & burns and wreaks havoc in the rest of your life as well. Best case? You live a life that's less than optimal, less productive, and far less satisfying than it could be.

In every Creating A Positive Charge workshop that we produce, participants testify again and again that negativity in the workplace is often caused (or made worse) by other areas of life that have gotten out of whack.

For instance, if you're not healthy, does your work suffer? If you say no, let me ask it another way: if you were the pinnacle of physical health & well being, do you think you could bring your "A game" to work more often? You know you could.

If your home life is full of negativity and stress, does it affect your attitude at work? Likewise, if your work life is full of negativity and stress, does it affect your attitude at home?

We humans are stubborn and bizarre creatures. We'll fix our cars immediately at the appearance of the slightest knock, ping, or rattle. Yet we'll ignore the incredibly important parts of our life that need attention...for years, even decades.

Fall is a great time to pause and take a look at your life. Not just work, not just home, but your whole life. How satisfied are you with all the areas of your life? How productive are all the areas of your life? How effective are you in all the areas of your life?

Anything causing your car to shake?

Now would be a great time to start getting it back in whack. Sure, your boss will be glad, so will your teammates. But YOU'RE the one who will truly discover what a positive difference it can make in your life. Not just your work life, but your WHOLE life. That's what really matters.

This article was inspired by an event that's happening next week at sparkspace called Take Time For Your Life - 30 Day Breakthrough Program Kickoff Event. This is not an official sparkspace produced event, but I met this week with Eric Pennington, the presenter of this extraordinary program. Eric shared with me how the program is designed to help people identify areas of their life that are out of whack (my words, not his) and how you can create a breakthrough in any one of those areas in the next 30 days. I instantly knew that this was a program that could help many of our friends and followers reach greater satisfaction & significance in their lives.

Eric's energy & passion for helping people create wellbeing in their life is truly inspiring. He has outlined his escape from the the typical, soul destroying world of work in his book, Waking Up In Corporate America: The Seven Secrets That Opened My Eyes.

I hope you'll consider investing in yourself with this program. A better life at work, home, and everywhere in between takes commitment, discovery, and action. This program will light a spark in all three aspects, I'm sure.

>>More info & registration details

You can also contact Eric directly for more info at epennington@epicliving.com

I usually end my articles with "see you next week" even though we'll likely only see each other electronically. In this case, however, I really do hope we see you in person next week at sparkspace for this great event!

How To Waste 100,000 Hours

2011-10-11T12:38:00.000-04:00

I save my most powerful message for the end of each of my keynotes and workshops. I gotta admit, it makes a great closing thought. But today, I'm stickin' it right up front

If you work full-time you'll put in somewhere around 2000 hours at work this year. You'll spend more time working than any other single activity, even sleeping. Most people work 8-9 hours each day. Sleep specialists say you should get 7-8 hours of good sleep each night, but I don't know very many people who follow that prescription, do you? My point, exactly.

Now for some math (I KNEW I'd use it someday):

Most adults start working full-time in their early twenties. And, sadly, most adults that are currently in the workforce will have to work into their seventies because they don't have enough money to retire. But that's a whole different lesson for another time. Back to the math...

Age 20-ish to age 70-ish is 50-ish years of full-time work-ish.

50 years x 2000 hours/yr = 100,000 hours of work life.

Holy crap, that's a lot of hours. And the majority of them are wasted.

Oh, sure, many of those hours are spend producing useful widgets or information for the company you work for, serving customers, and earning a living for you and your family. But the majority of those hours are still wasted...in negativity.

Know why?

Because you didn't enjoy them. Because your mindset was negative too often. Because you let your co-workers, boss, the economy, or some other devil drag you down. Because you had a fight with the kids before school. Because you were late. Because you're having a bad hair day. Because you didn't bring your A game. Because, because, because, because, because...because of all the horrible things life does. If you sing that last line to the tune of "We're Off To See The Wizard" from the Wizard of Oz, it becomes slightly less depressing, but not much.

So, how many of your 100,000 hours have you wasted in negativity so far?

I'd love to say it's easy to change, but that's simply not true, is it? You can't choose to be happy, in spite of what motivational gurus or your grandma says. I do believe you can chose to be positive in most situations, although that, too is easier said than done.

Here's the secret sauce, ready?

What you can always choose is to choose to do everything in your power to create positive energy in your work life. That's the real secret.

That's different than choosing positivity. Choosing positivity (or happiness) is kind of like choosing bigger muscles. I can't just choose them. If I really want bigger muscles, I have to do everything in my power to create them. If I lift a 5lb weight every other month, I'm not going to see any results. But if I work out like a madman and make it my top priority, eventually I won't look so silly in my skin-tight Under Armour t-shirts.

So choosing positivity at work becomes an ongoing series of choices, not a single life-altering moment. Some examples include choosing to:

- walk away from gossip instead of listening or (gasp!) participating.

- get organized instead of fighting through my mess every day.

- get enough sleep instead of staying up late.

- read a positive book instead of watching a ridiculous "reality" show.

- encourage a co-worker instead of criticizing him.

- be on time for meetings and appointments instead of always trying to squeeze in "one more thing".

- avoid negative people that practice the dark magic of sucking all positivity out of me and replacing it with their negative mojo.

This list could go on and on and on. And this list is drawn from just my own experience and many of my own wasted hours. Imagine if I added yours to the list. Did you just shudder? Me, too.

100,000 hours is a lot of time. Will you waste a few here and there? Absolutely. Impossible not to. I'm sure even Mother Teresa wasted at least an hour.

This has become a big motivator for me: When I'm 70-ish, I want to look back on my work life (and the rest of it as well) and know that I didn't waste it. Think about that for a second. Could there be anything worse than realizing that you had 100,000 hours to use, and during that entire time you had the choice, and the power, to be anything you really wanted to be, and you chose to be negative? Just the thought of that scenario depresses me! And simultaneously propels me to do everything in my power to make sure it doesn't happen.

The good news is that every minute of every day carries the possibility of a fresh start. You might get 100,000 hours, you might not. But you do get this moment, this day, right here, right now. It's all we ever get, no matter how long we live or work. Our choices are not made in the past or future. They're always made in this moment, this day, right here, right now.

So, if you're choosing to do everything in your power to create positive energy, what is first/next on your list? Email me and let me know. Better yet, post a comment here on our blog so you can inspire others with your choices.

Oh, and thanks for not wasting your 100,000 hours.

Go Exploring More Often!

2011-10-06T16:28:00.000-04:00

A taste of my experience in Portland this week & some much needed encouragement to Go Exploring More Often!

Thanks for watching!

Stop Hogging The Armrest!

2011-10-03T11:51:00.000-04:00

It's midnight Columbus time, and I am angry. In fact, I'm ready to snap.

You see, I'm currently 30,000 feet over the Western United States, sitting in an all-too-familiar and incredibly uncomfortable situation...again. I'm in the middle seat of an airplane, trapped between two grown men approximately the same size as I am. And I get to enjoy this prison for at least another hour before touching down in Portland, Oregon.

Now I know airplane seats were originally designed for 1950's travelers, which I'm sure were at least a few pounds and a few pant sizes smaller than the three of us that are currently packed into this row. But why am I the only person who seems to be sucking it in? The gentlemen to my left and to my right are both spilling over into my tiny aeronautical space. They have laid claim to BOTH of their armrests, not giving a moment's consideration that at least one of those armrests would have/could have/SHOULD have been mine if only I had sat down first.

Somehow, even though their feet are tucked under the seats directly in front of them, their thighs have invaded my personal bubble as well. Call me old-fashioned, but I really, really don't like to rub thighs with complete strangers.

So I sit here trapped, angry, and feeling like the only person who tried to make himself as small as possible on this airplane. And I conclude that the reason is because most people put themselves first. They look out for #1. And they act as if it is their birthright to claim just a little more than their space because they got there first.

My tirade does have a point besides letting me blow of a little steam (thanks for listening by the way).

I'm pretending to be quite righteous as I sit here stewing in my middle-seat hell, but the truth is there are many places in life and work when I take up both armrests. More often than not, I do it unintentionally, as some travelers do (not these two dudes beside me, but some do I'm sure). But intent doesn't really matter when you're the one without the armrest, now does it?

Like when someone on my team needs my attention, or my brain, or my part of a project and I intentionally go about my day focusing only on MY work and MY needs. Oh, I have great reasons and excuses for my behavior, but I'm often being selfish and I know it.

Same thing happens at home with the wife, the kids, and even the dogs. Especially the dogs. My poor dogs love me so much and there are days I barely pet them because I'm too "busy". Thank God they forgive me even faster than he does.

I think my anger has been provoked because I'm not just talking about airplane etiquette. This is a rampant problem and is very likely why our teams don't work and customer service blows almost everywhere we go. Nobody is willing to give up an armrest. Nobody is willing to suck it in/suck it up for the sake of their fellow travelers -- which includes our customers, coworkers, employees, bosses, friends, family, and yes, our dogs.

Here's what scares me about this whole thing: When very few people are willing to let go of their own comfort, their own agenda, their own gosh-darn armrest, the few who ARE willing to do so inevitably become discouraged. And I'm talking discouraged to the point of "Screw it. I'm taking back that armrest the moment he reaches up to scratch his nose." And that, my friend, is like jumping into the toilet of selfishness milliseconds before the flush. It's nearly impossible to back out once you've bounced off that diving board.

The only way I know to reverse this spiral of selfishness is to encourage the positive behavior we desire in others. When you see someone obviously (or not-so-obviously) sacrificing their own comfort for the sake of someone else, pull that person aside or write them a note and MAKE A BIG DEAL ABOUT IT. Tell them that even though the person they were serving may not have noticed, YOU noticed. Tell them their actions made the world a better place today. Tell them to not give up.

If you're one of those people who give up part of your lunch hour to help somebody understand a piece of software better, or you volunteer to work an extra shift so someone else doesn't miss their kid's soccer game, or you regularly stop everything you're doing to give an employee your complete attention, I want you to know how special and rare and wonderful you are.

And if you're one of those people who practice the lost art of sharing armrests on airplanes, I can't wait to sit next to you someday. Fair warning, though, I may invade your space to give you a well-deserved high-five.

10 Minutes to a Better Life

2011-09-14T10:58:00.000-04:00

There's a secret to a better life that I wish someone had told me about a long time ago. This secret can change your life at work, home, and everywhere in between. It can transform your days from stressful to smooth. It can shift your attitude from ornery to open. It can turn even the most negative moments into possibilities for positivity.

And it only takes 10 minutes.

This is starting to sound like an infomercial, huh? Believe me, if I could find a way to sell this secret I would. I'd show up on your television right after Tony Robbins at 3am and tell story after story about how this 10 minute secret has changed my life and the lives of millions of others. Pretty sure I'd be a multi-gazillionaire after just one airing of my high-energy, very compelling, and yes, hilariously funny infomercial.

And lives would be changed, especially mine with all the gazillions of dollars in my bank account. But I'm also confident that everyone who heard the 10 minute secret would instantly improve the quality of their lives and the lives of everyone around them.

But instead of charging you $19.95 for this secret, I'm giving it away for FREE today, AND TODAY ONLY - sorry, slipped into infomercial mode for a second . You don't have to order anything. No credit card needed. All I ask is that you just give it a try.

Here's the secret:

Start arriving everywhere 10 minutes earlier than you do now.

How many times each week would an extra 10 minutes make all the difference in the world? I'm just thinking back over the past few days and I'm already picturing about fifteen different scenarios where an extra ten minutes would have created an entirely different feeling situation.

We're a late-running society. We've become accustomed to cutting it close. And we've done it without realizing just how much unnecessary stress that unleashes in our day-to-day lives. You do it , too, and I bet you don't even realize how often you do it. It's just become our way of life. A habit. Even an addiction for some.

I was reminded of this by accident this morning. One of my kids has to be to school by 8am. We only live about a mile away from school, but knowing the traffic tends to backup at the dropoff area, we leave our house at 7:50am in order to get him to the door at 8.

Today, however, the clock in my brain was running fast and for some reason we left the house at 7:40am instead of 7:50am. Do you ever get the clock in your head messed up like I do? It all seemed completely normal...until we arrived at school ten minutes earlier than usual.

Now, you might not think ten minutes really makes that much of a difference. But I swear, it looked like an alternate universe. Where there are usually hundreds of kids running around, carelessly criss-crossing the street, there were none. Where there is normally a line of very slow-moving cars - starting and stopping to avoid the hundreds of kids carelessly criss-crossing the street - there were none. It felt like one of those doomsday movies where my kids and I were the only survivors. I even looked back at the boy and asked "Are you SURE you have school today?"

What is normally a bit of a mad dash and a flurry of backpacks, lunchbags, and careless street criss-crossing, was a smooth, peaceful, stress-free "Have a great day at school, son" moment.

Even if you're one of the few, the proud, the ones who show up early for everything, arriving even ten minutes earlier would still ratchet up the quality of your day, wouldn't it?

Think about what you could do with that extra ten minutes. You could:

Review your notes before a meeting.
Double-check the names and titles of people you're meeting with.
Touch up your makeup (instead of doing it at every traffic light).
Meditate. Ommmm. Ommmm. Ommmm.
Finish singing along with that Motley Crue song on the radio.
Read ten pages of a book. Always, always have a book with you, BTW.
Stretch.
Make that quick call you need to make.
Check your email.
Visit the restroom. Heck, even stay awhile if needed.
Sit and do absolutely nothing. I highly recommend this one. I mean, how often do you do this? I'm going to guess "never."

And don't even get me started on the total stress elimination that will occur if you run into a traffic jam, detour, or blinding snowstorm while you're driving. All because you now have a few extra minutes to deal with, well, whatever.

That's it. 10 minutes to a better life. This one is easy to try on for size, too. You can actually do it before the end of the day, even if all you have left to do is go to bed. Imagine climbing into your fluffy, comfy bed 10 minutes earlier! I can tell by your smile that you're starting to catch on.

Oh, and if you're a true infomercial junkie or you're the kind of person that only values advice that you pay for, feel free to send me a check for $19.95.

I'm Not Doing Busy Anymore

2011-09-08T15:51:00.000-04:00

Ok, take a deep breath. It's going to be ok, I promise. I'm saying that to me, not to you.

My heart is racing a bit as I begin to write this article. Usually, I'm pretty excited when I sit down to write because I've had some revelation, epiphany, or discovery I can't wait to share with you.

Today is different, though, because my epiphany this week is not about how to create a better workplace, or some insight to help you become more amazing at what you do. It's about me.

Do you have a little voice inside your head? You know, the one that tells you the truth no matter what? Maybe it nudges you when you read or hear something that you really need to pay attention to. And if your little voice is as annoying as mine, it often says "See, I TOLD you so!" when you should have listened to it, but didn't.

My little voice has been whispering to me for a loooong time now to write a book. And by a long time, I mean years.

It pokes me when I write some of these articles, telling me "That would fit nicely into that book you haven't written yet."

It encourages me when someone tells me how much they enjoy my writing. "Go go go, you can do it!"

When anyone tells me I should write a book, it winks at me at says "I'm not so dumb after all, now am I?"

Well, in the past few weeks, my little voice stopped whispering. Instead, it found a two-by-four and started whacking it against my brain while screaming "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR????"

I had a basketball coach in junior high that used to yell at me the same way, minus the two-by-four. At first I was hurt, thinking I didn't deserve such treatment. Then my wise dad (who, at that time was younger than I am right now), told me that I shouldn't worry when the coach was yelling at me because it meant he saw potential in me. Instead, I should worry if the coach ever stopped yelling at me because that would mean that he had given up on me. He also told me that when the coach yells at me, I need to listen and do what he says.

I'm afraid my not-so-little-anymore voice will stop yelling at me, so I've decided to listen to it and do what it says. I'm just glad it's not telling me to sell all my possessions, shave my head, and move to a cave in the hills of Kentucky.

Here's my biggest obstacle (i.e., excuse): I don't have time to write a book. I run a business, I have a staff to manage, I have workshops to conduct, I have a newsletter to write each week, I have paperwork to do, I have marketing work to do, I have a family that actually likes to spend time with me, I have a wife that deserves more date nights, I have two dogs to feed, I have parents to visit, I have _______ (insert one of a thousand other things here).

I've mentioned this quote from StoryPeople, one of my favorite art collections, before, but it applies so well to me right now I'm going to use it again:

"Everything changed the day he figured out there was exactly enough time for the important things in his life."

My little voice stole that quote and has been using it on me a lot lately.

It's the "everything changed" part that scares me. To write a book requires my life to change. I have to change how I spend my time. I have to change how I manage my staff. I have to change where I place my focus almost every single minute of every single day. I'll be honest with you, I'm no better at accepting change than anyone else. But I've let my resistance win too long.

My little voice recently led me to read two books by Steven Pressfield, Do The Work and The War of Art. The message I received from these books was clear. I can't let resistance win. And I need to stop creating my own resistance.

Starting today, I am removing every obstacle that stands between me and the important things in my life, namely writing a book. And the first obstacle I'm removing is busyness. Part of my recent epiphany is that I keep myself busy to avoid taking on something big, something important. If I stay busy, I simply don't have enough time. Convenient excuse, huh?

Here's the hard part to admit: I have busied myself with stuff that I have told myself is important, but it's really not. So here's my starter list of things I'm cutting out to make time for the truly important stuff:

1. Spending time on facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, and all other social media. Gasp! That stuff is IMPORTANT! Bullshit. It's not important and you know it. It keeps you and me both from getting truly important stuff done. Yeah, even "business" use. I don't hate social media. It's just not as important as its proponents and heavy users think it is. Listen to people that defend it. They sound like addicts.

2. Staring at my computer for no reason. I'm an explorer. I like to browse and discover new stuff online. I like to read articles, blogs, etc. 99% of this activity for me is truly unimportant. It's just a distraction or entertainment. I'll still research stuff for work (and my book), but I won't surf for no reason.

3. Doing stuff someone else should be/could be doing. This is a hard one for me. I'm kind of a hands-on guy, not the world's best delegator. But if I'm being honest, probably 30%-40% of my time is spent doing things I could hand off or hire somebody to do. And I'm sure there are people who work for me and with me that are thinking "And it's about time."

4. Focusing on the little things. Even if I live to be 150, I will still go to my grave believing that the little things matter. But I'm not living another minute focusing on the details when I need to be focused on the bigger picture. There is a time to focus on the details, but now is not that time for me. Now, however, might be a great time for my staff to focus on the details (hint, hint). Even I can see how number 3 and number 4 go hand-in-hand, and I don't even need my little voice to tell me that. Hey, maybe this is working already!

5. Letting people take my time. This means getting really good at saying "no" to requests for my time -- not one of my strong suits. One of the hardest things for me to get in my thick head is that just because somebody asks for my time doesn't mean I have to give it to them. I need to treat my time like my money. Do I give money to everyone that asks? Nope. I budget my giving each month. And occasionally I'll give above and beyond my budget to something that is important to me, or something that I feel truly needs it. To everyone else, I say a polite no. I need to keep a fair amount of money to live my life effectively. I also need to keep a fair amount of time.

The truth is, I'd be better off doing absolutely nothing than letting any of these things take any more of my time, energy, and focus. Doing nothing would at least give me time and space to think about how to move closer to the important things, instead of stealing what little time and brainpower I have to begin with.

This might be the most self-centered article I've ever written, and I hope you'll forgive the indulgence. I kind of needed to do this to wipe my slate clean so I can start walkin' the talk.

As I bring this article to an end, though, I find myself hoping that my epiphany helps you review your own life and work. Maybe there's something big that your little voice has been leading you to as well. Maybe you, too, let busyness stand between you and the truly important things.

You'll know it's true if you just heard a little voice say "See, I TOLD you so!" I just hope yours hasn't found the two-by-four yet.

Thanks for reading! See you next week.

BONUS VIDEO:

Are you ready to escape the busyness and get on with your important work? Check out this short video for a little inspiration: