Category Archives: Achievements

“Getting over a painful experience is much like…”

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“Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.”

—C.S. Lewis, 19th century novelist, poet, and essayist

Photo from Flickr by RawheaD Rex

Photo from Flickr by RawheaD Rex

Over the course of my 21 years as a coach, I’ve seen just about every sorrow and success a person can experience. Peaks and valleys, stepping up and sliding down, are par for the course and no one is immune to life’s fluctuations.

I’ve also noticed that the people with the greatest sense of balance, happiness, and satisfaction are those who experience life events for whatever they are, and don’t hold on too long. They’ve learned to let go in order to move on.

EXERCISE:

Examine your own life or the lives of those close to you. Is assistance needed to let go of past painful experiences in order to move forward?  Consider requesting or offering assistance where appropriate.

“All things are difficult before they are easy.”

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“All things are difficult before they are easy.”

—Thomas Fuller, 17th Century English churchman and historian

Photo from Flickr By City Gypsy II

Photo from Flickr By City Gypsy II

Take a moment to examine all the things you do with ease, every day. Walking. Talking. Turning a page. Reading a paragraph. Most of these activities are so effortless you don’t even pay attention to what goes into making them happen.

Imagine for a moment you had a time machine, and could go back to the point in your infant life where these activities were difficult. Now go forward a bit – how long did it take to move from difficulty to competency, and then to mastery?

EXERCISE:

What professional or personal goal do you find difficult at this moment? Begin the journey today, and at some point in the future, this goal will be part of your list of successes.

Feel free to reply to this message with the goal you selected.

“Big shots are little shots who kept shooting.”

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“Big shots are little shots who kept shooting.”

– Christopher Morely, American Journalist, Novelist, Essayist and Poet

photo from Flickr by Simplistic.designs

photo from Flickr by Simplistic.designs

What are your favorite examples of people who achieved great success through the power of persistence? Some of mine are Thomas Edison, Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Winston Churchill, and of course, Michael Jordan.

What are some of your own personal stories where you stayed the course to achieve some important professional or personal victory?

Consider how you might break your “big shot” wins down into daily “small shot” behaviors you can easily practice on your journey of personal mastery. If this exercise is one you enjoy, both the journey and the results will reward you.

EXERCISE:

Consider picking up a copy of one or more of the following resources to enhance your resolve to keep shooting to realize your most deeply held desires:

Three Feet From Gold by Sharon Lechter & Greg Reid
The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson & John David Mann
The Power of Persistence by Justin Sachs
The Dip by Seth Godin
Take the Stairs by Rory Vaden

Want your own copy of “The Quotable Coach”? Click on the image below.
TQC-cover-welcome

To Conquer Ourselves

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”It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.”

– Sir Edmund Hillary, the first climber to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

Photo from Flickr by Popeyed

Photo from Flickr by Popeyed

Sir Edmund Hillary is one of the world’s most famous mountain climbers. His adventures to the top of Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world, are legendary.

Hillary knew that we must first face and climb our internal mountains if we are ever to surmount the challenges we face in our outer worlds.

EXERCISE:

What external mountains do you need to face or climb? How will you summon the courage to conquer the internal barriers that appear to keep you safe and limited at base camp?

“Success is a ladder that cannot be climbed with your hands in your pockets.”

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“Success is a ladder that cannot be climbed with your hands in your pockets.”
– Author Unknown

Image from Flickr by Travis Hornung

Image from Flickr by Travis Hornung

The spring and fall seasons here in Michigan require a “clean-up process” of leaves and other plant-related debris. This includes the need to climb up ladders and clear out the gutters on our roofs.

Imagine taking on this task and being told you had to leave your hands in your pockets as you climbed. Would you do it? Of course not!

Notice when, in your personal or professional life, you take on tasks half-heartedly, thereby leaving your hands in your pockets.

Exercise:

Where would grasping the ladder of success with both hands make the biggest difference for you today?

“Achievement lies in the honest endeavor to do your best under all circumstances.”

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“Achievement lies in the honest endeavor to do your best under all circumstances.”

– Successories.com

546Image from Flickr by Eustace Dauger.

We live in a society that celebrates accomplishment. Just look around at the business world, sports, entertainment, reality TV, and virtually all aspects of life. We are a striving species that values meritocracy and excellence.

What has your professional and personal excellence journey looked like to this point in your life?

Exercise:

What would getting an “A”, a promotion, a gold medal, or a personal Nobel prize for being the best “you” look like, if you simply did your best every day in every way, under all circumstances?

Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later

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“Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later.”

– Og Mandino, 20th Century American motivational author

Image from Flickr by symphony of love.

Image from Flickr by symphony of love.

Asking people to do their best, to seek excellence, on a key project or top priority seems like the ultimate cliché of coaching. Blogs, books, and quotes related to this simple idea abound.

What does doing your best truly mean? For most of us, it often seems impossible, given the image we have in our minds about how our “best” can look.

Consider the idea that we all have a “best continuum,” in which what we’re capable of varies depending on the day or time. Consider, too, that your actions are like planting seeds and tending a garden, where all efforts count and add up.

Exercise:

What does your best effort look like today? Take a moment to acknowledge and appreciate yourself, knowing that the sum total of all your daily bests will bring you the harvest you seek.

“It’s always better to be at the bottom of a ladder you want to climb than at the top of the one you don’t.”

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“It’s always better to be at the bottom of a ladder you want to climb than at the top of the one you don’t.”

– Unknown

476Image from Flickr by gosheshe.

A fundamental concept I refer to often in the process of coaching is “creative tension,” first described to me in Robert Fritz’s book The Path of Least Resistance. Stated simply, creative tension is the gap between the current reality and some desired vision for the future.

In the case of the quote above, someone at the bottom of the ladder is looking forward to taking each and every step to reach their desired summit. But for someone already at the top of the ladder they didn’t want to climb, there is simply nothing to look forward to – they are at a dead end with no hope or aspirations to drive them further.

Exercise:

To what extent are you climbing the ladders of life to your personal and professional peaks of achievement?

Where are you currently at the top of life’s ladders with nowhere to go?

“Happiness is a state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one’s values.”

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“Happiness is a state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one’s values.”

– Ayn Rand, novelist and political philosopher

The pursuit of happiness is a topic of great interest to most of us. Many people spend considerable time chasing it through the accumulation of material possessions, climbing the corporate ladder, or seeking recognition from others.

Rand may be suggesting that we take off our running shoes and simply look within ourselves for the values that we hold most dear. Once we are clear about these core values, we can then set about our days to live our values with integrity and passion.

Exercise:

Complete the life vision exercise from Quote #32 at the following link:www.thequotablecoach.com/purpose/a-man-should-conceive-of-a-legitimate-purpose

Share this vision, based on your values, with those close to you. Display it at your place of business and in your home as a reminder of your fundamental source of happiness.

“Life is short. Do not forget about the most important things in life, living for other people and doing good for them.”

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“Life is short. Do not forget about the most important things in life, living for other people and doing good for them.”

– Leo Tolstoy, author

How much time do we really have? If you live to be 80 years old, you have a total of 960 months – that’s 4,160 weeks or 29,200 days.

How many days do you have left to love your family, contribute to others, and make a difference in your personal and professional life?

If you happen to be 40, you either have half of your life behind you – or you have half of your life yet to live.

Exercise:

Given the finite nature of our lives, consider developing a bucket list of 100 things you wish to achieve.

The items on this list that do good for others count twice!