“The trouble with life in the fast lane…”

Posted on May 27, 2015 by Barry

“The trouble with life in the fast lane is that you get to the other end in an awful hurry.”

—Author Unknown

Photo from Flickr by Tristan Schmurr

At no time in history have we ever been more productive, and achieved more in our professional and personal lives. Who doesn’t find themselves racing through their days to keep up or stay ahead of the pack?

Unfortunately, this increase in achievement and productivity is often associated with considerably more stress and less fulfillment and satisfaction.

Examine the following list of daily activities many people engage in, and notice your own level of urgency to finish them as quickly as possible:

Reading email and other forms of written communication.
Eating your daily meals.
Conversations with friends, family, and colleagues.
The number of hours of sleep you get each night.
Your driving speed throughout your day.
Your propensity to multitask.

EXERCISE:

How and where in your life would a slower pace, taking the time to savor sights, sounds, and tastes bring you greater success and satisfaction throughout the day?

“Success is never owned…”

Posted on May 14, 2015 by Barry

“Success is never owned; it is only rented. And the rent is due every day.”

-Zig Ziglar, American author, salesman, and motivational speaker

Photo from zazzle.com

When was the last time you had a really tough day? Have you ever found yourself saying things like:

After all these years, I expected things to be easier.
It’s time for my ship to come in. Surely I’ve earned it with all my hard work.
I’m pretty tired. I was hoping to slow down by now.
Life sure feels like a roller coaster.

Virtually no one lives a charmed life or stays on top of the success ladder perpetually. Perhaps it is these everyday challenges and adversities which actually make our self-earned successes so sweet.

EXERCISE:

How can you take a “Pay as you Go” attitude to suit up and do what is necessary so that you can experience the success you’ve earned when the day is done?

“sometimes you win…”

Posted on April 16, 2015 by Barry

“Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.”

-John Maxwell, American author, speaker, and pastor

One of my favorite books by John Maxwell, which I hope you will consider reading, is The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth.

John has been a pioneer in the fields of leadership and coaching for many years. Today, at age 68, he is doing his best work ever, by building an enterprise that trains and coaches trainers, coaches, and speakers from around the world.

Who doesn’t want to win in life? Who would prefer not to lose?

One of the characteristics I most admire about John is his passion for his own growth and development. He definitely walks the talk daily, in his life-long learning adventure.

EXERCISE:

How can you pursue winning today in all your efforts, and even if you fall, make sure you pick up the lesson on your way up?

“My Life is my message.”

Posted on April 10, 2015 by Barry

“My Life is my message.”

-Mahatma Gandhi, leader of Indian independence movement in British-ruled India

Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi was always helping and concerned about others. His aims in life included truth, non-violence, spirituality, honesty, discipline, and loyalty. His name, Mahatma, means “a great soul.” He was chosen as “Man of the Millennium” by the BBC.

Once, while Gandhi’s train was pulling out of a station, a European reporter ran to his compartment window. “Do you have a message I can take back to my people?” he asked. It was Gandhi’s day of silence, a vital respite from his demanding speaking schedule, so he didn’t reply. Instead, he scrawled these words on a scrap of paper and passed it to the reporter: “my life is my message.”

EXERCISE:

If your life were your message, what would the people around you say about you? Given, hopefully, many successful and meaningful years ahead, what new or different messages would your legacy include?

Please consider reviewing the links below to examine Gandhi’s extraordinary message in greater detail.

http://www.biography.com/people/mahatma-gandhi-9305898
http://www.history.co.uk/biographies/mahatma-gandhi
http://www.mkgandhi.org/

“By Doing What You Love…”

Posted on April 9, 2015 by Barry

“By doing what you love you inspire and awaken the hearts of others.”

—Satsuki Shibuya, painter, artist, spiritual teacher

Photo from Flickr by Chattgd

Most coaches I know have their own coaches, supporting them on their professional and personal journeys. They consider striving for their own definition of success and fulfillment of great value and importance.

This behavior is one of the most important characteristics that attract clients to a particular coach. People see that their potential coach walks the talk and has made considerable progress in their own life journey. This makes them credible as a supportive partner in helping clients realize their goals.

EXERCISE:

Who do you know that truly loves what they do, and awakens your heart to pursue your own passions and purposes? How can you do more of what inspires you, to have the same influence on those around you?

“One of the hardest decisions you’ll ever face…”

Posted on March 30, 2015 by Barry

“One of the hardest decisions you’ll ever face in life is choosing whether to walk away or try harder.”

—Author Unknown

QC #742

Today’s quote reminds me of an excellent little book by Seth Godin titled “The Dip.” The subtitle is: “A little book that teaches you when to quit and when to stick.”

Godin believes that winners quit quickly, often, and without guilt, until they discover the right DIP, worth beating for the right reasons. They realize that the bigger the barrier, the bigger the reward for sticking and getting beyond it.

He further demonstrates that people who lose fail to stick out their DIPS when they quit at the moment of truth—or they simply never discover the right DIP to conquer.

EXERCISE:

Consider picking up a copy of “The DIP” to discover for yourself whether you should stay the course or summon the courage to quite sooner or more often.

“It is better to fail in originality…”

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Barry

“It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.”

—Herman Melville

Photo from netshark.com

Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, however in today’s world, an alternative phrase may be more prominent and perhaps more important:

“Be Distinct or Be Extinct.”

My coaching experience points to this: those who enjoy the greatest successes and satisfaction in life discover early that being their authentic self – living true to their visions and values – is key to a life of passion and purpose.

EXERCISE:

How can you pursue and persist through the potential daily failures and obstacles life presents, to be the one and only, fully expressed YOU?

“A wise man adapts…”

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Barry

“A wise man adapts himself to circumstances, as water shapes itself to the vessel that contains it.”

-Chinese Proverb

Photo from Amazon.com

In my first career as a science teacher, the work of Charles Darwin and his book, “The Origin of Species,” was always part of the curriculum. The bottom line is that a species will survive only as long as it is able to adapt to its physical environment, including climate, food sources, and predators.

EXERCISE:

How well do you adapt to circumstances so that you survive in your professional and personal ecosystems? What adjustments, if any, are required to optimize your ability to thrive?

Life is like a ten-speed bicycle…”

Posted on February 26, 2015 by Barry

“Life is like a ten-speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.”

—Charles Schulz, American cartoonist, creator of ‘Peanuts’

Photo from Flickr by Glory Cycles

Have you ever ridden a 10-speed bike? What did you experience as you proceeded through the gears? When you were in first gear, how easy was it to pedal? How fast could you go? As you moved through gears 2-5, what effort was required, and what speed was possible?

How often did you use gears beyond #5? How often did you exert the required effort, and how comfortable, exhilarated, or even terrified were you?

EXERCISE:

What gear are you in most often as you travel your personal and professional roads? Notice the terrain, including the twists and turns, the hills and valleys along the way.
What gears will be called for if you wish to climb higher mountains or reach your destination in record time?

If you haven’t tried it, consider attending a spinning class at the local gym, and be open to the instructor pushing you beyond your normal limits.

“Great things are not done by impulse, but…”

Posted on January 20, 2015 by Barry

“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.”

– adapted from Vincent Van Gogh, Dutch Post-Impressionist painter

photo from NASA.gov

If you have been a loyal reader of The Quotable Coach for some time, you may have read a few posts in which I shared my dream, as a young man, of being an astronaut.

The space race and the Apollo missions to the moon, inspired by JFK’s famous speech, inspired me to want to develop my own “right stuff” and reach for the stars.

If you research the monumental accomplishment of putting a man on the moon, you will discover the almost infinite number of small things and tens of thousands of people that had to be brought together to turn the dream into a reality.

EXERCISE:

What great things do you wish to accomplish that would be attempted and realized if you took the time to reverse engineer them into a series of small steps?

Consider watching In the Shadow of the Moon produced in 2007.