Category Archives: Success

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

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“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

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.

“When nobody around you…”

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“When nobody around you seems to measure up, it’s time to check your yardstick.”

—Bill Lemley, Writer

Photo from Flickr by Melissa

Photo from Flickr by Melissa

How do you measure up against the standards that society sets for you in your professional and personal lives? What yardsticks do you use to define success or failure?

What standards do you set for yourself regardless of those set by others?

How do the people in your life measure up against these yardsticks, and if they happen to come up short, what ramifications does this have on your relationships?

EXERCISE:

The world where no one is good enough to please you has dreadful consequences. Spend some time answering the questions above and then take the necessary steps to modify your measures of success — particularly if you notice that nobody in your world measures up.

“Those who will not take a chance seldom…”

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“Those who will not take a chance seldom have one thrust upon them.”

—Napoleon Hill, American author

Photo from Flickr by Quinn Dombrowski

Photo from Flickr by Quinn Dombrowski

Napoleon Hill is considered by many to be one of the greatest writers on the topic of success. His most famous work, Think and Grow Rich, has sold over 20 million copies. His work on personal beliefs and the role they play in success is legendary.

This quote goes a step further than his famous “Anything the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve,” in that it points to summoning the courage to act and take risks to achieve what we desire.

EXERCISE:

If you are “waiting for your ship to come in,” how can you suit up, jump in the risky waters, and swim out to it instead?

“Individually, we are …”

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“Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.”

— Ryunosuke Satoro, Japanese Poet

Photo from Flickr by Tim Lundstedt

Photo from Flickr by Tim Lundstedt

A few days ago I had a discussion with a business leader who was at the end of his rope. He was totally exhausted and overwhelmed by the tsunami of work and responsibilities coming at him.

Have you ever felt that way? What did you do to stave off the tidal wave?

Our coaching session centered on his current and future use of social support structures, so that he might tackle these matters in a collective, collaborative community rather than as an individual whose shoulders were just not wide enough to bear the burden.

EXERCISE:

How can you capture and mobilize all the individual drops within your personal and professional communities to become your own powerful ocean, to move the obstacles in your path?

“Feedback is the breakfast of champions.”

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“Feedback is the breakfast of champions.”

—Authors Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

Photo from Flickr by General Mills

Photo from Flickr by General Mills

My dad coached a number of sports teams as part of his role as a physical education teacher. When I was a boy, I sometimes had breakfast with him before his games. The only thing he would eat on game days was Wheaties — the “Breakfast of Champions.”  Call it however you want it, his team almost always won.

I wanted to be a champion like my dad, so I dove into those cereal bowls with great gusto!

EXERCISE:

Who are the mentors, advisers, and coaches that are committed to your success? How can you fully ingest their feedback to achieve your own personal or professional championships?

“Be so good they can’t ignore you.”

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“Be so good they can’t ignore you.”
-Steve Martin, American actor and comedian

Photo from Flickr by Vipez

Photo from Flickr by Vipez

A common coaching assignment in the business world is to assist a client in earning a promotion. This effort has many facets, including performance measurement, relationship issues, and a bit of office politics.

EXERCISE:

Imagine your job as an Olympic event, and that you must mobilize all your effort and activity to be your personal best to earn the gold medal.

Determine exactly what behaviors and result you and others expect that constitute this remarkable level of accomplishment.

Consider reading the book “Linchpin” by Seth Godin (2010) to increase your indispensability.

“One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above the little things.”

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“One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above the little things.”

-John Burroughs, American naturalist and nature essayist

Photo from Flickr by Barbara Olson

Photo from Flickr by Barbara Olson

In the early years of coaching there was a man named Thomas J. Leonard, whom many consider a primary catalyst for the profession we know today.

Among his prolific writings, as he developed the curriculum for Coach University, was a simple exercise to improve one’s life by reducing or eliminating the small things that often drain our energy and satisfaction. He called these little things that sap our lives, “tolerations.”

EXERCISE

Generate a list of little and not so little things in your world that diminish your life in even the smallest ways.

How can you reduce, eliminate, or, as John Burroughs suggests, rise above these things, to live a more fulfilling life?

Select at least one “toleration” and take some action today, and consider making this exercise an everyday practice to improve your life.

Courage is being scared to death… and saddling up anyway

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“Courage is being scared to death… and saddling up anyway.”

-John Wayne, American film actor, director, and producer

Photo from Flickr by Insomniacurredhere

Photo from Flickr by Insomniacurredhere

Perhaps no movie star epitomizes strength and courage more than John Wayne. Some of his most famous films, in a career that produced 142 pictures, were Stagecoach, Fort Apache, Sands of Iwo Jima, Rio Bravo, El Dorado, and True Grit.

EXERCISE

What one or two current issues or challenges are you facing that require you to summon the courage, saddle up, and do what needs to be done?

 

“Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle.”

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“Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle.”

– Jon Acuff, New York Times Bestselling author

Photo from Flickr bykevandotorg

Photo from Flickr by kevandotorg

Have you or do you know anyone close to you who started a new job, hobby, or sport?

Although we all know cognitively that it takes time to build competency and eventually mastery, many people compare their own beginning skill level to others who have been on this or a similar journey for some time.

They see where they are limited or falling short because the comparisons they make are not equal, and actually unfair.

EXERCISE

As you strive toward excellence in any area of life, be inspired by the mastery and  capabilities of those you admire, yet compare your current capabilities only to those of what you were capable of yesterday.

Worry is like a rocking chair

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“Worry is like a rocking chair: It gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere.”

—Erma Bombeck, humorist and author

Photo from Flickr by Jeff Hand

Photo from Flickr by Jeff Hand

Many people are familiar with the 80/20 rule, also known as the Pareto Principle.

An example of this rule is that 80 percent of our results comes from only 20 percent of our efforts.

On the other hand, 80 percent of our time and efforts account for only a small portion – 20 percent – of our results.

Bombeck would probably include worry as a significant part of this non-productive yet time-consuming aspect of our days.

EXERCISE:

Create a list of your professional and personal worries, then apply this two-step process:

  1. Look at each worry through an objective lens, not only from a negative or emotional perspective.
  2. Consider these issues from an optimistic perspective and explore some new or different approaches to stop rocking and start improving your situation.

Also consider Mark Twain’s statement: “I have lived a long life and had many troubles, most of which never happened.”   Read more about it here.