Month: February 2020

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Quick.  What’s the first answer that comes to your mind when I ask you this question:

“What’s possible for your future?”

For many of us, we will instinctively look to our past to decide what our potential is.  We may tell ourselves it would be too hard, too risky or too late to do big things in our lives and in the world.

If this is you, then you’re probably cheating yourself – and the world – out of amazing contributions.  

Google defines “Potential” as “latent qualities or abilities that may be developed and lead to future success or usefulness”.  

Notice the word “latent” in that definition.  

The qualities and abilities we have not YET fully developed are our potential.  They haven’t happened. Therefore, we can’t look to our past to define our potential.  That isn’t where it lives.

Go back to your answer to the question I asked you about your future.  

Do you like that answer? 

If not, consider the possibility that you could be wrong.  

I’m so glad I was wrong about being able to start a business on my own after spending 20 years in the corporate world.  

The stories my brain offered about it being too late, too hard and too risky… Turns out they were all just stories.  

If I had chosen to keep those stories we wouldn’t be here together right now.  I wouldn’t have impacted the lives I have, including my own. And, most likely, that latent potential would still be lying there dormant.   

Instead, I chose to be wrong about what I have to contribute.  I chose to be wrong about my potential. I chose to be wrong about what I thought I was capable of.   

Sometimes being wrong is the best.    

Need a hand being wrong?  I can help. Grab some time on my calendar by clicking here. #Triumphant2020

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I listened to a man tell this story about how he proved his colleague wrong.  He told the story with high energy and enthusiasm. It was clear he took great pride in being right.

We all know someone like this know-it-all guy right?  We all know people that just seem to enjoy being difficult, challenging, annoying.  The ones we dread having to interact with.  

It’s tempting to believe that THEY are the problem.  If they would just change their behavior then it would be easier to get along with them.  

Typically, forcing people to change their behavior isn’t effective.  Even if we are successful at it, there’s often resentment left behind.  Seriously, think about the last time someone tried to get you to do something you really did not want to do or agree with…  It just doesn’t work well.       

So if we can’t change them, the only option left is to change ourselves and the way we respond.

That begs the question – what is the most effective way to respond to challenging people?

I want to make a case for love being one really great option.    

Wait.  What? Love??   

You might be thinking “You want me to LOVE the annoying, challenging, difficult people???  I am not even sure I LIKE them let alone LOVE them!!”

Here’s what I want you to consider.  

Our relationship with anyone is made up entirely of thoughts.  You can choose to think anything you want about the people in your life.  Yet, often we choose judgmental, critical, or just plain negative thoughts about ourselves and others.  

How do you suppose that impacts an already challenged relationship?  

Last year I laid down a dare and this 2020 Valentine’s week, I am daring you again.  

Walk around your workplace today and practice just feeling love for those around you – especially the challenging people.  You can find even just one small thing you appreciate about almost anyone if you really wanted to. You don’t even have to say a word.  Just try it in your mind for one whole day.

What you will find is that even if nothing else changes – you’ll feel a whole lot better.  Because love just feels better than what you were thinking and feeling before you took this dare.    

And, don’t be surprised when that challenging person all the sudden becomes less annoying to you.  

Need a hand? Just click here, let’s chat!

(2-minute read time) 

It was April 10th.  Five days left before taxes were due.  

I’d never been that close to the deadline.  Historically, I’d always done my taxes as soon as I could.  In fact, I used to get impatient waiting for all the documentation to come in the mail.  

But not that year.  That year, I put it off.  And then put it off some more.  And a bit more after that.    

Each time I avoided my taxes there was angst.  There was angst in doing them AND in avoiding them.

Doing the taxes meant facing some fears.  Not doing them meant having to find some justifiable excuse for doing them “later” (which I was pretty good at).   

The goal was to get the taxes done as painlessly as possible.  

I  made obtaining my goal so much harder than it needed to be.   

I did some math and figured if I had given just 15 minutes a day to facing my tax fears, I would have submitted them weeks earlier.  I would have been done with the stress. And, I would’ve had some money back more quickly (yes after all that, I ended up with a refund!)   

A client recently shared this with me.  It’s not new, I just love the way he said it:  

“Good decades are made up of good years, good years are the results of good months, weeks, days, hours and minutes…”

Success is built. It’s the result of a series of small decisions.  It’s a compilation of many small wins (and a bunch of failures too).  

You get to vote for what the future looks like with your choices, your actions right now.  The actions you choose today matter.   They compound, like interest.   

So, today, regardless of where you are on your journey with your goals, I encourage you to find an easy win.  Today, on this very day, what’s some small way you can contribute to the future you really want to have?   

Maybe it’s spending 15 minutes on your goal to get your taxes done.  Even when you’d rather zip line over gator infested waters.   

Maybe it’s ordering the salad instead. Maybe it’s setting the alarm 15 minutes earlier. Maybe it’s dinner at the table. Maybe it’s smiling in the mirror.

Simply make some easy, completely doable decisions for yourself today.  Collect lots of small wins.

Your future self will thank you.  

If you have any questions or need a hand along the way I can definitely help, just click here to schedule a free, 30-minute discovery session.