Running a
marathon isn’t easy.
In fact, it’s impossible….
Unless, of course,
you’ve been training for months…running 3-5 times per week, gradually
increasing your mileage, preferably for at least 6 months to a year.
That’s the “secret.”
It’s the same
in business (and in life)…
The ONLY “magic
bullet” for success are the habits you practice day after day (after day).
Reality Check
Let’s be honest, life
is complicated.
Most people find
themselves trying to balance their career, their family, their side business,
and their health.
There’s so much we try
to balance it’s easy to get horribly out of balance.
We spend time working
out to improve our health…at the expense of family time.
…or we spend time with
our family…and our business suffers.
…or we work a ton of
hours to get that promotion…and our health suffers.
It’s a stressful balancing
act!
The question is how can we balance all this out?
Continuous Improvement
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- The Japanese
coined a term ages ago called “kaizen,” which
translates to “continuous improvement,” and it’s been mainly used in business
practices.
The concept came from
a man named Edward Deming, who went into war-torn Japan back in 1950 and taught
the Japanese people that (paraphrasing)…
If you can focus directly on providing massive
amounts of value through quality, you will become a dominant economic power in
the world.
They did both.
Sony emerged from
war-torn Japan to become a massive business superpower because they focused on
quality.
The amazing thing was
that it wasn’t just the quality of the top-level managers, it was to the entire organization.
They had a cultural
shift to produce quality work, and they became wildly profitable.
Tony Robbins calls
this process CANI: Constant And Never-ending
Improvement.
It’s that little bit
of CANI or kaizen, where
you improve a little bit in each one of these areas every
single day, that makes the BIG difference in the long term.
How do you begin?
Start
Small
For instance, if you
want to improve your health, start by walking five minutes a day.
That’s it!
Add that to your
routine.
With your business,
focus on one small skill that you could improve on.
With your
family, write a note of gratitude to your spouse, bring home
flowers, or write a note to your kids.
Getting better at what you do
translates into the rest of your life.
You may be saying,
“You don’t understand, I have a boss from hell and I despise everybody
that I work with.”
I hate to break it to
you, but with that attitude, you’re not going
to get very far in business and in life.
Your attitude has to
change inside first, before you’re able to become a leader.
You’ve got to appreciate people—even the ones that aren’t so
nice.
And sure, there will
be seasons in your life. There will be times when you’re going to work a
little bit harder in one particular area—and that’s okay.
Your long-term balance
and success still just come from making these little improvements daily.
So where should you
start?
5 Areas of Focus: TIPPS
There are five main
areas in your life, and if you can improve in these over the long term, not
only will you be balanced, you will recognize your progress, and that alone
will start motivating you all by itself.
To remember these five
areas, just remember the acronym TIPPS.
1.
Time
Schedule time for everything
important in your life—personal
and business.
This means setting up
work times that focus on tasks each day. This
might be a course you’re committing to. It might be a workout, or a time that
you have set directly in your calendar that you are going to exercise.
Maybe it’s a date that
you have recurring every single week with your significant other; every Friday
night at a certain time.
Schedule the personal stuff, too—if you book
your schedule to work every spare minute and never make time to start
laundry or pay your bills, you’re creating bigger problems that will ultimately
pull your focus away from your work in the future.
For personal
development, set up a time for you to read or fill your brain with something
positive each day, like reading the posts on my Facebook Fan Page DAILY. Add it to your
calendar that this is your time to invest 15 minutes a day into personal
development.
I
n other words, with
this particular concept, block off the time to get
things done without any interruption whatsoever.
2.
Intake
Be aware of what food
you’re taking in. Notice what you’re eating and how you feel afterwards.
(Ah yes, the aftermath…)
A lot of us are
walking around each day like zombies, unaware of how we’re functioning. As far
as diets go, some people like to graze throughout the day, some people eat
large meals, some people like to fast.
Those are eating
styles.
It’s critical
to audit what you’re eating and what effect it has on your body.
For me, it’s all about
energy. That’s what I’m focused on. How can I maximize my energy each day?
I look at
the glycemic index of foods and pay attention
to low GI versus high GI carbohydrates.
For instance…
High GI foods are things like honey, sugar,
white rice, white potatoes, pasta, beer, and alcohol.
Low GI carbs are like sweet potatoes, most
vegetables, black beans, brown rice, and oatmeal.
Notice how you feel
after you eat high-GI foods versus low-GI foods.
Track your intake by writing
down everything you eat and drink for five days straight.
That’s it, just five
days. That’s pretty easy to do!
Notice that foods can
affect us up to three days after we eat them. Make notes on how you feel each
day.
You might be saying,
“But I love high GI foods! I love pasta, I love bread, I love dipping the bread
in the olive oil!” Believe me, I like those things too. I’m not
saying that you have to give these things up!
All I’m saying is to
take a really, really good look on how you feel after
you have consumed these foods.
And then become
strategic about your consumption.
Here's a FREE PDF To Help You
SENSIBLE SNACKS & MEALS FOR WEIGHT LOSS -
3.
Positive People
Surround yourself with positive
people.
This could be a
challenge if you’re working with a lot of “Negative Nellies” and “Debbie
Downers.” It can also be a challenge if you have deep-rooted friendships with
them and you’re trying to be more positive.
This one is really
difficult for me, because for years, I surrounded myself with negative people
and it was because my language was negative and sarcastic.
I firmly believe that
we attract more of what we think about and focus on.
I’ve been following a
guy named Bob Proctor for a long time. He talks about three words that have had
the greatest impact on his life.
The three words are…“Thoughts become things.” …so choose good
thoughts!
Whatever you focus on
and concentrate on, you get more of.
So focus carefully on
attracting more positive people into your life.
They will naturally
come with your mindset and language shift.
4.
Positive Regard
Hold everyone you meet
in positive regard, meaning that you consider that people have the
greatest of intentions towards you, even if they don’t communicate like they do.
It’s not about smiling
and nodding, it’s not about your physiology…
It’s all about your attitude.
There will be a
lot of people that could rub you
the wrong way, of course. That’s the test.
For instance, if
somebody on my team asks me, “Why didn’t you meet that deadline, Warren?” I can
take that in two ways…
I can think:
That person’s pissed off at me and is out to
get me. They want bad things to happen to me. What a jerk! What’s the matter
with this guy? Doesn’t he know that I’m doing the best I can?
Or I can take it with
positive regard, saying:
That person’s concerned about the project and
meeting the deadline and he’s probably worried and he wants to deliver a killer
product and he thinks I’m holding back the project.
So no matter what is
communicated to you, assume the best of
intentions.
This applies to your
boss, your co-worker, your spouse, significant other, your child, your
co-worker, or someone who just cut you off in traffic. Hold them all in
positive regard.
Think about the
alternative…
If you’re constantly
thinking about what a jerk that person is, you’re going to see more of their
jerkiness, right?
And if you assume the
best, you’ll see it happen more often and you’ll have a calmer life.
I’m not saying it’s a
simple thing, but it’s not for the other person, it’s for you!
5.
State
Be aware of your
state.
What kind of state are
you in right now?
Are you depressed?
Happy? Sad? Grateful?
Your physiology is
incredibly important in managing your state. One of the best ways that you
can manage your state is to smile.
Smile by yourself and
smile in public.
Yup, I mean it.
When I get out of my
car at the grocery store, I smile. Not a big, crazy grin. Just a very
slight smile. It actually helps me, it puts my chest up and I walk with a
little bit of confidence.
Just a little teeny smile
makes all the difference in the world.
Some of you know that
I do some kind of crazy, intense workouts, and when I get tired and exhausted
and don’t want to do it anymore, I smile. It actually gets me through the rest
of that workout.
Smile on the phone
too.
People can actually feel your
smile even if they can’t see you.
It’s kind of cool.
Smiling actually
releases serotonin, which is the awesome brain drug that we all
like. Of the “feel good” neurotransmitters (dopamine and serotonin),
serotonin makes you feel good for a lot longer
than dopamine does.
When I find myself
getting overwhelmed, I smile.
I put my chest out and
stand up straight for about 30 seconds or so, and it gets me through that
moment of being overwhelmed.
Really, just being
aware of your state is half the battle.
So always ask
yourself, “What state am I in right now?”
Remember
Your TIPPS!
To
recap, you’re looking for ways to cultivate balance in your busy life with
so many elements in play.
The best way to do
that is with continuous improvement in each area.
But remember—each
improvement is small.
You’re not looking to
climb Everest, go 100% raw vegan, win a congeniality award, or go totally zen.
You’re just looking to make
tiny, incremental improvements in each area of your life.
Those areas are…
1. Time – calendar all the important stuff, business and personal
2. Intake – keep track of your food for 5 days
3. Positive People – hang out with nice folks!
4. Positive Regard – assume the best, no matter what the
situation looks like
5. State – Take note of your state, then put your shoulders back,
take a breath, and smile
Once you’re in a
state of balance, you’re ready to be productive.
You’re ready to do
what it takes to move your business and your life ahead.
But sitting in neutral
while the engine gets revved accomplishes nothing…
You
need to “get in gear” before you can move forward with the new year.
And just like a car
needs some gas to make a move…
Let’s face it…
If you’re not yet
where you want to be, what you don’t need is one more ebook or cyber-course
taking up space in your hard drive, unused, while you squander your precious
time.
After all, we’ve just
been talking about how many things you have to balance in your life!
No, what you need is
someone who can give you personalized advice, assignments, and accountability
to propel you forward into the new year.
You’ll get there faster
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Our in-house
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