Morning Motivator - Becoming Hard to Beat, Learn Daily

"If you train hard, you'll not only be hard, you'll be hard to beat."
- Hershel Walker

Every day is a PREPARATION for the following day and you have the OPPORTUNITY to train everyday for your future. Often, we are so FOCUSED on today, we fail to look forward and take ADVANTAGE of the learning gifts we are provided daily.

What are the areas of FOCUS we can concentrate on improving? Relationships, communications, problem solving, self awareness, creative expression, logic and analysis... plus many more. How many OPPORTUNITIES are presented to you daily for analysis and experience building that you may be missing out on?

Consider this, you overhear a discussion between two colleagues sharing an experience they had with a vendor. One colleague is OVERJOYED with the positive experience they enjoyed when they called the 800 number of a service company... how can you GROW from this? First, make clear you were not intended to listen in on them, then ask the person WHAT made for such a GREAT experience. The next words from their mouth are YOUR learning experience. Absorb, analyze and implement your way to success.

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
The most efficient LEARNERS are persons that have become aware that learning is best done through the experiences of others. Both POSITIVE and NEGATIVE experiences provide a tremendous amount of learning opportunity if you take a moment to ABSORB, ANALYZE and IMPLEMENT.

Don't be afraid to ask a question of someone that has endured an experience worth noting. If it was POSITIVE they will WANT to share it with you. If it was NEGATIVE, they will REALLY WANT to share it with you. Always listen for the CORE cause of the experience. Take out the emotions/attitude and focus on the actions. You can DUPLICATE the process and ACTIONS. Your ATTITUDE I can't fix... =)

Enjoy your weekend, be safe and keep achieving!

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator – “Excuse” Me…

"Nothing is impossible; there are ways that lead to everything, and if we had sufficient will we should always have sufficient means. It is often merely for an excuse that we say things are impossible."
- Francois De La Rochefoucauld

I have a confession… I love rap music. I know, I know, you all had me pegged as a gangster rapper from day one. Seriously, I ENJOY a lot of rap music to a great extent. One of my favorite artists is Jay-Z, based mostly on his mentality towards ACCOMPLISHMENT and his willingness to WORK hard for his passions.

As I drove in this morning, a lyric in one of his tracks RESONATED with me, "Difficult takes a day. Impossible takes a week." The POSITIVE mentality of overcoming DIFFICULTY was so apparent to me in that lyric, I was moved to write about it. I thought…how many people are faced with a CHALLENGING project or situation that they deem as IMPOSSIBLE? What does "IMPOSSIBLE" really mean? I believe it is our personal way of providing an EXCUSE to fail or worse, fail to try.

In our lifetime, we have each OVERCOME some great task or challenge. Do you remember how you felt when you WORKED HARD and ACCOMPLISHED the goal you felt was "impossible"? Do you remember the PRIDE and JOY that pumped through your veins as you basked in the GLORY of ACHIEVEMENT? Do you remember how many people were IMPRESSED that you had the TENACITY and CAPABILITY to achieve that goal? MOST IMPORTANTLY… Do you remember what you said to yourself when it was done?? It sounded something like…"Wow, that wasn't that hard after all…"

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:

Most CHALLENGES we face are laced with FEAR that is trumped up in our minds as we seek the EASY path to avoiding stress and discomfort. Often it is our MOTIVATION to alleviate PAIN that pushes us into motion to overcome a DIFFICULT challenge.

Do you know why most TOP ACHIEVERS accomplish goals more effectively and efficiently? They are SELF AWARE of the PAIN that arises from each EXCUSE they create. By PROACTIVELY taking on the HARD WORK needed to avoid stress on the front end, they create a PROCESS for easy accomplishment on the back end. If you know something will cause you PAIN by putting it off… beat it to the punch! Take it HEAD ON and OVERCOME your challenges early… EXCUSES are just the PROCRASTINATION of PAIN.

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator - Succeed Through Others

"Encouraged people achieve the best; dominated people achieve second best; neglected people achieve the least."
-Unknown

We all want to be TOP achievers in our personal and professional lives. We all work HARD and many are unable to figure out the SECRET to getting to the NEXT LEVEL of HAPPINESS.

Why are some able to EASILY able to find the next level? What is that they KNOW that we don't? I believe I KNOW... Its HELPING others achieve their goals directly to ACHIEVE your own. Let me explain further...

In my current business, I market telephone applications to businesses to help IMPROVE their management and REDUCE their costs. As part of this business, IT PARTNERS are required to help with the installation and strategy. Rather than work around them or bring them in on the back end, my GOAL is to involve them upfront and encourage them to work with THEIR clients to solve phone problems. My daily TACTICS are to HELP the partner IDENTIFY, ENGAGE, EDUCATE and MANAGE the sales cycle. By helping the IT partner sell more business, in a way that does not ask them to learn a new PROCESS and GROWS their core business through my marketing and sales efforts, I am able to solve the partners needs - INCREASED REVENUE with MINIMAL additional administration support or sales training. I help them sell more of their business... and the more they sell INCLUDES my solution.

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
When you are able to SOLVE problems for others that lend DIRECTLY to solving your own, you will find that you create a FEEDER system for your business. If your business is to RECRUIT volunteers, find a way to solve the problems of a group that has a required number of community hours to keep eligibility of sorts. If your business is to sell home loans, find accountants that need help in REDUCING their clients taxable liability as part of their offering. If you are seeking LOVE and AFFECTION from a person, don't change the person(!), if they are DRIVEN, help them focus and achieve... they will love you for SHARING in their dreams (and helping solve their inner needs).

When you are able to help others OVERCOME their frustrations and challenges, you will find that you are a part of their SOLUTION - no longer just someone that needs a hand out or a favor. Make it EASY for someone to work with you, learn from you, date you, befriend you... and you will find the NEXT LEVEL of SUCCESS.

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator – My Favorite Quote

"We overestimate what we can accomplish in one year, but we underestimate what we can accomplish in five."
- Peter Drucker

You may have seen an adaptation of this quote from discussions with my great mentor, Andy Herzer. I wanted to share this again, as I have enjoyed some new discussions with young professionals regarding their SUCCESS strategy and GROWTH planning for the future.

Once, I believed myself to be a very LAID BACK and RELAXED individual and am coming to realize I may have a small CONTROL complex. I enjoyed a wonderful chat this weekend about FUTURE planning and it was apparent that of the 3 people at the table discussing, I was the one thinking the most towards the FUTURE and that I was also the one MISSING out on the most FUN. My LEARNING experience from this was a consideration that maybe I place too much PRESSURE on myself to have "it all figured out" today and that a step back to SEE the bigger picture is what is in order.

My personal CHALLENGE is that I want ALL the answers before I ask the question. I want GUARANTEES about the future without living in the present. I want to know the OUTCOME of my days before I ever wake up. That seems to be a STRESSFUL way of living a happy lifestyle doesn't it? So what should I do (and possibly you)…

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:

In my prior life at BlackBerryGuy, Andy Bailey (president), would always make the comment… "improve 1% daily." What he is really saying is … take ONE SIMPLE STEP daily towards your LONG TERM dreams of SUCCESS and ACHIEVEMENT. By taking one step per day, you will be 365 steps further at the end of the year. In the case of a 1% improvement… you will have improved yourself 365% of your original self – over 3.5 times better!!

Like a map, you must know where you are today to chart out your first step. Write down your GOAL. Set a time frame for ACCOMPLISHMENT. Write down the feelings you expect to ENJOY when you ACHIEVE your goal. In bold lettering, note the FIRST STEP to accomplishing that goal… then go do it. Once achieved, write ONLY the next step and repeat. Do this daily and you will find that your able to accomplish all your DREAMS and never feel the PAIN or FRUSTRATIONS traditionally accompanied with "getting it all figured out, today."

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator - Three Letter to Change Your Life... TRY

"One of the great discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do."
- Henry Ford

Have you ever wondered how some people ACHIEVE so much and others seem to STRUGGLE continually?

I have noticed a COMMON trend in the people I meet that seem to have ACCOMPLISHED more in a lesser amount of time - they LACK a sense of FEAR.

I speak often about FEAR or in this sense, SELF-DOUBT. We are each good to say how AWESOME we are and all the reasons why we have never taken it to the next level - I'm not interested in "those" things, my job isn't a great fit for me, I don't have time to... You know the drill.

We can CHOOSE to perpetually hide from ourselves and ACCEPT a life of COMPROMISES... OR... We can throw blind caution to the wind and start living our BEST life NOW!

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
You personal SELF IMAGE, or the positive/negative ways in which you view yourself, are the deciding factors in what you will or will not ACCOMPLISH in regards to your goals.

Commonly, people have found past incidents that have shaped their PERCEPTION of people and situations - a bad break up, an exciting new job, the first ride on a big roller coaster. Often, we are hesitant to take the first steps out of fear, and almost EVERY TIME, once we try it, we say... "That wasn't that bad. I can TOTALLY do that!", at which point we succeed over and over again.

Take on your FEAR, shed your SELF DOUBTS and TRY to live your dreams... It won't be THAT hard, and you can TOTALLY do it!

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.