Morning Motivator – Are You Standing Knee-Deep In "Should"? (by Joe Stumpf)

"If only. Those must be the two saddest words in the world."
-  Mercedes Lackey

This Morning Motivator was written by Mr. Joe Stumpf and sent to me by one of my best buddies, Josh Anderson of Josh Anderson Real Estate/Keller Williams in Nashville.  THANKS DUDE!!

A mentor and coach of mine, Thomas Leonard, taught a concept called "Toleration-Free Zone."

A toleration is anything in your life that you say, "I should do that."

Some people are standing knee-deep in "should."

For example, at one time I could make a list of over 100 things I was tolerating.  The light in my closet was burned out and I had to move my ties into the light to see the colors. I was tolerating the burnt-out light bulb.

I had a gate latch that was broken, and when I closed the gate I would have to lean a brick up against the gate to make sure it closed.  Every time I closed my gate, I would hear myself say, "I should fix that."

My garage door would not close every time I hit the switch and I would say, "I should fix that…" The door in my downstairs bathroom was broken and when I had guests, they would get locked in the bathroom.  And I would say, "I should fix that."

I could give you over 100 examples, because that was one of the first exercises that Thomas gave me so I'd stop confusing tolerations with goals.  If your life is filled with tolerations, you start to act like they are goals.

Let's say you have a slow Internet connection and you say to yourself, "I should get a faster connection."  That is not a goal – that's something you're tolerating.  Get a faster connection and the goal is to double your income in half the time.

When your life is filled with tolerations, you set small goals.  When you live in a toleration-free zone, you set bigger, better goals.

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
Make a list of 100 things in your life that you're tolerating and over the next 24 months see how many you can handle.

I promise you will set bigger, better goals.

WOW – good stuff!  I couldn't have said it better myself…

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 – YOU ARE A GENIUS!

"No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness."
-  Aristotle

You know why I love the Morning Motivator?!  It is a peer group of GENIUS level business and social leaders.  HELL YES I said it!  WE are the best of the best.  The GENIUSES of society understand that the DOERS are the ones that drive change.  The followers try to influence… repeat, TRY.

As a LEADER, you will often encounter a backlash of support from people that are embattled with a duality of roles – leader of the followers.  These people will PUBLICLY question your intelligence, morality, resilience and yes, your leadership.  They will seek to PAINT you to be a "loose cannon," whose sole goal is self-fulfillment.

Alas, when called to ACTION, these same people will cower and run.  They seek SHELTER amongst the masses of followers, awaiting their turn to lash back to the front of the crowd, no doubt with the mob behind them, to question your actions… yet again!

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
So how does this relate to your being a GENIUS?  It is your ability to OVERCOME these proprietors of pestering, while BOLDLY continuing to lead for the benefit of your business and community as a whole.

It is your BROAD understanding of how people function and their fears of leadership that will allow you to ASCEND above the people seeking to hold you back.  It is your acceptance that you are not the smartest, most experienced or most talented – which takes great GENIUS and HUMILITY to recognize, rather, your WILLINGNESS to SERVE selflessly for the betterment of your people.

Will you gain personally?  Of course!  That is a byproduct of leadership.  The GAINS are truly made though when you fairly and respectively represent your people as their LEADER. 

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 – It Is Easier With a Plan

"A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow"
- Proverb

HUSTLE, HUSTLE, HUSTLE.  Another day, another 8 million tasks completed and still, that EMPTY FEELING!  How is it that I do all the "work' and never get anything ACCOMPLISHED?!

Sound familiar?  For many of us, this is the comment made daily as we drive home from work, wondering why we seem to have more still to do after doing so much.

We are all faced with a MULTITUDE of tasks, distractions, priorities, emergencies, necessities and niceties.  How do we DETERMINE what needs priority over something else?

Start by asking; DO I HAVE A PLAN?

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
Planning is boring.  True.  Planning is never ending.  Also, true.  Planning is what separates the BEST from the rest.  CAN I GET AN AMEN!?

When you plan, prioritize and with disciple, execute the tasks in PRIORITY of importance (time, value, resources, etc), you WILL be able to accomplish MUCH more with much less in much, much less time.

Do you REALLY want to feel accomplished?  Today, before you leave work, CREATE A PLAN.  Prioritize the next days' tasks in matter of importance.  Then when you arrive tomorrow… DO NOT DEVIATE from your plan.  Execute as previously determined.  Should you need to change, REPRIORITIZE by moving the new "most important" task to the top of your list.  DO NOT ELIMINATE YOUR PLAN - ALTER IT.

WHEN you plan and EXECUTE in accordance with that plan… you can PHYSICALLY see and feel your execution successes throughout the day.  Otherwise, you WILL be very busy, but have no ACCOUNTABILITY for what was accomplished, or its value.

What is today's plan?

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 – SPEAK UP!

"Don't back down just to keep the peace. Standing up for your beliefs builds self-confidence and self-esteem."
-  Oprah Winfrey

What do YOU stand for?  What are YOUR beliefs?  What do YOU think should be happening in your business, organization or membership group?  WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING ABOUT IT?!

One of the most DIFFICULT things for any individual to do is to STAND UP for what they want or believe in.  It takes GREAT courage to be the first to voice your opinion and challenge the APATHY that is typically associated with groups.  As we all know, it is easy to HIDE in a group and never do anything, thus never failing… nor SUCCEEDING!

Why do we not see MORE people standing up for what they want?  Is it the FEAR of being insolated in the thought process?  Is it fear of OFFENDING someone's poor little sensitive nature?  Is it just that we are CONDITIONED to be wussies and never take action?!

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
Frankly, I am don't with people who will not stand up for themselves.  If you don't have enough SELF-CONFIDENCE or PASSION to stand up, speak up and back it up, then maybe you don't belong in the groups I belong to.

WE ARE LEADERS.  Leaders challenge the status quo.  We fight for the people that will not fight for themselves… REPEAT, we fight for the people that will not fight for themselves.  This does not mean only the poor, uneducated or otherwise disavdavntaged.  This also includes the wealthy, educated, connected, yet GROSSLY apathetic that just cannot seem to get off their ass and do something!

Try something different.  Next time you DISAGREE with something – STAND UP AGAINST IT!  Do it strong and confident.  Just see what happens.  Explain your thoughts.  You may just find that many AGREE with you AND you will have EARNED the respect of those that would not stand out of fear!

You can 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.

Morning Motivator – Start Something.

"In a start-up company, you basically throw out all assumptions every three weeks."
-William Lyon Phelps

ENTREPRENEURISM and LEADERSHIP is less about money and ego, than it is about tenacity and focus.  Every great entrepreneur knows that "starting something" is more important than talking about it, while a great leader knows that getting it done is all that ever gets MEASURED.

What ideas have you been SITTING on for the past few years?  How long do you plan to wait until you take ACTION?  Are you waiting for "enough" money, time, education or other made up farcical conceptualizations we RATIONALIZE in order to allow ourselves to sleep at night?

Why not START SOMETHING today?

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
STARTING a business, a movement, a peer group or any other project is nothing more than starting the "ideavirus."

Share an idea… let it spread.  Pass it on to someone else…let it spread.  Share it on FaceBook… and let is spread some more!

Most businesses have SOLD many of their products or services prior to every having anything physically "deliverable."  Why not??  Who would INVEST a ton of time and energy into a business or project that you had no idea if it would be SUCCESSFUL?  No one that wants to be successful…

Take that IDEA you have been waiting on… go START SOMETHING today!  Ever wonder how the Morning Motivator came about?  I finally got pissed off and started something, not knowing what it would become, but knowing it had to be STARTED!  You CAN DO THE SAME!!

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.