By Pablo J. Perez, Executive and Business Coach
A few days ago, I was interviewed by a local radio station in Miami about the effects of the current recession on small business. After the interview was finished, they called me back and expressed surprise at my answers. I did not mention anything negative about the current economic situation. I did not say anything about layoffs, downsizing or business restructuring. Instead, I talked about possibilities.
It is impossible to deny the effects of the economy. We have to be aware of it and clearly understand the impact that this turbulence is creating in our businesses and in our personal lives. However, to achieve success we have to focus on creating possibilities.
In his book, “Making It Happen Before Lunch," Stephan Schiffman says: “Dwell in possibility, there is always a door somewhere waiting to be opened." What a great thought!
For me, a possibility is that this climate may result in coaching more clients – to help them increase their success in retaining, developing and enhancing the performance of their people. It could lead to my helping a manager become a leader. It could lead to helping a person or organization plan and implement change.
Focusing on possibilities, in my case, requires overcoming or controlling my instincts and attitudes. It doesn't mean abandoning what I like to do (organizing, reading, preparing). It does mean creating a habit of thought: to focus on finding the doors that Schiffman talks about, and then opening those doors and walking into an opportunity to be of service to people and companies.
We all have to create our own possibilities. How to do it?
Start with optimism. It's so much easier to believe in possibilities as an optimist. That's a challenge for about 70% of the population – the 70% whose thought pattern conjures up pitfalls rather than opportunities.
All those pessimists should start every day with this thought: “Something good will happen today – if I make it happen.” Keep telling yourself that. Once you convince yourself that there are doors waiting to open – whatever that means to you – carve out the time and energy to find those doors.
Talk about obsession, not recession. Don’t participate in negative conversations about the future. Change the subject. Start talking about how well your business is doing and the things you are doing differently. Talk about today.
Be obsessed with your success, making reference to your vision and dreams during your conversations with co-workers, family and friends, allowing them to be aligned with your positive thoughts.
Change your perspective. Don’t stare at the picture from yesterday’s viewpoint. You have to come out to where you are today and watch your life and organization from a different perspective. Stop your day-to-day activities to take some time to look at perceived obstacles and impediments from a different point of view. Invite your team members to do the same thing. If you change your perspective from time to time, the questions you ask will be different, and so will the answers you get.
Create goals that keep you focused on possibilities. Make a promise to yourself that every day you will take an action that will create possibilities (such as a phone call to a prospect, a new meeting with your people, or a lunch with a long-lost friend or client). But in every case – do it!
Write down your accomplishments when you create a possibility – then see how many of those possibilities you created can be made into opportunities, then into relationships, then into new businesses.
Speak possibilities. Do you have a roadmap to your success? Do you have variable solutions to your obstacles? If not, act now! Explore your possibilities. When you speak possibilities you are sending a positive message to the world around you, asking for success instead of failure. You are creating your own future today by opening your mind to new things.
List your dreams for this year, and draw the roadmap to get there, and you will see how many new possibilities appear in front of you.
Build on your success. Be convinced that the more possibilities you create, the more doors you will open – and think about how great it will be to step through into opportunities.
Realize that every day new possibilities can be created – they are there waiting for you!
As an Executive and Business Coach, I help people use their resources and skills to do a better job, watching the picture from a different perspective. For more information, call Pablo J. Perez at +1(305) 495-6851, or send an e-mail to pabloperezbarreiro@gmail.com
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Get what you want..NOW!
By Pablo J. Perez, Executive Coach
Getting what you want whenever you want it, has been the deepest desire of humanity. Young people work hard to acquire more knowledge and skills to have the chance of getting what they want in the future. Middle-aged people work even harder to get what they want, time an essential factor to be considered. But success does not come in bottles.
How can you get what you want … now? Here is some advice.
Dream a lot, but make a plan
Walt Disney said “If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse”, but dreaming is not enough.
We can spend all our lives dreaming about our company’s success or our personal success, yet if we do not make a detailed plan considering the priorities and building a timetable to execute them, we are left only with a bunch of wishes.
Never give up
Successful people never give up. They learn from every failure and every mistake. Remember Carl Carlson's 17-year efforts to make his copy machine (Xerox) a reality and Thomas Edison's 10,000 experiments to invent the light bulb. The powerful lesson from many great inventors and entrepreneurs in human history is – Never Give Up!
Those inventors kept on trying. They did not allow negative results or rejection to kill their new ideas, hopes and dreams. They took every obstacle as a challenge to overcome. They picked themselves up after every rejection and kept working even harder.
Do not fear change
Albert Einstein defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” After fear of public speaking, fear of changing is the strongest impediment to success. However, if we want to improve the quality of our lives, the revenue of our companies, or the inter-personal relationships with people around us, we have to change. Positive behavioral change is a must to improve results.
Understand your weaknesses and your strengths
Be realistic. There is always room for improvement. Last week I learned another important lesson in my life when I decided to take a sales assessment to evaluate my sales skills. This assessment provides crucial insights that reveal the hidden barriers you can eliminate to maximize your sales performance. Today, after digesting and analyzing the results of my assessment, I have key information which will allow me to dramatically improve my sales skills.
Developing your skills and knowledge in order to minimize your weaknesses is fundamental to get what you want. However, do not forget to keep developing your strengths. Those are the ones that got you where you are today.
The power of getting everything you want in life whenever you want it is in you. If you want to change the outcome of your actions, you have to start analyzing your thought processes and act now.
If you want to create a roadmap to your success, getting what you want whenever you want it, call me at (305) 722-7215 or send an e-mail to pjperez@activategroupinc.com for a free assessment.
Getting what you want whenever you want it, has been the deepest desire of humanity. Young people work hard to acquire more knowledge and skills to have the chance of getting what they want in the future. Middle-aged people work even harder to get what they want, time an essential factor to be considered. But success does not come in bottles.
How can you get what you want … now? Here is some advice.
Dream a lot, but make a plan
Walt Disney said “If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse”, but dreaming is not enough.
We can spend all our lives dreaming about our company’s success or our personal success, yet if we do not make a detailed plan considering the priorities and building a timetable to execute them, we are left only with a bunch of wishes.
Never give up
Successful people never give up. They learn from every failure and every mistake. Remember Carl Carlson's 17-year efforts to make his copy machine (Xerox) a reality and Thomas Edison's 10,000 experiments to invent the light bulb. The powerful lesson from many great inventors and entrepreneurs in human history is – Never Give Up!
Those inventors kept on trying. They did not allow negative results or rejection to kill their new ideas, hopes and dreams. They took every obstacle as a challenge to overcome. They picked themselves up after every rejection and kept working even harder.
Do not fear change
Albert Einstein defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” After fear of public speaking, fear of changing is the strongest impediment to success. However, if we want to improve the quality of our lives, the revenue of our companies, or the inter-personal relationships with people around us, we have to change. Positive behavioral change is a must to improve results.
Understand your weaknesses and your strengths
Be realistic. There is always room for improvement. Last week I learned another important lesson in my life when I decided to take a sales assessment to evaluate my sales skills. This assessment provides crucial insights that reveal the hidden barriers you can eliminate to maximize your sales performance. Today, after digesting and analyzing the results of my assessment, I have key information which will allow me to dramatically improve my sales skills.
Developing your skills and knowledge in order to minimize your weaknesses is fundamental to get what you want. However, do not forget to keep developing your strengths. Those are the ones that got you where you are today.
The power of getting everything you want in life whenever you want it is in you. If you want to change the outcome of your actions, you have to start analyzing your thought processes and act now.
If you want to create a roadmap to your success, getting what you want whenever you want it, call me at (305) 722-7215 or send an e-mail to pjperez@activategroupinc.com for a free assessment.
Developing Your Internal CEO
By Pablo J. Perez, Executive and Corporate Coach
How can I get more control over my decisions? How can I improve my personal results faster? When can I reach my dreams? What is needed to get there?
Sometimes it is difficult to find the answers to these questions. However, there is a pathfinder formula that will lead you to a response. Everything starts with that little voice in your head, the “internal CEO” that governs the actions and decisions that will guide your future outcomes.
Let’s start by defining the term “development.” According to the Merriam-Webster Thesaurus, the definition of development is:
How can I get more control over my decisions? How can I improve my personal results faster? When can I reach my dreams? What is needed to get there?
Sometimes it is difficult to find the answers to these questions. However, there is a pathfinder formula that will lead you to a response. Everything starts with that little voice in your head, the “internal CEO” that governs the actions and decisions that will guide your future outcomes.
Let’s start by defining the term “development.” According to the Merriam-Webster Thesaurus, the definition of development is:
- The act or process of going from the simple or basic to the complex or advanced
Synonyms elaboration, evolution, expansion, growth, progress, progression - A condition or occurrence traceable to a cause
The process of becoming mature.
Personal development implies a deep self-evaluation; a complete review of your personal desires and dreams and a comparison between the “wish to be” and the “what I am.”
There is a mathematical axiom which states that “the whole is equal to the sum of its parts.” Similarly, your growth as a person depends on your ability to examine the parts of your life to see if they add up to the total person you want to be.
The “life wheel” is composed of the areas that together form the “internal CEO” (see graph one). The difficult task is that the wheel should be “balanced” for a smooth and comfortable journey, and the “pressure” in each area of the wheel depends on your desires, priorities and needs. Every area is always open to further development, depending on the different stages in your life, and should be checked periodically.
The successful development of your “internal CEO” will help you succeed on your own terms, developing a positive attitude, improving your interpersonal skills, and last but not least, enhancing your goal achievement rate.
Now, I would like to give you three assignments which to help you evaluate how your “internal CEO” is progressing so far.
- List the benefits for you as an individual and for your organization of having a balanced wheel.
- List the consequences for you as an individual and for your organization of NOT having a balanced wheel.
- List the last 10 personal goals you set and achieved during the last 12 months.
Once your lists are completed, the next step is to set goals and establish priorities for each area of your “life wheel,” turning your general ideas into specific goals that you can begin planning.
Taking Action:
Williams James, the father of American psychology, said: “The greatest discovery of the Twentieth Century is the fact that human beings have the ability to change their attitudes.”
If we control our “internal CEO” and choose the goals we want to achieve in each area of our life wheel, we will receive the rewards of success. Having and achieving your own definition of balance in the areas of ethics and beliefs, mental, social, physical, financial, and family life will allow you to dramatically improve your results and your goal achievement rate.
As an Executive Coach, I help individuals and organizations develop better attitudes more rapidly and produce more satisfying results. I work with my clients in all areas, including business, career, finances, time management, productivity, employee motivation, and relationships. As a result of coaching, clients set better goals, take more action, make better decisions, and more fully use their natural strengths.
If you wish to explore deeper into the subjects contained in this article, please call Activate Group at (305)722-7215, or send an e-mail to pjperez@activategroupinc.com.
Reference and excerpts taken with permission from Leadership published by Resource Associates Corporation.
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