image credit: vivevans

Posers and Impersonators a Plenty

Vegas just wouldn’t be the same place without the posers and Elvis impersonators.
Someone has to show up for that gig, I suppose. But do they really?

Think about it–celebrity impersonators, like cover bands, don’t change the world.

Okay, confession time. 
In my own characturish way, I tried (unsuccessfully) as a kid to be someone else too–Fonzie from Happy Days.  After all, he was one cool dude, or so I thought at the time. He rode a motorcycle, got all the girls, and could jump start a jukebox with a single knock. Thankfully I grew out of that phase and came to realize that Henry Winkler wasn’t that smooth in real-life. Even the Fonz had to be himself when he left the set.

That Job’s Already Taken

Chris Gardner of The Pursuit of Happyness story, recalls in his book, Start Where You Are, how as a young boy he wanted to be Miles Davis. His mom, quick to remind him of the importance of being true to ones self, replied, “Sorry hon, that job’s already taken.”

Though imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, authenticity is the only way to make a lasting impact. The world doesn’t need another Miles Davis, Chris Gardner, or Fonzie for that matter and Vegas has more Elvis wannabes than one city deserves.

At the end of our days, none of us will be proud to have lived a knock-off life of someone else.
So forget about being the next whoever.
Those jobs are already taken.
Be the first YOU.

The world needs your ideas and actions. There are things that only you can accomplish without which the world will never be the same, but to make your mark on the world requires being yourself and doing something of distinction and value.

What’s Your DNA Distinction?

If you haven’t done so already, take a DNA inventory check.
What are your strengths? We all have them. So discover what makes you distinct and then deliver that value to the world. Unapologetically. Boldly.

Poser, Impersonator, or Person of Distinction – The choice is up to you.

image credit: OakleyOriginals

Afraid of Fear

Fear has a way of crippling and keeping us right we where we are with just a whisper.

“Easy now, you’ve gone far enough.”

“Watch out.”

“Don’t risk it.”

“Be careful.”

“Stay where you are.”

“What if [ fill in the blank ]?”

“Play it safe.”

Playing it safe rarely is.

President Kennedy warned us to fear nothing but “fear itself” because it has the potential to render us less effective than we were before it arrived. So where does that leave us?

Know Thy Fear

Understanding our fear can be like flipping on a light-switch, resulting in an “ah ha” moment of enlightenment that reveals the lack of substance behind the scare.

Perhaps that’s what Marie Curie intended when she said, “Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.” But sometimes knowledge just isn’t enough.

Understanding Fear is Not the Same as Facing It

There are plenty of socially anxious people who understand their phobia all too well but are unable face it or change. Curie’s axiom is incomplete. Instead, it should be, “Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood, faced, and conquered.”

Too often there’s a Gap between the knowing and the doing.

If your house was on fire, you wouldn’t care so much about the firemen’s understanding of their fear as you would their response to it. Similarly, knowing what you’re afraid of is fine, but doing something anyway is always better. Instead of sitting on that information and hoping your fear will just head the other direction, you must face it–head on.

Face Thy Fear

image credit: superwebdeveloper

Risk, the calculated kind anyway, is good. It means we’re alive and betting on opportunity.  It implies that we’re not through with life. Our life, that is. And come hell or high water, we are going forward to make something better of what’s before us.

Fear can’t reside in a mindset like this. For it to survive, it requires something to feed upon–our doubt, hesitation, and misused imagination. Most of all, it counts on our passivity.

Turning the light on and seeing things for what they are will certainly help us square off with this challenger but the most important element is action. That’s the real thing that propels us past our fear.

“Many of our fears are tissue-paper-thin, and a single courageous step would carry us clear through them.” ~ Brendan Francis

Most people avoid fear rather than face it, as if it were an unsolicited sales interruption who will just give up after a few knocks at the door and move along to some other sucker. Fear doesn’t play that game. He’s a tenacious opponent. In fact, if you don’t open the door, he’ll just camp out on your front lawn and wait. Sooner or later he’ll get his moment to peddle his wares.

Get on with it.
Turn on the light.
Open the door.
Hold your head up and step forward.

Tame Thy Fear

Like a barking dog, fear can keep us up at night, that is until we tame it. Fear is the barking dog behind the fence. It sounds ferocious but it isn’t. In reality, it’s making all that noise because it’s nervous. But when you understand the creature, you can face it and tame it. Be the “fear whisper.”

image credit: ell brown

Lately I’ve been frustrated a lot by frustration.
I blame it on the Gap.

And I don’t mean that place in the mall. I’m talking about that desolate region between knowing and doing. My walk and my talk just aren’t in sync lately. Sure, I’ve consumed enough ideas to know what needs to be done. I’m just not doing enough of it. Like a banker that doesn’t balance their checkbook, to know and not do is worse than ignorance. Hence the frustration.

Haunted by the Gap

It all started after I posted an article about 20 choices of a champion. A phrase I had heard many years ago just wouldn’t leave my head. “Mind the Gap.”  I heard it again and again. “Mind the Gap.” What triggered this endless loop I really wasn’t sure. I just knew it as the term from the London Underground warning passengers to watch for the space between the station platform and the train door. Until it hit me.

WANTED: Cool & Epic Outcomes

Between the mundane and the magnificent lies the Gap.
It’s the chasm that separates the common from the Cool, and everyday occurrence from Epic Outcome. It also keeps you and I from reaching our potential, or in Army-speak, being all we can be.

Although gaps will always exist because we’re human, the space I’m referring to is a lot like a rut which has been described as a shallow grave with the ends kicked out. Something to avoid at all costs. Or if you’re already in it, to get out immediately. But how?

STEP ONE

It’s starts by recognizing the Gap.
Some of the more common ones are distances between:

• What we know versus what we do
• The time we invest versus the time required
• Starting something versus finishing it
• Our wants versus our needs
• Perception versus reality
• What we communicate versus what’s understood
• Being active versus being effective
• Being committed versus being involved

STEP TWO

Gut-check decision time. Are you getting on the train or not? There’s no room for sorta travelers here.

REMEMBER: There’s a huge gap between 100% commitment and 99%-involvement.

STEP THREE

The third step is hardest of all. ACTION. Drop anything that’s hindering you from making it happen. It’s time to lighten the load before taking that step. So simplify. Let go of the unimportant and the mediocre. Declutter anything that’s derailing you and move.

If we’re committed to “one hundred percent braggable” results as Tom Peter suggests, we’ll leap right over the Gap. At the very least, we’ll give it our best shot and come closer to our potential with each leap of faith we take.

REALIZE: Gaps are actually opportunities for Cool & Epic Outcomes!

Becoming a champion means that you’re always choosing. Sometimes it’s a low-fat decision rather than a Mayo-slathered one. More often, the choices are bigger and more universal than that. It means choosing less of the things that don’t work and more of what does. So here are 20 simple choices you should make to become a better champion.

Less Fear. More Courage.

Fears are meant to be faced.
To do that takes courage.
Courage is not the absence of fear, but going forward in spite of it.
It means passing through the fog of fear and into the light of possibilities and freedom.

Less Dabbling. More Mastery.

Dabbling won’t make a dent in the world.
It’s so easy, anyone can do it.
Mastery, on the other hand, takes commitment.
If you want to stand out and make a dent, you can’t afford to plod along without improvement.
Commit to mastery (not perfection or plodding) and push through the inevitable plateaus.

Less Complexity. More Simplicity.

Simplicity is the underdog of complexity.
It just doesn’t get the same respect from most people because simple is, well, simple.
And effective.
Simple solutions are elegant and doable.
“Simplicity” as Leonardo da Vinci described it, “is the ultimate sophistication.”

Less Waiting. More Carpe Diem.

Opportunity and inspiration have short shelf-lives.
They won’t wait around forever.
So if you’re waiting for your ship to come in, the Cavalry to come to your rescue, or someone’s permission to be remarkable, STOP!
You don’t need any of those things.
Seize the opportunity–Do it now.

Less Multi-Tasking. More Single-Tasking.

Standing ovations don’t happen for the one-man band.
Neither does fame, unless you happen to count the 10-seconds of attention he gets from tourists.
Excellence happens because of focus and execution, neither of which occur when doing too much.
Single-tasking is way underrated.

Less Complaining. More Gratitude.

Complaints are free and easy.
They also add nothing but subtraction.
Gratitude, however, flavors everything you do by adding value and appreciation.
You’re more creative than the complainer, so find reasons to be grateful.

Less Focusing on Misses. More Celebrating Successes.

Michael Jordan, Thomas Edison, and Abraham Lincoln all missed.
Repeatedly.
They also succeeded in huge ways because they minored on their mistakes and majored on breakthroughs and accomplishments.
Learn from your misses but don’t focus on them.
Instead you should magnify and celebrate every single success.

Less Overwhelm. More Zen.

Breathe more.
Laugh more.
Say “no, not right now” more.
Let go of the unimportant.
Frequently reflect upon what’s really important.
Pray, meditate, reflect more.
Say “Thank you” and “I’m thankful for…” more often.
Give more.

Less Noise. More Signal.

Information overload isn’t the real problem.
If it were, we’d explode after entering a library.
Failure to filter is the issue.
We need more signal and less noise.

Less “Friends.” More Relationships.

In a world of single-click friend accumulation, we need more authentic relationships.
You know the type that’ll help carry your sofa when you move.
Speaking of friends, one posted a reminder on his Facebook wall to “turn off the laptop.”
He’s right–Walking around the neighborhood with my wife and our dogs is much more fulfilling.

Less Talk. More Walk.

Words are a cheap commodity.
Especially when the world is looking at your shoes for proof of action.
So keep on talking.
And use words if necessary.

Less Criticism. More Praise.

Anyone can be a cynic or a critic.
Criticism is actually quite easy, as is mediocrity.
And it really doesn’t take much more effort to hand out heart-felt praise that makes an impact.

Less Polishing. More Shipping.

Get it done.
Out the door.
You can make the next version even better.
But for now, ship the thing and meet the deadline.
Remember that continual polishing towards perfection can become the enemy of DONE.

Less Bedsores. More Callouses.

More people have suffered from bedsores than callouses.
It’s true.
Hard work never harmed anyone, and callouses never killed cowboys.
As Seth Godin says in his book Linchpin, “Do the work. Make a difference.”

Less Ideas. More Execution.

Ideas matter, no mistake.
You need a lot of them (bad ones in fact) in order to get a single great idea.
But when the day is done, the world needs your tangible product or service not your great idea.
It’s the execution that really matters.
It also pays much better.

Less Accidental Actions. More Deliberate Doing.

Destiny is too great a matter to leave to chance.
Live decidedly with purpose and intent.
It’s the everyday actions that add up and make all the difference.

Less Limitations. More Possibilities.

Contrary to popular opinion, being safe isn’t.
Take calculated risks and watch the impossible happen.

Less Pointing Out Problems. More Solution Seeking.

Anyone can point out the problem.
It rarely takes skill and the market’s already flooded with “experts.”
You weren’t hired, followed, or paid to point out the problems.
The world needs your solution not another voice of what won’t work and what’s broken.

Less Distractions. More Focus.

Focusing can be tough.
There are 10,020 ways to be distracted.
I’d look up that stat on Google, but it would interrupt my flow of finishing this blog post.
Get serious about focusing and you’ll accomplish more.
To do that, you first have to reduce the distractions and interruptions.
Hang the “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door.
Turn off the phone.
Unplug from the Internet.
The world won’t implode just because you’re not available.

Less Surviving. More Thriving.

Surviving is one of those words that shouldn’t be part of our casual vocabulary.
Use that word sparingly.
People survive illness and disaster.
That’s not the same as simply enduring hardships
Yet we cheapen the word by surviving work days and traffic delays.
Those are not events to be survived.
They’re difficulties to overcome.
To do that we must learn to thrive.
Grow and flourish even if it’s just one percent each day.

image by mmabuzz

Anyone can stand strong when the game of life is going their way. But who are we when the pain comes? It’s what we do when we’re down that counts most. That’s the critical, defining moment. So when it isn’t going as planned and we’re knocked repeatedly on our butt what do we do?

Here are some tactics from the world of fighting to us prepare and handle those situations like a champion:

CHAMPION TACTICS

1. Prepare. Prepare. Prepare.
   It (the unexpected) will happen.

   Count on it. Then plan for it.

   Have you thought about what you’d do if you lost your job or if your business went belly-up?

   What would you do if your book or movie was a flop?

   What if you don’t make the first round pick?

   Sure it’s impossible to plan for every possible situation, but we can certainly prepare better. Champions continually seek to improve their conditioning so they’re ready if (and when) they’re knocked down and pinned.

   Although most of what we worry about never happens, planning prepares us.

2. Have someone in your corner.
   This is huge. We all need a support system.

   Forget Hollywood’s portrayal of the champion that did it entirely on their own. That just doesn’t happen.

   When preparing for battle (and life can certainly be that, among other things),  we need someone to wrap our hands for the fight. When we falter and our confidence is shaken, we need sound advice and encouragement.

   We need someone to echo the champion’s voice when we can’t hear our own. And when you’re hurt, you want a good “stitch man” who won’t panic but instead will ice your wounds and stop the bleeding.

3. Remain calm.
   Focus on breathing deeply. Remain calm and in the moment. Look for the opening. Look for the opportunity. There’s always an opportunity if you’re ready for it. You just have to remain calm and watch for it.
4. Redefine yourself – Continually.
   In the world of Mixed Martial Arts, fighters have to do it all the time.  A formidable striker becomes a great grappler. Some fighters do it out of necessity, some for the love of the sport. The true champion does it for both.
5. Remain teachable.
   This quality goes hand in hand with redefining yourself. Champions remain students. They understand, as George Leonard expressed in his must-read book Mastery, that “the road to mastery never ends.”
6. Focus on the immediate.
   Focus on what you can do – right now. Be in the moment – in the NOW. Champions understand that you can’t change yesterday or even 10 seconds ago. You must let that go. So stop wasting time and energy on the past and focus on the immediate. That’s what you and I have. Right now. You want to make a difference? You want to make a comeback, it starts right now. This very second.
7. Recognize the resistance.
   Learn to recognize the “resistance” within – what I call the chump. The small voice inside that insists upon safety and so-called security rather than bold, belief, and action.
8. Push through the fear.
   Learn to face your fears and push through them. Most of them are completely unfounded and based on nothing more than worry. Sure you’re scared. That’s okay. Remember that courage isn’t the absence of fear but the willingness to face it and take action anyway.
9. Stick to your plan.
   If you did your homework, stick to your plan. As I said in a previous post, on your back isn’t the time for that crazy ninja maneuver you heard about but never practiced. Remain with the basics because they tend to have the highest returns.
10. Bring the Passion!
    Love it or get out. It’s that simple. Sure it’s work. Damn hard work in fact. But if you don’t love it (plateau, pain and all), why are you doing it?

Face down on the mat isn’t the time for crazy ninja maneuvers.
It’s a time for clear thinking and intentional action. But this position is where we sometimes find ourselves “oriented times zero” as John Eldridge described in his book Waking the Dead. Our understanding becomes little more than an awareness of our existence. And Pain. For a moment at least, that’s all we know.

In such moments, with vision blurred and confidence rocked, we need air in our lungs, calm in our mind, and belief beyond the circumstances.

But how?

STOP!

When your reset button has been punched. Just stop. For an instance at least, do nothing. Let the calm return.

Then…

BREATHE!

Fill those lungs with oxygen. Get blood flow back to the head

And…

SEE!

What do you see? Not with your eyes but within your mind? Regain clarity and focus. Even if you can’t  see 12-inches in front of your nose, you can regain perspective and belief in your inner champion. See the dream again. The dream is always bigger than the circumstances. The champion is always tougher than the challenges.

THINK!

This is an opportunity to think differently. Methodically. With intention. What should be changed? Where is the opportunity? There’s always an opportunity if you’re ready for it.
So how can this moment be leveraged?

Now..

MOVE!

Seize the moment to take responsibility and move toward a better outcome. Even if it’s just an inch upward, you gotta make the monumental move to stand back up. Louis L’Amour said it well, “Victory is won not in miles but in inches. Win a little now, hold your ground, and later, win a little more.”

It’s what we do when we’re down that counts. This is the critical moment. Anyone can stand strong when the game of life is going our way. But who are we when the pain comes? When it isn’t going as planned and we’re knocked repeatedly on our butt?

When you find yourself on the mat,  continue to dream big and gather yourself to stand back up. You really can. Champions do it all the time. So can you.

My next post will cover critical tactics from the world of fighting to help us prepare and handle those situations like a champion. Don’t miss it.

image by Stefan Tell

Or Do They?

Life has a way of knocking the air out of us. Doubling us over and blurring our vision. We’re cruising along at a comfortable pace then WHAM! Life delivers a Chuck Liddell punch and we’re knocked on our ass.

We find ourselves dazed, wondering what just happened, and struggling to see clearly. Suddenly we’ve lost our bearings. Our equilibrium is off. Yesterday seemed so sure but today delivered a concussion and your head is spinning with what-ifs and whys.

Is This Really What I Signed Up For?

One minute we’re on top of our game, the next we’re injured. The “sure thing” fell apart. That business loan didn’t pan out. Promises were broken. A partner left. SLAM! We’re on the mat and everything is blurry. Now what?

The easy thing to do is nothing. Stay down. Stay put. Bitch and moan. Quit. Tap out.
OR
You can fight like hell. Stand up. But don’t you dare give up! You deserve better.

The Champion vs The Chump

At that critical moment we have 2 competing voices inside – the champion and the chump. The champion just got the snot knocked out of him so his voice is barely audible. The chump is a coward. His heart wasn’t in it to begin with. In fact, the only time he speaks up is to warn us how dangerous or impossible something is. Once he sees our inner champion down, he seizes the opportunity to cue the violin and ask, “Why are you doing this anyway? Why don’t you just quit? No one would blame you. After all, you’re hurt. Right?” Recognize that guy? That’s  the chump.

In This Corner… The Chump

The chump only wants the easy fight, the sure thing, the paved road, or a fixed bet. Sure we all want to lesson our chance of loss and increase our odds of winning. This is different. I’m talking about selling out, staying home, and playing it safe. The chump wants it all delivered to him, paid in full, sans effort or hardship. Sorry, but life doesn’t work that way and life isn’t fair. My dad told me so. My dad was a smart man.

Never Count a Champion Out Just Because He’s Down

Extreme sports, like Mixed Martial Arts, stir up something primitive within us where we’re forced to either stand and fight or lie down and die. The same is true of any dream. Sooner or later we’re confronted with the question, “Just how badly do you want it?” Our dreams will force the choice.  Are you going to stand up? Or just rollover and tap out?

What will you do? Your dreams wanna’ know.

We’ll talk more about champion methods for dealing with the blows that life deals us in an upcoming post. Stay tuned and pass this along.

image credit: FeatheredTar

When was the last time you thought about your vision? And by vision I don’t mean the “Better in one? Or two?” kind either. But come to think of it, there is a lesson to be learned from staring at the blur chart across the room.  Brian Reagan jokes about procrastinating for  six years before having his annual eye exam, “Then you get new lenses and you’re like, Man, I coulda’ been seeing things!”

The vision I’m talking about has nothing to do with an optic nerve. I’m referring to a clarity that often clicks into view when we’re suddenly inspired by something bigger than us. We see it, as if for the first time, in razor-sharp detail — the potential of our life, where we fit in, and how we can make an impact during our 2.5 billion seconds (mileage may vary)  on planet earth.

Suddenly we get a glimpse of purpose, destiny, and direction. That doesn’t mean we have it all laid out in detail on a map. Actually there are more unknowns than knowns,  more questions than answers;  but vision outweighs all that.

Study any champion and you’ll discover vision at work. Eye sight doesn’t matter. Just ask Stevie Wonder or study the life of Helen Keller and Ray Charles. Look closely and  you’ll see the spark of belief that led them forward.

So What’s the BIG Deal About Vision?

• Vision is not a pep talk. It’s fire in your mind and resolve in your will.
• Vision is hope.
• It’s faith.
• It’s belief.
• Vision is personal.
• It’s dreaming wide awake while running fully in a forward direction, past the fog of fear and clouds of doubt.
• It brings about an unforced rhythm.
• True vision moves us from our comfort zone.
• Vision diminishes fear and hushes the what-ifs.
• Without vision we cannot focus.
• It’s never created by committee. Its course runs deeper than that.
  It might be shared by a group but only after it has been birthed within someone that is willing to own, nurture, protect, and then share it with the world.

What’s Our Choice?

Earlier I mentioned Brian Reagan. He asks a great question after his optometrist visit that we should also ask ourselves, “How can instantly improved vision not be at the top of your to-do list?” A great question with a funny response, “Nah, I’ll see tomorrow. I got a sock drawer I need to sort out.”

Our choices are simple:
(1.) Get a bigger view of ourselves, the world around us, and our contribution to the world
or
(2.) Become champion sock sorters.

Me? I’m gonna start wearing flip-flops.

We all have ‘em and we’ve all made ‘em.

They’re the easiest thing in the world to create because they appear to be free, but they end up costing us in the long run. At best they cause us to miss opportunities. At worst, they cost us self-respect and trust from others. They’re excuses, and excuses suck.

Put simply, excuses are self-justification. They place the blame and responsibility anywhere but ourselves. Need an example? How about my latest- “well, I couldn’t quite make it on time, because…” Really? C’mon Shawn! How about the other guys that showed up early?

Every day, at every turn, we face the choice of taking responsibility or making an excuse. We face it in the biggest decisions and the smallest opportunities.

photo by Hazel Caballero

When setting goals and taking action our excuses must be ruthlessly terminated. We simply cannot allow the compromise of an excuse to wedge itself into our lives. Refuse it. Choose a higher response.

Let me be clear, I’m not talking about perfection. I’m talking about intentionality, about looking for the first sign of compromise and refusing to go the “easy way.” If you haven’t already done so, start recognizing excuses for what they are — a seemingly easy way out with a very high price tag.

My dad was a no-excuse kinda’ guy. If he said he was going to do something, he did it. Period. There wasn’t a big production about the process, he just took action, over, and over. In fact, I can’t remember a day of his life that he called into work sick, unless you count the last days of his life when he was physically forced to slow down. I don’t. Excuses just weren’t part of his DNA.

Find a role model or mentor.
There are plenty of people in all areas of life that could have given a much better excuse than the one you or I have — “my feet hurt” from a guy who doesn’t have the privilege to walk. “I’m tired” from a single-mom without a home and bed of her own working two jobs to provide a better life for her family. In that context, my reasons for not doing something are apparent. They’re excuses, and they suck.

What about you?

I’m pretty sure mud pies don’t need instructions.

Photo by Infrogmation

Seriously, as kids we didn’t have to ask someone how to make genuine dirt cakes. We just scooped up some soil, added water, sprinkled liberally with imagination, and as Emeril would say, “BAM!” So what does this have to do with goal setting? I’ll explain.

For the last 3 weeks I’ve focused on Goal Setting. I mean really focused on it. And I’ve learned a lot about the process (I’ll talk more about that in a future post). For now, let’s just say that focusing on goal setting has definitely helped me move some key areas of my life forward. So that’s good, but I couldn’t ignore a gnawing feeling in my gut that something remained unexamined in the process. There was something that I just wasn’t doing regularly to move my goals forward as swiftly as I knew I could.

Measurement and Accountability

Two concepts kept coming up and refused to be ignored – Measurement and Accountability. Both are decent five dollar words when tossed into a corporate memo but worth Olympic gold when part of the goal setting process.

While my goals had evolved from vague wishes to clearly defined targets, I wasn’t really measuring my progress methodically. Instead I would go through a mental checklist of the number of meals I ate for the day, my workout routine, my daily reading and writing goals, etc. and at the end of a week if you asked me how I scored I couldn’t really tell you. I could only manage to say “better” or “a bit off” which meant little more than nothing.

WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

How do you quantify “A bunch”? Imagine if football took that approach – the Cowboys scored “a bunch” beating the Redskins in the playoffs by a total of “a little.” Doesn’t really work does it? Sure a coach might tell a player after a game that he “ran like crap” but you can bet that come practice time the stop watch is out and the performance is tracked and measured. So what about the mud pie analogy? Bear with me a little longer.

So deep down I knew that I needed to get real and record this stuff but it just seemed like one more thing to do. Wasn’t I already trying to do more than I had the month before? Something else was happening. By keeping my results vague, I was subconsciously avoiding the risk of failure. I was also being lazy. But worse than risking failure is leaving the outcome to chance.

There’s a saying “What gets measured gets improved”. Not necessarily true. Measure a cup of dirt with water and you still don’t have a delicacy. What about all those clipboard carrying gym-rats? They measure. They weigh. But most avoid strategic change so they end up looking the same year after year.

Metrics give us awareness but we still must DO. Perhaps that’s the rub. Now we’re responsible for adjusting because tracking reveals the gap between current performance and what we’re trying to hit. Without a system to track actions and results, we simply cannot make the necessary corrections to progress systematically. It all becomes guesswork.

In a great article by Scott Young he puts it this way, “If you measure something, you gain conscious awareness of it. If you gain conscious awareness, you increase your ability to control it.” And we all like control don’t we? Sure, at first glance, but when we dig a little deeper we discover that control (or power) requires us to take responsibility. It means overcoming any laziness that hinders us from making it happen. So the recipe once the goal has been set becomes:

1. Take Action
2. Measure the Result
3. Make a Decision About the Result – Continue what we’re doing? Or Adjust our action?
4. (rinse & repeat)

KNOWING IS EASY. DOING TAKES GUTS.

Remember, knowledge is not power. It is the potential for power. It gives us the power to make the necessary corrections. Just knowing is not enough. Doing is what counts. If knowledge was the sole ingredient there would be very few out of shape people and a lot more world class athletes. Do. Measure. Adjust. Do differently or repeat what worked. Pretty simple stuff. Simple, but not easy.

QUALITY ISN’T MEASURED IN MINUTES.

Years ago I worked in a call center. Talk time (the duration of the call) was measured, tracked, and evaluated for each customer service representative. Unfortunately, it was emphasized as the most critical metric of each call. What wasn’t being measured was the number of customers that called more than once to resolve a single issue. So  it really didn’t matter that the average call duration was two minutes if customers had to make three calls to customer service.

It would be much better to average four minutes per call if it meant that the problem was solved the first time. That’s a much better measurement. So we have to be careful that we don’t get too bogged down in the numbers and miss our overall objective. All the measuring in the world won’t turn a mud pie into a chocolate cake. It requires changing the recipe.

Bottom line: measure the important actions, hold yourself accountable, stay with it, keep adjusting, and before you know it, “BAM! Goal accomplished!