a2b4me...The Podcast! Keeping YOU Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!

This Week's Challenge: Define Outcomes Before You Act

All things are created twice: a mental creation and a physical creation.

Before you act, start with a clear idea of what you want to achieve.

- From today's schedule, pick one personal item and one work item.

- Write your end in mind for each one.

Ask Yourself: How are my outcomes different when I begin with a clear end in mind?

"It's incredibly easy to work harder and harder at climbing the ladder of success, only to discover that it's leaning against the wrong wall."    - Stephen Covey

For more on this topic, I encourage you to reach out to me at a2b4me.com

Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!

Happy Thrive Thursday!

This week we discuss...A Paradox of Life, How to Find Time to Write, and Three Factors that lead to a High Performance Culture!

Here are 3 ideas, 2 quotes, and 1 question to consider this week...

Idea #1

"When you need to learn quickly, learn from others.

When you need to learn deeply, learn from experience.

Idea #2

"If two people have the same goal, you know nothing about the similarity of their results.

But if two people have the same daily habits, you can infer quite a bit about the similarity of their results.

Your results are largely a byproduct of your habits."

Idea #3

"A paradox of life is that the greatest returns come in the long-term, but the opportunity cost of moving slowly is huge.

Long-term thinking is not slow acting.

Act fast on things that compound.

Never let a day pass without doing something that will benefit you in a decade."

Quote #1

Author Julia Cameron on how to find time to write (or do anything, really):

"The "if I had time" lie is a convenient way to ignore the fact that novels require being written and that writing happens a sentence at a time.

Sentences can happen in a moment. Enough stolen moments, enough stolen sentences, and a novel is born...without the luxury of time."

Source: The Right to Write

Quote #2

Frank Slootman, CEO of Snowflake Computing, explains three factors that lead to a high performance culture:

"Our companies ran at higher velocity, with higher standards and a narrower focus than most. Going faster, maintaining higher standards and with a narrower aperture.

Sounds simple?  The question is how you go about amping up your organization. How much faster do you run? How much higher are your standards? How hard do you focus?  It is a performance ‘triad’ because they amplify each other. The compound effect can be electrifying.

It is breathtaking how slow, substandard and unfocused many companies out there get through the day.  And think nothing of it. The lack of energy is palatable. There is performance upside everywhere.

As a leader, your opportunity is to reset in each of these dimensions. You do it in every single conversation, meeting, and encounter. You look for and exploit every single opportunity to step up the pace, expect a higher quality outcome, and narrow the plane of attack.

Then, you relentlessly follow up and prosecute at every turn."

Source: Amp It Up! (Hat tip to David Perell)

Question of the Week...

Where am I spending energy trying to please someone who actually doesn't care?

For more on this topic, I encourage you to reach out to me at a2b4me.com

Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!

Happy Monday!!!

This Week's Challenge:  Have a Proactive Day

Proactive people are "the creative force of their own lives"...they choose their own way and take responsibility for the results.

Reactive people see themselves as victims.

Today, when you feel yourself becoming reactive, summon one of the four endowments; self awareness, conscience, independent will and imagination.

Try to use each one over the course of the day.

Ask Yourself:  What's going on in my life today that might affect my proactivity?

"Every human being has four endowments; self-awareness, conscience, independent will and imagination.  These give us the ultimate human freedom:  the Power to Choose."  - Stephen Covey

For more on this topic, I encourage you to reach out to me at a2b4me.com

Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!

Happy Thrive Thursday!

This week we discuss...Creativity, Taking Action, and The Two-Step Process for Exceptional Results!

Here are 3 ideas, 2 quotes, and 1 question to consider this week...

Idea #1

"The 2-step process for exceptional results:

(1) Spend a little time each day thinking about the highest leverage activity available to you.

(2) Spend a little time each day working on it."

Idea #2

"With the creative process, the key is to create a lot and edit a lot.

Make more than you need, then remove everything that isn't exceptional."

Idea #3

"What you do on your ordinary days determines what you can achieve on your extraordinary days."

Quote #1

Novelist Paulo Coelho on taking action:

"One day you will wake up and there won’t be any more time to do the things you’ve always wanted.

Do it now."

Source: Twitter

Quote #2

Biologist Roger Payne on the power of having your boots on the ground and paying attention:

"Any observant local knows more than any visiting scientist. Always. No exceptions."

Source: Among Whales

Question of the Week...

Is it better to delay getting started by weeks or months so I can be fully prepared?

Or is it better to start right now with little to no preparation?

For more on this topic, I encourage you to reach out to me at a2b4me.com...

Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!

This Week's Challenge: Expand Your Circle of Influence

Your Circle of Influence includes those things you can affect directly.

When you focus on it, you expand your knowledge and experience.

As a result, your Circle of Influence grows.

- Think of a big challenge you are facing.

- List everything you can control.

- Determine which action you will take today.

Ask Yourself:  Is my Circle of Influence growing or shrinking?

"Proactive people focus their efforts on the Circle of Influence. Their energy is positive, enlarging, and magnifying." - Stephen Covey

For more on this topic, I encourage you to to reach out to me at a2b4me.com

Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!

Happy Thrive Thursday!

This week we discuss...Momentum, How to Be The Best, and The Source of Inspiration!

Here are 3 ideas, 2 quotes, and 1 question to consider this week...

Idea #1

"Before you throw more time at the problem, throw more focused action at the problem.

You don’t need more time, you need fewer distractions."

Idea #2

"Patience only works if you do.

Doing the work + patience = results.

Planning to work + patience = you're just waiting."

Idea #3

"Momentum goes both ways.

Don’t move, feel sluggish.  Start moving, feel like moving a little more.

Don't talk, feel timid.  Start chatting, conversation gets a little easier.

Don't ship, feel stuck.  Start creating, ideas begin to flow."

Quote #1

Mountaineer Alex Lowe on how to be the best:

"The best climber in the world is the one who's having the most fun."

Source: Outside Magazine

Quote #2

Poet Wislawa Szymborska on the source of inspiration:

"Inspiration is not the exclusive privilege of poets or artists.

There is, there has been, there will always be a certain group of people whom inspiration visits.

It's made up of all those who've consciously chosen their calling and do their job with love and imagination.

It may include doctors, teachers, gardeners...I could list a hundred more professions.

Their work becomes one continuous adventure as long as they manage to keep discovering new challenges in it.

Difficulties and setbacks never quell their curiosity.

A swarm of new questions emerges from every problem that they solve.

Whatever inspiration is, it's born from a continuous I don't know."

Source: The Poet and the World

Question of the Week...

How would my daily schedule change if I did a little more of what I'm great at and a little less of what I'm not great at?

For more on this topic, I encourage you to reach out to me at a2b4me.com

Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!

This Week's Challenge: Shrink Your Circle of Concern

Your Circle of Concern includes things you worry about but can't control.

If you focus on it, you have less time and energy to spend on things you can influence.

- Think of a problem or opportunity you're currently facing - List everything within your "Circle of Concern" and then let it go.

Ask Yourself:  How much time and energy do I waste on things I can't control?

"Be a light, not a judge.  Be a model, not a critic" - Stephen Covey

For more on this topic, I encourage you to reach out to me at a2b4me.com

Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!

Happy Thrive Thursday!

This week we discuss...Craving the Result versus the Process, Seeing Clearly, and Thinking For Yourself!

Here are 3 ideas, 2 quotes, and 1 question to consider this week...

Idea #1

"Double down on what is working best."

Idea #2

"It doesn't make sense to continue wanting something if you're not willing to do what it takes to get it.

If you don't want to live the lifestyle, then release yourself from the desire.

To crave the result but not the process, is to guarantee disappointment."

Idea #3

"Finish something.  Anything.  Stop researching, planning, and preparing to do the work and just...do the work.

It doesn’t matter how good or how bad it is. You don’t need to set the world on fire with your first try.  You just need to prove to yourself that you have what it takes to produce something.

There are no artists, athletes, entrepreneurs, or scientists who became great by half-finishing their work.

Stop debating what you should make and just make something."

Quote #1

Writer and psychoanalyst Marion Milner on seeing clearly:

"There seemed to be endless obstacles preventing me from living with my eyes open, but as I gradually followed up clue after clue it seemed that the root cause of them all was fear."

Source: A Life of One's Own

Quote #2

Engineer, physician, and astronaut Mae Jemison on thinking for yourself:

"Never be limited by other people's limited imaginations.

If you adopt their attitudes, then the possibility won't exist because you'll have already shut it out...

You can hear other people's wisdom, but you've got to re-evaluate the world for yourself."

Source: Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, November 2009

Question of the Week...

If you could spend 30 minutes today creating whatever you want, what would you create?

For more on this topic, I encourage you to feel free to reach out to me at a2b4me.com

Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!

This Week's Challenge:  Speak Proactively

Our language is a real indicator of the degree to which we see ourselves as proactive people.

Using proactive language helps us feel more capable and empowers us to act.

Consciously use these sentence starters today:

"I choose to..."

"I get to..."

"I can..."

Ask Yourself:  How differently do I feel about myself when I use proactive language?

"I am not the product of my circumstances.  I am a product of my decisions."

- Stephen R. Covey

For more on this topic, I encourage you to reach out to me at a2b4me.com

Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!

Happy Thrive Thursday!

This week we discuss...The Process of Life, Joys of Walking, and Best Hour of Your Week!

Here are 3 ideas, 2 quotes, and 1 question to consider this week...

Idea #1

"The trick to viewing feedback as a gift is to be more worried about having blind spots than hearing about them."

Idea #2

"The world seems to be accustomed to delaying gratification less and less, which means the rewards of delaying gratification grow more and more."

Idea #3

"The more an idea is tied to your identity, the more you will ignore evidence it is false.

To continue to grow and learn, you must be willing to update, expand, and edit your identity."

Quote #1

Writer Jeanette Winterson on the process of life:

"We live in a society that peddles solutions, whether it's solutions to those extra pounds you're carrying, or to your thinning hair, or to your loss of appetite, loss of love.

We are always looking for solutions, but actually what we are engaged in is a process throughout life during which you never get it right.

You have to keep being open, you have to keep moving forward.

You have to keep finding out who you are and how you are changing, and only that makes life tolerable."

Source: Women at Work, Volume II

Quote #2

Writer Lauren Elkin on the joys of walking:

"Walking is mapping with your feet. It helps you piece a city together, connecting up neighborhoods that might otherwise have remained discrete entities, different planets bound to each other, sustained yet remote.

I like seeing how in fact they blend into one another, I like noticing the boundaries between them. Walking helps me feel at home.

There's a small pleasure in seeing how well I’ve come to know the city through my wanderings on foot, crossing through different neighborhoods of the city, some I used to know quite well, others I may not have seen in a while, like getting reacquainted with someone I once met at a party."

Source: Why We Walk

Question of the Week...

What has been the best hour of my week?

How can I make it easier to have more hours like that?

For more on this topic, feel free to reach out to me at a2b4me.com

Have an awesome week and Keep Moving in the Direction of Your Dreams!