GAMETIME (Audio) with Andy Zitzmann

Dan's five ways that you can stand out as a professional so that people pay attention to you really intrigued me and so I share Step #1 with you today. Enjoy! 

Step #2: Become an expert in your field

“In a recent study, we asked what type of workplace diversity would make professionals most successful at work and they unanimously said “subject matter experts”.  Note that they didn’t say people of different genders or ethnicities. In a separate survey, we found that 65 percent of managers are more likely to promote subject matter experts. Aside from in the workplace, if you want to be a consultant or entrepreneur, it’s easier to get visibility if you’re already known for your area of expertise. To become an expert at anything, it takes a lot of reading, performing and measuring your results. Wake up each day and read as much as you can about your subject matter, take classes, apprentice under an expert and take on freelance projects to practice.”

Dan's five ways that you can stand out as a professional so that people pay attention to you really intrigued me and so I share Step #1 with you today. Enjoy! 

Step #1: Know who you are and who you aren’t

"A lot of people fool themselves into thinking that they are someone who they aren’t. They are influenced by others to a point where they want to become them instead of look inside and become more of who they  already are. Just because you can play basketball doesn’t mean you should join the NBA and just because your friend start a mobile  technology company and sold it for a million dollars, doesn’t mean that  you will receive the same result. Start to assess your own strengths and ask your family, friends and co-workers about what they think you’re good at. Write down your strengths and compare that to how people  perceive you to uncover your unique value proposition. Once you have a  better understanding of your unique value, you will feel more confident in your career path and recognize how you can stand out in the crowd."

Ask yourself, are your words positive or negative? Are they angry, deceptive, manipulative, etc..., or, are they more supportive, uplifting, passionate, and positive? 

When we learn to pay attention to our self talk, we can catch ourselves in a negative thought or feeling and shift more quickly to a positive position. Being conscious of and intentional about our self talk that makes a world of difference in how we feel inside. When you change the inside, you can change the outside. It all starts with your words from the inside-out :). Start practicing positive self talk today!

To focus on growing your business and more importantly, staying in business, you have to take one day and one base hit at a time. Think about that one thing you can do each day to get a base hit. Get that one deal, make that one extra call, or have one extra meeting to get that base hit. Sure, you'll strike out on occassion; we all do! However, if you focus on just one hit a day, one hit at a time, you'll persevere and thrive in time! And ultimately, you'll hit a home run, hit a grand slam, and create your Championship business... it's all about Base Hits! Make the one hit today... what's it gonna be?? 

Here's the reality check... we all know that tomorrow is not guaranteed. We never know how much time we have left. Every day is an opportunity to live fully and do our best, yet we so often just let the days pass us by. Let's not fool ourselves any longer. Let's live each day as if it could be our last. As Abe Lincoln says, "it's the life in your years" that count. Don't wait before it's too late. Make your life count today!

Are you just getting ready to live, or are you living your life? Every minute you experience a feeling. If you think about it, that's all life really is... minute after minute, feeling after feeling. And from that feeling in each present moment is what you feel inside and put out into the world. If you're angry or sluggish, that is what you are going to deliver to the world. However, if you choose to feel enthusiastic and positive, you'll put that out to the world... AND... you'll receive more of that in return! The best sure fire way to increase your ability to do just that and feel good more often is to simply live your life with HEALTH, ENERGY & PASSION! When you take care of your health, you have more energy. When you have more energy, you feel good and that passion inside of you is unleashed! And you and your passionate self are worth sharing with the world! So ask yourself today: "Are you living your life with health, energy and passion?"

Today, get honest with yourself and ask: Am I as good a person as I can be? Imagine the level of accountability, self-honesty and willingness that can come from answering this question! What a great question to help you get real with yourself, be intentional and commit yourself to stepping up each day to be the best version of you! When you ask this question, you have an opportunity to make something better appear in your life and business each day... so just ask: "Am I as good a person as I can be today?"

We know that when we get out there and give, we always get something in return. If you want more meaning, purpose and value in your life, just give more and you shall receive more. Be compassionate, be kind, volunteer and/or donate your time to a cause. When you give, you are helping someone else feel good, you in turn feel good, and then that person is more likely to spread the love and help someone else feel good too. If you are struggling to be happy, go help someone! A wise man once told me that boredom is defined as thinking too much about yourself. When you help others, you're never bored, you live a better life, and you help someone else live a better life too! Give, give, give today my friends :) 

It is so easy for us to get caught up doing busy work or other things that don’t matter like social media, emailing, etc... Don't get me wrong, we do have to do some of these things, but do we have to spend so much time doing them? Do we have to forgo what's important to do what really just keeps us busy? We can get so connected to this busy work and waste so much time. When you realize this is happening with you, ask yourself if what you are doing will matter in 1, 5 or 10 years. Then, get clear on what does matter to you and what you NEED to make time for in your life and business to ultimately be fulfilled, profitable, happy, etc... Make a little bit of progress each day with doing things that matter, prioritize those things over the busy work, and simply do them no matter what. When you do the things that matter, you move forward every day. Like we talked about yesterday in pursuing your dream, you are doing something that matters. When you do what matters - meaningful, worthwhile work - you begin to make the most of your day and your life!

Perhaps you have a dream of something you have always wanted to do in business, travel or your personal life. You know if you pursued that dream, your life would be so much fuller, vibrant and exciting. However, perhaps fear is stopping you from moving forward. If so, write down all your fears, and then ask yourself if each fear is really that scary. Is it so scary and hard that you're willing to let that fear rob you of your dream! Ask yourself - what’s the worst thing that could happen if you faced your fear and pursued your dream? In the answer, lies your fate... your destiny. And you know that if you follow that dream and overcome your fear, you may just achieve the life and destiny you so badly want & need!