This is Your Life

You swore you would never do it again. But you did it anyway. You said yes to far too many things. Now you find yourself overcommitted. What do you do now?

We’ve all been there. You may be there now. In this episode we’ll look at some strategies for dealing with this common problem.

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As I write this to you, I have been and continue to be in the middle of a very busy season in my life. There is just a lot going on.

Surprisingly, even in this hectic time, I have not felt overwhelmed. I’ve had plenty of time for my family and my own personal development.

In this podcast, I want to share with you eight strategies I’ve used to reduce my commitments, create more margin, and feel like I am in control of my life.

Strategy #1: Accept responsibility.

Strategy #2: Confront my fears.

Strategy #3: Reduce the drama.

Strategy #4: Keep it in perspective.

Strategy #5: Triage my calendar.

Strategy #6: Do the next most important task.

Strategy #7: Get sufficient rest.

Strategy #8: Decide to change.

I really believe these strategies can make a difference in your life. Adopting them doesn’t mean you won’t get overcommitted from time to time (I still do), but you will better understand the dynamics and what to do about it when it happens.

Listener Questions

Adam Rico asked, “How can you manage the stress of your commitments without damaging your own well-being?”

Caleb Suko asked, “How do you deal with overcommitment when you are in a corporate culture that values busyness as a sign of success?”

Eddie Cliff asked, “If I decide to quit an organization because I’m overwhelmed, how can I ensure the best possible outcome for them?”

Jason J. Nicholas asked, “Should I step away from a major commitment in order to free up resources to apply elsewhere?”

K.C. Procter asked, “How do you endure a season where are really having to hustle without getting burned out?”

Mike Burns asked, “What percentage of your day do you actually plan vs. how much time you leave open for unplanned activities?”

Mike Kim asked, “How do you accomplish all the things you love without getting overcommitted?”

Peg Doyle asked, “How do you get the long-range, important stuff done when you feel so overwhelmed with the day-to-day activities?”

Tor Constantino asked, “What do you do when you overcommit by double-booking your time?”

Special Announcements

If you are considering launching your own platform, you need to start with a self-hosted WordPress blog. This is not as complicated as it sounds. In fact, I have put together a step-by-step screencast on exactly how to do it.

I also include a special discount code just for my podcast listeners and blog readers. It will enable you to get a hosting account for just $3.95 a month.

We have just opened registration for the Launch Conference,  September 16–19 at the beautiful Sebastian Hotel in Vail, Colorado.

Whether you are a professional speaker—or just want to be—this conference will teach you how to start where you are a...

Recently, I did a podcast about how to be more productive by re-engineering your morning ritual. The response was astounding. But many asked, “What if I’m just not a morning person?”

Well, you can be. It may not be easy, but it’s definitely possible. You can do it if you are intentional.

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Here are nine steps you can take to become a morning person, beginning today.

Change your story. What would happen if you changed the story and began telling yourself, “I am a morning person.”

Determine what’s at stake Whenever I want to change anything in my life or accomplish a significant goal, I start by articulating why it’s important.

Plan your sleep. Like changing any other habit, you have to set yourself up for success.

Use an alarm. If you haven’t been a morning person until now, you will likely need to use an alarm. It’s part of training yourself mentally and physically.

Turn on all the lights. This may sound obvious, but your environment provides subtle clues to your body, so it knows how to respond.

Set out your clothes. When you get up, the fewer decisions you need to make the better.

Drink a cup of coffee. After considerable research, I’m convinced coffee is fine in moderation. In fact, it’s probably beneficial.

Enlist an accountability partner. Whether it’s a mentor or a peer, find someone who understands the value of accountability.

Commit to twenty-one days. According to many psychologists, this is how long it takes to form a habit.

What I really want to communicate in this episode is you have more power than you think. You don’t have to be held hostage by a label. (“I’m not a morning person.”)

If you are intentional, you can build the habits necessary to accomplish your goals—even if it means becoming a morning person.

Listener Questions

Christopher Scott asked, “It typically takes me ten to fifteen minutes to wakeup after I get up. What do you do to be alert more quickly?”

Egil Ellingsen asked, “How do you have a consistent start to your morning when you have small children in the house?”

Evan Moffic asked, “What is it about the morning that makes it such an important time?”

Ian Harber asked, “I’m a college student. The culture of the dorm is to stay up late. How can I become a morning person when the environment is against me?”

Jack Callender asked, “I’d really like to be a morning person. However, I am very sore in the morning, and it’s hard to get out of bed. What do you recommend?”

Jonathan Harrison asked, “If you go to bed late, what do you do the next morning? Skip it, compress it, or keep your commitment no matter what?”

Linda Kuhar asked, “I’m already a morning person, but I need to add some more things to my schedule (like exercise). Do you have any recommendations?”

Pete Ashby asked, “Is it possible to be both a morning and an evening person?”

Theresa Pobee-Mensah asked, “How can mothers of young children establish a consistent morning routine?”

Wayne Stiles asked, “I don’t think we are morning or evening people by nature. The ability to adjust to different time zones seems to prove this. What do you think?”

Special Announcements

When bad things happen, it’s natural to ask questions like, "Why did this happen to me?" or "What did I do to deserve this?" The problem with these questions is that they are unproductive and disempowering.

The bottom line is this: you can’t always choose what happens to you, but you can choose how you respond to those situations. This is where our real power—and our real freedom—is found.

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Here are four steps—the ABCDs—for becoming more intentional with your response when you experience pain or setback.

A: Acknowledge the pain.

B: Be with it.

C: Have compassion on yourself.

D: Do something different.

As difficult as the pain or the setback might be, if we look back on our lives, most of us would admit that these times are often followed by tremendous growth and blessing.

Listener Questions

Chris Christensen asked, “What do you think about the question, ‘How do we keep this from happening again?”

Don Suess asked, “How can see with the eye of faith when you become shipwrecked by a catastrophic loss?”

Joan Harrison asked, “What do you think about the question, ‘Why have I attracted this into my life?’”

John Richardson asked, “How can you tell when something bad happens if it is really good?”

Mike Skiff asked, “When someone close to you experiences pain or heartache, how can you respond graciously in a way that is truly helpful?”

Special Announcements

Next week, I will be speaking at the SCORRE Conference in Orlando, Florida. This conference is already sold out, but you can register for the next one in October. Registration officially opens on Monday, May 6th. We always sell out, so if you are thinking about coming, I suggest you register sooner rather than later.

If you are considering launching your own platform, you need to start with a self-hosted WordPress blog. This is not as complicated as it sounds. In fact, I have put together an absolutely free, step-by-step screencast on exactly how to do it. You don’t need any technical knowledge. I walk you through the entire process in exactly 20 minutes,

My next podcast will be on the topic of “How To Become A Morning Person.” If you have a question on this subject, please leave me a voicemail message. This is a terrific way to cross-promote your blog or website, because I will link to it, just like I did with the callers in this episode.

Show Transcript

You can download a complete, word-for-word transcript of this episode here, courtesy of Ginger Schell, a professional transcriptionist, who handles all my transcription needs.

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Trust is so crucial in every relationship and every situation. If you don’t have it, it make it very difficult to move things forward. If you’ve lost it, things can go south very fast.

Trust is not something you can take for granted. It takes months—sometimes years—to build. Unfortunately, you can lose it overnight.

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If you are in a situation where you need to build trust—or even rebuild it—here are four specific steps you can take. These will work with your employees, your colleagues, your customers, your vendor or even your spouse.

Keep your word.

Tell the truth.

Be transparent.

Give without any strings attached.

Trust can always be rebuilt. Granted, in some situations, it can take years. It takes doing the right things over a long period of time.

But in most cases, it won’t take that long. Relationships can be turned around quickly if you own the problem and take the steps I’ve outlined above.

Listener Questions

Alan Williams asked, “How do you allow someone to regain their trust with you when they have done something to cause you to distrust them or their leadership?”

Chip Hutcheson asked, “How can I tell if a client or a prospective client has the ability to trust me?”

Evan Umberger asked, “What methods do you suggest for building your trust momentum?”

Jane Graham asked, “How can you rebuild trust with people when doing so might require you to betray someone else’s privacy?”

Kimberley Wiggins asked, “When you are trying to build or rebuild trust I know it is important to be transparent. Is it possible to be too transparent and share too much?”

Kristine Canavan asked, “When you are your own boss, should you let your clients know when you have been unhappy with your performance and given yourself a reprimand?”

Matt Coachran asked, “How do I help someone I lead rebuild trust with those they lead?”

 Mike Burns asked, “How do you discuss sensitive performance issues with someone without out betraying the trust of the person you are discussing?”

Nicky Nics Cahill asked, “How do you rebuild trust with a person who has lied to your face and spread spiteful lies about you to other people, especially when it is someone with whom you have to work on a daily basis?”

Special Announcements

I am speaking tomorrow in Palm Springs, California at the INVEST Financial Corporation’s annual Leaders’ Conference. I will be talking about “Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World,” specifically tailored for people in the financial services industry.

On Friday, I will be speaking at the CEO Summit in Dallas, Texas, along with my friends, Bob Goff and Francis Chan. I will be doing two keynote sessions: “Why Vision Is More Important Than Strategy” and “Platform.”

I’ll be off the road the next week and then I’m headed to the SCORRE Conference in Orlando, Florida. We are sold out. But we do have a waiting list.

If you are considering launching your own platform, you need to start with a self-hosted WordPress blog. This is not as complicated as it sounds. In fact, I have put together a step-by-step screencast on exactly who to do it.

Not long ago, I sat in Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center watching Hugh Wolff, a world renowned conductor, lead the Nashville Symphony in a performance of Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances, Op. 45. It was fascinating!

Toward the end of the evening, it occurred to me that conducting an orchestra and leading a team have much in common. In fact, this analogy has become so powerful to me that I can hardly talk about leadership without referring to this example.

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Here are eight leadership lessons I learned from watching a symphony conductor:

Lesson #1: Start with a plan.

Lesson #2: Recruit the best players.

Lesson #3: Be visible, so everyone can see you.

Lesson #4: Lead with your heart.

Lesson #5: Delegate and focus on what only you can do.

Lesson #6: Be aware of your gestures and their impact.

Lesson #7: Keep your back to the audience.

Lesson #8: Share the spotlight.

Who knew that the world of music had so much to teach us as leaders? But it does. Leadership lessons are everywhere, if we only look.

Listener Questions

A quick note: If you are one of the people listed below, please send my assistant, Tricia, an e-mail with your shipping address, so I can send you an autographed copy of my book, Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World.

Adam Rico asked, “If someone has aspirations to move into an executive position in their career, what would you recommend they do now to prepare for an opportunity later?”

Ben Nielsen asked, “As a leader, how much do you need to know about your teammates specialities?”

Gary Morland asked, “How do you get a team aligned to work as one and think bigger than their own interests?”

Hanno van der Bijl asked, “How do you adapt to other people’s work habits if you are an introvert?”

Jim Ryan asked, “What should a leader do when he has department heads who aren’t playing nicely with one another?”

Kim Avery asked, “What is the best way to lead an organization from underneath?”

Mike St. Pierre asked, “How do I help my people work independently without completely relinquishing my role as their leader?”

Tara Chrisco asked, “What tips do you have for leaders who ‘conduct a symphony’ where the orchestra members play for many different conductors and the reporting structure is loosely defined?”

Timothy Moser asked, “Do you have any suggestions for ensuring that commitment is genuine before relying on team members?”

Special Announcements

We have opened up a couple of more speaking dates for this year. If you are interested in having me speak at an upcoming event, please check out my speaking page.

If you are considering launching your own platform, you need to start with a self-hosted WordPress blog. This is not as complicated as it sounds. In fact, I have put together a step-by-step screencast on exactly who to do...

You and I spend more time at work than any other single activity. Yet, I meet so many people who are unhappy in their job.

If we are going to experience true job satisfaction, we need to understand the components that make it possible. We’ll talk about this plus what to do if you hate your job.

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Here are the three components that must be present for you to experience job satisfaction.

Component #1: You must have passion.

Component #2: You must be competent.

Component #3: You must have a market.

If you have all three of these components—passion, competence, and a market—you experience satisfaction. Few things in life are more rewarding. However, you have to be wary of having only two.

Passion + Competence - Market = A Hobby

Passion + Market - Competence = Failure

Competence + Market - Passion = Boredom

So, what do you do if you are in a job you hate?

Many people feel trapped in a job they hate but don’t believe they can quit. They feel stuck and, as a result, their life is miserable. If this describes you, here are seven strategies for making work more tolerable:

Strategy #1: Be thankful you are employed.

Strategy #2: Put your work in context.

Strategy #3: Determine the source of your dissatisfaction.

Strategy #4: Find someone to talk to.

Strategy #5: Fix what you can fix.

Strategy #6: Use your job to polish your character.

Strategy #7: Encourage a co-worker

If you really can’t stand your job, and you have done through the above steps, you need to make plans for a graceful exit. Life is too short to stay stuck in a situation that makes you miserable.

Sometimes you don’t have a choice. But often, you do. You just need a plan and the courage to take the first steps.

Listener Questions

Brad Blackman asked, "How can you have a better attitude about the work you are doing”

Brent Dumler asked, “What would you say to a 20-something church leader who finds him or herself in the midst of an unhealthy church? When would you advise them to start looking for something else?”

Chandler Milligan asked, “How do I keep my job satisfaction high when I am striving for a position I am not even being considered for?”

Cindy Finley asked, “I love my work but feel the tension between job satisfaction and mommy guilt. What advice do you have for me and for other working moms?”

Mark Gredler asked, “How can I increase job satisfaction and influence things for the better without being perceived as a negative complainer?”

Raisa Lardie asked “How does debt relate to job satisfaction?”

Special Announcements

My business partner Ken Davis and I will be hosting the SCORRE Conference, May 6–9 at the beautiful Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando, Florida. We only have about a dozen tickets left.

Whether you are a professional speaker—or just want to be—this conference will teach you how to prepare with focus, deliver with confidence, and speak with power.

Bottom line: it’s a conference designed to maximize the impact of your speeches.

I have worked for more weak leaders than strong. I’ll bet you may have, too. However, I believe you can learn just as much from a weak leader—maybe more.

I was reminded of this again when I read Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. It is a page-turning account of Abraham Lincoln’s presidency and his political genius.

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Though Lincoln was a strong leader, he wasn’t perfect. He occasionally selected men for public service who were unworthy of his trust. One such individual was General George B. McClellan, commander of the “Army of the Potomac” and, eventually, first general-in-chief of the Union Army.

General McClellan had significant character flaws. The good news for us is that they serve as warning signs to us. Ultimately, these flaws cost him dearly. He lost Lincoln's confidence, he lost his job, and he later lost a run for the White House (against Lincoln).

McClellan's weakness as a leader can be attributed to five fundamental flaws, and these are flaws that appear consistently in weak leaders.

Flaw #1: Weak leaders hesitate to take definitive action.

Flaw #2: Weak leaders complain about a lack of resources.

Flaw #3: Weak leaders refuse to take responsibility.

Flaw #4: Weak leaders abuse the privileges of leadership.

Flaw #5: Weak leaders engage in acts of insubordination.

President Lincoln had the patience of Job. He gave General McClellan numerous opportunities to correct his behavior and redeem himself. But in the end, McClellan either could not or would not do so. He left the President no choice but to relieve him of his duties.

In this episode, I also talk about how to deal with those flaws in yourself and in those who are leading you.

Listener Questions

Alan Williams asked, “How do I know if I'm doing a good job as a leader?”

Blessing Mpofu asked, “How do you lead people who are smarter and stronger than you in areas you are not?”

Brandon W. Jones asked, “How do you deal with a leader who has a Jekyll and Hyde personality?”

James Divine asked, “How can I influence other leaders who have a difficult time being courageous?”

Jonathan Lazar asked, “How do I know if the problem is me as a leader who needs to grow or if the problem is an employee who needs to go?”

Joseph Iliff asked, “Have you had any experience with leaders who are quick to blame and slow to accept responsibility?”

Kent Lapp asked, “What do you do if you feel you are working for a weak leader and you are actually a better leader?”

Robert Farrington asked, “Do you have any tips in giving feedback to new leaders—perhaps someone you work for or someone external to the company?”

Special Announcements

My business partner, Ken Davis, and I will be hosting the SCORRE Conference, May 6–9 at the beautiful Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando, Florida.

Whether you are a professional speaker—or just want to be—this conference will teach you how to prepare with focus, deliver with confidence, and speak with power. Bottom line: it’s a conference designed to maximize the impact of your speeches.

Honestly, this conference has had a bigger impact on my career than any conference I have ever attended.

I don’t recall anyone ever teaching me how to take notes. I didn’t learn it in school—not even college. Nor did I learn it on the job. It was something I had to pick up on my own.

Maybe this is why so few people bother to take notes during meetings or presentations. No one has ever told them why it is important or how to do it. In this episode, I do both.

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So let’s start with why. Why is note-taking important? Here are five reasons you should take notes in every meeting your attend:

Note-taking enables you to stay engaged.

Note-taking provides a mechanism for capturing ideas, insights and questions.

Note-taking helps you track assignments–yours and others.

Note-taking provides a handy reference weeks and months later.

Note-taking communicates the right things to the other attendees.

So, those are some reasons why note-taking is important. How, then, can you take better notes?

Don't get hung up on the tool.

Record whatever you find interesting.

Give your notes structure, even if the meeting or presenter is unstructured.

Use symbols so you can quickly scan your notes later.

Schedule time to review your notes.

The method you use is secondary to the importance of doing it. Feel free to experiment. The key thing is to be intentional.

Listener Questions

Brandon Jones asked, “How can you effectively take notes and still be an active participant in the meeting?"

Cary Branscum asked, “What is the one favorite pen or pencil you have that you most enjoy using?”

Deborah Owen asked, “How can we teach students to take notes in a way that will ultimately be useful in the workplace?”

Erick Rheam asked, “How do you capture ideas and follow-up items on podcasts and audiobooks?”

Jared Easley asked, “What's your advice on taking mental notes, when you don't have a pen and taking notes on a cell phone is inappropriate?”

Jeremy Jones asked, “Do you have a regular process or system for making sure the notes you take get into your life?”

John Brubaker asked, “How do you get buy-in from people who work for you to become note-takers themselves without forcing it on them?”

Jordan Collier asked, “Can you recommend a system for reviewing or reflecting on your notes?”

Paula Gibson asked, “How can we encourage students, who are using digital devices, to take notes?”

Scott McFaddin asked, “How can we use digital devices in a corporate setting without making people wonder if we are taking notes or doing something else?”

Tom McFarland asked, “What do you do with your notes after you finish processing them?”

 Victor H. Manzanilla asked, “How do you create a notes archive that is indexed and searchable?”

Special Announcements

I am speaking at Dan Miller’s Innovate Conference on Friday, March 29th, here in Franklin, TN. I am speaking on the topic of “Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World” with special emphasis on finding your voice.

Next week, April 2nd, I will be speaking at Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusettes.

I joined Twitter on April 6, 2008 at the urging of my friend, Randy. I quickly came to discover that Twitter is one of the most powerful communication tools ever invented.

But the power of Twitter is greatly impacted by the extent of your reach, and that means the number of followers you have. In this episode, I talk about how to get more followers–without gaming the system.

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First, let's look at three reasons you might want more Twitter followers:

Reason #1: More followers provide social authority.

Reason #2: More followers extend your influence.

Reason #3: More followers lead to more sales.

So, here are twelve steps you can take now to legitimately gain more Twitter followers:

Show your Face.

Create an interesting bio.

Use a custom About page.

Make your Twitter presence visible.

Share valuable content.

Post frequently, but don’t flood your followers.

Keep your posts short enough to retweet.

Reply to others publicly.

Practice strategic, not aggressive, following.

Be generous in linking and retweeting others.

Avoid too much promotion.

Don’t use an auto-responder.

Ultimately, you shouldn’t worry too much about the numbers. If you follow the advice I have given above, the numbers will take care of themselves. Like most things in life, slow and steady wins the race. Don’t underestimate the power of incremental growth over time. I didn’t build my following overnight and neither will you.

Listener Questions

Christopher Scott asked, “What is the difference between HootSuite’s auto-schedule feature and Buffer app?”

Cory Nikkel asked, “What can I do outside of speaking to gain more Twitter followers?”

Dustin Dauenhauer asked, “What is the purpose of Twitter, especially as compared to Facebook?”

Erik Fisher asked, “Have you tried tweeting fewer but higher quality tweets?”

Jake Hower asked, “How do you move Twitter followers to e-mail subscribers to your blog?”

Jeff Keady asked, “Do you know of a resource similar to Brett Kelly’s Evernote Essentials e-book that is designed to help people learn the advanced features of Twitter?” and “Is Twitter your number one social media network and, if not, what is?”

Kerry-Ann Powell asked, “How do you engage your Twitter followers and how do you get them to follow you on your blog?”

Mark Jordan asked, “What is your strategy for following people, especially as your follower count grows?”

Mike Samboy asked, “What do you think about following a large number of people in the hope that they will follow you back?”

Scot Longyear asked, “Can you change your Twitter name on your current account?”

Shalon Palmer asked, "How do you go about sharing your new blog post on all the different social media networks?"

Special Announcements

If you are considering launching your own platform, you need to start with a self-hosted WordPress blog. This is not as complicated as it sounds. In fact, I have put together a

In this episode, I give all of you a peek inside my toolbox. These are "tools" that I use virtually every day in my professional and personal life.

I am often asked about my tools. I hope that this episode gives you some insights and ideas about tools you might use to help with your own workflow. The podcast is a little long, but I didn’t want to leave anything out.

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I want to look at my tools in six different areas: Hardware, Startup Software, Blogging, Writing, Speaking, and Podcasting

Hardware

13" MacBook Air

27" Apple Thunderbolt Display

Fujitsu ScanSnap 1300 Scanner

HP OfficeJet Pro 8100

Big Jambox by Jawbone

Time Capsule

iPad Mini

iPhone 5

Startup Software

Startupizer

Alfred

iKey

Typinator

Crashplan

Stay

DropBox

PathFinder

SnagIt

Cobook

Messages

Apple Mail

Hootsuite

Evernote

Google Calendar

Google Chrome

Nozbe

Blogging

WordPress

BlueHost

Get Noticed! Theme

Feedburner

Disqus

MailChimp

Akismet

Google Analytics

ScribeSEO

VaultPress

iStockPhoto

Evernote

Writing

Byword

Chicago Manual ...