Recently I learned about the life of a successful amateur athlete who once was strong, independent, successful, and active and is now facing an enormous amount of hardships in her life. Some of her trials include the recent and sudden death of her father, a shocking diagnosis of autism for her eldest son, sleepless nights with a young collicky baby, and frequent debilitating migraine headaches. What was once a seemingly carefree, nearly perfect, and enjoyable experience has turned into something nearly unbearable.
When I heard about this story, it made me think about how all of us are faced with challenges and adversity in our life. I’ve yet to meet someone whose life is “full of roses” and without opposition. Thus, how we react to adversity becomes imperative to our success in life. Often it is not so much about the challenges we face that determines our fate, but more about how we respond to the trials we are confronted with. Frequently in life the hardest times provide the greatest opportunities for growth if we allow them to, and in the end we become wiser, stronger, and more successful. In fact, I’ve found that successful people meet obstacles head on with remarkable levels of persistence, optimism, and endurance.
Endurance is stamina, staying power, the ability to exert ones self for a long period of time. I believe endurance is a marquee quality of a successful person. Life presents to each one of us a myriad of challenges yet consistency in doing well for a “long period of time” nearly guarantees success. Nonetheless, this is not easily done as it is a rare person who is able to sustain effort and focus when faced with life’s unexpected and unforgiving struggles.
Growing up I learned about enduring through hardships and often thought that when faced with difficulties I simply needed to press through it with patience—believing that when the problem was resolved, life would be blissful and joyful again. However I have learned that successful people learn to be happy and successful in the middle of the storm. They do not wait for calmer waters, but instead they find ways to be triumphant and victorious regardless of their circumstances. Often times in life the wind never stops blowing; so we can’t wait. We must make our best effort now!
So enduring and enduring well is something each of us should strive to do. Are we waiting for our trials to pass so we can then rededicate ourselves to our goals? Are we putting off our best efforts in hopes life will someday get easier for us? Or are we pressing forward despite the many mountains that stand in our way. If we can learn to “exert” ourselves toward accomplishing our goals for “a long period of time” no matter what may come, we will be extremely successful!!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Wickedly Successful
Recently while visiting New York I had the opportunity to attend the Broadway musical Wicked. The show was extremely entertaining and I loved it! One of the reasons I enjoyed it so much is because I feel there are a lot of important life lesson taught in the play. Today I would like to share four life lessons that can be learned from Wicked.
# 1 “Dancing Through Life”
One of the main characters in the show claims and encourages others to “dance through life.” Essentially what he means by this is that people should not worry about their actions or take anything in life seriously. In fact this character suggests that life is essentially pointless and believes the only way to live is to do whatever you feel like doing at any given moment. Unfortunately, I believe many in life retain this philosophy and fail to realize that living like this usually results in unhappiness and failure. Contrary to this characters belief, life has consequences. For this reason, we should be very conscious about our actions and decisions. Good decisions and actions lead to success and happiness where poor decisions and actions lead to failure and frustration. Further in the story, this character learns that what he once believed about life is not true, and he changes. He learns that life’s choices do have consequences and impact our results and happiness in life.
#2 “Accepting Limits”
At one point in the story the main character has an epiphany, and she realizes she had been limiting herself based on “societal boundaries” and what others told her she could and could not do. Many times we believe what society or others say about our abilities or possibilities as well, and thus we allow them to limit us—to prevent us from achieving greatness. Like this character, we must realize our future is “unlimited”, and we have the ability to achieve whatever we set our hearts to. Much like this character, we must come to believe in ourselves and realize we can “defy gravity” by accomplishing our dreams and goals. We can truly do amazing things when we overcome perceived limits or roadblocks that often only exist in our minds.
#3 “Be Careful What you Wish For”
Another character in the show receives presumably everything she ever wanted, yet she realizes there is still an emptiness inside or a lack of satisfaction. The reason is she selfishly went about obtaining the desires of her heart while disregarding all others. Thus, in the process of obtaining her number one objective, she sacrificed other things that were more important to her. Once she comes to this realization, she is very sorrowful and realizes perhaps her number one goal was not worth the cost. We can learn from her example by evaluating our goals to ensure they are inline with what is most important to us--so we don’t look back and regret what we sacrificed to obtain what we thought seemed important but really isn’t. We can also learn that although we can accomplish anything we set our heart to, it should never be at the expense of others. Finally, we can learn that to truly be successful and happy we must often put others first; and when we do, good things happen.
#4 “Things are Not as they Seem”
The overall lesson of this show is that things are not always as they seem. In the show, which is a spinoff from the Wizard of Oz, we learn that the supposed Wicked Witch of the West was not wicked at all, and that the “good” witch was not as good as perception would indicate. Thus, we can learn we must not be quick to assume or pass judgment; for often perception is not reality, and what we believe to be true may be just the opposite. Thus, we should learn that whenever possible we must be careful and strive to obtain facts before jumping to conclusions or passing harsh judgments on others unjustly. For often times, things are not as they seem.
Wicked is a great show with many great important life lessons that we can learn from. If we will strive to do more than simply dance through life, if we will believe our future is unlimited, if we will be careful of what we wish for, and if we will seek first to understand and not judge, our lives will be happier and we will be wickedly successful.
# 1 “Dancing Through Life”
One of the main characters in the show claims and encourages others to “dance through life.” Essentially what he means by this is that people should not worry about their actions or take anything in life seriously. In fact this character suggests that life is essentially pointless and believes the only way to live is to do whatever you feel like doing at any given moment. Unfortunately, I believe many in life retain this philosophy and fail to realize that living like this usually results in unhappiness and failure. Contrary to this characters belief, life has consequences. For this reason, we should be very conscious about our actions and decisions. Good decisions and actions lead to success and happiness where poor decisions and actions lead to failure and frustration. Further in the story, this character learns that what he once believed about life is not true, and he changes. He learns that life’s choices do have consequences and impact our results and happiness in life.
#2 “Accepting Limits”
At one point in the story the main character has an epiphany, and she realizes she had been limiting herself based on “societal boundaries” and what others told her she could and could not do. Many times we believe what society or others say about our abilities or possibilities as well, and thus we allow them to limit us—to prevent us from achieving greatness. Like this character, we must realize our future is “unlimited”, and we have the ability to achieve whatever we set our hearts to. Much like this character, we must come to believe in ourselves and realize we can “defy gravity” by accomplishing our dreams and goals. We can truly do amazing things when we overcome perceived limits or roadblocks that often only exist in our minds.
#3 “Be Careful What you Wish For”
Another character in the show receives presumably everything she ever wanted, yet she realizes there is still an emptiness inside or a lack of satisfaction. The reason is she selfishly went about obtaining the desires of her heart while disregarding all others. Thus, in the process of obtaining her number one objective, she sacrificed other things that were more important to her. Once she comes to this realization, she is very sorrowful and realizes perhaps her number one goal was not worth the cost. We can learn from her example by evaluating our goals to ensure they are inline with what is most important to us--so we don’t look back and regret what we sacrificed to obtain what we thought seemed important but really isn’t. We can also learn that although we can accomplish anything we set our heart to, it should never be at the expense of others. Finally, we can learn that to truly be successful and happy we must often put others first; and when we do, good things happen.
#4 “Things are Not as they Seem”
The overall lesson of this show is that things are not always as they seem. In the show, which is a spinoff from the Wizard of Oz, we learn that the supposed Wicked Witch of the West was not wicked at all, and that the “good” witch was not as good as perception would indicate. Thus, we can learn we must not be quick to assume or pass judgment; for often perception is not reality, and what we believe to be true may be just the opposite. Thus, we should learn that whenever possible we must be careful and strive to obtain facts before jumping to conclusions or passing harsh judgments on others unjustly. For often times, things are not as they seem.
Wicked is a great show with many great important life lessons that we can learn from. If we will strive to do more than simply dance through life, if we will believe our future is unlimited, if we will be careful of what we wish for, and if we will seek first to understand and not judge, our lives will be happier and we will be wickedly successful.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
The Law of the Harvest
“The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.”
Vidal Sassoon
In life there are certain laws that can not be ignored, altered, or avoided. In the famous book The Secret, these laws are called "Laws of the Universe". Much like the Law of Gravity that implies that what must go up must come down; these Laws of the Universe are just as binding and true. Unfortunately however, they are often less thought about, taught, or even known. Today I wish to briefly discuss one of these “secrets” or universal laws that I call The Law of the Harvest.
The Law of the Harvest simply explained is that in life we will reap what we sow. Just as a corn farmer plants corn seeds in preparation to harvest corn so we plant the seeds of our successes or our failures in our life. We do this through our own personal actions and efforts. Therefore, what we achieve in life is a direct result of what we choose to plant.
Additionally, the Law of the Harvest teaches us that we must work! Farmers must plant in the spring and carefully and diligently work all summer in order to reap the reward in the fall. So we must work now in order to receive a future reward. Success in life very rarely is handed to us on a silver platter or just happens by luck or chance. On the contrary, success in life follows hard work.
Too many people ignore this “Law of the Universe.” Too many people want to plant today and reap tomorrow without much cultivation or work in between. Many others do not want to plant at all believing they are entitled to the harvest regardless of what effort they put forth. Unfortunately, regardless of what others may say or lead us to believe, the truth is that we will reap what we sow. If we do not put forth the effort, we do not gain the reward.
Finally, The Law of the Harvest rewards the diligent worker with more than just external value. There is nothing more satisfying to a farmer than having a plentiful harvest after great sacrifice and work has been exerted. Likewise, there is nothing more intrinsically satisfying in life than achieving a goal through hard work, sacrifice, and dedication. This indeed is one of the great Laws of the Universe for without work, what gratification would there be in simply receiving everything we ever wanted?! Thanks to The Law of the Harvest, we can feel a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when we work hard to achieve success.
My concern for the future is that many ignore, do not know about, or do not believe this universal law. We must teach future generations and learn for ourselves that hard work=satisfaction in life. That diligent effort=happiness. That much labor=much joy. If you don’t believe this to be true, please give it a try. Much like gravity, often we must see it to believe it so put it to the test to determine if this law is true! Work hard and then reap the rewards!!
Vidal Sassoon
In life there are certain laws that can not be ignored, altered, or avoided. In the famous book The Secret, these laws are called "Laws of the Universe". Much like the Law of Gravity that implies that what must go up must come down; these Laws of the Universe are just as binding and true. Unfortunately however, they are often less thought about, taught, or even known. Today I wish to briefly discuss one of these “secrets” or universal laws that I call The Law of the Harvest.
The Law of the Harvest simply explained is that in life we will reap what we sow. Just as a corn farmer plants corn seeds in preparation to harvest corn so we plant the seeds of our successes or our failures in our life. We do this through our own personal actions and efforts. Therefore, what we achieve in life is a direct result of what we choose to plant.
Additionally, the Law of the Harvest teaches us that we must work! Farmers must plant in the spring and carefully and diligently work all summer in order to reap the reward in the fall. So we must work now in order to receive a future reward. Success in life very rarely is handed to us on a silver platter or just happens by luck or chance. On the contrary, success in life follows hard work.
Too many people ignore this “Law of the Universe.” Too many people want to plant today and reap tomorrow without much cultivation or work in between. Many others do not want to plant at all believing they are entitled to the harvest regardless of what effort they put forth. Unfortunately, regardless of what others may say or lead us to believe, the truth is that we will reap what we sow. If we do not put forth the effort, we do not gain the reward.
Finally, The Law of the Harvest rewards the diligent worker with more than just external value. There is nothing more satisfying to a farmer than having a plentiful harvest after great sacrifice and work has been exerted. Likewise, there is nothing more intrinsically satisfying in life than achieving a goal through hard work, sacrifice, and dedication. This indeed is one of the great Laws of the Universe for without work, what gratification would there be in simply receiving everything we ever wanted?! Thanks to The Law of the Harvest, we can feel a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when we work hard to achieve success.
My concern for the future is that many ignore, do not know about, or do not believe this universal law. We must teach future generations and learn for ourselves that hard work=satisfaction in life. That diligent effort=happiness. That much labor=much joy. If you don’t believe this to be true, please give it a try. Much like gravity, often we must see it to believe it so put it to the test to determine if this law is true! Work hard and then reap the rewards!!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
If Disney Ran your Hospital
If Disney Ran your Hospital by Fred Lee is an interesting book about a career healthcare professional who spends time working in the Disney organization and learns that many of the Disney business strategies and approaches, if implemented into healthcare, could greatly improve the industry. Thus, in this book, the author lists 9 ½ of these ideas or strategies and illustrates how adopting these same strategies in healthcare or in any business would advance results and enhance success. Below are four of my favorite 9 ½ strategies discussed in the book.
#1 Redefine Your Competition and Focus on what Can’t be Measured
Often we compare ourselves to our immediate competition, but not Disney. Instead, they compare themselves to the greatest organizations in any industry. Disney’s desire is not simply to be the best in their industry but to be the best in comparison to any company worldwide. Think about how this thought process could positively impact our results—especially if we are part of an industry that is known for poor customer service, or poor quality, or poor whatever... Likewise, Disney focuses most of its efforts on outcomes that are difficult to measure such as first impressions and special experiences. Rather than zeroing in on numbers, they attempt to evaluate feelings and emotions because to them, positive experiences, feelings, and emotions are what really drive customer loyalty.
#2 Make Courtesy more Important than Efficiency
In business, we constantly get hung-up on efficiency and often devalue, or even worse, push courtesy completely to the wayside. Thus we teach our people to be efficient but not courteous. In the Disney model, they preach that if customer service and courteous behavior come first, than the business will prosper. Through their success, and the positive impressions and experiences probably each of us have had with Disney, we can see the value in this strategy.
#3 Decentralize the Authority to Say Yes
Disney empowers employees to please a dissatisfied customer immediately. Unlike many business models, if you are a Disney employee and someone is upset, you have the power to determine what needs to be done to make that customer happy whether provide them with a free souvenir, cover their tab at the dinner table, or reimburse their money completely—each employee has the power to satisfy their customer without going to their boss or others. This immediate response to unhappy customers by all employees builds satisfaction and success.
#4 Harness the Motivating Power of Imagination
Disney encourages employees to imagine that each person is someone they know personally and like. Rather than serving, they are “on stage” each day with the goal of creating excellent experiences for each person they come in contact with. If an employee is having a bad day, is upset about something, or just doesn’t feel like working, they are encouraged to act—to imagine that they are having the best day and to perform and put on the best show possible. The Disney model believes that imagination has the power to change feelings which in turn changes behaviors. And through imagination our actions become easy, natural, and real. This power of imagination motivates employees to do their best each day and provides unforgettable memories for patrons.
These are simply four of the 9 ½ Disney strategies shared in this book. I believe the book does contain a small portion of the magic of Disney and that the ideas are creative and sound, and if implemented could improve any business. I encourage business leaders to read the book and discover the other strategies shared. And just imagine how life would be different if every company ran their business like Disney…
#1 Redefine Your Competition and Focus on what Can’t be Measured
Often we compare ourselves to our immediate competition, but not Disney. Instead, they compare themselves to the greatest organizations in any industry. Disney’s desire is not simply to be the best in their industry but to be the best in comparison to any company worldwide. Think about how this thought process could positively impact our results—especially if we are part of an industry that is known for poor customer service, or poor quality, or poor whatever... Likewise, Disney focuses most of its efforts on outcomes that are difficult to measure such as first impressions and special experiences. Rather than zeroing in on numbers, they attempt to evaluate feelings and emotions because to them, positive experiences, feelings, and emotions are what really drive customer loyalty.
#2 Make Courtesy more Important than Efficiency
In business, we constantly get hung-up on efficiency and often devalue, or even worse, push courtesy completely to the wayside. Thus we teach our people to be efficient but not courteous. In the Disney model, they preach that if customer service and courteous behavior come first, than the business will prosper. Through their success, and the positive impressions and experiences probably each of us have had with Disney, we can see the value in this strategy.
#3 Decentralize the Authority to Say Yes
Disney empowers employees to please a dissatisfied customer immediately. Unlike many business models, if you are a Disney employee and someone is upset, you have the power to determine what needs to be done to make that customer happy whether provide them with a free souvenir, cover their tab at the dinner table, or reimburse their money completely—each employee has the power to satisfy their customer without going to their boss or others. This immediate response to unhappy customers by all employees builds satisfaction and success.
#4 Harness the Motivating Power of Imagination
Disney encourages employees to imagine that each person is someone they know personally and like. Rather than serving, they are “on stage” each day with the goal of creating excellent experiences for each person they come in contact with. If an employee is having a bad day, is upset about something, or just doesn’t feel like working, they are encouraged to act—to imagine that they are having the best day and to perform and put on the best show possible. The Disney model believes that imagination has the power to change feelings which in turn changes behaviors. And through imagination our actions become easy, natural, and real. This power of imagination motivates employees to do their best each day and provides unforgettable memories for patrons.
These are simply four of the 9 ½ Disney strategies shared in this book. I believe the book does contain a small portion of the magic of Disney and that the ideas are creative and sound, and if implemented could improve any business. I encourage business leaders to read the book and discover the other strategies shared. And just imagine how life would be different if every company ran their business like Disney…
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Achieving Goals 101
“I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don’t set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential.”
Russell M. Nelson
This past weekend I was asked to teach a class about achieving goals. I felt a little inadequate and certainly nervous but went ahead and taught the course. I was surprised by the responses I received. People were thrilled by what they had learned, and in turn I was thrilled to know they actually learned something and found value in what I was teaching. The main points of my lesson centered around 4 steps needed to accomplish goals. I believe if we follow these four steps, success will come in only a matter of time.
#1 Write them down
I’ve heard that only 50% of people who claim to have goals in life actually write them down—yet those who write them down are 10 times more likely to accomplish them. Thus, the simple act of writing down our goals can go a long way in helping us achieve them.
#2 Plan
When setting goals, we must take time to plan. Are the goals we are setting realistic meaning we will be able to dedicate the appropriate amount of time to achieving them? For example, I once had a goal to improve a skill so I set a goal of practicing that skill one hour every day. Soon, I realized though that this goal was unrealistic. On Wednesdays I was booked my entire day with other obligations thus rendering it nearly impossible to accomplish my one hour for that day. This was poor planning on my part. At that point, I realized that if I only slightly altered my goal to practice 30 hours a month rather than one hour a day, I could be successful! I was able to make up for lost times on days that I had more time to dedicate to developing this skill. Rather than fail, with this new plan, I was able to accomplish the goal.
Let me give you another example on the importance of planning. Let’s say my goal is to exercise 45 minutes a day. To plan properly and to improve my chances of success, I should determine at what time each day I could commit myself to achieving this goal. Looking at my schedule perhaps I could set aside 8pm to 9pm each day as my time to dedicate myself to accomplishing this goal. Our lives are busy and failing to plan for the appropriate time, steps, or actions needed to accomplish our goals will lead us to failure. Thus, developing a plan from the get go will help us accomplish them!
#3 Review them Daily
How many times do we set goals, write them down, and then leave them where they will never be seen again? I know I’ve been guilty of this in the past. So, if we want to achieve our goal, we must review them daily!
#4 Measure Progress
This is perhaps the most valuable step for me. We must measure our progress toward achieving our goals daily. To do this, we must have a measurement tool we use that tells us how we are doing. I’ve become very proficient at developing my own measurement tools using Excel Spreadsheets based on my goals. These spreadsheets help me track my progress and give me a snap shot of how much further I have to go to get there. I believe utilizing an effective measurement tool to keep track of our progress toward accomplishing a goal is critical to success. (If you’d like more information or would like to see some examples of the measurement tools I’ve used, please contact me at burntham@gmail.com)
Though in much less detail than my class, this gives you an idea of my four steps to achieving goals. Nothing new per say and certainly nothing extraordinary, but I know that following these 4 simple steps will allow us to accomplish our goals. And as we learn to accomplish goals in life, we will more fully reach our potential which will have a great impact on the results we attain in life. Good luck!!
Russell M. Nelson
This past weekend I was asked to teach a class about achieving goals. I felt a little inadequate and certainly nervous but went ahead and taught the course. I was surprised by the responses I received. People were thrilled by what they had learned, and in turn I was thrilled to know they actually learned something and found value in what I was teaching. The main points of my lesson centered around 4 steps needed to accomplish goals. I believe if we follow these four steps, success will come in only a matter of time.
#1 Write them down
I’ve heard that only 50% of people who claim to have goals in life actually write them down—yet those who write them down are 10 times more likely to accomplish them. Thus, the simple act of writing down our goals can go a long way in helping us achieve them.
#2 Plan
When setting goals, we must take time to plan. Are the goals we are setting realistic meaning we will be able to dedicate the appropriate amount of time to achieving them? For example, I once had a goal to improve a skill so I set a goal of practicing that skill one hour every day. Soon, I realized though that this goal was unrealistic. On Wednesdays I was booked my entire day with other obligations thus rendering it nearly impossible to accomplish my one hour for that day. This was poor planning on my part. At that point, I realized that if I only slightly altered my goal to practice 30 hours a month rather than one hour a day, I could be successful! I was able to make up for lost times on days that I had more time to dedicate to developing this skill. Rather than fail, with this new plan, I was able to accomplish the goal.
Let me give you another example on the importance of planning. Let’s say my goal is to exercise 45 minutes a day. To plan properly and to improve my chances of success, I should determine at what time each day I could commit myself to achieving this goal. Looking at my schedule perhaps I could set aside 8pm to 9pm each day as my time to dedicate myself to accomplishing this goal. Our lives are busy and failing to plan for the appropriate time, steps, or actions needed to accomplish our goals will lead us to failure. Thus, developing a plan from the get go will help us accomplish them!
#3 Review them Daily
How many times do we set goals, write them down, and then leave them where they will never be seen again? I know I’ve been guilty of this in the past. So, if we want to achieve our goal, we must review them daily!
#4 Measure Progress
This is perhaps the most valuable step for me. We must measure our progress toward achieving our goals daily. To do this, we must have a measurement tool we use that tells us how we are doing. I’ve become very proficient at developing my own measurement tools using Excel Spreadsheets based on my goals. These spreadsheets help me track my progress and give me a snap shot of how much further I have to go to get there. I believe utilizing an effective measurement tool to keep track of our progress toward accomplishing a goal is critical to success. (If you’d like more information or would like to see some examples of the measurement tools I’ve used, please contact me at burntham@gmail.com)
Though in much less detail than my class, this gives you an idea of my four steps to achieving goals. Nothing new per say and certainly nothing extraordinary, but I know that following these 4 simple steps will allow us to accomplish our goals. And as we learn to accomplish goals in life, we will more fully reach our potential which will have a great impact on the results we attain in life. Good luck!!
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