What Are You Waiting For?

“If you had one shot, or one opportunity, to seize everything you ever wanted, in one moment, would you capture it… or just let it slip?”
Eminem – Lose Yourself

If you’ve ever seen the movie “8 Miles” then you might have heard the lyrics from the tune “Lose Yourself.” I heard the song on a recent iPod/iTunes commercial. (That’s right, I didn’t see the movie and I don’t listen to rap music), but the opening lyrics are pretty powerful and it made me think about the absolute choice we have over our own lives…

Here’s a question: Is 2006 shaping up to be your best year ever? If yes, I congratulate you! Now keep it up for 10 more months and you’ll have another excellent year in the bag. If you are behind, what are you waiting for? What are we all waiting for?

Here’s another question: Is something holding you back mentally or physically? Is there something you need to start doing? Is there something you need to stop doing?

In about thirty days, 25% of the year will have passed by... soon after that, it will be June and summer will be in full swing. Things move pretty fast after that and about 75% of the year will be gone before it cools off again here in the Arizona desert. Then the holidays will be here. So much begins to happen with Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukah that before you know it, you’ll be celebrating New Years Eve 2007. It happens that fast and you know it.

Jim Rohn says that our daily disciplines are what make us great. The more we focus on key disciplines, the more successful we will be. He also tells us that we continue to make mistakes in our choice of daily disciplines because the result of a poor choice doesn’t “befall us” in the same moment we make it. The consequence is often delayed, and thus our mistakes become disconnected from our ultimate failures, and when that happens we often begin looking for reasons why, usually missing the real culprit which is ourselves.

Success, like failure comes the same way… it takes a bit of time to see the fruits of your labor. You won’t see it instantly, and that’s why many people give up daily disciplines such as reviewing goals, saying affirmations, reading good books, making 100 calls a day, sending in referrals, setting meetings in the field – you name it.

On the other hand, if we can be consistent, we can seize everything and quit wondering when success is going to come our way. The truth is, you capture it.

You see, it’s not a sale, it’s a decision, and you make a decision in a moment. You can have every tool you need, every opportunity in front of you, but until you make a decision to be successful you won’t achieve all that is possible for you.

You can do it… or just let it slip.

I really don’t like rap… but I just added this tune to my workout playlist…

TK

BlackBerry Friday

If you've ever watched the movie Ben-Hur there is this scene when Judah (played by Charleton Heston) and Messala (played by Stephen Boyd) are about to start the chariot race and they meet up just prior to the start.

These guys hate each other and someone isn't going to come out of the "circus" alive... as Messala passes by Judah Ben-Hur he gives him this evil look and says "today is the day Judah" and Judah stares back at him and says "yes, today is the day." I love that movie and that scene is awesome. (Ben-Hur is the winner of 11 Oscars.)

Anyway, "today is the day BlackBerry..." This could be a huge business story or absolutely much to do about nothing. No prediction here, but check out this link to read more about what is happening from CNET News.

Nick Fletcher in our group has already changed his phone just in case something happens today. It's definitely a prudent move and I salute his vigilance. We will know more by the end of the day. Good luck all you BlackBerry people!

TK

Attention BlackBerry Addicts

This is important for everyone using a BlackBerry, but especially important for our Results Team members using this troubled device: Ron, Tom, Thomas... anyone else?

February 24th is D-Day for Canadian company RIM, maker of the BlackBerry and it's patent challenge from US company NTP. If this were a hockey game, my money would be on the Canucks... but since we're "playing" in US Federal Court anything is possible.

My intel leads me to believe that no matter what happens, there will be a brief period of time given to RIM to implement a "fix" for the software that is in question. This will give BlackBerry users time to decide whether they want to move to a Treo or other similar device. I've got review of a Samsung product that I'll be posting on www.salestechnologyreport.com so check that out.

I have really been blown away by my 8700c and find the Blackberry to be more of a business device that is easier to use than the Treo 650. However, it needs to have service or who cares if it has a scroll wheel!

Keep your fingers crossed for the Canadians! Everyone likes those guys so let's hope that includes US District Judge James Spencer... he's the only one making the decision.

TK

Cancer Kills a Team

I was listening to one of my favorite radio programs the other morning and I heard an interview with Stephen Covey. Although I think Mr. Covey is tough to listen to, his material is inspired and applicable. He is a powerful influence in the personal development industry.

Covey was talking about the "Five C's" that can destroy a company (from his book, The 8th Habit.) As he rattled them off I was focused on each point, drawn to what he was saying from tough personal experience of managing a team of sales professionals for over a decade.

With each point he described, a picture of a former team member flashed across my memory, their "death" replayed and my remorse rekindled. This took place in about 3 minutes. What a waste. What a waste of excellent sales people and what a waste of my time and energy. The battle against cancer of the body and cancer of a team sucks the energy from everyone - the victim and those trying to save the victim.

Here is what Dr. Covey was talking about - The Five Cancerous Behaviors:

Criticizing
Complaining
Comparing
Competing
Contending

Each of the five deadly behaviors capable of metastasizing and destroying an entire individual. Combine them, and a person can be a walking destructive force, tearing down an entire organization faster that a brush fire.

I love what Covey says about these behaviors... "People who don't have their own deep internal act together seek their security from forces outside themselves." If I may carry this to a conclusion, this leads insecure people to gossip about other people and events that don't concern them, that are usually negative, so they feel better about their own lame lives.

(Key to note, people find themselves where they are as a result of the choices that they have made over and over again. They are "lame" because they have chosen to make lame decisions. Thus criticizing others, complaining about others, comparing themselves to others, competing with others and finally contending with others makes them feel good about themselves.)

Unfortunately, most people don't want to do the "heavy lifting" that comes with real personal development. Growth comes from focusing on yourself, not other people, and their are no shortcuts.

Covey also says that "These five emotional cancers literally metastasize their cancerous cells into relationships, and sometimes through an entire culture. Then you've got an organization that's so polarized, so divided, that it's almost impossible to consistently deliver high quality to customers. I might add that it is almost impossible to do ANYTHING when this disease is ravashing your organization. So what do you do?

Kill it. Kill it fast.

As soon as you can diagnose the difference between one of your people "having a bad day" and one of them being ravaged by "behavioral cancer" you must attack. Be direct, tell them you've seens their behaviors before and that there is no place for them in your organization. Finally, if you cannot help the person make change, you must make the change and let them go.

Better to have them go then have your entire company become infected...

TK