Posts Tagged ‘happiness’

Capacity

I’d like to fashion myself as an expert in human productivity. By that I mean, I think I am beginning to get my arms around what it takes to get the most out of my clients, my prospects and most importantly – myself.

As with the engine in a car or the hard drive on a computer, every person has certain amount of capacity.  We can only work so many hours, schedule so many meetings and respond to so many emails.

Despite this truth, most people think that the key to their success is pushing beyond their capacity. We tell ourselves that the more we work, the more we will achieve, and thus the greater happiness we will experience.

But, deep down we know that it really doesn’t work like that.

Think about it.

Do you remember the first year you hit the BIG number in sales and income?  Up to that point, you’d convinced yourself that as soon as you make “X” you will be happy.

How’s that number look to you today?  What’s your new target?

Does the number really matter?

Maybe reaching and even pushing past your maximum capacity shouldn’t be the end goal.

What if instead you focused your time on a worthy objective that filled you with joy and purpose?

Wish your life were easier?
“Never wish that life were easier, wish that you were better.” – Jim Rohn


It’s tempting to hope for different circumstances in your life.  We all do it.

However, there’s zero value in this exercise.

This week, focus on improving one behavior that will help you excel in your current situation.

CJ

PS – If you’d like to learn how to stay focused for all of 2012, check out this link.

Looking beyond the imperfections
Welcome to Monday and Your Week!
“Being happy doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. It means that you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections.” – Author Unknown


We see everything in life through a lens called our perspective.

This lens is largely responsible for our contentment and satisfaction.

Most people allow their perspective to be shaped by their environment and no matter how good they have it, they always find fault in their situation.

How about you?

CJ

PS – Interested in a life changing experience that will prepare you for a remarkable 2012?  Click here to sign up for one of the limited spots.

Happiness. How much it too much?
“A great obstacle to happiness is to expect too much happiness.”

- Bernard L.B. De Fontenelle

Have you ever gone to an expensive, highly rated restaurant, and been less than impressed?  On the flip side, consider the last time you visited a small hole in the wall fast food place and were pleasantly surprised.

Life is all about perspective.

Your happiness is heavily influenced by the expectations you have for your daily experiences.

As a result, many people are unhappy because they’ve developed unrealistic expectations?

How about you?

CJ McClanahan is the Founder of reachmore, which teaches small business owners how to build a business that runs without them.  For more resources on business leadership, please visit reachmore’s seminars

Problems vs. Solutions

Last night at dinner, I placed a bunch of broccoli on my daughter’s plate.  Her immediate response, was the same as always – “That’s too much, I could never eat all that broccoli!”

I countered with my classic – “I have a lot of faith in you Corinne, you can do anything you chose.”

I’m OK with my daughter seeing a plate full of broccoli and seeing a problem with no possible solution – she’s 4 years old.  However, at some point ( I think I’ll wait until her 5th birthday) I want her to change the way she thinks and recognize that she is responsible for finding a solution to life’s challenges.

Unfortunately, most people still approach problems like my 4 year old. They see every difficulty as an insurmountable challenge and instead of looking for the solution they spend all of the energy putting together a list of excuses why they won’t be successful.

The simple truth is that there are two types of people in this world – those that find problems and those that find solutions.

Guess which one makes more money and has more success?

Which one are you?

CJ McClanahan is the Founder of reachmore, which teaches small business owners how to build a business that runs without them.  For more resources on business leadership, please visit reachmore’s seminars

Happiness, Contentment

“Be Content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to
you.” – Lao Tzu

From 8 in the morning until 5 at at night, Monday through Friday, I coach professionals on how to reach their goals and achieve more in their lives.

About 4 years ago, I came across this quote and recognized that I needed to balance this push for achievement with an appreciation for present.

This balance is difficult because the world has convinced us that the only path to happiness is through achievement and acquisition.

This week, practice being grateful for all you have been given.

CJ McClanahan is the Founder of reachmore, which teaches small business owners how to build a business that runs without them. For more resources on business leadership, please visit reachmore’s seminars

Values

A few weeks back I was  on a plane heading to Vancouver.  I was filling out the customs forms as we landed and came to the box that said “Are you bringing any commercial goods with you to sell?”.

Up until this point in my business the answer had always been “no”.  However, on this trip I had 1 box of my books that I thought I might try and sell at a speaking engagement.
Before I checked yes, I thought to myself, “This isn’t really that many books.  Do I really want to check ‘yes’ and slow down the entire process?  What if they want to check my luggage and ask me a bunch of questions. I will just check ‘no’ and avoid the hassle.”

But, then I remembered that one of my core values is “honesty” and I reluctantly clicked the box that said “yes”.  This decision did slow me down and resulted in checked luggage and a bunch of questions from the customs agent.

Values are the building blocks upon which you build your life. If you don’t have them or only adhere to them when it is convenient then you will struggle to find a sense of peace and contentment in your daily life.

There is a great quote (I can’t remember who said it) that says, “If you stand for nothing you will fall for anything.”

How about you?  What do you stand for?

CJ McClanahan is the Founder of reachmore, which provides leadership coaching for small business and executives.  Email CJ at cjm@goreachmore.com for the latest on reachmore’s revolutionary executive coaching program, Summit.

Click here to learn more about CJ’s new book – Thrive.

Perspective

When is the last time that you have been to a sporting event? Did you have good seats or bad seats?

Your view of the action probably had a great deal to do with how much you enjoyed the game.

It is the same with every single aspect of your life. By that I mean,  your ability to be successful and enjoy your existence is directly related to your viewpoint or your perspective.

Consider the following examples.

Brian is a 7 year old boy who lives with his family in Fishers, IN. His dad is a doctor and his mother is an attorney who has decided to stay at home with Brian and his 4 year old sister until they are both in grade school.  Throughout his school years Brian is provided with encouragement from his family, friends, and teachers . During the summers he has the opportunity to travel and attend many camps that provide him with great learning opportunities. As he nears the end of his senior year in high school, he has a choice of many different colleges to attend because he has maintained good grades and his parents have the financial means to pay for wherever he selects.  In addition, virtually all of his friends will be attending college.

Tyler is a 7 year old boy who lives in a rundown neighborhood in Indianapolis. His mother works 2 jobs to pay the bills and he has never met his father. As a result, Tyler has very little supervision after school and spends this time getting into trouble. Throughout his school years, Tyler receives very little encouragement from anyone. His is constantly fed a message that has convinced him that the most he can ever hope for in life is a job at McDonalds. As he nears the end of high school, he realizes that he doesn’t have the grades to graduate and is considering just dropping out. Very few of Tyler’s friends will graduate High School and none will attend college.

Now imagine that you get a chance to meet both of these individuals the summer after their senior year. Can you imagine how different their perspectives on life will be?

Every time you are tempted to complain about a challenge in your life, I urge you to remember this example. A change in perspective can help turn any obstacle into an opportunity.

In addition, if you would like to learn more about how you can help kids like Tyler right here in Indianapolis please visit The Reach Foundation.
CJ McClanahan is the Founder of reachmore, which provides leadership coaching for small business and executives.  Email CJ at cjm@goreachmore.com for the latest on reachmore’s revolutionary executive coaching program, Summit.

The Great Shake Up

The other day as I was flipping through the channels, I saw a commercial for the most ridiculous item I had ever  seen in my entire life – The Shake Weight.

The commercial featured a handful of guys, who probably worked out 12 – 15 hours a day, shaking this ridiculous looking weight in their hands. At first, I thought it was a joke, but I soon realized that this was a serious advertisement for an actual product.

I remember thinking “Surely no one is stupid enough to buy this idiotic gadget, then stand in their living room and shake themselves silly until they get ripped muscles.”

But, then I saw the magic phrase that convinced me that this product would be a hit – “instant results”. The maker of this silly tool claimed that in just 6 minutes a day you too could look like the guys in the video.

We are a nation full of people that are absolutely addicted to immediate gratification. We want to put in as little effort as possible to achieve amazing results in every aspect of our lives.

I have some bad news for you. That’s not the way it works.

If you want great relationships, a healthy body, a solid personal financial statement and smarter kids it’s going to take a lot of work.

There is no such thing as a short cut or a quick fix.

I just finished a great book called Talent is Overrated, by Geoff Colvin who argued that the most successful and talented people in the world were not born that way. Tiger Woods wasn’t born with innate golf skills. Nor did he buy a magical instructional golf video after watching an infomercial that turned his game around. Colvin argues (persuasively) that like all great achievers Tiger Woods became the best golfer in the world because he outworked everyone else.

So, then next time you are tempted to buy a product or service that guarantees immediate results, resist the urge.

Remember, success comes from a handful of behaviors practiced over time until they become a habit.

There are no short cuts.

CJ McClanahan is the Founder of reachmore, which provides leadership coaching for small business and executives.  Email CJ at cjm@goreachmore.com for the latest on reachmore’s revolutionary executive coaching program, Summit.

Product Conviction Changes Buyers Minds

Michael Reynolds and I were having a chat over Twitter in May about Tungle.  He asked if I liked it.  I told him I hated it – and continued to badmouth the product for another 3 or 4 tweets.  Then I got a random tweet from a guy named @mgingras that said, “Hey Jamar – would love to talk to you about your opinion.  Are you open to having a call?”

Turns out that @mgingras is Marc Gingras, the CEO of Tungle.  Whoops.

Marc and I had a call.  I was obviously sold on why Tungle is a neat idea, but a poor example of an end-user application.  Marc was sold on why Tungle is at the forefront of online scheduling, and is the best product on the market.

Marc sold me, and challenged this nay-sayer to get on Tungle not just as a periodic scheduler, but as a primary end-user; to sign up for an account and put my schedule out there to be ‘tungled’.  He knew his product was the best, and if I used it, I would agree.

I was nervous to trust a system that I felt was confusing and inefficient, but Marc’s product conviction was based on tons of product testing, and hundreds of tweaks to the system to make it perfect.

At this point, I have used Tungle for over 2 months, and it is one of the best productivity tools that I have found this year.  Tungle brings me almost as much “productivity-joy” as my in-home personal assistant!

People schedule meetings with me quickly, there is no chain of annoying emails going back and forth, and the technology is integrated with Outlook and by Blackberry.  Yes!

Marc’s product conviction changed me from someone who was spreading negative brand messages about his product, to someone who is now a raving fan.

How much conviction and belief do you have in your product or service?  Are you so confident in your service that you would challenge a complete stranger to become a client, and let the product speak for itself?

Product conviction sells new customers and it helps you keep the one’s that you have.

On a scale of 1-10, how high is your product conviction?

Jamar Cobb-Dennard is the Vice-President of Business Development for reachmore, which provides leadership coaching for small business and executives.  For more resources on business leadership, please visit http://blog.goreachmore.com.