Tuesday 25 August 2009

Are You Short-Changing Yourself?

Why do some people become elite sports people and others don't?

For example, why is Tiger Woods so good?

Is it genetic?
Is it luck?
Is it hard work?

According to new research by Geoff Colvin (in his book "Talent Is Overrated"), it is none of these.

It is "deliberate practice".

Deliberate practice is constantly working on the skills you need to have to be the best in your field. It also involves monitoring your progress and getting a coach/mentor who can push, guide and help you improve.

Earl Woods (Tiger's father) was not a champion golfer. He was a golf fanatic who practiced and practiced to achieve a very low handicap. He used to spend hours hitting golf balls into a net in his garage and, as a baby, Tiger was in his high chair constantly watching him. By the age of two, Tiger was regularly at the golf course with his father practicing and playing golf. With much practice, and with professional coaching from age 4, his skills developed.

Today, while the good golfers spend much time practicing, Tiger takes it one step further. He practices all those hard to do shots. For example, most golfers will throw balls into a sand bunker and practice hitting them out. Tiger takes this one step further and walks across the balls in the bunker so they are completely buried.

"Why would he do that?" I hear you ask.

Because during one of his tournament rounds he may just hit a ball into a sand trap and the ball becomes completely buried. He needs to be able to play the ball out with great precision.


Let's Take This A Step Further ...

I divide sports people into four types - and to keep this simple I'm reducing them to three:

  1. The Casual
  2. The Amateur
  3. The Professional

The Casual - they hardly do any training and are able to play in competition at the weekend. It's all a bit of fun and they are there for the social side and some fitness.

The Amateur - they train around twice a week and need to do so if they want to play well in competition. They're keen to do well. They also have a paid job which takes up much of their time.

The Professional - they have set their goal to be the best. They train four to five times a week, hire a trainer/coach, study how food affects performance, study how their thinking affects the way they perform and are committed to continually improve. For them, training is hard work. Because of their dedication, this is generally a full time occupation.


How Is This Relevant To Your Life?

A great question.

Of the three groups - the Casual, the Amateur and the Professional - which one are you when it comes to:

  • Your working life?

Do you just rock up to work and do what you have to do or do you study how to get the most out of yourself and your business?

  • Your relationship with a loved one?

Are you casual and hope it will survive or do you study how to get the best out of it so it is forever improving?

  • Your health and fitness?

Do you exercise when you can fit it in, eat too much junk food and say you need to change or do you constantly learn and implement ways on how to be healthier? Do you have a program in place to ensure you stay healthy - both mentally and physically?

  • Your emotional self?

Do you simply coast through life and put up with the up's and down's or do you constantly look to improve the way you think and behave?

While I have listed some of the key areas of life above, there are many others you may like to consider - a hobby, sport, financial security and your spirituality to name a few.


Sadly, the majority of people fall into the Casual group for all of the above. They simply coast through life without giving any thought to what they eat, drink, consume or how they behave. Life is often a roller coaster and while they complain, they seldom do anything about their problems.

Many fall into the Amateur group. They are keen to learn how to improve the way they feel and do things. They spend some time reading books, attending seminars and watching dvd's on relevant topics. This group often makes the mistake of failing to implement what they learn as they have so many things going on in their life.

The minority fall into the Professional group. They set time aside to learn how to improve aspects of their life. They put their knowledge into action and are committed to forever improving. They have a game plan for life and will ensure they achieve it. They often hire a coach or a mentor to ensure they are on track and they are forever learning and improving.

Are you short-changing your life by falling short of your potential?

If you are, it's time to take stock and ask yourself the following ...


Question

How committed are you to becoming your best in all your key areas of life?


Wednesday 12 August 2009

Do You Fail To Get Things Done?

We live in a fast-paced world. There are so many things to do and get done.

I recently gave 22 people attending one of my seminars some "homework" to do before the session the following week. Eight had completed it.

These were people who wanted to be at the seminar and who wanted to improve their life.

When asked "Why?" they had failed to complete it, the answers included:
"I didn't have enough time"
"I had a really busy week"
"I forgot all about it" - at least they were honest!

This lead us into a discussion on why people don't do what they know they should be doing. Things like:

  • making that phone call to a potential client,
  • exercising,
  • eating healthy meals,
  • getting a medical check-up or some health
  • problem checked out,
  • improving some part of your life,
  • quitting a bad habit,
  • leaving a failed relationship,
  • quitting a bad job,
  • telling someone how you feel.

So, why don't people do what they know they should?

To explain, let us go back to some basics.

When you have something to do, there is both a positive feeling to doing it and a negative. As your programming begins from day 1, your mind instantly adds all the positives and negatives accumulated over the entire of your life and gives you a net feeling. Where the positives outweigh the negatives, there is a great chance you will do what you planned, whereas, if the negatives outweigh the positives, you won't.

For example, you know you should exercise daily but you don't. If you know you should and you haven't, why haven't you?

While you fail to exercise, there is a bigger need not to exercise than what there is to exercise. Your mind has come up with lots of great reasons as to why you should avoid it. Reasons like:
"I'm too tired"
"It's too cold"
"I don't have the time"
"I never feel or see any improvement"

Thoughts like these hold you back. They sabotage what you would like to achieve.


The Solution

When you know you should be doing something, either:
• increase the need to do it,
• eliminate the negatives against doing it,
• or both.

In our example, increasing the need to exercise by focusing on the benefits of exercising. It helps tone muscles, increases fitness, burns energy (and fat), releases good feel chemicals and is good for stress release to name a few.

Quite often, if you make the need great enough, you will do it.

If this fails to work ...

Identify and eliminate the negatives (as listed above).

"I'm too tired" - this often occurs because you fail to exercise. Exercise helps you to have more energy.

"It's too cold" - hardest part here is getting changed. Once you begin your program, you will feel great. Push past the negative knowing there will be a positive to follow.

"I don't have the time" - if health and fitness is important, you will make the time. Grab your diary and make an appointment with yourself for 5 days a week to exercise. This is your time. Being fitter and healthier will mean you are more productive at work.

"I never feel or see any improvement" - if this is the case, research why. You may need to consult with a professional in the health and fitness area to find the answer. Remember, they work with people every day who have trouble achieving the desired result so they know what works and what doesn't.

While I have related the above example to exercise, you can relate it to any area where you are not achieving or creating action.

What's stopping you from ringing that client, eating healthy meals, exercising, giving up that bad habit, telling someone how you feel, quitting that bad job or relationship or improving some part of your life?

When a part of you knows you should create the action that is in your best interest, make it a priority, build the positives and, if that fails, identify and eliminate the negatives. Through doing this, you are taking control.

If you are not sure on how to do this, please feel free to contact us and we can guide you through it.