Do Whatever It Takes.

If you read Stop Playing In The Kiddie Pool the other day, you got a harsh introduction into running your business. You need to be SERIOUS, COMMITTED, & FEARLESS in yourself and your business. This is a 'Part Two' to that article. When people run a race or push themselves when they exercise, they tend to hit a physical and mental wall that tells them to stop running or exercising. They're too tired, they are over-taxing their body, or they might be close to passing out.

Physically, that might be true — there are many tell-tale signs (heart rate, breathing, etc.) that will tell you you're getting close. What's funny is that your brain usually takes over and tells you way before that you should stop. In fact, your body can go a lot longer than you think — check out this podcast — it opened my eyes!

When it comes to business and your mental state — many of us tend to give up when the going gets tough or when things get out of focus and we're afraid to make the next decision.

We are afraid to make a tough decision, spend money, hire a service — we get paralyzed. And we make no decision. We tell ourselves, "No decision is better than a bad decision." Unfortunately, that's not true.

Let's look at my simple decision matrix:

• Make the decision and it's good - Congratulations! Now make another. And another.
• Make the decision and it's totally wrong - Too bad! Now turn around and move in the other direction.
• Make the decision and it's partly wrong - You're going in the right direction, just recalibrate your angle.

In all three situations, you have to make a decision. In today's business world, no decision, no movement, and no action is bad for your business. Doing the same thing, the same way, with the same resources and moving nowhere is a prescription for failure. Someone else is going to come along and do it better, faster, and cheaper.

In the Welcome Packet I send to new clients, on the cover I have one of my quotes: “If you’re not continually reinventing yourself, your company, or your brand, it’s only a matter of time before you become obsolete, irrelevant, and end up in the bargain bin.”

So hire that new person, engage with that branding firm, move to a bigger office, or take out that needed business loan. Big businesses become big by taking chances and trusting their instincts.

As Walt Disney said so many years ago, “Around here, however, we don't look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we're curious...and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”

Keep moving forward.

3 Ways To Believe In Your Ability To Succeed.

Well — Do You? My family and I just watched the film, 'The Polar Express' last night with Tom Hanks. It’s a wonderful movie — great story, wonderful animation, and the acting is top notch.

One of the themes is the main character’s ability to ‘Believe’ in the existence of Santa Claus. It’s all focuses on hearing one of the sleighbells from Santa’s sleigh . . . oh  . . . I’m getting off-course here.

Do you listen to Radiolab? It’s a radio show and podcast from NPR that delves into the areas where the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and human experience. It’s a cool show.

A few months ago, they did a show on how we deceive or lie to ourselves and how that benefits an athlete's performance. Their ‘elite belief’ in a sport requires a mental focus and intensity that is different from the way that many others approach tasks.

So to push themselves — they lie.

In fact, I've seen people become very successful in the business world because of their ability to self-deceive. Their positive attitude and confidence sometimes cloaks their lack of competence, but they can go far if their subordinates perform well and make them look good.

Even in situations where these executives or businesspeople fail, they are more likely to bounce back quickly because they do not dwell on failures and, in fact, do not even recognize they have failed. It's fascinating to watch, and for others, frustrating, because they do not have this trait and too often question their abilities and dwell on setbacks too much (do you do this?).

All this builds up to your ability to believe in your success. Here are some ways you can bridge that gap:

1. Next time you have that errant negative thought about yourself, an action, a project you’re working on, say to yourself, “Is this negative thinking moving me forward or backward? What thinking will rocket me forward?”
2. Next time someone says to you, “You can’t do that.” or “That’s not the way we do things around here.”, immediately question their beliefs and motives. I’ve found that THEY are usually WRONG.
3. Next time you are questioning yourself about an action, just do it. In my 20 years of corporate life and 10 years coaching, I’ve found it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission. Take action.

And BELIEVE in yourself, your abilities, and what you can do. YOU can move MOUNTAINS.

How do you believe in yourself? Do you 'fool' your thinking? What techniques do you use?

You Have To Listen - My Favorite Podcasts!

I began listening to the Radiolab Podcast about six months ago and I am riveted to every episode. RIVETED. Radiolab believes your ears are a portal to another world. Where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and human experience. Big questions are investigated, tinkered with, and encouraged to grow. Bring your curiosity, and we'll feed it with possibility.

In late 2001, Jad Abumrad was asked to host a showcase of documentary radio. He called it Radiolab. For a few years, Jad picked pieces that he liked and played them on Sunday nights. Every so often, Jad would make his own story ... or conduct his own investigation...and include it in his show. More and more, Radiolab featured Jad's original work, and played fewer and fewer of his favorite documentaries from around the world.

Then one day in November of 2003, Jad was having breakfast with his friend Robert Krulwich. As Jad aired more of his own work, Robert was becoming impressed with how different and wonderful the show was sounding. On this November morning, Robert and Jad were discussing the mystery of how memory works, when one of them came up with the idea of taking that conversation into the recording studio.

Whether that idea came from Jad or Robert may be lost to the still-unsolved mystery of how memory works. But they went ahead and talked to some scientists, and Jad embroidered and illustrated the resulting conversations with sounds and music. Before long, Robert and Jad decided to team up and re-launch Radiolab in its current form.

Some great episodes: The Placebo Effect - My Favorite! Numbers - For Anyone Confused or Attracted To Numbers! Limits - Testing the Limits of Human Endurance Afterlife - What happens at the moment when we slip from life...to the other side?

Radiolab is heard around the country on over 200 stations. Check it out!