A Sage ... in Mechanic's Clothes
Many of my life's lessons have come from obscure sources, such as my incredible self-acceptance lesson from a pants salesman. But that's for a different EnCOURAGEment. This one's about a sage in mechanic's clothes who taught me how to solve life's problems.
When I was 16, I worked for the summer as a laborer at an automobile dealership. Each day I ate lunch with the car mechanics. I always sat next to a certain wise old mechanic with a wisdom that drew me to him, like steel to a magnet. One day, while eating a peanut butter sandwich, he taught me how he approached problems.
He said, "Most people make things more difficult than they are. Here's how I approach a car that's not working. First, I see if there's gas in the gas tank. If there is, I see if the battery cables are on and tight. If they are, I see if the battery is working. These three simple steps help me solve 30% of problems. Always solve problems at the simplest level possible."
His philosophy was simple yet profoundly sophisticated, like the Dalai Lama's. I have followed his sage advice for 39 years - solving problems by progressing from the simplest to the most complex possible solution. My work sometimes requires an intricate solution, but like the sage mechanic, I solve a great percentage of challenges with a simple solution. ... Which reminds me of my favorite saying from the '60s:
"You're either part of the solution
or you're part of the problem."
- Eldridge Cleaver
- TC North, Ph.D., Success Coach
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Harry Truman's Decision Making
“Definiteness of decision always requires courage,
sometimes very great courage.”
“Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill
Do you make great decisions under pressure? Great football quarterbacks, such as Tom Brady, quickly read a defense and decide which receiver to throw to. Great salespeople, such as Sara Quick, land the largest new accounts by being creative — like selling to businesses their companies usually don’t serve. Great leaders, such as Harry Truman, the 33rd president of the United States, make decisions that affect the lives of innumerable people, such as dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II.
Napoleon Hill studied over 25,000 people who had experienced failure and concluded that lack of decision-making was one of the top causes of failure. To make great decisions, consider Harry Truman’s three-step decision-making process:
1. The logical decision. Gather the best information from people who know the most about the subject. Make a pro and con list and determine your logical decision.
2. The emotional decision. Search your heart for your emotional decision. Truman’s emotional decision was to not drop the bomb; he hated the idea.
3. The intuitive decision. Take time away to quiet your thoughts and emotions. Then pay attention to your intuition. You may find your intuitive message in the pit of your stomach, like Harry Truman did, or it could be a quiet sense of knowing. Intuitive messages are different for everyone.
It takes courage to make the tough decisions;
a good decision-making process will give you
more confidence in your decisions.
sometimes very great courage.”
“Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill
Do you make great decisions under pressure? Great football quarterbacks, such as Tom Brady, quickly read a defense and decide which receiver to throw to. Great salespeople, such as Sara Quick, land the largest new accounts by being creative — like selling to businesses their companies usually don’t serve. Great leaders, such as Harry Truman, the 33rd president of the United States, make decisions that affect the lives of innumerable people, such as dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II.
Napoleon Hill studied over 25,000 people who had experienced failure and concluded that lack of decision-making was one of the top causes of failure. To make great decisions, consider Harry Truman’s three-step decision-making process:
1. The logical decision. Gather the best information from people who know the most about the subject. Make a pro and con list and determine your logical decision.
2. The emotional decision. Search your heart for your emotional decision. Truman’s emotional decision was to not drop the bomb; he hated the idea.
3. The intuitive decision. Take time away to quiet your thoughts and emotions. Then pay attention to your intuition. You may find your intuitive message in the pit of your stomach, like Harry Truman did, or it could be a quiet sense of knowing. Intuitive messages are different for everyone.
It takes courage to make the tough decisions;
a good decision-making process will give you
more confidence in your decisions.
110% Effort May Lead to Failure
Giving 110% under pressure
often results in failure.
“She looks like she is wrestling an alligator,” said the mother of an extraordinarily talented 16-year-old swimmer during a swim meet. During practice, this incredible athlete was swimming times that would qualify her for senior national competitions. But in competition, she couldn’t even swim a junior national qualifying time, which is a much slower time. So why was she faster in practice than in competition? Because in practice, she relaxed and swam efficiently. But in competition, she tried too hard, which made her very tense and inefficient — like she was wrestling an alligator.
One former Olympic X-C ski coach always picked a race for his skiers and told them, “Only ski at 90% of race speed.” In these races, his skiers usually had their best times because they stayed relaxed and in the flow state — the state of mind where people are at their best, no matter what they’re doing.
I’ve seen multitudes of athletes, leaders and sales professionals try too hard, resulting in failure. Training, practicing and other parts of your preparation will get you ready. Then, when it’s time for you to perform (be at your best), breathe deeply, relax, be present and trust your preparation. This gives you your best chance to be in the flow state, thus being your best.
“Compete at 90%, not 110%.”
Dan O’Brien, Olympic decathlon gold medal winner
often results in failure.
“She looks like she is wrestling an alligator,” said the mother of an extraordinarily talented 16-year-old swimmer during a swim meet. During practice, this incredible athlete was swimming times that would qualify her for senior national competitions. But in competition, she couldn’t even swim a junior national qualifying time, which is a much slower time. So why was she faster in practice than in competition? Because in practice, she relaxed and swam efficiently. But in competition, she tried too hard, which made her very tense and inefficient — like she was wrestling an alligator.
One former Olympic X-C ski coach always picked a race for his skiers and told them, “Only ski at 90% of race speed.” In these races, his skiers usually had their best times because they stayed relaxed and in the flow state — the state of mind where people are at their best, no matter what they’re doing.
I’ve seen multitudes of athletes, leaders and sales professionals try too hard, resulting in failure. Training, practicing and other parts of your preparation will get you ready. Then, when it’s time for you to perform (be at your best), breathe deeply, relax, be present and trust your preparation. This gives you your best chance to be in the flow state, thus being your best.
“Compete at 90%, not 110%.”
Dan O’Brien, Olympic decathlon gold medal winner
Compliments and Confidence
Everyone wants more confidence,
so why do we block its development?
Strengthening and weakening confidence is very complex, yet there’s one simple way to build it: by accepting compliments.
Hardly anyone fully takes in compliments. I catch myself blocking compliments often, and I teach this stuff. Blocking compliments runs deep in our culture and starts at a really young age.
For example, one day I was driving my 5-year-old daughter Chelsea home from kindergarten and I wanted to give her a compliment. I had been teaching her for some time to receive them when they were given, because I could see that compliments were just bouncing off her little body like rubber balls off concrete.
I said, “Chelsea, I’m going to give you a compliment.” She raised her hand to her heart, closed her thumb and forefingers together and mimicked unzipping a zipper. When I asked what she was doing she said, “Dada, I am opening my heart.” I had a rush of emotion and my eyes welled with tears, but I kept composed.
After I gave her the compliment, she raised her hand to her heart again and made an unzipping motion. When I asked again what she was doing, she said, “Dada, I am zipping my heart back up.” This time, the emotional rush overcame me and tears rolled down my cheeks. At only 5 years old she had already learned to close up and protect herself!
I bet you’ve been through a lot of emotional experiences in your life and you are pretty good at protecting your heart. Next time you receive a compliment, ask yourself, Do I want to block another compliment, or do I want to begin building my confidence by fully taking it in?
Compliments build your courage, confidence, self-esteem
and self-image … if you let them in.
so why do we block its development?
Strengthening and weakening confidence is very complex, yet there’s one simple way to build it: by accepting compliments.
Hardly anyone fully takes in compliments. I catch myself blocking compliments often, and I teach this stuff. Blocking compliments runs deep in our culture and starts at a really young age.
For example, one day I was driving my 5-year-old daughter Chelsea home from kindergarten and I wanted to give her a compliment. I had been teaching her for some time to receive them when they were given, because I could see that compliments were just bouncing off her little body like rubber balls off concrete.
I said, “Chelsea, I’m going to give you a compliment.” She raised her hand to her heart, closed her thumb and forefingers together and mimicked unzipping a zipper. When I asked what she was doing she said, “Dada, I am opening my heart.” I had a rush of emotion and my eyes welled with tears, but I kept composed.
After I gave her the compliment, she raised her hand to her heart again and made an unzipping motion. When I asked again what she was doing, she said, “Dada, I am zipping my heart back up.” This time, the emotional rush overcame me and tears rolled down my cheeks. At only 5 years old she had already learned to close up and protect herself!
I bet you’ve been through a lot of emotional experiences in your life and you are pretty good at protecting your heart. Next time you receive a compliment, ask yourself, Do I want to block another compliment, or do I want to begin building my confidence by fully taking it in?
Compliments build your courage, confidence, self-esteem
and self-image … if you let them in.
Gratitude Increases Sales
Increase your inner peace, happiness and hope …
by living in gratitude.
This is not just Boulder froufrou stuff; there is good research that links gratitude with happiness, contentment, hope and even success.
Gail, a saleswoman, was very frustrated that her sales had plateaued for several years. Even though she was generally a positive person, she said, “I spent a lot time thinking about the sales I didn’t have, how well others were doing and the sales I needed to meet my goals.”
Gail said she “learned about gratitude and began being thankful for the sales I did have, and looking forward to the sales I wanted to get to reach my goals. This was a small, but significant, shift in my thinking, which gave me a more positive attitude. It resulted in attracting people wanting to buy from me, and I then easily reached my goals.”
Gail broke through her plateau not by working harder, or with a new sales technique — she did it simply by being in gratitude. She said, “It’s so simple, it doesn’t seem like being more grateful should increase my sales, but it does. Sales success, like all success, is a mental game.”
It’s best to speak your gratitude out loud;
it’s easy, and the benefits are huge.
by living in gratitude.
This is not just Boulder froufrou stuff; there is good research that links gratitude with happiness, contentment, hope and even success.
Gail, a saleswoman, was very frustrated that her sales had plateaued for several years. Even though she was generally a positive person, she said, “I spent a lot time thinking about the sales I didn’t have, how well others were doing and the sales I needed to meet my goals.”
Gail said she “learned about gratitude and began being thankful for the sales I did have, and looking forward to the sales I wanted to get to reach my goals. This was a small, but significant, shift in my thinking, which gave me a more positive attitude. It resulted in attracting people wanting to buy from me, and I then easily reached my goals.”
Gail broke through her plateau not by working harder, or with a new sales technique — she did it simply by being in gratitude. She said, “It’s so simple, it doesn’t seem like being more grateful should increase my sales, but it does. Sales success, like all success, is a mental game.”
It’s best to speak your gratitude out loud;
it’s easy, and the benefits are huge.
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