Continuous Improvement

I have the privilege to work at FranklinCovey (my day job).  For 12 months I had the opportunity to act as host and now I continue acting as the Producer of a “thought leader” webcast.  We bring into the studio a guest and talk with them about a topic that they have an insight or expertise on.

It has been a great experience for me to prepare for the interviews (reading their book and/or watching their videos) but to also hear from the guest their ideas first hand on how to grow and improve.  It really has forced me to read more books, consider new principles and even change my paradigms.  I am grateful for this because I haven’t always pushed myself to continually learn and improve.

What are you doing to continually improve your “mental muscles”?  Just like your body, you need to exercise and challenge your brain.  Otherwise, it too can get flabby and out of shape. Decide today one thing that you can do to strengthen the “matter” between your ears.   Here is a link to our interview with Dr. Daniel Amen on “Brain Health”. 

Just Improve "A Little"

A small idea as we look to improve ourselves in 2019 and beyond is to think “baby steps”. We want to lose that extra 20 pounds by next week or write a novel by the end of the month. We want to improve relationships today and be perfectly organized in just 15 minutes. This can be overwhelming and not realistic.

But, something that does seem doable is to focus each day on just doing a little more, being a little better, doing one element of a big goal. A simple task can go a long way as you pace yourself for life’s marathon rather than a sprint. It might take a little longer but at least daily progress moves us closer to a great performance.

New Years Blues

At the beginning of the year, it can be very overwhelming to look at our “circus” and think of all the areas where we want to improve our lineup. It can even get depressing for some. New Years resolutions and our goals for the upcoming year can seem daunting and pretty soon we forget about them so that we don’t have to face that we are falling short.

I take strength from the thought, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” Break down your goals into bite size pieces. Spread your goals throughout the year and also be realistic as we make resolutions.

It is also important to look at what acts can be removed from our circus as we look to add new ones. Nothing weighs more heavily on a performer than a line up that is too crowded.

Stepping Up to the Plate

Learn to Play the Guitar, Write a Novel, Sky Dive, Take Flight Lessons, Try Out for American Idol, Visit the Pacific Islands, Buy a House, Start a Family, Go Back to Graduate School – Sometimes our “To Do List” seems to us to be more like a “Wish List”. Especially, the older we get. Time, money and resources seem to be barriers that get in the way. The quote from Kathy Seligman offers a good strategy, “You can’t hit a home-run unless you step up to the plate. You can’t catch fish unless you put a line in the water. You can’t reach your goals unless you actually do something.” It is that easy! Do something. Begin! Layout out a plan and get started. Anything worth achieving is going to take effort and require sacrifice so put on the waders and get fishing

Someday

Soon, I will get around to it.  Someday…

Sometimes, “someday” never comes.  Simple solution.  Start right now.  Start where you are.  Pick a task that will move your dream, goal, project forward.  Say, “No” to something less important and choose to start today. And, stick with it.  Life is too short to work on a bunch of things that seem urgent and never get to the things that are most important to you.

Yes, easy to say and hard to do.  But do it.