To varying degrees, we all face challenges. High-achievers view challenges not as roadblocks but rather as obstacles they must overcome to succeed. In essence, they turn obstacles into opportunities.
With that in mind, the short video below is a trailer for a book I recommend,“The Obstacle Is The Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph”. It features how Ulysses S. General Grant overcame major obstacles to gain victory at The Battle At Vicksburg.
Welcome to Monday. A clean slate. Everyone starts this week (and every other week) with the same amount of time: 7 days, 168 hours, 10,080 minutes, 604,800 seconds.
High-achievers don’t waste time.. they take advantage of it and set out each day with a clear purpose and goal.
Most folks are reactive, counting the days and waiting for success to somehow come their way. High-achievers are pro-active, making the days count and diligently working to create their success.
One thing is certain, time will pass.
What you do with it this week will determine if it was time well spent or not come Sunday.
On this holiday marking the birthday of Mr. King, timeless advice for aspiring Pinnacle Performers..
If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward. ― Martin Luther King Jr.
As I often say in my Pinnacle Performance Training, if you want to be better externally (at work/sports/life) then you must first be better internally by focusing on your personal development and the beliefs and behaviors that support success in your chosen endeavor.
All of this takes conscious self-reflection as to where you are, where you want to be, and what it will take to fill the gap between the two and achieve your goals.
With the hustle and bustle of our daily routines, few of us take the time to reflect on our past with consideration of changes to improve our future. Well here’s your chance…
The image questions below are some of my favorites from the thought-provoking site, Thought Questions. They do a great job of giving us meaningful things to think about.. what I call ‘reflection for progression’.
Keep in mind, these questions have no right or wrong answers. As they say, asking the right questions is the answer.
It’s no secret that most people fall well short of achieving all they are capable of. They fall victim to complacency, reach a ‘good enough’ position and settle for the status quo.
As I often say.. If good enough is good enough for you then you’ll never achieve greatness.
Perfectly aligned with this principle, this recently published book by Jesse Itzler provides a unique perspective on breaking through your comfort zone:
Promoting the book, Business Insider published the video below.
Here’s the self-explanatory summary as published on YouTube:
“Jesse Itzler felt he was in a rut. So he asked Navy SEAL David Goggins to live with him for 31 days, during which Jesse would do anything David told him to do.
Jesse would later write “Living With A Seal” documenting the grueling experience of getting whipped into shape by one of the toughest men on the planet. They ran through snow storms, jumped into a frozen lake, and did lots and lots of push-ups.
Here, Jesse and David talk about actively pushing yourself and the 40% rule, which means when you think your done and have reached your limit, you’re actually only 40% done.”
As Jesse said, “you can’t improve when you’re on autopilot. You have to get out of the complacency of the routine”.
Indeed. Follow Jesse’s advice and the Navy SEAL’S 40% Success Rule, tap into your ‘reserve tank’ and breakthrough your comfort zone to achieve higher levels of success!
No doubt you’ve seen and heard many “get rich quick” offers over the years. Around since the early 1900’s, most of these schemes promise that with little time, effort or money participants can obtain wealth. Desperately seeking success, many well meaning folks fall for these pitches and sadly, in most cases, end up no father ahead then before they began.
While overnight successes make for great stories, true success is built on the foundation of continuous improvement. Success rarely (if ever) happens from making big changes all at once. Rather, the path to excellence requires progressive baby steps, small improvements in behaviors and execution that when performed consistently over time lead to big performance gains.
Be a little bit better every day and, over time, you’ll be a lot better!
In my training and speaking engagements, I often talk about how success breeds success on both on a business and personal level.
In sales, as an example, high-achievers win more business more often. This success builds confidence, creates momentum and they continue to succeed. It’s no coincidence that so many salespeople are at their best and often succeed immediately after they’ve had a prior successful sales interaction.
On the other hand, failure breeds failure. As salespeople face rejection on a regular basis, and typically lose far more often than they win, they can lose confidence and momentum, consequently becoming vulnerable to ‘falling in a rut’ and failing for an extended period.
The same is true of success in any endeavor.
People who succeed have momentum. The more they succeed, the more they want to succeed, and the more they find a way to succeed. Similarly, when someone is failing, the tendency is to get on a downward spiral that can even become a self-fulfilling prophecy. – Tony Robbins
I believe a key to sustained success is two-fold:
1) Learn from your mistakes and take swift action to correct your course.
2) Capitalize on your wins and maintain your positive momentum.
At the end of the day, success is like a snowball.. You have to get it going and the more you roll in the right direction the greater it gets!
Got the Monday blues? Having a difficult time re-focusing on work after a weekend of summer recreational activities?
Well you’re certainly not alone. Countless sales and service professionals have trouble getting out of first gear on Monday mornings, summertime or not.
That slow start often results in a weak finish and, in any event, is not the best way to position yourself for a winning week.
So let’s put the kibosh on that right here and now!
Pinnacle Performance Champions 