Red Sky Coaching

“Untaught”

• I’m not saying that these 3 skills are never taught, because you can certainly take numerous courses in a variety of flavors for all 3
• However these 3 skills have largely been left out of the current education system, to the serious detriment of far too many people
• My point here is not to put down the education system, but to aid in the uptake of these critical skills for the thousands/millions of people that they don’t come naturally too (and that’s the majority)

The second key skill: To communicate

• In addition to the first key skill of failing, the skill of communicating is equally important since as humans, all we do is communicate (verbal communication is everywhere and every day, but as if often pointed out, non-verbal communication is even more significant)
• I’ve attended networking events, worked with business owners, managers, students, met random strangers (intentionally and not), interacted with family, colleagues, friends, volunteers, and many other people that we all come into contact with
• Few can communicate comfortably
• We can all speak, but there is a big difference with being truly comfortable with one’s self and their own ability to communicate
  
• Whether its a friendly conversation with a neighbor or someone responding to a question about their dream job, few people, 1. appear at ease, and 2. clearly define their ideas, stories, and thoughts
• I’m sitting in a Starbucks right now in Vancouver and love to ‘people watch’ and am always amazed at how few people will make eye contact
• The Starbucks is in Vancouver Canada, which sits nicely on the west coast of North America, a place where society doesn’t generally condone (nor encourage) interacting with fellow strangers
• Culture plays a part, a big part at times, into how people communicate with one another and how open and friendly they are (Compare waiting in line in a coffee shop in New York or Toronto with queuing up in a coffee shop in Madrid or Florence and where you’d likely get into an interesting conversation with a stranger)
• But its no reason to simply conform to the societal norm, especially when its not a positive one
  

Back to school

• Culture certainly plays a part and there are a lot of factors involved here, however if children/teenagers (when we all had far less inhibitions) are encouraged to communicate, converse, collaborate, and explore their ideas and passions in an open and constructive environment (this doesn’t really exist yet, but it would be exciting to create/implement), they would be far less inhibited as adults and therefore more free to interact with fellow humans
• Kids are often reprimanded for talking in class and conversing and sharing still play such a small part in the classroom (Bring on the field trips and group work and events)
  
• Communication can happen in so many ways, and in so many new ways that haven’t yet been developed
  
• I’m currently working with Desire2Learn’s ePortfolio tool which is a game-changer in the way it easily facilitates, promotes, and tracks sharing and feedback among various people; One of many effective ways to enhance communication, especially when technology is complemented by in-person interaction
  

World, different

• There is too much competition, jealousy, and fighting going on in the world right now
  
• A great deal of this can be overcome simply through better communication to reduce misunderstandings, false pretenses, and anger
  
• We’re all human after all and we’re actually seeking things not so different from one another
  
• I’m always somewhat amazed when arch enemies end up friends and their enemy status was based only on misunderstandings; What’s even more amazing (and sad) is that so much time, often years, are wasted for no reason
• I saw Invictus recently which had a number of great scenes on breaking down barriers, but one small part that I really liked (which probably won’t get mentioned in any reviews) is just before the World Cup final between the South African Springboks and the New Zealand All Blacks; As they come onto the pitche, the All Blacks players look fierce and angry, however this demeanor is quickly disarmed and shifts to friendliness and grins when Nelson Mandela (with his big smile) shakes hands with each of them; Appearances serve a purpose, but they don’t always convey the true person inside
  

Practically speaking

• Make eye contact and hold it (It’ll feel awkward at first) and then smile
• I’ve talked about smiling before and its so under emphasized, under played, yet a powerful tool to enact positive change
  
• I’m not going to go on here about smiling, but I challenge everyone to make it their daily mission to smile (nothing complicated) as much as possible; For those of you that need something specific and for those who would find this too difficult, make the effort to smile (big grin) at at least 3 people a day (morning, noon, and night); And do this for 21 days
• Other than smiling, influence the education system by speaking to teachers, administrators, board members, and get them to bolster the communication that goes on in school (If you need ideas or specifics, talk to me and I’ll help you come up with a specific plan for your contact)
• Take a course or courses on communication; With better communication comes better confidence, something that most people can use more of; With it automatically comes better and more opportunities, success, and happiness
  

Under-represented

• There are three key untaught skills in life
• Successful people typically learn and excel at these skills, many early on in life
• Its a pity that these key skills are not formally taught in schools (Some teachers do recognize the benefits and incorporate elements of them, but there isn’t much in the way of formal training, and its short-sighted to not incorporate it)
• It would be highly effective to get exposure at an earlier age so we can then fine-tune these skills throughout life

The first key skill: To fail

• Numerous successful people claim that failing allowed them to get to the level of success that they ultimately achieved
• From Abraham Lincoln to Richard Branson, there are examples from all walks of life
• It is failure that builds character, tests resolve, and most of all, facilitates learning
• Practice is key to success (as I tend to harp on)
• The expression ‘Practice makes perfect’ is certainly true and is a catchy phrase, but doesn’t acknowledge the often significant amount of practice that is actually required
• (You must also have a passion for what you’re doing in order to really excel and achieve success, however its measured)
• Failing in today’s world has quite a significant negative connotation which is very unfortunate
• Kids should be encouraged in all areas of life to try new things; And not discouraged or reprimanded
• There are too many opportunities to give up and be ok with it
• I’ve met too many adults that are afraid to try new things, to pursue their dreams, and hold back in life which robs them from true freedom and joy

Your enemy

• Time is not on your side
• We inherently become more risk averse as we age
• So there is an even greater importance to try, fail, and learn at an early age so we’re not fearful of this process and it becomes part of who we are
• The expression ‘you can’t teach a dog new tricks’ isn’t entirely correct, however it is certainly difficult to learn and excel as you get older

Practically speaking

• Think back to a time when you were fearful of trying something new
• But you either did it anyway (or had no choice), and then guffawed at your initial hesitation and were proud of your success (or at least the fact that you went ahead and did it)
• Play that movie over and over in your head (savoring the goodness) and then decide to try something new – at work, in sport, with your friends/family
• And don’t give up if it doesn’t go exactly right the first time, because it likely won’t be perfect, and giving up slots you in with the mediocre group, and who wants that?

Stay tuned for the second and third key untaught skills that are coming soon…

We are more naked than ever. We haven’t been this exposed since the time of the cavemen and their minimalist leather coverings. The Internet is of course changing the way the world works in so many ways. As a result, we are now presented with a huge opportunity to create a name for ourselves – our own unique brand that the world can see. This is optional of course, but not being proactive risks the chance that the world will brand you as they see you, not necessarily who you actually are.

The following is an excerpt from an interview on the topic of personal branding I had with Ingrid Hartmann from Elev8 You Personal Marketing in Vancouver.

David O’Hagan – Personal branding has definitely been gaining popularity recently, at least as a term. Branding has been around forever and up until recently has been largely left to the corporate realm.

Ingrid Hartmann – Yes, but that’s all changing now, largely due to the impact of the Internet and its mass of easily available information and specifically Web 2.0 social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn. In addition, with the rise of professional services and contracting paired with declining job security, professionals are realizing the importance of marketing their own niche while promoting the company they work for. Now we all have a brand whether we like it or not. So the question you need to ask yourself is, Do you like your brand?

DO – I love this idea! Different people do put different weight into how they are perceived (Paris Hilton vs the cave-dwelling mountain man in western Idaho), but everyone is essentially giving off a ‘frequency’ by their actions (or inactions).

IH – That’s true, there are both tangible and intangible ways we give off messages about who we are and what we stand for. A person’s business card is part of their brand, whether they are an employee or have their own company. Going to an event without a business card is giving off a signal about yourself, as well as presenting a professional business card with an email address like partyboy@hotmail.com.

DO – Agreed! I find it interesting how I still see people with these types of email addresses on their cards or on their web sites. I also find it interesting many people have never done a search on their own name. Even if you’re not famous and don’t have your own web site or blog, there is often a surprising amount of public information available on you, especially with sites like Zoom Info compiling information on us behind the scenes. Zoom Info had pulled information on me from a number of sites including my company site, my blog, a colleague’s site, and an alumni site. And I’m sure that this type of automated information gathering process will continue to expand and proliferate as more and more information is available online.

DO – You had mentioned something earlier that had intrigued me about the idea that personal branding allows you to align the perceptions of others with your own. It would make sense that although we see ourselves one way, others potentially can view us differently (not necessarily deliberately, but acting on what information they have received or experienced), which may be to our disadvantage. Can you elaborate on this?

IH – Sure. Regardless of your position, support or strategic, you already have a personal brand based on how others perceive you, whether by reputation or through experience. Your brand determines how your clients, colleagues, manager, team members, etc. interact with you. It may impact whether you get the next promotion, high profile project or desirable client. It is important to gather information on how others view us (if you have access to a 360˚ Survey – take advantage of it!). In doing so, we can ensure it aligns with our vision of our own brand and we can identify any gaps between how we want to be seen and how we actually are perceived. Personal branding is about a systematic way to build the brand qualities we want others to see in us so that the brands others put to us align with the brand identity we see for ourselves.

Look at yourself as a product and build up credibility and trust through the value that you provide (and how that value is distinct from others like colleagues, competitors, etc.) For example, if you want to be known as the “go-to guy” in your office, you need to ensure you’re making yourself approachable and accessible.

DO – I like this concept because I strongly believe that successful people and businesses are those that put significant effort into focusing on what makes them unique and then really differentiating themselves.

Everyone is in competition with others, regardless of whether they like it or not. (Even companies that develop a brand new technology that doesn’t exist yet, will soon have others trying to steal market share from them.) As a simple example, take a chiropractor that has recently been certified. He’s very excited about his new business and eager to help people. And what does he do, joins a clinic (or sets up his own) and markets himself the traditional way all the other chiropractors do (i.e. does some advertising, joins a networking group, etc). If he’s decent at chiropractic, he’ll do all right, but probably not highly successful unless he stops, assesses his himself and his practice, and makes a conscious decision to actively differentiate himself from his competition. As a simple example, If he had worked previously in the construction industry, he could target construction companies and be the chiropractor of choice, working half the week from a mobile chiro unit that visits construction sites. This is obviously desirable for the construction worker who doesn’t have to get cleaned up and travel to an office, while very time-saving since he (or she!) doesn’t have to extend his already long day by traveling to an office on the other side of the city.

So he’s now branding himself as the mobile chiropractor that can not only ‘talk-the-talk’ of the construction industry, but knows intimately the types of issues and injuries construction workers are dealing with due to his background in this industry.

OK Ingrid, you mentioned consistency and the fact that successful companies are ones that have a consistent perception by the public. Why is this key for individuals as well?

IH – Yes, just like successful corporate brands emphasize a consistent message and “look and feel”, an individual must also reinforce his or her personal brand. It is also important for a personal brand to be authentic and focused. In order to achieve this, the brand must truly reflect the individual’s values and aspirations. Most importantly, the individual needs to believe in their unique personal brand as a true reflection of himself or herself for it to be convincing to others.

DO – Good point. I go to a lot of networking events and am often astounded at how few people can present themselves or their businesses in an interesting way. Being the gentleman that I am (chuckles) I am polite and listen, but many people are selling themselves short by not assessing how they present themselves in that first introduction. Most people are going to these events to build their business or get more clients, but there are many lost opportunities due to the fact that they’re often not making a good first impression.

To me its not what you say and how well you can sell your business or products/services, but how interesting you are. Few people remember the details of the conversations they had (even the next day), but what they do remember are: 1. interesting jobs/companies (sky diving instructors or submarine mechanics), and/or 2. engaging personalities (the person made you laugh, made you think, told a great story, etc).

IH – When we are clear on who we are and where we’re going, we project this confidence and clarity to others. Therefore, it’s important to be ready to talk about your personal brand with whomever you happen to meet through chance encounters. By being conscious of your personal brand it ensures you’re ready to promote yourself when casual, unplanned opportunities come up. For example, use water cooler talk with an executive as a chance to talk about enjoying your leadership role in an important new project, rather than chit-chatting about the weather.

DO – I always like getting practical, so how do you recommend someone get going on creating their personal brand?

IH – I recommend starting out with a marketing plan. The plan should definitely include an elevator pitch, a 30 second statement that includes your key attributes and things that are unique about you. It should be memorable so you could include a quick story about yourself or a metaphor to describe what you do. Try something like “think of me as a firefighter since I spend my days putting out fires at my office”. Since boundaries are blurring between professional and personal lives, don’t be afraid to include a hobby or lifestyle description in your personal brand or elevator speech. Let colleagues know if you play in a band on weekends or coach your twin sons’ soccer team if they are important to you. Additionally, a vision statement and measurable goals are important to include in your marketing plan. Then, and this is important, you need to constantly reinforce the elements within the plan on a regular basis.

DO – That makes sense. Like so many things, you need to repeat it to ingrain it in your thinking so its second nature. This will take some work and some thinking initially, but once you get rolling your brand and the perception that others have of you will really begin to take shape and impact your efforts and levels of success.

Personal brands are not yet like CVs in the job search process. It’s a given that when applying for a job you will need to present your experience in a CV. Its not required that you have a strong personal brand when you apply for a job, or seek promotion, or start a business. You can still have a first-mover advantage of sorts. Knowing yourself well and having a clear picture of what you can offer is undoubtedly valuable and gives you an advantage over a colleague or competitor if they do not.

IH – You’re exactly right, David, when you say a personal brand isn’t required; in fact, most people don’t have one. Consequently, developing and maintaining your personal brand will definitely give you the edge over your competition. Also, many people don’t think about the messages they are giving off to the world about who they are and what they do. In today’s competitive environment, having a personal brand helps you to communicate who your are and what is unique about you so you are focused and thus can make more meaningful and memorable connections with potential employers or someone you met at a networking event.

DO – And I’m guessing that like any business strategy, your personal branding and marketing strategy should be reviewed on a regular basis to ensure it remains true to you.

IH – Definitely. I would recommend re-evaluating it on an annual basis. It can be an informal evaluation, but should reflect back on your marketing strategy to see if it is still inline with your values and vision. There often aren’t significant changes, but people and desires and goals evolve based on experience and therefore your personal marketing strategy should remain inline with your vision for your life.

DO – Great. Well thanks so much Ingrid for your time and the very interesting discussion. And if someone is interested in talking to you more about personal branding and marketing, what should they do?

IH – Have them check out our web site at www.elev8you.com or give me a call at 604.737.3646.

Driving directions

• Recall the last time you drove to a place you hadn’t been to before without using GPS
• Even with driving directions in hand, you probably drove a little slower than normal
• You probably re-checked your directions a few times while on route
• And you may have thought for a moment that you should have already arrived at a certain street or passed a certain landmark by now
• If you’ve since made a second trip to that destination, especially not too long after the first trip, you probably ditched the map, puffed out your chest, and drove on confidently at a greater speed
• Why is that?
• Well the obvious answer is that you’re now experienced in driving that particular route
• Experience is simply gaining knowledge of something through participation or action
• Experience brings confidence
• What does confidence bring?
• It often brings things like:
• Motivation
• Aspiration
• Joy
• A desire to serve
• And many other things (all positive, by the way)

The simple equation

• So if experience (whether it be successfully arriving at a destination, becoming an expert in your industry, traveling abroad, or stepping out of your comfort zone) will bring about positive feelings and desires within you, why not commit yourself to getting out and experiencing life more and living richly?

Good news

• The Internet is great for many things and the vast access to news sources is to me one of the best (except if you’re in China)
• And using an RSS reader makes it that much easier
• I ended my subscription in December to a national newspaper print edition because I just wasn’t finding enough interesting articles (I also like the fact that I’m now a little more ‘green’)
• Seth Godin has been pretty vocal about the upcoming disappearance of newspapers
• One thing that web-based news provides that a paper-based newspaper will never be able to do is include real-time comments from readers
• Its often these comments that I find quite interesting, often more interesting than the article itself (The more controversial the article, the more comments)

No comment

• One thing though that has stood out for me lately is the at times large volume of negative comments
• Check out most articles relating to the Vancouver Olympics (especially the Globe & Mail reporting on the financing issues related to the athlete’s village) to see what I’m talking about
• OK so the Olympics can often be a fairly controversial topic for a variety of reasons, but even YouTube has a surprisingly large number of videos with numerous negative comments

Criticize vs contribute

• So members of the traditional newspaper industry may have reason to not be so positive, but what about the rest of us?
• I agree that the news we getting on the current state of the economy is not overly optimistic, but if you dig a little for it (move away from your traditional news providers, sir) there is quite a bit of positive energy and ideas flowing from organizations that accept the current situation and seek innovative ways and solutions to move forward
• Here are a few random examples (all available via RSS):
• BNET: The downturn’s new rules for marketers
• OneCoach: Why this is the best time to build your business
• Canadian Management Centre: How to recession proof your business

The 2 step

• So my question is, why so negative?
• Negativity didn’t just rear its head again in September 08 when the economy really started to deteriorate
• In coaching circles, the theme that usually comes up is ‘purpose’ (and lack of it)
• It can be an airy-fairy concept for many, but I believe there is considerably more truth to it than many allow
• If you step back and assess your own situation, you may get a glimpse of where you’re at
• Ask yourself these 2 questions:
• Why am I here?
• What excites me about my daily life?
• If you struggle here, you are likely lacking some clarity around your purpose, and how to live out your purpose
• But don’t fret because you’re not without purpose, you just need to discover it (and then harness it)
• And then you need to admire how nicely things will fall into place in your life (and those around you)

Experience

• Experience is generally good to have, and we are regularly gaining experience, whether we intend to or not
• Even if you’re in the most mundane of assembly line jobs, each day you go into work you become a little better at what you do
• But basic experience doesn’t usually lead to a rich life because in most cases you remain an employee on a salary with limited upside, without much opportunity to really question how things are done, or propose new ideas (I’m not against being an employee, but I have a hard time with the limited opportunity to be creative and challenge the status quo)

Expert

• To live richly (whatever that means to you), expertise has got to be your goal
• Its in this realm that you become sought out (to speak to groups or to consult to organizations) and have the opportunity to question the way things are done and enact new ideas and opportunities because you are deemed an expert
• Unfortunately few organizations see the value in fully empowering their people for growth and development, but this isn’t to say that you cannot be an expert within your own company
• Its here that you have the freedom to build credibility, a unique reputation, and then be rewarded accordingly

Excellence

• Now granted not everyone is seeking recognition as the foremost expert in their field, but allow your (fertile) imagination to dream a moment and picture how excellent life could be if you were engaged, regularly contributing ideas, and an integral part of forward-thinking groups and organizations
• Given the choice, most people would take the exciting and stimulating choice over the dull and boring one
• Even if the money or the recognition or the travel aren’t important to you, isn’t the opportunity to be stimulated and influencing positive change even a little bit enticing?
• For many people it is, but they’re reluctant to step up and put themselves on the line, so they resort to feigning contentment with life

Secrets

• We recently ran a workshop at the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce on motivating staff and teams
• I was in the mood to give away secrets and said that ‘communication’ is the key to motivating staff
• If you’re looking for that one thing (aren’t we all?!) that will make you stand out as an effective motivator, it all boils down to superior communication
• The workshop was full of practical and easy-to-use tools for managers to help them boost motivation in their people
• I’ll let you in on another secret: Even though all the practical and easy-to-use tools are in fact ‘practical’ and ‘easy-to-use’, the reason why there are so many unmotivated people within organizations today is not because motivation is hard or complicated, but because most managers don’t spend the time to build a good rapport with their people
• So although time management may not appear to directly relate to motivating staff, it actually does (A manager that is less stressed and has the time to sit down and build relationships will inherently end up with nicely motivated and engaged staff
• So that is how a section on time management found its way into our workshop
• What was interesting is that in the participant feedback, there was a huge demand for more time management tools and ideas

For the love of time management

• I love the topic of time management
• Some of the reasons I love it:
• Its fascinating how many people obliviously waste significant amounts of their time, especially while working
• We are all stuck with the exact same 24 hours in a day and 60 minutes in an hour (and regardless of how much money or clout you have, you cannot buy any more)
• Solutions to better time management are indeed easy-to-use and implement and don’t require much more than a bit of discipline and repetition
• The lack of time (or perception of it) impacts virtually every person; Few people can say they have lots of time and are at peace

Creeps in everywhere

• Here’s a recent quirky example of how our perception of time gets skewed
• We recently became the proud owners of a Philips Sonicare toothbrush
• Now the sonic cleaning action of the brush is great, however what I really love is the ‘Smartimer’ which counts down 2 minutes and alerts you every 30 seconds
• Its not so much the timer itself that I really like, but the fact that the timer points out a significant misperception of time on my part
• Let me elaborate:
• I’ve been brushing my teeth unassisted for over 30 years and am pretty happy with my brushing skills and style (and a for-the-most-part filling-free mouth)
• Now the timer has illuminated a serious flaw in my technique
• Its now clear that I tended to flit about my mouth with the brush, spending far more time in some areas and perilously little time in other critical areas
• So this secondary feature of the sonic toothbrush (the primary feature being its sonic cleaning speed of an incredible 31,000 brush strokes per minute; That’s over 500 strokes per second!) has demonstrated that even something that I would consider myself fairly experienced in (teeth brushing), I had been somewhat subpar in my abilities
• So, much improvement and innovation comes from awareness
• The average Joe (plumber or otherwise) goes through life unaware of many areas in their life that could be enhanced and improved upon, many with minimal effort
• There is great opportunity in the assessment of how one manages one’s time

Simply better

• At a number of time management workshops that I’ve facilitated, I’ve talked about ultra simple assessment tools, one being a ‘time log’ (A document where you simply record the tasks, actions, duties that you did over the course of a day
• Its often quite amazing the reactions people have to how they spend their own time when reviewing what they’ve actually done (or not done) for a period of a few days
• I’ve had people scowl at tools like this as being too simple, kindergarten in nature, and below them
• But regularly, one of the biggest obstacles to better time management is not accurately knowing where your time is spent
• Have you ever shut down your computer and walked out of the office after a particularly busy day and then wondered to yourself what you actually accomplished?
• It’s usually the people that take the time to assess where their time goes that end up being more successful, because they’re the only ones armed with the knowledge of where change can be made (Ignorance is only bliss sometimes)

Practically speaking

• The two step:
• Time yourself doing day-to-day tasks to see where you spend/waste your time
• Armed with the knowledge of where your time goes, adjust your behaviors to waste less time, be more productive, and do more of what you actually want to do
• If you want to stop feeling like you’re under the gun with no time to breath, get in touch with me
• I regularly work with individuals (in person or video conference) and groups (workshops and Lunch & Learns) on the effective implementation of many very practical and easy-to-use time management tools that will free you (and your organization) up to be more productive, focused, and definitely less frazzled

Practice makes perfect

• OK so I’m going to keep things simple today and talk about the smile
• As the holiday season approaches people are generally more smiley
• Yet at this moment in time there is quite a bit of negative news and concern about jobs, housing, and the economy (and the holidays don’t automatically make everyone smile anyway)
• If ‘enthusiastic smiling’ is a bit of a stretch for you, the upcoming holidays are a good time to practice (its less likely that people will look at you strangely if you’re smiling more than normal when you’re usually Monsieur Grump)
• Although the Christmas carols are already being heard and the decorations are making appearances, you still have some time to practice
• Why am I actually telling you to smile more? Read on, its important…

Look around, and then look at yourself

• As I write this, I’m sitting in a coffee shop observing the conversations around me (I’m not ignoring my friend; He hasn’t arrived yet)
• The various conversations, animation, and smiling covers a broad spectrum here – from the morose to the exuberant
• But it’s the happy and smiley people that usually attract your attention when you gaze around a room
• Question: If the conversations were for sale and you were in the market to buy, which one would you choose?
• Next time you’re in a coffee shop or restaurant (or any other venue with groups of random people) look around and notice who is smiling and who isn’t
• Who would you rather sit down and join?
• When you go back to the office, would you rather work with the manager with the smiley and positive disposition, or the perpetually pessimistic and negative one
• Then think about the energy you give off; Someone may be thinking about your energy and attitude right now…

Big ROI

• Time is precious for most everyone and many people are lacking sufficient energy (often due to their less-than-positive outlook)
• Its always been said that it takes more effort to frown than it does to smile
• Even if you’re a neutral smiler (you don’t much of either smiling or frowning), the ROI on smiling is significant and the benefits far too often overlooked
• I regularly work with management teams on leadership and communication and have seen excellent results and successful rapport building by the managers that simply choose to proactively smile and be more positive with their staff (i.e. greater respect, more motivation, greater ideas put forth, less squabbling, etc)
• And all this simply as a result of a commitment to smiling more; How easy is that?
• And then there’s the ripple effect of a person’s conscious effort to smile and be more positive then impacts their family, friends, neighbors, etc (Your children smile more, invitations to events increase, help with renovations suddenly materializes, etc)

Practically speaking

• I’m going to guarantee that if you smile with gusto for 21 days in a row, you will reap significant rewards in either your professional life, personal life, or both
• And if you’re currently distressed about the economy, your job, or another worrisome situation; Smile, because better times are coming
• I’m serious about this
• For the skeptics out there; Yeah you, the guy smugly guffawing at the touchy-feely nature of it all – whose bald spot is growing as quickly as his job security is plummeting, while at the same time his kid badly needs braces before his confidence is fully eroded due to the repeated harassment by his fellow classmates
• You too need to smile because it will all work out in the end, and smiling just accelerates the process
• Even the most negative and unhappy person can ‘fake it till you make it’
• For a swath of easy and practical smile enhancers, get in touch; I’ll share

Peace, mate

• Virtually everyone responds (or has responded) to the question “How are you?” using the phrase “I’m busy” (or some derivation)
• An alternate response to the question I once heard was: “I’m at peace”
• It made me pause and always being up for trying new things I thought I’d give it a go; I found it to have quite an impact on both me and the person that asked the question
• This little scenario was one of many things that came together to help me see the true power of the mind and its impact on our actions, emotions, and energy (or lack of it)
• I’ve also now realized that few people are actually at peace in their lives
• Next time you go out (to dinner, the supermarket, the bank, or the park) take note of how many people are smiling and how many seem happy and at peace versus how many are without smiles or even complaining
• Smiling is a pretty good indication of a person’s level of general peacefulness (Smiling can of course be forced or faked, but it does have a way of being a relatively true measure of peacefulness, since the effort required to fake it or force it is significant (a good thing in itself!) and it is unsustainable over time for most people
• How long has road rage been around for? (It likely didn’t exist with the horse & buggy; Both travel and life were moving slower then)
  
  
• Even if cut off while driving, people who are at peace with themselves don’t curse, raise fingers, or begin to drive aggressively…
• A while back I heard a great message from a pastor about living life at peace
• He was telling us how he had been living a fast-paced life and how when driving he would approach intersections where the light was red
• I instantly pictured myself in the same situation and thought ‘yes, you look for the lane with the least number of cars and the lane where drivers will likely pull away fastest (avoiding, of course, lanes with large trucks or elderly people)’
• He then said, to my surprise, that he now looks for what he believes will be the slowest lane and moves right into it
• I thought wow, now that’s an interesting twist; Here I was thinking I was being efficient in my approach, yet a potentially superior approach to this situation is doing the exact opposite…

Sage wisdom

• I’ve been reading the book The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma
• The subtitle of the book is ‘A spiritual fable about fulfilling your dreams and reaching your destiny’ so you might think its just another personal development book (with a catchy title) about living out your dreams
• The book however has a great alternate perspective on this oft-covered topic with the story told as a conversation between two friends
• I like Sharma and the book because they both have a practical and easy-to-use approach to leading a richer and more peaceful life
• One of the principals in the book is ‘Opposition Thinking’
• Its simply based on the idea that the mind can only hold one idea at a time, and as a result any person can quite easily develop a positive mindset in a short period of time
• To give it some tangibility, he suggests that you view your mind as a giant slide projector, with every thought being a single slide; So whenever a negative thought comes up on the screen, you quickly replace it with a positive one
• The book is filled with a number of great one-liners of wisdom like:
• The quality of your thinking determines the quality of your life
• If there is a lack in your life it is because there is a lack in your thoughts
• As cheesy as it may sound, finding a true peace within yourself is key to truly living a rich life
• And the great part is that with an open mind and some persistence, progress and success come quickly

Practically speaking

• Meditate (Ask me if you don’t know how or have had limited success in the past)

  

• Actively avoid negative thinking, scenarios, and people and proactively focus all you energy on envisioning an abundant future for yourself
• Don’t get sucked into yours or someone else’s negativity; the power to reap positive rewards lies fully within you (which is a good thing!)
• Not that you desire to be liked by all people, but being happy and enthusiastic is nearly always more appealing to others (family, friends, colleagues, etc)
• Even though you may not love your current job, a positive attitude at work can go a very long way and may even get you favor with the boss, a promotion, or an invitation to join a cool new project
• Don’t allow yourself to say that you’re busy and instead substitute “I’m at peace” and watch the effects on both you and the people you say it to

A personal experience

• It can be said that our careers are our lives
• This is true if you look at how many of our waking hours are spent working (and commuting; and talking about work)
• This definitely isn’t a bad thing, but should be looked at as a challenge; A challenge to seek the most fulfilling career possible – since this is where most of our time is spent
• That being said, it is a challenge for many since finding a rewarding and very fulfilling career is indeed difficult for many (How many people do you know that actually love their job?)
• Effort is required and normally it takes some work, with positive results rarely occurring immediately
• Below is a high level overview of my professional career path to date

• Why am I sharing this with you? A few reasons:
• You may relate to it (Frustration with not knowing what to do with your career; Your career path is a bit spastic like mine)
• You can see that it is definitely a journey over time that often requires patience
• Its never too late to make change/seek a new career path (You never know what opportunities will present themselves and who you will meet and who they can connect you to)
• Life will never be boring if you continually seek personal and professional growth and development
• Get you thinking about your own career path and possible major and/or minor adjustments or vector shifts you can and should make (Whether you’re a client, friend, or someone struggling with their current job or frustrated because you have no idea where to even start, I sincerely want you to experience a rich and fulfilling career, for you yourself, but also for all the people around you (your family, friends, colleagues, etc)
• Life is to be embraced and enjoyed (love the good and learn from the not-so-good)

My (fairly unconventional) professional career path outline

• Graduated university with an Economics degree (No logic behind this choice)
• Liked the idea of working in the financial services industry (more than any other role I had seen to that point)
• Worked in a mutual fund department in Toronto (after completing the Canadian Securities Course) but frustratingly missed out on a broker’s assistant position due to an error by the HR department
• Moved to Vancouver on the suggestion of a friend who had recently moved there (Why not?!)
• Got a cool job that involved setting up a Internet-based communications platform in the resource sector (and driving nice cars and boats)
• Three years on with still no idea of my career path or purpose I left Vancouver to travel overseas and live abroad (and maybe ‘find myself’)
• Lived and worked (primarily in financial institutions) in London and Sydney (and traveled in Europe and Southeast Asia) and had a fantastic time soaking in the history, culture, diversity, and social scene; Met some amazing people and learned so much about perspectives (good and bad) on life
• Decided to further my formal education, took the GMAT, and got into an MBA program with a technology focus in the south of France realizing that I’ve always preferred technology to banking/financial services (This program was one of the best experiences of my life, largely due to the quality people I met and the exposure to different ways of thinking and mindsets)
• Completed a great consulting project within the MBA program with a Swedish wireless consulting firm (dream job at the time) and then graduated with an intention of staying in Europe, but my timing was off (really off) as the dot-com bubble had recently burst and most jobs evaporated
• Moved to Toronto, reconnected with some old friends, and did some consulting work (in the wireless industry)
• Six months later moved to Florida to work for an upstart tech company (Got connected to the company through a good friend who had moved to Florida from Scotland after completing an MBA there)
• Excited about the new job and the new opportunities promised, dove into the role with enthusiasm (maybe a little too much) and the job ultimately fizzled out; But I loved the weather and the friends I made (Among them I met a great Lebanese guy taking the Dale Carnegie Course; A fantastic course on human behavior and growth)
• While in Florida I got involved with the leadership team of a men’s ministry and while planning an event I met one of the speakers who is a life coach; I got really intrigued with this concept as my career was in need of a change but still had no idea what to do; The more I researched and learned about coaching, the more I saw it as a great fit for my desire to help people (I had always loved coaching and instructing sports when I was younger)
• After three years in Florida and feeling for the first time a passion for a career path, I enrolled in a coach training program; Wanting to be closer to family I moved to Vancouver (a toss up between Vancouver and Toronto, but chose Vancouver in the end because of a new niece there)
• I eagerly set up my own coaching business (I had always wanted to have my own business, but often struggled with what I would do) and began initially focusing on life coaching and career coaching (I saw huge value in helping people find and go after their purpose in life, and had significant experience working through the recruitment process living and working overseas)
• I loved the one-on-one coaching and then through exposure to clients and networking I saw a need for business coaching (helping small business owners and entrepreneurs set up and successfully market their businesses), which fit well with my business background and experience
• And then my business broadened further to include group training & development on topics of leadership, marketing, personal development, and small business growth; This work I absolutely love because of the group dynamic and I often combine it with one-on-one coaching sessions which works exceptionally well
• So now, after a relatively short amount of time, my business has evolved significantly based on the needs I saw in the community, which has allowed me to serve a greater number of people as well as become even more passionate about the types of coaching and training that I do
• I look forward to continually meeting new people, getting introduced to interesting ideas, and collaborating on cool projects through the rest of my professional life and beyond
  

Practically speaking

• So if you made it through all of that, hopefully it will ignite a spark to assess, approve, or kick-start a career change, big or small, with the goal of a richer professional (and subsequently personal) life!
• So I suggest you write out a similar career path outline to see what it reveals to you (you’re very happy with your career to date, you are definitely ready to make a big change, or you want to start thinking about other options at this stage in your life)
• Create a challenge for yourself to get into a truly fulfilling career that will not only energize your life, but those around you (*Remember that its never too late, regardless of what others (or the little voice in your head) say!)
• And get in touch with me if you have any questions about going about it; I’m here to help!

To our careers,
David