John C. Maxwell: 4 Ways to Reach Your Personal Best

John C. Maxwell: 4 Ways to Reach Your Personal Best

By John C. Maxwell | August 10, 2016 | 0 

Look in the mirror—that’s your competition.
Related: John C. Maxwell: Are You Stretching toward Your Goals or Just Coasting?
Thinking about that adage the other day, I remembered a talk by swimmer Diana Nyad. Turning 60, Nyad was driving and saw her eyes during a glance in the rearview mirror. The moment prompted introspection on what she calls “the one that got away.”
Her most coveted goal was swimming nonstop from Florida to Cuba. In her 20s, she had attempted it after conquering several other long-distance challenges, but the 111-mile stretch through shark- and jellyfish-infested water defeated her.
While many of us would be enjoying our newly acquired senior discounts, Nyad was returning to the water. She hadn’t swum in 31 years, not a stroke, she told her audience. But that face in the mirror was determined. She spent hours at a time in the water training—eight, 10, 12—to regain her strength, stamina and technique. She finally thought she had reached 15 hours, but her trainer clocked her at 14 hours, 58 minutes and told her not to worry about the two-minute shortfall. Nyad would have none of it. She jumped back in and swam until the stopwatch hit 15:00:00. That’s commitment!
To reach your personal best, you need to learn how to challenge the person the mirror. He or she is your toughest adversary. Discovering how to overcome your limitations, fears, self-doubts —and the tendency to write off those last two minutes in the pool—will do more for your development than defeating a dozen competitors. Here’s what to do.
1. Be growth-minded, not goal-minded.
I love to win, and you probably do, too. It’s natural to make winning your ultimate goal, like a sports team hungering for a championship ring or a swimmer wanting to
set a record. But you have to be careful about directing too much energy into one goal, like Nyad’s late-in-life swim.
If you obsess over a singular event, what happens if you lose? Or for that matter, what happens after you win? Ever heard of a Super Bowl hangover? A lot of times, the champs flounder the next season.
That’s why I like to concentrate on growth rather than goals: That game is never over. We’re not distraught if we’ve lost, and we haven’t peaked if we’ve won. There’s always room to improve.
Nyad’s career was actually a succession of accomplishments: She had broken the women’s world record for a 22-mile swim from Capri to Naples, Italy; shattered the top time for swimming around Manhattan by an hour; and trounced the open-ocean world record for men and women in a 102.5-mile swim from the Bahamas to Florida. She grew, setting new marks time and again.
Would anybody have thought less of her if she never again put on a swimsuit? Of course not. But she saw an opportunity to grow further and set a new standard—for swimmers and for all of us worried about the limits of aging bodies.
She met that goal and set another: Nyad and her Cuba swim expedition leader Bonnie Stoll have founded EverWalk, a campaign to improve health by walking. Nyad and Stoll call it the “biggest walking initiative in American history.”
2. Emphasize gradual progress.
Anyone who has tried to lose weight knows fixating on the big number is a sure way to fail. Twenty pounds is intimidating—and discouraging when the scale seems to barely budge; 2 pounds is manageable. Achieve a 2-pound goal 10 times, and you drop two sizes and earn a shopping trip.
Yes, emphasizing growth over goals is critical, but goals do have their place in competition. I think of them as milestones on the journey of growth. Set incremental ones—as with the weight-loss example—and celebrate each time you achieve one before moving to the next.
Developing small disciplines helps. As part of my daily work routine, for example, I read or listen to someone else’s teaching with a goal of capturing at least one quote to use in future speaking opportunities. Salespeople make phone calls daily, touching base with past clients and reaching out to prospects; the most successful ones have the discipline to make a set number of calls daily, with an occasional challenge day in which they push themselves to dial a few more.
Big success tomorrow depends on the little things you do today.
Related: 3 Daily Habits of Very Successful People
3. Develop your strengths.
When I was growing up, my parents encouraged me to find the one thing I did best and channel my energy toward it. This was incredibly liberating. I didn’t have to worry about being all things to all people. I could simply grow my given talents, pushing myself to be better and better.
Countless athletes play multiple sports as kids. But the ones who go on to play in college or professionally almost always give up a sport they play well to focus on one in which they can become great. The same applies to you: Identify your natural strengths and pursue them with passion .
Research bears this out. For years, Gallup has studied the advantages of developing strengths instead of trying to fix weaknesses. One finding: People who use their strengths every day are six times more likely to be engaged on the job. You won’t push yourself to new heights if your heart isn’t in your work.
4. Partner with other winners.
Learning to push yourself is critical. But it’s easy to lose sight of how well you’re doing or pinpoint your weaknesses if you depend only on your own perspective.
The solution? Get a mentor . I’ve had the privilege of being coached by some of the brightest people in their fields. It is amazing how much difference their insight and advice make. Years ago while working on my first book, I was lucky enough to partner with publishing professional Les Stobbe. I sent him samples of my work and asked for his opinion because I was worried about the quality. I appreciated his writing tips (and I’m sure my readers did, too!), but what I really valued was his encouragement . Largely because of him, I pushed myself to write and write and write. I can reach a far greater audience in print than I ever could as a speaker.
***
Back to Nyad: Her quest initially failed. Jellyfish attacked. Their stings felt like fire, and their poison started to shut down her respiratory system. At the time, she said her dream was crushed.
Only it wasn’t. Those slimy critters didn’t extinguish her competitive flame. In another attempt in 2013, at age 64, she swam from Key West to Havana—the first person to do so without a protective cage. Nyad had vowed to find a way, and for her triumphant effort, she wore a suit and mask that protected her from stings.
“Never, ever give up,” she said in interviews following her feat.
We can all live by those words.

Related: 10 Steps to Achieve Any Goal
This article originally appeared in the
September 2016 issue of SUCCESS magazine.

John C. Maxwell
John C. Maxwell, an internationally respected leadership expert, speaker, and author who has sold more than 18 million books, has been named an inaugural SUCCESS Ambassador. Dr. Maxwell is the founder of EQUIP, a non-profit organization that has trained more than 5 million leaders in 126 countries worldwide. A New York Times , Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek ; best-selling author, Maxwell has written three books that have sold more than a million copies.

John C. Maxwell: 4 Ways to Reach Your Personal Best

John C. Maxwell: 4 Ways to Reach Your Personal Best

By John C. Maxwell | August 10, 2016 | 0 

Look in the mirror—that’s your competition.
Related: John C. Maxwell: Are You Stretching toward Your Goals or Just Coasting?
Thinking about that adage the other day, I remembered a talk by swimmer Diana Nyad. Turning 60, Nyad was driving and saw her eyes during a glance in the rearview mirror. The moment prompted introspection on what she calls “the one that got away.”
Her most coveted goal was swimming nonstop from Florida to Cuba. In her 20s, she had attempted it after conquering several other long-distance challenges, but the 111-mile stretch through shark- and jellyfish-infested water defeated her.
While many of us would be enjoying our newly acquired senior discounts, Nyad was returning to the water. She hadn’t swum in 31 years, not a stroke, she told her audience. But that face in the mirror was determined. She spent hours at a time in the water training—eight, 10, 12—to regain her strength, stamina and technique. She finally thought she had reached 15 hours, but her trainer clocked her at 14 hours, 58 minutes and told her not to worry about the two-minute shortfall. Nyad would have none of it. She jumped back in and swam until the stopwatch hit 15:00:00. That’s commitment!
To reach your personal best, you need to learn how to challenge the person the mirror. He or she is your toughest adversary. Discovering how to overcome your limitations, fears, self-doubts —and the tendency to write off those last two minutes in the pool—will do more for your development than defeating a dozen competitors. Here’s what to do.
1. Be growth-minded, not goal-minded.
I love to win, and you probably do, too. It’s natural to make winning your ultimate goal, like a sports team hungering for a championship ring or a swimmer wanting to
set a record. But you have to be careful about directing too much energy into one goal, like Nyad’s late-in-life swim.
If you obsess over a singular event, what happens if you lose? Or for that matter, what happens after you win? Ever heard of a Super Bowl hangover? A lot of times, the champs flounder the next season.
That’s why I like to concentrate on growth rather than goals: That game is never over. We’re not distraught if we’ve lost, and we haven’t peaked if we’ve won. There’s always room to improve.
Nyad’s career was actually a succession of accomplishments: She had broken the women’s world record for a 22-mile swim from Capri to Naples, Italy; shattered the top time for swimming around Manhattan by an hour; and trounced the open-ocean world record for men and women in a 102.5-mile swim from the Bahamas to Florida. She grew, setting new marks time and again.
Would anybody have thought less of her if she never again put on a swimsuit? Of course not. But she saw an opportunity to grow further and set a new standard—for swimmers and for all of us worried about the limits of aging bodies.
She met that goal and set another: Nyad and her Cuba swim expedition leader Bonnie Stoll have founded EverWalk, a campaign to improve health by walking. Nyad and Stoll call it the “biggest walking initiative in American history.”
2. Emphasize gradual progress.
Anyone who has tried to lose weight knows fixating on the big number is a sure way to fail. Twenty pounds is intimidating—and discouraging when the scale seems to barely budge; 2 pounds is manageable. Achieve a 2-pound goal 10 times, and you drop two sizes and earn a shopping trip.
Yes, emphasizing growth over goals is critical, but goals do have their place in competition. I think of them as milestones on the journey of growth. Set incremental ones—as with the weight-loss example—and celebrate each time you achieve one before moving to the next.
Developing small disciplines helps. As part of my daily work routine, for example, I read or listen to someone else’s teaching with a goal of capturing at least one quote to use in future speaking opportunities. Salespeople make phone calls daily, touching base with past clients and reaching out to prospects; the most successful ones have the discipline to make a set number of calls daily, with an occasional challenge day in which they push themselves to dial a few more.
Big success tomorrow depends on the little things you do today.
Related: 3 Daily Habits of Very Successful People
3. Develop your strengths.
When I was growing up, my parents encouraged me to find the one thing I did best and channel my energy toward it. This was incredibly liberating. I didn’t have to worry about being all things to all people. I could simply grow my given talents, pushing myself to be better and better.
Countless athletes play multiple sports as kids. But the ones who go on to play in college or professionally almost always give up a sport they play well to focus on one in which they can become great. The same applies to you: Identify your natural strengths and pursue them with passion .
Research bears this out. For years, Gallup has studied the advantages of developing strengths instead of trying to fix weaknesses. One finding: People who use their strengths every day are six times more likely to be engaged on the job. You won’t push yourself to new heights if your heart isn’t in your work.
4. Partner with other winners.
Learning to push yourself is critical. But it’s easy to lose sight of how well you’re doing or pinpoint your weaknesses if you depend only on your own perspective.
The solution? Get a mentor . I’ve had the privilege of being coached by some of the brightest people in their fields. It is amazing how much difference their insight and advice make. Years ago while working on my first book, I was lucky enough to partner with publishing professional Les Stobbe. I sent him samples of my work and asked for his opinion because I was worried about the quality. I appreciated his writing tips (and I’m sure my readers did, too!), but what I really valued was his encouragement . Largely because of him, I pushed myself to write and write and write. I can reach a far greater audience in print than I ever could as a speaker.
***
Back to Nyad: Her quest initially failed. Jellyfish attacked. Their stings felt like fire, and their poison started to shut down her respiratory system. At the time, she said her dream was crushed.
Only it wasn’t. Those slimy critters didn’t extinguish her competitive flame. In another attempt in 2013, at age 64, she swam from Key West to Havana—the first person to do so without a protective cage. Nyad had vowed to find a way, and for her triumphant effort, she wore a suit and mask that protected her from stings.
“Never, ever give up,” she said in interviews following her feat.
We can all live by those words.

Related: 10 Steps to Achieve Any Goal
This article originally appeared in the
September 2016 issue of SUCCESS magazine.

John C. Maxwell
John C. Maxwell, an internationally respected leadership expert, speaker, and author who has sold more than 18 million books, has been named an inaugural SUCCESS Ambassador. Dr. Maxwell is the founder of EQUIP, a non-profit organization that has trained more than 5 million leaders in 126 countries worldwide. A New York Times , Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek ; best-selling author, Maxwell has written three books that have sold more than a million copies.

TED Talks: ‘8 Secrets of Success’

TED Talks: ‘8 Secrets of Success’

November 16, 2016 / TED /

Richard St. John, marketer and success analyst, has dedicated several years to researching the nuts and bolts of achievement. It all started with one big question: What leads to success? It came from a neighboring passenger during a flight to a TED conference, and at the time he didn’t have a good answer.
Related: 12 Simple Habits That Set Ultra-Successful People Apart
Prompted by the question, he decided to conduct 500 interviews on the subject, pulling wisdom from successful TEDsters along the way. After absorbing as much as he could, St. John compiled eight powerful secrets of successful people. In this TED Talk, he shares those important success habits.
1. Passion
“Freeman Thomas says, ‘I"m driven by my passion.’ TEDsters do it for love; they don"t do it for money.”
2. Work
“Rupert Murdoch said to me, ‘It"s all hard work. Nothing comes easily. But I have a lot of fun.’ Did he say fun? Rupert? Yes!”
3. Get Good
“Alex Garden says, ‘To be successful, put your nose down in something and get damn good at it.’ There"s no magic; it"s practice, practice, practice.”
4. Push
David Gallo says, ‘Push yourself. Physically, mentally, you"ve got to push, push, push.’ You"ve got to push through shyness and self-doubt.”
5. Support (aka moms)
“Frank Gehry said to me, ‘My mother pushed me.’ ”
6. Serve
“A lot of kids want to be millionaires. The first thing I say is: ‘OK, well you can"t serve yourself; you"ve got to serve others something of value. Because that"s the way people really get rich.’ “
7. Ideas
St. John says there’s no magical secret to coming up with ideas, only a process of thinking. A few simple exercises will do the trick, such as:
Listening
Observing
Being curious
Asking questions
Solving problems
Making connections
8. Persistence
“Persist! Joe Kraus says, ‘Persistence is the number one reason for our success.’ You"ve got to persist through failure.”
Related: 5 Characteristics of Highly Successful People

5 Deliberate Steps to Master a Skill

5 Deliberate Steps to Master a Skill

By Mel Robbins |

I grew up cheering for the Detroit Pistons, but even I can admit Kobe Bryant was one of the greatest NBA players of all time. The fascinating part? He wasn’t born gifted. He’s an exceptionally hard worker. One trainer recounted how Bryant would exercise from 4:15 to 7 a.m. and then play basketball until the team’s practice at 11 a.m. Yes, Bryant trained for seven hours before practice even began.
Once he had five NBA championships under his belt, Bryant would still engage in grueling four-hour workouts on game days.
It’s easy to look at the masters in any field—be it Bryant, Mozart or Oprah—and credit their skills to genetics, innate abilities and hours of practice. But research on the science of peak performance has shown that it’s not just talent and hours of practice that lead to expertise. Instead it’s the type of practice one does. We can all reach mastery-level greatness through hard work, discipline and something called deliberate practice , or the process of understanding your weaknesses and then making considerable efforts to learn the skills you lack.
Related: Are You Willing to Do Whatever It Takes?
To improve at anything, you must push yourself beyond your comfort zone. When you put sustained effort toward improving your weaknesses, you will grow. This is the logic behind deliberate practice, a research-backed tool introduced by researcher Anders Ericsson.
For the past 30 years, Ericsson has studied the masters. His research has shown that how you practice matters much more than how much you practice. Experts become great by focusing on improving their weaknesses. Many people focus only on practicing things they can do effortlessly, but this never leads to improvement. Working hard just to work hard will exhaust you. Working hard for the purpose of improving is the secret to success.
Related: ‘8 Secrets of Success’
Another important factor of deliberate practice is constant feedback. You must monitor your progress so you can make adjustments. Without feedback, you won’t know how to improve. Reach out to others in your field and ask for criticism and advice.
Measuring your progress is also a key component of deliberate practice. Bryant measured his progress in many ways, such as counting the number of baskets he made daily. Every single day, he forced himself to make 400 shots. He never allowed himself to stop improving, even as his fame increased. You can measure anything: the number of cold calls you make, the pace you run or the amount of times you pitch your business.
Just like Bryant, you can incorporate deliberate practice into your own life with these steps.
1. Identify your goals and write them down. Research shows writing down your goals will help you complete 33 percent more of them.
2. Identify your weakest link and what is keeping you from achieving your goals.
3. Purposely and deliberately work on improving this skill.
4. Seek feedback from others.
5. Push yourself to show up and do it again and again.
Bryant wasn’t born a great NBA player. But by using deliberate practice, he became a master. And you know what? You can, too.
Related: How to Push Yourself to Greatness
This article originally appeared in the January 2017 issue of SUCCESS magazine .
Mel Robbins
Mel Robbins is a contributing editor to
SUCCESS magazine, best-selling author, CNN commentator, creator of the “5 Second Rule” and the busiest female motivational speaker in the world. To find out more, visit her website: MelRobbins.com . To follow her on Twitter: Twitter.com/melrobbins

3 Keys to Mastering the Art of Consistency

3 Keys to Mastering the Art of Consistency

By Simon T. Bailey |

Oftentimes, we think success is about doing things over and over again until we finally see results. But if you’ve ever been in a rut, you know that’s not always what works.
To really see upward movement in your life, you have to learn how to create a consistency cocktail. Consistency is made up of three key ingredients and, like any good cocktail, they should not be used in equal amounts.
Related: 10 Tips for Consistent Personal Growth
Ingredient 1: Walking the Walk
This first ingredient makes up the largest part of your cocktail. “Walking your walk” (and not just “talking your talk”) describes the little steps you take throughout the day that breathe life into your values. It’s not enough to just say you have values. You actually have to live them out in the small moments that make up your day.
For example, one of my core values is caring for the least, the last, and the forgotten. This shapes how I talk to people, what projects I accept, and the way I invest my money.
Ingredient 2: Connecting to Your Why
Constantly reminding yourself of the meaning,
the why behind your actions will allow you to power through even when you’re tired, stressed out or unmotivated.
I am caring for my health better than I ever have, and it’s because I am more connected to my why: I want to stay fit so I can live for a long time for my children and their children, not because I want to look good in photos. Once you make this mental shift, everything will change.
Ingredient 3: A Little Disruption
This is the magic ingredient—you just need a pinch of it. Consistency without disruption is simply a routine. Disruption means moving from the status quo to the cutting edge.
I am a huge believer in conducting a self-review every 90 days. That period of time is long enough to ensure you’re not jumping from goal to goal, but it’s regular enough to keep you from getting into a rut.
During your self-review, ask yourself: What have been my major successes in the past three months? How have I moved forward? Am I still moving in the direction I want to go? Is there a better way to do things?
Mixed correctly, this cocktail will allow you to develop confidence and become more purposeful with how you use your time and energy.
Related: What Is My Purpose in Life?
This article originally appeared in the September/October 2019 issue of SUCCESS magazine.
Photo by @kurteggering via Twenty20
Simon T. Bailey
Simon T. Bailey teaches people around the world how to build a bridge from their current reality to their brilliant future. He is the author of Shift Your Brilliance: Harness the Power of You, Inc. , and Brilliant Living: 31 Insights to Creating An Awesome Life, and when he’s not working, he enjoys rooting for the Buffalo Bills (his hometown team).

4 Powerful Habits That Will Change Your Life

4 Powerful Habits That Will Change Your Life

By Mick Ukleja |

If we don’t learn good habits , life becomes more difficult. We have a choice: Get hard on ourselves so life becomes easier, or get easy on ourselves resulting in life getting harder.
Successful people choose good habits over a stagnant life. At first it might not seem like you are accomplishing much, but don’t be fooled. “Small hinges open big doors.”
Not all good habits are created equal. Some are more powerful than others. Here are four powerful habits that will strengthen your confidence, help you get what you want and result in a satisfying journey.
Related: 4 Science-Backed Habits to Make You More Successful
1. Embrace life, don’t resist it.
When things aren’t working, our first action is often resistance. Instead of resisting, take a moment to consider what isn’t working and why. This kind of information is valuable.
Tough times can be used to disrupt stagnant patterns in thinking. If we embrace the disruption, it can have a purifying effect that knocks off the rust and barnacles we naturally collect on our daily voyage. Embracing life is resisting stagnation.
Life might wreck your plans when your plans are about to wreck you. So pay close attention.
2. Affirm yourself, don’t degrade yourself.
One of the most common ways to degrade ourselves is to ask the wrong questions. Wrong questions are disempowering. They immediately change our subconscious thought patterns from positive to negative, or vice versa. They are powerful.
Question: Why can’t I lose weight? Answer:
Because you’re a pig!
Question: Why can’t I do things right? Answer: Because you’re not smart!
Question: Why am I so broke? Answer:
Because you’re a loser!
Ask a bad question and you’ll get a bad answer. This is how our subconscious mind works. Because the conscious mind programs the subconscious, take charge. Good questions lead to productive answers.
What are the top two things I can do to lose weight?
What is a better way to do this?
What are three things I can do to increase my cash flow?
Asking the right question is empowering.
3. Brainstorm, don’t blame-storm.
Blame-storming is using our creative abilities to come up with reasons why something is not our fault. This creates an emotional roadblock to healthy living called resentment. It comes from the Latin words “re” and “sentire,” which means “to feel over and over again.” It’s almost exclusively internalized, which makes it different from anger even though it can accompany the emotion.
It’s tempting to wallow in resentment because it provides a feeling of control. But that is an illusion. The past is no more. There is no control. How can we disempower the past from stealing the present? Through brainstorming, you come to the realization that your past deepens you but does not define you,
deter you or defeat you.
It is a part of your maturity but not your identity. Your past has made you stronger for today. You are not a prisoner of your past. You are a pioneer of your future. And you have power in the present.
4. Do something, not everything.
It’s good to be resilient—to a point. Sometimes quitting is the smartest thing to do. There are times when I look at my to-do list and complete one or two of the items quickly, just by eliminating them. For example, if I have 10 things on my list, Pareto’s Principle reminds me that 80 percent of my results comes from 20 percent of my effort. Let me get those top two done first and I’ll go from there. To not do this is to spread myself too thin. Time to prune the list.
The secret of concentration is elimination. This leads to productive living and has health benefits as well—a needed message for a society of high achievers .
In Think Like a Freak: The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain, people who quit unattainable goals saw physical and psychological benefits, including:
Less depressive symptoms and negative affect
Lower cortisol levels
Lower systemic inflammation
Better immune functioning
Fewer physical health problems over time
This is not a polemic for a carefree life! The happiest people are busy but in control. They are not rushed.
“Be quick, but not in a hurry.” —Coach John Wooden
It’s a matter of control. You can do anything when you quit trying to do everything.
Related: 10 ‘Harmless’ Habits to Drop If You Want to Be Successful
This post originally appeared on
LeadershipTraQ.com
Mick Ukleja
Mick Ukleja, Ph.D., is the founder and president of LeadershipTraQ. He empowers leaders to optimize their talent and equips them to excel in their professional and personal life. Mick is an author, speaker and generational strategist. He writes and speaks on engaging millennials at work. He is the co-author of Managing the Millennials: Discover the Core Competencies for Managing Today’s Workforce, 2nd Edition, which is used in corporate training and business schools. He co-founded the Ukleja Center for Ethical Leadership at California State University, Long Beach, which promotes ethics across the curriculum. Mick is an adjunct professor in the MBA program at Concordia University. His book Who Are You? What Do You Want? has been praised by legendary coach John Wooden: “I have always taught that success can be achieved by each one of us. These principles provide an excellent life-planning guide for bringing out your best.” Mick has been featured on Fox News, CNN, Fox Business Network, NBC and in numerous publications. Keep up with Mick at
Leadershiptraq.com .

4 Powerful Habits That Will Change Your Life

4 Powerful Habits That Will Change Your Life
By Mick Ukleja | April 18, 2017 | 0 
If we don’t learn good habits , life becomes more difficult. We have a choice: Get hard on ourselves so life becomes easier, or get easy on ourselves resulting in life getting harder.
Successful people choose good habits over a stagnant life. At first it might not seem like you are accomplishing much, but don’t be fooled. “Small hinges open big doors.”
Not all good habits are created equal. Some are more powerful than others. Here are four powerful habits that will strengthen your confidence, help you get what you want and result in a satisfying journey.
Related: 4 Science-Backed Habits to Make You More Successful
1. Embrace life, don’t resist it.
When things aren’t working, our first action is often resistance. Instead of resisting, take a moment to consider what isn’t working and why. This kind of information is valuable.
Tough times can be used to disrupt stagnant patterns in thinking. If we embrace the disruption, it can have a purifying effect that knocks off the rust and barnacles we naturally collect on our daily voyage. Embracing life is resisting stagnation.
Life might wreck your plans when your plans are about to wreck you. So pay close attention.
2. Affirm yourself, don’t degrade yourself.
One of the most common ways to degrade ourselves is to ask the wrong questions. Wrong questions are disempowering. They immediately change our subconscious thought patterns from positive to negative, or vice versa. They are powerful.
Question: Why can’t I lose weight? Answer:
Because you’re a pig!
Question: Why can’t I do things right? Answer: Because you’re not smart!
Question: Why am I so broke? Answer:
Because you’re a loser!
Ask a bad question and you’ll get a bad answer. This is how our subconscious mind works. Because the conscious mind programs the subconscious, take charge. Good questions lead to productive answers.
What are the top two things I can do to lose weight?
What is a better way to do this?
What are three things I can do to increase my cash flow?
Asking the right question is empowering.
3. Brainstorm, don’t blame-storm.
Blame-storming is using our creative abilities to come up with reasons why something is not our fault. This creates an emotional roadblock to healthy living called resentment. It comes from the Latin words “re” and “sentire,” which means “to feel over and over again.” It’s almost exclusively internalized, which makes it different from anger even though it can accompany the emotion.
It’s tempting to wallow in resentment because it provides a feeling of control. But that is an illusion. The past is no more. There is no control. How can we disempower the past from stealing the present? Through brainstorming, you come to the realization that your past deepens you but does not define you,
deter you or defeat you.
It is a part of your maturity but not your identity. Your past has made you stronger for today. You are not a prisoner of your past. You are a pioneer of your future. And you have power in the present.
4. Do something, not everything.
It’s good to be resilient—to a point. Sometimes quitting is the smartest thing to do. There are times when I look at my to-do list and complete one or two of the items quickly, just by eliminating them. For example, if I have 10 things on my list, Pareto’s Principle reminds me that 80 percent of my results comes from 20 percent of my effort. Let me get those top two done first and I’ll go from there. To not do this is to spread myself too thin. Time to prune the list.
The secret of concentration is elimination. This leads to productive living and has health benefits as well—a needed message for a society of high achievers .
In Think Like a Freak: The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain, people who quit unattainable goals saw physical and psychological benefits, including:
Less depressive symptoms and negative affect
Lower cortisol levels
Lower systemic inflammation
Better immune functioning
Fewer physical health problems over time
This is not a polemic for a carefree life! The happiest people are busy but in control. They are not rushed.
“Be quick, but not in a hurry.” —Coach John Wooden
It’s a matter of control. You can do anything when you quit trying to do everything.
Related: 10 ‘Harmless’ Habits to Drop If You Want to Be Successful
This post originally appeared on
LeadershipTraQ.com
Mick Ukleja
Mick Ukleja, Ph.D., is the founder and president of LeadershipTraQ. He empowers leaders to optimize their talent and equips them to excel in their professional and personal life. Mick is an author, speaker and generational strategist. He writes and speaks on engaging millennials at work. He is the co-author of Managing the Millennials: Discover the Core Competencies for Managing Today’s Workforce, 2nd Edition, which is used in corporate training and business schools. He co-founded the Ukleja Center for Ethical Leadership at California State University, Long Beach, which promotes ethics across the curriculum. Mick is an adjunct professor in the MBA program at Concordia University. His book Who Are You? What Do You Want? has been praised by legendary coach John Wooden: “I have always taught that success can be achieved by each one of us. These principles provide an excellent life-planning guide for bringing out your best.” Mick has been featured on Fox News, CNN, Fox Business Network, NBC and in numerous publications. Keep up with Mick at
Leadershiptraq.com .

9 Ways to Monetize Your Facebook Page

in Influencers, Social Media

There are people out there who grow Facebook pages for the sake of having them. I’ve seen dozens that center themselves around a concept and grow into something larger.

If you have a Facebook page with some level of following, with or without a website attached, there are a lot of ways to make money. Frankly, it’s easier to start with a Facebook page and build a monetized site than it is to start a site and try to build a Facebook following from it.

Here are our tips to monetize your Facebook page:

1. Optimize Your Site for Mobile Devices

Over 50% of the traffic that browses Facebook every day is mobile traffic, which is why it is so important that if your Facebook links to an external site that it is optimized for mobile. If you can capitalize on a mobile audience, you can find quite a bit of success.

One of the best ways to ensure that your traffic from Facebook stays on your site and converts is to have a responsive site. This means that no matter what device a user is on your website adjusts and gives the best user experience.

2. Sell Digital Content Directly

The first option to monetize your Facebook page is arguably the easiest. The simplest example of this is pretty easy to describe. Promoting an eBook on your Facebook page is a great way to keep your audience engaged and connect across your various websites.

If you have plenty of content to distribute, Facebook makes a great platform to sell your wares. EBooks are easy because Amazon and Barnes and Noble both have distribution platforms which you can take advantage of and the best part is that Facebook integrates very easily with most external platform.

Big brands: Learn how this small skincare startup used multi-channel campaigns to dramatically increase visibility and activate new followers.

3. Send Traffic to Affiliate Marketing Sites

This is another option you can use to make money by advertising on Facebook, but you will need to be a part of an affiliate network. If you are influential, joining an affiliate network should not be a problem. Having the ability to reach a lot of people is very beneficial and many brands will take notice. Once you are a part of an affiliate network, just posting a link will be enough to gain attribution for your contribution. This is very easy to set up and use, many systems have built-in tracking available. Many brands have affiliate networks in place which they use to manage their affiliates and track the sales or traffic you are able to drive.

4. Sell Products through a Facebook App Store

Facebook apps have fallen somewhat in the last few years. They’ve been slowly moved further and further down the sidebar and there’s not as much room up top for them as there used to be.

That’s not to say you can’t still use them. All you need to do is set up one of the many Facebook commerce apps. Pick one and use it.

 5. Sell Products through a Website

The exact same concept as above can be applied to setting up your own storefront. You have two options for this; you can either set up a hosted solution, or you can use an e-commerce system. The latter is more expensive but a lot more customizable and better for SEO in the long run.

Promote products and link your audience to the product page, that sort of thing. Paid ads will help a lot here, because there’s not of leeway with promoting organic posts.

6. Promote Products with Exclusive Facebook Offers

If you’re selling products, you can do more than just post “hey, have you see X product? It’s cool you should buy it.” You can incentivize the traffic and conversions. All you need to do is run offers. The organic way of running offers is to simple create the offer for a limited time on your site and promote it on Facebook. The alternative method is to use the ads system on Facebook to run offers. Either one will work, or you can use both if you want.

Need a tool to help with your Facebook offers? Check out how Sideqik helps brands take their social to the next level.

7. Sell Products through a Third Party Service

You can design and sell products without having to do any of the product manufacturing, shipping, inventory, upkeep, or anything else. If you are a creative, one example is to begin putting your art on various products and selling it. There are multiple sites which allow you to create easily print shirts, phone cases, or socks and sell them. It’s pretty simple and it’s a route that a lot of midrange Facebook pages take.

8. Promote a Local Event with Your Vendor Presence

If your Facebook page is focused around a geographic location, it will be a great opportunity for you to engage with and bring in outside brands and businesses to get involved with your brand.  You can drive a profit in a few different ways from this. One of them is to set up a vendor of your own at the local event you’re promoting so that by promoting the event, you’re also promoting yourself. Get more people to attend the event, and more people will find you there, resulting in more sales.

9. Sell Your Services Growing a Page

So you’ve grown a Facebook page to its current level, and you’re achieving some amount of success. Others would like to reach that success. It’s time to share your skills. You can sell a service where you write up a plan of action. You can come in and manage things for an ongoing price if you are successful there are many options to make others successful.

Filling the Talent Gap in Surveying

Perry Trunick

KEYWORDS Business challenges in surveying / business continuity / the future of surveying Reprints

There is little doubt within the surveying profession that the challenge is to bring in more new licensed professional land surveyors. The demographic numbers are clear – a majority of current professional land surveyors report 30 or more years of experience with the corresponding age band at or near traditional retirement age. Surveying isn’t the only profession to face this challenge, nor is it limited to the U.S. surveying profession. The complexity of training and licensing and the lack of public awareness of the profession combine to make it difficult to adopt some of the strategies employed by other professions to attract new talent. That doesn’t mean those strategies won’t work; it simply means they could need some adjustment to fit the needs of this profession.

Is the “crisis” real? An informal poll on the POB website asked, “Are you hiring?” and offered choices from “Yes, adding licensed surveyors” to “No hiring, and permanent staff reduction likely.” Though not scientific, the result as this is being written was that no one said they expected permanent staff reductions. Exactly 50 percent said they were hiring some mix of licensed/unlicensed and permanent/temporary workers. The largest single response (28 percent) was “I would if I could find qualified applicants.” That suggests they are in the hiring mode, but unable to fill positions and, when combined with those who gave more definite indications of hiring, means 78 percent of respondents would be hiring.

A formal study in Australia gives a clearer view, to the degree that results there might reflect similar experience and trends in the U.S. The fundamental descriptions and trends do parallel the U.S., even if exact numbers and some underlying drivers differ.

In its executive summary, “Determining the Future Demand, Supply and Skills Gap for Surveying and Geospatial Professionals” sets out some parameters. “Situations where measures of workforce demand exceed currently available supply are referred to as workforce gaps. … Where these gaps are unlikely to be filled by new supply at a national level from the education system, a capability deficit arises.”

With regard to workforce gaps the summary notes they create distinct challenges and pressures for the profession that may (at least partially) be resolved through the hire of new graduates. But, in saying that, the report’s authors recognize graduates cannot replicate the skills and productivity of a retiring surveyor with decades of experience. 

Another part of the solution is productivity improvements, and a third is shifting employment from low- to high-demand regions. In the latter case, the U.S. has some distinct challenges. Provided a surveyor is willing to relocate, that surveyor would need to meet the licensing requirements in the new state.

The report describes a capability deficit as a “higher order challenge” with a more substantial long-term imbalance between workforce demand and supply that will not be easily or quickly resolved. This could be a result of too few graduates and it could reflect the fact there are too few resources willing to relocate from low-demand to high-demand regions or categories of the profession.

“Capability deficits are not directly observable,” the report continues. “Either workforce supply rises to meet the demand challenge (e.g. through an increase in unplanned work effort or productivity) or demand is constrained to the maximum level of available supply (e.g. activities requiring unavailable surveying skills are delayed) with consequent negative impacts on end-use sector activity and the broader economy.”

In other words, if we can’t meet the capability deficit, construction projects may experience delays. Picture the potential consequences of the major infrastructure spending President Donald J. Trump promised in his inaugural address coming up against a critical shortage of professional land surveyors.

One possible consequence the report does not appear to address is the possibility the shortage is met with regulatory changes that reduce the requirements for “sealed” surveys. 

The Australian report notes that, even though it covers a 10-year period from 2018 to 2028, forecast impacts in the second half of that period are subject to underlying assumptions and a wide range of factors which could affect the actual outcome. Broader economic trends could drive a decrease in housing and commercial building starts, and then the shortage would appear less critical. On the other hand, the U.S. Congress could move on a major infrastructure bill which would drive a spike in demand for professional surveying and geospatial services. Then, the shortage could become even more critical than predicted.

New Talent From Old

The fact remains that the current corps of licensed professional land surveyors is aging. While this demographic trend sounds alarming, and it is, there is also a hidden resource that results. The popular term in among human resource professionals is “encore workers.” It is typically applied to retirees who chose to remain part of the active workforce, but in a different or reduced capacity. 

Another component of the experienced workforce is those who are nearing retirement or delaying retirement. Often, these may be business owners who want to sell their business and/or move away from the pressures of running the business. One such professional land surveyor described his position: “I am almost at the age I could retire, and thanks to a successful business I could probably do it. However, I still enjoy the work and want to remain active, albeit without the day-to-day challenges of operating a business. I simply want to do the things that attracted me to the profession decades ago…challenging problems to solve, the latest technology to use, and clients to serve.”

His description works for a retiree who wants to remain active (the encore worker) or someone who wants to “downshift” in the later part of their career as they approach retirement. The clear benefits are experience and, potentially, less sensitivity on compensation. Consider that the retiree may come back to the workforce with healthcare benefits taken care of and may be drawing a full or partial pension. 

For businesses with some younger workers, surveyors in training, or apprentices, there is the additional value of adding a mentor within the ranks. Our experienced surveyor tells us, “I started surveying about 45 years ago. A short while later I became involved in managing. Surveying and managing are practical arts that involve learning by doing. The obvious problems are often not the most important. The important problems are often obscured by the flurry of activity. As a manager I had to learn how to watch and listen for the subtle phenomenon.” That mentorship could extend up as well as down.

A good mentor with an eye for the developing needs in the profession as well as a sense of conventional (even traditional) methods can be invaluable in helping to bridge the gap between generations. “[The demographic shift] is also altering the composition of skill sets within the workforce. Each generation has slightly different skill sets, and there are challenges in translating and transferring experiences. Surveying is a practical art, and it involves a lot of tacit knowledge. This is why surveyors have historically favored apprenticeship. Much of this type of know-how looks a bit mundane alongside a shiny digital gadget. For example, learning how to dig in the dirt for a corner monument appears to be of less importance than understanding how to operate a GNSS receiver, yet the shovel produces the most relevant evidence we are seeking. Interpersonal skills may be even more challenging to explain,” says our surveyor.

Our experienced surveyor has clearly laid out some of the most common challenges. First may be the requisite skills, but following closely are the interpersonal and communications skills that not only help to build a team effort in the field but also connect the business to its market. Once again, this may be an example where showing is better than telling.

To illustrate his point, our senior surveyor described a situation where an ownership change put a younger surveyor in charge of a group that included some older surveyors. “The younger surveyor did not think the older surveyor did much. I knew this was not the case. The older surveyor was simply very good at what he did. He made it look easy and effortless. The younger surveyor and the older surveyor were at different points on the continuum of mastery. The gap in their level of expertise contributed to the misunderstanding.” 

This is another case for up-and-down mentorship. An experienced manager might look at the results and determine that the older surveyor is producing at or above expectation with much less effort than his less-experienced counterparts. The opportunity is to encourage the experienced surveyor to share the knowledge that allows him to work faster and more efficiently and thus benefit the entire team.

Technology Is Part of the Answer

Researchers, observers, and commentators note that technology has played a part in helping the land surveying profession respond to the human resource challenge. While some lament the development of the one-person and two-person crews, technology has clearly enabled the reduction in the size of field crews. One salary can buy high-end technology that will support a single field surveyor and work for a number of years without demanding healthcare or other benefits. Similarly, advanced technologies can improve the productivity of current field crews, allowing shorter time in the field and the potential to increase the number of jobs that can be completed. 

Field work is not the only area that benefits from advances in technology. Post production work on a project that was started with proper survey practices can move faster through a combination of better systems, cloud-enabled applications, cloud storage, and a workforce that is more attuned to the enabling technologies. 

Does this suggest more stratification in the survey and mapping workforce? It might. With fewer licensed surveyors, it is more efficient to concentrate their efforts where their skills and license are needed and entrust the other parts of the job to a different type of technician. 

And then there is outsourcing. This is a touchy area, but where need meets capability, there is often room to hire very specific talents on an as-needed basis vs. maintaining that talent on staff. Do you want your highest skill level – the licensed surveyor – grinding through data management tasks? Do you need a certified remote pilot in your shop who will only fly an unmanned aerial vehicle on a small percentage of the jobs you are doing? The list could go on from there, but the argument for sub-contracting for certain specialties or for some repetitive tasks could boost the productivity of your shop and might increase the quality of the deliverable.

If all of this sounds complicated, it is nothing compared to the challenge of loading the pipeline at the front end to get more licensed professional surveyors coming out of the education system. That’s a subject for another discussion, one which is well underway with the Future of Surveying Forum, Get Kids into Survey, the National Society of Professional Surveyors, and nearly every other group related to the profession. It’s one that needs the support of licensed professional surveyors at the local, regional, and national levels. Teaching and promoting the profession might also be one of those “encore” jobs retiring surveyors could choose if they want to remain connected to the profession they love.

A report prepared by BIS Oxford Economics for the Australian group Consulting Surveyors National highlights the vast array of skills that fall under the general category of surveying and geospatial professionals.

Occupational Group	Description
Surveyors:	Plans, directs and conducts survey work to determine, delineate, plan and position tracts of land, natural and constructed features for the following sectors: Cadastral: boundary surveys relating to land title ownership, new subdivision layout and design. Building: multi-residential and non-residential building projects including commercial, industrial and institutional building. Engineering: infrastructure projects such as roads, dams, pipelines and harbors. Mining: mining and underground works. Other: other surveying work including geodetic, hydrographic and photogrammetric etc.
Spatial scientists:	Acquires, analyses, interprets and distributes information about locations in space and time, and develops related equipment, software and services.
Surveying technicians:	Collects, records and evaluates spatial information and prepares databases, maps, charts and plans in support of surveyors.
Spatial science technicians:	Collects, records and evaluates spatial information and prepares databases, maps, charts and plans in support of spatial scientists.
Urban and regional planners:	Develop and implement plans and policies for the controlled use of urban and rural land, and advise on economic, environmental and social factors affecting land use.
Engineers:	Includes civil engineering professionals, mining engineers and other engineering professionals.
Environmental scientists:	Study, develop, implement and advise on policies and plans for managing and protecting the environment, flora, fauna and other natural resources.
Other staff:	Other professional staff employed by surveying firms.

Workforce Classification

Total Skilled Workforce

Surveying & Geospatial Professionals			Other Professionals
Surveyors	Spatial Scientists	Technicians		Planners
Cadastral		Surveying Technicians		Engineers
Building		Spatial Science Technicians		Environmental Scientists
Engineering				Other Staff
Mining
Other

(SOURCE: Determining the Future Demand, Supply and Skills Gap for Surveying and Geospatial Professionals)

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Share your thoughts on this column at pobonline.com. To contact any POB editor or writer, please send an email to trunickp@bnpmedia.com.

The Business Side: Surveyor Marketing Strategy Cuts Through the Noise

Elaine Ball

KEYWORDS Business challenges in surveying / marketing

Reprints

Here’s a nifty little trick if you ever find 
yourself getting talked over in a 
meeting: lower your voice.

No, seriously!

When everyone’s shouting over each other, shouting even louder doesn’t get you heard, it just adds to the general din. But if you catch the eye of the person you want to listen to you, and speak confidently but quietly to them, they’ll lean toward you and strain to hear. One by one, everyone else stops their jabbering and leans in to listen.

The same is 100-percent true when it comes to producing great content to hook your ideal customer — the “Mikes” of the world, if you recall my last few articles on the topic!

Make it Stop!

...Because, Oh God, there is so much noise out there. I get sick of it. I’m sure you get sick of it. I guarantee your customers are sick of it too. Every time I open my inbox, there are 50 more spam emails in there. Every time an unknown number rings my phone, I think, “Please don’t let it be cold-call sales.”

But what is it, exactly, that makes these sales techniques so annoying?

Well, I’ll tell you: it’s that it’s all about them. The seller, I mean. They’re trying to get you to do something that’s good for them. They’re contacting you at a time and through a channel that suits them. I look at what they’re sending and I think, “Wow, they're all me, me, me!”

And let’s face it. When was the last time you felt inspired to buy something because you thought it would be in that company’s interests for you to hand over your money?

Right: never.

Make that your starting point. Write it on a Post-It note and stick it to your laptop. Heck, tattoo it on the back of your hand: MARKETING IS ABOUT WHAT THE CLIENT WANTS, NOT WHAT YOU WANT.

Giving Them What They Want

And what does your customer want?

They want to know you have a good idea for how to solve their problem.

They want to actually enjoy the experience of hearing about it.

In other words, give them something valuable and don’t bore them to tears with lackluster delivery. Your content needs to tell a story. It needs to get them thinking differently about their problem. It needs to spark excitement at how you are going to rock their world.

As Kieran Flanagan, VP of Marketing for HubSpot, wrote recently:

Marketing does not change as frequently as we think. A lot of change is because we saturate channels. People used to open their direct mail until it became nothing more than a mailbox filled with ads… Today people expect us to deliver exceptional content; they expect us to provide real-time interactions that answer questions and solve problems. They expect companies to deliver value throughout the entire customer lifecycle. Innovators change human behavior; once you experience the future, you’re not going to be happy with reverting to the past, and that’s why a lot of companies lose market share.

Wise words, people!

How Do I Do It?

Okay, let’s break it down. Here’s what I want you to do:

1. Start being strategic in your content creation.

Build your brand around your commercial insight. Think about a) how you can show off your company’s unique characteristics and methods, and b) how to do this in a way that reflects your personality, capturing their attention with wicked straplines, pictures, humor and all things YOU.

This applies to all the content you create, from blog posts that walk a customer through how to address a certain issue, to corporate PowerPoint presentations you deliver in person. There’s never any excuse to be bland.

Unsure where to start? Check out the super creative @StormGeomatics (Twitter), an English river survey company. They do some cracking campaigns and their Twitter feed is a blast.

Or, for a crazy, creative B2B marketer, follow Doug Kessler @dougkessler (Twitter) of Velocity Partners. His “CRAP” campaign is still going strong after 5 years, and it shows how you can jump completely out of your comfort zone to dazzle your audience.

Oh, and if you’re sitting there thinking, “Wait, what are the unique characteristics I should be focusing on?”, grab a pen and paper and scribble down some answers to these questions, from Gartner’s “Challenger Customers”:

• What are our sustainable, unique strengths?
• Of those unique strengths, which ones are currently underappreciated by our customers?
• What is it that the customer fails to fully understand about their business that leads them to underappreciate our unique, sustainable capability now?
• What would we have to teach that customer about their business that would lead them to value that capability more than they do now?

2. Use Social Platforms (But Be Smart)

Use LinkedIn to develop a following of potential customers, not other surveyors! Be personable and approachable. If you need some inspiration, check out these geospatialers, who have their Instagram nailed:

@TravelingSurveyor: I love his dry humor, which shows off his unique take on his surveying adventures! He’s unique, which in turn builds followers! Remember it doesn’t have to be about the job — people get interested in unique things that stand out!

@Productionsonpoint: Kellen McNally focuses on location scouting, surveying and layout for the entertainment industry. I love the use of his imagery to show off different angles — all telling a story! Great stuff.

Oh, and bear in mind that people tend to follow people, rather than companies. Publishing stuff as ‘you’ rather than your company is likely to get more engagement.

3. Set up Focused Campaigns

Don’t try to talk to everyone at once. Yelling into a megaphone is hardly the way to start a meaningful conversation!

Instead, go back to your buyer personas (remember we talked about this previously?) and be super specific about the kinds of problems and ideas you talk about in your content.

For example, you might create a series of blog posts aimed at people (like Mike — remember him?) who work in airports in low-lying regions, at risk of flooding. The more precise you can be, the more your target customer will think “Ooh, these guys get me!”

4. Make Your Copy Sparkle

Once you know what you want to say and how you want to say it, I’d recommend investing in a professional copywriter who can pull it all together and make it sound awesome.

Okay, so those are the core steps you need to take to start creating top-notch content to wow your audience. This applies to whatever method you’re using, from posts on social media, to blogs, whitepapers and videos, right through to trade show materials and presentations.

The important thing is that you focus on what your customer needs and demonstrate to them that you are the perfect company to tackle that requirement and make their jobs easier as a result. Keep sight of that and you’ll find people start responding positively to your marketing in no time!