Locked in Success

Do you need a coach?


No one really NEEDS a coach.


Can you benefit from working with a coach?


Yes! Almost everyone can benefit from coaching.


A highly-effective coach will ask penetrating questions. Why? To help you bring to light the problem, situation, challenge, or habit that you are struggling with.


Other questions help you to see what you want to create when not weighed down by doubts or concerns.


My coaching process helps you to break down, neutralize and erase the thoughts that do not serve you.


We use neuroscience to create new thoughts and beliefs. I help you gain clarity on what you want. Then, we work to develop new beliefs to propel you to success.


Your journey to overcoming limiting beliefs is one you can do on your own. And, a coach can help get there quicker.


Please comment in the section below to describe your experiences working with a coach.

Enlightenment

A state of understanding or an increase in knowledge.

In the late 17th Century, writer John Locke challenged the normal rule of law in Great Britain. Everyone thought that monarchs ruled by divine right. No one could change that.

Locke wrote that it was the right of a people to change a government that did not protect natural rights of life, liberty and property.

That was a radical thought that generated new insights into individual rights. And, it led to the American Declaration of Independence.

What thoughts are keeping you from reaching new insights or increasing your understanding of success?

One step in the process of enlightenment is to recognize the darkness where your inner critic resides.

This is where the thoughts and beliefs reside that keep you small and fearful.

“I’m not good enough.”

“I’ll never be able to do that!”

“I don’t have the education or experience to pursue that work.”

Are you aware of these thoughts that run through your head?

They were placed in your subconscious mind by people or memories in your past.

It’s time to step out of the darkness.

In order to see what you are truly capable of achieving, you have to first see the old ways that aren’t working.

You may need to change the thoughts and beliefs that you have currently.

Change is possible. Change can occur through a proven process of replacing old thoughts with new ones.

If you are curious to know more, please reach out to me.

Enlightenment is the path to enable you to reach your desires and dreams.

How do you approach a new adventure?


I’m amazed by people who enjoy climbing bare cliffs.


I don’t want to go rock climbing. I fear that I may not have the hand and arm strength to hold me up on the face of a cliff.


I’m afraid that I may fall and hurt myself.


These are reasonable fears.


What are unreasonable fears?


When I post a message on social media, people may not like me.


If I ask someone to do business with me, they may be offended.


Our brains are designed to work in ways that keep us safe and familiar.


It may not be safe to climb a difficult cliff without proper equipment and training. Our brains are working to keep up safe.


Our brains don’t distinguish between reasonable and unreasonable emotions. They operate on familiar emotions, those we have experienced many times in the past.


If I feel uncomfortable posting messages on social media, my brain will try to protect me.


When I determine that a great message will generate new business, I want to see that placed where it will reach many sets of eyes.


So, why am I sensing fear and failure when it comes making that post?


Why are you listening to that inner voice?


Because it is a familiar voice that keeps you safe from external criticism.


Your inner voice is not always right.


Now may be the time to recognize the inner critic and take action to silence it now and forever.


Action such as this is not an easy task. It takes approximately 67 days to establish a new thought that leads to a new belief in your brain.


There is a process that will guide you to building new habits and beliefs.


I help you build the right mindset to achieve success.


If you want help with getting to your next level of success, you can reach me on LinkedIn.

Take time today to be grateful.

Did you notice this past weekend that it’s Spring?



Trees are budding. Flowers are starting to come into bloom.


Are you stumbling across the finish line of Winter or did you LEAP into Spring?


Nature is waking up from a winter hibernation.


There is a hope of resurrection of life.


So, are you approaching this new season with a sense of Gratitude?


What are you grateful for?


Are you having trouble coming up with something?


Stop thinking.


Take a deep breath.


Hold it for five seconds.


Breathe it out.


And relax.


Now, what are you grateful for?
_____

A new boss comes in. How easy is it for you to adapt and change?


When I became Division Manager at Houston Public Works, I brought with me an old leadership style.


I drew from my experience as a Company Commander in the US Army. My style was to promote no-nonsense, get-it-done, mission-first processes.


It was a different approach from what my new team was used to seeing. There were some adjustments that needed to be made.


And, there was some employee turn-over in the first few years.


More importantly, there were some changes that needed to be made in me.


I was great at leading a meeting. I encouraged changes in processes to better meet our financial reporting requirements.


I was not so great, initially, in developing leaders within my team.


The first step of real leadership development, for me, was to learn that I needed to be a coach. I needed to guide my fellow workers to see how they could develop their talents and derive satisfaction from their work.


This was a never-ending process. There was more work to be done – on me!


I’ve continued to improve my leadership skills since I started my coaching practice.


I engage with clients by asking penetrating questions. I initiate difficult conversations. Then, I listen for the key points that will lead them to significant insights.


The end results my clients are searching for are better habits, based on a confidence in their abilities to achieve great things.


If you’re having trouble determining what it is that is holding you back, maybe you need to talk it out with someone.


I’m here to listen. Reach out to me. Schedule a brief consultation.

Do you feel free to express your quirky side at work?

Have you heard about John’s Crazy Socks?

John’s Crazy Socks is a father-son social enterprise inspired by John Lee Cronin, a young man with Down syndrome, and his love of colorful and fun socks, or what he calls his “crazy socks.”

𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬.

“Every day, we show what's possible when you give a person with a differing ability a chance. Over half our employees have a differing ability.”

Happy employees are more likely to feel engaged with their jobs.

Is your work meaningful?

Does it contribute to the benefit of others?

The employees at Bombas Apparel make a difference.

𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞, 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. (from the company website.)

“Our mission since day one has been to help those experiencing homelessness. That’s why for every item you purchase, we donate an item on your behalf. We thought this was a pretty good idea. Turns out a lot of other people did, too. We’ve donated more than 50 million items to more than 3,500 community organizations to date—all thanks to supporters like you.”

Organizations with engaged employees experience:

Greater productivity

Higher profitability

Higher customer ratings

Lower turnover

Engaged employees are more committed to their work, take more ownership for advancing their organizations’ goals and are more likely to go above and beyond the call of duty to achieve and exceed expectations.

Excerpt from T͟h͟e͟ ͟S͟c͟i͟e͟n͟c͟e͟ ͟o͟f͟ ͟S͟u͟c͟c͟e͟s͟s͟ by Paula J. Caproni, Ph.D.

Do you feel freedom to use your special perspective to advance the company’s mission?

Why not?

RESISTANCE

What are you resisting doing?

What next logical business action are you hesitant to take?

I’ve been on my entrepreneurial journey for three years. Before that I worked in a large organization.

In the last three years I’ve helped some amazing people to meet some of their goals and aspirations.

Yet, I haven’t reached nearly as many people as I would have liked. What held me back? Resistance.

Resistance to reaching out to new people. My hesitancy has been grounded in a fear of rejection. Resistance in any form is a powerful force.

“Resistance cannot be seen, touched, heard, or smelled. But it can be felt. We experience it as an energy field radiating from a work-in-potential. It’s a repelling force. It’s negative. Its aim is to shove us away, distract us, prevent us from doing our work.”
The War of Art, by Stephen Pressfield.

Resistance is the way your brain works to keep you safe and in familiar territory. And, resistance is based on a lie.

The lie in your head is distracting you from reaching greater success in your business or in your life. Your brain doesn’t know it’s a lie. It’s what you have believed long enough that it is familiar and safe.

I am renouncing resistance today. I’m reaching out to you.

I help people break thru resistance. I am on a mission to help as many people as I can connect with. You may not be ready. It may not be the right time for you. That’s okay. I won’t process it as rejection.

If you would like more information about this message, please reach out to me. What resistance is coming up for you today?

How big is your dream?

Walt Disney took his daughters to a park in Los Angeles and saw the need for a park that was clean and where both children and parents could have fun.

In 1955, he opened Disneyland in Anaheim, California.

He had a dream to build a new town. He would call it the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT).

Disney was a shy, self-deprecating and insecure man in private but adopted a warm and outgoing public persona. He had high standards and high expectations of those with whom he worked. (Wikipedia)

He brought in his older brother, Roy Disney, to help with the land development, construction and organization of the vast project.

When Walt Disney died before the project was finished, Roy Disney took over. Walt Disney World opened in 1971 and EPCOT was revealed to the public in 1982. Hundreds of millions of people have visited this theme park.

Walt Disney dealt with insecurities. He was shy, but you didn’t see that when he appeared on his television show.

When he was anxious about creating his vision, he sought out people who could help him achieve his dreams.

He found people who would finance his movies, television shows and theme parks. He sought out experts who would make his vision come true.

He overcame personality traits that could have limited him from even trying to start the first project.

What are your dreams?

Do you allow yourself to believe that you can fulfill your vision for the future?

Are there times that you feel you don’t know enough; that you’re not capable of going for it?

It’s not true. What your brain is doing is trying to keep you safe and in your comfort zone.

You can have the success of your dreams.

It may take reaching out to someone who can help you with the obstacles that come up.

If you need help erasing those self-limiting thoughts, contact me to see if we can work together successfully.

Are you an expert in your industry?

Do you want to be known as someone who has achieved a high level of performance in your field?

Or, do you want to increase your level of expertise to be a little better this year than you were last year?

Expertise is acquired through long periods of focused education, training, and experience according to Anders Ericsson, professor of psychology at Florida State University.

It takes a combination of focused effort to become an expert.

And anyone can achieve greater levels of expertise in areas that matter to them.

Yes, you can take small steps to reach your desired level of expertise.

You CAN break down a huge project into smaller tasks, each of which can be easily completed.

Acquired skills are an accumulation of many small chunks of learning and experience. When we practice our small chunks of learning, we learn how to use combinations of chunks to create new levels of expertise.

Look at how computer programming is done today. There are libraries of code that are in existence. Each snippet of code does one single thing. Combinations of lines of code do more complicated actions and allow for complex transactions. Programmers combine smaller programs to create amazing new programs.

You can do the same thing when you string together chunks of your understanding.

If you want to achieve success in your field, you need to become an expert. And, you already have a great level of expertise. You are unique in your business and in life.

If there are times that you feel like an imposter and not the expert that you try to portray to people, there are ways to overcome those fearful thoughts.

If you need help erasing those thoughts, contact me to see if we can work together successfully.

Why did Henry Ford produce one model of car?

In 1903, Henry Ford created the Ford Motor Company.

One of the greatest innovations of the 20th century was the production line that he built. By 1909, he decided to simplify the production process.

“Therefore in 1909 I announced one morning, without any previous warning, that in the future we were going to build only one model, that the model was going to “Model T,” and that the chassis would be exactly the same for all cars, and I remarked:

“𝗔𝗻𝘆 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗰𝗮𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘀𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸.”
My Life and Work, by Henry Ford in collaboration with Samuel Crowther, p.72.

He simply created an automobile for every family. They sold less than 20 thousand Model T’s in 1910. By 1927, 15 million cars had been purchased.

Henry Ford asked, “How can I make it easier to produce a car that any man can afford?”

Why did he want to make it easier?

Greg McKeown writes in effortless, “Our brain is wired to resist what it perceives as hard and welcome what it perceives as easy.”

We want to find the easy way.

Maybe that’s why you put off starting the project that you know needs to be completed. It seems too hard.

Maybe that’s why you don’t want to have that difficult conversation with a disruptive employee.

Is there any easier way?

Henry Ford found an easier way. He didn’t listen to the voice in his head that said, “This is too hard.”

Coaches have an irritating habit of asking, “What if it was easy?”

“But it’s not easy!”

“Okay. What if it WAS easy?”

Many people will resist the idea of considering this point of view. They are listening to the voice in their head that tells them it just isn’t easy; it will never be easy; and I don’t know how to make it easier.

It’s easier not to think about a new solution than to take the time to reflect and formulate a new process or procedure.

It takes a different mindset to approach the problem with confidence that a new way can be found.

You have to stop listening to your inner voice, the limiting belief that keeps you from progressing forward.

You CAN have that difficult conversation with the confidence that you can deal with any consequences that result.

You CAN break down a huge project into smaller tasks, each of which can be easily completed.

Look for the easy way. Your brain will work with you instead of putting up resistance to a hard task.

My coaching process guides you to rewire your brain to think about creating and achieving your greatest dreams.

If you need help finding the easy path, contact me to see if we can work together successfully.

Do you have a crazy, outrageous thing that you want to do?

Do you want to reverse global warming?

I decided that I wanted to complete a marathon race of 26.2 miles.

I’d been a recreational runner for twenty years and had completed a number of road races up to 10k meters.

I researched marathon training. I found out that it takes at least six months of training to prepare for the race. I had a schedule and a plan.

I ran in the early evening heat in Houston, Texas. I ran five or six days a week. I started my training in July to prepare for the Houston Marathon in the following January.

I completed a few road races in preparation. A 15k, the Ten Miles for Texas race, a 20k, a 25k and a 30k race, all part of the Marathon Warmup series.

I started the race in January, running with thousands of other runners. I ran for about 12 miles and my left knee was hurting pretty bad. I started walking. I walked for another 10 miles until a van came by and stopped. A guy told me they were there to pick me up because I wasn’t going to complete the race before the course closed.

Did I fail that day? NO!

I followed the same training process later that year, starting in July. I finished the Houston Marathon the following January in a little over 4 hours. I ran across the finish line.

I won.

I finished because I had a process. I finished because I was determined to follow my plan and complete the course. I finished because I was prepared to do the work.

Do you have a goal in mind that feels too hard or too far-fetched to reach? Is there something in your personal life or business that you really want to achieve?

You can do it. It takes a process, a system of many steps to get there.

First, you have to commit to do it. You have to believe that you have the skills, the resources and the determination to do it. Then, you have to take action.

Action such as this is not easy. It may take creating a new belief that you can accomplish it. There is a process that will guide you to building new habits and beliefs.

I help you build the right mindset to achieve success.

What is the most courageous thing that you want to do? Let us know in the comments below.