August 2008

MARK'S DAILY THOUGHTS: August 2008

2008-08-01 - Details Bring Your Stories to Life
You know that the best speakers are great storytellers. What make them great at storytelling are the details that they include in their stories. The details, described in very colourful ways, bring the stories to life for the speaker's audience. They help the audience bring themselves into the stories. Remember, you can bring your communications to life by adding the right details to your stories and key messages.

2008-08-02 - Never Surrender the Higher Ground
Take away everything from you and what is left is your integrity. You could say that your integrity is the foundation for who you are and for whoever you can become. Therefore, never surrender the higher ground, and maintain a strong foundation (your integrity) from which to build your success upon.

2008-08-03 - SOAR: Success, Outcomes, Action & Recovery
SOAR can help you soar. Define Success in both your destination and the journey. Life is about achievement, the Outcomes, and not just about activity. Action, and massive action on your most important outcomes is what it takes. And lastly, Recovery, as everyone needs to recharge the barriers to always be at their best. Remember SOAR to help you soar.

2008-08-04 - Bringing the Science to the Art
Ask a great number of successful people and you will notice a common factor to their success. Their success came when they brought science to the art. It was when they disciplined themselves to use their talents in a more focused and structured way, and then their success came naturally. Think about how you can bring science (discipline) to your art.

2008-08-05 - Sense of Urgency Creates a Sense of Calm
It sounds a bit strange, but a sense of urgency really creates a sense of calm. When we focus ourselves on action and getting things done quickly, we often feel more in control and this helps us to remain calm. Think of your own situations and you will agree. You were often nervous when you put off taking action until the last minute. Keep a sense of urgency to remain calm.

2008-08-06 - Lose It to Gain It
Gaining in life is often also about what you are losing as well. Christopher Columbus would have never discovered America if he did not lose sight of the European shore. Success and the gains we make are often triggered by what we decide to give up (lose) in order to make time available for what we gain.

2008-08-07 - Thinking to Beliefs to Behaviours
What you think about drives what you will believe, especially about yourself. Your beliefs about what's possible and not possible will then drive your behaviours and actions. Therefore, since achievement is based on your behaviours and actions, you need to change your thinking in order to make any dramatic changes in your achievement.

2008-08-08 - From This Day Forward
You have probably seen people who have made dramatic changes in their lives and say to yourself "How did they do it?" All of them adopted the mindset of "from this day forward". They decided the past was the past, and from this very day forward they were going to be different. They made the changes, and so you can. Just adopt "FROM THIS DAY FORWARD".

2008-08-09 - Your Level of Thinking Drives the Money
Actions make things happen, but it is our thinking that defines the actions we take. You could say that it is our thinking that drives the money as well. In other words, deep thinking creates deep pockets. Most people go through life with a very shallow level of thinking and then wonder why they have what they have. To generate more money, invest in a deeper level of thinking to drive the actions that will make it happen.

2008-08-10 - What's your Rate of Innovation?
Company R&D organisations are always concerned with their rate of innovation (number of new patents, new products, etc.). The same can apply to us as individuals. If we don't change (innovate), we quickly get behind others and also will never reach our full potential. What's your rate of innovation?

2008-08-11 - The Commitment to Climb
Too many people have grown up and simply just accepted the life they have now. People who have a great life know that all good things that came to them were based on how they had grown. These people had made the commitment to climb, and they knew that they would grow to overcome any challenges that come their way. Make your commitment to climb today.

2008-08-12 - Not Doing, but Should Be Doing
We all have things that we know we should be doing, but don't do. Also, many of these things we should be doing are the very things that are stopping us from achieving even greater success. Why not pick one of those things today and make the commitment to yourself to DO IT from now onwards.

2008-08-13 - Look for the Lessons in each Mistake
Everyone makes mistakes, and if you were to ask successful people, they would say that they have made plenty of them. However, they would also say that they looked for the lessons in each mistake, and that this action helped them to reach their success faster.

2008-08-14 - Driving Reality to Catch Up
There's a great way to describe the pursuit of your goals. It is all about driving reality to catch up. Every goal you accomplish has the actions you take based in reality (not your dreams). By taking action each and every day, you are driving reality to catch up and will reach your goals much faster.

2008-08-15 - Conditioning your Sub-Conscious Mind
If you read about the mind, you will uncover that the sub-conscious mind has more power on our actions and behaviour than you ever would have thought. Successful people understand this and condition their sub-conscious mind by constantly visualising their goals as already completed. This provides a very clear focus for their sub-conscious mind and helps guide their actions and behaviours in the direction of their goals.

2008-08-16 - Influence Must Be Earned
Your true influence as a leader does not come from your position (your title), but from whom you are, how you act, and how you interact with others. Influence is not something granted to you, but something you must earn. You gain it each and every day in how you honour your commitments and interact with others. The key is being the best YOU, every single day.

2008-08-17 - Emotion Sustains the Culture
You see it far too often in some of today's leaders. They are always trying to make the intellectual argument of why things should work this way or that way. However, like for individuals, it is the emotion that drives and sustains a culture. A leader is always more successful making the emotional link, as well as the intellectual link.

2008-08-18 - A Little Conflict When Face-to-Face
Many companies bring their managers in for meetings where they are just "Powerpointed" to death. This is almost a waste, as there are other ways of sharing information with them. The best approach is to get them in discussion on the key issues, and maybe even create a little conflict. If they can resolve any conflict that arises when they are face-to-face, it gives them confidence to do it as well when they are apart.

2008-08-19 - Risky to Not Take a Risk
When opportunities present themselves, they are often perceived as risks. Usually, the first reaction to the risks is to not take the opportunities. However, more than not, we often have more risk in doing nothing than taking action. In fact, the majority of the risk we encounter in our lives comes from inaction rather than action.

2008-08-20 - What It Takes to Discourage You
Take a look at successful people and you will notice that it takes something really big to discourage them. They know that there will always be things hitting them every day that could discourage them. However, they know that anything bad will always require action to address it, and being discouraged can only slow down the action they need to take.

2008-08-21 - The Best is Yet to Come
Attitude is so very important. A very good way to look at life is "the best is yet to come." If we are working on our self-development every day, then we are getting better every day as well. If we are getting better, then it is only logical that we can expect that the best is yet to come. And, wouldn't that be a great attitude to start each and every day?

2008-08-22 - What Convinces is Conviction
To get ahead in life, you will have to convince others of your ideas and get their help to action them. What convinces others, faster than anything else, is your visible conviction and how it is revealed in everything you say and do. Your total belief and action in your ideas are like a magnet that draws others to you. Remember, conviction convinces.

2008-08-23 - It is about Applying What We Know
There are many people who are very knowledgeable in the chose field, but not all of them have achieved success. The major difference between the successful and unsuccessful people is that the successful have applied what they know. They take action right away on what they learn, and make that a habit. Success comes faster to you when you make a habit of applying what you know.

2008-08-24 - Simple Questions Challenge Thinking
If you observe the very best leaders, you often hear them ask rather simple questions, but ones that challenge their people's thinking. If you "think" about it, your people grow faster and generate more ideas when you expand their thinking. And remember, it is often those simple questions that challenge your people's thinking the most.

2008-08-25 - Set your Sights High Enough
Just as you can see more of the world the higher you climb in an airplane, so can you see more opportunities in your world the higher you set your sights. It is only when you set your goals high enough that you see the opportunities that will help you achieve them. Make sure you set your goals high enough to see those opportunities!

2008-08-26 - Criteria is What Determines your Decisions
We all need to make decisions each and every day, some big and some small. However, the quality of our decisions always comes back to the quality of the criteria we are using to make those decisions. Whenever you find yourself struggling with a decision, start by investing time to define your criteria, and you will find the time invested worth it.

2008-08-27 - Under any Circumstances
The truly successful in life have achieved their success through both good times and bad times. The big difference between them and others is their ability to stay positive and take action under any circumstances. Others often let circumstances drive them, but the successful people never surrender to any circumstances.

2008-08-28 - Only One Comparison is Important
People are always comparing themselves to others and being competitive is good, as it is driving you to become better. However, only making comparisons to others can be limiting. The only one true comparison that should drive you is the comparison to your potential, as your potential is always greater than any other comparison.

2008-08-29 - Educate your Gut and Go with It
You see so many successful people who say that their gut feeling often gave them the best advice. However, what they didn't tell you is that it has been the accumulation of their own experiences and the experiences of others that have educated their gut. They invested in their own development and this enabled them to be successful in going with their gut feelings.

2008-08-30 - Personal Successes Before Public Successes
Ask any very successful person and they would tell you the changes they made personally that made the difference in them achieving the success they desired. It could have been their own self belief or the discipline they put in place to do what was necessary. They first had personal successes before any of the public successes that others would see.

2008-08-31 - Limitations and Possibilities
Every situation has the plus's and minus's (the limitations and possibilities). You often see people focus on the limitations and others who focus on the possibilities. Both the limitations and possibilities are there, and it is just what we CHOOSE to look for. Successful people choose to look for the possibilities.

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