The most important skill you can build on in your life is your listening skills. And yet … The single biggest issue negatively impacting most work environments and relationships is … poor listening skills. So why is listening so hard? Listening requires that we stop our internal mind chatter and focus on listening to the other person.
However … you can speak at a rate of 120 – 180 words per minute. You can listen at a rate of 400 – 800 words per minute. Your mind can process up to 3000 words per minute!! Anybody see a problem here? The Harvard Business review stated that 87% of business issues are due to the lack of effective communication skills NOT the competencies of the parties.
Do you make the choice to empower yourself? There is a saying, count it all joy, which is an interesting thought, especially if you feel like your sitting in a situation that feels like anything BUT joy. Most of us have been trained to look at what is wrong as opposed to what is right about a given situation. And a lot of this what’s wrong thinking comes from the way we were programmed along with our life experiences. Here’s what I know …
A wise mentor once told me that in order to have success, I needed the ability to repeat the processes that were creating success in my business and my life. In other words … systems for success. This was difficult as I don’t naturally think in a process and procedure way. However, after he spoke, I realized that I needed systems in my life if I wanted to achieve a higher level of success.
Whether it is a decision to exercise or a decision to spend the rest of your life with someone you love … no commitment can be complete unless you are ALL IN! So how do you define ALL IN? Sometimes it’s easier to help you get a clearer picture of what something is by identifying what it isn’t! That said, here is a list to help you define – ALL IN.
It’s easy to want to blame or fault others when certain aspects of our lives aren’t going the way we want, especially when it comes to love and accountability. And yet few people embrace the concept that we are 100% responsible for the results we attain in our lives. This includes our thoughts, actions, and emotional well being. Accountability begins when we take 100% responsibility for every aspect of our lives … accountability begins with you!
It’s easy to get caught up in the barrage of divisiveness that seems to be running rampant in our world. The politicians in Washington D.C. can’t seem to get pass the bipartisanism that divides us … even when the future of our country is at stake. And if you consider the magnification of this divisiveness by the media who seems hell bent on exaggerating either the US side or the THEM side, it could lead you to feel quite hopeless … if you let it.
The Power of a Smile … Occasionally I feel the need to share a personal experience with you especially when something impacts me in a profound way. Yes, I know this is a business blog … And yet in my day-to-day life I find it nearly impossible to separate the closely intertwined personal thoughts and…
Hope and Change and Change and Hope and … Get Over it! Webster’s dictionary defines hope as a feeling. It states … hope is “the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best.” I believe that hope begins with a thought, a frame of mind, and…
Oops … I Did It … Again! Saturday I had a chance to watch my girlfriend’s 12 year old daughter Ally play club volley ball. They won their first match pretty quickly and then moved onto the next. It was during this second match that I watched the negative affects that poor leadership has on…