Browse Peak Performance

"Sow an act...reap a habit; Sow a habit...reap a character; Sow a character...reap a destiny." We all have habits. We try to kick and break our bad ones, and form and reinforce those that are good. We have habitual ways of eating. Ever try to eat using your non-dominant hand? We have habitual ways of driving. Ever start driving to work on your day off before you realized you were supposed to be going someplace else? We use words in a habitual way, we make decisions in a habitual way, and we have habits that affect when we eat, go to bed, and get up.

The start of a new year is a time to reflect and consider your full potential. I’m sure I’m not alone in being excited for this year to start strong every day and every week. Here are 3 ways to overcome your top-of-the-year to-do list and use your time to your best advantage.

According to the late Walter Hailey, a behavioral scientist and sales and marketing consultant, “People have 12,367 thoughts per day. Of those, 90 percent are automatic, and 84 percent are negative.” More than 12,000 thoughts! That’s a lot of self-talking going on. How do you think that might affect your environment, especially if most of your thoughts are negative? The key is to manage your self-talk. Infuse it with positivity and confidence.r

Successful people master delegation, while mediocre performers desperately hang on to tasks which are important but better left to administrative experts. Being clear as to how you’d be more productive if you had the time is key to getting motivated about delegating. You are where you are ...

Google, Facebook, iPod… take a look at the fastest growing businesses and brands in the world today and you’ll notice one thing in common – their customers are so in love with their products they’ve become a free sales force. Just like a teenager experiencing love for the first time, these customers are totally smitten. They can’t help themselves – they’ll talk to anyone who’ll listen about their new found love.

The Monday Morning Mini-Motivation Meeting www.mondaymo ingcoach.com is the place to be for New Year planning. During this month, we’re going to be focused on expansive, strategic thinking for business and personal growth in 2011 and beyond. Here’s an overview

The power of peak performance lies within. It is all about knowing who you are, what you want to accomplish and a plan for how to accomplish it. Peak performance's simple definition is "doing ones best at achieving one's goals or objectives." Peak performance is often linked to physical activity and sports such as football, baseball, tennis, golf, basketball, swimming, etc. However, when you apply specific peak performance enhancing tools to your workplace performance goals,

You’ve no doubt witnessed a fly beating its head against a window trying desperately to get to freedom. It’s a life-or-death struggle, a futile attempt to fly through the glass, but all the time it is using up the last energies of its short life. If you listen to the sound of its wings hitting ...

You have had a successful year financially but are you motivated? Most would think that the answer should be a resounding yes. But what if you answered no or not really? Is your motivation, attitude or self concept affected by your latest sale? If this is the case, you are not alone. It ...

Recently on LinkedIn I posed three questions that resulted in some very interesting conversations. Here they are: 1. An executive is only a leader if people choose to follow. How can you tell whether people are following or just doing their job? 2. Everyone says leadership is important, but why does it make a difference? 3. If an executive produces a good bottom line are they a good leader?

The restaurant business is something we live and breathe. We're in the restaurant for countless hours every week. We talk about it all the time to customers, staff and friends. We think about it constantly. And yet... the success we'd really like to have often eludes us.

I want to talk to you about taking responsibility. That means taking responsibility for everything single thing that happens in your life, good or bad. That means no more excuses, no more blaming, no more justification. I can hear some of you asking, “But, what about the accident I had ...

One of the best ways to make a good impression with clients, potential clients and business colleagues (all of whom might be sources of referrals) is to be prepared. The Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts of America introduce the "Be Prepared" motto early to their young members, and I think it’s a simple, powerful yet commonly overlooked element in business success.

Are you always looking for a way to stay sharp, gain an edge and boost your personal productivity? If so you are in the good company of a large percentage of the rest of the population of the planet earth. With so much to do and the list seemingly growing every day we are all looking to increase our personal performance if for nothing more than to just make it to tomorrow. Increasing productivity starts with getting the most out of what skill sets you already have. With that

Heroes are the people who we admire and the people that we strive to be like in our lives. We all have heroes and sometimes we get down because we look at their successes and we see that we aren’t at their level yet. But let’s take a look at the things that we admire about our heroes and the people that we look up to.

If you long for "the good old days" the way they were a couple of years ago, then things have to change. I'm not talking about the economy or the politicians. I'm talking about us and our business. If we want to regain the success of days past, then we need to change our marketing and how we go about doing it. The problem is that when things become challenging, there's a tendency to rely on what used to work. And here's what happens.

I was visiting the ‘Sagrada Familia’ in Barcelona designed by Gaudi and admiring its beauty and its unique features. That got me thinking – what am I doing in my life to make it memorable? I’ve asked this question many times to my Clients and almost always they reply – I don’t have any special talent! Of course they do, we all do! We are born talented, curious, adventurous, free! How else could we have learned to talk, to eat, to walk?

Happiness is a very important concept of business and life. But how do you achieve and maintain it? I'd like to quote Rob Gilbert: "The first rule of happiness is: Don't seek happiness. Create it." I've found that the question asked in the title of our blog post today, "Are you super happy?" is very effective in doing just that.

The answer is “No”. Let me clarify that. I don’t believe we can change our true destiny – that is, the destiny we secretly know to be true - for the truth is the truth. But we can and should change that “destiny” or fate that we have resigned ourselves to accept. You see, that “destiny” isn’t ...

Let’s face it, in our personal and professional lives, we want to feel fulfilled and successful in terms of who we are and what we do. For many people, we are full of zeal in our 20’s and early 30’s, and then something happens. Our perceptions change. The way we think and the way we act changes. Ultimately, our behaviours change. We accept an attitude that everything is “good enough.” We convince ourselves (lie to ourselves) that our lives are acceptable and that “comfortable” is a great place to live.

As I washed down my sixth chocolate cookie with milk, I realized I was trying to flush shame and frustration out of my system. After all, this was the fourth time I took this teacher exam and hadn't passed. However, everything rode on me passing it. Luckily, I had a full time teaching position. But for how long? I received frequent memos from the school district when summed up meant-- pass or pack up your career. Brooding, I chomped on my eighth cookie. Did I mentio I was on

You have had a successful year financially but are you motivated? Most would think that the answer should be a resounding yes. But what if you answered no or not really? Is your motivation, attitude or self concept affected by your latest sale? If this is the case, you are not alone. It ...

Aligning yourself with the right mentor is an essential tool to take your business to the next level. Finding and choosing your mentor deserves careful attention. Although my past achievements may look quite different (for example, practicing law, building an elite performance consulting company, becoming a highly paid speaker, publishing a book with a national publisher), they share a commonality. In each of these endeavors, I've more quickly reached a higher level of success by aligning myself with a mentor who had experienced what I needed to know to move forward.

I met recently with a client at Denver Water for his 1-on-1 “In the Trenches” appointment to get organized. When I first arrived, he stated, “I would be completely organized if it weren’t for other people. As it is, my day is so uncontrollable that I never have enough time to get things done.” Sound familiar? Many people place blame on exte al forces to some degree. It’s easy to do and understandable. Interruptions are very frustrating, especially when you have a nice to-do

A few weeks ago, I put together a dodge ball team (yes, that's right - DODGE BALL!). I invited people I know from networking, offering three promises: we'll have fun, we'll get good exercise, and meet new people. So far we're having a great time, and on the side we're building business relationships. And surprisingly, we're in 2nd place going into the final championship match this Thursday.

Actually, with some practical tips, you can minimize the stress and depression that often accompany the holidays. You may even end up enjoying the holidays more than you thought you would. Recognize holiday triggers Learn to recognize common holiday triggers, so you can disarm them before they lead to a meltdown:

Happy New Year again. I hope your first week was great.

At the beginning of your coaching call, ask, “How much time do we have?” The answer may surprise you. Sometimes we believe we’ll have an hour, only to have the player respond, “Oh, about twenty minutes.” It’ll happen to you, too. It doesn't matter if we've previously established the length of the call, things can come up. This happens with in-person sessions, too. By asking the time question, you will find out how much time you will have at the beginning. Therefore, you won’t get “lopped off” at a critical juncture with the player saying, “Oops, gotta run! Bye!”

There are many time tracker software available in the market today, but amongst all these options, it is necessary that you find the best time tracker available in the market today. This can help your business in many ways, and it is only necessary that you make the right purchase to ensure you can maximize the use of this software for your business benefits and success. What to expect from the best time tracker software? It is necessary that you take time to think of which s

Last Sunday was Father's Day, so out of love and respect for my Dad, today I'd like to discuss some of his advice on the subject of leadership. My father has a lot of experience and passion for the subject of leadership, especially in politics. We've come to accept that he is "opinionated," and you've got to appreciate someone who takes a stand and doesn't hold back when he has a well-researched, well thought out point of view. My father's engineering background formed him to be a "black and white" kind of guy.

All professional people in whatever walks of life are looking to enhance performance. Whether in business, sport, the arts or any other profession people want to be the best they can possibly be. We all aspire to achieving our desired goals, but there are times when we feel like we’re chasing the impossible and unattainable dream. To overcome these feelings and be on top of your game, you need to find ways to enhance your performance. If it’s promotion at work you’re af

‘Born to win’ is a great book by one of my favorite motivational speakers – Zig Ziglar (Nov. 6, 1926-Nov. 28, 2012) This book is dedicated to all who understand that they were made not with a spirit of timidity, but with a spirit of power and self-discipline.rn‘You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win.’ Zig Ziglar. I couldn’t agree with him more. We are only limited by the limitations we impose to ourselves or that we let others impose to us.

Ah, those magic words – “Attract Clients”. Virtually every professional I know loves the idea of attracting clients, and would be even happier if there was a “magic formula” for accomplishing it. Well, actually there is a formula that works like magic for attracting clients to you. And I’m going ...

For healthy relationships we must become more and more aware of ourselves, how we relate in both our strengths and shortcomings. If we step back and try to observe our own interactions, we want to avoid over-engaging in DEFENSE MECHANISMS. Denial: claiming/believing that what is true to be actually false. Displacement: redirecting emotions to a substitute target. Intellectualization: taking an objective viewpoint. Projection: attributing uncomfortable feelings to others. Rationalization: creating false but credible justifications.r

Sounds too good to be true? It really isn’t! In fact, studies show that after a certain amount of hours at work each week, the average worker hits diminishing returns for their labor. Here are a couple of reasons this is true. Family drain. Does your spouse or family complain that you work too much? This puts strain on you when you’re at work and limits your effectiveness. Cutting out five or more hours a week and spending it with your family will make them happier and that

Outlook email client is the application that works stand alone as well as it can easily used with Exchange Server with which entire Outlook data shared on network. Various Outlook items like emails, tasks, calendars, contacts etc can easily saved in OST file format if Outlook user is working in Outlook cache mode. Outlook offline working facilitates users to keep their work in running mode when they are not connected to network. OST files of Outlook when do not get synchroniz

I talk about Golf because that's what I am but golf relates so much to lots of life. To get better you must be better. It doesn't just happen by itself. You have to know your goal and turn your life in the direction that will achieve that goal. Golf takes practice & positive thinking. Life success takes practice and positive thinking. You are what you think. Think the best and the best will happen. My heart so went out to Joanna Rochette. During this years Olympics after Joan

Turning Lemons into Lemonade: or How to Return to a State of Sustainable Confidence In January, I went on vacation with my wife and our two sons, who are 10 and 14. We had hoped to enjoy the warm, sunny, southern Califo ia weather, but as you may have seen in the news, it rained like CRAZY! Our activity plans had to be adjusted, but we decided as a family to wake up every day and, after a brief moan and groan about the forecast, we declared that we would have the best vacation ever. Many good things followed.

Work-life balance is essentially about handling real life. It’s the ability to effectively manage the work, family and personal components of life without suffering extreme stress or any one are being negatively impacted. Some companies offer programs and services which are designed to nurture the wellbeing of their employees and enable them to achieve a balance between their jobs, families and personal lives. However, many companies do not offer such programs and it’s up to the individual to achieve this balance for themselves. Employee benefits of achieving work-life balance:

Sometimes eating healthy isn’t easy, but there comes a time in your life (preferably sooner rather than later) when you realize you have to start eating healthier. This is what happened to me. In my journey to becoming healthier, I started by eliminating alcohol, sweets, saturated fats, white bread, and coffee from my diet as much as I could. The truth is, the best thing you can do for yourself is make your health your #1 priority. Maintaining your long-term health is your best insurance for avoiding the costly, painful, and lengthy recovery if you were to get ill.

Relationship Intimacy

Mastering the Art of Asking Questions is essential if you want to succeed. It's not simply a matter of getting in the habit of utilizing questions in your interactions with people. It's really about learning how to ask the right questions at the right time.

People who know me know that one of my favorite subjects is - "Professional passion." It is a fascinating blend of commitment, energy and joyful connection to your work. We all know how bad it feels when our passion is untapped. The remedy is to have a clear sense of purpose to be passionate about. The challenge is to find it ... AND to maintain a commitment to refining it. The three key elements to professional passion are:

This is the time of year when insurance professionals are focused on finishing the year strong and reaching all those goals their company has set for them. It’s also the time we begin to think about next year. We think about what goals we’d like to attain, how we’re going to do things ...

You have spent countless weekends positioning your business, tweaking your product, perfecting your offer. Tirelessly sacrificing your free time, investing all your efforts into your passion, your dream, your wonderfully spectacular goal. You have built it and you're ready to reap the fruitful rewards when… With little warning, literally ove ight, the world suddenly changes. The rules were frantically rewritten, the access to your clients became extremely limited, and ‘busin

As a coach, I often hear people blur the boundary betwee “coach” and “mentor” by using the words interchangeably. But while they are similar in ways, there are some distinct differences between coaching and mentoring. This article will outline some of the major differences between the two, in the hopes of alleviating the confusion. Similarities betwee Mentoring and Coaching: Both mentors and coaches want to help their clients reach their individual and professional potential. In order to do this, most mentors and coaches:r

In a recent workshop I conducted on “The Art of Dealing with Difficult People”, we spent some time discussing terminations. If you’ve ever had to terminate someone, you know how difficult and stressful this can be. (Donald Trump excluded!) Over the years, I’ve developed a leadership philosophy ...

For many individuals it is a life long quest to achieve financial security, career and business success. As a Senior Vice President for a Fortune 500 Firm and a business coach, I have worked with, guided and mentored hundreds of business leaders. What has shocked me the most over the years has been witnessing how mindset affects business results. It seems counter intuitive that something so intangible and allusive could be the determining factor in success and yet it is the profound driving factor.

If I may ask you: How much do you enjoy living your life? How enthusiastic are you about waking up each morning to see a new day. When you are enthusiastic, you are positive and that makes you stay motivated and happy no matter the circumstance that comes your way. The happiness we are talking about is not the one that comes when you get promoted at workplace, when a baby is born or better still when you win a lottery. It is also not about those moments when we feel the feeli