Career Success Partners

What Would YOU Do With an Extra 15 Hours This Month?

What would you do if you were "given" 15 extra hours each month?  We're talking about more than four weeks of extra PERSONAL time each year!  What would be the highest and best use of that time?

Consider the following as your gift:  Set your alarm for 30 minutes earlier beginning TOMORROW morning and for every morning going forward -- that's it WAKE UP EARLIER -- When the Rooster Crows!

This extra 30 minutes a day could literally TRANSFORM your life - your work-life, your personal life, and your family life.  This is truly a powerful gift - you are both the giver and the receiver of the gift.  The value you receive from the gift, however, absolutely dwarfs the cost of the gift (30 minutes less sleep).  You can even adjust the cost of the gift by going to bed a little earlier each night.  You may even find that you sleep better as you experience the transformative impact of the gift on your life.  You can literally drive the "cost" of the gift down to zero if you take full advantage of it.

The KEY to life transformation and to experiencing the full potential value of the gift is to absolutely avoid any tendency or temptation to simply "squander" this gift of time.   You're better off sleeping the extra 30 minutes if you don't plan to fully utilize this valuable asset.

The following represent examples of ideas of how you can spend your "gift" of extra time.  The cumulative impact of implementing these types of ideas over a period of time is invaluable.  Begin the process of transforming your life today.

 

Ideas for Spending Your Gift:

• Go for a brisk walk, jog or run.

15 hours of walking or jogging each month will literally transform your health, wellness and physical fitness.  15 hours of walking easily equates to 30 miles a month.  Even half that will pay significant health and wellness dividends - you could then use the other half of your early morning time for some of the other ideas below.

• Develop a "journaling" habit.

Journaling is an excellent habit to develop and serves as a way to clear the clutter from your mind.  Journaling is a trait and habit adopted by many highly accomplished executives and well-know leaders.

• Meditate or sit quietly.

Meditation has been recognized for thousands of years for its positive physical, emotional, mental and spiritual impact.  Some call it meditation, others call it prayer, or perhaps it's simply "quiet time".  Call it what you like, the end result is truly transformative.

• Read something fulfilling or inspiring.

15 hours of reading per month easily equates to two to three books per month.  This is in addition to any other reading you may already be doing.  Reading is an outstanding personal and professional development medium.  Focus your morning reading time on books that motivate, inspire or uplift your emotions.

• Plan your day.

Arrive at work with the feeling of control and peace of mind.  The habit of daily planning is the number one most effective way of facilitating goal development and achievement.  Simply carving out 15 minutes each day for planning will have a sustaining effect on your performance and achievement capability.

• Brainstorm a problem or current challenge you are facing.

The quiet of the morning, free from distractions, is an excellent time to mull through a current problem or issue you are facing - be it business related, personal, interpersonal, whatever.

• Go outside and sit.  Enjoy the sounds of nature.

Your "garden", the beach, a local park.  Sitting outside, early in the morning, is great for thinking, being, and creating.  Where WERE you the last time you had a really great idea or inspired thought?

• Solve a relationship issue.

There's no better time to identify what YOU can do to help resolve a relationship issue than your early morning thinking time.  Take personal responsibility for all of your relationships and dedicate some early morning time to figuring out how YOU can fix any unresolved issues.

 

Avoid "Squandering" Your Gift on Any of the Following:

• Reviewing or reading emails.

• Reviewing work or project files.

• Surfing the internet.

• Dozing.

• Watching TV.

• Listening to talk radio (listening to uplifting music is fine).

• Reading the Newspaper - Do this at your regularly scheduled time.  Our news tends to be highly skewed to the negative and is therefore dilutive and counter-productive to our early morning objectives.

LinkedIn Works for You .... But Only If YOU Work It

LinkedIn has definitely emerged as the de facto choice for online business networking -- whether you're looking for a new job or career, seeking new business opportunities, selling services or products, researching companies or simply seeking knowledge or information pertinent to your job needs and interests

LinkedIn WILL work for you and is an excellent networking tool, but it's effectiveness is in direct proportion to the AMOUNT OF TIME you devote to the platform and the quality of time you spend.  A minimum of 45 minutes to an hour a day can reap great rewards if you spend that time constructively with "giving first" as your mantra.

Develop a weekly routine of devoting an hour a day, four to five days a week, engaged in some of the following high impact activities:

• Continuously expanding your connections. Spend time each week seeking out connections -- former colleagues, current and former client contacts, vendors -- current and past, college alumni, and other current and former business associates.
• Join and become active in Groups relevant to you.  Seek out and join a minimum of ten groups relevant to you and become ACTIVE in those groups -- participating in group discussions, sharing useful information and news, responding to questions, etc.
• Give and seek out recommendations.  Recommend former vendors, work associates and other business contacts.  Ask for recommendations from others.  Set a goal to reach a minimum of 10 recommendations.
• Ask questions and answer questions.  Use the LinkedIn Q&A function -- Review and answer questions relevant to your areas of expertise.  Done regularly, you can quickly establish yourself as a recommended expert within the LinkedIn community.
• Regularly update your "Status."  Share useful information and articles through your status update.  You can use a URL-shortening service such as http://bit.ly to post informative blog articles and news.  Share the title of the article and the shortened URL for the article.  This is an excellent way to give to your network.
• If you have a blog, integrate your blog postings into your profile using BlogLink -- this application is easy to add and will list your five most recent blog postings within your LinkedIn profile.
• COMMUNICATE!  Look for ways to share information, give useful advice, ask questions, introduce yourself to others and engage in online dialogues.

LinkedIn is a wonderful tool for creating network "gravity" back to you and to "stay on the radar screen" of your connections.  Make it work for you!

All the best to your career success.

Success through Teamwork

A couple of years ago, three friends and I embarked on a journey that none of us had ever attempted before.  As members of a bicycle racing team, we were accustomed to riding and training together in preparation for races, but we had set our sites on something a bit bigger.  Our goal, to ride across the Southern part Florida, from the Gulf coast to the Atlantic coast, leaving Naples, Florida headed towards West Palm Beach, Florida, a total of 156 miles one way, and then to return the following day….two days, 312 total miles. Our time goal was seven hours each way.

  

The Everglades 25 miles west of West Palm Beach, the morning of our return trip

(Picture courtesy of Eric Kellar, Photographer, Naples Daily News)

We encountered a number of obstacles, some of which we expected and planned for, and some that were unexpected.  Some of the obstacles we faced included:

• Extremely high heat and humidity (95+ degrees, near 100% humidity)
• Long stretches of stiff headwinds
• Long stretches of rough pavement
• Speeding traffic - 60+ mph - just a few feet to our left
• Road debris - LOTS of it!
• Flying insects and BUGS
• Very high risk of dehydration
• Mean people - tossing things at us as they rode by (hadn't planned on this one)
• 312 miles!
  

The journey was a lesson in leadership, team work, individual effort, and planning.  Looking back on the experience, I realized that many of the key elements necessary for success at work and in my career were also key elements in the success of our journey.  Let me explain….

Setting BIG Goals

All too often we settle for mediocre goals; goals that don’t inspire us or “light our fire.” Setting really big goals or “stretch” goals can take you to bigger and better places.  The experience of achieving those big goals is sometimes more important than the actual achievement of the goal itself.  The experience allows you to grow as a person, as a team mate and as a leader.

Having a Shared Goal

Setting a goal that is shared by others lays the groundwork for team-based behavior.  Our experience and achievement is something that would have been extremely difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish alone.  As a result of our experience, we gained a whole new level of respect for each other, knowing that we were much more powerful as a team working together toward a common goal – which is the cornerstone of  success at work and success in bicycle racing.

Clear Direction and a Plan

Having a goal is one thing, charting a path and developing a plan to accomplish that goal is another.  Our success in accomplishing this particular “stretch” goal was definitely a function of the level of detail and comprehensiveness of our planning process – charting a clear course (our map) and avoiding major highways, having adequate water and food supplies available, having emergency resources available and having repair and maintenance tools and supplies readily available.  Without clear direction and a well-designed plan, our success would have been severely compromised.

Preparation

For several months leading up to our journey, we rode a number of longer-than-normal rides – 100+ mile rides -- to properly condition our bodies.  In the days leading up the big ride, we prepared our bikes – ensuring they were tuned-up and in proper working condition.  We also drank extra fluids and consumed higher-than-normal levels of carbs in preparation for the ride. The preparation process also laid the groundwork for  team “esprit de corps” – allowing us to work closely together well  before the main event took place.

Team Effort

It is simply amazing what you can accomplish as a team.  Team members offer encouragement and “cheerleading” to each other, share the work load, look out for each other, and help remind each other to stay focused on the end goal.  Team members trust each other and work with the best interests of the team in mind.  All of these lessons specific to our journey and experience are relevant in the workplace.

Proper Support

I think we forget sometimes all of the “behind the scenes” action and activity that takes place to help us accomplish our goals as team members.  The gracious friends of ours who chose to drive their cars at 22-25mph to accompany us for the 312 mile round-trip journey were truly our guardian angels – helping to deflect speeding cars, providing a place to store our food supplies (each of us drank 12 bottles of fluid each way), and providing “road side assistance” for flats and mechanical problems (which we fortunately had very little of).  Our supporting cast was as much part of our team as the riders, and I do a much better job now of recognizing and thanking those at work who support me and my team.

Breaks and Rest

Yes….we did stop in route….several times for lunch, to stretch and for “nature” breaks.  The lesson is that breaks are important, and in our case, necessary for the body.  Breaks during marathon sessions at work are also important.  Breaks help keep you energized, serve as a time for conversation, reflection, and sometimes for evaluation of the necessity for a change in course or plan.

Shared Success

In the end, we achieved our shared goal and celebrated our shared success.  Our shared success brought us closer together as teammates and friends.  It gave us a point of reference for reflection and remembrance in future years, and it gave us a shared experience – the many miles and tens of thousands of pedal strokes each of us made to accomplish this shared goal.  Shared successes do wonders in bringing a group of people together as teammates and setting the stage for heightened levels of team work in future endeavors.  The same applies to work, without question.

Individual Success

Each of did succeed as individuals in the quest we shared.  We can each say we accomplished the goal, for each of us individually crossed “the finish line”.  Yes, we’re better teammates, but we all grew individually as well, and we’re all, individually, better cyclists as a result of this shared journey.  The same applies at work -- we each grow professionally through our efforts as teammates, through shared goals, shared direction and, ultimately, shared success.