You are special! Those are powerful words for sure. I’m sure you’ve heard them before; at least I hope you have. I’m not sure in what context, though, because there are many.
If your mother says it to you, she’s probably sharing her love for you and stroking your ego (which is perfectly within her motherly rights to do, I might add!).
If your friends say it with emphasis on the word special, they are probably giving you a hard time.
If you say it to yourself, you might be implying you deserve extra privileges.
But when I say it to you, and I am, I mean something totally different.
I believe that each one of us is special in our own way. I’m convinced there is something you do really, really well. As a matter of fact, you do it better than most people, and you easily do it better than most people. Do you know what it is? I hope so, and I hope you’ve found a way to express it in your life, because when you do, you and everyone around you benefits.
Those who already found their gift or talent and chose to express it, do so in various ways. Some use it for their career, some as an avocation, some for a hobby, and some find a way to wrap their whole life around it such that it’s visible in everything they touch.
To me, those people are the fortunate ones. You obviously know some of those folks, and you know that they, and we, are rewarded for their decision to share their gift and talent.
If you haven’t identified your gift or talent I encourage you to search for it. Or, you could ask the universe what it is, and then quiet the noise in your life and let it reveal itself to you. Remember, this is something you easily do well; there’s no struggle involved.
That’s one of the reasons I’m suggesting you pursue it in some fashion. Your odds at being successful with it, having fun with it, and of finding fulfillment through it are great. Who doesn’t want to easily be successful in some area of their life!
Just consider for a moment what the world would be like if everybody utilized their special gift or talent toward their career. Everyone would love their job and easily be successful at it.
Or, what if everyone had a hobby they loved and were amply rewarded by it?
Or, what if everyone had an avocation that easily provided them with fulfillment and pride?
Only in a perfect world you say? OK, but why not reverse those words and say you’ll make your world (more) perfect? Not struggling to be successful and happy sounds good to me!
Don’t be afraid of succeeding; you can handle the success when it comes.
Don’t fear the perceived struggle; there won’t be much of one.
This is your gift or talent; trust it, believe it was given to you for a reason, and believe in yourself. Say “I will discover my special gift or talent and find a way to express it in this lifetime. I and everyone around me will benefit. It will be my gift to the world. Get ready!”
That’s my perspective, what’s yours? Leave us a comment or question below this post and don’t miss the video on this topic on YouTube!
This week’s tip is for anyone who makes presentations, facilitates meetings, addresses people in formal settings, or wants to be more effective in casual conversation. Several factors affect the successful delivery of a message; today’s tip is how to speak powerfully using impact words.
Has the following ever happened to you? You listen to two speakers deliver essentially the same message, one following the other. The first speaker puts you to sleep and the second one grabs your attention and keeps you riveted to every word.
The difference? One speaks dynamically, using powerful words and phrases, and the other would benefit by learning to do so. When you master powerful speaking you are one step closer to capturing and retaining your listener’s attention.
The key to using power phrases effectively lies in their simplicity. You deliver them simply and succinctly, adding no unnecessary words. The common mistake of adding unnecessary words dilutes the power of the message.
It’s like adding too much water to an otherwise perfect cup of coffee or tea. It will be the perfect strength until you water it down, diluting it.
As you focus on using the fewest words, however, make sure to deliver a complete sentence or thought. A complete sentence is one that provides sufficient information for your listener to fully understand the message.
Tailoring your statements to the audience is essential. You deliver more information for some and less for others, based on their level of understanding.
A partial list of power phrases would include:
There is no doubt in my mind…
I am convinced that….
I assure you…
I am confident that…
I am positive that…
I guarantee you that…
I am sure that…
I am certain that…
I firmly believe…
I have no hesitation in saying…
I promise you that…
I have been repeatedly complemented on…
I am ready and prepared to…
I am extremely fortunate that…
These phrases are definitive; there is no room for misinterpretation. They carry substantial weight and gain attention when delivered slowly and with emphasis.
In many ways they are like the punch line of a joke; delivered well, it impacts the audience, so take your time saying them.
When do you use power phrases? That depends on the situation. In interviews I like using them in my introduction, closing, and to make an important point. I also like using them to make comparisons.
In speeches, presentations and when facilitating meetings I like to spread them out and use them for emphasis of key points.
Can you over-use them? Definitely! If every statement is a power phrase you will wear your audience out with too much impact. The net effect of that is that no sentence will stand out from the others – because they are all heavy hitters.
Play around with these and design some power phrases of your own; ones that convey your personality and are natural for you to say.
I guarantee they will make a difference.
That’s my perspective, what’s yours? Leave us a comment or question below this post and don’t miss the video on this topic on YouTube!
Want more enjoyment and excitement in your life, but can’t find the time or the space? If so, you are not alone, lots of people do. Interestingly enough, there’s one barrier that keeps most people at bay. When you identify what it is and remove it, wonderful things can happen.
By the way, the busier you are the more you’ll benefit by this message.
A couple of days ago I was in my doctor’s office. My doctor is fabulous and if you have a 10 o’clock appointment, nine out of ten times at 10 o’clock he’s sitting right in front of you. This day he was running late. The nurse came in and said, “Craig, I want to apologize, we’re running late. I’ll do my best to get you out of here on time.” I responded, “Take your time; I’m not in any particular hurry.” That shocked her, and she replied, “Thank you very much for that because it seems like just about everybody else is.”
Her response validated what I’ve been suggesting for years; that many of you have your lives so packed full of stuff, you’re running from one event to the next and not enjoying each one as you go. If you compared your life to a computer hard drive or a USB and clicked Properties, you would read Used Space 100%, Free Space 0%.
The frustrating part is when you’re trying to add something new to your life, there’s no space for it. Where do you find the space? Obviously, you first need to delete something, but what gets deleted from your life to make space to embrace something new?
You probably remember a time when you deleted something in a hurry and deleted the wrong thing. You only realized you deleted the wrong thing after it was gone and you couldn’t get it back.
I’m happy to say there’s a simple way to avoid that type of mistake.
Charlie Rose once interviewed Bill Gates and Warren Buffett in the same interview. At one point in the interview Bill Gates said what he really learned from Warren was that, “You control your time. Sitting and thinking may be a much higher priority… it’s not a proxy of your seriousness that you’ve filled every minute in your schedule.”
While you don’t have total control of how you spend your time, the person who most controls it is YOU. You can slow down and think how best to spend it, or be a victim to it. It’s your decision!
The more your life is packed full of stuff and the more you want to make space to embrace something new in your life, the more I suggest the first thing you make space to embrace is time to seriously think through the decision of what you’re going to delete.
Make it a priority to carve out some time to think this decision through. When you do, you’ll have confidence that you deleted the right thing, you won’t regret the decision, and you free up space for the new.
I wish you well Making Space To Embrace all the new, exciting, wonderful things that can be yours in this lifetime. But remember, if your life is currently packed full, you first have to hit DELETE.
Deleting leads to adding, and adding fun is always a good decision!
That’s my perspective, what’s yours? Leave us a comment or question below this post and don’t miss the video on this topic on YouTube!
Dear Leader, are your difficult folks driving you crazy? Do you have any bad apples that are wearing you out? You remember what they say about bad apples; one bad apple spoils the bunch. What they also say is that when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
So, how do you turn your bad apples into lemonade?
If you find yourself tasked with managing a challenging person, you’re not alone; it’s very common. It’s also natural to wish you had a team of top performers, and to hope your bad apple magically improves or decides they would be happier somewhere else.
I get it; high performers are great to work with for a multitude of reasons. They come to work every day demanding their best. They are self-driven and self-motivated. So I completely understand the perspective of wanting to manage only high performers.
Yet, is there a perspective that reveals a value to managing marginal performers?
There is that perspective, and it suggests that high performers typically require you to use a limited number of leadership skills. They are so capable, they don’t force you to learn skills like crisis intervention or conflict management the way marginal performers do. They don’t test your patience the way bad apples do, or your persistence, or ability to stay calm while being attacked and challenged.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not wishing on you a whole team of marginal performers throughout your leadership tenure. I am suggesting you are missing opportunities to become a better, more complete leader if you shy away from helping marginal performers improve.
It’s key to remember, when stressed, that these people not only blatantly reveal your current leadership ability, but also present you with rare growth opportunities. It’s also important to remember that… before you pull your hair out!
When stressed, say to yourself, “OK self, here’s an opportunity to learn and develop myself in ways that will benefit me as a leader. I accept rather than resist that.”
My belief is it’s both. They report to you, yet I believe your responsibility is to provide them with everything they need to be successful. It’s your job to provide the resources, the guidance, the direction, the support, and the information they need to be successful. Then and only then are you justified in holding them accountable for being successful.
This means, with marginal performers, you are working harder. The obvious payoff is that when your folks are successful, you as a leader will be successful. It’s a definite win-win!
So whenever you’re troubled by a challenging employee and you’re ready to say, “I wish I didn’t have this situation in my life,” pause a minute, and choose to adopt the leadership perspective of using every situation you are presented with to learn, grow and become a better leader.
As you do that, you also give that employee an opportunity to learn, grow, and become a better employee and better team member.”
That is how we turn bad apples into lemonade!
Oh, one last question; who hired that bad apple? If it was you, we might need to review your hiring practices – but that’s a topic for another week!
That’s my perspective, what’s yours? Leave us a comment or question below this post and don’t miss the video on this topic on YouTube!
When life isn’t going the way you want, wouldn’t it be great to turn it around in your favor; to tilt the world your way a bit?! The good news is that everyone has a Recipe For Success; life ingredients, that when mixed together in the proper proportions reward us with fulfillment, happiness, and success. They make life exciting again.
A sad fact is that only certain people know their recipe well enough to access it when they most need it. Lots of people could be happier than they currently are. Knowing your Recipe For Success allows you to quickly transform a marginal situation into a memorable one.
The process to identify your recipe is simple and fun.
Step 1: Open a blank word doc or find a blank sheet of paper and label it Exciting Time #1.
Step 2: Here’s the fun part. Think about a time when life was fantastic; you were happy, content, and at peace. Identify all the things that made it great, and write them down.
Categories to consider might include:
Relationships – with whom, how much time you spent with each person
Living arrangement – where, what type, what made it memorable
Free time – activities, how much or often, with whom
Job / career situation – type of work, hours spent, commute distance
Daily attitude about life – why it was what it was
Other significant events / characteristics
Step 3: Create a similar list for a second and third time, and label them Exciting Time #2 & #3.
Step 4: Compare the three lists and identify items that all three lists have in common. Add them to list #4 titled Recipe for Success.
Note: In identifying the items the lists have in common, list their general characteristic rather than the specific one. For instance, if you had a different job on each list, but what they had in common was that you enjoyed them and they were rewarding, add an enjoyable, rewarding job to list #4 rather than the title of each job. Or, if you lived in three different locations, but they were all pleasant surroundings, add lived in pleasant surroundings to list #4.
Step 5: Compare the lists a second time, identify items on two of the three lists, and add them to list #4.
Step 6: Look at all three lists a third time. Is there any item from one list that is so important to your happiness you want to add it to list #4? If so, add it. Now take a long, hard look at list #4.
What you just created is a personalized template or Recipe For Success; ingredients that when mixed together in the proper proportions have proven in the past to lead to happiness and enjoyment. Anytime you want to change your life in a positive direction, it’s a simple process to look at your Recipe and compare it to the current state of your life.
Doing so will reveal what to keep, change or create. While you may not be able to immediately adjust life to what your recipe requires, knowing what to do is step one to creating a happier you! Cook on my friend!
That’s my perspective, what’s yours? Leave us a comment or question below this post and don’t miss the video on this topic on YouTube!
