What Does It Take To Win In Life?

getcoached

getcoachedSuccess leaves clues and I am a firm believer in learning from others who have been successful and having a coach to help me along the way.  The get coached dvd series is something that really caught my attention because, these are the disciplined coaches that works with the world class athletes to coach them to success.  I am very interested in learning from their insights and direction.  This is why I have placed an order for one of the get coached dvd's to learn and review.

I will give my review of the following dvd from Mike Ditka in about a month, but if you can't wait and want to learn more.  Take a look:
Get Coached Motivational DVDs only from Victor1!

Boost Your Confidence By Learning

confidence

photo by: vuvan.com

Have you ever heard, "You fear what you don't know" or maybe, "Fear of the unknown" ???  The answer seems to be given in those two quotes and to lessen your fears and boost your confidence, use learning as your tool to gain the confidence.  Why does learning build confidence?  In my experience when I learn something, I feel better prepared to make wiser decisions based upon information I have, instead of feeling frozen by the alien feeling of not knowing.  This article will explore how to boost your confidence through learning.

Social Communication

We must communicate with others on a daily basis and every situation is very different from the next.  Have you ever been in a situation where your confidence level was low because it felt like everyone in the room knew so much more than you?  Well, maybe if you went to a convention that focused on a specific topic and you didn't have a clue about the topic, it doesn't mean you could not learn about it.  Take situations like these to learn or better yet read books and develop yourself on how to handle such social situations.  Learning social communication skills will help you fit in with any situation and you don't always need to be the expert.  There are techniques to handle such situations and a good book to help you in these situation is How to Talk to Anyone: 92 Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationships

Get Out of Your Comfort Zone(s)

We all have our safety blanket zones that we establish in our lives.  It is the cozy place and safe because we know what to expect and everything is within our control.  The danger in this is that if things change, and everything eventually does, you will not know what to do.  Step out of your zones and explore the edge a little bit.  You don't have to cross the edge but get outside of that zone and peek at the unknown.  I am not saying or suggesting to be wreckless and make stupid decisions, make it a point to learn through experiences and mix things up in life to keep it exciting and you can learn a lot by trying different things.  For example, if you have never taken a hike during a full moon because you are afraid what might be lurking in the dark of the night, research a hiking location and take some friends for a moonlit walk.  I did this and the wonderful thing about it is that, nobody is around, the world is basically your playground because everyone else is in their safety bubble.  Learn and boost your confidence by trying different things and exposing yourself to different situations.

Mistakes

O.K., I am human, I admit it and YES I have made TONS upon TONS of mistakes in my life, but the best part is that I LEARNED from them.  Don't be afraid of failing or making mistakes because it could hold you back!  I feel that I am a much better and confident person today because I made so many mistakes in the past, yet I learned and moved forward with my life successfully that it gave me the experiences in life that gave me the confidence to not fear failure, because failure is not permanent.  Inaction can be permanent!

Books

I love books and all my life, whatever I wanted to learn, I read about it.  I used to go the library (before the days of the internet) and checked out the maximum amount of books on topics that I was curious about.  Never lose that curiosity and seek the information that others have to teach through books.  I visit the library monthly and even though I usually have late charges, I continually learn through books and the gain the wisdom and knowledge from other peoples experiences and expertise.

Observe

I learn a lot by observing.  All throughout my life I would always observe something before I tried it.  I remembered when I first moved to Hawaii, and surfing is of course a big thing there.  I remember sitting on the beach for about a month, just observing how the good surfers did what they did and took mental notes on how to do the same.  I would also watch the bad surfers and keep the mental notes on what not to do.  Of course there comes a time when you must dip your feet in the water and learn by doing, but you can gain a lot of confidence by observing before actually doing because everything won't be such a shock and uncommon surprise.

Learn by talking and listening

Talk to others!  Everyone knows a lot about something, strike up a conversation and ask a lot of questions.  You can learn a lot about a topic by asking an expert or even your neighbor about their interests and ask questions about it.  I am sure if you ask questions about a person's passion and interest, you cannot get them to shut up, but you should shut up and listen, learn and take it in.  You might gain something and boost your confidence in learning something new and who knows that information might come into use one of these days.  I wish I could talk to that Bear guy...

Reading my blog

You can learn a lot about my 5 p's of personal innovation by reading my blog.  Ok that was a marketing plug for myself but yes you could learn by reading blogs, including mines and others that could give you insight in many different topics.  Maybe start your own blog to share some of your opinions and knowledge.  We all have something to offer and writing a blog is a learning and sharing of information wrapped up into one.  Take action and make it a point to continually learn, it will boost your confidence and might ease those fears of your unknowns.

Have a Pre-Game Routine for Business Success

battle for the ballThis is a guest post from anothergear.com. Follow anothergear on twitter here!

Consider top performers in school, business, arts and performance, or athletics, and you recognize that the ability to consistently deliver top level results is often valued much more than delivering exceptional results 10% of the time, and average results 90% of the time.  Being able to exceed expectations time and time again is not an accident, nor is it solely attributable to one’s natural abilities.

Taking the example of athletics, I quite frequently hear stories about the most productive players on a team being “superstitious” and doing the exact same thing prior to each game.  Same meal for breakfast, putting the left sock on before the right, wearing a lucky t-shirt, listening to the same music, sitting on the same place on the bench, having the same routine in pre game warm-ups, etc.   You can probably recall a funny story about an athlete, singer, or performer right now.

Logically, superstitions don’t make any sense… why would putting your left sock on before right sock equate to hitting more homeruns for a baseball player?  The reason superstitions do make sense, is they force us to follow the same pre-game routine; and that preparation gets us in the right mind set to be successful people.

Translating the pre-game routine to real life

I make a living in complex executive sales and have probably conducted over 300 sit down - face to face meetings with “C” level executives over the years.  The same way Randy Moss could probably show up to game time with no practice and no preparation while still being the most productive player on the field,  I can just show up and lead a successful meeting with no preparation by “shooting from the hip”.

While it may not be technically necessary to prepare in the same manner for every meeting I conduct, the process of going through a routine gives me the absolute confidence and focus to nail every meeting, 100% of the time.  While I won’t close every deal, I will not fail to close a deal because I wasn’t prepared or focused.  Pre-game routines and superstitions help us remove the distractions, surprises, doubts, and lack of confidence far ahead of time, so by the time you enter a board room, you will own the room and your confidence and expertise will be evident to everyone else as well.

Pre-Game Sales Warm-up

-          Be 30 minutes early to any onsite meeting

-          Find a mirror and check the hair, teeth, and straighten the tie

-          Turn off cell phone 20 minutes before the meeting

-          Have a half notebook page full of my “standard” information

o        Date, location, time

o        Names and titles

o        Meeting objectives

o        Possible objections to any of my key points I will be making

-          Have 5 more business cards than necessary, and a nice pen in my suit pocket

-          Have one good “ice-breaking” comment, story, or observation ready to go ahead of time

The D Word for Personal Success

determination

Personal success is about achieving the goals and dreams we have.  We all define success differently and varies as the dreams vary from person to person.  The main ingredient that is more important than skill, passion and intelligence that will help you achieve your dreams is Determination.

DETERMINATION

What is determination?  Determination to me is about pursuing your dream and having the faith and belief to see it to completion.  People make New Year's Resolution without much determination from the outset and as time passes, the resolution is dropped.  Others also have goals to get out of debt, own a business, write a book etc. but the most important thing a person needs to make things happen is by having the determination to see it through.

I really enjoy reading and watching biographies on successful individuals and have learned that it is determination sets these individuals apart from everyone else.  Most of the time, people who have succeeded usually say, "I am just a regular person, just like you".  On the surface this is true but it is the way they are wired, they are determined and when obstacles come in their way, they look around and find solutions to make it happen.  For example, Conrad Hilton (Founder of Hilton Hotels) initially wanted to be a banker and was determined to be a successful businessman.  His determination to build a successful business steered him towards the hotel business when the bank he was looking to buy, changed the price he strolled to a nearby hotel and saw that it was filled to capacity.  Realizing that he could be a hotel business person and be successful at that, he changed his direction and acquired hotels in Texas and is now a worldwide brand.  His determination for success led him in different directions, but when obstacles was present, he still kept an open eye out for a way to be a successful businessman and was determined.

HOW TO BE DETERMINED

Determination is an inner trait that comes natural for some but for others, when faced with challenges or hard times, it is easy to quit and give up.  To install determination into your psyche and character, you must innovate the way you think.  If there is something you want, such as a goal, from the beginning you must commit to see it to the end and to find the ways for you to reach that goal.  It is easy to make numerous goals, but it is just as easy to quit them as well.  Pick your goals carefully, and be sure once you set forward with a goal, the only time you will quit is when you reach your goal.

The way you think and the thoughts that crosses your mind will either prevent you from reaching your dreams or goals because it is easy to quit or when things are tough, negative thoughts could cloud your mind and convince yourself that it will never happen.  If you are determined to see whatever it is that you have set out to do, you must acknowledge these thoughts and move pass them as you work towards completing what you set out to do.  So to be determined, you must install determination into your mind and actions.

Determination is the termination of your goal and the only time your goals and dreams should be terminated is when you reached what you have set out to do.  Worthwhile goals and dreams can be difficult to achieve and may take some time, but it is determination that will help you as you set to reach your personal success.