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Choose your friends with care

Was at a cafe this morning with my wife and the dog. A guy who works in the same industry as my wife showed up, and he began talking about their ‘shared’ challenges.

He complained of a lack of time, about having too many things to do, and that he doesn’t see an end to this in his business. He was complaining about how busy he is while also mentioning his upcoming three week vacation (how fabulous?!) that was stressing him out…

I asked if he has a target to aim for, an end point for his business, and he shrugged his shoulders to express that he doesn’t, while looking at my wife to join him in agreeing this is always the way in their world.

It was a sixty second encounter but it spoke volumes.

Unless he begins to think differently, it will never end. His first world problems were not uncommon to ‘busy professionals’, but his level of relative misery was crying out for company. I’m sure he finds it often.

Surround yourself with people who hold you to a plan. Who lift you rather than drain you. Who you aspire to learn from and spend time with. Who help you get the best out of your life each day and cheerlead for you constantly.

The rest? Move on from them. Don’t get dragged down to their level.

They’re looking for people who agree with their outlook on life. People who validate their way of operating and share the same perceived challenges as they do.

If you’re on a down day, maybe you’ll feel like agreeing with them. Assume this isn’t going to work out well for you over the long term.

You’ll be keeping misery company soon enough, like two alcoholics propping up a bar, and it’ll become harder and harder to show it the door.

Sydney in winter

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Taken from the coastal path between Clovelly and Bronte.

From this morning’s walk along the coast. The wind was blowing and the rain came down, but when the sun came out it was spectacular.

Get out of your own way

The hard work is ahead. I’m running a final marathon this year before my knees break down.

I got through the hurdle of a half marathon last week. Training now steps up to distances much further, staying on my feet for longer.

It’s always harder in my head than it is to do the actual running.

The running is the fun part. The pain comes and I grind through it. One foot in front of the other, over and over.

Thinking about it – letting my brain get in the way – makes the task more difficult.

When we run, pushing towards our physical limits, we get a look at how we react to pain and stress. We hear our brain telling us to slow down, take shortcuts, or simply stop.

The challenge is laid down – easy or hard path? Which one do you want? Growth or stagnation? Settle for what you have, for who you are right now, or grow into someone else? Someone you don’t know yet. Someone you’ve never met.

The action gives us the answers.

The act of not doing what my brain says, and doing what my plan says – following my process – is where the growth comes from.

The act of ‘less thought, more action’ doesn’t apply universally, but the more I take action without the ‘what if…?’ thoughts that let the brain get the upper hand, the better the results.

Are you better today than yesterday?

Jacaranda trees in blossom.

Use a simple metric such as the one in the title above to review your day.

Think in terms of what you did and give it a ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

No need for fancy spreadsheets or other tools for this. Not even a notebook. Do it in your head if that’s all you’ve got to work with.

But don’t avoid it. Making notes and tracking your progress every day will be useful.

Over time, you can add categories. Maybe you did a run which boosts your health but you didn’t read that chapter you committed to.

Taking action is what this is all about. It’s a simple and effective process when it’s done over time.

Yes or no, every day, over and over.

You’ll get a feel for what’s working, what’s a success or what might need to change.

Track things that mean the most to you and you won’t go too far wrong.

Your habits define you.

This is a strong one to build.

Wanders around Brisbane yesterday

A few pics:

The Brand Called ‘You’

Tom Peters wrote this seminal article for Fast Company magazine a long time ago but it remains relevant, share-worthy and full of important justification for putting the effort into developing your own brand, whoever you are and whatever you do.

Read it here: https://www.fastcompany.com/28905/brand-called-you

The quick-read:

Big companies know that their brand matters and spend zillions on standing out
Become the CEO of ‘Me Inc.’
The web makes it easy for you to make your branding work through lighting up your efforts
Make your own plan and write your own pitch – what do you do that adds value?
Market it HARD and OFTEN, any/every which way you can
When you’ve built your brand, use the power it can give you, e.g. bigger, better projects
Every once in a while, reinvent yourself – new goals and ideas, new definitions of success? GO!!!!

Daily nudge

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I have a daily email that has been coming to me for years now and it contains the following few words, adapted from a Tom Peters article on how to stay positive and keep moving forwards when things get tough in times of recession or unemployment:

Choose your attitude – consciously positive and enthusiastic
Take the lead
Listen intently
Learn something new
Help someone
Arrive early/leave late
Eye contact

I use a service called Nudgemail to get the message sent to my inbox every day and it has been a great way to keep this handy list front of mind when things don’t always go to plan. Can highly recommend doing the same thing with your own few words or phrases that keep you on track.

Aches and pains

I’m going through a patch where my body keeps breaking down on me and it is infuriating but part of the process of getting older. I run when I can and like to train for short races but my lower limbs are feeling the strain and it’s not as much fun to run, even in training, with constant pain.

If you’re a runner, you will understand that training with pain of some kind is inevitable as there is normally some small niggle or ache that develops or comes and goes as you continue through your session. But there are those that just won’t go away, and I have one of these at the moment.

Treatment of the issues at the heart of the problem is the only way to solve these kinds of issues. Strengthening of the muscles in and around the area of injury is also crucial and so it’s usually a longer journey to recovery and avoidance of any relapse than just a quick rub-down from a physio.

I’m just glad to have some active friends and relatives in Sydney who can hook me up with the right treatment and so I will be there as soon as I can to get back on the path to good health and some more racing. It’s the first day of spring today so I need to make the most of this southern hemisphere weather!

Focus on the good stuff

The process of making change is one that can add levels of frustration, anxiety and straight-up fear to lives that are already highly stressed and this isn’t always a good thing. Illness can follow very quickly behind if the change isn’t properly managed, whatever it’s context, so avoiding this has to be a top priority.

Our move to Sydney is still in progress as the container carrying our belongings is not yet with us and, so far, we have thankfully had few problems. But Katherine did get sick after only a couple of days in the country and this was very likely due to the scale of the change we had undertaken and the unsettled nature of what was ahead of us over the next few weeks of looking for accommodation, settling into a job and a new city, etc.

The frustration around the change I am going through at the moment is about the pace of it. Life in Australia does go a whole lot slower than it does in the UK and this can be difficult when you have little patience and are ready to start something new. A phone call or email not being returned seems to increase the overall level of tension and the ability to stay patient pays huge dividends.

I try to solve these little problems by thinking of all the things that have worked out well over the last few weeks as we have moved our lives and there are lots of them. It’s always beneficial, to me, anyhow, to keep a focus on the good stuff and the positives that are around me instead of the negatives and this does seem to do the trick. The negatives come easy and are always there without looking too hard, but make an effort to see past them and the dark clouds will start to lift a little.

Growth through change

It’s been a few weeks since I have written anything here because it’s been a time of big change. I’m now writing this from Sydney, Australia after moving here one week ago and the lead up to this change has been very hectic. House rented, belongings packed, plane tickets bought and accommodation secured does make it all sound very simple but I can assure you it isn’t!

Anyway, this time of change is also a big opportunity for growth in many ways. A new country – well, I was here 20 years ago and it has changed a lot since then – that is so far from the culture, weather and lifestyle that we had when in the UK will take some getting used to but that is part of its attraction.

I’m looking at getting back into employment so doing lots of research and adapting my mindset to being part of team again, even leading one if the opportunity presents itself. I’ve also got some time to think about doing some fresh learning in a new area and I haven’t drawn any conclusions from this yet.

Basically, every option is still open and this time of change is going to give some amazing opportunities for growth that will be fabulous as time goes by. There’s a lot to be very grateful for.

As a sidenote – current reading:
Chaos Monkeys – inside the Silicon Valley money machine, Antonio Garcia Martinez
The Inner Game of Golf – W. Timothy Gallwey
Homicide, David Simon

Race schedule for running:
Bay Run 7km this Sunday
City2Surf (CBD to Bondi Beach) on 14 August
Western Sydney half marathon on 1 October

Doing the hard things

Some things in life are just really hard.

Sometimes decisions have to be made that do not feel good and can cause a great deal of stress and strain for all those involved. These decisions can also have far-reaching implications and can change the whole course of your life and those you love and care for.

They might be decisions around work and careers. They might be decisions about where you live, who your friends are or how close to your friends you will be. They might also be around money, such as making a decision to make a life-changing purchase or commit to buying a property or a similarly huge spend.

Whatever the predicament that you find yourself in, you just have to do something about moving forwards from it and getting away from the darkness of the place you feel today. However bad today feels for you, whatever it is that you have to decide or deliver upon, you must remember a couple of things:

The sun will come up tomorrow, whatever decision you make today
There are many, many people in the world who have a lot more to deal with every day than you do and some reflection on this will do much more good than harm
The sooner you take some kind of positive action, however difficult it may seem, the sooner you can move on with your new plan and begin to execute it. Execution is what it’s all about.

Get into good habits

If you can get into some good habits, they will provide you with a really solid foundation in everything you do.

I have some really bad ones and I think we all have them, somewhere. My worst is biting my fingernails. I do it ALL THE TIME and it causes great annoyance to both me and my wife. I stopped for a while with some NLP-style help a long time ago but I got back into it very quickly. Soooo annoying!

There is a phrase that I have heard quoted a few times – “habits over good intentions, every time” – and this is what I aim for. It takes work to make a habit stick, but if you can keep at it and it will pay you back over time.

My latest reading in 2016

Shoot The Messenger, Shane Kuhn – follow up to Kill Your Boss, fast moving fiction involving a hitman on the run.

The Establishment, Owen Jones – dissects the make-up of the British ruling classes in great detail.

Essays of Warren Buffett, Lawrence A. Cunningham – extracts of the famous annual letters to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders.

Billionaire, Peter James – a stockbroker gets greedy and pays the price.

Always be working

Glengarry Glen Ross was a film made back in 1992 based on a famous Broadway play. One of its most famous quotes is ‘A.B.C. – always be closing’ and Alec Baldwin’s character delivers the line as a tough guy salesman brought in to drag a poorly performing team up to scratch. He’s laying down the law in this scene and it’s worth a watch if you haven’t seen it before.

I was reminded of this line the other day when reading an interview and it got me thinking about a line that is my own version of the one above:

ALWAYS BE WORKING

It is crucially important to me to always be delivering or executing on a project and adding value to whatever I am working on. It might be growing and developing my network, it might be a piece of client work, it might be a bike ride, a run or a gym session or something else completely different, but this phrase is focussed on never forgetting that it is a state in which good things happen.

I am not very good at having too much downtime. I like to have a rest every now and again as we all need to do, but it can kill you if it goes on too long and turns into inactivity. When I remember to ALWAYS BE WORKING, I’m very quick to get out of this state and get back at it.

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[If you need any help with your resume/CV, please check out my other site https://realjobsearchinsider.wordpress.com/]

Don’t mistake a bit of luck for true success

If you don’t do the work, success isn’t likely to happen for you. You might get lucky, of course, but this isn’t true success as far as I’m concerned.

The work is hard, requires desire, passion, discipline and patience – ‘long haul’ mentality – but you’ve got to do it. Luck runs out but the road to success is a long and hard one and can be very fruitful over time. Work hard and luck will help you along the way but don’t ever rely on it.

There will be bad times. Bad days. Really bad things can and will happen. Plans will change. People will turn, or change their minds. Things break. Targets won’t always be met. But you’ve got to smile through it all and keep doing the work. This remains a constant at all times. Discipline, passion, desire and patience, all day, every day.

Luck can also be very fickle. You’ve got to grab onto her coattails (I like to think her as a woman – Lady Luck) and stay hanging on for the ride but be prepared for the time when you’ll get dropped – it always comes and you must accept it. No malice or annoyance, just say ‘thanks for the ride, see you next time!’.

Be thankful that you’re born, have the chances many don’t have and don’t let the opportunity for greatness pass you by. Take the chance. You can be everything you want to be. Your own power and potential is limited by nothing but you. Go and make it happen.

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Ian Mountford is a global recruitment expert and strategy coach providing motivation and guidance to entrepreneurs, wannabe or fully-fledged. He draws from his own experience of building businesses from the ground up and spending many years helping clients to consistently achieve their goals and aspirations. Ian works with clients face-to-face and internationally.

Quotation on motivation and habits

by Jim Rohn:

“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.”

Sunday nights

I usually feel good on a Sunday night. Another week is ahead of us, bringing more of the challenges and opportunities that keep us moving forwards.

For many, Sunday night is not the best time. It can be filled with dread.

Sunday night brings everything that you walked away from on Friday back to the front of your brain.

The effects of this can be harmful – lack of sleep, more arguments with your partner than normal, frustration at the situation you feel you are in, etc.

Some changes to the way you see your situation can help you to see things a little differently. If you’ve got a job, that’s a positive straight out of the gate.

Get to bed and turn that screen off, but before that, make a plan for the week ahead so you know what’s coming, what you’re committed to.

Say a prayer to whoever’s watching over us, guiding the steps we take, whoever you believe it is up (or down) there.

And get some rest. Everything’s better with a good night’s sleep.

Get up, rested, and get to work.

It’s what we all have to do. Why should you be any different?

How hard is hard enough?

There isn’t an answer to this question in most cases and you need to get used to this.

There is always something else to be done and there is always more that you can do in order to be the success that you want to be. Hard work pays off and if you work hard and push yourself to achieve the goals you have set for yourself, you can then be happy with whatever you will achieve and you will have earned it. The point here is that if you have to ask this question you are not working hard enough. Dig deep and keep your head down. The results will come in time.

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Ian Mountford is a Strategy Coach providing motivation and guidance to entrepreneurs, wannabe or fully-fledged. He draws from his own experience of building businesses from the ground up and spending many years helping clients to consistently achieve their goals and aspirations. Ian works with clients face-to-face and internationally

thewallstreetexecutive:

The chief executives of McDonald’s and…

My obit for #ArielSharon, symbol of strength or war criminal? http://t.co/ByXXZf8Iar #Israel @Channel4News

— Lindsey Hilsum (@lindseyhilsum) January 11, 2014