Mindset
May 30, 2023 By Scott

How to Spoil Your Performance Culture Fast!

Having experienced all sorts of performance cultures in my life in business, in organizations, and even in families, I’ve taken note of the things that really destroy or inhibit the development of good culture.

Good culture is the foundation of success, without it, people wither like the leaves on a drought challenged plant.

Poor culture sucks the life out of the people in it, and good culture feeds their soul.

I recently posted on the subject of the ingredients of great culture (See my blog from April 10th) and I thought for a second that although those things sometimes seem logical, they aren’t always done well.

In the same way, some things that would seem counter-intuitive to the creation of good culture are done spectacularly well with very little effort, and incredibly detrimental results.

The accidental destruction or inhibition of culture occurs daily in environments throughout the world. People just aren’t always aware of some of the simple mistakes they make and how they slowly and insidiously spoil the roots of the cultural flower.

There are five culture spoilers I’ve observed time and time again, that with very simple efforts can be avoided and in so doing, eliminate the limits of cultural growth.

Expectations Unsaid

One of the biggest culture killers is murky, or unclear expectation.

Often people who run businesses or organizations got to this place of leadership because they were good at setting their own expectations, creating their own set of benchmarks. They intuitively know how to set and reach objectives, and in turn revise and re-establish these objectives, constantly recreating themselves, and their role in the process.

However, and this is the big conundrum, they aren’t always so good at imparting these skills upon those who work for them or that they mentor. They are good at doing, but not so good a teaching and coaching.

Not everyone is good at clearly establishing the expectations of their role in an organization, or feeling comfortable with being autonomous in defining their path.

The role of a good leader or a parent for that matter is to clearly establish and communicate the expectations they have for their team members or their children.

When things are left to assumption or interpretation based on personal perspective, then things get very murky, and people become listless, lost, or ineffective.

Culture becomes fractured.

Too Many Policies and Procedures

In opposition to a lack of expectations is the over-bearing establishment of policies and procedures. The reaction in some organizations to the need for clarity of expectations is to enact a whole bunch of policy and procedure items for people to follow so they can’t screw things up.

Granted, in some instances clarity of policy, and the procedures that must be followed to support such policy can be extremely effective and necessary. An example like the submission of time sensitive documentation to support payroll or contractual payment is one that comes to mind in a small or large business or organization.

But quite often policy and procedure becomes the way of leadership to off-load the responsibility of leadership. Leadership requires setting an example, and holding people accountable to expectations, expectations that have been clarified through conversation and ongoing communication.

You can’t P+P culture, culture is an intangible creation based on positive and exemplary leadership, period!

Judgement

Judgment kills mojo. It’s human nature to get mired in personal negative self-talk. We love to beat ourselves up, to judge ourselves, and our favourite deflective strategy to counterbalance negative self-talk is to shit on other people.

What better way of making yourself feel good than to tell yourself, and everyone else for that matter, that so and so is messing up, its so and so’s fault, they made the mistake, they don’t know what they are doing.

The worst example of this behaviour is when leadership blames or judges those around them for their mistakes or the company’s failures.

The bottom line is that if you are in charge of something, the buck stops at you. If someone you are leading makes a mistake, it’s your mistake. You have to own the mistakes because you chose to be a in a place of leadership and as such, you set the expectations (please see above!) and if those expectations aren’t met, you own the problem.

Judgment has no place in a culture of performance. Instead, we need empathy, mentorship, learning, room for failure, and opportunity to redeem.

Fear of Retribution

The dark side of judgement is retribution.

When we go beyond simple judgement and now we cut a swath out of those in error, we leave them feeling gutted. The pain of the mistake leaves a scar that challenges future decision-making, tempers risk taking, and limits opportunistic thought.

If I am worried about “what if” I will never make the best decision, I will make the safe decision, and the weight of possible retribution can be enough to stagnate any innovative practice.

Without innovative practice, risk taking, or opportunistic thought, environments become stagnant and unchallenging. People become bored, or simply lost in the day to day.

Fear of retribution destroys culture.

Bullshit

The last culture killer is pure unadulterated bullshit. When people, especially people in leadership roles tell lies, deceive, manipulate circumstances or information, blame circumstances, or simply deflect responsibility, culture becomes suffocated.

Great culture rises in a sea of certainty and honesty. It’s not easy to accept blame, to recognize and honestly bare your soul in any working environment. Vulnerability to the group is not easy. But if leadership exemplifies it, the consequences are positive growth and progress, and people become trusting.

Trust breads trust, and soon culture is net positive. When trust in in the black, culture can flourish and the people within that culture can reach maximum possibility and contribution.

A great deal of the cracks in the foundation of culture can be avoided by simple and effective leadership strategies, most of which seem logical, but are often forgotten and overlooked.

Don’t spoil culture by accident!

Hope this was valuable, if it was, feel free to share it.

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Mindset
May 22, 2023 By Scott

Building Your Playbook for Life

In the game of football, the playbook is the bible that guides all decision-making. What to do and when, who goes where, and the plan of action to beat the opposition.

A playbook in life is a thorough plan of action to achieve your intentions.

How do we build one?

Build a Future Vision

First up, we look down the line a few years and think about what we want our life to look like. Not how we are going to get there, but what we want life to be like, and more important, how we want it to feel!

This takes a little dreaming, a little faith in the process of visualizing something beyond your current state.

If you’re having trouble seeing what you want life to look like, then try the reverse approach, what don’t you want your life to look like?

What are you doing now, or living now that you don’t want to do or live?

If you can put a thumb on what you don’t like about your life, it will often help you clear a little bit of the muck off the windshield of life, and see a little more clearly.

Spend a little time on what you want life to feel and look like, as this becomes the end game of the playbook.

Now, most of the time, it’s best to do this in 2–3 year increments as it’s tough sometimes to see too far down the road.

Year One, Two, Three

So now that you have a vision of what you want life to look and feel like in three years, then you need to walk back and create a set of benchmarks for each year. What do you want life to look and feel like at the end of year two, and so on for year one so you are essentially progressing towards the finished product of year three.

Kind of like climbing a big mountain, you need to see the summit, see basecamp (now) and then see the rest of the camps along the way. What should the view look like at each of those new levels?

Again, it often helps to look at what you want to peel away as you progress, and not necessarily what you want to add. Sometimes the life we want just requires us to get rid of a lot of things, purge the negative energy dumps and time-wasters, and allow ourselves to thrive!

Adopt a Quarterly Review Concept

Once we have the view of each of our three years, then we can take year one and break it into quarters. What do we need to accomplish in each quarter to get to the year one “camp”?

We should be able to create a list of expectations each quarter that we need to accomplish to create the vision we have for the end of year one. We can look at all the things that need to be accomplished to get there, and then break them into chewable parts, each quarter has a specific set of attainable items.

Then, we take time at the end of each quarter to review our progress, acknowledge our achievements (WIns), understand where we under and over-accomplished, and then set the table for the next quarter. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you might recognize this as Minding the Gap.

12-Week Quarter — 7 Day Week

Now we can take each quarter and look at what we have to do each week during a quarter, and finally, each day of each week.

Now all we need to do is wake up each day and execute the game plan from our playbook.

We don’t focus on anything other than what we are to accomplish today. Not what we did yesterday, not what we are doing tomorrow, what we need to do today.

Wins, Next Day Intentions, Morning Preparation, Keep the Vision

At day’s end, we look at what we accomplished, we count our wins, and we revise our intentions for tomorrow based on what we expected to accomplish, and what we got completed today.

Every morning we wake up, we review our intentions for the day, and we establish what we are going to accomplish in our morning preparation. Then we take some time each day to just sit in silence and connect with our long-term vision, where are we headed, what’s our objective.

Build a Schedule of Energy In

The key to this playbook concept is that we also create our weekly schedule.

We define the times we dedicate to executing the game plan we define the time we dedicate to personal physical culture, to family or friends, to brainstorming, to rest.

Everything is structured so that we can maximize the output during our execution time, but not feel like we are disconnected from the other things in our life we believe are priorities.

Simply Execute the Game Plan Daily

The key is consistency and simplicity. Every day you have to accomplish 2–3 steps on that climb to the next rest camp. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Don’t think about what happened yesterday, focus on what you need to accomplish today. And when life gets in the way and you miss a step or two, revise the plan, and set the course again the next day.

When you execute what’s in the playbook, it WILL come to fruition, it never fails.

How do you eat an elephant?

One bite at a time.

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Mindset
May 17, 2023 By Scott

Make Your Imagination Work FOR You

Imagination is a funny thing.

We spend so much of our time using our imagination to create stress in our lives, fill us with worry, and send us spiraling into sadness and in some instances, depression.

Look at us today, more than one-third (35.7%) of the adult population in America is considered to be obese.

Seriously, you read that right, one-third! More than 1 in 20 are considered to be extremely obese!

So many people today are addicted to pain medication, anti-depressants, alcohol, or other drugs all in an effort to mask or avoid the symptoms of stress, sadness, or depression.

Sugar has become the drug of choice for so many people, the sweet high of sugar keeping us as far from those negative feelings as possible.

Until you come down off the blood sugar high, then mega sadness hits again and the cycle continues. More chocolate!!

Seriously, we are so preoccupied with imagining disaster, imagining the “what if” scenario, imagining what our friends have, and what we don’t have, we are just so overwhelmed with all the negative possibilities.

We’ve even taken to not imagining, but simply voyeuristically observing everyone else’s social media highlight reels.

The Insta-life phenomenon is further killing our mojo!

We want what others have, but we can’t even imagine it, so we just long for their life, hoping somehow that if we wish, beg, and wait long enough, the payday will come.

In the meantime we are maxing out our credit cards, taking out credit lines to pay the credit cards, taking home mortgage loans to pay the credit lines. We are shopping ourselves into happiness!

We are living a pretend life of abundance, sad really.

So how do we change all of this darkness?

We start imagining the life we want to have.

Yep, that’s it.

How can I do that you say? that’s not an easy thing to do. I have bills, and responsibilities, and people to care for, and on and on!

But if you can imagine all this drama in your life, why can’t you imagine freedom and possibility?

Really, why not?

Our brains are hard-wired to lean towards the negative, so we need to jerk them out of that habit and apply some good old reverse psychology.

Wins

First thing we want to do is start to count our wins. Ya, you heard me, count your wins!

What does that mean you might be saying?

Well, each day you are going to take some time at the end of the day, preferably right before you go to bed, and you’re going to think of 1–3 things in the day that you did that could be considered positive.

It can be anything.

You got out of bed without hitting the snooze button

You ate a healthy lunch

You went for a 20-minute walk after dinner

You made it to the bank and got that deposit done

These are relatively simple things, but if you’re in a hole, sometimes you have to find the positive in the most malign of things.

If you are getting a little bolder perhaps you start counting wins like:

You completed a 45-minute HIIT workout

You finished a big project

You made an amazing meal for you or your family

You spent some amazing time with a loved one

You get the gist.

Counting your wins every night counter points your negative self-talk and finishes your day on a positive note. It tricks the subconscious into leaving the day on a positive rather than leaving the day on a negative.

It sets up the next day on a positive platform.

Once you gain some traction on your night-time practice it’s time to do some morning silence work.

Silence

Get up in the morning 15 minutes earlier. Get out of bed, find a comfortable place in the house where you can be alone, and either in a sitting or lying position settle down and close your eyes.

With your eyes closed focus on your breathing, in through the nose and out through the mouth.

Try to stay focused on your breathing, the sound of it, the feeling of it.

You may begin to talk to yourself, that’s normal. Each time you do, try to reconnect with your breathing.

Do this for just five minutes each day, every day for 30 days. If you miss a day or two get back on the horse and start again. Consistency is the key.

Once you’ve gotten good at five minutes, try to push it to 10–15 minutes.

Is this meditation?

In a sense yes, but at the end of the day, what we are doing is working on disconnecting from our thought stream, connecting with our breathing, and taking the time to be in silence so our mind can, in essence, rest!

It takes time to own it.

You will not be good at it immediately.

You might not be good at it for a very long time, but the action of making the effort creates time and space for you. Something we don’t do a very good job of these days.

We usually fill time and space with stuff! Sometimes its good not to fill it with anything!

Once we get used to silence in the morning, we can begin to fill that silence with our positive imagination.

Imagination

What is a place, a space, a feeling, or an image you can see that makes you feel good?

If there is an image you can link towards that makes you feel good spend some time connected to that image. If you can see a moving picture of sorts, allow it to flow, and connect with it as well.

This type of imagination time doesn’t have to last long, again maybe five minutes in the beginning. Consistency once more is the key. Keep coming back to it and keep allowing yourself to fill the space and time with your positive imagery.

Once you’ve become comfortable with this type of imagery, try to move to the next level.

Imagine your life

If you could be anything, do anything, or if you could change your circumstances some how that would allow you to flourish, what would that be? What would it look like?

Don’t get stuck on how you’re going to get there, just focus on what that would look and feel like.

Now try to link with that image or picture of your life on a daily basis. Integrate your “imagine your life” into your daily silence.

The simple combination of counting your wins and imagining your life on a daily basis will change your outlook measurably. You will truly begin to feel different.

You will truly begin to move forward when before you could only stay put.

You will begin to be inspired by your imagination. When your imagination begins to connect to you, there is no telling where it will go, but what I can tell you is it won’t be stuck in the darkness anymore.

There will be light where once there was dark. Your imagination will inspire you.

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Mindset
May 8, 2023 By Scott

How to Take Your Sleep Seriously

Air, water, food, sleep, and shelter are probably the most important basic elements of living on this earth.

To thrive on this earth, we need to optimize all of those elements in our life, and one, in particular, can give us plenty of benefits if we just spend a little more time considering “how” we do it.

Unfortunately, sleep is not taken very seriously by many of us, we pay it little mind and hope that our body and brain will deliver despite our lack of consideration.

Sleep is simply one of THE most important elements of recovery, and working at your sleep is just as important as working at your business, nutrition, or fitness.

Sleep! Yes, sleep.

Three elements are most important to consider

1 — The Quantity
2 — The Quality
3 — Our Sleep routine

When we are awake, our brains and bodies are being used, and in some instances abused.

Sleep is when our body recovers.

Consistency around these three areas can go a long way to improving your physical recovery.

Here are ten things you can do to really make a difference in the quality, quantity and consistency of your sleep routine.

Practicing them will most surely make a difference in the quality of your life, relationships, work and play!

1 — Take sleep seriously

First things first, take sleep seriously, please!

For the most part, it just ends up being something we use to bookend our day, slamming our head into the pillow at some hour of the night, hoping that things will work out, and we will see the sun shining again tomorrow.

By taking sleep seriously, and building a functional and flexible routine around it, you will optimize your awakened state. Sleep is the most important element of recovery, so optimizing it makes a real difference.

You don’t have to be perfect, or OCD about it, you just need to be thoughtful and considerate about it daily. Understanding its value, and aligning your behaviour around that understanding is key.

2 — Spend some money on a mattress, linens, and a pillow

This might be one of the easiest choices you could possibly make on spending your hard earned money. Yet it is a classic example of how little we pay mind to our sleep.

We sleep on old, worn out, mattresses. Hand me down mattresses. Dirty hotel mattresses. Couches and pull out couches!

Sometimes we go out and spend a bunch of money on a “good” mattress, but we don’t take the time to lie down on it first, to feel our level of comfort. Just because it is sold as the best mattress on earth does not mean it is the best mattress on earth for YOU! Test it out first!

Then, when you do get the “right” mattress, don’t go putting old crappy hand me down linens on it, or the ones you got on sale with a zero thread count!

Spend some money on a good mattress, good sheets, and a great pillow. You spend your money on a great car, or great restaurants, or whatever you perceive to be valuable to your life, please spend some money on your sleep!

3 — Breathe deeply

Just before you are going to shut things down for the night, try taking some deep breaths. Deep and mindful breathing affects the parasympathetic system and helps bring your heart rate down, relax you, and clears your body of carbon dioxide, replacing it with fresh oxygen.

Ten deep, mindful breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth, 3–4 seconds in and 3–4 seconds out.

Try to get the breath into the whole abdominal cavity, feeling your stomach rise, but also feeling like the breath is coming out the back and sides of your trunk.

This type of breathing will help your brain and body prepare for sleep.

4 — Prepare to sleep

Speaking of preparing for sleep. What are you doing for the last hour or so before you go to sleep?

Pounding ot e-mail and texts? Checking social media? Watching TV or video? Eating? Drinking?

All of the above reduce your body and mind’s ability to shut down. These things amp up your neurological system, they are forms of stimulant.

We want to bring the system down. So about an hour before you plan to go to sleep, start shutting out all the drama.

Bring peace to your day.

Build a sleep routine, even when you travel, take some time to unwind at the end of the day and get into the right sleep space.

5 — Deal with sleep issues

If you are a snorer, chances are you are leaning towards a sleep issue, like sleep apnea. If you are waking up like a brick hit you in the head each day, the opposite of refreshed, then you may want to get your sleep quality checked out.

If you are sleeping the right amount, with the right quality, you should be waking refreshed, not exhausted.

Don’t wait until you get sick to finally have things checked out, there are a lot of very viable remedies on the market today for sleep apnea and snoring. No need to sleep alone anymore!

6 — Understand how much refreshes you

Experiment with the timing and length of time of your sleep and try to get a sense of the amount you need to feel refreshed. It won’t always be perfect, nothing ever is or should be, but the closer you are to a consistent amount of sleep, the better your body and mind will be at regulating.

Try logging your sleep quality and quantity, as well as your morning mood for a month or two to see how it varies. Play a little for short periods with different lengths and get a feeling for what works best for you, and then lean in and do your best to keep that amount consistent. It will pay dividends!

7 — Sleep in an optimal temperature

The temperature of your room and your sleep linens can make a huge difference on your sleep quality. Experiment with pajamas, linens, and room temperature to get the right combination so you sleep soundly and profoundly.

Again, use the daily tracking log to see how certain combinations work best, and then lock it down.

8 — Hydrate well

Dehydration is one of the hallmark causes of fatigue, and it can tacitly affect the quality and quantity of your sleep. Drink more water during the day than you think you should. Carry a one-liter bottle of water with you daily, and fill and empty it repeatedly throughout the day.

You may wake up having to pee in the night, but the quality of your sleep when you are asleep will be markedly improved.

9 — Monitor your consistency

As mentioned before, take the time to create a mechanism for monitoring your sleep. Something as simple as writing it into a simple spreadsheet on a day-to-day basis will show you trends in the quality and quantity of your sleep, and the link to trends in your daily mood and energy. The key here is consistency and simplicity. Use a method you can commit to doing and one that is easy to do, and you will soon see the effects of your sleep.

10 — Supplement with naps

If and when you are not getting enough sleep overnight (big job to do, newborn baby, etc.) don’t be afraid to take a nap.

A short, 20–30 minute nap during the day can make a huge difference in your overall productivity and your sleep quality at night. Longer naps, however, can negatively affect night sleep, or even reduce daytime effectiveness, so just watch out for how long you dip into afternoon sleep mode.

Take it home

Sleep is one of the most important elements of personal recovery and can make a huge difference in your quality of life and effectiveness. Take it seriously, and give it your full attention, you will see the difference.

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Mindset
May 1, 2023 By Scott

Life is a Journey Not a Destination

Are you living a life focused on the next objective, the next goal, or the next thing you wish to conquer?

What does it feel like when you get there?

What does it feel like when you don’t?

If the answer to the first question is something like, “Good, so what’s next?” or “Great for a while, but then it fades”.

or

The answer to the second question is, “I feel anxious, overwhelmed, frustrated”, or all the seriously negative emotions we could describe here.

If these are your answers, or something akin, your point of reference, your connection is with the OBJECT of your desire, the endpoint, the outcome.

Your point of reference is not WITH the process, and with connecting to yourself IN that process.

There are no objectives that you will attain, or reach that will satisfy you if the focus is on the object itself.

If the focus is on the process of your growth in reaching that objective, then you may not always be satisfied completely with what you achieve, that’s understandable.

But you will be fulfilled.If you’re connected to the process and your self-discovery in that process, you can re-set and re-focus your energies towards your objectives, or even revise those objectives.

But you will not be taken off course or beaten down by your inner voice because you didn’t achieve what you expected.

Challenge and growth Vs. Objects and expectations

I’ll take challenges and growth every time!How do I do this you say?

First, understand that every time you embark on an objective, or as I like to express it, an intention, your connection needs to be with the process of reaching towards it, not with it.

Yes, that’s what I said?!

Don’t keep your eyes on the prize.

We’re all doing it.

Day in and day out.

I want that job, and when I get it, I’ll be happy!

I want that promotion, and when I get it, all will be well!

I want that car, and when I get it, man am I going to be cool!

I want that partner, and when I get them, I am going to be whole!

I want that house and when I get it, I will be living the dream!

Inevitably, when we don’t reach those objectives, we get disappointed in ourselves, we beat ourselves up, and we start into a cycle of personal reflection that is not self-serving, but rather self-deprecating.

Maybe we even self-sabotage along the way! Because we don’t believe we can achieve the objective, so we just throw in the towel, give up, and go home!

Or

We achieve the objective, back slap ourselves for a day, yell and scream from the tallest building!

But nothing really changes.

Ya, maybe we can afford something we couldn’t before, or we are in a better position than before, but for some reason, we can’t find true enjoyment and fulfillment at the moment!

We look around with this empty feeling, and then we look for what to do next, and here starts the cycle again. Here……we…….go!

If we connect more with working towards our intentions, we stay focused on learning from each moment, consider our choices, understand our pathway, and revel in the daily process, and we will feel such a sense of fulfillment each day.

And that is the crux of the matter.

It is not about the endpoint, it is about each day, each step.

Process, not Perfection!

When we are connected to that, then each day IS fulfilling, even when it may be a step backward, because you learned something, and you felt something, and you explored yourself.

You grew!

Growth, learning, and evolving vs. Expectations, Disappointment, or Emptiness — You Choose!

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Mindset
April 24, 2023 By Scott

Secrets of a Loving Relationship

I’m pretty lucky at this point in my life to have a loving, supporting, and inspiring partner. And, most importantly, I love myself.

It hasn’t always been this way. I’ve been divorced twice, and the reason those relationships didn’t work out wasn’t that my partners intentionally set out not to be loving, supporting, and inspiring.

It was because I didn’t understand myself. I didn’t understand what I needed, or who I was, and I didn’t love myself, so how could I have a quality relationship with someone else?

So the first rule of a loving relationship is knowing and loving yourself.

The next element of a loving relationship is being a good partner.

If you really want to be in love, to be loved, to feel a bond that lasts beyond the early days of curiosity and discovery, you need to be a good partner.

What does that mean?

It means that you are considerate of the person you are with and that you let them know they matter.

You don’t do it with words.

Words can be important, absolutely.

But words don’t replace actions.

You see if your words echo or match your actions then those words matter, but if they run counter to your actions, then they become hypocrisy.

Actions matter.

What do I mean by actions you say?

First up, treat your partner the way you would want to be treated, with respect, honesty, compassion, consideration, and honor.

All too often we treat our clients, or our friends better than we treat our partners.

The assumption is that your partner is there for you, they can see your raw reality, and they should be there for you when you are at your worst.

And you know what, from time to time, when things do get difficult, that is absolutely true.

Your partner should be there for you through thick and thin.

They should see through your worst, as you should, in turn, see through theirs.

But being your worst should not become your default, not even a little bit.

On the contrary, your best should be your default.

You should treat your partner better than your best client, treat them like they’ll walk out that front door and never return if you don’t treat them with special intent.

Newton’s third law states that when one body exerts a force on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction on the first body.

In other words, if you treat your partner well, with good intentions, and with honest effort, they will, in turn, treat you with equal and matching consideration.

Simple physics in love!

Next, know their Love Language

In his groundbreaking book, “The Five Love Languages”, Gary Chapman presented five fundamental love languages that we should understand, recognize, and align with if we want our partners to FEEL loved.

You see, you may love somebody, and you may express your passion and your love with great fervor, especially in the beginning, but if you don’t speak their language of love, then they will not FEEL loved.

Over time, they will begin to feel less and less connected to you, less and less understood and when that happens, resentment and disconnection are not far away.

The languages as Chapman describes them are:

1. Words of affirmation

2. Gift giving

3. Physical touch

4. Acts of service (devotion)

5. Quality time

So one caveat to my original thoughts here is the idea that while you should treat your partner as you would wish to be treated, you can’t love them as you would wish to be loved.

That’s confusing you say?

Not really.

Treatment is connected to all the factors I expressed before, honesty, goodness, and respect are all elements of character.

However, the way you love someone must recognize the way they want to be loved.

If you are always giving nice gifts to your partner because you like gifts, but their love language is quality time and you are rarely available, well the reaction you get won’t be what you were expecting.

The gift will be most likely appreciated if you have been connecting with quality time, and your partner feels loved because of that connection.

The gift is a bonus and surely appreciated.

However, if you haven’t had time for them, no matter what the gift, its value or its thought, it will not leave a mark of impression, especially not one that will last, or be considered a replacement for your personal time and effort.

Love them as they would wish to be loved.

Finally, consistency is the key.

Sporadic efforts to connect with your partner’s love language, treating them with kindness and consideration, or pulling up your socks and recognizing you’ve been slacking will not save a relationship.

If you want a really powerful relationship, your efforts must be consistent and honorable.

You wouldn’t just mail it in at work (or maybe you would, but that’s a subject for another post!) because you know eventually, you’d lose your job.

Why do you expect any difference from your relationship?

If you mail it in at home, you will soon be in a relationship devoid of love, passion, or consideration, and the effort required to salvage it will be monumental.

Don’t wait for them to walk out that door to realize how much they mean to you!

Treat your partner with true love and kindness, understand them, honor them, and you will have a very powerful relationship for many years.

Four simple principles to a loving relationship!

1 – Love yourself

2 – Be a good partner

2 – Know their love language

3 – Be consistent

So Simple, now make it happen!

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Mindset
April 17, 2023 By Scott

Why Perfectionism Leads to Procrastination

When we want everything to be perfect, we keep putting it off!

Personal confession, I am a closet perfectionist.

What is a closet perfectionist you might ask?

Someone who presents an image of being on top of his or her game, outwardly successful, for all intents and purposes getting shit done.

But all the wile, constantly questioned holding myself back from doing things I really should be doing, giving way to resistance.

Resistance comes in so many forms, like asking instead of answering.

In my early school life, it was asking too many questions. I didn’t understand something, so up would go my hand. No personal reflection on the possibility that I could come up with the answer.

It’s been said that the predominant majority of questions asked in a classroom setting are ones we already know the answer to, we just want someone to tell us we are right. We don’t want to do something and fail, so we ask the question just so we can be certain before we pull the trigger on our own plan or decision.

The great teachers don’t even answer the questions. They ask you to look inside for the answers to take the time to research it for yourself. Being inquisitive is  essential, deferring the effort to someone else is not.

Resistance also comes in the form of “being busy”.

How often do you find yourself answering the question, “How are you?” with, “I’m busy”.

All too often I am sure!

Being truly busy means you literally have no space in your day for simple self-reflection, rest or god forbid boredom!

That kind of busyness is concocted to fill space. Space means that you might start thinking, and when you start thinking, you often think negative thoughts. A lot of those negative thoughts are judgmental of you and insulting to you, they are thoughts that in most cases you would never even say about others, but you’ll say them about yourself.

So instead of thinking those thoughts, instead of becoming aware of them and finding triggers to change them and move away from them, you find something to distract them with a play toy of sorts.

And the busyness begins again!

Resistance comes in the form of unconscious procrastination.

Schedule this appointment so it cuts your day into useless timepieces and reduces functional efficiency.

Take a meeting or a call from someone who really could be held off, but once you engage, well you get to avoid. All the time justifying your behavior because they really needed your help. If you ask yourself if they too could have found the answer themselves . . . well, you get the idea.

Today’s new resistance; engaging and responding on social media

Social media has a definite place in our world today, and it is growing almost exponentially on a daily basis. But one of the things it has become is a big-ass distraction. It is a procrastinator’s dream and by extension, a perfectionist’s nightmare.

Because it is self-perpetuating and generally endless, it is very difficult to disconnect from Social Media completely. There is plenty of research out there now documenting the influence it has on the hormonal system of the body, almost duplicating the stimulus of some illegal substance. 

We are becoming literally more addicted to SM on a daily basis.

But that addiction serves a perfectionist. If I spend time on SM I can impress upon others that I am on point, I am perfect. I am living a golden life. No one has to see the ugly side, they can just see the good stuff. The Instalife!

Creating that life then becomes a cycle of compare and contrast. How am I doing compared to so and so, how is she doing compared to someone else? Now we become transfixed on the outcome. Now the outcome we want becomes gray or lost, it’s not living up to perfect, not by any stretch.

So we medicate our negative feelings with, you guessed it, doing stuff.

Or perhaps other ways.

We waste more time and we keep circling around on this crazy path of resistance, never really finding deep satisfaction in what we are achieving, simply existing for the time being.

What is the counter punch to perfection?

Embracing failure.

Understanding that not doing it right the first time has very little consequence of significance unless you authorize it to have significance.

You try the trapeze on holidays and you don’t catch the bar the first time. So what, you are embarrassed, why? Because you expect to be perfect and now that you are not, YOU are not amused. Do you really think anyone else really cares?

Think about the last time you did something you thought was truly stupid (it probably wasn’t that stupid, but you certainly made it so!) Now as you reflect on that moment, do you think anyone who was there really thinks about that moment anymore? Do you really think they’re telling your story at the wedding speech, or as the opening joke at heir presentation forum?

Not likely, it’s probably been flushed out of their subconscious and definitely out of their consciousness never to be found again.

It just didn’t matter!

But we make it matter by constantly reviewing it in our minds.

So embrace it, become aware of it, and understand it is there and influencing you.

Start catching yourself in that conversation. Own the noise!

Work with the noise, settle it, and re-frame it. With awareness comes ownership, with ownership comes accountability, and finally change.

Once you change the dialogue and you can open space, then resistance will be futile. you’ll start to see space as valuable. You’ll start to use it to do things you really want to accomplish, and not just stuff to keep you busy.

You’ll start to imagine your adventures, and you’ll start to see the possibilities.

You’ll come out from the fog of resistance!

Here are three things you can ry now to change the procrastinator’s narrative:

1 – Become comfortable with dropping your FFD (F-in First Draft). Whatever you’ve done, built, created, drop it, load it, or hit send and just make it happen. No second thoughts.

2 – Laugh at yourself . . . yes, that’s what I said. Don’t take yourself so seriously, be kind to yourself, and give yourself permission to laugh at your work or circumstances.

3 – Recognize when you stand in judgment of others, for in the judgment of others lies the real judgment of self. Wen you judge others it’s simply a reflection of your own self-story, and if you can let go of that, you’ll be on your way!

 

 

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Mindset
April 10, 2023 By Scott

A Step-by-Step Guide to Building a Thriving Organizational Culture

Creating a great culture is a lot easier than we think!

I’ve been around many organizational and corporate cultures in my career and I’ve seen all kinds.

Cultures that just plain suck, where people grind it out day after day, no thanks or sense of value, just a paycheck and occasional company holiday party.

Cultures where nothing gets done, and no one gives a crap about the work they do, the effort they put in, or the results of their mistakes.

Cultures where incredible things are being accomplished, but people are scared, depressed, sick, or even lost.

I’ve also seen places where people thrive. Where the People and the organization come together as one and actually create things, live fulfilling lives, and go home each day smiling.

What? Really?

Yes, they do exist! They exist all over the planet. Places where people work or give of themselves to organizations and corporations as though they are in a family.

They don’t feel like they are going to work every day, they feel like they are going to their lives each day. They are inspired and energized by the work or the environment.

No, this is not some sort of utopian civilization yet to exist on this planet, there are plenty of small and large businesses, and organizations of every sort where people live inspiring lives.

Why?

Because each of these places has approached the creation of culture in a manner that is awakening and inspiring, not the same old same old.

In observing so many performance cultures over my career, I’ve come to realize that there are some really valuable cultural ignition switches that anyone who wants to create an inspiring culture can put into practice.

Engage people with character before talent

A good friend of mine Hubert Marsolais runs three of the best restaurants in Montreal. In a town known by foodies as a metropolis for gastronomy, where your food and your service must shine if you want to stand out amongst the competition, Marsolais depends on the outstanding culture of his team to create the best ambiance and the best food day in day out.

How does he do it you may ask?

One of his founding principles is to hire character before talent. As Hubert says, “you can teach people how to do things, but you can’t teach character”.

The how, and the what of food preparation or service are important, but if the person delivering them just doesn’t care, it doesn’t matter how well imprinted or defined the script or recipe might be, the customer just won’t feel it or taste it.

If the customer doesn’t connect, chances are, they won’t return to spend their money on your food and your service, and you will soon be one of a myriad of restaurants that open and close in all the cities across the world yearly.

Marsolais has created not one, but three of the best restaurants in Montreal whose reputations have stood the test of time, each at the top of the charts for many years.

Character creates culture and culture supports character, they are mutually supportive, and in his humble opinion, the character is king!

Make room for opportunity

If you want your culture to thrive, you have to provide opportunity within the world you’ve created.

What do I mean by opportunity?

Your team must feel that they can grow, that they can serve their spirit, and they can rise up within the space. If they feel like they are limited, can’t contribute, or can’t rise beyond their current station, they will eventually tire of being a part of the team.

This doesn’t mean they have to be able to earn more money or have a fancy title. In fact, many businesses and organizations make the mistake of thinking that by just paying people more, or giving them the corner office, they will be happy, and in the end, these things are not what serve our souls.

To feel like you are contributing to the growth and development of the organization, that your contribution is of value, and that you can in turn grow within the organization is a must-have these days.

In a world where lateral and vertical movement is far more available, and people are just not afraid to go somewhere else to find fulfillment, the culture within your organizational space is a key element in securing their loyalty.

Give your people the chance to shine.

Make the ground rules simple and clear

Policies and procedures meant to make all things equal and honest within an organization simply hamstring culture.

People don’t flourish inside the mandated structure. If for every decision there are six steps, and three people to speak with, then time becomes ever-constraining. Function becomes defined by too many variables. People feel bogged down, and in the end, they stop moving forward.

They simply begin to exist within the structure instead of reaching, risking, and learning by trying.

Take the time to evaluate what your key definitive rules are, what are the un-breakables? Make them clear to everyone, and hold people accountable to them, but beyond that, let your people explore the possibilities. Let them make mistakes and learn from them.

A good friend of mine who has worked for 25 years in the pharmaceutical industry in sales told me once that the best boss she ever had, had one rule. “Do what you feel is right, but make damn sure you let me know what you did so I can back you up”.

Simple and clear, it says, “I trust you, but just make sure you don’t put me in a spot where I look stupid and we’ll both rise together”.

Rules should facilitate, not inhibit the process!

Structure and Flow

Speaking of rules!

The idea of structure in any system is to provide room and clarity for flow. Flow is the opportunity to be, think, create, and explore. Any organization or business cannot be successful without some structures or systems. This yin and yang between structure and flow are important to any businesses’ foundation for success.

The key to structure and flow is identifying a “flexible” system that allows those who are more flow-oriented to be fluid and unencumbered, and those who are more structure-oriented to have systematic anchors from which they may flourish.

It may even be necessary to have independent systems within the “zones” of an organization. As an example, structure-oriented areas of business like finance or engineering might need greater levels of structure, while areas of an organization that have a greater dependence on free-thinking like the design or artistic expression may need more room to flow.

That being said, no matter how flow-oriented a person might be, they will have some fundamental structures that center them when necessary, and no matter how structured someone might be, they will from time to time allow their minds to drift into a flow state where they may be creative.

Find a happy place for your people to flourish.

Lead by example

In any organization or family, those who are in charge or looked toward for direction or leadership must set an example. If you expect others to do things, don’t expect it to happen much if you don’t do it yourself.

Want people to be at your meetings on time? Start them on time!

Want people to submit expense reports? Submit yours!

Want people to take care of their health and well-being so they can be more productive? Then take care of your health and well-being.

Want people to be honest and accountable? Be honest and accountable yourself!

It would seem logical, but quite often those in leadership positions ask people to do things they aren’t willing to do themselves, and that’s when things get very murky.

Pride in the Jersey

Ken Holland, the long-standing General Manager of the Detroit Redwings, one of the most successful hockey teams of the last 25 years (mostly under his supervision) told me in an interview we did together, that one of the most important aspects of his players’ character was pride in the jersey. In other words, that they love playing for the Detroit Redwings and would do anything to win for the team.

It also translated into a sense that the jersey must be in turn worthy of that pride and commitment. The sense that when one comes to work or to contribute to the organization, it matters to them that they represent the “brand” and that the “brand” cares about them!

Building a sense of community, connecting it to a “brand” or representation of character allows people to feel they are a part of something important. All humans want to matter, they wish for significance. So if being a part of something, being connected to the image at large, makes a person feel more significant, then they, in turn, will do anything it takes to remain a part of that community.

Pride in your tribe is an all-powerful glue that binds.

Mind Your Manners

As all our grandmothers loved to say, “Mind your manners”. Nothing done for you should go unnoticed, a simple thank you will suffice, but a thank you is a must.

Asking, not demanding, but asking is the key to opening another’s heart.

The simple and effective use of politeness has been so lost among us today. We simply must return to a place where being polite is the norm, not the exception.

As the country singer Tim McGraw says in his song Humble and Kind, “Hold the door, say please, say thank you, don’t steal don’t cheat, and don’t lie”. Good advice for all of us to heed.

Listen and Learn

Finally, something that we all struggle with each day is our ability to truly listen to others.

Not to give way to their voice, but to listen to what they are actually saying.

Not thinking about what we wish to say next, but letting what we want to say go, and simply investing in what the other person is saying. Listening with intention and learning what matters to those around us is a key element of our true and deep connection.

When we are connected to each other, we will go much further for each other.

Don’t listen with the expectation that you will be listened to, just as you should not expect anything in return when you truly give, nor should you bear any expectation that you will receive a listening ear. Do right because it is right, not because you expect right in return.

As culture is the crux of organizational and corporate success, If we employ many of these simple strategies in forging a vibrant culture, we will find that the culture we create will inspire and eventually stand the test of time.

Be well!

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Mindset
April 3, 2023 By Scott

How to Crush Resistance

Have you heard of the term resistance?

The sticky, gluey, friction-like surface of our mind that stops us from moving forward.

In some ways, it’s a better word for describing the manifestation of fear than using the word fear.

Why?

Because fear conjures up this sensitivity to possible harm, the danger of the moment, and in a lot of instances there really isn’t any harm or a danger present.

It’s more the perception of consequence that is stopping us.

What will people think of me?

How will I be judged?

How will I be ostracized?

Will I be alone?

What will I do if I don’t have “that” anymore? (insert job, car, house, boat, friend, partner, etc.)

Consequence and judgment are a constant circular conversation for most of us.

Get up in the morning and the brain starts chirping about how you don’t want to get up, you aren’t ready for the day, you don’t like waking up, and what’s so good about today!

Everyone has days like that, some have weeks like that, and some have lives like that. Resistance starts upon waking, and the glue begins to harden as the day progresses.

What do you mean you might be saying? I get a lot of stuff done, I’m busy with so many things, and I’m a worker bee!

Aha! That my friend is often resistant just as much as not doing anything is resistance.

Huh?!

Yep, doing things, lots of things, things that seemingly occupy your time, but insidiously erode your “productive” time are all forms of resistance.

What do I mean about productive time?

Real productive time is when what you are doing with your time aligns with what you intentionally wish to create in your life.

If you want to be an amazing writer, then you need to spend time thinking, writing, reading, listening, re-writing, resting, and basically dedicating significant amounts of your time to the art of producing the written word.

But it also means being tactical about it, and not doing it haphazardly, or sporadically, but dedicating real chunks of undisturbed time to being creative.

We need structure in our lives

The first thing we need to do to beat resistance is to create a structure that works for us. Structure is the opposite of flow, and to be able to flow, which is what we need to be able to do to harvest ideas and ultimately be creative, we need structure.

The word harvest infers that you took the time to plant and sew the seeds, you waited for the plants to grow to maturity, and now you are harvesting the bounty.

Just like a real harvest, to harvest ideas, there needs to be a short and long-term structure that creates fertile soil.

Behind every great artist or entrepreneur, the ones who build good bodies of work, not one-offs or occasional flurries, but real tangible and consistent work is a structure of creation. Even if that structure is created for them by a partner or assistant, or team, the structure must be there to support the consistent delivery and quality of expectation.

So anyone who is experiencing resistance needs to first create structures that allow them to be more cognizant of when they must be productive, and when they can rest or un-plug.

Instead what often happens is that without structure, time and space for creation become filled with “stuff”, quick texts, short conversations, long conversations, e-mails, trips to the fridge, trips to the coffee shop, glances at the TV, absorption in a YouTube video, sending Bitmoji’s!

The list goes on and on!

Start to become more aware of where you spend your time and energy

It’s tough to change anything or become better at anything unless you are aware of why you are not good at it in the first place!

So being better and owning your time and energy requires you to have some sense of where you spend these precious properties.

Assignment number one, take the time (haha!) to track your use of time each day. From the moment you wake up to the moment you go to bed each day for 3–5 days, write down at regular intervals during the day in a journal, spreadsheet, or just a simple white sheet of paper, everything you are doing throughout the day.

Don’t just reflect on the major “doing” moments like making and eating breakfast, or writing a memo, or taking the dog for a walk, but also reflect on the “stuff” you were doing to avoid being truly productive.

How long did you sit watching that YouTube video someone posted?

How many times did you check your phone for a new text or e-mail?

How long did you spend standing at someone’s desk or place of work chatting about nothing particularly thought-provoking (maybe you were even gossiping?).

Did you listen to an interesting podcast or audiobook on your way into work, or did you just listen to yourself crap on yourself, or someone else?

How many times did you go to a colleague and ask a question you could have investigated and solved yourself?

How often did you rearrange your desk, move papers, read the same message?

How many times did you tell yourself you couldn’t do something, or you don’t know how to do this or that?

All of this stuff is avoidance behavior.

It’s resistance.

You need to launch it from your life.

The more you are aware, the more you can begin to acknowledge it, and with acknowledgment comes accountability.

With accountability, we can begin to change things.

Hold yourself accountable

The best way to hold yourself accountable is to track things. To keep it simple, especially in the beginning, take some time at the end of the day each day to review and reflect on your day, write down where you used the time well, where you didn’t, and when you felt a sense that time spent was not productive and try to link to why.

Just do this for 3–4 weeks. Then look back at your notes and you’ll start to see trends. Trends you can start to address with intervention. You’ll also just simply become more aware of what you are doing. Awareness, like listening, is a skill we all need to learn. Awareness is the first power in change.

Now start using that same tracker to hold yourself accountable each night to doing better each day. Not being perfect but being better. You’ll soon find yourself looking back at the person you once were with that feeling of “How did I waste so much time?”

Understand your true intentions

Some people get stuck on purpose. What is my purpose, who am I, what am I supposed to accomplish on this earth? These can be overwhelming thoughts and conversations for many people.

If you are aware of your purpose, then this will resonate just that much more, but if not, no worries. The key here is that whatever you are doing each day, use the 80/20 rule. 80 percent of your day should be spent doing things that are directly contributing to building the life you want to have.

Oh boy, that’s a big thought. The life I want to have, what is that?

If you’re a big visionary thinker, then that might be a big vision, but if you aren’t, it might just simply be something that is one increment better than the life you have right now.

Ask yourself a simple question.

If I could change one thing in my life that would create a greater sense of fulfillment in me, what would it be?

Whatever the answer to that question, 80% of your time and energy on a daily basis should constructively connect to that aspiration.

If it’s getting a better job, or opening a business, or being a better parent, then how are you constructing your day so you can achieve that?

That doesn’t mean that if you want to be a better parent, you have to quit your job and stay home, it means that the way you construct your workday, what you do with your time when you get home, how you deport yourself when you are with your children, all of these things become far more important and focused. 

You become aware of how you spend your time and energy moving towards this goal.

You don’t keep looking at your phone when you are with your children? You don’t stare mindlessly at the TV while your child stares mindlessly at their tablet?

You become laser-focused on how you connect with your children.

The same is said for whatever key item you’ve chosen to go after, the one that will make the ultimate difference in your sense of fulfillment. Everyone is different.

Be comfortable in your discomfort

The changes you will need to make will at times feel uncomfortable. You may not like leaving your phone off, or in another room. You may not like staying at your desk and focusing on your work, it may feel strange to immerse yourself in the silence between you and your child. Discomfort is part of the change, it’s part of over-reaching, it’s part of achieving a better you.

Comfort is easy, comfort is warm and cozy. Wash in the discomfort, it is the cleanser of resistance.

If we want to live a more fulfilling and intentional life, we need to recognize the resistance that keeps us stuck in the mud, and eliminate the habits that feed the animal!

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Mindset
March 27, 2023 By Scott

Don’t Live in the Brown Zone

Perhaps, if you’re like most people, you often hear things like “you gotta hustle and grind” if you want to be successful.  

On the other hand, you might have heard people talking about the concept of life balance, the idea of ideal fulfillment, or the search for eternal happiness.

 The truth is, nothing is permanent.  Life ebbs and flows.

 There are good days and bad, empowering moments and difficult moments, times to hustle, and times to recover.

 If you live life with your foot on the gas pedal full time, you will at some point blow the engine, and that will express itself as burnout, depression, sickness, injury, or relationship issues. All of these things are symptoms of too much, too often, with no recuperation.

 No matter if it’s about how you work, how you workout, or how you socialize, it’s important for you to create an approach that actually allows you to achieve and recover.

A conceptual model for this approach I’ve titled “The Green, Yellow, Red Zone Strategy”.

 You can think of the Red Zone as going over the top, overreaching, going beyond your means, taking on more than you believe you can handle or feels right. 

Fundamentally, without overreaching, you just won’t grow.

 This is a fact of the physical, mental, emotional, and psychological spheres of our lives. Over-reaching stimulates or demands adaptation, your body, your brain, your physiology respond to increased stress, whatever that stress may be, by accommodating to it, building more capacity to handle that stress so that the next time you encounter such intensity you are ready and no longer challenged by that same level of stress.

 This is how we grow and get better at anything.

 Want to learn how to ride a bike? 

You have to lose your balance, wobble, fall a few times, catch yourself, all in an effort to accommodate and adapt. Slowly but surely your body recognizes when to zig when to zag, and voila, you are riding a bike. 

But, that then becomes pretty easy, so if you want to take it to another level, be able to handle, say some single-track mountain biking, well you need to try that now, and start all over with the wobbling, stepping off, crashing, or going completely ass over tea kettle!

 You want to run a business, make it successful?

 Red zone work means long days, big days of work, trying things, making mistakes, trying risky approaches, maybe even doing things people say you shouldn’t do, just because you have this “feeling”. In short, no red zone, no learning, no overreaching, no business. You will not succeed.

 But here’s where the shift in consciousness has to occur.  There are two other zones you need to recognize and live in from time to time so that all that accommodation and adaptation can take place.

 If you ride that mountain bike and you don’t pause to let your body absorb what it’s just learned, for a minute, for an hour, for a day, maybe even for several weeks, if you just keep trying and trying and trying, your body will either break, or you will cease to absorb the stimulus. 

You won’t get better, you might even get worse!

 Maybe you run a trail a little less difficult, one you are familiar with, or one you can manage well to negotiate, and in so doing your body starts to incorporate the adaptations. You start to manoeuver over and through things with just a little more confidence, you feel a sense of accomplishment and your body starts to go from that sympathetic flight or fight response you feel whenever you are on the edge, to a state of greater calm, one where you feel like you have to be on your game, but not on TOP of your game!

 This is Yellow Zone work. It’s still challenging, it still requires focus and intentional connection, but it isn’t requiring absolute and complete commitment every moment. This is the sweet spot of adaptation and regulation. The zone where you get to show off a bit, demonstrate that you know what you are doing, and do it really well. Gain confidence in your ability, demonstrate an ability to be in the game!

 You need to effectively allow yourself to live in this zone more frequently than you do. Seemingly these days, you are either all on, in the red zone almost constantly, or you are in the green zone trying to recover but doing a crappy job of it because you are too tired to actually engage in the green zone work.

 Yes, I said it, green zone work.

 Green Zone is the real recovery zone. Where you give yourself permission to just absorb life, tune in to yourself, be alone, sleep, read a book just for the pure escape of it, go for a walk, and think about……..nothing!

If you’re like most you likely pay limited mind to really resting. You are in the red zone all day, then you hit a self-imposed zone I call the brown zone. That’s the exhaustion zone. That’s the zone where we stare at the TV for an hour and forget what we watched. 

That’s the zone where you sit beside your loved one and pretend you are spending time together.

That’s the zone where you eat a pizza and chase it with a bowl of double fudge chocolate ice cream.

That’s the zone where you drink five glasses of wine and only realize when the bottle is empty! 

That’s the zone where your head hits the pillow with deep exhaustion, but seconds later won’t let you sleep because your brain won’t stop thinking shitty thoughts!

 The Brown Zone is the shit zone and it’s not something we create, it’s something we accept.

Brown zone is like drinking brown water, it isn’t very healthy!

Red zone, brown zone, red zone, brown zone, and thus the days flow on and on until we hit a wall.

 Heart attack!

 Loss of a loved one!

 Kids that misbehave!

 Divorce!

 Business fails!

 Lose all your money!

 And the list goes on.

 How do you build a Red, Yellow, Green Zone life?

 Consciously and consistently understanding what each one looks like, learning what they feel like, living in each one intentionally.

 The first thing you need to do is evaluate each day, consider what you do each day, apply a form of intensity monitor on each thing you do, recognize the redness of your actions.

Start learning what is truly green for you, intentionally engage in green lifestyle choices. Naps, meditation, reading, deep conversations, walks with no distraction, nutrition with impact. Begin to learn about these things.

 In the coming weeks, I will be writing more about the red, yellow, and green zone lifestyle, and how to do it right. Come back and visit, and we will grow together.

 No more running in the red, and flopping into the brown.

 Live life with intention, live it in the red, live it in the yellow and live it in the green!

 Own it!

Want to re-invent your life, or perhaps experience your life journey through a guided process?  

The next cohort of our amazing LYM Life Lab begins in May

Here’s a FREE Kickstarter to help you out, and let you see some of what we’ll be doing.

Password: LYMLab4U

We would love to have you with us.

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