Monthly Archives: July 2014

Big Rocks!

Featured

Posted on by
Reply

free-bible-studies-online-the-big-rocksEach day we wake up in the morning to go about our life.   The decisions we make invariably will contribute to the outcome of the day.   We go through the day and do things we thought were important to get done for that day.   Hopefully as the day progresses, you’re making progress and able to check things off.

The reality of life is that things are bound to change.   An urgent incoming call can alter your day—unexpected calls from school to name a few. Before you know it you’re doing things that were not on your list when you started your day.   A mad rush to get things done that are not on your list and lo and behold the day is over. The list that you started the day with is what you have at the end of the day. Does that sound familiar? Yes, I felt that way in the recent past.

Many people demand our time.   Unless we know our priorities, we can get sucked into other people’s demand of our time. The more we offer, the more people take more of our time. In this world, there are givers that give all the time and takers that do nothing but take from everyone around them.   I’ve fallen victim to people demanding my time and I end up working on things that do not add any value or help me achieve my goal.

Until one day, I decided enough is enough.   I need to do things that contribute to my big rocks. The big rocks are things that matter to me the most, like my family, my dream, my aspiration and passion.   The day I put my foot down is the day I felt I’ve made progress with my life. By no means have I turned the corner and become fully independent, but I do say “NO” when I have to.

So, how did I do it? I start my day by imagining my dream.   As my mentor Paul Martinelli says, “Hold your image.”  I hold the image of my dream and let that set for a moment. Let it inspire me to be more aware of what I do and the decisions I make. Understand that each decision made either brings me closer to my dream or pushes me back a step or two. Bring my big rocks front end center, this way I am conscious about it.   Believe me it did not happen overnight. It took days, weeks, and months, until I mustered the courage to say “NO” to people. At times, no is not the answer, but rather disrupting you now, when later can I do the work for others.

It took a lot of time to get to where I need to be, but I feel that the progress made has made me more conscious of the choices I made and how I can influence my progress to get to where I need to be.

Big rocks…remember your big rocks. Hold that image each day and make it stick.   Be conscious of your decisions and make sure that you are working toward achieving your dream.   If you are aware of your priorities, it makes making decision easier.

Are you ready to focus on your big rocks? What would you do differently tomorrow? How can I challenge you to take your first step?

AIM program – Step 3- Making It Happen

Featured

Posted on by
Reply

AIM

“Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen others make it happen.” Michael Jordan

 

This is the final segment of my three part series of my AIM program.   Before you read this post, I recommend that you to read the following posts:

  1. Step One – Awareness
  2. Step Two – Intentionality

Just like a book series, it is more interesting to know what happened in the first two volumes to provide you with context of the development of the final volume.   The third segment focuses on making it happen, which is the execution of the plan. I call this the triple A’s, representing Act, Assess and Adjust.   By applying the triple A’s, we are able to adapt to changes and revise our plan. This will enable us to continue our journey and monitor our progress.

 

“Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

The key to this step is making the decision.   According to Ralph Waldo Emerson, the universe will conspires to make it happen once a decision is made.   The first step is always the hardest.  The challenge is: making the decision is only the initial step. What is really important is taking action. It is at that point that you are on your way to achieving your dream.

Once you’ve started your journey by taking the first step, it is important to be diligent and keep up with your progress. Celebrate good days in which you made progress and also acknowledge that there will be days that you’ll fall behind, but learn from your mistakes and get back in the saddle; move in the right direction.   As part of their program, the participants will receive 2 coaching sessions each month on a one-on-one basis.   The coaching session will allow me to help keep the participant on track and ask the tough questions.   In addition to that, peer circle call will be in place, whereby all participants of the training will jump in and call once a month to discuss their wins and challenges. The peer circle calls are crucial in establishing a sense of community.

According to Colin Powell, a dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.   You have to keep in mind that to succeed will require discipline and perseverance.     You need to be persistent, but as your coach, I will help you and guide you to achieve you dream. Remember that your success starts by you believing in yourself.   I believe in you. The question is, do you believe in yourself?   I certainly hope you value yourself to love yourself and want to succeed.

To close, I’m here for you.   I’ll use my knowledge and expertise to help you. However, you need to pull it together to make it happen.   Let me know what you think of my blog. If you like it, share it someone you know who will benefit from reading it.

Will’s AIM Program –Intentionality

Featured

Posted on by
Reply

I_Am_Intentional

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” Lao Tzu

Intentionality means doing things with purpose and passion.   Being aware and conscious about your current state and facing that hard reality that changes need to be undertaken in order for you to attain your dream.   According to Lao Tzu, resisting reality will create sorrow that can only hold you back. Why choose that path when you have the option of turning things around?   In my opinion, it is never too late—never unless you’re dead, that is only the time it is final. Till that happens, you have the opportunity to seek the changes you want to better yourself.

This step starts with a personal assessment which focuses on identifying your strengths and weaknesses. The purpose of identifying your strengths is to come up with plans to continue to find ways to highlights your strengths.   The weaknesses identification is critical to your growth and development, because more often than not, some of your weaknesses are single handedly holding you back or pulling you down.

“A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.” Colin Powell

Facing the hard reality is not easy. Who wants to sit there to pinpoint what is holding them back? However, it is a crucial step in your growth and development to face the hard reality head on.   As Colin Powell says, a dream doesn’t become reality without hard work. The hard work here is to painstakingly list every weakness and be intentional about how it is holding you back. Without fully disclosing and articulating these, it is hard to find the way forward.

Once you’ve listed each of the weakness, prepare a plan on how to address that challenge. What can you do to address it? Do you need training? Do you need a mentor? Do you need a coach? What is that one thing that can help you turn the corner?   During this step be intentional and spend the right amount of time and create a plan. Do the same for your strengths and determine how you can continue to highlight it. What are the opportunities to showcase your strengths?

I often ask people this question, “Would you ever consider driving without a direction? How would you know if you arrive?”   If you won’t drive without a direction, why are you willing to drive your life without direction?   Don’t take chances with your career, plan, act, do, reassess and continue that cycle.

To close, on my next blog I’ll focus on making it happen.   Let me know what you think of my blog. If you like it, share it someone you know who will benefit from reading it.

 

Will’s AIM Program –Self Reflection

Featured

Posted on by
1

self-reflection

Photo courtesy of salesprogress.com

I’ve been working on a program called AIM. It has been six months in the making. Over the next three blogs, I will be sharing a high-level overview of my program.

A – Stands for Aspire. Aspiration is the starting point of taking your dream and conceptualizing it.   By doing so, you’ll articulate and describe it like it is right in front of you.   You should paint the picture and vividly describe what it looks and feels like.

I – stands for intentionality.   Being intentional is key to your ability to achieve your goal.   Intentionality helps raise awareness and pushes you to do something about it.

M – Stands for making it happen.   It means creating the plan to detail how you will go about achieving your dream. It is the step to create the plan.   A plan that will guide you through the process, you’ll use it to track progress and adjust accordingly.

To aspire, you need to be able to describe your dream. There must this burning desire to want to make it happen. This must be something that motivates you to get up in the morning and get started with your day.

Once you define your dream, your next step is to practice self-reflection.     Here are the steps in self-reflection:

  • Step one is reflecting on all the things that transpired during the week.   During this step, take account of everything that happened during the week, both good and situations that did not go well.
  • Step two is to write down each of one the situations. Try to describe and elaborate the situation, including the wins and room for improvements.   This step forces you to commit all the things that happened to you to their physical state.
  • Step three is categorize and group them. This is relevant because it enables you to come up with solution or action items and address all possible issues.
  • Step four defines a way forward for each of the situations in which it did not go well. Highlight how you can improve upon the situation. What could you have done differently?
  • Step five is step back and try to see the situation in a third-party perspective.   By doing so, you’ll be forced to grow and develop, to be objective in evaluating your situation.

Practicing self-reflection is key to your ability to assess your situation.   This practice is key to your growth and development.   Without operating outside of our comfort zone, we will not be challenged to step up and address the things that are preventing us from achieving our dream.

To close, on my next blog, I’ll focus on intentionality.   Let me know what you think of my blog. If you like it, share it to someone you know who will benefit from reading it.