Self Improvement Tips

  What hat are you wearing when you think?  Years ago when I was studying what makes an effective team I came across a book, The Six Thinking Hats by Edward DeBono.  One of the premises was that for effective teamwork that it was important to have different perspectives.  And, as a team leader it is important to have a variety of prisms in thought in order to be able to move forward on a project or task with greater confidence. First, it is important to understand that each team member has preferred ways of thinking.  As a leader, you may be able to discern what is the best hat for someone to wear. 1. White Hat Thinking- With this thinking you focus on the data available. You analyze from past trends and extrapolate from historical data. 2. Red Hat Thinking-  You look at problems using your intuition, not reaction and emotion. Your goal is to understand others’ response intuitively, even if they don’t know your reasoning. 3. Black Hat Thinking-  You lo...

There is something I do know. The two most important concepts for a civil, peaceful society to function are to have a clear definition of “what is okay” and “what is not okay. In your own life you determine “what is okay” and “what is not okay.” For society, “What is okay” has laws, customs and guidelines. “What is not okay” creates its own law, which in truth is the rule of men and their decisions at the moment as to “what is okay,” not law, along with their own special customs and guidelines. When “what is okay,” is not enforced, then “what is not okay” takes over. This is when lawlessness becomes the law. Fear sets in. And people when people see and feel this, they become scared. They are not themselves. They will pander to the fear in hopes of pacifying it and that the threat that is causing the fear will go away. In reality, nothing is being done to curb the source of the fear. There is no pushback. Without pushback, what is unreasonable becomes reasonable. And this...

Both success and failure involve future consequences, namely inevitable rewards or unavoidable regrets resulting from past activities. So what do we need to do daily to be on the path to success? We must develop the discipline to look down the road every day. Why are new disciplines so important? They cause us to amend our thinking to keep us on track to creating the successful future we desire. Also, disciplines tend to multiply. We start with one new successful discipline and we build momentum and self-confidence to develop others. Success is about paying attention to what we are doing each day to move us to the future we desire. Failure, on the other hand, is largely a function of neglect. And, not doing the things we know we should leads to guilt and an erosion of self-confidence. When our self-confidence diminishes, so does our activity. We must stay focused on our vision of a successful future. The journey toward the good life begins with a serious commitment to chan...

If you are looking for the magical concept, the short course that will turn your life around or, to create in a few short days or weeks your escalator to success then this is not the place for you. Self improvement takes the creation of a vision. And, it takes time. With your vision you how have a map for your journey of self improvement. The journey of self improvement demands that you develop new skills and disciplines. If we keep the same skills and disciplines, nothing changes. Self improvement takes time. Thankfully, all of us have 24 hours in a day. Rich, poor, happy or unhappy all of us have 24 hours in our day. The choices we make will either move us forward in our self improvement or hold us back. Self improvement takes effort. There is a story of a man sitting in a small cabin on a cold night. He has a wood stove that is not giving him any heat. He looks at the stove and finally shouts at it, “Give me the heat. Then I’ll give you the wood.” Like the wood stove, in...

As we saw in the previous post, the word “network” was first used in England in the 1550’s to describe a finished product, a fish net.  A fish net was a piece of network. When you think about it, a nice piece of network is about catching more fish, and as time went on, bigger fish.  In personal business coaching in The Woodlands and in personal business coaching in Houston , I collaborate with many different business owners and types of businesses.  They are all casting their nets to market their business, and in many cases, to expand it. Some small businesses do not need or want to grow.  Even the owners of these businesses still network.  Yet, instead of doing it to bring in more business, they are doing their networking with their professional contacts, the salespeople and suppliers they deal with, to be able to be on the cutting edge of introducing new products at competitive prices as well as keeping a cost advantage and even supply of the foundational...

In the last post I spoke about some of the foundational components to building a strong culture. It is necessary for people to feel safe and to believe they belong to something bigger than themselves. Also, for a culture to thrive it needs a clear mission, vision and an established purpose. As a business coach in the Woodlands and as a business coach in Houston, a clear sense of purpose makes the possibilities for growth and advancement of an organization much clearer. Why? With clarity comes pointed and focused action. The individuals and teams who make up the culture have a clear purpose. Several years ago, a designer and engineer, Peter Skillman, held a competition to find out the following: Why do certain groups add up to be greater than the sum of their parts, while others add up to be less? To this end he assembled a series of four-person groups at three major universities and a few other places. He challenged each group to build the tallest possible structure using the fo...

A college professor prepared a test for his soon to be graduating seniors.  The test questions were divided into three categories and the students were instructed to choose questions from only one of the categories.  The first category of questions was the hardest and worth fifty points.  The second, which was easier, was worth forty points.  The third, the simplest, was worth thirty points. Upon completion of the test, students who had chosen the hardest fifty-point questions were given As.  The students who had chosen the forty-point questions received Bs.  Those who settled for the easiest thirty-pointers were given Cs. The students were frustrated with the grading of their papers and asked the professor what he was looking for.  The professor leaned over the podium, smiled, and explained, “I wasn’t testing your book knowledge.  I was testing your aim.” An anonymous writer once commented, “Make no small plans for they have no power to st...

There is some gold to be mined during the Holidays in discovering your keys to success in life. For most of us, the normal routine is gone. It disappeared during the Christmas. And it was good. Now we have entered that twilight zone. What is the twilight zone? It is a time and place where the rhythm of business, life or both has changed. For most, it is a time where things have slowed down. If you have children in school you will not get to enter the twilight zone until after they go back. The twilight zone is a time for reflection and evaluation. It is a time, with the coming of the new year, to take stock of who you are and where you are at. It is a time to reflect on what has been and what is to come. It is a time of transition as we move from a Holiday mode back into our normal every day routines. One of the keys to success, whether you are a self-employed business owner, entrepreneur, solo professional or an individual, working or not, is to enjoy and learn from your time i...

For your self-improvement to benefit you for the long term you must be regularly evaluating your performance. Here are some tips on self improvement. One Down, Three to Go! The first quarter of 2018 is gone. In today’s world, danger awaits those who wait for the once-a-year performance review. Before the second quarter gets too far away from you, I strongly recommend that you evaluate your current performance and associated results. Right now, yes, right this second: ask yourself these very important questions to set up your personal development goals: 1. Concerning my year to date performance, how am I doing? 2. If I continue along with my current strategies and performance, how will I be doing at the end of the second quarter? 3. What am I going to do starting today to get myself back on target? 4. What new strategies and habits must I implement in order to improve my performance? The reality is that at this very moment, you are in one of these three positions – ...

As a personal development business coach in Houston , I am often reminded in collaborating with clients and even from my own experiences as a business owner, some of which were fairly large, that it is the start of instituting change that stops us. Yes, the start is what stops us. Here are some thoughts to get you started on building safety in your culture, in your life. And along with that to create a sense of belonging and collaboration. First you must be an active listener. Almost go overboard in letting people know that you are truly listening to them. In my personal business coaching in Houston and The Woodlands I have learned that I gain so much more in the ability to have better relationships when I actively listen. I listen to learn. I don’t listen to respond. Also, and this is critical, my cell phone is on mute and turned over where I can’t see it. You cannot be an active listener is someone sees you have a potential distraction. Second of all let your people know early...