The Difference Between Pros and Amateurs

September 9, 2014 by Leave a Comment

The Difference Between Pros & AmateursI play golf maybe once a week. My goal is to break 90, but I’m struggling to accomplish that. At times I’m getting closer, others it’s far off. I also have to take into account that the golf season in Wisconsin is six months long. By the time spring rolls around, I’m rusty and it takes months to get my swing back.

I was watching one of the PGA events on TV recently and the pro golfers were out practicing every element of their game before playing their round. They spend hours practicing before competing in a tournament, not to mention the practice rounds earlier in the week to get a feel for the course.

I go out once a week (without having practiced) expecting to play a flawless game. That’s an unrealistic expectation. In order to go out and perform at a high level I should practice the skills to get me to a place where that is possible. Sure, the stars may align and everything could go my way, but odds are not in my favor.
If we want to become good at something we need to practice. That’s the difference between pros and amateurs. Pros practice to keep up their mastery. Amateurs work to get to a certain level of comfort and once that is achieved practice is forgotten.
There are things I’m good at. I’ve spent my time to develop those skills. We all have talents that we’ve honed with practice. Lots of it. Malcolm Gladwell has stated that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to master something. We can’t expect to be great at something without putting in that sort of time commitment.
What about those people who look like things come effortlessly to them? The truth is it’s not natural talent. It took determination and hard work. Respect the time and effort they devoted to their talent. We didn’t see them struggle, sweat, and work when no one was watching. We see the results. Looking at the box score is looking at the result, Earning a degree is a result.
High achievers sacrificed a lot. They could have used those 10,000 hours to party with friends or watch TV, but they didn’t.
Think of the things you’re good at. How much time did you devote to gain that level of expertise? More than you think. If you don’t spend the time to get better, you can’t expect to go pro.
Filed Under: Life Lessons, Motivation Tagged With: , ,

Stop Doing Things That Aren’t Good For You

August 26, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Stop Doing Things That Aren't Good For YouI ate Kentucky Fried Chicken twice when I was younger and threw up immediately afterwards both times. I always joked that my body didn’t agree with one of the 11 herbs and spices. I never tried it again and have never been tempted to. I know KFC is bad for me, so it’s not an option. 

We often do things that aren’t good for us, sometimes repeatedly. Why don’t we stop? For me, eating at KFC was easy to stop. I know the pattern – eat KFC, throw up. I had a physical reaction that I didn’t want to go through again. But, we often put ourselves in the same emotional patterns. We can’t stop the cycle for some reason.
If you threw up every time you made a bad decision, I guarantee you that you wouldn’t make the same mistake again. The pattern would be broken. But, because the pain isn’t physical we’ll continue to do what we always do.
Here are 3 ways to stop doing things that aren’t good for you:
1) Act as if your life depended on your decision to stop. I remember a story my grandpa used to tell about how he decided to stop smoking and drinking. He said he went in for a checkup and the doctor told him to quit or he’d die. My grandpa quit that day and didn’t have a cigarette or drop of alcohol for the remaining 25 plus years of his life.
If you think something will kill you, you’ll think about it differently. If you’re scared enough, you’ll stop.
2) Take decision-making away from yourself. We often have too much time and too many choices to make good decisions. Often, we let our emotions control our lives and we end up making poor decisions. There’s a reason why those “What Would Jesus Do?” bracelets are so popular. It takes the decision away from you and gives it to Jesus.
If you follow a plan or path set up by a coach, mentor, or hero, you’ll make decisions based on what they’d do. Plan so there’s no room for deviation. We often suffer from self-inflicted anxiety because we put ourselves in the same bad situations. When we’re confronted with a situation we panic and think, “What should I do?” Follow some else’s plan and you’ll be amazed how that helps you.
3) Trust your gut. You know deep down when something is wrong. You sense it. Later you’ll say to yourself, “I knew it.” Instead of waiting until after the fact, realize what your senses are telling you in the moment they’re kicking in. When you sense something, walk away. It’s not over-reacting when you feel uneasy, it’s your body telling you to watch out based on experience. Listen to it.
Has anything else worked for you? How long did it take for you to give up something bad? It’s not easy, find someone to be a cheerleader. Better yet, be a cheerleader for someone else. Helping them may just end up helping you.
Filed Under: Life Lessons, Motivation Tagged With:

Robin Williams and The Artist’s Soul

August 12, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Robin Williams and the Artist's SoulThe death of Robin Williams has deeply saddened me. I feel sorry for his family, and for those of us affected by his work. But, I mostly feel sorry for him. Artists like Robin Williams give, and give, and give, and yet he didn’t feel like he got enough back out of life to live. 

We take for granted that artists are there to inspire us, make us laugh, make us cry, help us fall in love, and get over falling out of love. They give up more than we know. The artist’s soul is fed by giving, by creating, by going where most of us fear going. They are open and honest and feel and experience life to the extremes. We love where they take us.
Artists are in a spotlight that few of us will be under. Sure, artists get fortune and fame, but as we’ve seen over and over again; that is not what life is about. That does not provide true happiness and fulfillment.

I remember when I read about the suicide of Del Shannon back in 1990. That hit me hard, though at the time I wasn’t familiar with his body of work except for “Runaway.” I thought it was tragic that someone who had given of himself so freely couldn’t find satisfaction or happiness.
I have felt the same way with other artists that have ended their lives, but Williams’ death hurts much more because of the amount of joy he brought to me. Reading the countless tributes, I know he affected others just as much. There’s a sense of guilt with that as well. He gave so much, but I couldn’t do anything for him, like I could do anything for him since I didn’t know him personally. It’s funny how we just take, and think our interaction is complete with the purchase of a ticket or CD.
What I can do is admire and respect artists who give everything to entertain us. When someone exhibits behavior we question, we have no idea what that person is dealing with, we can appreciate their life without judgment. I can love those around me and encourage them through this journey called life.
I feel like Robin Williams was a comet that could only shine for so long before burning out. He gave what he could, and it was time to move on. He will truly be missed and I hope he has found what he was looking for.
Filed Under: Inspiration, Life Lessons Tagged With: ,

Do It Today. Do It Now.

August 5, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Do It Today. Do It Now.Over the weekend, I made a quick trip up to Sparta to meet my 6-week-old nephew. I wanted to be able to see him while he was still a baby, plus it’s been a while since I’d seen my niece, sister, brother-in-law, and my parents. But, I had a limited amount of time that worked in my schedule. I had a day to visit since I had some other things I needed to do in Milwaukee.

I could have pushed the trip off and waited until I had more time. I spoke with someone about a job on Friday, sent some samples of my work and said she’d be in touch with me early the next week. If I had made my plans based on the fact that I could miss a call from her I would’t have made the trip. She didn’t call while I was gone and I would have wasted the opportunity to visit with my family.
How much of life do we put off in anticipation of something else happening? I’m starting to learn that it’s better to just do what’s important at the moment and adjust to anything that comes up later.
A great example of this is when my wife and I took a trip to Paris and London. We had an hour before we had to board our train to Paris. I thought about just hanging out, but the British Library was a few blocks down the street. There were some hand-written lyrics from the Beatles I wanted to see, so I thought I’d give it a go.
The first thing I saw when I entered the room were pages from Leonardo da Vinci’s notebook. I saw Lewis Carroll’s diary that had the beginnings of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, scores by Mozart and Handel in their own hand, the Gutenberg Bible, oh, yeah, and this little thing called the Magna Carta! Not to mention that Beatles’ lyrics. The amount of history I took in, in just an hour was amazing. If I had thought that I can’t possibly do anything in an hour I would have missed that entire experience.
We need to put as much life as we can into life. We can’t wait for the perfect time or more time. We each have 24 hours a day to work with. Our days are limited. We need to use them wisely.
Start with whatever amount of time you can. If you want to write a book – write an hour a day. If you want to lose weight – workout for a 30 minutes a day. If you want to catch up with a friend – make a phone call and chat for 15 minutes. No amount of time is ever wasted. You don’t need a month’s worth of time in order to do something. Do it today. Do it now. Spend the next five minutes writing down what you’ve put off for too long. And then spend an hour doing it!
Filed Under: Inspiration, Life Lessons Tagged With: ,

3 Ways to Get Ready for a Major League Tryout (or for a Major Life Change)

July 15, 2014 by Leave a Comment
3 Ways to Get Ready for a Major League TryoutWhen I was in my early teens, my dream was to play Major League Baseball. I used to eat, sleep, and dream baseball; I still have dreams where I’m playing. I thought I was pretty good and if I had kept up with it who knows what might have happened. In my late teens, music took over my life and baseball took a backseat.
When Robin Yount retired in February 1994, it marked the end of an era; the last piece of the team that I grew up with and loved was really gone. Who was going to replace Robin Yount? I felt that center field should be taken over by someone local, someone who understood what taking over that position meant, and I was the perfect person to do it. So, I decided I was going to get myself in shape and try out at County Stadium and take over Robin’s spot in center field.
In order to accomplish that goal I knew I needed to get myself ready physically, mentally, and emotionally. But, I knew I didn’t have much time to get ready since the Brewers had tryouts every July. That only gave me five months to get ready.
Here are the three ways I got myself ready for a Major League tryout:
First, I needed to get myself in shape physically. I started running. The first time I went out, I was out of breath after three blocks. It was kind of shocking since I had considered myself an athlete. After going out on daily runs, it didn’t take long until I was able to run a couple of miles no problem.
The other part of my game I needed to work on since I hadn’t played baseball in 10 years was to go to the batting cage. I played softball a couple of times a week, but hitting a baseball is completely different. I was going regularly to the batting cage to hone my skills. I needed to become a hitter again.
The second part was to get myself mentally prepared. I had to get into a baseball mindset. I went over scenarios in my head. I visualized games where I had played well. I also re-read Charlie Lau’s The Art of Hitting .300. It was like my bible growing up, and anyone who wants to be a great hitter should read it.
The final piece was to get myself ready emotionally. I knew it was a long shot to make the team. I hadn’t played consistently for about 10 years. There were going to be players there that were at the top of their game. I decided that above all else, I was going to have fun with the tryout.
As spring rolled into summer I was getting ready. I saw a flyer at the batting cage announcing a tryout with the Philadelphia Phillies at Nathan Hale High School in West Allis at the end of June; just a month before the Brewers tryout. I figured this was a great way to gauge where I was before I tried out for the Brewers and see what I needed to work on.
When I showed up the morning of the tryout, there were about 90 players gathered; a lot of them teenagers. I could see they were nervous as we lined up to register. This was probably the biggest thing in their lives up until that moment. Since I knew I was a long shot I started making jokes and having fun. I wasn’t nervous at all.
The tryout started well. The first thing the scouts did was time us running. I was one of the 10 fastest guys there. I saw scouts looking at me and comparing notes. Major league scouts were talking about me! Things were looking up.
Next, I went to the outfield and took some fly balls. I started joking around some more. Channel 4 had a reporter and cameraman there. They saw how I was making everyone laugh. They asked me for an interview which I was happy to do.
It was my turn and I took some fly balls in right field. My arm was hurting but I didn’t want to hold myself out of this part of the try out, but in hindsight it wasn’t the best move. I was supposed to catch the ball and throw it to third base but when I caught the ball I quickly bounced it into second base and it slowly rolled to third. The next was barely better, at least it bounced around short.
I went in to hit. It was near the end of the day and there weren’t any catchers and the pitcher wasn’t throwing strikes but it didn’t matter, I was swinging anyway. I got wood on a few of them that I popped up in the infield, but no solid hits. What started out so well, ended quietly. I walked to the parking lot, without any scouts running after me, and saw one of my friends waiting for me. We talked about the entire experience. I had a Major League tryout!
Channel 4 did a spot on the tryout for the 6:00 news cast. It was really cool to see myself on TV taking fly balls and being interviewed. I had fun like I had set out to do and I had made a bunch of kids, who were nervous as heck, relax a little. I felt that I had done what I set out to do.
Since I knew I wasn’t going to improve my game much more in the next few weeks, I decided to skip the tryout with the Brewers; although I should have done it just to say I walked on the same field as so many great players.
If there’s something you’re pursuing make sure you are prepared physically, mentally, and emotionally for the experience. If things go your way, you’ll be ready to perform at a high level, and if things don’t go as planned at least you can take away something positive from the experience to help you grow as a person. You may even make a few people laugh in the process and end up on TV.
Filed Under: Inspiration, Life Lessons, Motivation Tagged With: ,

You Ain’t Gettin’ No Co-signer

July 8, 2014 by Leave a Comment
You Ain't Gettin' No Co-signerWhen I was looking to buy my first car (lease actually), I learned a valuable lesson about figuring things out on my own. After putting down $750 and setting a date to take delivery on a new Sentra with the salesman, the owner of the dealership called me and told me I didn’t have enough credit and that I would either need to give them more money up front or get a co-signer.
I told my dad about the situation. He said to me, “You ain’t gettin’ no co-signer.” He asked if I had any extra money. I told him I didn’t. He said it didn’t sound like I was getting that car and that I had better look at other options.
I wasn’t sure what I was going to do at that point. After going through the hassle of getting a canceled check to get my money back from the dealer, I was back at square one.
I was likely to run into the same thing at other dealerships. I had to figure things out for myself. How was I going to get a car with my credit history at an affordable monthly payment? I looked over the scenarios I had to work with: 1) I could buy a used car with the $750 I had. This made me feel uneasy since I had seen other people buy used cars that didn’t last long. 2) I could save up for a larger down payment. That would take months and I only had a few weeks time before the car I was borrowing from my mom would be traded-in. 3) Find an alternate way to get to work. This wouldn’t work. I didn’t live on a bus line and none of my co-workers lived near me.
I remembered that Ford had sent me a postcard about buying a car and getting a discount for being a recent college graduate. I wasn’t sure what recent meant since I had graduated a year and a half earlier, but it was worth a shot. I wondered how they’d sell me a car when the other dealer wouldn’t let me lease one.
I went to Ford and was able to buy a new Ford Escort without having to get a co-signer and without having to put anything more than $750 into my initial payment.
Had my dad handed over the additional money, or co-signed for my car, I wouldn’t have had to figure things out on my own. It also wouldn’t have given me the same sense of accomplishment. It wouldn’t have taught me the lesson of doing things for myself. I wasn’t looking to buy a car, but buying a car instead of leasing it, got me the transportation I needed.
I’ve learned not to rely on others to help me. Not that they won’t help, but I don’t expect it. If you want something, put the effort in to accomplish it yourself. It’ll feel that much more satisfying when you get it on your own.
Is there anything you’re working on, or a situation that you’ve run into, that seems impossible to overcome? How will you respond when you have to figure things out for yourself? How creative can you get? The impossible might just be possible. It’s up to you.
Filed Under: Inspiration, Life Lessons Tagged With: ,

How to Keep Your Self-Talk Positive

July 1, 2014 by 4 Comments
How to Keep Your Self-Talk PositiveScience has shown that we have anywhere from 30,000 to 70,000 thoughts a day, which means we are bombarded with self-talk every minute we’re awake. How do we allow ourselves to remain positive when there’s so much coming at us?
It isn’t easy, but in order for us to give our best we need to remain positive.
Here are four tips I use to keep my self-talk positive:
1) Look at your strengths. You need to know what your strengths are. If you don’t know what they are, write them down. Be honest. What have you accomplished successfully in the past? What made you successful? You still posses the talent to be able to do it again. When you know your strengths it also builds confidence, and confidence is a powerful attribute to have.
2) Look at your “secret sauce.” What makes you unique? What makes you stand out? Do you have a skill or talent that not many people have? Look at your intangibles. More often than not, those are the things that will set you apart from the rest of the crowd. When you know what your “secret sauce” is, flaunt it every opportunity you have.
3) Look at the long-term goals. Thomas Edison found 1,000 ways not to make the incandescent light bulb. How many times do we give up when things don’t go our way immediately? Last year, Nicki Minaj gave a contestant great advice after they got rejected during an audition on American Idol. Minaj told the discouraged contestant, “Do you know how many times we’ve been told no? (referring to the judges}. We heard 1,000 no’s before we got a yes. You leave here and hold your head up. If you want it bad enough you keep working until you get to yes.”
4) Focus on pleasing yourself. This isn’t being selfish. It’s beneficial for everyone who comes in contact with you. Look at what makes you happy. If I’m trying to please someone else, or live up to their expectation of who I am, I can’t be the best version of myself I can be. It doesn’t matter if no one else gets you, if you get you, others eventually will. Then they’ll wonder how you do it.
Make sure the conversation with yourself is positive and reinforcing. We can’t completely avoid negative self-talk. It’s bound to creep in, but we can keep it to a minimum if we try. What you say to yourself (and think about yourself) determines how you will succeed. What is your self-talk?

 

Filed Under: Inspiration, Life Lessons Tagged With: , ,

Go Where Your Community Is To Find Your Audience

June 24, 2014 by Leave a Comment

 

Go Where Your Community Is To Find Your Audience

Door County Sunset

I’ve been in Door County the last few days enjoying a quiet getaway with my wife. Since I was four years old, Door County has been a family vacation destination and one of my favorite things to do is visit the different artists and their galleries. 

Over the years, artists have flocked here because of the beautiful scenery. (The sunsets are amazing!) Another reason they’re here is because other artists are here, and so is an audience of art lovers. Door County is an artists’ community. Everyone has a chance for their work to be seen here. That doesn’t mean that every artist who opens up a gallery will be successful, but it does provide more visibility that other cities don’t.

If you want to be discovered, sell your wares, skills, or talents, you need to know where your audience is. Make it easy for them to find you. Don’t give people a treasure map with a bunch of clues. Give them the map where “X” marks the spot. In case you didn’t know, you’re the “X”.
Where are other people doing what you want to do? Find a way to get into that community. Not only will that community help you, but you’ll also be helping them. It takes everyone with a similar mindset to keep a strong community going, whether that’s a physical location or an online community.
It’s easier than ever to find your community. If you aren’t sure where to start go to Meetup.com and find a group that you’re interested in and join them the next time they meet. If there isn’t one in your area, start one.
As much as we say we’re independent, we value belonging to a group that feels what we feel and thinks the way we do. That doesn’t mean they can do exactly what we can do, but it means they “get” what we do.
Because you are unique, it makes it easier for you to stand out in your community than it is to stand out on your own.
The artists in Door County found their community and their audience. You can do the same. Find your community and our audience won’t be far behind.
Let me know how it goes.
Filed Under: Inspiration, Life Lessons, Marketing Tagged With: ,

3 Takeaways from Inbound Marketing Day

June 10, 2014 by Leave a Comment

3 Takeaways from Inbound Marketing DayLast Wednesday I attended Inbound Marketing Day at Potawatomi Bingo Casino in Milwaukee. What a great mix of local and national inbound marketing experts. I heard great presentations about content, landing page optimization, buyer personas, video strategy, and a lot more. 

Many of these ideas not only work in marketing but in daily interactions as well, whether business or personal.
Here are three key takeaways:
Dan Zarrella from HubSpot: How does your content help your fans build their reputation?
My two cents: The job of your content, or your company, is to help your customers look good to their customers. Content shouldn’t be designed to help you look good, although by helping them solve their problems you will.
What are your customers’ pain-points? What content can you provide that helps alleviate those pain-points?  If you can make your customers look like heroes, you’ll end up a winner.
Jeff Coon from Stream Creative: What makes you look like a rock star? Have signals in place to alert others. What are the symbols of trust in your industry? Add them to your content, your name, your brand, etc. If there are certifications, partnerships, or logos that show you know what you’re doing, you need to highlight them.
My two cents: What makes you stand out? There are certain things that give you instant credibility. For me, it’s having MBA behind my name. For your business, it could be “Best Places to Work” or a Better Business Bureau sticker on your front door. It could be words like Author, or Speaker. These words conjure up an image of you in the eyes of people that don’t know you. Use them to your advantage.
Ezra Fishman from Wistia: Think in terms of the Trust Bank. You are either building trust or spending trust. Using video is a great way to build trust. If you teach someone something in a video, it allows you to bring the human element in.
My two cents: We should always be giving to people without the thought of getting something in return. This builds trust. Then, when we truly need help from our customers, community, or our friends, we have enough trust in the bank to be fairly certain that they will help us when we ask.
Be yourself. Allow your personality to shine through. People like doing business with people, not brands. If they trust you, they’ll trust your brand.
Do you see yourself using any of the three ideas from Inbound Marketing Day? Let me know which ones you use. I’d love to know what success you have with them.
Filed Under: Customer Service, Life Lessons, Marketing Tagged With: , ,

How to Build Momentum

June 3, 2014 by Leave a Comment
How to Build MomentumI’ve been networking with at least one person for eight out of the last 11 days since my job was eliminated. It’s been good to connect with people who have offered their advice, support, and friendship. I’ve come back after each meeting with a burst of energy which carries me into the next day.
I feel I’m building on the previous days events. What I really need to do now is implement the things I’ve been talking about for the past 11 days. I sometimes think, “where do I start?” The answer is – anywhere. It doesn’t matter where you begin as long as you start something.
Start with something small. There’s a trick I use sometimes to write. I’ll say I’ll only spend the next 15 minutes writing. Then, once I’m writing, I’ll be so into it that I’ll cruise right passed the 15 minute mark easily. Surely, we can all find 15 minutes to spare. After all, 15 minutes is only 15 minutes.
Momentum is created little by little. The great thing about momentum is you don’t want to stop once you start. Jerry Seinfeld has a great method to keep the momentum going called Don’t Break the Chain. You mark an “X” each day on a calendar you finish your task. After a few days you’ll have a chain. The goal is to not break the chain. That’s how you get better, and getting better leads to success.
If we build momentum there’s no telling where that can take us. But one thing is for certain, we will be better tomorrow because of the actions we take today.
What tricks do you use to build momentum?
Filed Under: Life Lessons, Motivation Tagged With: ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »