Overcome The Wall Through Goals

See if this sounds familiar.

It's halfway through the year. Time for a goal review. No surprises - in good shape on some, and hitting the Wall on the tough one or two. Unfortunately, those one or two always include really important stuff. They're goals that have to be met. And yet, every time a certain point is reached this Wall gets in the way. It's a Wall you can't see, it's built of things like fear of failure, fear of unworthiness, fear of lack of ability, fear of fear, lack of resources and commitment - things that keep accomplishment from occurring.

The Wall and worthy goals go together. Sometimes it's so tempting to set easy - to - reach standards of performance. But setting goals that don't demand stretch means accepting the status quo - the great demon of progress and success.

Notice how the Wall only appears on the truly important, demanding, stretch goals? The goals that spell real progress, real success and real accomplishment? The Wall saves itself for the really important things.

Talk to any championship athlete in any endurance sport about the Wall. Some describe it's effect as being hit by a fist, others describe it as an irresistible force - hard to define, but even harder to move through. Every athlete has experienced it - the top ones have somehow fought through. And at the end of their challenge they are changed people - they have a sense of their capabilities that they did not have before. They have used their goal to go from hope to belief to a level of personal confidence they never knew existed.

Talk to a Navy SEAL who has endured their training and succeeded in graduating, and you will talk to a person who has found new limits to their physical and mental endurance. And they know they can go longer and further with less than they had ever imagined. They know their mental toughness made the difference - even the best conditioned will fail without the ability to keep their heads down and take one more step. One more step toward their goal.

Few of us will have the opportunity to experience what the world class athlete and the Navy SEAL experience - on a physical level. But we all have the opportunity to experience the Wall and overcome it on the mental level - the level the athlete and the SEAL agree is the most important for success.

Back to the Wall keeping you from your important goal.

Banging your head against the Wall doesn't work - it only feels good when you stop. Trying to visualize what it will feel like when you get through it gives good feelings, but feeling have never carried the day. Avoiding the Wall with activity and little"goals" and stuff that isn't that important helps for a little while, until you wake up at 3 AM and realize all that sound and fury really didn't mean much. Telling yourself that the Wall isn't really that important and turning your back on it doesn't help - all you're left with is an empty feeling of failure - of being less worthy and less able. Going around it and avoiding the challenge leaves the same feeling. And the longer you do these things the bigger the Wall becomes.

The athlete and the SEAL will both tell you that on their journeys there came times when they just wanted to lie down and quit. But they didn't. They took one more step. The same thing with your worthy, tough, goal. One more step may not seem like much but by the time you've reached the stage where one more step is important you've already come most of the way. Since you can't see over the Wall, you don't know how much longer your journey will be. So you have to remain convinced of the value and contribution of the goal - it's what sustains effort in the worst of times.

So take one more step - with the end in mind. And then another. Focus on the truly important and don't question your ability and worthiness - that's a destructive habit of thought. Recommit to the important stuff. And watch the Wall move, or crumble, or slowly reduce in size. Walls don't just disappear - just like bright flashes of inspiration rarely occur that save the day. The hard work of one more step overcomes the Wall.

And on the other side of the Wall you will find your own success - and transformation - and change. The reward of hard work and accomplishment provides the energy for continued success.

Review your goals today. Make sure you have a goal worthy of the Wall. Then persist. Be changed and grow by overcoming your Wall. You will be in the top ten percent when you do. I guarantee it.

Written by Andy Cox, President

Cox Consulting Group 4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032 Ph: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800; E Mail: acox@coxconsultgroup.com; Website: www.coxconsultgroup.com; Blog: http://multiplysuccess.blogspot.com

Copyright 2008 All Rights Reserved

Turn Negative Expectations Into Positive Outcomes

People keep disappointing me - they don't act as badly as I expect them to. I hate to admit it - but that happens all the time. It happens when I hide my negative expectations - and behave as if everything was going to be positive.

An example:

I was on a walk and a group of young men were headed toward me - late teens - four of them - walking shoulder to shoulder. There was not going to be enough space for me to stay on the sidewalk unless one of them gave way. My negative expectation was that they would make it difficult for me - it's happened before. As I got close to them, I smiled and said " How you doing?" They answered by asking me the same question. They also moved and gave me room to stay on the sidewalk.

I reflected on that little scenario, and was kind of ashamed that my expectation was that they would give me a hard time. But I felt good that - even though I didn't feel optimistic - I acted it. And the result was a pleasant exchange and we all went on our way.

How often do we let negative expectations cause negative behavior? How often do we let negative expectations create negative results? If you're like me, it's more often than I like to admit. And yet, when I work to overcome negative expectations and project positive behavior, I am pleasantly surprised. Things end up better than I expected.

What I've learned is to spend more time on positive behaviors, and less time trying to dwell on the reasons for negative expectations. How to do that?

The first step is awareness. After years of fine tuning our expectations based on our personal experience, the media, generalizations and a host of othet inputs, we act based on some really imbedded beliefs. The behaviors we adopt seem to happen so automatically we don't realize them. And those behaviors are the architects of our outcomes. Start building awareness by listening to yourself. Do you hear negative messages about how things will turn out - a sales prospect that won't buy, a proposal that will be rejected, an invitation extended but refused? If you do - and almost all of us do, you've got some expectation and behavior work to do.

Now that you've identified a negative expectation, it's time to create a positive behavior to overcome it. Look back at the sales call, the proposal, the invitation and see what could have been done to project a behavior that expressed a positive outcome. Perhaps that question that started "Would you like to-----?' could be stated differently. That proposal that apologized for the time it took to present it would have been better served with a statement of benefit. Perhaps that sales call that started with a thank you for your time could have started with a positive statement of value to the prospect. The point is to replace behavior based on negative expectations with behavior based on what we desire to be the outcome.

The next step is to learn from the result of the positive behavior - help the outcome challenge the beliefs and biases that led to the negative expectation in the first place. But don't try to over analyze where the expectation came from. Use the time to create and reinforce positive behaviors. Done often enough, the outcomes of the positive behaviors will change expectations. That's what's so great about having your actions lead your expectations.

Then do it again - and again. I guarantee positive results. I know a smile and an engaging question - "How are you doing?" work wonders with contacts. I learned it by forcing myself to use it - again and again. My expectation of people contacts has changed for the better - through my own positive actions. So will yours.

Written by Andy Cox, President

Cox Consulting Group, 4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032 Ph: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800; E Mail: acox@coxconsultgroup.com; Website: http://www.coxconsultgroup.com/; Blog: http://multiplysuccess.blogspot.com/

Copyright 2008 All Rights Reserved

Qualities of Resourceful Leaders

Resourceful leaders get more done with available resources than less resourceful managers. It results in outcomes that far exceed expectations. It's critical for organizations challenged by competition, technology, suppliers, customers and the economy.

The ability of an organization to leverage their resources to provide excellent service, to meet and exceed commitments and to move forward technologically is a huge competitive advantage. Some organizations just seem to do a better job than others - one of the main reasons is resourceful leaders - at all levels.

What are the qualities resourceful leaders share - regardless of position within an organization?

We asked our clients - here's what they identified as eight essentials for resourceful leaders.

1 - The ability to create commitment - to get resources aligned and working toward a common goal - and a goal that is well understood. It's a "we're all in this together" approach. It's identifying and communicating a common cause that is worthy; that all can contribute to; and that results in individual and group recognition.

2 - It's being open to possibilities - wherever they may come from. It's taking inventory of what has gone before, rather than reinventing the wheel. NIH - (not invented here) thinking is unacceptable. It's engaging the people in the process - getting the best thinking and commitment of the internal experts.

3 - It's knowing success is not measured in energy expended or dollars spent, but in results. Results that come from SMART goals. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant/Realistic and Time Framed. It's using goals to create expectations within the organization - from the top to the people who do the work.

4 - It's having an abundance mentality - the belief that there is plenty for everybody - you just gotta go and find it - and be open to finding it in the most unusual places. It's having the willingness to share - information, resources, credit, recognition. Collaboration skills and behaviors are essential.

5 - A resourceful leader always starts with the questions: "What do I Have?" and "What can I do with what I have?"

6 - Resourceful leaders know that simpicity is key to effective action and that complexity is the enemy of resourcefulness.

7 - It's the belief that the impact and contribution of the cumulative knowledge and effort of an effective team will always exceed that of any single person.

8 - Resourceful leaders listen and amend and learn and apply on the fly. They know that plans rarely survive the first contact with action - they value plans as a first step, and as a measure for progress and change.

Resourcefulness is part of the behavior and motivators of leaders; it exists in organizations where it is appreciated and rewarded. It's not just seen in crisis or projects - it's an everyday behavior. But it needs to be recognized and rewarded for it to grow. And the most fertile place for resourcefulness to grow is in a results oriented, goal directed environment.

Imagine how much more effective you and your enterprise can be by encouraging the development of these behaviors and beliefs and skills. Start today to develop a more resourcefulness friendly environment - and be amazed at the talent that you already possess.

Written by Andy Cox, President

Cox Consulting Group, 4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032 Ph: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800; E Mail: acox@coxconsultgroup.com; Website: http://www.coxconsultgroup.com/; Blog: http://multiplysuccess.blogspot.com/

Copyright 2008 All Rights Reserved

How To Increase Your Personal Energy

Successful people have an energy about them. It's one of their most valuable resources. We asked many of the most successful people we know where they would put energy on the scale of requirements for success. All placed it in their top three. They were not talking just about physical energy, but about that hard to describe internal energy - in fact, when pressed, almost all placed internal energy above physical energy in terms of critical attributes.

How do they get and maintain their high level of personal energy?


Here's what they told us about creating personal energy.


The first thing is understanding that a high level of personal energy is a critical success factor, and then placing a high value on the things that create it - and treating the things that reduce it as enemies to success.


It's knowing that personal energy comes from within. There are external sources of stimulation that can add to energy in the short term, but the real source of personal energy is inside.


Optimism, and thinking in terms of opportunities creates personal energy. Pessimism and consequence thinking can suck the energy right out of anyone - even the most optimistic.


Good health - both physical and mental - provides the platform for high personal energy. Taking care of that health is critical. At the same time many highly successful people have overcome very difficult physical and mental issues to create the energy necessary to succeed. That's where optimism and opportunity thinking are so very critical.


It's getting up and acting that creates energy. One of our leaders attended a Hugh O'Brian Leadership Seminar when she was in high school. After the seminar she was asked what was the thing she remembered the most. Her answer was" To be enthusiastic you must act enthusiastic." Having actions control emotions creates personal energy.


Curiosity - a sense of discovery - wanting to know more - and then taking action to gain knowledge - creates personal energy. It's a key way to stay out of a rut. And remembering that the only difference between a rut and a grave is a rut's longer.


It's drawing inspiration from the accomplishments of others - and drawing strength from what they had to overcome to succeed. Reading biographies of successful people is a way many of our leaders create and renew their energy.


It's overcoming fear - today. And overcoming that little voice-demon that sits on everyone's shoulder and says "take it easy" and "be careful" and "this could be a mistake" and 'be afraid."


It's laughter and finding joy in everyday things. It's great to be able to laugh at a good joke - it's absolutely terrific to smile at the little child holding their mom's hand.


It's positive relationships - the kind that add optimism. And it's avoiding toxic relationships - the kind that pull down, create pessimism and destroy energy.


It's giving without keeping track of payback. Years ago one of our leaders was given a terrific piece of advice. "If you want to make a friend, let them do something for you." It works. We all - or at least most of us - want to give - to help.


It's realizing the toughest thing to do is to start - but once in motion, good things will and do happen. A very fit friend tells me the hardest part of a session at the gym is driving there. Once there, the exercise takes on a life of its own. Same thing with all kinds of things.


It's realizing that personal energy is a variable - from day to day the level of personal energy varies. But exerting the discipline to keep personal energy competitive on even the toughest day has its own rewards. Keeping the promises we make to ourselves creates energy.

A personal experience one of our leaders had illustrates that point.

She was working out at a gym. She'd had a bad day and wasn't feeling particularly optimistic or happy or opportunistic. As she worked to meet her time and distance goals, it became apparent that she was really laboring. The thought of just quitting started to be attractive. Then it struck her just how much her mental state of mind was impacting her level of physical performance. Her results that day were a good 10% less than normal performance. But at the end of the workout, she felt really good about overcoming those negative emotions to accomplish something she had promised herself she would do. That little demon perched on her shoulder had been trying to tell her to "give up", to "try again another day." She ignored it. A small victory. It'll be back, but she knows she can overcome it. That realization felt good - felt energizing. Action guided emotion.

Take a few moments - right now - and assess your level of energy. Then pick out one of the ways our leaders use to increase their energy levels. Laugh, smile, think about an opportunity. Discipline yourself to take action, and have that action control your emotions. Be prepared to be amazed at how your thoughts and actions can and will lift your energy level.

Written by Andy Cox, President

Cox Consulting Group, 4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032 PH: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800; E Mail: acox@coxconsultgroup.com; Website: http://www.coxconsultgroup.com/; Blog: http://multiplysuccess.blogspot.com/

Copyright Andrew Cox 2008 All Rights Reserved