Never Seeing The Finish Line of Change

While driving on the interstate earlier this week, I noticed a 26.2 window cling on the vehicle in the right lane, signaling their interest in running a marathon (which is 26.2 miles, of course). Being a runner myself I smiled in approval as I began to pass the car. Imagine my surprise when the driver was..........smoking! Funny. I've never stood at the start of a half-marathon and seen someone take one last puff of a cigarette to increase their running ability.

Talk about sabotaging your ability to succeed in running. You need every millimeter of lung capacity to run a marathon and this person (if they were the runner) was limiting their ability to be successful in such an event. It made me reflect on what actions or attitudes I have that are just as ridiculous if I want to be successful with a change.

What are you doing today that could potentially limit your ability to be succeed with a change? The sooner you stop it the better your chances of seeing the finish line.

Change May Require You To Plant Something New

While talking with someone last week about their experience with my new book, Getting the Blue Ribbon, they asked about my background. When I told them that prior to becoming a professional speaker and author I was a horticulture teacher, they said, "Oh.... then I have a question for you."

He went on to explain that he had an apple tree at his home that was not growing tasty apples. He said they were plentiful, but the taste was just not what he wanted. He continued by saying that his neighbor had an apple tree that produced the most wonderful apples. "Is there any way I can make my tree produce better apples?" was his question. My honest response was "No, your best course of action is to leave it (for the animals that like the apples and the tree) and focus your time on planting a new tree that will produce those tasty apples. He was not overly excited about that option since the tree was 25 years old and it will take a long time to grow a new tree that produces a significant number of delicious apples.

Change sometimes only requires that you tweak your environment to get the results you want. In other situations major pruning is needed for the change to become a reality. In cases like my friend with the older tree, however, the best solution is simply to start something new. Yes, it will take a while and the input is greater, but it is the only way to get the desired result-tasty apples growing in his back yard.

Remember the Chinese proverb which speaks to the urgency for planting trees or initiating change:

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now.

Successful Change Requires An Investment

By now you may have heard that Al Horowitz, owner of Smokin Al's Restaurants in NY, won his bet on the Super Bowl-and lost $60000. Al told about 300 of his customers to whom he was catering food on Super Bowl Sunday that if the NY Giants won, their food was free. And of course, the Giants did win. Al even had a ceremonial burning of the credit card receipts on this grill on the Monday after the Super Bowl.

While we would see his "win" as a loss, Al said, "I won. I made alot of good friends for me and Smokin Al's." No question about Al's passion. On a deeper level, it shows how intentional Al was on seeing the Giants win-the blue ribbon he wanted for the day.

As you seek to make changes at work or in your personal life, how passionate are you about seeing the change happen? Are you so willing to see the results you want that you are willing to sacrifice your time, energy and yes, even money to see it become a reality. Sadly, most people aren't.

And before you say, "Well, I can't afford to lose $60,000 if the change doesn't work," you will need to read further into Al's story. Al stopped the guarantee to customers once he recognized the amount of money he would have to pay out if the Giants won. He knew his limits. In most cases successful change doesn't require that you sacrifice everything-but it will require something of you.

Time Management Tip: The Word After "Yes" Makes The Difference

Your _________________ (insert boss, coworker, spouse, child or friend) has just asked you to do something. You know it will put even more pressure on how your manage your time, but you can't say "No" (we can talk about your reasoning at another time.) What do you do to keep your life from "growing" out of control? Leverage the power of the word that comes after "Yes." Some examples are:

• "Yes if..." Ask for something in return from them to make the task less draining on you. Make the "Yes" conditional.
• "Yes when..." Let them know you have other priorities in front of you at this moment. Who knows, if their request is important enough to them, they may be willing to help you out with your workload so you can take on their request sooner (Probably not, but one can always hope).
• "Yes with..." Here's your chance to go after some help. You might say, "Yes with the help of..." or "Yes with a bigger budget" or even "Yes with your permission to..."

This new item will still test your time management skills, but at least by clarifying your available resources you have let the other person know that you want to be part of a solution-if not all of it.

The Road To Mediocrity Is Paved With No Intention

Think about one (or more) of the following immediate past events:

• A night at home
• Your weekend
• Time with your spouse (or child or friend)
• A meeting at work

Now let me ask you a question: "Which of these events turned out better... the ones where there was intent involved, or the ones you 'just let happen.'" The obvious answer is that in those instances where we had a plan and worked to execute it, things went more to our liking. Sure, there may have been some circumstances that were out of our control, but that would have been the case regardless of our choice of action.

Even if my goal (i.e. intent) is to relax, I have to be intent on creating the environment where I can best relax. If I don't, then the maximum benefit is not realized.

What are you allowing to be mediocre simply because you haven't taken the time to be intentional in planning for it to be excellent? If you need a guide to creating this environment, check out my Six P's To A Positively Perfect Day at http://www.jonesloflin.com/downloads/.