Why do so few people live up to their potential?

In his book “Linchpin”, Seth Godin posits that people who are remarkable are those who are totally dedicated to their “art”, exhibiting a willingness to plunge forward despite the fear and the risks, and deliver results that change the world around them.

In one of his blog posts, he asks the further question: How much support does someone need before they create remarkable results?

His observation:

“(…)Most mentors and coaches and teachers will tell you that few of their students ever do, not in comparison with their potential. A few break through and change everything, and we celebrate them, but what about everyone else?
The artists are different. They took a leap.
They weren’t pushed. They jumped.”

What is the difference between jumping and being pushed?

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this, and what comes to mind is the idea that maybe the difference between jumping and being pushed is about expectations. And specifically, expectations about “winning conditions” that guarantee success.

As I look at the opportunities before me, there is a part of me that wants to leap, but another part of me that is holding me back, waiting for the right conditions that can maximize a successful outcome:

- If only I had more money in the bank
- if only I had more time
- if only I had more help
- if only I had more support
- if only I had more accountability
- if only I had more recognition
- if only I had more energy
- if only I had more resources
- if only I had more knowledge
- if only I had more structure
- if only I had more encouragement…

…then I could feel better about making the leap.

Deep down I want assurance that everything will turn out okay before I take the risk. I also want insurance that will compensate me if the result doesn’t turn out as expected.

But this is a lie.“Winning conditions” will never show up by themselves. And if they do appear before I make my move, it’s too late.

This is the conundrum: If I wait for the winning conditions, they can’t happen, because winning conditions are only created once I make an irrevocable commitment. It is the energy of my commitment that creates the winning conditions.

And that’s why being pushed is not the same as jumping.

If I wait for someone to push me, the winning conditions can’t happen, because the commitment is not fully mine. So I need to fully commit to jumping now, in the absence of winning conditions, knitting my parachute as I plummet to the earth, hoping I can make it work before I become a stain on some farmer’s field.

This is the problem with the coaching, personal development and self-help industry. We want to provide winning conditions for the client to make the leap. But if we provide the client with the parachute, and push him out the door, the winning conditions can’t appear. The client has to make the decision to leap on his own. As I look back on the success stories with my clients, it is those who decided themselves to take that leap, who succeeded.

If success were guaranteed, there would be no reward, because success would be so ordinary. The reward of success comes by pushing through the fear and the odds to create remarkable results that express my full potential.

Pain, disappointment, stress and fatigue are guaranteed. I chuckle to myself as I think about this… if it’s guaranteed to hurt, why am I afraid of the pain? Wouldn’t it be better to focus on the reward and aim for that? To have the unshakable belief in success carry me through the pain…

In my own life, right now as I write these lines, there are several amazing opportunities that are opening up for me. These opportunities challenge me to take my game to a whole new level, but also trigger my lizard brain to shift into overdrive, causing me to hesitate when I should be going full throttle. Seth’s post reminds me that maybe I’m waiting to be pushed, instead of leaping of my own accord.

Thus the real question I must answer for myself: Am I waiting to be pushed, or will I jump towards my potential on my own?

For more information

Amazon.com link for Linchpin:
http://www.amazon.com/Linchpin-Are-Indispensable-Seth-Godin/dp/1591843162

A very good overview and interview on Mashable:
http://mashable.com/2010/02/14/seth-godin-linchpin/

Seth’s blog post that triggered this thought process:
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/05/mentoring-platforms-and-taking-a-leap.html

Related posts on this blog:

• This is Think Big Week!
  http://blog.davender.com/2009/04/this-is-think-big-week/
• Yes You Deserve It: Five Tips To Strengthen Your Deservability Muscle
  http://blog.davender.com/2008/11/yes-you-deserve-it-five-tips-to-strengthen-your-deservability-muscle/
• A Thought About Making Decisions
  http://blog.davender.com/2008/04/a-thought-about-making-decisions/

Image credit: Josephine Dorado via Flickr. Direct link to image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/funksoup/66512710
Permission via Creative Commons http://www.flickr.com/photos/funksoup/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Low-level anxiety about the future is an insidious form of stress that can sap your confidence just like a slow leak in your car’s radiator compromises the engine’s power. However, not knowing is a normal part of life. At the extreme, we do not usually know when or how we will die, yet few of us obsess about that. Instead, we waste precious mental cycles and heartbeats worrying about little things outside of our control, over which we crave an unattainable certainty.

A professional driver checks his car’s tire pressure, fluid levels, belts, hoses and lights before he sets out for a day of driving. You can also take control of these confidence leaks and restore your mental and emotional energy by performing this ten-point inspection on a daily basis.

1. Check your clarity

The main cause for worrying about success is not being clear on what success looks, sounds, tastes, smells and feels like. What do you really want? Is your desired outcome defined using the SMART criteria (Specific, Measurable, Audacious, Real, Time-bound)? The more clarity you have about what you want, the more likely you will get it, since every interim result gives you information you need to adjust your course and steer towards success.

2. Check your environment

Does your environment support the results that you want? Are you letting the media’s negative messages distract you (advertising, news, junk entertainment)? Are you surrounding yourself with positive reminders of the future that you want? Do you have systems in place to take care of the niggly details (“date it, delegate it, dump it or do it”)?

3. Check your boundaries

Are you clear about what you will and will not accept from others? Are you letting other people’s priorities, anxieties and dramas influence your well-being?

4. Check your commitment

How strongly aligned is the outcome you want with your personal values and priorities? Do you want this because of you, or because of pressure from someone else? Can you clearly answer the questions “Why this? Why now? Why me?”

5. Check your reserves

Do you have the resources, knowledge, time and money to make this happen? If not, what do you need to do right now to build up your reserves?

6. Check your results

Where are you at right now? Get real. Tell the truth. Create numerical indicators for your progress. Imagine driving a car without a working fuel gauge – how would you know when you would be running out of gas? I find that the principal source of money anxiety is not having a clear idea of your current financial status – simply updating your Quicken files on a daily basis provides a significant calming effect, even if the current financial picture is bad. Create a “dashboard” of indicators to monitor your current situation.

7. Check your support

Do you have a support network in place to guide you? A strong coach, friends, colleagues, a sympathetic ear, an accountability Power Circle, a mentor, an advisory board? Are you using them?

8. Check your self-care

Confidence is your ability to feel good about yourself in any situation. Are you taking care of yourself? Are you physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually active? Are you feeding your body high-grade fuel instead of junk food?

9. Check your actions

Are you stuck in analysis paralysis, or are you taking action? What one heartbeat (“baby-step”) will you take today that will successful bring you one small step closer to the result that you want?

10. Check your clarity, again

If the answers to all of the above are positive, and you still feel anxious, check again: WHAT DO YOU REALLY WANT?

For more information

This is an updated version of an article I originally wrote back in 2004

Image Credit: Nacmias Auto on Flickr. Direct link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nacmiasmobil/3660893908 Used under Creative Commons Licence http://www.flickr.com/photos/nacmiasmobil/ / CC BY-ND 2.0

As a solopreneur, money is a constant obsession. Some nights I can’t get to sleep, with all the what-if’s and how-can-I’s running around in my head.

I fantasize about winning $50 million at LottoMax, what I would do with it. Of course I would give a million to each of my brothers, as well as my mother, and endow an educational trust for my nieces, nephews and their children (as well as any kids I would have or adopt someday, in the unlikely event that should happen). But what would I do with the rest?

I read the stories of lottery winners, how they say they will buy a new house, a new truck (it always seems to be a truck, doesn’t it?), go for a trip down south, then put the rest in savings. Several even say they would not quit their job (yeah, right).

But not me. It would all go into my business. I guess that is the difference between employee thinking and entrepreneur thinking.

How are the money worries of an employee different than that of an entrepreneur?

And, even more importantly, will my money worries ever stop?

The money mindsets of the “employee” and the “entrepreneur” are diametrically opposed.

The employee sees money as something fixed and finite, doled out monthly or weekly by a higher power (the employer) in exchange for time (per hour, per day, per year). You get the same as everyone else with a similar job description, regardless of the effort you put in. If you’re lucky (or have a good union), you get a small increase each year, only to see it clawed back by increased fees, taxes and inflation. The only hope to get more money is to get a promotion or to work overtime. And someday, at age 60 or so, you retire and hopefully there is enough pension/RRSP/government aid/investment income to cover your expenses and survive until death…

Robert Kiyosaki has a great definition of wealth: “the number of days you can live at your current lifestyle level without trading time for money“.

The entrepreneur mindset to money is the opposite of the employee. Money is elastic, with an infinite upside…and a total liability for the downside. Entrepreneurs build cash-flow systems, investing time, effort and money up front in the hopes of the machine generating cash over time. The entrepreneur loses sleep about how to keep the cash flowing, like blood coursing through the arteries and veins of this living creature that is the business project.

Many of my money worries happen when I confuse the “employee” and “entrepreneur” approaches to money. If I focus on what I have in the bank account, then I am in a crisis situation, because using the Kiyoaskian definition of wealth, I am not wealthy.

Like most solopreneurs,  I have not yet made the full transition from employee to entrepreneur. I am in a state of limbo where my main income still depends on trading time for money, getting clients and selling my services to them for a time-based amount (so much per session, per hour, per day or per project).

Trading time for money is okay at the early stages of a solopreneur project, but it is not a solution for the long term. I see too many solopreneurs in their fifties starting to realize that they are reaching a literal dead-end: the days they can continue trading time for money are coming to a close, either because they no longer have the energy to be out there hustling to get and to serve the next client, or worse, the market no longer values their time compared to the time of a younger (and probably more up-to-date) competitor.

This is something to lose a lot of sleep about.

And there is no easy way out of it. No matter what you may find about “building a seven-figure business” or adopting a “millionaire mindset”, the only way out is to complete the transition from Employee to Entrepreneur and build cash-flow generating systems.

Solopreneurs like you and me have a great asset: the experiential knowledge in our heads. It is this asset that allows us to consider jumping off the S.S. Corporate in the first place.

The easy part is to monetize our genius with a time-for-money model. But we cannot stay at this stage, because it is a dead-end. The next phase, one that takes lots of courage, effort, and every single penny you have, is to convert your knowledge into free-standing products and services that multiply the value of what you offer.

As an solopreneur, money worries will never go away, they are just different. When I start worrying about 15 or 20 years from now, when I am “supposed” to “retire” and survive on my nonexistent pension or social benefits… that’s when I panic. Because I don’t really ever intend to have much money socked away, even though every RRSP season the need to save for retirement is drummed into us.

But when I remember that I’m playing a different game, the “Cash Flow” game, then this specific fear subsides. The rules for the solopreneur are different. My money worries can shift to something more immediate: establishing the products and the systems that will generate cash flow independent of how much time I trade for money. Every time I earn money (or win the lottery), a good part of that will go back into my project to ensure I build solid systems for the long term.

One thing I know for sure. You could offer me a million, a billion, even One Hundred Trillion Dollars to abandon my vision and go back to a white-collar middle-management job, and I would refuse. I have chosen the entrepreneurial lifestyle, which has caused me to grow so beyond the box that to force myself back into a corporate cubicle would require amputating large parts of who I have become. I have burned the bridges to the employee world.

This is the dilemma of the solopreneur. I’ve signed onto a lifetime project, with no safety net to rescue me, no offramp to a corporate salary, and no retirement date. The price is the loss of certainty about where my next dollar is coming from. I can not afford to coast. So I have to move forward.

But in exchange, I’ve gained the freedom to transform my big vision into a legacy… and this is priceless.

For more information

The “thot” I tweeted that started my train of thought about this topic:
http://twitter.com/coachdavender/status/10974446076

And an article that I saw soon after “Is Your Small Business More Than Just A Job?” (NYTimes.com)
http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/is-your-small-business-more-than-just-a-job/

I like Robert Kiyosaki‘s “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” philosphy of building assets instead of liabilities (however I choose to build a cash-generating business first before diving into investing)
http://www.richdad.com
and the book
http://www.amazon.com/Rich-Dad-Poor-Money-That-Middle/dp/044656740X/

Another resource I recommend is Michael Gerber‘s “The E-Myth”
http://www.amazon.com/E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280
and the site http://www.e-myth.com

CAUTION: With Kiyosaki’s and Gerber’s books, even though there is a lot that I like about them, there is also a lot to be cautious about. If you want to discuss these books with me to find out more about what I recommend and what I don’t, simple give me a call or drop me a line…

What does the word “tactical” mean to you? It might conjure up images of heavily armed soldiers storming a building, a swarm of tanks overrunning enemy defenses, a squadron of aircraft dueling it out over the English channel. Tactics rhymes with execution, punch, getting things done.

Are you thinking tactically enough to win?

Most entrepreneurs have a big-picture idea of what they want, recorded in a business plan or vision document or a simple list of goals. But then the document stays in a drawer or on the hard drive as they stumble into reactive mode, day after day, and not accomplishing what they initially said they wanted.

Planning requires two levels of thinking: strategic and tactical. Strategic planning is vision-focused, the “who am I”, “what do I want to create” and “why is this important to me”.  Strategic is longer term, one, three, five, ten years out. Strategic planning is important, because it gives a context and a purpose for action.

Tactical planning is goal-focused, the “how“, the detailed actions needed to move the yardstick forward toward the big vision.

Where the strategic plan can be done in the abstract, because it deals with possibilities and assumptions, the tactical plan is how we dance with reality, respond to the actual situation on the ground, execute to create results. Tactical plans are meant to be short term: created quickly, executed boldly, then superseded by the next tactical plan based on the new situation. Rapid execution of a succession of tactical plans moves you step by step towards realizing the overall strategic plan.

For the entrepreneur, thinking tactically means creating a daily, execution-focused, tactical plan.

When I attended the Canadian Forces Staff School course in the early ’90s as a junior Air Force captain, I learned how to prepare a tactical mission plan, using an acronym I still remember today: SMEACS. Applied to your daily tactical plan, this means:

• S = Situation: What is my current status with respect to today’s operation? (the starting point)
• M = Mission: What is the Specific/Measurable/Audacious/Real/Time-lined (SMART) goal I must achieve today? (the result)
• E = Execution: What are the tasks and steps that need to be completed to get it done? When will I do this (put in today’s calendar)
• A = Administration/Logistics: What resources (tools, supplies) do I need to get it done? Where do I get these resources? How much money/time will I need to get them?
• C = Command: Who do I need to connect with to get it done?  (collaboration, authorization, support, accountability)
• S = Signal: Who do I need to communicate with to get it done?  (E-mails, telephone calls, letters)

To think tactical, focus on one primary project where you want to create a measurable result in the next 24 hours. Draw up a simple tactical plan in point form using the SMEACS format, so it is easy to keep in your head or on a single piece of paper.

For example, let’s say that my Strategic focus at the moment is to write my book. Today’s Tactical plan would be:

• S = Situation: I’m now at Chapter Two of my Ten-Chapter manuscript.
• M = Mission: Today’s mission is to create a rough draft in point form of Chapter Two in the next 24 hours.
• E = Execution: 1. Make a list of two dozen sub-points I want to include in the chapter; 2. reorganize into eight major points; 3. complete each major point by breaking it down into ten to twelve sub-points; 4. post it on the wiki; 5. dedicated writing times today: 9am to 10:30am (eight major points) and 8pm to 10pm (expanded sub-points)
• A = Administration/Logistics: 1. Make sure laptop is charged up and backed up before starting; 2. morning session at Starbucks after spin class, evening session at home (wash dishes first).
• C = Command: 1. coordinate with Thomas for a brainstorming call (suggest 9am).
• S = Signal: 1. confirm with Annie for feedback from Chapter 1 (e-mail); 2. send note to Mastermind group after morning and evening sessions informing that the wiki is updated.

As you execute your tactical plan, you will find that instead of feeling that you are running around in circles reacting to your environment, you will now be in control, act more deliberately, and get much more done. Being tactical puts you in charge of the momentum.

Strategy points you in the right direction. Tactics ensures you do the right things right now, so you can win at creating the future you really want.

For more information

This post was inspired by  ”Rip Up Your Five-Year Plan” by Ian Sanders, BNET Insight http://blogs.bnet.com/smb/?p=145

Image Credit: Tactical Bacon is a real product! Image from http://www.thinkgeek.com/caffeine/wacky-edibles/c399/

So it’s a New Year, but how are you going to make this different then the old one? Here are three ideas to help you make this year your best ever!

For more information:

Link to this video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBAMjY2vHto

My YouTube channel (includes my videos and other “favorites”):
http://www.youtube.com/coachdavender

During a coaching session on focus and purpose, our discussion lead to Jim Collins‘ idea of  a “Hedgehog Concept“, as described in his classic book “Good to Great“.

The name “Hedgehog” comes from Isaiah Berlin‘s essay “The Hedgehog and the Fox“, the title is based upon an ancient Greek parable: “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.” And to build a business that lasts, you need to be the best at One Big Thing.

So what is it, your One Big Thing?

To get at the answer, Jim Collins suggests “Three Questions“, which I rephrase and reorder to align with how I coach this concept:

1. What is the One Big Thing you most passionate about?

What is the change that you most want to see in the world, something that you are willing to commit your resources, your time, your life to making happen? Then the second part of this is: Why is this important to you *and* to others? The answer to this question becomes your manifesto, the declaration of who you are and the legacy you are creating. (Read how to write a manifesto here: http://is.gd/jUYo )

You will know that you have a great answer to this first question when you share your manifesto with others and they see you as a leader instead of a mere service provider.

2. What is the One Big Thing you are best in the world at doing?

How I coach this question, is to focus on describing the compelling, lasting impact that you make with your clients, an impact that is memorable and important for the client. And you should be the best in the world at doing this (or at least the best in your world of people who know you!). Remember that the real question behind this question is not “what do you do”, but rather “what do you do for them” (your clients).

To really nail the answer to this question, talk to your clients. Get them to describe, in their words, their impressions of the impact you have created for them. Focus on the qualitative (emotions, feelings) as well as the quantitative.

When you have completed this step, you should have a short, compelling “tag line” that encapsulates the most significant impact your create for your client.

3. “What drives your economic engine”?

Your answer to this specific question that Jim Collins asks, provides the bridge between the results you promise and the results your clients get. Here you describe the activities, products and services. Check to make sure each offer you make focuses on expressing the first two questions: that every product and service builds towards the compelling change you wish to see in the world (question 1) by helping clients experience the impact you are best in the world at creating (question 2).

The more you focus your products and services to align with your answers to questions 1 and 2, the more valuable your offers become to your clients, and the more time, effort and money they will be ready to commit to what you offer.

What is my (Davender’s) One Big Thing?
(question 1): I believe that entrepreneurship is the key to creating and implementing the positive change that humanity needs in order to get out of the economic, environmental and spiritual mess we find ourselves in at the moment. This is necessary to build a strong foundation for a prosperous and successful 21st Century

(question 2): I Guide People With Big Dreams To Power Their Vision From Passion to Profit. I build 21st Century Leaders.

(question 3): And I do this by offering coaching and learning opportunities that push my clients to go beyond their comfort zone and What I do is to help people make the transition from a dependent “employee” mindset to a confident “entrepreneur” way of thinking, acting and being.

Imagine having this level of clarity – what kind of clients would you attract, and results could you create with them?

For more information

Jim Collins’ mini-site about the Hedgehog Concept:
http://www.jimcollins.com/media_topics/hedgehog-concept.html

The book “Good To Great”
http://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Companies-Leap-Others/dp/0066620996/

Jim Collins’ web site
http://www.jimcollins.com/

Image: Adam Foster on Flickr
Direct link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paperpariah/4301471586
Used under Creative Commons 2.0 licence

This post was originally published on Feb 17 2009 and updated on November 30 2010.