Podcast appearances and mentions of steve shallenberger

As the end of 2023 approaches, it is natural and expected that we think about future goals, new challenges, and the transformations we expect to experience. Although remaining ambitious and maintaining a strong will to improve is crucial, we can't overlook that we will also be a year older. Therefore, focusing on improving our health, longevity, and vitality should be treated with the same emphasis as our personal and professional growth goals. This week, we go through handpicked recommendations on how to stay healthy, boost vitality, and ensure longevity made by health specialists, wellness experts, and highly successful people like Dr. Russell Jaffe, Dr. Mao Shing Ni, Tony Robbins, Dr. Mehmet Öz, Ron Williams, and many more. You'll hear great advice on meditation and self-development, nutrition, wellness, and fitness, and why having a clear purpose is crucial to keep you fresh, focused, and motivated. Tune in to Episode 408 of Becoming Your Best and learn how to unlock your health and longevity superpowers. In This Episode, You Will Learn: About Tony Robbins's book and how modern science can contribute to longevity (4:00) Dr. Russell Jaffe and his recommendations to take care of the sympathetic and parasympathetic system (7:10) Dr. Mao Shing Ni's take on nutrition and plant-based diets (8:50) Dr. Mehmet Öz's advice on addictions (14:20) About Ron Williams's recommendations on what and how we eat (18:10) Resources Mentioned: Book: Summary Of Life Force By Tony Robbins, Peter H. Diamandis & Robert Hariri: How New Breakthroughs in Precision Medicine Can Transform the Quality of Your Life & Those You Love Becoming Your Best Resources: Becoming Your Best Website Becoming Your Best University Website Becoming Your Best Library Email: support@becomingyourbest.com Book: Becoming Your Best: The 12 Principles of Highly Successful Leaders Book: Conquer Anxiety: How to Overcome Anxiety and Optimize Your Performance Facebook Group – Conquer Anxiety Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A massive portion of the decisive events in our lives are intimately linked with things we can't control, like luck, destiny, other people's attitudes, or God's will. Still, by incorporating certain habits, we can augment our probabilities of success and make them less dependent on chance. In today's episode, I share three leadership tips from one of the best leaders and businessmen I've ever known, Dave Clark, that'll help you reduce luck's influence in your life as a team leader, keep your business growing, and your personal and professional relationships glowing. We will also go through excellent advice from the late Gardner Russell, former BYB Board Member, who mentored and guided me since I was a young buck when I met him in my early 20s. Tune in to Episode 393 of Becoming Your Best, and access these simple yet powerful tips that'll support you in the process of becoming your best.In This Episode, You Will Learn:Think of and determine your roles and actions before the week starts (1:40)The importance of keeping constant and real growth in sight (5:30)Be aware of possible threats always (6:40)Why it is so easy to get complacent and why you should never do it (8:30)Becoming Your Best Resources:Becoming Your Best WebsiteBecoming Your Best University WebsiteBecoming Your Best LibraryEmail: support@becomingyourbest.com Book: Becoming Your Best: The 12 Principles of Highly Successful LeadersBook: Conquer Anxiety: How to Overcome Anxiety and Optimize Your PerformanceFacebook Group – Conquer Anxiety Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Steve Shallenberger is the CEO of Rivotto and Ken Kuczwaj is the Global Sales Manager for Rivotto. Our conversations consists of the who, where, and why for Rivotto. We also cover its origin and how it is the perfect item for today. Go to https://www.rivotto.com/ for more information.

Steve Shallenberger is joining us today to share golden nuggets of wisdom on parenting and leadership.Steve is the Founder and President of Synergy Companies and Becoming Your Best Global Leadership. He is the proud father of six, an innovator in leadership and corporate training, and the Becoming Your Best podcast co-host. Steve has provided training and consulting services in more than 25 countries worldwide and has over 40 years of experience as a successful business owner.In this episode, we delve into Steve's excellent background story, from working as a garbage man to selling bibles and then buying a publishing company. Steve shares the lessons learned during the years of working hard down in the trenches, the privileges that made help him go through the success path, and why he decided to research high achievers and their habits.We also discuss the best time to instill in our kids the values we believe will serve them better and the importance of being trustworthy leaders. We highlight the relevance of setting valuable examples for our kids and how having a clear vision can be a life-changer.Some Questions I Ask:I'd love for our audience to hear a little more about your journey and story. How did you get here? (2:31)How did you help teach your children the valuable principles you learned along the way earlier in their lives? (15:43)What top action step you would give to my listeners? What would you have them do in their life to make the most significant impact on them? (27:52)In This Episode, You'll Learn:Steve shares a bit of his background story, his upbringing, and his first steps in entrepreneurship (3:12)Steve talks about what made him start researching high performers' habits and activities (7:43)How honesty and integrity can set a business fate (10:18)Steve talks about the best way to inculcate best practices and values in our children from an early age (15:49)Steve talks about the importance of creating fun experiences with our children (19:33)Steve shares an example of how setting a clear vision can change our lives (24:02)Resources:Becoming Your Best WebsiteBook: Becoming Your BestBook: Conquer AnxietyUnlock Your Unrivaled Momentum TrainingAre you interested in Working with Clint? Send a message to clint@clinthoopes.com.Connect with Steve:LinkedInLet's Connect!WebsiteLinkedInInstagram Facebook See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A few months ago, Paris got a spam email at work from a training salesperson representing Becoming Your Best. He offered to send her a book for free and...he actually did! So, we decided to review Do What Matters Most by Rob & Steve Shallenberger for the show.

Rob Shallenberger is one of the world's leading authorities on leadership and execution. He's trained and coached hundreds of companies around the world, to include many Fortune 500 organizations. He attended Utah State University and went on to earn an MBA from Colorado State University. He served as an F-16 Fighter Pilot in the Air Force for 11 years. He was also an Advance Agent for Air Force One and traveled the world working with foreign embassies and the Secret Service. Together with his father, Steve Shallenberger, they authored the “Do What Matters Most” book. Find out more at https://www.becomingyourbest.com/

Dear People, Joining me today is Steve Shallenberger, Founder, and President at Becoming Your Best Global Leadership, a company inspired by his best-selling book "Becoming Your Best: The 12 Principles of Highly Successful Leaders." Steve is an innovator in leadership and corporate training; he takes leadership training and team development to a new level using a results-driven success blueprint. Steve's truth is about realizing that his life started to change after meeting the right people and reading the right books. To him, all of us are leaders; at minimum, we lead our lives, and it's up to us to make the right choices and lead ourselves to success. We had a fantastic conversation about what makes a great leader, why leadership is so important, what we can do to lead our and others' lives to success, and how crucial it is to be always open to knowledge. Steve shared the process that led to writing his best-selling book, the traits every great leader must have, and how we can use the three high-performance habits to do what matters most. We also explore the acronym SMART, an excellent tool for goal tracking, and why sharing our goals with someone we admire and respect is a goal-achieving game-changer. In This Episode, You Will Learn:About Charlie "Tremendous" Jones advice and Steve's truth (5:23)What led Steve to write "Becoming Your Best," and what were the findings that led to the creation of the twelve principles (8:35)What makes a good leader (12:23)Why it is essential to lead from a vision (16:40)The three high-performing habits (21:18)One Word Mouthful:Vision (32:21)Writing (32:25)Money (32:29)Brigham Young (32:35)Time (32:50)Utah (32:57)Mentorship (33:00)Mindset (33:05)Steve Shallenberger (33:10)Roxane Shallenberger (33:15)Resources:Becoming Your Best Global Leadership websiteBook: Steve Shallenberger - Becoming Your Best: The 12 Principles of Highly Successful LeadersBook: Steve Shallenberger - Do What Matters Most: Lead with a Vision, Manage with a Plan, and Prioritize Your TimeBook: Dale Carnegie - How To Win Friends and Influence PeopleBook: George Clason - The Richest Man in BabylonConnect with Steve:LinkedIn See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Denise R. Russo is Global VP, Head of Customer Enablement & Readiness at SAP for CE&X Success Centers; Executive Coach; Leadership Expert; and Forbes Contributor. In this episode Lauren and Denise discuss:Finding and understanding your deeper purpose as a leader and in the everyday momentsLeveraging HR and coaching skills to support customers and put your feet in the shoes of those you are servingThe Great Resignation and how you can determine what you really want in the next phase of your careerThe concept of ikigai (生き甲斐), pronounced ee-kee-gah-ee, which means "reason for being.” Key takeaways:As a coach and leader, it's important to be a good listener; ask good questions; both know and show others the way; and be able to relate to other's thoughts/ideas even if they differ from your own.It's up to you to determine the things that matter most to you and you should evaluate the conditions around you to achieve growth.You can always pursue a new path and take the steps forward with the option to turn back.Drawing on ikigai can help you feel centered and define your purpose based on four elements in the work setting – things that you are good at; things that you love doing; things that change the world; and things you can get paid for. “Life is all about continuous learning.” – Denise Russo “Diversity is what makes us different, inclusion is what makes us the same… at the end, it should be around how do we belong and how do we belong on this Earth and in this world together.” – Denise Russo “There's a difference between being the best in the world and being best for the world and I'm hoping that my legacy will be that I can be known as somebody who is for the world and for people” – Denise Russo   Reach out to Denise at:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deniserusso1/You can find the books mentioned during this interview here:Know What You're FOR: A Growth Strategy for Work, An Even Better Strategy for Life by Jeff Henderson: https://amzn.to/3l2jVyy The 6 Stages of Cultural Mastery by Ricardo González: https://amzn.to/3CFsZPZToday Matters: 12 Daily Practices to Guarantee Tomorrow's Success by John Maxwell: https://amzn.to/3r6puA9Do What Matters Most: Lead with a Vision, Manage with a Plan, Prioritize Your Time by Rob and Steve Shallenberger: https://amzn.to/3xqGylzThe Alchemist by Paulo Coelho: https://amzn.to/3l22oql Reach out to Lauren at:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenherring/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaurenHerringCareerExpert Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenherring IMPACT Group Website: www.impactgrouphr.com Earn Your Worth Website: www.earnyourworthcareers.com IMPACT Group LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/impact-group/ Earn Your Worth LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/earn-your-worth-careers/ Get the book, Take Control of Your Job Search here:Paperback Book: https://amzn.to/3tibaCz ebook: https://amzn.to/3dk4Cy5 

Steve is the Founder and Chairman of Becoming Your Best Global Leadership, a company based on his breakthrough book, Becoming Your Best: The 12 Principles of Highly Successful Leaders. His latest book is titled, “Do What matter Most”.

“Pre-Week Planning is the process, it is the habit, that will empower someone to schedule their priorities rather than prioritize their schedule...It's the most important habit a person could actually develop in their lives if they want to live a life by design instead of a life by default.” - Rob Shllenberger, Do What Matters Most Rob Shallenberger is the Founder and CEO of Becoming Your Best Global Leadership. Rob is devoted to helping individuals and organizations achieve their maximum potential and has trained and coached hundreds of companies around the world, including many Fortune 500 organizations, in leadership, planning, and time-management. Previously, he served as an F-16 Fighter Pilot in the Air Force for 11 years. Rob, along with his brother Steve Shallenberger, have a new book out called, “Do What Matters Most: Lead with a Vision, Manage with a Plan, Prioritize Your Time.” In this episode of The School for Humanity, I speak with Rob about leaving the fighter pilot world for the business world, the three habits for time management and productivity, his own pre-week planning process, and becoming intentional about what matters most.  Let's dive in! Website: becomingyourbest.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BecomingYourBest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/2928286 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomingyourbestglobal/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BYB  

“Pre-Week Planning is the process, it is the habit, that will empower someone to schedule their priorities rather than prioritize their schedule...It's the most important habit a person could actually develop in their lives if they want to live a life by design instead of a life by default.” - Rob Shllenberger, Do What Matters Most Rob Shallenberger is the Founder and CEO of Becoming Your Best Global Leadership. Rob is devoted to helping individuals and organizations achieve their maximum potential and has trained and coached hundreds of companies around the world, including many Fortune 500 organizations, in leadership, planning, and time-management. Previously, he served as an F-16 Fighter Pilot in the Air Force for 11 years. Rob, along with his brother Steve Shallenberger, have a new book out called, “Do What Matters Most: Lead with a Vision, Manage with a Plan, Prioritize Your Time.” In this episode of The School for Humanity, I speak with Rob about leaving the fighter pilot world for the business world, the three habits for time management and productivity, his own pre-week planning process, and becoming intentional about what matters most.  Let's dive in! Website: becomingyourbest.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/BecomingYourBest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/2928286 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becomingyourbestglobal/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BYB  

Do What Matters Most!   In this episode, Steve Shallenberger shared how he started his first company when he was only 16 years old and the lessons he has learned along his journey   Take away: Know what's important to you and act on it.   Action step: Get a copy of “Do What Matters Most” it will change your life.   Money Learnings: Steve's grandfather introduced him to his mentor and he started his own company at a young age.   Bio:  Rob and Steve Shallenberger, Founder and CEO of Becoming Your Best Global Leadership, are devoted to helping individuals and organizations achieve their maximum potential. Steve has successfully led companies in four different industries and has a keen understanding of how to thrive in business. Rob has trained and coached hundreds of companies around the world, including many Fortune 500 organizations, in leadership, planning, and time-management. Previously, he served as an F-16 Fighter Pilot in the Air Force for 11 years. Their new book is Do What Matters Most: Lead with a Vision, Manage with a Plan, Prioritize Your Time (BK Publishers, Inc., May 18, 2021)   Highlights from this episode: Link to episode page   Steve started his first company when he was 16 What inspired him to write his book “Do What Matters Most” Create a personal vision that's written down Living your life by design Steve talks about setting up a pre-week plan   www.BecomingYourBest.com   SOCIAL MEDIA: https://www.facebook.com/BecomingYourBest https://www.linkedin.com/company/2928286 https://twitter.com/BYB https://www.instagram.com/becomingyourbestglobal/   Richer Soul Life Beyond Money. You got rich, now what? Let's talk about your journey to more a purposeful, intentional, amazing life. Where are you going to go and how are you going to get there? Let's figure that out together. At the core is the financial well being to be able to do what you want, when you want, how you want. It's about personal freedom!   Thanks for listening!   Show Sponsor: http://profitcomesfirst.com/   Schedule your free no obligation call: https://bookme.name/rockyl/lite/intro-appointment-15-minutes   If you like the show please leave a review on iTunes: http://bit.do/richersoul https://www.facebook.com/richersoul http://richersoul.com/ rocky@richersoul.com   Some music provided by Junan from Junan Podcast   Any financial advice is for educational purposes only and you should consult with an expert for your specific needs.  

793- Rob Shallenberger. Together with Steve Shallenberger, they are Founder and CEO of Becoming Your Best Global Leadership, and are devoted to helping individuals and organizations achieve their maximum potential. Rob has trained and coached hundreds of companies around the world, including many Fortune 500 organizations, in leadership, planning, and time-management. Previously, he served as an F-16 Fighter Pilot in the Air Force for 11 years. Their new book is Do What Matters Most: Lead with a Vision, Manage with a Plan, Prioritize Your Time (BK Publishers, Inc., May 18, 2021). Learn more at becomingyourbest.com. ________ Want your customers to talk about you to their friends and family? That's what we do! We get your customers to talk about you so that you get more referrals with video testimonials. Go to www.BusinessBros.biz to be a guest on the show or to find out more on how we can help you get more customers! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/businessbrospod/support

Steve Shallenbeger, along with his son Rob, founded Becoming Your Best Global Leadership. Steve shares tips on how we can all be the best we can be as an individual and in business. In his newest book 'Do What Matters Most' will help readers learn how to prioritize their time and get things done effectively and efficiently. http://www.becomingyourbest.com/

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT STEVE CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE SHOW Welcome to The Hallisy & Horne Podcast, hosted by Matt Hallisy & Al Horne. This is the only entrepreneurial podcast that helps you take the most important step to finally achieving financial and personal freedom. What is that step? It's the VERY NEXT STEP you need to take. It doesn't matter whether you've started a business but aren't profitable – or you've only just now thought about starting a business for the first time. You can design your new life in a short period of time. We've both started multiple profitable businesses and we're here to help you move closer to your goal of living the life you've been dreaming of. The crazy thing is that you don't need to be especially talented, experienced, smart, or even lucky to make this happen. You just take the first step in front of you. So grab a drink and join us while we discuss our own journeys from working for other people as an employee to living our dream lifestyle as business owners. We share our successes, our failures, and the simple formula we've discovered to go from starting from nothing to having our own profitable business in a short period of time. We're here to help you move closer to your goal of living the life you've been dreaming of but were scared to go after. Welcome to the Hallisy & Horne Podcast. GET INSTANT NOTIFICATIONS OF NEW EPISODES! SUBSCRIBE ON TELEGRAM: https://t.me/hallisyhornepodcast CONTACT US: MATT HALLISY: matt@salescheatcode.com AL HORNE: APC_Marketing_Group@Yahoo.com --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Inner Voice – a Heartfelt Chat with Dr. Foojan on KMET 1490 AM / ABC News Radio.  In this segment –Doing What Matters Most- Dr. Foojan shares the Tip of the Week about ways you might communicate that leads to arguments and fights. Becoming aware and shifting. She shares with you the biggest argument in marriages is over finances, creating the agreement and creating trust is the key in the Ask Me Segment. Dr. Foojan brings you Rob Shallenberger. Rob with Steve Shallenberger, are Founders of Becoming Your Best Global Leadership and are devoted to helping individuals and organizations achieve their maximum potential. Rob has trained and coached hundreds of companies around the world, including many Fortune 500 organizations, in leadership, planning, and time management. In this show, they talk about his new book. Do What Matters Most: Lead with a Vision, Manage with a Plan, Prioritize Your Time.  www.becomingyourbest.com.      Check my website: www.foojan.com

In a Father's Day edition of Let's Be REAL, Andy Hughes and Denise Russo speak with inspirational authors Steve Shallenberger and his son Rob Shallenberger. In May 2021, they wrote a fantastic book called Do What Matters Most: Lead with a Vision, Manage with a Plan, Prioritize Your Time. In this interesting discussion, Steve and Rob provide 3 key habits to incorporate into your life to live a life by design, not by default. It is strongly recommended to take the Becoming Your Best assessment before and after reading the book. For more information on their company, check out the Becoming Your Best Global Leadership website.

Episode 148 of the Business Bookshelf podcast - Steve Shallenberger - Co-author of "Do What Matters Most: Lead with a Vision, Manage with a Plan, and Prioritize Your Time". Steve is the Founder and Chairman of Becoming Your Best Global Leadership, a company based on his breakthrough book, Becoming Your Best: The 12 Principles of Highly Successful Leaders. Becoming Your Best produces transformational leadership, which in turn builds cultures of excellence, which produce high performance individuals and organizations that are at the top of what they do. Steve is the co-author of “Do What Matters Most: Lead with a Vision, Manage with a Plan, and Prioritize Your Time”. Time management remains a huge challenge for most people. This book shares the three powerful habits that will help you minimize distractions, maximize accomplishments, and find time to do what matters most. Drawing on their forty years of leadership research, this book offers three powerful habits that that will help people and teams do what matters most. These three high performance habits are developing a written personal vision, identifying and setting Roles and Goals, and consistently doing Pre-week Planning. People who live these three habits can increase productivity by at least 30 to 50 percent, while reducing stress. For organizations, this means higher profits, happier employees, and increased innovation. For individuals, it means better physical and mental health, stronger relationships, and a greater sense of peace and balance. The book can be purchased here - https://amzn.to/3vcKweM You can find website for Becoming you Best here - www.becomingyourbest.com. You can email the host Lance Peppler at lance@ideastorm.co.za or visit www.businessbookshelfpodcast.com. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/businessbookshelf/support

Today, I’m feeling a little reminiscent. For those avid listeners of the show, you may recall the interview I did with Steve Shallenberger, who is the bestselling author of The 12 Principles of Highly Successful Leaders. In today’s episode, I’m going to be exploring the first principle in his book - Being True to Character - in more depth and share how it has personally influenced my approach towards the goals I set in both my business and family life. I’ll also be discussing how this core value has impacted my children, how we have applied these lessons as a family unit, and why they are so integral to having strong integrity, particularly during hard times. Tune in to Episode 36 of Six-Pack to hear more!In This Episode You Will Learn:What made me reflect on my interview with Steve Shallenberger (0:44)Why Steve’s 12 Principles require a strong focus (6:07)How our character is influenced by our core principles & A story about Gandhi featured in The 12 Principles of Highly Successful Leaders (8:40)Why adversity is the truest test of our character and ability to make decisions (12:42)What the principle of standing up and speaking out means for me personally (16:43)How my children have applied the first principle in their own lives (18:52)My perspective on doing the right thing and holding myself accountable (29:59)Let’s Connect!InstagramWebsiteFacebookResources:Book: Becoming Your Best: The 12 Principles of Highly Successful Leaders - Author, Steve Shallenberger & Rob Actis (Narrator) Website: Becoming Your Best See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Each episode of ‘Six-Pack’ has been a new and exciting exploration into the world of personal development, offering perspectives from individuals who have come from all different walks of life. Today is no exception, as I’m joined by the Founder and Chairman of ‘Becoming Your Best Global Leadership’ and published Author of, ‘The 12 Principles of Highly Successful People’, Steve Shallenberger! Steve describes himself as an innovator within the Leadership and Corporate Training space and has hosted multiple seminars on topics surrounding communication, time management, creativity, and goal setting. Through his work, he has helped tens of thousands of leaders across the globe in becoming their best selves and achieving success in every facet of their professional lives. In this episode, Steve shares his philosophies on personal growth, relationships, creating a clear vision for the future, as well as so much more. To hear more, tune in to Episode 27 of the show! Some Questions I Ask:After graduating from ‘BYU’, did you ever expect your life would turn out the way it did? (1:29)How much do you share with your mentors? (22:07)Do you set time aside to evaluate and reassess how you’re reaching your goals? (23:38)Could you share your principles surrounding pre-planning? (32:26)In This Episode You Will Learn:Some background on Steve’s upbringing in the ’60s, surrounded by various political movements (2:53)What inspired Steve’s book, ‘The 12 Principles of Highly Successful Leaders’ (6:26)How the principle of ‘leading with a vision’ relates to so many aspects of our lives (8:43)The benefits of using ‘I am’ statements (11:57)How Steve’s principles apply to our relationships with family members (13:54)What Steve is imploring my listeners to do this week (18:44)Steve’s advice on how we can gain clarity and get ourselves back on track in the midst of crisis (24:36)The importance of time management and pre-week planning (30:15)How Steve has been impacted by his Wife’s dementia (33:24)Let’s Connect!InstagramWebsiteFacebookConnect With Steve Shallenberger:LinkedInWebsiteEmail: support@becomingyourbest.comResources:Book: ‘Becoming Your Best: The 12 Principles of Highly Successful Leaders’ Author, Steve ShallenbergerBook: 'Conquer Anxiety: How to Overcome Anxiety and Optimize Your Performance' Author, Steve ShallenbergerBecoming Your Best University See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In today’s episode, it’s just me! Something that I’ve been wanting to bring up on the podcast is the theory of ‘The Bucket Philosophy.’ The analogy refers to the idea that ‘filling someone else's bucket’ will affect positive change in individuals who act as ‘bucket fillers.’ On the show, I will be sharing what it means to be a ‘bucket filler’ and a ‘bucket dipper’, dive into some of the teachings mentioned in the best-selling book, ‘How Full Is Your Bucket?’, as well as give you guys a sneak peek on some of the guests I have lined up for the next few episodes of ‘Six Pack.’ Some of these include the incredibly talented surgeon, Dr. Jaime Seeman, as well as the renowned leader and author, Steve Shallenberger! If all of this has piqued your interest, then come join me on Episode 25! In This Episode You Will Learn:A personal message of gratitude to all of my listeners (0:34)The lineup of upcoming featured guests on ‘Six Pack’ (3:06)A brief bio on Author, Steve Shallenberger (4:21)Some background on Dr. Jaime Seeman (6:37)What ‘The Bucket Philosophy’ refers to (8:20)Tips on how we can ‘fill other people’s buckets’ (10:41) Research-based evidence behind the book, ‘How Full Is Your Bucket?’ (14:06)Why receiving praise at our workplace increases our own productivity (16:09)Why we should take the time to give compliments to family members (21:29)Let’s Connect!InstagramWebsiteFacebookResources:Book: ‘Becoming Your Best: The 12 Principles of Highly Successful Leaders’ Author, Steve ShallenbergerInstagram: Dr. Jaime SeemanBook: ‘How Full Is Your Bucket?’ Author, Tom RathWebsite: ‘Gallup’ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Going Deep podcast returned to Fayette county for a second interview with one of the area’s top entrepreneurs. J.D. Ewing, President of COE Distributing, regained control of his company just after the Great Recession.   J.D. had to secure financing from the bank so he could buy inventory. When they asked for a business plan, J.D. estimated the firm would reach $10 million in revenue in 3 years.    COE Distributing ended up blowing past that number to more than $24 million. They did $9 million in the first year.   How?   In this podcast, J.D. explains how he systematically removed the constraints to business growth, how he hires team members, and the important lessons of leadership that anyone can use.   They’ve ridden this process to being named an INC 5000 fastest-growing company for 6 consecutive years.   Pittsburgh’s best conference to Expand your Mind & Fill your Heart happens once a year.   J.D. Ewing’s Challenge; Focus on getting engaged with your employees, colleagues, and teammates outside of your normal patterns. Connect with J.D. Ewing Linkedin Instagram Website Office Source Furniture   Books Becoming Your Best: The 12 Principles of Highly Successful Leaders by Steve Shallenberger  The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact by Chip & Dan Heath Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't by Verne Harnish If you liked this interview, make sure you heard our first conversation with J.D (episode 407). Underwritten by Piper Creative Piper Creative creates podcasts, vlogs, and videos for companies.    Our clients become better storytellers.    How? Click here and Learn more.   We work with Fortune 500s, medium-sized companies, and entrepreneurs.   Sign up for one of Piper’s weekly newsletters. We curate links to Expand your Mind, Fill your Heart, and Grow your Tribe.   Follow Piper as we grow YouTube Instagram Subscribe on iTunes | Stitcher | Overcast | Spotify 

J.D. Ewing is the President of COE Distributing, the largest furniture-only wholesale office furniture distributor in the United States.    We traveled out to Uniontown, PA to record this interview at the company’s headquarters, which includes a 300,000 square foot warehouse.   The company also operated hubs in North Carolina and Texas, which allows it to serve the entire continental United States.   Over the last decade, COE has been growing rapidly. He bought the family business back after an acquirer ran into bankruptcy in 2008/09. Now, they are named an Inc. 5000 company and a Top 100 Fastest Growing Business by the Pittsburgh Business Times year-after-year.   In this episode, Aaron and J.D. discuss the start of the wholesaling business, when J.D. has been an opportunistic buyer, and trends in office furniture. Pittsburgh’s best conference to Expand your Mind & Fill your Heart happens once a year.   J.D. Ewing’s Challenge; Optimize your life around work you enjoy.   Connect with J.D. Ewing Linkedin Instagram Website Office Source Furniture   Books Becoming Your Best: The 12 Principles of Highly Successful Leaders by Steve Shallenberger  Getting Naked: A Business Fable About Shedding The Three Fears That Sabotage Client Loyalty by Patrick Lencioni The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact by Chip & Dan Heath   If you liked this interview, check out episode 396 with Kristy Knichel where we discuss family business, 3rd party logistics, and customer service. Underwritten by Piper Creative Piper Creative creates podcasts, vlogs, and videos for companies.    Our clients become better storytellers.    How? Click here and Learn more.   We work with Fortune 500s, medium-sized companies, and entrepreneurs.   Sign up for one of Piper’s weekly newsletters. We curate links to Expand your Mind, Fill your Heart, and Grow your Tribe.   Follow Piper as we grow YouTube Instagram Subscribe on iTunes | Stitcher | Overcast | Spotify

“Sow a thought, and you reap an action. Sow an act, and you reap a habit. Sow a habit, and you reap a character. Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.”  --Ralph Waldo Emerson Growing into the best version of yourself begins with a vision. From there, you program your thoughts around that vision of who you want to become in each facet of your life—as an individual, a spouse, a professional and a member of the community. Thoughts lead to actions, pulling you forward into the future you are creating. Steve Shallenberger is the Founder and Chairman of Becoming Your Best Global Leadership, a management consulting firm dedicated to developing high-performing employees and teams. Steve built the company around his bestselling book, Becoming Your Best: The 12 Principles of Highly Successful Leaders, leveraging his four decades of research around the things high achievers do to accomplish extraordinary results. An innovator in the corporate training and leadership space, Steve has worked with hundreds of companies and tens of thousands of leaders in more than 25 countries around the world. Today, Steve joins Emerald to share his practice of visioning key roles to achieve clarity and using present tense language to program thoughts. He speaks to the capacity of strong leadership to change the world for good and the way a clear vision and inspiring goals amplify our courage. Steve also describes the relationship between the feeling of people-first and positive results, explaining why high-performing leaders build high-trust cultures in their organizations. Listen in for Steve’s insight on leveraging pre-week planning to prioritize your time and determine what matters most! What You Will Learn How an early mentor inspired Steve to be a business leader Steve’s extensive research around prominent leaders What sets high-performing individuals apart from everyone else How strong leadership has the capacity to change the world How a clear vision and inspiring goals amplify our courage Why high-performing leaders build high-trust cultures The relationship between the feeling of people-first and results The difference between personal and organizational vision Steve’s practice of visioning his key roles to achieve clarity The value of using present tense language to program thoughts How Steve leverages pre-week planning to prioritize his time Why Steve share his goals with others and reports back Connect with Steve Shallenberger Becoming Your Best Global Leadership Steve on LinkedIn Resources Becoming Your Best: The 12 Principles of Highly Successful Leaders by Steve Shallenberger The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason Formula for Fortune by Ann Uhry Abrams Hari Mari Flip Flops Connect with Emerald GreenForest Creative Age Consulting Group Emerald’s Website Emerald on LinkedIn Emerald on Twitter Email: listeners@menonpurposepodcast.com This episode is sponsored by the Creative Age Consulting Group. Men - Is it time NOW for you to make your mark? Visit timetomakeyourmark.com to apply for an invitation-only consultation.

Steve Shallenberger is the Founder and Chairman of Becoming Your Best Global Leadership, a company based on his breakthrough book, Becoming Your Best: The 12 Principles of Highly Successful Leaders. Becoming Your Best produces transformational leadership, which in turn builds cultures of excellence, which produce high-performance individuals and organizations that are at the top of what they do.   Steve’s goal is to help individuals and companies achieve their very best as they implement the 12 Principles of Highly Successful Leaders. These principles are crucial to the success of any leader or person.   Steve has provided consulting and training for hundreds of companies and tens of thousands of leaders throughout 25+ countries. An innovator in leadership and corporate training, Steve takes leadership training and team development to a new level using a results-driven success blueprint. His exciting seminars on Leadership, Communication, Time- Management, Goals, Creativity, and Relationships provide an entirely new way of seeing and thinking that can change lives and organizations for the positive.   Steve also co-hosts the popular podcast Becoming Your Best with his partner (and son) Rob Shallenberger. Together, they help listeners uncover the principles of highly successful leaders.   Steve Shallenberger Show Highlights: Research on leadership and how it applies to education What sets apart high performing individuals and organizations from everyone else The 12 principles of great leadership Do you share a vision that is big and inspirational? His process of identifying what sets top performers from average or low performers Top performers often have failures Transformational vs transactional leadership Building great teams Generating the rhythm in your organization Do you use TIGS in your organization? “Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson   Steve Shallenberger Resources: Personal Performance Self Assessment   Becoming Your Best: The 12 Principles of Highly Successful Leaders Richest Man in Babylon How to Win Friends and Influence People The Greatest Salesman in the World The Better Leaders Better Schools Roadmap     Steve Shallenberger Contact Info Website Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Podcast Upgrade Download the Creating Your Vivid Vision here: https://betterleadersbetterschools.com/vivid-vision   Buy the Better Leaders Better Schools Roadmap Show Some Love BECOME A PATRON OF THE SHOW FOR AS LITTLE AS $1/MONTH DID YOU LIKE THE SHOW?  iTunes SUBSCRIBE HERE! LEAVE A 5-STAR RATING AND REVIEW   Join my hybrid group coaching & leadership development community   Website :: Facebook :: Insta :: Twitter :: LinkedIn   SHOW SPONSORS: ORGANIZED BINDER Organized Binder is an evidence-based RTI2 Tier 1 universal level solution Focuses on improving executive functioning and noncognitive skills Is in direct alignment with the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework Is an integral component of ensuring Least Restrictive Environments (LRE)   You can learn more and improve your student’s success at https://organizedbinder.com/   Copyright © 2018 Better Leaders Better Schools

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100 episodes- can you believe it. This week I dive back in with 5 of my favorite guests. Otto Scharmer of MIT, America’s Rabbi Daniel Lapin, Whitney Johnson (Disrupt Yourself), Steve Shallenberger (Becoming Your Best) & Scott Beebe, small business guru Download The 13 Leadership Principles Top Takeaways: Celebrate with Otto Scharmer Rabbi Lapin Whitney […] The post ML100 – Celebrate with Otto Scharmer Rabbi Lapin Whitney Johnson Steve Shallenberger & Scott Beebe appeared first on Jake A Carlson.

I'm chatting to Steve Shallenberger all about being the best that you can be, developing your leadership skills, and building a wonderful team that can support you in your quest to build a wonderful dental practice. Steve Shallenberger has more than forty years of experience as a successful business owner, a trusted senior executive, professional corporate trainer, and a respected community leader.  After graduating from Brigham Young University in 1976, Steve launched Eagle Systems International, a global leadership and management consulting firm.  He has successfully led companies in four different industries and has a keen understanding of how to thrive in business.  During those formative years, he continued his education at the Harvard Business School.  Steve also worked many years with Stephen R. Covey. As a key leader, among others, he helped build the world-renowned Covey Leadership Center.  He's taken his lifetime of experience and founded Becoming Your Best Global Leadership LLC, a company devoted to helping individuals and organisations achieve their maximum potential! In this episode, we discuss:  9:28: The three categories of great leadership skills  10:54: The importance of vision and how to create it 24:10: What does it mean to be "transformational" and why is it so powerful 25:20: How to make rapid progress 30:04: Why the growth of the business is tied to the growth of the leader 32:55: Can anyone improve their leadership skills? 35:00: A simple plan for how to become your best 38:57: Why the opposite of success is not failure 45:46: The importance of having mentors in your life And much more! Find out more about Steve Shallenberger  https://www.becomingyourbest.com

     I'm chatting to Steve Shallenberger about being the best that you can be, developing your leadership skills, and building a wonderful team that can support you in your quest to build a wonderful dental practice. Steve Shallenberger has more than forty years of experience as a successful business owner, a trusted senior executive, professional corporate trainer, and a ...   Read more... This article is copyright ©  Dr Jesse Green The post 141. How To Become Your Best with Steve Shallenberger appeared first on Dr Jesse Green.

On this episode, Steve Shallenberger tells the story of the first Thanksgiving and shares his thoughts on the importance of gratitude. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On today's show Steve Shallenberger talks about how to have a becoming your best morning. This process is a foundation to help you become your best each and every day. We're really talking about setting a routine, not just something mundane for you to do. You can find an order that works best for you and  let it contribute to your health and success on a daily basis.There are seven parts to having a becoming your best morning. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On today's show Steve Shallenberger talks to Barry Rassin. Barry was born in London and at three weeks old move to the Bahamas with his family. He went to the U.S. for school. After working earning his MBA in healthcare and working in the U.S  Barry realized he wanted to help make a difference elsewhere. His dad was a surgeon and his mother was a nurse. They had a clinic in Nassau.  So he went to the clinic with $5,000 in pocket and said, "We're going to change healthcare in this country somehow."       See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Steve Shallenberger talks to Kevin Eikenberry. Kevin is the contributing author to The Handbook of Experiential Learning and Remarkable Leadership. His writing has been published in newspapers, magazines, trade journals, and websites from all around the world. He's worked with Fortune 500 companies, small firms, universities, government agencies, hospitals and more. He's the real deal. On today's episode we talk to Kevin about leadership and his thoughts on how people can unlock their potential to achieve success. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Becoming Your Best to Live a Life of Abundance!Living Your Best Life is a Choice. You chose to be happy or not. This is a hard concept to grasp when everything around you seems to be falling apart. Today's conversation, with Steve Shallenberger, and his shared resources will help you be your best version of you, Today. Meet our Feature GuestSteve was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Graduate in Accounting and Business from Brigham Young University and the Harvard Business School. He bought, founded, and successfully ran 11 companies in four different industries. Steve is the author of the National Best-Selling book, Becoming Your Best, the 12 Principles of Highly Successful Leaders and the Transformation Challenge. Dedicated to helping individuals, teams/relationships and organizations to become their best. Steve lives in Orem, Utah with his wife, has 6 children and 18 grandchildren. Connect with our guest https://www.becomingyourbest.com/abundance/ (BecomingYourBest.com) Resources Mentioned in the show Books Becoming Your Best - Steve Sallenberger The Richest Man in Babylon - George Samuel Clason The Best Salesmen in the World - Og Mandino How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie   Tired of Your Low Lead Conversions and Embarrassing Low Revenue?Get Access to the 8 Strategies That Will Uncover $10K to $50K In Your Business in Just 45 Minutes. https://menofabundance.com/nobsbb/ (Send My Copy Now!) Support this podcast

Steve Shallenberger talks to Will Deane. Will is an east coast guy with a heart for business. As a kid, he always had some kind of operation in the works. In high school, he made fake IDs and mowed lawns. Now as an adult, he works as a digital marketing and e-commerce expert. With the same heart for business from his youth, he has built and scaled several multimillion-dollar businesses. His experience in the field doesn't stop there, he also has a company of his own called Unstoppable.co. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Rob Shallenberger is recognized globally as a leading authority in planning and execution. He is widely known for sharing his experience as a US fighter pilot to deliver fun, energetic, and highly impactful keynotes and seminars. Based on the National Bestselling book Becoming Your Best: The 12 principles of Highly Successful Leaders – which includes 40 years of research from peak performing companies – Rob shares powerful principles that propel teams and organizations to the top. From the cockpit to the boardroom, Fortune 500 companies around the world have used his valuable lessons learned as a fighter pilot to ignite their teams and leaders and fuel high performance at every level. As the CEO of Becoming Your Best Global Leadership, an award-winning leadership and corporate training company, Rob helps leaders around the world grow and lead powerful teams. He also co-hosts the popular podcast Becoming Your Best with his partner (and father) Steve Shallenberger. Together, they help listeners uncover the principles of highly successful leaders.

Steve Shallenberger hosts this episode and as it happens to be around the particular time of the 4th of July holidays in the United States of America and actually in some other places in the world, it's a significant day for their respective countries. It celebrates the independence of the United States. It celebrates freedom and liberty and all that it stands for these last few days. The execution of this plan to freedom took leadership and the principles of highly successful people.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Steve Shallenberger, just released his new book The Transformation Challenge, A New Approach to Winning In Business & in Life. After 4 years of deep dive research into 50 different organizations, he found that not a single one had a common change management or problem solving solution. So, being the problem solver he is, Steve […] The post ML71- Identifying High Functioning Teams with Steve Shallenberger appeared first on Jake A Carlson.

Steve Shallenberger is joined by Richard and Linda Eyre who are both New York Times Best Selling Authors and have appeared on virtually all major national talk shows including Oprah, Today and have seen their books translated into a dozen languages. They write a syndicated weekly newspaper column and currently spend most of their time traveling and speaking to audiences throughout the world on families, parenting, and life balance. And trying to keep up with 31 and counting grandchildren with 9 children. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Welcome to our podcast listeners, wherever you might be in the world today. This is Steve Shallenberger, your host with Becoming Your Best, Global Leadership. Think of one of the most amazing books you have ever read!  What sets it apart from all of the others?  Well, it’s the words! And, imagine an incredible speaker or comedian.  Aside from their unique presentation, it is the words that gives them passion to make a difference. They’re put together in the right way that make us laugh or reflect upon a play or movie that you have been to or seen, it is the words that also really penetrated your soul in a way you can never forget. I mean, just think about Mary Poppins: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! Even though the sound of it Is something quite atrocious If you say it loud enough You'll always sound precocious Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! Who could ever forget that one or “A spoon full of sugar makes the medicine go down?” Or how about John F Kennedy? “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country!” Or Martin Luther King, “I have a dream,” Yoda:  Do or do not!  There is no try! So, think of words that have influenced your life:   I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I know I can, I know I can, I know I can…., I knew I could, I knew I could, I knew I could.  This little phrase fro The Little Train that Could has lasted with me for all these years.   Today’s podcast is about the use of words, which is a wonderfully exciting and a mind-blowing part of Principle #7 of The 12 Principles of Highly Successful Leaders, and this particular one is: How to be an effective communicator. Words happen to be a huge part of communication. So, what’s really the vision for using words?  Well, they allow us to both communicate and understand in a way that inspires and impacts both your behavior and the behaviour of others. So, words really do provide you with the capacity to articulate even your own personal vision, just think about that. Which in turn can affect your thoughts, actions, habits, character and ultimately your destiny. So, if there was ever a reason to work on your Good, Better and best in an area, your use of words is it!  So, whether you are 20, 40, 60, or 80 years old, our words, and in turn, our actions really define who we are. As a matter of fact, talk about being self-conscious of something, my capacity to do this podcast is limited or enhanced by my use of words.  Yikes—what a responsibility. And as we reflect on The 12 Principles of Highly Successful Leaders, these principles are ever vibrant, fresh and NEVER get stale or old.  Each one is an inspiration that lifts us to new heights.  However, when they work together, all 12 together, magic happens.  A chemistry of excellence is released. So, Principle #7 is  of course to be an effective communicator.  Our capacity then, to use these words, really  effects our capacity to communicate well.  And so to improve in this area is an exciting, wonderful, breath-taking journey. Today, actually, it would be so fun to be together, to discuss and brainstorm these in person. To share our thoughts on ways to use words better.  And so, I will imagine that your thoughts and contributions in our discussion are a vibrant part of this podcast today. In the absence of being together, let’s just share some of the things we might have discussed in the form of a word checklist of things that you (we) can do to enjoy this expansive journey that has such a big impact on our lives. We could talk about language and words:  So let’s start out by listening to this one. Diane Setterfield from The Thirteenth Tale.   “There is something about words. In expert hands, manipulated deftly, they take you prisoner. Wind themselves around your limbs like spider silk, and when you are so enthralled you cannot move, they pierce your skin, enter your blood, numb your thoughts. Inside you they work their magic.”  ― Diane Setterfield, The Thirteenth Tale   Wow! Words are so cool and so inspiring. Whether you are communicating with a large group, small group or one-on-one, the words that you use make all the difference in the world. To stimulate our discussion, I have identified 6 different dimensions of the “word checklist” that helps you in Becoming Your Best in this area. Let’s dive right in this! Here is the first one of the checklist that helps us Becoming Our Best through the use of words: Increase Your Vocabulary: Increasingly your vocabularly is a huge predictor of success.  You can practice new words that you don’t use - really, everyday. Some years ago, as a father who wanted to help his children, I became aware of an institute called The Johnson O Connor Institute, Test. It’s located in different areas of the United States and this is something – it’s about a 5 hour test and it accesses your capability, among other things, your vocabulary as well. And so, we have sent different of our children to this in San Francisco. I actually accompanied them. And after the 5 hour test, an assessment result is given to you which is probably about 20 pages. It’s terrific! But then it focuses in on vocabulary! And so, Johnson O’Connor’s done a huge amount of research in this area. And particularly the studies have focused on the impact of vocabulary on people’s lives and has drawn many amazing conclusions from a vast amount of testing and experiments performed in more than 20 years of research. A significant part of Johnson O’Connor’s research observed successful people in many walks of life and really trying to correlate their success with factors such as gender, age, scholarship levels and many others including vocabulary levels. He tested people on the most versed endeavors like the students about to take their SATs or Executives in large corporations, coaches, teachers etc. He always found the same results, no matter which area he looked at, and no matter how he analyzed the data: a person’s vocabulary level is the best single predictor of occupational success. He actually did a study with managers in 39 large manufacturing companies. Below are the average results of an extensive vocabulary test, averaged and grouped by hierarchical level:   *Chart described in podcast for visualization purposes. O’Connor really took extreme care to statistically isolate variables that could distort the results. So scholarship level and age, for example, were considered to make sure it was indeed vocabulary, and not something related, that correlated with success. His studies also show that vocabulary usually comes before achievement, and not because of it. Even if we’re not able to ultimately prove the correlation, it’s hard to ignore O’Connor’s findings.   And so ultimately, here is the deal. He discovered professional success depends entirely on thinking and communication skills which are directly related to vocabulary. That was the bottom line. I love this quote from Henry Hazlitt, Thinking as a Science. “A man with a scant vocabulary will almost certainly be a weak thinker. The richer and more copious one's vocabulary and the greater one's awareness of fine distinctions and subtle nuances of meaning, the more fertile and precise is likely to be one's thinking. Knowledge of things and knowledge of the words for them grow together. If you do not know the words, you can hardly know the thing.”  ― Henry Hazlitt, Thinking as a Science So this is a huge part of a checklist in strengthening our capacity to use words is to build a strong vocabulary.   Here’s number two: Make your words come alive. Words that breathe - Color, imagery, smell, texture, feel, energy andemotion. For example, Zig Ziglar, who’s spoken a number of times at our company seminars and he would say:  People refer to money as Cold hard cash.  “It is never cold nor hard.  It is soft and warm.  “ We can use similies and metaphors. Here’s one for example: Her tears were like a rushing river. Well, what a great simile! Because t compares someone’s tears with a rushing river. A person’s tears can’t literally be like a rushing river, but by saying that the tears are like a rushing river, you’re conjuring up an image in the individual’s mind, that’s listening to you or reading what you’ve shared, of how much someone is crying. Or Her heart broke like glass! See what an image that creates? Or The young man trying to remember his father’s advice on a blind date and paying his date a compliment.  He could have said, “Your face could make a clock stop”.  Or, he could say, “Your face makes time stand still!”  Well, these are tremendous images that help use see things. How about this Primary Song that I learned this when I was 8 years old. I looked out the window, and what did I see? Popcorn popping on the apricot tree! Spring had brought me such a nice surprise, Blossoms popping right before my eyes. I could take an armful and make a treat, A popcorn ball that would smell so sweet. It wasn’t so, but it seemed to be Popcorn popping on the apricot tree. Isn’t that great? Well that’s an example of making words come alive! Of course there’s no popcorn on an apricot tree, but you can see it in your mind! You can see the beautiful white blossoms on an apricot tree – you can almost smell them and it connects you to Spring and the surprise and you want to go out and take an armful and what smells so sweet. This is an idea of using words in a way that they bring things to life. Here’s number 3 on our word checklist of things that we can do to use words better: Use words that are kind, uplifting and encouraging. Never mean, degrading and discouraging. Find something good to say about others.  Especially in their absence.  Think how much better the world would be if we were all kind to one another.  That doesn’t mean we can’t disagree and have differences, different points of view, but just imagine what kind of world we would have if EVERYONE were uplifting in their comments about others. They found the good. The change in a world starts with you and it starts with me. We can do this and it spreads. Here’s a great quote by Vashti Quiroz-Vega. “Words! What power they hold. Once they have rooted in your psyche, it is difficult to escape them. Words can shape the future of a child and destroy the existence of an adult. Words are powerful. Be careful how you use them because once you have pronounced them, you cannot remove the scar (or blessing) they leave behind.”  ― Vashti Quiroz-Vega Well how true. Here’s another one from Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute The Sun. This is an amazing one: “We cannot control the way people interpret our ideas or thoughts, but we can control the words and tones we choose to convey them. Peace is built on understanding, and wars are built on misunderstandings. Never underestimate the power of a single word, and never recklessly throw around words. One wrong word, or misinterpreted word, can change the meaning of an entire sentence - and even start a war. And one right word, or one kind word, can grant you the heavens and open doors.”  ― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem   So there’s three that we’ve talk about on our checklist. To recap so far: 1. Build your vocabulary 2. To Make your words come alive 3. Use words that are kind and encouraging. What can we do next to build our capacity to use language? Use your Spellcheck and good Grammar. There are a few things that distract more from a well meaning letter that communicate that words that are spelled incorrectly and in the right order.  Read over your document several times to assure accuracy and have others read your important letters or correspondence. Have others read over your documents to ensure there is a check and a balance. So that’s number 4. Use words that are positive and upbeat! Watch the impact words have on your thoughts and feelings!  I’m going to use an example from a book that was a huge inspiration to me, especialy in my youth and early 20’s. I read the book The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz numerous times. On page 68 in that book, he uses this example of phrases which create small negative mind changes versus Phrases which create big, positive mind images. Here are the examples he uses in his book. Phrases which create small negative mind images Phrases which create big, positive mind images. 1.  It’s no use, we’re whipped. 1.  We’re not whipped yet.  Let’s keep trying.  Here’s a new angle. 2.  Five years is a long time to spend before I’ll get into the top ranks in your company.  Count me out! 2.  Five years is not really a long time.  Just think, that leaves me 30 years to serve at a high level. 3.  It won’t work.  Dark, gloom, disappointment, grief, and failure. 3.  It will work, let me prove it. The image:  Bright, hope, success, fun and victory. 4.  I’m too young (old) for the job. 4.  Being young (old) is a distinct advantage. 5.  The market is saturated.  Imagine, 75 per cent of the potential has already been sold.  Better get out. 5.  Imagine!  25 per cent of the market is still not sold.  Count me in.  This looks big!   It’s really important for us to discipline ourselves so we are using the big positive words. As we think about this thought of using words that are positive and upbeat - Think good words. Use good words.  Use good language versus bad language.  I will never forget when I heard the tapes of one of our President’s of the United States.  I could not believe the foul language that was totally unnecessary. What a disappointment that was. My friend, Stephen Covey, who had had one of his trademark wass a shaved head would often say, why waste hormones on growing hair when you can use them on good looks. 

Steve Shallenberger is the Founder and Chairman of Becoming Your Best Global Leadership, Steve’s goal is to help individuals and companies achieve their very best as they implement 12 Principles of Highly Successful Leaders, which are crucial to the success of any leader or person.   Steve has provided consulting and training for hundreds of companies and tens of thousands of leaders throughout 25+ countries   To find out more and get access to bonus content click here   More ways to get involved If you have found anything useful in this episode, then please leave a comment and rate the show.  If you would like to ask Geoff a question or suggest a topic to cover on the show, please email him at podcast@geoffnicholson.co.uk Join my new and growing community on Facebook where I share insights, strategies and special offers.  It would be great to see you their.

Steve: Welcome to all of our Becoming Your Best podcast listeners, where ever you might be in the world today. This is your host Steve Shallenberger and we have a very special guest and friend on our show today and I am as excited as I've ever been to have somebody here. He's wonderful. He’s a one of a kind individual with a life of inspiring others, including me, and helping people all over the world to reach their fullest potential and dreams. Welcome Denis Waitley.   Denis:  Hey Stephen! Great to be with you. It's a real honor and a privilege to be on your podcast and I hope we can shed some more light to your audience which you do so well on Becoming Your Best.   Steve: Well thank you so much. Well yes we'll just go ahead and get right into it and before we get going I'd like to just give a little background of some of the things that Denis has done and generally his nature which is amazing. He is inspired, informed, challenged and entertained audiences for over thirty five years. I know that because in 1983 and 1984  in one of my first companies where we had 700 sales reps that were going all over the world - Denis was one of the individuals that we invited to speak to and train all of these young sales reps. There were going all over, and they were energetic of full of energy but Denis and along with the number of his friends Zig Ziglar, Earl Nightingale, Ira Hayes -  I mean these are some really cool people who changed our lives and Denis was one of those. And so we're just part of that but he has done that all over the entire world. He's spent many years in China , hopefully will have the chance to have them tell us a little about that experience, in India, United States. Recently he was voted business speaker the year by the Sales and Marketing Executives Association and the by Toastmasters international and inducted into the international speakers hall of fame. He's had over ten million audio programs sold in fourteen different languages. This is just great! I actually pulled Denis a number of your books off my bookshelf again this morning. I've read that many times -  The Psychology of Winning, The Seeds Of Greatness and it goes on. His audio album The Psychology of Winning is the all time best selling program on self mastery. He's a graduate of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis and a former navy pilot. He holds a doctoral degree in human behaviour. Denis we’re so excited to have you with us!   Denis: Well thank you Steve. It's really great to be with you. You know it's been a wonderful journey. I'm still out there. You know people say,  Well, you’re long past retirement age and I said well retire - by its very definition means to go to bed or tired for the last time. If you're retired it seems tired again. So  I'm re inspired and retried instead of retired and I think that's one of the secrets that we all learn from people like Billy Graham and people like you know George Burns. You can name them and they seem to live longer because they're engaged in learning and they have the curiosity of a child that doesn't end when you finally stop earning. So I think you're yearning should and learning should continue regardless of your no longer earning.   Steve: Well that is a great way to put it. All of a sudden,  that great voice a Denis Waitley is coming back and we just kinda lean forward to listen to all those great quotes that you have. That's an inspiration for me , like I'm already past retirement ,but I am no where compared - I think Denis is like a 184 at least. Denis: It seems like it. You know, Steve, I've been doing eulogies for all of my contemporaries and that’s not, of course something that you look forward to. So, I did the eulogy for my friend, Jim Rone, Eulogy for my friends Zig Ziglar, for Wayne Dyer, Eulogy for my friend Steven Covey and even for Robert Schuller and Billy Graham was a friend of mine. I don't like to drop names like that but as I look at it them, I say to myself, “Wow, I'm so fortunate to still be out here.” But I have a cousin in England, Jack Reynolds ,who's 106 and he holds the Guinness Book of Records for the highest, longest, zip line journey for the oldest person. And it shows him at 106,  shouting and yelling as he's going down this is a blind over the mountain in England and I asked him how do you live so long and he said,” I look forward to being a 107.”   Steve: Well that's great you know just recently Denis I've had the opportunity in just the last few months to be with the number of longevity in health doctors just on a retreat or different circumstances - one in Singapore there. Dr Oz was one of them. Another, Dr Mao is his name and then the third Dr Foruhy - they're amazing but they talk about, and there among the world's leaders on health and longevity. They all reflected a number of things in common that we can do to extend healthy living: stay fit,  get adequate sleep. One of the ones I like the Dr Oz said was your heart needs to have a reason to keep beating.   Denis:  Well that's good, that's a very good.  That's when I have learned that too because I studied Prisoners Of War for my doctoral dissertation and I found that no American prisoner escaped during the Korean War from a minimum security camp but many of them escape from maximum security camp and that's because leaders always want to get home, or get to where they're going and people who feel that they're victimized and have no way out or no way forward, then don't live as long and that's what happens to many service people and coaches when they retire . If they retire and do nothing and have nothing really going on, you know we all say why don't we just play golf and fish. Well I like to eat what I catch and I don't like to kill fish necessarily but I do like taste of a fresh fish and I don't play golf anymore because why would I run my self esteem on a want like that.   Steve: That’s great. Well there's so much we can talk about that I think today let's start talking and I hope you don't mind and for the benefit of our audience, I'd like to start off talking about The Psychology Of Winning. This is a wonderful book and I am going to read just a small portion out of it. It’s an introduction and then perhaps Denis can tell us about what inspired him, what led to him write The Psychology Of Winning, and how was it been impactful in your life and others? So let me read this clip first. This is where he talks about true winning. True winning however is no more than one's own personal pursuit of individual excellence. You don't have to get lucky to win at life nor do you have to knock out other people down or gain at the expense of others. Winning is taking the talent or potential you were born with and have since developed and using it fully towards a goal or purpose it makes you happy. Winning is becoming the dream of yourself that would fulfill you as a person with high esteem. And winning is giving and getting in an atmosphere of love, cooperation, social concern and responsibility and that is why I've been so inspired about Denis because not only does he set it out there but then he's he says now here are some things that we need to do the will help us realize those dreams. So how did it all happen? What led to The Psychology Of Winning.   Denis:  Well, that you know, of course a long journey, but as things always start in childhood - so as a little boy, I grew up during World War II - a dysfunctional family. My father left home when I think I was 9 years old when he left but he went to war and then he and my mother broke up and my mother became very bitter because they weren't spending his checks home and so she became disillusioned with life and was fairly negative it and as a way of combating that disillusionment I rode my bike about ten miles over to my grandmother's house every Saturday because she was an inspiration. So she and I planted a victory garden and she taught me about the seeds of greatness. She said whatever you put in the soil and nurture will come up and be fruitful and I said, “But how come weeds don't need water?” And she said, “Well weeds are like negative thoughts. They blow in on the wind and they don't need any water and they just need people to repeat them.” So we did this victory garden and she inspired me when I was little and in a dysfunctional family where your father maybe is an alcoholic and your mother's a negative for perhaps all of the right reasons, I found that by reading biographies of people who'd overcome enormous obstacles to become successful - I found that these people had problems that I never even dreamed about and yet they seem to be fulfilled and happy. So I read a lot and then I began to try to be a leader in my school to overcome feelings of inadequacy and feelings of abandonment perhaps by my father and to make a long story short,  going to the Naval Academy during the Korean War, I learned a lot about discipline and target seeking and I became a navy pilot which meant that I had to visualize, internalize, I had to fantasize but I had to be goal oriented and I think as a surfer in southern California who finally became disciplined enough to be a carrier pilot, these things went together but I never wanted to destroy people in war-  I want to defend my country but I had a calling that I wanted to develop the potential within people because I was struggling myself and to make a really long story short ,during the worst time in my life, when I had custody of my 4 little children, I was divorced and had no income I wrote The Psychology of Winning at the worst of times. Now people, you know Tony Robbins and some of my friends would say, “Well usually, you write a book about your success!” And I said “Well I wrote the book for myself, so that I could learn from what I was not doing to do the things I know I should be doing. And so at the worst of my time, I wrote my best work so to speak, and so I think writing it for myself, giving myself the encouragement to do things that were a little more difficult but took a little more habit, a little more discipline, a little more effort; I put together these principles and I use POW because I had been a rehab facilitator for the returning Vietnam prisoners of war and I use that as a metaphor-  POW means either Prince Of Wales, putting on weight, power of women or psychology of winning and it's a perception through the eye of the beholder. So my premise is it's not so much what happens to you that counts, it's how you take it and what you make of it so what's your response to the daily life ; your anticipation of the future and the way you treat failure as fertilizer. Failure is the fertilizer of success. My grandmother used to say as we were fertilizing our plants, she said “We just take all the stuff and mulch and up and it grows green plants,” and I said “So that's what you do with failure huh? She said you don't lay in it wallow in it. You use it as a learning experience. So I would say that my grandmother who immigrated from England and going through World War 2 and the Korean War -  I thought we'd always be at war because that's all I knew growing up, and so I was so gratified to realize that the war is finally ended but POW, does really mean for me psychology of winning rather than a prisoner of war.   Steve: Wonderful! Boy, what we're great comments and thanks for the background. Talk about seeds! There are so many nuggets of what you just shared of and your grandma must've been some lady!   Denis:  Well I think about every day I have a mahogany butterfly that she always wanted that I finally made enough money with my paper out to buy it for is the only gift that I wanted from her life but it's in my kitchen and I look at it every day and we have a little silent conversation but she was definitely the role model and inspiration in my life and that I'll always be grateful for having her. She would say “You mow the bass line I've ever seen.” and I would ride my bike 10 miles just to get that kind of recognition from her and that good feeling of you're a good boy and you can do good things and the seeds of greatness and I  always ask her “Will the Japanese win?” And she said “No ,you always get out what you put in.” So you get the harvest of the seeds that you sell sow - she said they will not win because their premise for doing what they did was not good and honest. I said “Wow.” She said, “So model yourself after people who've given service but not necessary are celebrities,” and I've always felt that the most successful people will never be known in the media because they're not celebrities, they are so busy living life and doing good they don't get covered by the media.   Steve: Great insights! if you wouldn't mind, you said something that caught my attention. You said in the middle of all this you had to you know this wonderful influence and contrast of experiences as a young man but the influence of your grandma on talking about planting the right seeds and in in the middle of all this where you're feeling “a bit like a failure,” because of some of the things that had happened , you said just mention that you felt a calling to help others develop their potential and you included yourself in that group. Would you mind talking about that feeling you had? This calling you felt that you needed to address and respond to and how big of a deal was that for you?   Denis: What was really a big deal see because at the Naval Academy is Episcopalian and growing up the only religious training I had was my grandma reading some really great proverbs and things out of the good book. So I went to Sunday school because the Presbyterians have better uniforms on the softball team and so I went through all these religious experiences and finally and later Billy Graham said to me, “So you've got all these experiences what denomination are you? and I said, “Sir I was hoping you might give me a suggestion.” And  he said, “You know you're on your journey .” So the truth of the matter is when I would hear Handel's messiah at Christmas time , there was this inner tingling and this feeling that there was something internal and I think I was becoming acquainted with my soul and yet not having any formal religious training, it was definitely an inner inspiration so I felt that perhaps I had made a lot of mistakes in my apprenticeship in life so that I might be able to learn to do the right things. And much of what I've written about are certainly repetitions of the scriptures and the Old and the New Testament and all the great books that have been written so there's no question that I'm not an original. I'm someone who's leaned from reading and experiencing and traveling about these things and I think that it was at that bad time of not having income, having my four children wanting to come back home  to San Diego or to California and I was in Pittsburgh in their worst winter and I had just sold the Jonas Salk Foundation to the Mellon Foundation back in Pittsburgh and I found myself divorced with custody of four children who didn't want to be with me in Pittsburgh in the winter. They wanted to come home. It's almost like saying  “Come on we've always been a team!” And they said ‘We want to go home, dad.” I said,” I know but you're with your dad.’ They said “Yeah I know but we want to go home,” and I think that was the turning point where you put your head out the window and say, I'm fed up with myself. I'm not going to take it anymore but which meant I'm not going to do this to myself. So I went into this program of self analysis, self awareness and found that I was not doing the very things that I had read about and I was only superficially scratching the surface. I was only skin deep and so I got into it very deeply and that became that book for The Psychology Of Winning which became an audio program first and then a book, was really a diary of what I needed to learn myself and the only regret I have Steve, is that at the time that I wrote it, OJ Simpson was running through airports for Hertz Rent-A- Car and had suffered rickets as a child and had bold legs and he became this NFL superstar and I included him in my book and I've been trying to remove him from the book ever since. But you can't pick winners in all of the so called role models. He certainly isn’t a role model but so in other words by I learned these principles for me so that I would do them and I began to do them and I went from being somebody who was always late, which is perfect for my name, “Waitley,” - wait for me and so I should have changed my name to swiftly or rushly but I became Waitley but I became first to the gate Waitley. I became someone who was always on time and I did that because I am an absolute believer in the creation of habit and I've learned so much about good and bad habits and healthy and unhealthy and about ninety percent of our daily activities are habitual we do them autonomically without even thinking and so I've spent most of my life trying to help people not break habits - but you don't break a habit. You re write it ,you overcome it, you change it but you don't break it. You know habits are like submarines there silent and deep. They're like comfortable beds easy to get into but difficult to get out of and habits are just this knit pattern of thought that becomes automatic after a while and so I think working with the Olympics, I was really lucky as you know, Bill Simon was president of the Olympics and he appointed be as the first chairman of Psychology for United States Olympics in 1980 and through that experience, I watch these amazing young people get into the habit of winning. And they became they did within what they were doing without and they simulated and they rehearse and they practiced, on and off the field and finally watching the skiers go through the visualization at the top of the run before they hit the first gate and watching swimmers go through the meat ,watching figure skaters backstage going to their routines and not falling during the Triple Axel. I saw all of this and I said you know in addition to being emotionally inspired there definitely is a way to do this if you can control your thinking and if you can fill your thoughts which I call “Psycho Linguistics,” because thoughts are traffic and the brain is either a cul de sac construction zone or freeway. And you can create a freeway in your brain by controlling the traffic that flows through your brain and it actually makes a new highway toward your goal is like a GPS system but instead of a goal positioning satellite or a positioning satellite, it’s a goal positioning system in your brain that you can train to have a target so specific and so emotional that your brain will allow very little distraction to get you there so fortunately through the years neuroscience has proven that positive thinking is more than just the placebo effect. It actually are creators internal pharmacy that really helps optimism become the biology of hope as well as the psychology of hope.   Steve: These are some really extraordinarily inspirational ideas and I'm just thinking I know that so many of our listeners including me and I'd expect all of them have this feeling of something special that they can do in life and then it takes going through thinking about their own unique talents in this introspection that you describe saying how do I address that and how do I concretely move forward and so, these things that you're sharing are so important , so inspirational. I know that they're covered in your books. As you think about this the book Psychology Of Winning, you've been talking about on some of the key parts that are really important for us to realize our goals.   Denis: Well that's a very good question. I think the first one is realizing that your intrinsic worth. I think that worth internalized is better than worth externalized and I think you have to feel deserving of success before you'll really experience it, which really means that if love is not inside of you ,then how can you give away something you don't possess? So love must be there in the first place and I'm not talking about narcissistic self love. It’s the kind of thing that say given my parents and my background given who I am, how I look ,what age I am my ethnicity my religious beliefs ,I'm kind of glad I am me! And in fact I'd rather be me than anyone else in the world live in at any other time, in fact that's who I am. I'm as good as the best but not necessarily better than the rest so I don't compare myself favorably or unfavorably with other people although the Olympics do that with the standard of excellence but that's just to be an Olympian and to compete with world class standards -doesn't mean you're necessarily trying to knock and beat the other person. You're just trying to be your best against world class standards. So I think the most important thing is to believe in your potential because only then will you invest in yourself. if you don't feel worth investing and then you won't invest in it you'll live your life as a spectator - happy to be in the stands and I am happy to be in the stands as well watching tremendous performances but it's much more fun to be in the arena however small and participating. So I think intrinsic self worth, believing in your dream when that's all you have to hang on to is the single most important quality. And then the second one is to always give more in value than you expect to receive in payment, because it seems to be that you really do have an unfailing boomerang. People always called the law of attraction or the law of cause and effect but I found when I am truly interested in helping other people genuinely not to get something for me ,but if I get out of me and into them and transmit whatever value I have in the way of service or advice, that in that way I don't expect a return on the investment but I usually get it ten fold. So I've always believed that if you give more in value than you receive in payment you'll be truly rich in every sense and then of course there is the idea of expectation, optimism, the world revolves around optimism and people who believe in solutions rather than are just complaining about the problems and we have so many critics and so many tweets and so much Twitter as so many instagrams and so much Facebook and so many selfies. You know I'd like to be unselfish in a selfie world and I'd like to instead of being skin deep, I'd like to be soul deep and I'd like to measure diversity not based on how you look on the outside but the experiences you've had as you've been growing up . In other words we all bring a diversity of experience, why do our eyes have to tell us what we should believe or why the war years and our eyes have to be the ones that are the megaphone and also that the block? So I believe that in expecting the best ,that optimism, Harvard does have a new school of placebo and they have found that even people who have after stopping the surgery if you have the sham surgery which you agree to and they just do a little incision and sew it up, the chances of your recovery and feeling good are almost as well as if you have the real surgery which shows that God has given us this incredible ability to believe in something that we really want and is valuable and gives us the pharmacological influence to do it in other words: the endorphins and the harbingers of peace and happiness. So I believe also that happiness is the decision that you make and I train the Olympians above all I've decided to be happy and I think happiness is a decision, not a results and if you wait for a result to make you happy, you'll probably be for ever hung in that suspense of wondering when it's going to happen.   Steve: Well I'll just tell you, Denis, for all of us who are working on becoming our best, which literally creates a fulfilment of light, a happiness within us that goes out and radiates and touches everybody. These things that you're teaching us and sharing with us today are the very things that create that light and I've been taking good notes today. I thank you for that and I'm always shocked at how fast time goes like we're done.   Denis: I know we are! I spent a lot of my time talking to uber drivers and I said you know you have this incredible mechanism and they say, “You being my little GPS that I have up here on my dashboard so I can take,” I said yes first you must know where you are and then you crank in where you want to go and if you know where you are and where you want to go it's much easier to get there because that's called focus and specificity. And they go, wow,  thanks for the info doc! Do I get to I get a tip? Anyway Steve it's been a real thrill, a real honor for me to be with you.  I just keep wanting to plant apple seeds like Johnny Appleseed and I don't know how many of them will get in the soil and take but doesn't matter if you just keep throwing them out - one or two and all I want to do is make a difference in one or two lives and that's enough for me. Plant shade trees under which I myself will never sit.   Steve: Thank you. I can tell you for sure of one person and I know it's countless people where that seed that has fallen and grown and continues to do so. So I personally thank you!   Denis: Well thanks, Steve. I hope we connect again we will. When you're this way and I'm that way let's really do have a reunion. That’s important - friends who haven't seen each other but are still friends for a long time.   Stev: You bet, you can count on that. Now we can't end this podcast without this question and the question is, if you're giving in a parting shot to your family or your friends and brothers or sisters across the world ,what would it be it would be?   Denis: It would be that time is the only equal opportunity employer and please don't rush to your life trying to get wealthy only to find yourself too old to do the things that you save the money to do and remember the one most important thing; the values you leave in your children are much more priceless than the valuables you leave them in your estate. My children have never thanked me for all the money that I've spent on them but we always talk and laugh and cry over the time we spent together. So make sure you spend time with those you love, not just tweets and that just instagrams and not just text .   Steve:  Thats great advice.  Denis how can people find out more about what you're doing? How can they have access to your book , your materials or whatever?   Denis:  I think you know just going to DenisWaitley.com and I have that funny one n  in my nameand I what I'm trying to do is create a library and most of it free. So I'm not trying to get people to go to my website so I'll make money off them. I'm trying to go so that they'll be able to get NFL locker room style pep talks for free which would mean that the music the lyrics, if you will the quotes and the best of what I've done. I'd rather give it to them free then try to sell them something on a subscription so hopefully they'll get more free than trying to surf around the store.   Steve: Wonderful, thank you Denis for being part of the show today. It’s been amazing! We wish our friends that are listening today all the best as well as you continue making a huge difference in the world I'm Steve Shallenberger with becoming your best global leadership wishing you a great day. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Steve:  Welcome To The Becoming Your Best Podcast. This is Steve Shallenberger your host. I’m excited to talk about the subject today. It’s how to stay motivated and 6 Key Actions that you can take to stay highly motivated. As we think about Becoming Your Best and the 12 Principles of Highly Successful Leaders, I’ve been thinking about never giving up, that’s principle #12.  Each one of the Principles alone is important but alone really, insufficient by themselves. It’s how they work together that creates a chemistry of excellence. Never give up   is a decision to keep going, it is a pattern of employing the other 11 principles and in the process of working on our vision and goals, of Becoming Your Best, while experiencing success, failure, making pivots, failing again, succeeding, succeeding, failing, learning and moving forward to a great place.  Never Giving Up is at the heart of success for all humanity. It is a principle, a force of human will, will power of overcoming setbacks, learning, never giving up and making progress.  Sometimes spectacular progress. The subject today is part of Never Giving Up and a vital component, even a full cousin and it is  Staying Motivated to Reach Our Vision and Goals! Whether you’re a Sales Person, CEO, Division Leader, Parent, Coach, Teacher, Professional (Doc, Dentist, Lawyer, Accountant, etc.) Student, technician, truck driver and so forth the STAKES ARE HIGH!  Our level of motivation can literally determine our success!  Our level of motivation is like a light burning without that radiates everywhere without.  One of our five sons is working as a Sales Rep in Chicago and it’s very interesting because he has some very clear goals, a great skill set and deciding to make a difference is a mental state and it literally drives us to a high level of achievement but it is the motivation that is the drive line that is helping Tommy be successful every single day. One of the things that Tommy has done to help reinforce this motivation is he’s chosen my wife (and I get to be the bystander to reporting each day). She is his accountability partner. He calls her every single day and reports how it’s going. This is one of the ways Tommy is able to sustain a high level of motivation and it’s paying off. He’s one of the very top in this business. Towards the end of his wonderful and amazing life, Stephen Covey and I went to lunch one day and we were talking about what were the most important things that he taught. And out of all the things that he taught, the 7 Habits and the other things, he said, these are the two: P/PC balance – Probability now and Profit Capability. The PC is the ability to produce profits over a long period of time. Our ability to balance these in a successful way are what determines our long term success. So if you focus too much on profitability this year, you can burn yourself out at the expense of your PC. If you focus too much on the PC then your P suffers this year. It’s this balance. The second of the concepts that he felt were the greatest that he taught, was that the private victory precedes the public victory. I love this concept and it is as true today as it was over his illustrious career where he touched millions throughout the world. This is what I’d like us to think about is that the private victory has a huge impact on our public victory in terms of sustaining high motivation. So in preparation for this podcast, here at BYB, we have been doing research throughout the world on this very subject:  How Do You Stay Motivated or What Discourages You or What keeps you from staying highly motivated .  The findings from this research have had a huge impact for me on better understanding what people do to stay motivated or what discourages them. I appreciate the feedback from our many listeners around the world. This has been so helpful. Staying motivated is both a science and an art. I have culled from the feedback from the research on this study and developed this into 6 key actions you can take to stay motivated. The opposite of being motivated is to be discouraged.  This can vastly impact your happiness, joy and productivity, not to mention your quality of life.  This is especially true is you are suffering from fiery adversity.  The fact is:  The STAKES ARE HIGH in our lives. What can you do  (what can I do?) to stay highly motivated? So here are the 6 things that I have called from this research and I’ll try to really touch on some of the various thoughts that have been given – I’ll weave them into the 6 thoughts as well. Follow your vision, goals and pre-week planning. This is huge in terms of staying highly motivated. Dr Oz recently said, “Your heart needs a reason to keep beating.” That is what we put into our vision. What is the reason that we have for living? So making it passionate, exciting and meaningful. This is the head point, the starting point, the head gates, the direction we want to move in life including love, relationships and doing great things with your talents.  This REASON is articulated it in a vision and cascading now through smart annual goals and being executed pre-week planning.  This is a process that inspires leadership and action. And literally as you embrace these experiences, you recognize the daily victories that you have!  It’s interesting as through this study, I’ve realized that ,money as a goal is important, but it was far from the biggest factor in keeping people highly motivated.  So this is an important part of our  vision and goals and pre week planning to be financially reliant and ahead of the game but it’s not the most important think that keep us highly motivated. One fellow said, “Money isn’t important, but it does rank right up there with oxygen.”  Well, what’s so important about pre-week planning is it helps you to put it all together.  It helps you to visualize your success, the things that count most to stay highly motivated.  The components of that that do help us maintain this high motivation is Exercise, meditation, doing good things, working on balance; so it’s this whole package of key things that allows us to stay at the top of our game. Some people said in the survey and in our research to  make a game for achievement.  So, daily execution in sales is a good example if that happens to be your business. I recall, when I was going through college, during the Summers, I was a  door-to-door book salesman for the South Western Company also for Eagle Systems International. Here was the game that I made: this was Door-to-Door sales, everyone was a potential customer – we just didn’t know it until we  opened the door. So everything was pretty fast hitting. The game was to give 20 demos in morning, afternoon and evening.  People in the area that I worked in called me “The Running Book Salesman.” I literally run from door to door so I could achieve that goal. I did that  - the result was that it would help me be the Top Sale Reps in the company. And so, these are things you can do: vision, so you really follow your vision, annual goals that are set by roles – so what are going to do in the personal aspect, family and friends, professionally and civically? This very clear focus of smart goals meaning very specific achievable, measurable, relevant to your vision and timely – they help us stay focused. And then it’s down to the implementation, pre week planning which is simply this: taking a few minutes during the weekend, 20-30 minutes to think through the lens of your roles, the key roles that you have in your life and what are the actions that matter most. And then you mesh that in to when you’re do them with your existing goals and so you set up your week so you can win and succeed. This focus really helps you control the things that you can control. It’s interesting because when you follow a focus on these things, you’re literally working on what you can control and not wasting your time or your focus to things you cannot control. This focus has a huge impact on being able to stay highly motivated. Just one quck footnote before we go on the number 2 , from the study, these are actually the things that discourage people:  Not living up to my potential, not getting things done/procrastination, having negative thoughts or when things don’t pan out that’s what leads to discourage. This next one is really interesting - no recognition, direction, or deadline. This one of no recognition from others is important. Biases, and lack of finances. So what I found is our annual goals and Pre-week planning really help with every one of those. They really help you control the things you can control and work on those type of things so you end up on the other side of the ledger. Now, we actually listed in a graphic pie chart each of the top of these 6 things. Here is number 2. Belief in a higher power. This was ranked way up there in helping people remain highly motivated. And expressing gratitude and recognition of this belief in a higher power. What this does is that when people believe in a higher power, they recognize the potential they have.  My friend Zig Ziglar used to say, “God don’t make no junk!”  How true that is! You are special and have God-given capabilities and capacity.  There is a higher purpose in life.  This belief can provide enormous motivation.  This belief will help you LOVE yourself and realize how good you really are. At least that’s my take on it. That’s why so many people I think rank this as such a high force or influence in their life to stay highly motivated. Prayer and meditation. These are major influences on staying highly motivated. This reminded me of both George Washington and Abe Lincoln. Two of the very most significant historical influences to impact on our world particularly on the United States and being key figures on setting up and establishing a government a constitution, a way of living that has influenced all of us in our modern world and billions of people. George Washington in the very depths of despair in trying to stay motivated – he needed, as the leader of this force – this continental army who were fighting for their very lives, needed to stay upbeat and motivated. Our home and others, that I’ve seen that we have this great painting by Arnold Freeberg of George Washington kneeling in prayer. There’s many accounts of this of this is where he gained his strength to stay focused and motivated. Abe Lincoln, during the battle of Geddessburg, he went to his study and knelt in prayer and asked for divine help, that they were able to be successful in the battlefield. He relates that this gave him a great sense of peace and confidence  and people were marveling while many were leaving Washington during that battle of Geddesburg and the event that the confederate army would have been victorious, Abe Lincoln said, “I’m staying.” During this time, he was very motivated. This is the account that he gave. Meditation and reflecting on the things that count most are very helpful to us. Associate with other upbeat motivated people. Have fun. Recognize others for the good that they do.  Failure to recognize others and their contribution does leads to discouragement.  On both sides of this – we are going to determined to control what we can control but we can control recognizing others. So let’s associate with other people that are like minded. In this regard, I am so fortunate. I’m fortunate to have an upbeat family. My work associates are amazing, high achievers and they focus in all aspects on their lives in being upbeat and having fun. A good example is at a conference last week, a number of us executives went to. Just before the evening or the afternoon session of the conference, we went out to a Go Kart place which was not too far away. And we had a great time. We survived the Go Kart experience together. My back got slightly rearranged but we work hard and we play hard. We have upbeat language and actions and consideration and respect for each other’s. All of these things literally create a culture of high motivation. It doesn’t we don’t have challenges. It doesn’t mean we don’t have set backs and problems.  How we approach it really is a big deal.  So have an accountability partner on positive goals.  If possible, stay away from chronically negative people.   Let’s go over these first four: Follow your vision, goals and pre week playing. Belief in a higher power – everybody isn’t going to do that in the way you do it, but that is one of the results of this survey from across the board for what people can do. If it’s helpful, it’s something you can think about. Prayer and Meditation and the strength, peace and depth it can give you. Associate with other motivated, upbeat people.   Fill your mind with upbeat, inspiring thoughts. This is something that you can control. I like what William James wrote, “The greatest discovery of our generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering the attitudes of their minds as you think, so shall you be. These are things you can control for example like: Read great stuff, listen (podcasts, TED talks, motivation materials, upbeat soundtracks), Learn – literally as you learn, you increase size of hippocampus. The size of your hippocampus, it directly impacts the health of your brain, body and your life. Memorize upbeat poems. I love doing this. This does the very same thing as in filling your brain with the right kind of stuff. Share learnings and experiences with others.  One of the people that I met last week in a seminar came up to me afterwards said ‘I loved being here today. I love the thought of BYB. I’ve been thinking about motivating thoughts. And I’ve created a journal where I’m writing these down. And in the morning, when I wake up, I look at the journal and it helps me continue this process. When I say fill your mind with upbeat  and inspiring thoughts, I mention soundtracks, movies, whatever. I like things like “Amazing Grace,” with William Wilbur Force, Apollo 13, Rudy, Remember The Titans, The Sound Of Music, The Legend Of Bagger Vance, Rocky and so forth. These are all little things that we just keep doing little by little. Positive Self Talk and affirmations (include this type of language in your vision). I like what Ralph Waldo Emerson said: “Sow a thought and you reap an act. Sow an action and you reap a habit. Sow a habit and you reap a character. Sow a character and you reap a destiny. And that’s what we’re talking about here. Positive self talk and affirmations. This the type of language that you include in your vision. So a good example of this one is “Today is going to be a great day.” That is an affirmation. “I do great work.” These are the type of things we can put in our vision and fill our minds. Positive Talk. The body is very obedient.  The body will conform to what we ask it to do. One of the great examples of this. One of my first companies – ESI we have over 700 hundred sales reps and they would go out and of course be positive with every single client or customer. We would hold a training with all of them before the launched out to all of their assigned areas in the United States and as we worked on positive self talk and one of the things we would work on is, we would say together, three times, but they may need to say it 10 or 20 times or as many times as they were going to their areas: “I Feel Healthy, I feel happy. I feel  terrific. “ At  first they may not have felt healthy, happy and terrific. They may have felt lousy and discouraged and down in the dumps. But as they said, “I Feel Healthy, I feel happy. I feel  terrific,” over and over , pretty soon they found themselves feeling that way. It literally impacts the body on releasing endorphins and changing how you feel. So those are 6 things that you can do that came from this research. I’m just going to review it one more time. Follow your vision, goals and pre week planning. This sets up a process that deals with so many things that take away from motivation and add to motivation and helps you do it better. Belief in a higher power: Each person will have to decide how you do that and what it means to you Prayer and meditation Associate with other update and motivated people: That is so fun. I’m grateful to have friends work associates and family who do that. And it’s helpful to me! I reflect upon them and feel the gratitude and appreciation I think that adds to my motivation. Fil your mind with upbeat, inspiring thoughts Positive Self-Talk: Be careful of the language going on in your own mind.   Here’s an invitation – something that may be helpful. Many people help us if we have a sample of what a vision or goals may look like. If you would like a PDF of some samples,  email us at support@becomingyourbest.com  and we will just send you the Free PDFs of samples of vision and goals. Another thing that you might consider is investing in a BYB book and BYB planner. You can go to our website becomingyourbest.com and indicate that you would like to have a book and a planner and I would be happy to sign the book for you. These will help you do these 6 things we just talked about and stay focused on What Matters Most. One other thing that you might consider is to give a gift of a BYB book and/or BYB planner to a family member or work associate.  These are transformational forces that have inspired the #1 Leadership forces in your life. As you work on these 6 KEY ACTIONS which is to: 1. Follow your vision, goals and pre week planning Belief in a higher power Prayer and Meditation Associate with other upbeat and motivated people Fill your mind with upbeat and positive thoughts Positive Self Talk. These things will help you Stay Motivated:  You WILL STAY HIGHLY MOTIVATED and it will affect your happiness, joy and productivity and that of everyone around you. We are wishing you all the best as you make a difference in the world for good every day. This is Steve Shallenberger, with BYBGL, wishing you a great, safe day. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Less Stuff More Life with Courtney Carver https://www.becomingyourbest.com/less-stuff-life-courtney-carver/ Steve: Welcome to all our, Becoming Your Best Podcast listeners, wherever you might be in the world today! This is your host, Steve Shallenberger. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How Can I Be Less Cynical? Hello, this is Steve Shallenberger, your host today with the, Becoming Your Best Global Leadership podcast. And this is an ongoing set of podcast on leadership principles that contribute to highly successful results. And today, See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Welcome to all of our "Becoming Your Best" podcast listeners, wherever you might be in the world today. This is your host, Steve Shallenberger, and we have a terrific guest with us today. I'm so excited to be able to visit with him, especially about the s See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Heart, Head, And Hands Of Change With Barbara Trautlein Steve: Welcome to all of our Becoming Your Best Podcast listeners wherever you might be in the world today. This is your host, Steve Shallenberger and we have a very talented guest with us today. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Growing Weeders into Leaders with Jeff McManus https://www.becomingyourbest.com/growing-weeders-leaders-jeff-mcmanus/ Steve: Super. Welcome to all of our Becoming Your Best podcast listeners wherever you might be today. This is your host, Steve Shallenberger, and I am so much looking forward to our guest today. He's unlike any other that I've had on this show. Our guest has an earthy background that has had a big impact taking principles from nature and helping recognize those in a leadership application. So, welcome, Jeff McManus.     See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How To Create a Positive, Vibrant and Engaged Culture https://www.becomingyourbest.com/create-positive-vibrant-engaged-culture/ This is Steve Shallenberger welcoming you to this becoming your best podcast today. We're so grateful to have you listen in in See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We welcome you to this Becoming Your Best Podcast today wherever you might be in the world today. This is Steve Shallenberger, your host, and today we are going to talk about how to stay motivated, and you might ask for what or who is this for. Well, it's in sales, it's for life, it's for marriage, a student, work, a CEO, coach, a teacher, a lawyer, doctor, caregiver. Really, we're all included and have a need to stay motivated. This is really inspired from an email from one of our listeners, and this person indicated that, "I have a good life, a good spouse, good income, a nice home, wonderful children, but something is missing. Sometimes I just don't feel happy. Our marriage doesn't have the same magic that it used to have. So what can I do to get back on track?" Well first of all, congratulations to this person for wanting to get back on track, to be fully happy. And so, this really ties back into maintaining the motivation throughout our lives that gives us the capacity to stay happy, to find solutions to our challenges, to stay productive, to stay on top, and especially when we're knocked down, and especially when things get tough, when we may not even want to try. I like to share an experience I have recently while I was out exercising and I was listening to a talk on concentration. I love to go out and exercise and listen to TED Talks, the podcast inspirational talks. This particular speaker asked his audience and it was a large audience, "How many were formally taught concentration in school?" And he said, "Really formally taught how to concentrate?" Two hands went up in the entire group audience. And then, he said, "Okay. How many of you were told to concentrate by a parent or a teacher?" And all of the hands went up. And then, another question, "How many tell your children or employees today, 'Well, concentrate.'" Well, again, all the hands went up. This person went on to talk about how we really are distracted all day long and it just racks our capacity to really concentrate. And what happens is we're frequently told to concentrate but not really taught how to concentrate. And then he went on to give some suggested ways of how to concentrate and focus. Well, today we will not just talk about motivation and focus we will talk about the things that you and I can do to stay motivated, and motivation is not just a flash in the plan or pan accomplishment, don't get me wrong. We will all take those high water mark accomplishments that we can in life. Those high water marks can bring great satisfaction in life, but we're talking about sustaining a high level of motivation that produces what we call an ever inclining program, always improving, always progressing, steady, solid, upward throughout life. And that type of sustaining accomplishment that far exceeds our high water marks by the end of our lives. And so sustaining a high level of motivation is at the very heart of what we do, it's the very heart of becoming your best. And that is why the spirit of becoming your best is a movement for people everywhere. We've actually been thinking about becoming your best manifesto, and I'd like to share how we see that. A manifesto to becoming your best manifesto is about a certain type of leader of becoming your best leader. It's a new breed of leader who is no longer satisfied with mediocrity. And becoming your best leader strive daily to be their very best in each area of their life and treat others right. Becoming your best leaders are committed to excellence in finding a way to do the impossible. Becoming your best leaders are confident optimistic and determined to make a positive difference in their home, schools, organizations and the world, and negativity passes and complaining have no part in their lives. Becoming your best leaders know they don't have to really compromise their personal life or family life to be successful. And becoming your best leaders know that life matters and what you do matters and your organization matters. And so we are part of a becoming your best family, and we are leaders that make a difference. So there are certain things that becoming your best leaders do to help you and I stay motivated. So let's talk about a few of them right now. I'm going to talk about five things that you can do to stay motivated. The first one is to control the things that you can control. Take responsibility for the outcome. Refuse to spend time on things that you cannot control. So for example, you can't control the weather, what others think, what people say about you or about your organization. You can't control the competition out there, people being mean or nice, or if you have an accident or you forget something or something bad happens, natural disasters. None of these things can you control, but you can control serving others, being kind, what you think about, forgiving others, filling your mind with good, your speech with good. You will find great power in writing down what you can control and then being determined, discipline to focus only on those things which you can control and watch the immediate power for good that comes into your life. Here is a second thing that you and I can do to stay motivated, and it is to focus on your vision, goals and pre-week planning. This combination of tools really and resources helps to focus your mind on positive action now. They will help you get unstuck. They help to provide direction and meaning. And as you consider and reflect on your vision, the direction, your goals, they're far different. Goals are things that help us get to our vision, and pre-week planning they will help you stay focused on the things that matter most. And it's helpful to think of these three things in terms of the roles of your life. So for example, wherever we go as we talk about roles, we'll ask people to shout them out. Well, they include yourself, your personal life and this encompasses the physical aspect, mental, spiritual, emotional, and financial. And so this is one of the roles we have in life. Another key role might be a spouse or a partner. Another key role would be family, a family member, or a son or daughter, or a parent, or a brother and sister. Another key role is work, our professional aspect, the things we do professionally, or being a student, or community or church. So, these basic roles that we have do not frequently change or something that we have in life so as we think about our vision, our goals and our pre-week planning in terms of our roles, it gives a whole different meaning and set of the dimensions of how we spend our time. And those are the things that matter most in life. By thinking of roles it gives balance. And so one tool that will help you is becoming your best planner. Now just trust me on this, really. Whether you use a paper-based tool or an electronic planner, becoming your best planner helps you to stay focused on the right things, and it is one of the most important investments that you and I can make to help us stay focused on the things that matter most, and it's inexpensive but it's worth its weight in gold. So, to get more information about the becoming your best planner just go to becomingyourbest.com, go to the store and you'll be able to see that. There's a medium-size and a large-size, it's very portable, but it makes such a difference. And we want to just remember, of course, the vision is the direction, the purpose and the cause and it usually just takes up one sheet. And in the planner, there's a place to write it down from The Becoming Your Best book. The 12 principles of highly successful leaders. There's a whole chapter dedicated just how to develop your own personal vision. Then the course next are your annual goals. We're really saying what will I accomplish that keeps me motivated and excited to get up each morning? And these annual goals are broken down by roles and what you'll do. They are amazing. And you wanna stay with them until they really do create this excitement within you. And they are inspirational, and they are different than just a transactional gold. They're transformational for you and you can fill 'em in your heart that they make a difference. And of course, pre-week planning is taking a few minutes during the weekend 20 or 30 minutes to prepare for your week. What will I do this week? And ultimately, it gets down to each day that makes a difference, and these are the things that are really power up the motivation. They help your mind stay focused and not wander around on things that are less important, on things that you can't control. And these are things that I do that are fun, that they're uplifting, that they do make a difference. And so, these things by the way really are so helpful to us, and one of the parts that we wanna keep in mind with our vision, goals and pre-week planning is taking care of ourselves. And so getting adequate sleep, a healthy diet and regular exercise, these things will help keep you strong and give you the energy to maintain a consistent high level of motivation. So they become a very central part as we describe our vision. I am fit and I am healthy. And then in my annual goals it is to exercise five times a week, to get the sleep that I need. I need seven or eight hours a night of good sleep, and to have a healthy diet. And then when I do my pre-week planning I actually sketch out when I will do it. So I conquer this battle mentally before it ever comes up physically, because all of us have so many things that are going on in life. We wanna slay this Dragon before it ever comes up, and then if something really more important comes up, it's already really programmed into our mind, we will do it and we'll find a way ultimately to make it happen. Okay that's number two. First one is control the things you can control. The second, focus on your vision goals and pre-week planning. Oh my goodness. What a big impact that has on our levels of motivation. And number three is share your dreams and goals with others, and don't be fearful of asking for advice. I'd like to just share an experience I had with one of our daughters-in-laws. She came up, we have five boys are all married, we have a daughter, she's married. And one of these daughter-in-laws wrote me an email a week and a half ago indicating that she wanted to get some advice. And so we had the chance to be together a few days later, and we sat down and talk. I hope it was helpful to her. It was good for me because it really became the motivation for this podcast today. It caused me to thinking how do we stay motivated even when we have the normal challenges that come to us in life. Sometimes we get stuck and simply sharing, talking helps to get us moving in the right direction again. So I'd like to thank that daughter-in-law for taking the time to contact me. She's a wonderful person and we all benefit by this. I reflect on my life and I've taken challenges, difficult challenges to my mentors, people that I care about and I've shared then with them and what a wonderful transforming experience this is to do that. Number four. In other words number three is, don't be afraid to ask others and in the short and long-term it's very helpful, to consult with others, to coach with others. Number four is to fill your mind with positive stuff. And you all have heard this comment, this acronym which is GIGO, it stands for what? Garbage In and Garbage Out. Well, how true, we'd like to change that around a bit and say Greatness In, Produces Greatness out. And one of the ways to do that that I have really enjoyed doing and I believe every one of us can do this is to memorize good stuff. Memorize things that we can, when the things get hard, that we can hearken back to and it inspires us ourselves, and you can start small which is very simple things to memorize. And then, as you strengthen this part of the memory you can expand the type of things. For example, I actually have in some of my past organizer that had all the sheets. I called them "Steve's prize literature and quotes," things that I love, things that inspired me and pumped me up, but they're genuine and powerful. They're quotes by great people. Here is one that when I was 23 years old I was out selling books during the summer as my summer job. And I went to church in this small community in a remote area and the speaker share this quote. It's entitled "Just Keep On." I memorized it and I used it day in and day out but many others I'll share some of these, "Just keep on livin' and keep on a givin' and keep on tryin' to smile, just keep on singin' and trustin' and clingin' to the promise of an after while, for the sun comes up and the sun goes down and the morning follows night. There's a place to rest like a mother's breast and a time when things come right. Just keep on believin' and hidin' all your grievin' and keep on tryin' to cheer. Just keep on prayin' and lovin' and sayin' the things we love to hear, for the tide comes in and the tide goes out, and the dark will all turn bright. There's a rest from the load and an end to the road, and a place where things come right." Oh my goodness. I love that and said it many times over the years, so many others that I've enjoyed by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, "And one ship sails east and one ship sails west. By the selfsame wind that blows. Tis the set of the sail. And not the Gail. That determines the way it goes. And like the ships of the sea or the ways of fate, as we journey along through life. Tis the set of the soul that determines the goal, and not the calm or the strife." And they just go on and on. You find things that will just really touch your heart and inspire you. So, listen to podcast and TED Talks and good stuff, only good stuff, positive, upbeat. One of your annual goals can be to read at least 12 good books during the year, one per month. Okay. That's number four of things we can do to stay motivated. Number one, control the things that you can control. Number two, is to focus on your vision, goals and pre-week planning. Number three, share your dreams and goals with others, ask for advice. Number four, fill your mind with positive stuff. And number five, is work, work, work, and never give up. Get busy carrying out your goals, trust in the future, have faith that things will work out because they will. If there is any one lesson from history, it is as you focus on the good, doing the things that highly successful leaders have done for years, for centuries, for millenniums, you will ultimately be successful and victorious. You will find success in unexpected moments. And as you balance around what matters most, what is most important in life, your roles, doing the things we have this discussed, you will ultimately succeed. So we invite each one of our listeners to be determined, to be part of this movement of making a difference. We're all leaders, but let us be this new breed of leaders who are no longer satisfied with mediocrity, leaders who strive daily to be your very best in each area of life and treat others right, be wide, be leaders who are committed to excellence, and defined in a way to doing the impossible. They're confident, optimistic and determined to make a positive difference in their homes, and their schools and organizations and the world, and negativity and complaining have no part in our lives. And we know we don't have to compromise our personal lives or family to be successful. And we're like everybody else, we get knocked down, we'll have setbacks but a BYB leader keeps getting back up and will stay motivated because of what is going on inside of our head and our heart, and we know that life matters. What you do matters, your organization matters. So this is Steve Shallenberger in this podcast today reminding each one of us that you make a difference. We wish you all the best. Thank you. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Welcome to all of our Becoming Your Best podcast listeners wherever you might be in the world today. This is your host Steve Shallenberger. And we have a tremendously interesting guest today. Our guest is a successful business leader and has influenced many many people for good. Welcome to our show today, Tim Sanders. Tim: Hey great to be with you Steve. Steve: I've been looking forward to this. Tim: Me too. Steve: Well, good. All right. Now, before we get started, I'd like to tell you a little about Tim's background. He spent his early career on the cutting edge of innovation and change. He was an early stage member of Mark Cuban's Broadcast.com, which had the largest opening day IPO in history. After Yahoo acquired the company, Tim was tapped to lead their Value Lab, and by 2001 he rose to a Chief Solutions Officer. And today he's one of the top-rated speakers on the lecture circuit. Tim is also the author of four books including The New York Times best seller "Love is the Killer App," which is an awesome book, "How to Win Business and Influence Friends," I really enjoyed reading that. Tim's book has been featured in Fast Company, USA Today, The New York Times, Boston Globe, and so on. He is a master storyteller who offers his listeners actionable takeaways that produce results right away. So I have been looking forward to having Tim here in our interview today. And to get going, Tim, can you tell our listeners maybe a little about your background, your story? What was it like growing up? And maybe some experiences that helped you see that you could be successful? Tim: Thank you. I grew up in Clovis, New Mexico. It's a farming community just east of the West Texas border. I'm sorry, just west of the...West Texas border. And I was raised by my grandmother. I was a special education student from second to fifth grade, which really, you know, taught me a lot of things. It taught me how to bounce back. That's for sure. Taught me how to fit in when people didn't understand who I was. But most importantly, my childhood taught me that anything is possible if I'm willing to put the preparation work in and seize the opportunity. In my adult life I had a period of time, say 15 years or so, where I was gainfully employed and successful to some degree but just not laser-focused on what mattered. You might say I was in a mediocrity trap. In 1997, I went to work for Mark Cuban about a year after I had gotten out of that trap and had a real paradigm shift about what it was gonna take for me to be successful for my family. When I worked for Mark Cuban you can imagine 1997, the dawn of the internet explosion. It was such a breathtaking opportunity Steve. But I remember those times mostly as being a student of the game. Something I learned from him. And I was a voracious book reader. I was a mentor to anybody I did business with. And by 2001 after he'd sold the company to Yahoo, I became Yahoo's Chief Solutions Officer right after the dot-com crash of 2000. So my team and I went out to rebuild hundreds of millions of dollars of lost business because all of those companies, like eToys, our big advertisers, had gone caput. And through those experiences, I built up a perspective that if we commit ourselves to lifelong learning, and we lead with love in our hearts for other people and expect nothing in return other than that they improve and pay it forward, you can accomplish anything in this world we live in. Steve: Wow, what a rich background and then to be able to take that background and, like, Clovis, New Mexico? You mean you can be successful if you were born in Clovis, New Mexico? Tim: I'll tell you something. Let me tell you something about Clovis, New Mexico. Little town, 30,000 people. I was on the debate team in high school, Steve. And we wanted to be nationally ranked. Now, it was a real kind of a pork chop circuit, right. There was the Las Cruces tournament, the El Paso tournament, the Odessa tournament. We had to get in our cars and drive over two hours to Lubbock, Texas, to go to a decent library to research for our debate. And we had to compete with, you know, Houston's Bellaire and Dallas' St. Marks and all these great folks in New Mexico, and all the big schools from Albuquerque and Santa Fe. But I'll tell you something, my senior year, we won state championship, and we went to the national tournament, and we didn't have nearly the resources of anybody we competed with. But man, I gotta tell you, and I thank my coach for this, we had heart. Steve: Wow! Well, I'll tell you I can attest that people from the salt of the earth communities like this can have a big difference in the world. Tim: Yeah. And I think too Steve, is that there's something in our values raised in that environment that makes us really good connectors. And I also think it makes us hungrier to find some way to get back that edge. And to look for those invisible resources that are out there, like knowledge that can really give us a leg up. And it makes us wanna give back too when we become successful, you know, there's a natural, very deep set generosity. And I gotta tell you, I come from it very honestly. I mean, the patriarch of our family is my great-grandfather the late great Tommy King. And he was one of the founders of Clovis when it organized into a city back around it, you know, after the Great Depression. And he was a successful farmer. And one of the things he did before the Dust Bowl era, right before it, was he engaged with some agricultural technologist and became the first farmer in that part of the country to use a circular farming techniques, which when the Dust Bowl hit, helped his farms survive if not thrive while others withered away. And in our family, one of the most poignant stories about Tommy was how much he gave back to other farmers who were in crisis. The ones that bullheaded, they wouldn't try circular farming knowing that the science said there was something coming in a drought. He was happy to give them microloans. He never collected on them. He would just tell people, "When this happens in the future, you pay it forward." And I believe that his philosophy really represented, you know, small town America. Steve: Oh, that's a great story. And then to actually go from being a special ed student to being successful, that's got to give hope to special ed students anywhere because, you know, they're behind a gun. And so, is there hope? I mean, like, can we make it? Tim: It's tough. I mean, you know, more background here. So my grandmother raised me because my mother abandoned me when I was in four. And it manifest into tremendous depression when I was a little kid. And it exhibited itself in discipline issues. And during those days, Steve, they really didn't have much to do with a kid, you know, when you're seven. So, all they really can do is put you in special education. And that experience was really challenging because it's not just that you're taken out of school, that you're ostracized. And when you go to church you're treated differently because, you know, you go to the other school. And I picked up the nickname Shortbus, and I really didn't shake that nickname till junior high. But I think the thing that I got out of the whole situation is when they put me back into the general population in the sixth grade. I had to deal with bullies for the first time. You know, when you're different you're gonna deal with bullies. For parents, this is a great challenge when a child is singled out into a program like special ed or frankly like gifted for that matter. And I'll tell you, I think my point of view about how I dealt with that traumatic sixth and seventh-grade year had to do with how I felt about love. I'll give you a classic story. So, in the seventh grade, the day that you wear your nice clothes and your nice white shirt for the picture, you know, for the yearbook? Steve: Yup. Tim: I went in and this bully who went to church with us demanded my lunch money and I hesitated. So he punched me right in the nose and I bled all over my shirt. Not gory but I bled on my shirt. It ruined me for the picture that day. When Billy, my grandmother, came to pick me up, I thought she was gonna just, you know, have it out with that boy's mom, or at least give him a good talking to. So when Billy and I are sitting in the vice principal's office and we're alone for a second, she turns to me and she looks at me and she says, "You know the problem here is that you don't love those boys enough." I remember looking at her and I point at my shirt and I said, "What do you mean? He's mean. He's a mean boy." And she said, "In our family, you don't love people because of who they are. You love people because of who we are." And she goes, "That's gonna go a long way with you fitting in at the school." And so she said I should invite him over after church. Because she believed that people were inherently good and when they were mean, or when they were bad, there was something about the story that you don't know. And so he came over after church and stole some of my stuff and still kind of picked on me but he didn't punch me in the nose. And then I guess he felt the duty to invite me over to his house a few weeks later on the other side of the tracks where he lived. And when I visited his home that Sunday afternoon, I realized why he was a bully. His father, a drunk, swore at him coming in through the front door. His older brother whipped him with what, like a horse bridle, in front of me. Later, and I realized that this guy had been going through a lot more than I was. And that he was manifesting it. He was a big guy. He was manifesting it by picking on the only thing that he could get away with picking on, that's a little guy called Shortbus. And once I had that breakthrough, Steve, it really changed the way I thought about people. I truly began to understand that if we give someone our love and we care about them, whether it's on a personal level like this or on a professional level like say someone that I manage, you'd be surprised how many of their problems go away. And how you can convert a bully into a blocker. And I gotta say, that guy and I became good friends. And a little bit more than four years later, he put up posters for me when I successfully ran for senior class president and won. And I realized that for the rest of my life, I'm gonna go out into the market and love people because of who I am, and it's very easy to find things about them that are incredibly easy to love. And that I'm assuming when people don't give back, when they don't do the right thing, when they're mean spirited. I'm assuming that there's something about their story or struggle that I have no knowledge of. And it's made me a much deeper listener and a much more curious person in a good way. Steve: Well, that's a fantastic experience and thank you for sharing it. How grateful are we for the people in our backgrounds that help us grow and develop and overcome maybe some of the deficiencies that we might have that we may or even may not be aware of, that help us start becoming what we're capable of becoming. So that's really an inspirational story. And then love is so powerful and we may talk about it more after our interview but after...well, I was going through my college career I sold books back East. And one of the great books that I read was "The Greatest Salesman in the World", "About the Scrolls," and "I Will Greet This Day With Love In My Heart," and "How Will I Greet Those That Treat Me Poorly Love." And, oh, my goodness, you just fill this tremendous power that comes from it. So I'm so glad you shared that. Tim: Well, thank you. And I will tell you, there's real science or at least there is real psychological research behind this. And if you think about it, this is a manifestation of Maslow's hierarchy, right? Abraham Maslow studied something he called B-love, that is being love. That is a detached form of caring about another person, like I care about another person whether or not you care about me. I care about that person solely because I wanna help that person grow. I don't care about that person because I need a new friend. D-love, Maslow brought about this, a deficiency based love, says, "I need to be loved." So everything I do from being friendly to making, you know, advances, whatever you do to try to go out and help people, you're doing it to solve one of your problems. So, next we'll talk about the idea that when we feel fulfilled in terms of how much we think we're cared about, and that the way we think about love and other people, again, whether it's personal or professional, when we do that, we are making the leap to becoming like self-actualized, if you will. And that it's the most powerful way to think about loving other people because there's no anxiety in those relationships because you're not expecting anything in return. And that's what makes them so beautiful. And I found in my business life, that as a leader, as a manager, as a colleague, this works even more. Because, you know, we need people to encourage us at work. We need people to care about us as customers. And I believe too many people are just traders, transactionalists, and don't bring that Maslovian, you know, B-love to work every day. Steve: Okay. All right. Well, that's a powerful point of view and force in our work lives. Now talking about how to be successful in what we do in business, in our work, and in life generally, it does take work and effort and doing certain things that make a difference. So you shared earlier, that as we visited, that you had made a discovery in your mid-30s that led to ten promotions and helped you achieve a strong financial position and financial security. Can you talk a little about that? What was that? Tim: So this is like 1996, 1997. I had been coming back into my studentship, and I had gone from just need to know in terms of learning to being a voracious reader of books. And not just on stuff that mattered to my current job but anything that was adjacent to it. Anything that I thought was interesting to know in the future. I was at a point Steve, where I would read a book a week. I would burn through these books. I'm not talking novels either I'm talking about complex books in some situations. And what happened was I began to talk about different things with clients. So when I go to work for Cuban, I had this mentality kind of fed by Leo Buscaglia as love on one hand and Steven Covey on the other. I had this mentality that I'm gonna go out and I'm gonna promote other people's success during a time of great change. Because you know the internet was disrupting everything. So I worked a lot with the retailers. So I would go out and work with Neiman Marcus or Victoria's Secret or whomever. And I took it upon myself to learn everything I could about their business future and their business challenges, and then share that with them. And that's where I had the big aha. That if my business practice was to aggregate my intangibles, my knowledge, my network of relationships, my ability to care about people. If I build those up so I can give them away, and systematically help other people make the leap without expecting anything in return, that faith would repay me with endless referrals, a powerful brand, and a magnetic value proposition inside my company. Because I make decisions with Mark, I start to adopt the style. I was a sales person of service out in the community. We accomplished a lot of great things. He sells the company two years later to Yahoo if you remember back in those days. When I transfer out to the West Coast at Yahoo, I've really refined the system of building relationships by sharing my knowledge, and my network, and my compassion in every interaction. And it was like the doors swung wide open. Because now it's 2000, now it's right after the dot-com crash. This idea about helping people finds success during times of great change and expecting nothing in return. Boy, it worked crazy good in Silicon Valley and that's when I begin to train the young Yahoos on this philosophy and this set of values. And that's where I begin to write down the steps I was taking to really document you know how I read books and how I chose books, and why I read books instead of articles, and what I talked about when I was networking. And that's where "Love is The Killer App" came from a few years later. And since then, you know 15 years, I've been traveling around the world meeting people, comparing notes and really building upon that philosophy. Steve: Oh, that's great. And as we've talked about with our listeners the twelve principles of highly successful leaders, these are the things that are present across the board for high achievers. Also they were able to sustain, really, success over a long period of time, both personally and professionally. And one of those was applying the power of knowledge. In other words, gaining knowledge in the first place, and one of the primary ways is being a reader. And so this is a great reminder to every one of us listening here today of the power of reading good books on a regular basis because they're just totally stimulating, aren't they? They just fire... Tim: They are. Steve: ...your mind. Tim: And what I like about books is that books require you to take a deep dive into usually a narrow subject. And you don't just learn a couple of data points and one story, you learn a construct. It's got a thesis, and it's got supporting anecdotes, and it usually has research and it's really meaty. And you can deeply understand the topic so you can give it away, right? So the twist here Steve, is read good books but have a mix. And what I say about this is every third book you read, read for someone else's benefit. I call it prescriptive reading. Think about what... Steve: What's an example of that? Tim: Yeah. Think about information challenges that the people have and go study on their behalf because talk about expanding your resume. Steve: Right. It gives you a whole different perspective to maybe a different discipline. Tim: Absolutely. That's made a big difference for me. And that was another part of my turnaround in the late 1990s that really shifted me away from the idea that, you know, I read books to help myself. No, I read books to help the world, and sometimes it helped me too. And that philosophy will keep you from being too laser-focused on what's in front of you and not focused enough on what's coming in the future. Steve: Okay, great. That's a powerful influence on our success. And you told this wonderful experience that you had personally, this story about the bully and your grandmother saying, "Listen, we need to love him." Tim: That's right. Steve: See things from a different perspective. So you must have learned, Tim, somewhere along the line that love can be applied across the board, in business and as an entrepreneur. What have you found? Have you been able to make the jump of using that in your personal life to a professional life, and what's the experience? Tim: Yeah. I've made it my professional strategy, you know, for the last 20 years or so. I mean, when I say love in a professional sense, Steve, I mean, that I have a set of emotions about you. I care and I am now committed to promote your success by sharing my intangibles with you, my knowledge, my network, my compassion. I want you to think about, for those of you listening, I want you to think about the mentor in your life who's made the most difference to you. There's maybe one. There's maybe two. Maybe some of you might have three, but there's maybe one, right? And I want you to really think about how that person felt about you. And I want you to think about how open that person was to loving someone like you, not as a family but just as a person maybe at work or just a person maybe they did business with. I'm talking about unleashing the capacity to do this every day. I developed strong emotional aspect for almost every single person I do business with, and I don't make them earn it, Steve. It happens quick. Maybe I start out by liking him and I look for things that other people don't look for. I wanna hear their story so I can admire their values and understand their point of view. I find things that are familiar about them. I experience their passion so I can really understand what makes them a unique person. I think our capacity to care about people that work quickly and then maintain that over time. I think that is oxygen for leadership. Steve: Absolutely. That's so powerful. I mentioned the research that we've done for 40 years and these principles that are present, you're doing them? Tim: Well, you know, we're thinking alike buddy. Steve: We are thinking alike. I mean, one of those was living the golden rule, really exceptional leaders. I mean, you can have leaders that are good in different contexts but when you put these together, and exceptional leaders also one that really cares about people. And this is manifest in how they treat others, how they learn about others so that they can bring the best out within others. And this is what starts creating excellence, so great going on this. Tim: Thank you. Thank you so much, man. Steve: And by the way, Tim's book "Love is The Killer App." He talks about these three things, knowledge, networking, and compassion. Would you mind touching on the compassion part a little bit? And I'd like to go back to the networking because you said one thing that is important, and that is how a mentor maybe ought to perceive others with this love, learning what their story is? How do you bring out the best? And you'll find mentors that have done this the same way for you. So, how can you be a good mentor? That's one question. And then we'll hit this other one before we're done. Tim: Absolutely. So, the best way to be a mentor is to remember that the mentor is usually a benefactor, a teacher of sorts. And their job is to give the hero a gift that will enable the hero to make it to the next stage of her journey. When you think about Homer's Odyssey, with the character mentor, when you think about the archetype of mentorship stories in very modern culture, like, say, Star Wars, with, you know, Yoda, or with Karate Kid in Miyagi, that's what it's all about. It's about finding that person that has heroic qualities. That's going somewhere a little too fast. You've got a gift for them, maybe it's your personal experience. You've been where they've been. You have knowledge that they need and you give it to them. You expect nothing in return but that they apply that knowledge and learn and improve. All the mentors, they gain enthusiasm from the student learning. And when they need to, they go beyond just sharing information and perhaps make vital connections to create alliances, to help that hero deal with upcoming adversity. As a mentor I just want you to think a little bit like Yoda. And I want you to not really think so much like a person who's like a fire hose of information, a person who's gonna "Take somebody under their wing." I think you need to think about your role very transitionally. But most importantly, you need to expect nothing in return other than that they hero seizes the opportunity, right? I think that is what changes the game. And by the way, you know, I know you talk a lot about how to be successful over a long period of time. My philosophy that we give without expectation, this is not lip service, Steve. I literally expect them to pay it forward but I don't expect them to pay it back. And I'm telling you that is liberating, because when I meet leaders who were generous for years and years and years and then they "Burned out." This is why they got burned out. Because just enough people didn't pay them back or give them credit or whatever their reciprocity was supposed to be and they were disappointed. And I call it ego economics. And it sets in on a lot of people in their career. Super generous in their 30s, a little bit jaded in their 40s, super protected in their 50s. I'm 55 years old, I've never been more generous because I'm not disappointed in people. And I think that's what comes with being detached about what you get back. Steve: Oh, great. You know that's great. I think even the savior of mankind, Jesus Christ, if you...regardless of what you believe, as it was described when he healed the lepers, and he had one return and thanked him. Nine did not. And if your expectation is that people are gonna thank you, you're probably gonna be somewhat disappointed. Tim: Absolutely. You will. Steve: If that's your expectation. Tim: And it's interesting. So, you know, I love that story and I appreciate that example. I think that, for us, the secret to a long-term career is a very flexible perspective. And I think that if we're willing to go against the grain that there's a quid pro quo. I think we really open up our opportunities in life. You just continue to be great until the day we die. Steve: Wonderful. What a refreshing wonderful perspective. I had a friend, Tim, that I had lunch with last week. He is a facilitator for a very successful training company. He has been, really most of his career 30 years, he's gone all over the world. And one of the things he talked about was precisely this, is that his observation is one of the keys for companies to get ahead today to be able to be a best in class, be the best in their industry, is to have active healthy coaching program within the company where people are able to coach each other. And I think it's really these type of qualities you're talking that would help that be successful. Tim: Absolutely. And for leaders, whether it's a small business or an enterprise, you can create a culture of coaching. So even if there's not a funded program per se, it can be the habit inside that organization. So Tom Ward was brought into Barton protective in Atlanta to turn that company around several years ago and he created that culture. He had something called Vision Quest. These values cards everybody carried with them. It was a huge part of the cadence that he had in that company. And the third value was love. "Do you care about me as a person?" He hired based on it. He rewarded based on it. He promoted or did not promote based on it. It made a big deal to how people behaved, because culture at work, culture at work is a conversation that's led by leaders about how we do things here. And that's like software that runs a company, right? So, when you as a leader go to work and say, "We coach other people because of who we are as a company," then the habit sets in. And it's very attractive, Steve, to today's millennial, to have a reputation for a company where we bring each other up as opposed to where we internally compete. So I just want everybody listening to know this is within your power. And you don't need a big checkbook, but you do need to have consistent cadence because you need to manage that conversation about how we do things here successfully. Steve: Yeah, absolutely. Well, I am, like, speechless that we are out of time. I can't believe it. Tim: It goes that quick, man. It goes that quick. Steve: It has been fast today. Now, any...what's one last bit of advice, or any tips you would like to give our listeners before we wrap it up today. It's been fun Tim. Tim: Hey, it's been fun buddy. So I'll tell you a place where you can get some stuff about me, but before that, I'll just give you one of my...it's kind of my new little piece of advice I like to give people. And I can't say that I came up with it but I can tell you I'm championing this idea. If you want to be a happier person in, life in traffic and in work, the next time somebody irritates you, does something that is seemingly rude to you, I want you to assume that that person is operating under the best intentions. I want you to assume that you don't know the whole story. Because more often than not, Steve, people are operating under the best intentions. It's just that their needs clash with our needs. And we spend a lot of our time judging those people instead of inquiring about the rest of the story. So like I said, next time somebody cuts you off in traffic, you might wanna consider that she's trying to get somebody to the hospital before you honk your horn and shake your fist. And this goes double for you as business owners and leaders. Steve: Oh, that's great advice. I hope I can get this right. This comes from an article I read yesterday and it really left a deep impression on me. It was given by the leader of a worldwide organization, a humanitarian service organization. And the fellow talked about 50 years ago, he had a mentor. And the mentor said, "Every time you meet somebody, if you'll say to yourself this person is dealing with a serious challenge," he said, "You're gonna be right 50% of the time." Tim: And guess what? Before, when you just reacted and judged that person, you were wrong 50% of the time. Steve: Exactly. Well, he said, "Man I thought my teacher, my professor was a pessimist," he said, "But I have come to learn what wise advice that was." Because indeed as we look around what's going on in the world, it is often true. And I love your comment that half the time we're wrong. So let's give everybody a lot of slack here, right? Tim: On that, you know, again, yeah, let's put our self in another person's shoes. And let's find out more. You can learn and grow so much more. You can expand your thrive so much more. And, again, you can just avoid those regrettable mistakes we all make. Steve: Yup. Well, these are some great things that we can do to make a difference, to lift others, to build others. Tim has done a great job in sharing these. What a tremendous background. And, Tim, if you'll share how our listeners can learn more about what you're doing, and which is tremendous? We'd love to hear about it. Tim: Absolutely. We've set up a special page for your listeners, Steve. It is timsanders.com/byb. That's timsanders.com/byb. I'll have a huge download excerpt of Love is The Killer App for you to read. I'll also have a way you can connect with me on LinkedIn, and find other resources like videos and other such content on my site. Steve: Well, that's terrific. Thank you Tim Sanders for being part of this show today. This has been enlightening. It's been wonderful. Tim: Oh, absolutely. It's been a pleasure Steve. I really enjoyed it. Steve: Well, you bet. We wish you all the best as you're making a difference in the world as well Tim. Tim: Thank you. Steve: And to all of our listeners, never forget, you are creating a ripple that can never be counted for good as we do the right things, good things. And they do make a difference. They lift our own lives and they lift others. And they help us be more successful, happier and have fuller lives. I'm Steve Shellenberger with Becoming Your Best Global Leadership wishing you a great day. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Maximize Your Health To Live In Peace and Balance with Ron Williams Welcome to our podcast listeners wherever you may be in the world today. This is Steve Shallenberger, your host. And we are excited to have a wonderful friend and guest with us today, Ron Williams. Welcome, Ron! Ron: Steve, thank you so much, man. I'm glad to be with you. Steve: Now, Ron is a repeat visitor on this podcast series. I met Ron, for the first time, about a year ago and we had Ron talk about fitness. He told us about his background which is an amazing background and to what he's doing today which is helping people all over the world to improve their fitness, their health, and of course, that leads into their happiness. So as we think about The 12 Principles of Highly Successful Leaders, each one of those has a big impact on our life. But they come together to help us be highly successful leaders as we touch not only our own lives have an influence in our relationships but also help contribute to best of class, world class organizations. So one of those principles is to Live In Peace and Balance. Part of that is how do we maximize our own health: our fitness, our mental health, emotional health? Well, it just so happens that that is exactly what Ron does. And when we had the chance to visit a year ago, I mentioned to Ron on the air that I have been trying to lose 10 or 15 pounds for maybe 10 years. I mean, I'm not like really overweight but it's always there. Do you know what I'm talking about? Can anybody that's listening relate to this? And it just kind of rubbed me wrong. I felt like I could do better but it was just really hard to knock it off. And so I asked Ron what his thoughts were, and we talked about a few ideas. At the end of our session, we turned off the equipment and I told him, I said, "Ron, really, I'm serious about this. I'd like to lose 10 or 15 pounds." And Ron said, "Well, I'll tell you what, I'll think about this and I'll call you tomorrow." And so on the phone the next day, he said, "Well, I've been thinking about this and you don't need to lose 10 or 15 pounds." And I threw my hands up and I said, "Yes." And he said, "You need to lose 20 to 25 pounds." And I gulped and I said, "Okay, but I'm going to need your help." Over the next few months, I did indeed lose 25 pounds. It was an amazing process, and the fact is it wasn't a torture for me. It was a positive upbeat process. And one of the things that I found as I went to my periodic checkup with the doctor, he was amazed, first of all, but second, we noticed that my blood pressure had decreased. It wasn't really particularly high before, it was in good shape, but it had gone down. My cholesterol levels had gone down, and this is tracking a 16-year baseline that I had with this particular doctor. And so we had all of this data, and you can push a button right there and it automatically graphs everything. And so you see this graph, and it kind of goes up over the years and all of a sudden, a big drop. Found that my weight had a big drop, and that this was a correlation throughout across the board and that I was much healthier. And so, first of all, I credit Ron. There's a number of things we did, and we're going to have the chance to talk about some of those today. First of all, Ron, I'm just going to invite you to share anything that you would like to about what's been happening in your life over the last year. I have also recommended Ron to a couple of friends and they've had similar experiences. So why don't you bring us up to speed on anything that you would like to talk about, experiences that you're having, what you're seeing? But what would you like to just introduce yourself with? Ron: Awesome. First of all, I want to say thank you, Steve, for all that you have done for my business. One of the things that I found with working with Steve was this is that here I am coaching this guy, thinking,"You know what, I'm doing him a great service," and you know, we lost the 25 pounds, but the little nuggets that I got from him let me know that I needed a coach. And he became my coach. So Steve is my coach today, and I want to appreciate him in what he does. But some of the things that have happened over the year is that I'd been able to put together programs for corporations that have drastically changed the face of you know, the companies, and we've really been enjoying that. And we realized that the principles of what we teach cross boundaries, meaning that we work in several areas: faith, family, fitness, and finances. And with that being said, regardless of what direction you're moving in, there are universal principles that actually cross those boundaries and we call them "Champion Principles," and if you apply it as far as your fitness is concerned, those same principles apply in your business, in your relationships, and across the board, Steve. Steve: Well good. Well, all right. So since we're having this discussion, Ron...and Ron has been a great coach for me, and I'm glad that we've been able to be of help to him. It's been fun to see some of the things that have happened. Ron, together with his wife Tanya, have created a 9-week fitness program that they have shared with a few special clients. Would you mind telling us about that and how it's designed, and what some of the end results that you're having? And the purpose of doing this is that I'd like to have our listeners today have some hope, have some encouragement that if they do certain things, they can get to a better place that makes them feel better, frankly. Ron: Absolutely. This 9-week program is really just a basis and a starting place because our complete desire is to develop lifestyle. And that's what I can see in Steve, is he's developed a lifestyle. You know, he lost the weight, but if you look at him today, he looks better now than he did at the completion of the program. You know why? Because he's continuing in that same lifestyle. And that's what we want to do is to develop these principles so that it becomes a lifestyle to you. But one of the main principles is never to allow yourself to be hungry. It's very important because you send your body a signal of starvation. When many times, what people think is that it's willpower, "If I can starve myself and just have the will to keep going." But that sends a signal to the body of starvation. So eating and making sure you're never hungry is very important. Another principle would be to eat in combinations. Combinations are so important. If your desire is to decrease body fat, you never ever want to eat a carbohydrate by itself. The reason why, I'm going to explain this as short as I can, when you eat a carbohydrate by itself, it spikes the blood glucose level which causes the pancreas to secrete the insulin where the insulin is the culprit of the excess body fat. Your blood sugar level comes down when the insulin is secreted, but it converts those calories into triglycerides which is blood fat, and it pumps it directly into the fat cell. So we want to move away from that. If you don't eat enough calories, then your metabolism slows down, and when you do eat, those calories convert to body fat as well. There are 75 reasons why people are overweight and obese, so we have to find out individually what are yours and which ones belong to you. Reverse that, we can get rid of the body fat. Steve: Okay, all right. Well, that's good advice. Now, the first time we got going on this, Ron explained this to me, the example that he used for me was that if you eat an apple...And you correct any of this if you don't mind, Ron. But if you eat an apple by itself, it's the carbohydrate. It will be digested by the body within 20 minutes. Is that about right? Ron: Absolutely. Steve: But if you'll take that same apple and it goes right to fat, as Ron just explained...On the other hand, if you eat that apple together with the protein together with an essential fatty acid, it takes four hours for the body to digest this and it goes directly to energy. Ron: Wow, that's awesome that you remember that principle. Yes, and this is for those that are trying to decrease body fat. If you're an athlete and you have a high metabolism, this would not apply for you because sometimes you would take in pure sugar to propel you forward in whatever activity you're competing in. But if your desire is to decrease body fat, Steve is 100% spot on. Steve: Okay, and so that was really helpful. So that's a good tip for today is whenever you eat any type of foods, be sure you have at least three things on your plate: a carbohydrate, a protein, and the essential fatty acids. Right? Ron: Absolutely. Beautiful. Steve: Okay, that's if you're trying to, you know, lose body fat. And that's what I was doing, and I still do that by the way. I'm trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle of an ongoing diet that I know I can sustain. People often ask "Well, what are essential fatty acids?" That's raw almonds, avocados. What are some other sources of that, Ron? Ron: Wheat germ oil would be another one. You know, you said avocado. There's a new oil called avocado oil. I love the avocado oil because I can put it in any of my drinks and it's hard to even taste. Steve: Oh, okay. All right, good. So, Ron, what are some problems that you see are common in our society concerning excess body fat? Have we already talked about it? Have we covered that or...? Ron: Well, one problem I see is that we in America are getting fatter. You know, years ago, it was hard to find a person that was more than 300 pounds. Now we're 600, 700, 800, 900, even a thousand pounds. I mean, that was unheard of. The body is so resilient and I don't know how the body can handle that. But we're becoming more overweight and obese because of being sedentary and the other thing is poor eating and some of the things that we're putting in our bodies, and we have to reverse that. That's a real passion of mine. Steve: Okay good, all right. Well, so in terms of the eating do you... I'd like to just get back to that. Are there some things that our listeners can do to have a healthy set of eating habits? Like I know that you sent to me, originally, the Champions' Nutritional Guideline as I recall. Ron: Yes, sir. Steve: I don't know if that addresses it but maybe you could take a minute to just talk about, well, what are types of healthy eating. Ron: Okay, types of healthy eating depending on where you are, if you need to lose 15 pounds, if you need to lose 30 pounds, if you need to lose 70 pounds, or if you're in a class that we considered a hard-loser. A lot of people go on diet, after diet, after diet and what you end up doing is retarding your metabolism. When you retard your metabolism, it doesn't function properly the way it should. And then we have those people out there that are insulin resistant. And all of these create a huge problem. So what you have to do is find out, first of all, which category you're in, and then, you want to start off by detoxifying the body. Because we have what you call "fat-loss resistant chemicals" along with estrogen mimickers, and what estrogen mimickers do is they create excess body fat. And we want to get those toxins out of the body so that the body will function the way it should properly. There's certain things that 200 years ago, we weren't privileged to put in our body, you know, and we want to go back to nature as much as we possibly can. The way God originally created food is the way we should ingest it. God didn't create the Oreo cookie. I know some of you think he did but he really didn't create the Oreo cookie. And what I do is I study out different ingredients, where they came from, how we came about it. And when you look at an Oreo cookie, the center of that Oreo cookie that you take...you open the Oreo cookie and you scrape that white stuff on your teeth. Do you know what that is? It would be equivalent to Crisco oil or that Crisco-thick saturated fat that you're scraping on your teeth that has some sugar and has a little vanilla flavoring. But you're putting that directly into your body and it clogs the arteries and creates excess body fat. Well, if we go back to nature, we'll find out those things that we originally ate were to bring health, life, and longevity. So I would say, first of all, let's learn a little bit about good nutritional value. Eat those things that are very nutritious. Eat organic as you possibly can. Fresh is better than frozen. Frozen is better than canned. And try to get back to nature as much as you possibly can. Steve: Okay. Well, those are some good guidelines. And as I started adopting this, I didn't know what to expect but what I found is that eating, for example, the steamed vegetables were amazing. I don't know how I had missed these before. So yellow squash and steamed broccoli and the cauliflower, and there are so many amazing things that are so good. And I've loved the celery, the carrots. All of these things are so good, and I think they're part of what you're talking about. Ron: Yes. sir. Absolutely. Steve: kay, good. All right, well, let's just wrap up with a couple of thoughts here. What are a few things that we could implement today that would aid in decreasing body fat? Maybe we've already talked about it, but...And then, I'd like to talk about...the final thing is the role of exercise versus diet. Ron: Awesome, awesome. Well, one thing, it's very, very simple but it's huge, and that's change the type of water you drink because water, you know, it's the number one nutritional thing that we can put in our bodies. At one time, you could get water for free, but good quality water you have to pay for. It is very, very important because we're made up of 70% water. In water, just because it's clear does not mean that it's clean. We have different things in our body: fat-loss resistant chemicals along with estrogen mimickers, medication. Some people are taking hormone therapy. All of that gets into the water, and you think it gets cleaned out but it really doesn't. The other things...we have chlorine. Now, an estrogen mimicker, you've probably wondered where do they come from: pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, chlorine, perchlorate, which is jet fuel. All of those have estrogen mimickers. Heart medication, they'll tell you with some heart medication that it creates tenderness of your breast or your chest which become breast, and that's because there's an estrogen mimicker in there. When little girls go through puberty they get that tenderness, and that starting to happen in men along with other excess body fat throughout their bodies. So a good source of water is distilled water that's fortified with the minerals, that's pure water. So that's really important. You can implement that starting today. Steve: Now, let's just hold on a second. Where did they get that? Ron: Distilled water, you can either distill it yourself by having a distiller or you can just go on the Internet and google distilled water in your area or you can find it on the grocery store shelf, distilled water. But fortify it with the minerals. Even on our website, if you're looking for the minerals, they should cost you somewhere between $17 to $19. If it cost you more than that for a 90 day supply, way too expensive. We have some on our website for just $14.95. Steve: Okay, all right. Well, let's take this last question. It's been a good interview and good ideas today and hopefully, some encouragement for people and keeping it simple on a way forward. How big of a role does exercise play? How big of a role does the diet play? Ron: Well, as a competitor, exercise is a very, very small percentage, something like 20%. And the nutritional part of it is somewhere around 75% to 80%. I mean, the nutritional part of it is huge, but the combination together, utterly, utterly important. You can go on a diet by itself and you'll receive some results or you can do exercise by itself and depending on the type of metabolism you have, you may get no results. But the combination together, scientifically, is the best thing you could possibly do. Steve: Okay, and then one last question, Ron. What have you found is the best way to get this distilled water? Do you just buy it from a store around or can you get it in a larger container? What's the easiest way? What have you found the best way to get it? Ron: The best way to get it is have it brought to your house. It's really inexpensive. If you have a store that's fairly close, and as I said just google it, they will actually bring five-gallon containers to your house for less than 60 cents a gallon. If you go to the store, it may cost you $1.25 or maybe even higher. And another thing is distilled water... you can only drink that for two weeks. It'll help detoxify the body but after two weeks, start putting the minerals in. Steve: Okay, yeah. That's a critical part, right? Because it can actually hurt your health if you continue with the distilled water without the minerals. Ron: That's right because water, by itself, it has open bonds, and as we receive rain, it goes through the atmosphere but it collects the asset that's in the atmosphere then it hits the ground. But when that water is completely distilled, it has open bonds. And when it goes to your body, it does the same thing. it collects the dirt and the filth but it also absorbs those minerals and will pull the minerals out of your system. So get the water distilled, two weeks, it'll help you detoxify. But after the two weeks, apply the minerals. Steve: Okay, good stuff. Well, this is been a great interview. Hopefully, you have received a few good ideas. And if this is an area of interest, then certainly, the diet that we've talked about, the way you eat, the number of meals, and then try to have a consistent exercise program to supplement what you're doing. The distilled water... Ron: Absolutely. Steve: With the minerals. Okay, good start. Now, Ron, how can they find out about what you're doing or learn more? Ron: Well, one is we have a YouTube channel which is just, Ron Williams YouTube Channel. The next thing, you could go to our website which is ironchestmaster.com or rwfitness.com. You can find me on the Internet just google Ron Williams. Steve: Okay, good to know. Well, thank you. It's been a great interview. And Ron, I can't wait to see what happens in the next year. Ron: Absolutely. Steve: All right. Well, we're signing off and remember that every one of you is making a difference in your own life. And I'd like to give you hope and encouragement that if you've had 10 or 15 pounds or whatever that you've been trying to lose, you can do it, and it's just a steady effort and you can have fun doing it. It's an adventure. Well, we wish you all the best. This is Steve Shallenberger signing off with Becoming Your Best. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

https://www.becomingyourbest.com/5-simple-innovative-ways-great-time-manager/ Welcome to our podcast listeners, wherever you may be in the world today! This is Steve Shallenberger. Your host for the Becoming Your Best podcast series.   Today, we have an exciting subject. It is Five Simple, Innovative Ways to Great Time Management. And to preface this a little bit, I'd like to share an experience that I had not long ago.   We were visiting our son and his wife, west of Phoenix, Arizona near the White Tank Mountains. It is beautiful but it's rugged mountain terrain. One morning we hiked up three miles up a ravine and we arrived at a waterfall. We enjoyed the captivating area where the American Indians made their home and we decided to jog down the trail.   Now, this was an interesting experience. As we navigated the trail at about four miles per hour, I was utterly amazed at how my mind and body worked together. Knowing exactly how to adjust to an ever-changing terrain. A boulder here and a dip there, a rattlesnake slithering along the side of the trail, literally, a spiny cactus.   As we gradually went up and down, descending safely back to where the cars were parked. This experience caused me to reflect on how our body system works together, as we navigate through the daily challenges of life. Just as our body adjusted to the terrain as we jogged, over a trail in the mountains. Or your mind or heart adjusts to the terrain of relationships, your work, and everything you face from moment to moment. This is amazing, this great tool that we are blessed to have. It's literally, this principle of prioritizing time allows us to merge our heart, and mind, and memory consistently. So that we can achieve a sustainable best and doing the things that really count most in our life.   Repetition is crucial to the development of both muscle memory and heart and mind memory. One moment of creativity or being quick to listen really helps as we solve issues. Day to day they make us more effective in time management. This is really powerful as we're going to talk about these five simple, innovative ways to be great time managers. So, here we go.   The first one is one we've talked about in the past. But it is absolutely a fundamental game changer. And it is to spend a few minutes each weekend doing pre-week planning. We use the example of you happen to be a pilot, let's say a commercial pilot or a fighter pilot or even a private pilot. If you had a complex flight coming up, going from one coast to the next. Or navigating through some desolate areas, how many of you would just go jump in the plane and take off? Well, no. It'd be crazy to do that. Suicide is what it would be. Well, how many of us do the very same thing as we start each week? We just go in from week in, week out with no thought. We jump in the cockpit and we show up to work. We do whatever we're doing. Well, we get the same type of results frequently. This little process of pre-flight planning in the pilot world assures the highest probability of a successful flight. Unless something just unusual goes wrong. Well, this is the very same way with our week. Pre-week planning allows us to assure, with some probability, some things could happen, that we're going to have a great week. That's just the way it turns out.   Listen to the full episode...https://www.becomingyourbest.com/5-simple-innovative-ways-great-time-manager See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Secret to Peace, Confidence, Success and Trust Welcome to our listeners wherever you might be today. This is Steve Shallenberger, your host of the Becoming Your Best Global Leadership podcast. Now, what thing can you do to bring you greater peace, confidence, internal, strength, greater trust with others? Open many doors to opportunities and just generally provide for a happier fuller more abundant life? More success professionally with other people? Well that leads us to today's subject, which is being True to Character. It's interesting as we think about character there's really a couple of different components to it. One is being honest. Notice the word “being”. This is really an internal quality. It's who we are. Being honest, doing the right things. There's a different component and that is integrity. It's interesting to look at the root words of integrity. It has to do with “being whole” or “complete”. So we might think of the example of a ship hull having integrity or the frame of an aircraft having integrity. It's being whole, this is what people see. Our integrity is really defined by those that are around us. They see that we are whole and especially in the terms of leadership. When we have integrity we create a wholeness. A predictability that people can count on within an organization. It's these two traits, if you will, these two factors: 1) being honest and 2) having an integrity. That literally create a character, something that people can count on, that is both internal and external. So being true to character is really based on being true to those things that consistently make a difference. Or what we frequently call correct or timeless principles. These then define an outcome we have. So being true to character means your actions reflect your beliefs. Your beliefs are based on these guiding correct principles and it's at the very bedrock of character. It's this integrity, honesty, respect for others in alignment with these principles. When you're true to character the feeling is good, solid and confident. The impact is remarkable! Added confidence, increased opportunity, stronger relationships, expanded influence, and certainly an enviable reputation. Now each of us is endowed with a conscience. In other words, you know right from wrong… To listen to the podcast to get the complete episode and Steve’s continued discussion of Being True to Character: https://www.becomingyourbest.com/secret-peace-confidence-success-trust/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What’s Your Innovation Quotient? - Interview with Tamara Kleinberg Steve: Welcome to all of our "Becoming Your Best" podcast listeners, wherever you might be in the world today. This is your host, Steve Shallenberger. And we have a very interesting guest with us today. Our guest has helped and inspired many people on how to improve their lives and be more effective. Welcome, Tamara Kleinberg. Tamara: Thank you so much for having me. Steve: Oh, we're excited to have you. And before we get started today, I'd like to tell you a little about Tamara's background. First of all, this is fun. She's part of an elite group of TED speakers for completing three Tough Muddlers. Tell us what a Tough Muddler is, Tamara. Tamara: Oh, they are these...I don't know if you've done one yet...but they are these extreme sport events. It's usually 12 to 16 miles, 20 obstacle courses, and things like getting dumped in water so cold you can't breathe and electric shock wires. It just...it tests your limits, both physical and mental, every time you do it. Steve: Lovely. Well, we know what the Spartan event is. We've had a number of our family members that have participated in that. I think quite similar. Tamara: I love Spartan events. Steve: Yeah, they're great. And Tamara's life is about breaking through the status quo for game-changing results. And I'll just tell you a little bit more about her. She is the founder of LaunchStreet, an online innovation program, and the creator of a proprietary Innovation Quotient Edge, which we'll talk a little bit about later in the program. It's the only assessment able to help you discover your unique innovator archetype, and we'll talk about that, so that you can innovate on demand. She is a sought-after keynote speaker, CrossFit addict, and a knee-high sock lover. She lives in the Colorado area, has two young children, a husband, and they are rocking and rolling. Tamara: Don't forget my dog. My dog would be very upset if you didn't mention her. Her name is Zoe, and she's a 90-pound mastiff. So she's part of the family. Steve: Well, that's perfect. Okay, well, Tamara, what was life like growing up for you? And what experiences helped you to see that you could be successful? Tamara: Yeah, that's such a great question to open with, you know? So I was telling you a little bit offline that we moved every four years of my life. And the reason for that was my dad was an entrepreneur. So we basically bounced from business to business, and that required moving as well. And while that sounds horrible to a lot of people, what I will tell you is it taught me how to talk to everybody, because I had to start over every four years. I became the queen of reinvention I think before I was 18 years old because I always had to. And, you know, I kinda looked back on my life, and, you know, I realized that that entrepreneurial spirit was inside of me very early on. My very first business was when I was 14 years old. I turned my teenage girl's dream closet into a business of renting clothing, and keep in mind, just to date myself, it was the 80s. So the clothing was bad, and it was before the Internet and [inaudible 00:03:19] could rent everything. But, you know, I was always looking for opportunities to just do things a little bit differently. I think a lot of us have that inside of us, that little spark, and it ignites every now and again. And sometimes we shut it down. And sometimes we let it grow. But in that case, I let it grow. And that summer, I had a ton of money. It was great. But, you know, you would...one of the things that you would ask in a previous thing was, you know, kinda what are some of those defining moments in your childhood. And I would tell you a quick story, because I think this really kinda set up how I viewed life and how I ultimately was able to achieve success. When I was in third grade, I got the most awesome homework, which was, you know, come back on Monday morning and tell the class what you wanna be when you grow up. And I was so excited. And that's the best homework you can give a third grader ever because the possibilities at that point in your life are endless. So, you know, I spent all weekend. I really...I took it very seriously. And I got back to school, and I stood up there, and I was the first to raise my hand. So I got up, you know, in front of that dirty chalkboard. And to see if my...you know, kids in front of me in those low tables, and I said, you know, "I'm Tamara. And when I grow up, I wanna be president of the United States." Steve: Woo-hoo! Tamara: And, you know, then I waited... Yeah. Well, that's what I was hoping for. Thank you. You know, I put my head down waiting for the like obvious standing ovation that was coming. But instead, I got laughter. And it wasn't actually the other kids. It was the teacher. Yeah. She looked to me, and she said, "Tamara, don't be silly. You can't be president of the United States. You weren't born here. You need to come up with a new dream." So I wasn't born here. I was born in Israel. But I...I was born on dual citizenship. And it doesn't matter. In third grade, that's not the point, right? Steve: Right, right. Tamara: You know, I went home in tears, and I went into my dad's office because he's working from home at the time. And I said, you know, "I was told that those are the rules. So I can't be president." I was so upset and ready to be very dramatic. And my dad is very brass tacks about everything. And he looked up at me, and he just said, "Well, Tamara, then go change the rules." I was like "Oh my God." Like that opened my eyes to everything in life. So I can't change the rules to be president. Frankly, at this point, I'm really glad I never pursued that path because it looks like a really hard job. But what it did teach me in life and what I've always applied is how can you go around those brick walls and those rules? How do you go under them, over them, through them? There's always a different way to accomplish what you wanna accomplish. And when I was in third grade, what I was really saying was I wanna make an impact on the world. That's really what I wanted. So when I thought about that in a different way, I was able to do different things and get to that goal. Steve: Oh, I love it. Oh, thanks for that background. And this is a great reminder too. We who have the opportunity to work with others, to give them encouragement, to give them hope, to... I love the assignment. You know, to stoke that curiosity and creativity and... Well, great going! That's terrific. Now, how about...you've been moving along. That was a great setback right there, a little challenge. But what's been some of the biggest challenges in your life or a challenge, just pick one, whether personal life or professional, and how did you handle it, and what was the impact? Tamara: Yeah. So, you know, I think we all have a lot of challenges. And sometimes there are tiny little ones that seem to add up over time. And other times there are, you know, big ones that are slapping us around and leaving a little bit of a sting on our face. And I know...I think when I look back, the biggest challenges have been these tiny little things that constantly added up. And, you know, it really led to...it was me always trying to push the limits and always trying to do something different and getting pushed back. And, you know, when I was...and so when I left university...I graduated from UC Berkeley and went out to New York City because I wanted to be in advertising and on Madison Avenue, which in the '90s was a big deal, you know, different now, but it was then. And I remember getting my first job there. And I was an administrative assistant. And that's not what I wanted to be. I wanted to be in account management. But because I didn't have an in, a connection, a referral...I was new to New York. I moved there not knowing anybody. I mean it was me and my apartment for the first six months of my time in New York City. And I had to take the job that I was provided because that's all I could get. I couldn't get the one in accounts because, you know, I didn't know anyone. However, once I got in, I was able to make my imprint and get to where I wanted to be. So, you know, it seemed like a really big challenge, and I had to look at it and go, "Well, how do I do it differently so that I get to my goal, but do it in a different way, because that path I thought I would get is just not open to me?" The beauty of it, though, the thing I learned, not just that, is I learned how hard it is to be an administrative assistant and how that is they are the gatekeepers to everything. So not only did I learn, you know, what I needed to do to get to where I was trying to be, but I also learned what it really meant to take on that role, which was not easy. But that's really all the challenges...every moment that I remember another time I was working at this, you know, prestigious brand strategy and innovation firm. And I used to get in trouble for going home at four because I would be done with my work, and I would do it well, but I was done because I figured out a different way to prioritize my workflow and not do it like everybody else and get even more accomplished in a shorter period of time. But I got in trouble for it. So, you know, I kind of kept having to push boundaries and I kept... What I learned along the way is I had to keep pushing back. I had to keep pushing back. It was my job to keep that flame going, nobody else's, because they were not gonna do it for me. Steve: Okay. Well, now, I just love it. I love the fact that Tamara is out there pushing the horizons, thinking about possibilities. This is one of the things that we need to do to reach our fullest potential. We just gotta reach down inside and say, "Wow, what is it out there that...where can I make my contribution? Where is my area of interest?" and go for it. Don't let things hold us back. And that might be in the different roles that we have in life. And so great going, Tamara. Tamara: Well, thank you so much. You know, I think this is kinda how life works, isn't it? Like it's...I saw this great quote on Facebook from Sylvester Stallone in what...a movie he's I think recently in. I didn't get to see the whole thing, because, you know, you're on Facebook, you scroll through. But, basically, it's like "Look, life is gonna slap you around harder than anybody else. And it's our job to get back up." And I think that's really how I've tried to lead through life. And when you tap your innovative mind, which we all have the power of doing... I know we don't always feel that way. But it's true. We can talk a little bit about the research that led to that and kinda, you know, the assessment that goes along with it. But when we approach things in a more innovative way, we're able to make a greater impact and go around some of those big barriers that we face. Steve: Okay, good. Well, let's talk about innovation. This is one of your specialties. And it plays such a huge role in our success in life. And I was just reading through my personal vision this morning, which I've had for 25 years. It's been inspiring for me. And on the personal level, one of the aspects was when I have setbacks and challenges, I think of options, options, and options. And then I move again. Tamara: I love that. Steve: Well, this is kind of it, innovation. So what's the greatest barrier to innovation? Let's really help our listeners out today of how we can get to a better place. Tamara: Yeah. So there's a couple of barriers that I wanna talk about here. And let me just back up by sharing my definition of innovation so we're all on the same page because I think oftentimes we think of it as a new product, new technology, or, you know, relegated to a certain point in time, exercise, the brainstorm with scented markers, you know, and [inaudible 00:11:08]. But that's really not it. What innovation is and the definition that I'd like, you know, us to move forward with is people each thinking differently about what's right in front of them to create differentiated value. And that really ultimately comes back to us in how we view things and shifting our own perspective and trying out new things. I think that one of the greatest barriers to innovation is thinking that we're not capable of it and that, you know, Greg down the hall with his blue streak in his hair and his funky glasses and, you know, going the cafes to work. He is the innovative guy. But it's really not me, whether that's because of my, you know, how I've been trained over life or my job description or just how I view myself. And that couldn't be more wrong. I think what we've discovered in our 20-plus years of work and research over here at LaunchStreet is that being innovative is actually universal. We all do it. But how we innovate is unique to each of us. But we gotta own that we're innovative people. You now, we all go to the movies, and we suspend belief, and we watch these crazy sci-fi movies, and we think nothing of it. Yet, we come home, and when we ask ourselves to work and we ask ourselves how to think differently about something, and we shut down. We got to bring that back up. Steve: Okay. Well, that's great, yeah. And I love your definition, thinking differently to get better results to how do we be... As you know, one of the things we talk about a lot is helping people become their best. And this is the thinking is we can do it. We can come up with ideas, and we are capable of it. So as we get into this process, Tamara, why do most ideas die before they even have a chance to get going, before someone leaves the conference room? Tamara: Yeah. There's a couple of reasons for it, and it's so sad, isn't it? I mean even asking the question sounds sad, like "Oh, ideas die." It's so sad, but they do, and they do for a couple of reasons. One is we confuse collaboration and consensus. So if we're working in a team, you know, we would have an idea that we wanna either bring forward or we have a problem we're trying to solve and we get together to form a solution for that, what we do by accident, in an effort to create collaboration, is we pull everybody together at the table. Now we've got everybody's opinion. And frankly, it's too many. And we need to replace consensus with collaboration, real collaboration, which I would define as the right people sitting at the table at the right time discussing the right things. That's not everybody. That's the appropriate people together. So that's number one is, you know, we end up doing this consensus decision-making, and that just waters everything down to nothing. Nobody is excited about it, and we leave with this blah, wet clay-looking idea. That's number one. The second thing is...and this was a really painful lesson that I learned along the way from someone who I called Mr. Mustache, because I don't remember his name, but he had a really big mustache. It moved before he spoke. And he shut down every one of my ideas in this meeting where I was presenting ideas. It was actually to Johnson & Johnson baby care. He worked for them at the time. And what I learned that day was that most ideas die because we don't have the language to champion them and get other people along for the journey with us. We assume that the idea is gonna stand on its own, like "Oh my god, this water bottle is so amazing. How could they say no to this?" But they do say no because they weren't along for the journey of the creation of it. And now we're throwing this one-way tennis ball, you know, across the court expecting them to pick it up. And they don't. What I have discovered, and we have a lot of these tools on our LaunchStreet on demand...I think it's part of the reasons why our clients come back year after year for more and more tools. We have this whole language of innovation method because what we discovered is that when you change your language, you change your outcome. But it is just really unfortunate to think the number of ideas that never see the light of day because we just don't know how to champion them. Steve: Okay. Oh, those are good thoughts. I'd be interested in your thoughts about this. What role...I'm just thinking that sometimes people don't have confidence in their ability to innovate, to be a creative force, and so they're a little shy about it. Would that also be a reason that an idea dies that they don't have enough confidence? Tamara: Yeah, you know, it's so interesting, and it's great that you really kinda brought that up to the surface. We don't give ourselves permission to innovate. So oftentimes...we hear this all the time, don't we? Like "Oh, they don't get it. They don't understand. They're not innovative enough." But what we forget is that we don't even give ourselves permission to innovate. So we...before we ever even say an idea out loud, we put layers of judgment on it. We say, "Well, that's not good enough. I mean who am I to share this? I don't have the experience. They'll never go for it. It'll never work. I'll sound stupid. I'll sound like I don't know what I'm talking about. Obviously, if it was a good idea, somebody else would have said it." So we talk ourselves out of bringing those ideas forward. And in doing that, we're shutting down all of that innovative thinking and keeping it inside. Yet, the question we have to ask ourselves is how do we expect to get to those breakthrough ideas or results in our work and life if we're not even giving ourselves permission to innovate? And, you know, when I keynote, I talk a lot about...we do this exercise when we're together in keynote that really brings this to life about how... It's really incredible. We self-sabotage before we even get it to the world. Steve: Right. Now, that's a great insight. If you don't mind let's talk a little about your innovator profile. I've noticed that in your information you have a unique IQE. Tell us what that is. And how can a person use it to get good results, to get innovative results that are helpful? Tamara: So the Innovation Quotient Edge or the IQE, as we call it for short, is the only proprietary tool that helps you understand how you innovate so that you can innovate on demand, so basically so you can tap your greatest asset, which is your innovative mind, as we talked about, that we all have. And part of the reason we decided to create this tool over at LaunchStreet was because we were tired of seeing people say, "I'm not innovative." It's so and so down the hall. Or "I just don't have it in me," or "I want to. It's in me, but I don't know how." And what we realized is if we can help people understand how they innovate, they're more likely to do more of it. I mean we do more of what works for us and less of what doesn't. We wanna tap our strength. And that's what this allows us to do. So we discovered there's nine triggers of innovation, and it's the combination of the top two that make your unique innovator archetype. And here is kind of the cool thing, and I'll use myself as an example. I am a risk-taker and an experiential. Those are my two things to come together for an archetype. And what that means is that the experiential side of me is I have to learn in motion. I have to innovate by doing. So if you ask me to think in theory and hypothesize and leave things on PowerPoint presentation, I shut down. And the funny part is that's how I used to work because that's how you're expected to work. That's how we're trained in our nine to five jobs to get stuff done. But I was actually working against myself, and it was showing up in my work. It wasn't innovative. I wasn't getting recognized for the value I was bringing to the table. I didn't have a strong enough voice because I wasn't playing to my strength. And then I flipped it around. Now when I build an idea out, I build it out with duct tape and scented markers because I need to see it in real life to be able to innovate. And I can now take things to the finish line. So when you understand how you innovate...it's plain and simple...you work smarter, not harder. And the cool part is if you stay in that...you know that zone we always talk about, that flow, you get to stay there longer because you're bringing that innovation to life. Steve: Well, very good. Now I'm gonna put you on the spot here, Tamara. Tamara: Uh-oh. Steve: Yeah. So what's an example? Share an example of someone that used this and the result that they got. Tamara: Yeah. Ooh, oh, this is like the Oprah question. I'm sitting on a couch, okay. So I'll give you actually an example of a company and some of the people inside their company, because there's two great examples out of this. So the company is called Footers Catering. It's one of the largest catering companies in Colorado. So they do very well. The founder, the president, Anthony, had his team take it. And two really interesting things came out of it. First, I'm gonna talk about Kara. So Kara is...one of her archetype is inquisitive. So that means she innovates by asking questions. For her innovations and the questions is not the answer. And you know her archetype because they're the one... You know them. It's 11:30. You got a quick meeting, and you're dying to get to lunch, and they're over there with their hand up like "I just have 10 more questions, just 10, I swear." But that's because they go deep. They pull back the layers of the onion and challenge assumptions. That's how they innovate. So when Kara recognized this, her team understood this about her, because they talked about their result. And now she's able to leverage that. Where before people saw it as kind of an annoyance, like "She's got 10 more questions," now she understands that's how she innovates. So she's empowered to ask the hard question, and her team understands it and actually...and expecting her to ask questions and is okay with it. So it really opened up her ability to add value to the team in a way that she wasn't able to do before. The second one is named Stephanie. And she's a futuristic. That's one of her two power triggers, which means that she's always 10 steps ahead. She's envisioning what it could be, what the possibilities are. She's solving today's challenges by creating tomorrow's opportunities. So she was in a role that was purely administrative. And she was dying on the vine. It was so hard for her. When she realized this, she and the president, Anthony, got together, and they created a new role for her where she's creating themes for their clients when they bring food to their events, whatever it is. So now she's been put in a role that's all about creating the future versus managing the past. And she is doing incredibly well. And the last I'll share with you is an entrepreneur who is outside of that realm who is a collaborative, which is all about pulling disparate people and ideas and experiences together to create innovation. And so they're all about the conversation, the team dynamic. They're very magnetic in that way, but it's because that's how they pull the data pieces together to create innovation. She had this business. She had a product. It was online. It's doing incredibly well. And she was so frustrated because she felt like this wasn't her vision, her dream. She was stuck in a silo in her house with no one to talk to. So when she realized that she was missing the thing that was feeding her soul, this collaborative innovator, she actually created an entire feedback loop with her customers. When they buy the product, they now have this opportunity to engage with her on a regular basis. Because of that, she's able to bring more and more innovation to the table because she created a business that matched how she innovates. She created a collaborative business instead of a solo business, which is what she was doing in the past. Steve: Okay. So that's excellent. So it helps both the individual and it helps the team of how to work better together. Tamara: That's exactly right. That interplay is really interesting. And what we see is when you understand how you innovate, you bring more of that to the table. And we you understand how other people innovate, you respect and seek out their opinion because now you've got a 360-degree view, different ways to tackle a challenge. The results are 10 times better. Steve: Okay. So, Tamara, what's one thing that our listeners can do right now to up their innovation quotient? Tamara: Well, the first thing I do is say go take the assessment and find out what you are. Like I said, there's nine triggers. That means there's 35 different unique combinations that could be you. If you go to gotolaunchstreet.com, that's the way to do it. But let me give your listeners, if it's okay with you, just a little something they can do right away in their everyday life that's one of my favorite innovative exercises. Can I have a minute to do that? Steve: Yes, yes. Tamara: Okay, excellent. So it's what I call geek out. So you mentioned in the very beginning that I'm a CrossFit addict, which is totally true and a knee-high sock lover. I'm wearing knee-high socks right now. I'm very proud to say. So one of the things, the challenges we have with being innovative is we look in our center, you know, in that same box with the same information with the same people over and over again, and then we don't get any result, and we get frustrated. A great way to bring innovation to your world is to go wide, go far out, and then bring that information back. The easiest way to do that is to think about how the innovative brands and products you love...how they do things and how they might solve your challenges. So for example, for me, I always think about...because I love CrossFit...how would they solve the challenge I'm having with the usability of my website. How would Southwest engage with customers in this challenge? How would Trader Joe's bring this idea [inaudible 00:24:26]. Suddenly, it becomes so easy to think differently when you put yourself in the shoes of the brands and the businesses that you love for being innovative. I mean do you have a few that you absolutely love that you could talk my ear off about? Steve: Yeah, sure. Tamara: Yeah, we all have them, right? So when you do that, it becomes super easy to be innovative because you just put yourself in their shoes. Steve: Okay. Well, that's great. I'm always amazed at how fast time goes. Our time is up. And so how can our listeners learn more about what you're doing, and how can they find out about your information? Tamara: Yeah. So the best way is to go to our website, gotolaunchstreet.com. So it's gotolaunchstreet.com. Or you can find us on social media. We're on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and it's all @LaunchStreet. Steve: Okay, that's terrific. Well, this is a great resource for people. Thank you, Tamara, for being part of our show today. Really excellent ideas. And you're just touching a lot of people. So we congratulate you on that and on making a difference in the world today. Tamara: Well, thank you for providing a platform to share with your listeners. It's a wonderful show. So I appreciate being on. Steve: Yeah, you bet. And to all of our listeners, never forget, you too make a difference every single day, your leadership, the light that you have as you work on these grows brighter and brighter, and it influences everyone around. So we congratulate you as you're in this journey as well. And I'm Steve Shallenberger with Becoming Your Best Global Leadership wishing you a great day. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Radical Abundance - It's a Way of Thinking Steve: Welcome to all of our Becoming Your Best Podcast listeners wherever you might be in the world today. This is your host, Steve Shallenberger, and we have a fascinating guest today. I'm really looking forward to our conversation. She has helped and inspired many people on how to improve their lives. So welcome Dr. Sharon Spano. Dr Spano: Thank you so much, Steve. I'm very excited to have this time with you today and to share what I have to offer to your listeners, and to learn more about you as well. So, looking forward to this opportunity. Steve: Well, thank you. Well, now, before we get started, I'd like to tell you a little about Sharon's background. Sharon has a P.h.D. in Human and Organizational Systems. She's an author, a corporate business strategist, a workforce expert, professional speaker, former radio host of Work Smart Live. She and her husband actually run three businesses. And so she understands what it's like to have business challenges, and success, and setbacks, and overcoming those. She empowers business leaders and entrepreneurs to maximize performance. Also works on employee engagement and how to increase bottom-line results. She is a certified professional coach, she loves helping other people, and especially, stepping into radical abundance. And we're gonna talk about that shortly. Her research focuses on wisdom, adult development and leadership, and her work and her new book, The Pursuit of Time and Money: Step into Radical Abundance and Discover the Secret to a Meaningful Prosperous Life. So there you go. This is somebody we wanna have some fun and listen to. Dr Spano: Well, I appreciate it, Steve. I appreciate it. What a great introduction, thanks so much. Steve: Well, you bet. All right, well, let's jump right into things. So, tell us about where you grew up, what it was like growing up, and what experiences, Sharon, helped you to see that you could be successful? Dr Spano: Well, I think that's a great question, Steve, because we all have our story, right? And so, my early childhood story. My parents were divorced and I was literally dropped off at my paternal grandmother's home at probably around the age of five, my sister and I, in the inner city of Los Angeles. And so, we were kind of thrust into this different lifestyle as children, and it was a pretty intense environment back in the day. I can remember growing up and there were gangs and a lot of things like that. But my grandmother in her wisdom, put us in catholic school, which was not an easy thing, even at $15 a month. I mean, we were very poor, so it was difficult for her to make that happen. But that was the saving grace, I think, because she was worried about us being in the public school system with all the gangs and the things that were going on at that time. And I got a very, very good education with the nuns. And so a lot of my success, I attribute to those early years, because the emphasis was on literary work, and reading and writing, and I learned early. I'm a lifelong learner and I'm an avid reader. And so I would say, most of my success, if I could attribute it to any one thing, which of course there never is just one thing, is there? But it has to do with my willingness to learn, but also the ability to communicate, both in the written and spoken word. That has been really, just a big plus for me throughout my entire career. Steve: Well, that is quite a background, not only cultural, from Los Angeles, and that kind of experience in the inner city, but also that type of a tremendous education. Your grandmother must have been some woman. Dr Spano: Yeah, she was. She had nine children, she buried two husbands, lost her younger son in the war, which I've just recently learned his story because I grew up kind of under this cloud, if you will, of an uncle that she always expected to come home. She believed that he was captured by the Japanese. And I only just literally a month ago found out that he actually went down with the USS Houston. So, it was interesting in many ways, in that, I now have come to see how she prepared me spiritually, but she also prepared me for loss of a son, because I lost my own son in 2008. And so, her strength, her spirituality, her wisdom, you know, sometimes when you're growing up, you don't realize how all that's impacting you, but it's really had a tremendous impact on how I've carried myself through the adversity in my own life. You know, and particularly learning Roy's [SP] story now, in my later years and realizing how she handled, you know, that grief and that uncertainty, you know, never knowing for sure what had happened to him, was quite an amazing thing to grow up, you know, under and have within the household. And I didn't realize how much it prepared me, you know, for the loss of a child. Watching her, you know, witnessing her strength all those years. Steve: Having great role models like that have a far greater impact sometimes than we realize, and how fortunate. And I'm grateful for the wonderful women who have had such a big impact on my life, as well as the great role model men. So, good going on that. So, Sharon, what's been the biggest challenge or maybe one of the biggest challenges in your life, whether personal or in your business life, and how did you handle that? Dr Spano: Well, I think it's really to what I alluded to a moment ago. My husband and I, you know, met, I was pretty young when we met. We've had a very strong and long lasting marriage for over 43 years. We've been very blessed in that. Steve: Way to go. Dr Spano: But our son Michael was born in 1981 with a very rare metabolic disorder. So that was sort of the first adversity that hit us. As a very young couple, that certainly wasn't what we had expected to have happen. And he was at that time diagnosed, he was supposed to live till the age two. So those first years were very, very challenging for us. But we transitioned from Los Angeles, moved to Florida for my husband's business in the early 80s. And Michael wound up living till the age of 27. So we had a very full and rich life with this young man, who was wheelchair bound throughout his life. But there were a lot of adversities and ups and downs, as you can imagine, through that process. And we're both entrepreneurs, running our businesses, you know, trying to stay ahead of the game with him. And his death was certainly, probably without a doubt the biggest challenge of my life. Because he was critical for four years, in and out of hospitals. And of course, my business was booming at that time, and, you know, you're at the height of all of that, and of course, if you knew that you're near the end of, you know, this journey with him, I probably would have quit everything, but you don't know that. You're just kinda living day to day thinking tomorrow is gonna be a better day. And as it turned out, it was a very great opportunity for me to exercise resilience, because managing the business and managing his illness, you know, my husband and I just, again, that was the value of being entrepreneurs. We would just pitch ship for each other, and, you know, be what we needed to be for him first, but still kept the businesses going somehow. And then when he passed, in '08, that in and of itself was such a dramatic event, but one that really made us appreciate the sacredness, I guess, of that kind of life transition. We both buried parents, grandparents, but obviously, it's a very different thing when you burry a child because it's unnatural, right? That our child would pass before us. So, you know, really helped me grow spiritually, helped me appreciate the work that I have and how God has blessed me to serve people in the corporate environment. And I love the work that I'm about. I feel very purposeful in it, and I just have a very, very passionate perspective on the value of life and the legacy that I wanna create moving forward. And I feel like God's timing was perfect, in that, if we had to lose Michael, we lost him at a time where we'd had a wonderful experience with him. Really, as a family, you know, we did so much together. And then, yet at the time of his passing, we're both young enough to still, you know, carry forth our businesses and contribute. I mean, that's really what I want, you know, the fourth quarter, as they say, to be about. How do I contribute to making people's lives better and offer what I can in terms of my wisdom and knowledge to those in business and in corporate America. Steve: Yeah. Well, that...I appreciate you being willing to share about that experience. I'm certain that our listeners, every one of them have challenges. Some are more severe than others at different times in life, and just like the type that you've described anyhow, it's probably different for everybody in a sense. But nonetheless, in many ways, it feels the same way, which is, we wanna do what's important and balance things, and... So, if you were to give some advice to our listeners in the midst of their adversity, the challenge, these heavy weights, and yet still try to balance life. Any thoughts on that? What would you suggest? Dr Spano: Well, I think for me it goes back to purpose, you know. I mean, whatever role or whatever business you're in, you know, how do I be the best in that every given day? Steve: I like the sound of that. Dr Spano: Well, and just fulfill that purpose, you know. And I know that sounds very cliché for some people, and if you're in a job or a position where you hate what you're doing, you know, that's certainly a bigger challenge. But part of the work that I'm about Steve, and I know that you're about is, how do we help people really dive deep enough to figure out how to be their best version of who they are. You know, for me, that's a very spiritual matter because I've been blessed in growing that spiritual line of development and knowing who God is and what he's called me to do. You know, for someone who may not have a traditional belief system to lean on, you know, there is so much out there right now to help people, and that's what I love about the integral coaching work that I do, is we really...we're less about goals in our interaction. When I finish with you today I'm going to meet a CEO who is very clear on his purpose, but he's struggling with some of the changes in the economy and the systems and whatnot. So it's, how do we take all of his strengths and match them to another level of purpose such that we maybe shift his consciousness so he can step up into this new role, in a bigger and better way. So, for me, it goes back to purpose and then staying focused. And then how do I continue to develop my own consciousness so that I'm growing, and moving forward, and adapting. Because as you know, today's leaders have to adapt constantly. I mean, every day, things are moving and shifting so quickly. And we're a global diverse society now. And so, that requires a different type of leadership than we've seen certainly, in generations before. And I think it's exciting, you know, it's an exciting opportunity for each of us to dig deeper and ask ourselves that question. You know, what can I do each and every day to make the world a better place? And for me, when I get up with that perspective, there is usually something miraculous that happens in the course of my workday. And that's kind of what I try to get my clients to see is, what is...even in the most adverse moments, what am I being called to learn? What am I being called to lean into, in terms of my own growing edge? And how can I step up and into that growing edge, such that I become a bigger better person, and realize my potential on the other end of it. You know, certainly through the years of my son's adversity and suffering, I had to dig really deep to be what I needed to be for him, for my husband, and for my clients. And I know I'm bigger and better and stronger on the other side of it for having risen, you know, to that adversity. That's part of my research around wisdom, by the way is, we know that leaders who exhibit wisdom handle adversity a bit differently, and they do a lot of what I've just talked about. When they're in the midst of it, they're looking for what is the lesson here and how can I be my best self in the midst of this. Steve: Okay. Well, let's talk about leadership a little bit more. Every one of us, each one of us is a leader of course, and the mental construct that we have on how to be successful is such an important influence in our personal lives as we deal with others, as you've mentioned, relationships, and professionally. So, let's discuss for a second some different aspects of achieving success, and especially from the point of view that, from your background, your experience. So let's start with radical abundance. It's part of your book, what is it, and why is it important? Dr Spano: Well, I think it's vital and it's a lot of things, in that, it's more about a mind shift, less about what you actually have. And of course the focus of the book is on the experience of time and money, and I'm looking at it through a developmental lens. And by that, I mean, what we know through the research is there are 12 of what we call stages of human development. Obviously, beginning from, you know, birth on up. The average American, we know that 60% of those Americans fall within what we call the expert and achiever levels. And so, part of what I'm exploring in this work is, based on your level of development, what are your paradigms or belief systems around time and money? And I came into that quite by accident, if you will, because I saw so much human suffering in corporate America around these two very important resources that impact us daily, and in every decision and choice that we make, but often at subconscious levels that we're not even aware of. So when we talk about radical abundance, I'm talking about developing, again, those growing edges, the awareness of consciousness, such that you can have a meaningful life of joy and prosperity, no matter what your life circumstances are. No matter how much time or money you actually have. It's a place to come from more than it is a place to get to. And so, I'm really trying to open the conversation, getting people to examine their worldview, their paradigms, and often in the contest of those early childhood stories, because that's where it all begins. What were the things you were taught or heard about time and money, you know, and how is it impacting you in terms of your daily choices today. And what we're finding is, when we can open the discussion, and of course, we have instruments where we can actually measure where people are developmentally. That helps a lot, for them to see where they are and to see that you don't have to be stuck there, you can grow in these developmental, what we call developmental lines. There actually 26 lines of development that we enjoy as human beings, that we're aware of today. And I focus in my integral coaching work and in my strategic work with leaders on six of them. And so we can literally see where people are and where there might be some short falls or some faulty premises, as I like to say. Ideas or ways of being, ways of action that are inhibiting you from realizing and maximizing your potential. And then when we can do that, we can coach or help people shift those paradigms, such that they step into more radical abundance. Steve: Okay. So you're saying radical abundance is something that's within us? It's a way of thinking? Dr Spano: Yes. I'm saying that it's a way of thinking, it's a consciousness, if you will. And if you think of the stages, kind of the easiest way that I explain it, even though they're not a hierarchy per se. If you imagine a mountain top, Steve, and you're climbing that mountain. Stage one might be at base camp, okay? And then as you mature, and grow up and into higher states of consciousness and stages of consciousness, imagine yourself at the top of the summit. So, one is not necessarily better than another, but it is a broader perspective. So, for someone who grew up in the inner city like I did, your story, the story that's given to you as a child is, you can never get out of here. You're not smart enough for an education, and you'll never get a really good job. And so, you know, that's why people get stuck in ghettos, right? For some reason, that never resonated with me, and I don't know why, because I always knew I will become educated, and I will get out, and I will have a different life. But for many, they don't even know there is another life outside of that environment. And that's part of the opening that I'm trying to create. Because as you mentioned moment ago, we're all leaders. And I've taught that for years and years, because I don't believe that leadership is a title. I believe that it's...also, it's a mindset, it's a place to come from. You know, you can step into leadership and whatever role you play within an organization. And so, that's part of the exciting work that I've been blessed and able to do, is to help people see, when we change your paradigms and the actions flow from that. And more importantly, when we can shift your consciousness and your whole way of seeing the world, anything is possible. I mean, it really is. And so, you know, that's the work that I wanna be about, and that's the conversation I wanna open up within people whenever I can. Steve: Okay. Well, that's very exciting. So you're really working on transformation with people. And so, it sounds like what you're saying is the experiences we have in our childhood has a big impact on how we see time and money? Dr Spano: That is what we've been researching and we're seeing more and more evidence of that as a reality. And so, one of the examples that I like to give for instance is, as a child, I grew up, again, living with my grandmother and my dad who was supposedly to be the provider, really never was around very much, right? My dad, you know, did his best as most of our parents did, but he wasn't a guy that was really invested in his children. And so, I grew up hearing stories of, "Your dad isn't around. Your dad isn't paying for you. You're a charity case. You know, you're lucky to be here." That was from my aunts, not from my grandmother, of course. And so, the message that I received was, my parents don't value me and I'm not really worth their time and money. Now, as a child, you don't know that. You know, I didn't internalize it to that degree. But later in life, it played out, in that, I didn't think I was worth, you know, the salary, or the raise, or the promotion. You know, and it took me many years to unravel that. Well, then fast forward years later, I'm seeing this in CEOs, I'm seeing it in clients, you know, left and right. And when you get down to, you know, what is the scarcity mentality that's running you? Whether it be corporate wide or just in terms of your own personal life. Almost always they'll go back to a story that says, "Well, that's what I was taught." And the interesting thing, Steve, that I'm finding, that I'm so excited about is, it's fairly simple when we look on the spectrum because we have an assessment that we've developed called, "the time lining instrument." And it's an inventory that will help the individual see where they fall on the spectrum between scarcity and abundance. Scarcity is fairly clean and obvious as is abundance. Where it gets really challenging is when you're in the moderate range. Because for instance, someone who's in moderate scarcity might look like and believe themselves to be highly responsible. And so, they're doing all these theoretically right things that might look like they're coming from abundance, but often, those very same things are fear driven. And so, for instance, it's the father who, and this is a real example that I often share. Who saves, and saves, and saves, you know, from the time he's a young man for retirement, but he saves to the point where, you know, they can't even go to dinner or his kids have never been to a theme park because we don't have money for that because we're saving...we're doing the responsible thing and saving. So the lifestyle is affected. And what the children learn is how to be fearful and worry about both time and money, because that's what dad does. Steve: Okay. Dr Spano: Does that make sense? Steve: Yeah. And there is a big difference between the scarcity mentality and an abundance mentality, and how we treat everybody, and our experiences. So that's a very interesting level of research that's going on. How do we help somebody that may not have had the type of childhood that positions them for the type of success they could have. How do you give them hope? How do you help them with that transformation? Where do you focus? Dr Spano: Well, I think, you know, for me, I always say that with the first moment of awareness comes opportunity for change. And so, what I find is, a lot of the things that I'm talking about here, particularly get into the scarcity, they're very much at a subconscious level. So I might know for instance, that I'm worried all the time, that I'm fearful all the time, or that I feel like I'm being chased by the clock, but I don't know what to do about it. And so, part of the work that I do with groups or even with individuals is, we bring those thought processes to a level of awareness. And then we start to talk about what would a new way of being look like. You know, I'm this way now, but what if I were this way. What would that look like? Because the other thing that we know about development is that people, particularly in the earlier stages, don't always have the capacity to see things moving forward. Like, they can't see things a year out or two years out. Or they don't often understand consequences of certain actions. And so, when you start to connect the two, when you think this way and behave this way, this is the outcome, you start to... I mean, it's literally like you put a mirror in front of them and they're seeing themselves for the very first time. And it takes a while, but once they have that awareness and then you start to, together, paint a picture of how things might be differently. And then of course, obviously, when I'm working in companies, we're looking at infrastructures and systems and processes and all of those kinds of things. Because a leader, whether it be corporate or entrepreneurial who's coming from scarcity, it's gonna impact obviously not only how he leads, but how he builds or fails to build the infrastructure for the organization. And so, you know, we get into a lot of that. And it can be sometimes a very quick process. It can lean on just how open the individual is to change. And sometimes it takes months and months and months, maybe even years. And a lot of times I work with a leader who goes off, and then I hear from them two years later because now they're at another...what we call another growing edge. They're moving into another stage of consciousness, and so now we have to kinda revisit things again. But that's what's cool is, you know, the progress is being made and it's a process. Steve: So, these things that cause success and you talk a lot about, Sharon, time and money and how it correlates to what we value most in life, right? Dr Spano: Right. Steve: So, there is hope for people then, that they can develop these skills? Dr Spano: Well, the skills are the outcome of the shift in consciousness. So, one of the things that I talked about is the cycle of freedom, which I believe begins with understanding the essence of stewardship. And that's a big word that means a lot of things. You know, some talk about it in terms of sustainability, but I'm talking about it in the context of, where your treasure is, there is also your heart. So, I'm gonna put my time and money, I'm gonna utilize these two most important constructs or resources based on what I value and treasure the most, right? So, stewardship is a part of how I make those choices and decisions. And then from that, I believe grows greater compassion, generosity, a greater sense of gratitude, and then eventually, even a greater love for myself and others, because self is a part of it. You know, if I don't value myself, I'm not gonna take the time for instance to nurture my mind, body, my spirit, you know, those things. And then that translates to how I love and care for others, and even my love and care for greater humanity. So, it's letting go of the fear and then stepping into this radical abundance of, there's enough for me and for others, and for me to be generous and to give, and to focus my attention. So like, one of the examples that I like to talk about is, there's this young child that comes from an environment where nobody wanted to invest in me. And then I meet this amazing man who lives in abundance, who believes in the flow of money, and that there is always enough. And when there isn't, he just creates. But he's always invested time and money in me. So, he's kind of the opposite of what I knew as a child. You know, he's the nurturing, loving, caring, generous husband, who, you know, is the president of my fan club, who is always willing to invest in whatever it is that I'm about. And that's a pretty big deal for someone like me because I could have just as easily married an abusive guy, coming from the environment that I came in. Steve: Got it. That's a good example. Dr Spano: I mean, it's truly a blessing, right? That I kind of stumbled into the right guy. I don't know what that says about me, but... Steve: No, I had a friend one time who is the CEO of a major utility company in the United States. And I was the young man and he said, "Now, let me just share with you the three biggest things that will have the greatest impact on your happiness." I said, "Okay, great. I've got my pen ready." He said, "Number one is the person that you choose to spend your life with, to marry." He says, "That's one of the three biggest decisions that will impact your happiness." And it's fortunate that you've found that somebody that helps you see what can be possible. In our language, that helps you see that, you know, you can work on becoming your best. And it's different for really everybody, but to have people like us that can help like that is helpful. Number two, he said is the career that you choose. So you wanna choose a career that you can love, that you can make a difference in. And then number three was interesting, is the first major company that you work with. He said, it will have a huge impact on, you know, on your future, your career. So this kinda deals with what you've just been talking about of creating an abundance mindset, and how it affects everything else. Your time, your money. Well, tell us as we wrap up. I'm always amazed how fast time goes, what was the impetus behind you writing your most recent book? Dr Spano: Well, a lot of what I've discussed and I think anyone can...who's been in business can relate to the idea or the experience, I guess I should say, of hiring someone who wasn't the right fit. And years ago, I had a guy that I hired that I thought had great potential, and he was quite brilliant, and I just was never able to get this guy to make money. I mean, he couldn't get any clients, he couldn't make any money, and I just couldn't figure it out because I had invested quite a bit of time, money, and energy into him. And one day I just asked the question, "You know, what do you believe about people who have money?" And he said, "I think they're oppressive, greedy, and egocentric." And in that moment, Steve, I went, "Well, wow. No wonder I can't get you to make any money. Why would you wanna be like those guys?" And he was one of those guys who came also from the inner city of New York, and he'd had a rough life. And even though he was brilliant, he just could not step into the type of radical abundance, you know, that I'm talking about. So he sabotaged his entire career and even his home life. And it kind of opened my eyes and it began, kind of it was like the first stages of curiosity for me to begin to study this further. And then of course, once I got into the developmental work, I started to see the correlations between where people were developmentally. And I just got very excited about, you know, wanting to be an interruption to some of that in a more concrete way. So that was really the impetus behind the book and some of that earlier research. I mean, my whole body of work is not only on time and money, but time and money to me are just the symptom of the other things that are going on within this. Because again, there are two very important resources that can define, you know, our life if we let them. And what I'm really saying is, have awareness of how you utilize them. Have awareness of how they're impacting your relationship so that you can make better choices, and live a life of radical abundance. Steve: Okay. Well, that's great. Yeah, I had a friend one time say, "You know, money is not the most important thing in life." But it is right up there on the list with oxygen. Dr Spano: Yes, it is. Unfortunately, it is, and we have to learn to be good stewards of it. Steve: Exactly. Okay, well, Sharon, tell us how our listeners can learn more about what you're doing, tell us about your book. I think it's coming out, right? Or is it here already? Dr Spano: Yes. Well, the pub date is August 1st, and they can go to the www.timemoneybook.com/becomebest/, and we have some resources there. One is a manifesto that I've written on radical abundance. The other is, they can have access to our research based time, money, inventory. It's all confidential, but it'll help them see where they fall on the spectrum between scarcity and abundance. So that's the timemoneybook.com. And certainly, they can visit my website, which would also get them there, at sharonspano.com, to learn more about my overall work and the work that I do, you know, as a consultant and integral coach. Steve: Well, congratulations Dr. Sharon Spano. What a great job you're doing. Dr Spano: Well, thank you, Steve. And I would say the same to you. And I appreciate so much the opportunity to be on your show, and to hopefully, have an impact on some of your listeners on some of the thing that they're thinking about, as they too, begin to embrace what it means to maximize performance and step into radical abundance. Steve: Well, great. Well, I'm sure that that will be the case and we appreciate you being part of the show today, you've done a great job. We certainly wish you all the best because you're certainly making a difference in the world. Dr Spano: Thank you, Steve. Steve: And to all of our listeners, never forget, you too can make a difference every single day of your life. I'm Steve Shallenberger, with Becoming Your Best Global Leadership, wishing you, a great day. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dogged Perseverance - The Power to Never Give Up Today, we are going to talk about a principle that gets down to our very core, and is what allows us to see everything else through. It is perhaps one of the most noble, necessary, and powerful forces in our life. It's the principle of never giving up. Welcome to the "Becoming Your Best" podcast series. This is Steve Shallenberger, your host today. We welcome you here from wherever you may be in the world. I'd like to share an experience I had many years ago when I was a college student. I had been in South America for a couple of years and returned to my university studies to get an accounting degree. A friend of mine had sold educational books in the South and throughout the country the summer before. He made enough money to pay for his expenses for school. And so, he wanted to know if I'd like to go out and sell with him, this is door-to-door sales, but I said, "Yeah. Hey, let's go do it!" He was a good person and a big influence in my life. And so we headed off at the spring break, at the end of the springs semester, to Nashville, Tennessee with the Southwestern Company. This is going to be a place where we would be working 80 hours a week. The idea was to work as hard as you could during the summer. Make as much money as possible, so that you could pay your expenses for the whole school year and focus really on your studies. Well, anyhow, we had a week-long training, that's called "sales school," it was a great experience. And then we headed off to our assigned area. My assigned area happened to be just north of Aberdeen, Maryland. Communities such as, Bel Air, and Havre De Grace, and Churchville. Wow, what an experience that was. I'll never forget what took place as I had my first Saturday on the job. This is the very first day. I started at 8 a.m., and as I had been taught in that sales school, I went out on time, a little bit early. I was scared to death. And my first house was on a country road and it didn't seem like very friendly country, you know all the mind games that people can play. My first knock brought the reply, "What in the heck do you want?" Only it wasn't heck. I said, "Nothing," I shouted before hustling down the road. The next house I approached with some trepidation. I could tell that it was occupied by ferocious, big dogs. Those dogs were barking and they had deep voices, and I didn't dare to go on to the front door. So I stood outside, outside of the gate and just clapped my hands, which is what people do in South America in place of knocking on the door. And I felt like an idiot. There I was out there clapping away, early Saturday morning. I probably looked like one too, but eventually, a woman came out and after I explained what we were selling, she actually let me into the house. Before I went in I said, "Let's see, have your dogs eaten this morning?" Well, she assured me they were more barkers and not biters. And the woman was very kind and receptive to what we had to offer. She bought the full set of books. I had only visited two houses. I had been on that street just one hour, my career was launched. I got out my calculator and figured out that if I kept on at this pace I'd earn $16,000 in commissions by the end of the summer, so that's not bad for the early '70s. But it didn't quite work out that way. I'd peaked a little too soon. I sold nothing for the next two days. I mean, I knocked and I knocked, I knocked, I knocked, and I knocked, and I was rejected, and rejected, and no, no, no, no. Well, my future earnings calculator dropped to $334 for the entire summer as I figured it out, but I kept at it. And my hard work, slogging from door-to-door, eventually paid off. I hit my stride, and I hit my goal, making enough money to pay for my tuition expenses for the following year in college. Well, what I learned was that if just kept working, putting one foot in front of the other, I would eventually get enough yeses. As a matter of fact, I learned that the more no's I got the more yeses I also got. And so, I discovered the harder I worked the better I did. This is one of the greatest lessons that I've ever learned. That may have been one of the hardest jobs I've ever done, and I figured that if I could make it there, I could make it at anything. I actually made it a game to see how many no's I could get, trying to figure out how to have fun being a failure. I also learned a great deal from failure. It causes a great deal of introspection, and how can you improve? But by the very fact that I kept at it, I was able to build upon those things, and by the end of the summer I was getting a lot of yeses. The next summer I built upon those principles. I became a manager and I made four times the money the summer after that one, and the next summer, five times as much. As a matter of fact, I think about some of those experiences out there. I remember particularly one very difficult street, I wondered what I was doing out there. It was no, after no, after no. I got to the end of the street and I sat down on my sales case, on this busy freeway. I remember thinking, "What am I doing out here?" And as I paused about that I thought, "Well, I'm out there because I felt right about it." It was the right thing for me to do. I took a little look up to heaven and gained new strength. I ran across that highway safely, and I sold in the next three houses in a row. I mean, this is just how it goes in life, and we have these challenges, we have these setbacks. And so this powerful principle is what keeps us going. You know, it is one of those principles. If you master all the other principles, but give up at some point during your journey, you may fail to reach your destination. If, on the other hand, you choose to never give up, in other words, keep putting one foot in front of the other, keep working, we have a much better chance to succeed. And we certainly may have to make corrections along the course, but as long as we refuse to give up, your goals will be much more within reach. So what can we do to be successful as we move forward? It's so interesting to hear some of the statistics about rejection and about being successful. So, for example, did you know the average person has been told no, or that his targeted goals are unattainable about 148,000 times by the age of 18. Well, heavens, is it any wonderful that successful people put aside a "no" and continue to go? It's not easy. We need to work through that and develop a mindset that we're going to move forward. Did you know? In the sales world, for example, 90% of salespeople, on average, give up after four unsuccessful contacts. Yet, 80% of sales are made after five contacts? So what's the difference between the highly successful salesperson and those who gave up? Well, it's the will to be politely persistent despite the challenges and rejection. And if you're in a sales organization imagine the difference of just one more contact, and the impact that would have. Many salespeople give up way too soon. I love what Henry David Thoreau said, "All endeavors calls for the ability to tramp the last mile, to shape the last plan, to endure the last hour's toil. The fight to the finish spirit is the one, the characteristic we must possess if we are to face the future as finishers." So what are some things that you and I can do to never give up? Every single one of us is going to have: setbacks, challenges, disappointments, we'll all be beaten down at some point. So how can we get back up? How can we keep going? I would like to suggest four things that you can do, that I can do to keep moving forward, to keep putting one step in front of the other even though we are pushed back. Here are the four, very quickly. See failure as a stepping stone to success. Number two, when you're beaten down keep your inspiring vision in front of you, remind yourself of the direction that you're going. And number three is to have faith that things will work out. And number four is work, work, work, and keep taking one step forward. And when we get pushed back, then we take two more steps but we keep pushing forward. Now, this is the way it goes in virtually every profession and every walk of life. We have family members or friends that may disappoint us, or we may disappoint them, but we can't give up. We can never give up. I'll never forget, I'm going to share a personal story here that has had a profound impact on my life. When I was 16 I'd had the opportunity to work for Milton Dunlap for two or three years. I did lawns and Mr. Dunlap had lost his wife of many, many years, and he turned to alcohol. He was a wonderful reporter for the Associated Press, known throughout the country. And so, at any rate, he asked me also if I'd clean his house and just help generally, which I did. He had one daughter way back on the east coast, but they weren't able to see each other a lot. So I loved Milt Dunlap. He was a good man. He encouraged me, but I was so disappointed to see that he would fall into this trap of turning to alcohol and a lot of it. He would buy a fifth of whiskey a day, and so, we had a game out of it. I would hide it. I'ld encourage him not to drink. But finally after one point, I wrote a note to him. I said, "Mr. Dunlap, this is gonna kill you," and I said, "I just can't be here anymore and work for you anymore around this type of a situation." And to his extraordinary credit, he quit drinking cold turkey. I mean, it was amazing. He was able to go back to work and just make such a difference. About nine months passed and he's fighting this battle, essentially, alone, and he turned back to the alcohol. And after about two or three weeks, he lived about ten houses from our home, I went in and he was in a stupor, and finally I said, "Mr. Dunlap," I said, "I give up." I said, "Here's all the alcohol you have. Just drink as much as you want." And I left the house. About three or four days later I returned and found him in a coma. I called 911, and the ambulance came, and unfortunately he died that afternoon. I honestly felt like much of that was my fault. The reason being, is because he heard the last words he heard from my mouth, of this young boy, 16, was, "I give up." I vowed that I would never give up again in my entire life on anyone, on anything. And so this is the type of resolve that each one of us needs. We are going to have challenges, these are learning opportunities. We can see these failures as stepping stones. When we're beaten down. Renew your vision. Keep getting back up. Remind yourself of the direction that you're going, have faith, have faith that it will work out. And then work, work, work, and trust in the end outcome, that things will get better. So this wonderfully power, powerful principle, "Never give up," is every part of our fiber to make a difference. This is one of the grand one that makes a difference. As you look back over the history of all the world. Recent history, in the last 100 years. In the last 2,000 years, we see the example of people that have made a difference doing these things. The fact is that you and I can do them as well. It's ordinary people that become extraordinary, as we do these things, and have faith that all will turn bright. This is Steve Shallenberger, your host, from "Becoming Your Best Global Leadership." And, remember, every single day you are making a difference. You're lifting, and building, and leaving the world a better place. Wishing you a great day. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Lift and Sustain by Applying the Power of Knowledge - Steve Shallenberger Hi, this is Steve Shallenberger, your host for this podcast, the "Becoming Your Best Global Leadership." And today we're going to talk about an exciting principle, which is...and hold onto your seats, folks, because this has a huge impact on us all over the world, and it is apply the power of knowledge. Well, a number of years ago, two of our sons were cadets at the United States Air Force Academy, and during the Parents Weekend we were provided with a tour of the beautiful campus nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. And on the main quad I stood in front of a large statue depicting a falcon and her chick. And the inscription at the base of the statue reads, "Man's flight through life is sustained by the power of his knowledge." Well, the inscription uses words like "flight" which is wonderful, "sustained" which is so important for our success in life, and "power" in relation to knowledge. And indeed, one can be lifted and flight can be sustained by the power of knowledge and the wings of knowledge and enlightenment can help you soar to great heights in your personal life, in your relationships, and at work. And the lack of knowledge leaves you on the ground and at times renders you totally defenseless against the forces of the external environment. So, this knowledge and this metaphor is wonderful as we move through life in thinking about, "Well, how can I be my best?" Because that's really the vision of life, is to be the very best that you and I can be, and in our professional life, to be among the best at what you do. And so, I mean there's such an explosion of knowledge going on today. I was just reading a professional...excuse me...journal, and it talked about the number of abstracts had been increasing exponentially. So, for example, it talked about the number of abstracts published by the 12 leading publishers of secondary science had gone from 550,000 articles published in 1957 to in 1997, just a few years later, 3.7 million articles. Think about that. But that's just one discipline of knowledge. I love getting the Astronomy Magazine. I'm captivated by the universe. And the last article, the front cover said, "Well, astronomers have now said their original estimates were off a little bit by the number of galaxies they thought there were in the universe," and then there was a pause, a hyphen, that said, "by one trillion universes." So here we go. In my life alone, I was just thinking in about 1984. I'm a young businessman and I'm commuting to California to supervise one of our companies, and so I took my portable computer, which was the size of a small suitcase. You could actually unhook the keyboard and it was a three by five green screen and you put in floppy disks. And now we have all of this many, many times over in our devices in our pocket. And so, I think about computers. Internet has come on, the devices, and now digitization, which is going to trump most everything that we've seen in the past, may have as three to five times an impact on us that the internet has had. But this affects us in the economy, world affairs, politics, health, relationships. So the stakes are high. So what do we do about this? I would like to suggest there's two aspects, if you will, to managing this knowledge. And we all have the same challenges. Where do we start? How do we get ahead? I read an article not long ago and talked about the different...the faces of learning, if you will, and how it has also morphed from the nomadic learner to the ageless educator to the lifelong learner. And that's really what it's become, hasn't it? If we're going to get ahead, if we're going to become our best, we have to be a lifelong learner. I saw an article that said, "Well, there's no more three Rs, reading, writing, arithmetic, but it's the four Es and the three Cs." So, what are those? Well, this is an interesting way to think about it, then we'll get back to our two aspects of knowledge and how do we manage. But they're the four Es, which is: exposing knowledge, employing information, expressing ideas compellingly, and ethics. Okay, the four Es. And the three Cs that go right along with it: creativity, communication, and collaboration. Well, these all have to do with this principle, 1 of the 12 principles that I've identified with highly successful leaders, high achievers, and that is, apply the power of knowledge. That's the principle. That's what I've observed that has always taken place with those that have been able to make a difference. And so, here are the two aspects. The first aspect is to gain the knowledge in the first place. You can't apply something that you don't have. And so, how do we gain knowledge on a consistent basis? I love the rule of five. This is five hours. Investing five hours a week into yourself. This is really the minimum of being able to stay ahead of the game, and these five hours we utilize in fitness, physical exercise, but also gaining knowledge. So what are the ways to do that? I'm always thinking about acronyms. Here's a good one. Think of this one, arrl, A-R-R-L. Oh, you're saying, "Well, that's Steve." Well, here's what it stands for. And it is a great way for us to gain knowledge, and that is to ask. Ask for other people's opinions. Ask for their insights. I was...yesterday I had the opportunity to be in Seattle and I was with one of the best financial planners, the most successful planners in the United States, and I asked him, I said, "If a young man or an individual, a young lady, would like to become among the best as financial wealth advisers, what would you recommend?" He thought for a second and he said, "I would recommend that they connect, that they go in business together with someone that is like 65 or 70 years old and that is interested in retiring but they've got it down, they're among the best, and go work with them and learn. And then after 5 or 10 years then they're in a position to succeed the efforts of that person." And there's the opportunity to have a buyout, but this is a very successful profession. Well, this is essentially asking. It's a little bit more of a long-term ask but you can do it on a short term. You may have an issue. Ask people that you trust. You can ask a group of people, "I've been thinking about this and what are your thoughts?" That's the first one, is ask. The second, we have two Rs now. And the first R is to read. There is no doubt that readers are leaders, and this is one of the real signs of how we can get ahead. But we want to read the right materials. So, it comes back to this vision. What's our vision? Well, it's to become our best and to be among the best at what you do, whatever profession that is, a teacher, a professor, a coach, a CEO, a salesperson, a scientist, an engineer, a lawyer, a doctor, whatever it might be, this is clearly something we keep doing. We read about how do we become our best. We stay ahead of the game. And so, every single day we make the habit to be reading. We like to say read a book a month at least and this is a good target. Twelve books a year of things that will lift and inspire you. The second R is ongoing research. Oh, by the way, when we read we're reading books and magazines and news information, so newspapers. And also the same thing with research, that's the second R, if you will, we're researching articles that help us get to a better place, to have a better understanding. And then the fourth one, the ARRL, can't forget that L is to listen. And so, we turn our cars into a university, and if you spend any time at all in your car, you can listen to books, you can listen to podcasts, you can listen to TED Talks also while you're exercising. This is another perfect time to listen to these uplifting things that helps us gain knowledge. I've got to tell you some of the absolute most inspiring times is when I've gone out to exercise, and I put on the earphones and I listen to something that is helpful to me in the field that I'm trying to work on. That's it. Gain knowledge every single day. Just take a few minutes to do this. This will help us stay ahead of the game. Now, of course, the next part of this principle is to apply the power of knowledge. We had a friend do a seminar for our group, Jason Hanson. Jason's a former CIA officer and he has now dedicated himself to helping people stay safe, and if they happen to get into a really bad situation, how to escape. He's wonderful. And what he taught us was what happens if you ever...the first thing you do if someone comes up or threatens you, what do you do? Well, you run. Statistics show that gives you the very best opportunity to preserve yourself to stay out of the situation. So run and don't be bashful about it. But let's say that you do, you're caught, you're abducted. The preferred way to subdue a victim is through duct tape. And so, what Jason teaches us how to do is to get out of duct tape in two seconds. How many of our listeners would like to have that knowledge, that skill set? Well, so he would actually demonstrate it. We would put our arms up and he would tie the duct tape around our wrists and, through a process, he would show us how of putting your hands above your head and you quickly come down with a full thrust at your waist, pulling your hands apart, and just like that it's gone. So you have options. This is what it teaches us. We have options of things that we can do. Even if you're in the trunk, heaven forbid, you can saw it off and then try to escape. But there are these options. You keep trying to get away. Okay, so that's with this knowledge. Now you have the chance to save your life. And this is the whole deal. Once you have the knowledge, then you can apply it. Well, this applies in every area of your life. I'd like to recommend every person that's listening, if you don't have one now, that you acquire a notebook. This becomes your thoughts book. And as you're gaining information just on a freestyle, starting at the very front page, you can write down your thoughts, your inspiration, your ideas, and this helps you look for ways to apply those thoughts. And as we think about curiosity and communication and collaboration we look for these three ways and ways to apply these to our situation. So whether it's fitness, our own health, whether it's improving a relationship or a professional application, we're always thinking about these areas of how can we do better. And this idea of good, better, best, never let it rest, til the good is better and the better is best is both the mindset and the skill set. And so, this clearly is mindset, how can I do better in these areas, but it takes the skill set to gain the knowledge and then apply the knowledge. And so, essentially what we do is we get the knowledge. We say, "Okay, I'm gonna take my good to better and my better to best. Let me try it. Let me apply it now." And so, essentially you practice it, you talk with others, you create the strategy, you apply the transformation challenge, the six steps to planning an execution, and you go to work. One of the things we like to say is that you, first of all, practice, practice, practice, and you nail it then you scale it. And this is the idea. This is how we apply the knowledge. One of my favorite approaches as we're working on doing this is to share your idea with others. I've been thinking about this, and if we're to apply this, I think this is what could happen. What are your thoughts about this? And this is how we do it. This is the two-prong approach. Gain the knowledge and apply the knowledge, ARRL. So, what do we do, is we ask, read, research, and we're listening. Turn those surroundings into a university, an ongoing university. Well, I invite each one listening to think about how they gain and apply knowledge and work on doing this on a consistent basis in a way that helps you to become your best, to improve your happiness, your joy, health, and prosperity, to strengthen your relationships and teams, and to teach your teams how to do this. Make this application of this principle cultural and deep so that we're creating cultures by design that are effervescent, that are energized and helping one another. And then this leads to not only prosperity individually but professionally. This helps our companies and organizations to consistently be the best of class. This principle, apply the power and knowledge, in conjunction with the other principles of highly successful leaders, puts you at the very top of your profession and allows you to consistently make a difference for good. Well, this is Steve Shallenberger. It's been a thrill to be able to spend a few minutes with you today, an honor, and a delight, and I wish each one of you the very best as you make a difference. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What Do Walt Disney, Florence Nightingale, Thomas Edison and Nelson Mandela Have In Common? https://www.becomingyourbest.com/innovate-like-waltdisney-and-thomasedison/ Hi, this is Steve Shallenberger with "Becoming Your Best Global Leadership". I'm your host today for this podcast and today we have an exciting principle that we're talking about: Innovate Through Imagination. So what do the following people have in common? Walt Disney, Florence Nightingale, Thomas Edison, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Mr. Ford, J.K. Rowling, Marie Curie, and many more. What do you think? If you guessed that they all had an active imagination and each one has had an enormous impact on our world, you would be exactly right. Now what's interesting about these people, much like we are, is that they learned to flip on and engage their imagination to innovate and improve with the roles, responsibilities, or vocation that they had. In other words, they took their strengths, their abilities, and built upon them by using their imagination. And get this, there was no instruction book for them. So what did they do? How did they do it? It's interesting to think. How would you explain the 21st century to a time traveler from the Medieval times? It's difficult knowing where to begin. Think about how far we've come and now think about the possibilities that lie ahead of us. Digitization of all things, mind-controlled robotic limbs, 3D printers, space tourism, autonomous vehicles, electric cars, smartphones, and much more. We've already seen that but we haven't even seen the beginning of it. Of course, the many medical miracles that will continue, wearable computers that are part of our body. So all of these things come about from this very same thing which is imagination or innovating through imagination. And from research into what makes individuals, companies, and organizations successful, we've identified common success factors in the long-term highest achievers. And one of them was this ability to tap the powers of imagination to innovate and remain relevant over many years and decades. And it's about creating opportunities and possibilities in both your personal and professional lives. The human imagination is capable of producing endless opportunities and possibilities. And with them come hope and the belief that there are solutions to problems, even the most difficult ones. There are ideas waiting to be acted upon. There are many options available. This is the spirit of innovation driven by imagination. And imagine the effect it might have on your company or your family if each employee felt empowered to constantly find innovative ways to serve your customers and clients better and to make your product or service better. World-class companies have risen to the top of global business by tapping the imaginations of the best and brightest of their resources. And what about your business? What about your family? How might it benefit from inspired and imaginative employees or family members who are constantly striving to do things better, faster, and smarter? This indeed is the spirit of becoming your best. Ideas must be conceived in our minds before they can become a reality. And once an idea is developed, it starts growing and it takes shape. However, you must first dare to use your imagination to get the ball rolling. And as we think about it, every invention sprang from someone's imagination. Elon Musk imagined an electric car that was not a compromise but an advanced in technology and he's created Tesla. The innovative minds at Google imagined wearing a computer and they produced the Google Glass. J.K. Rowling, a struggling single mother, imagined the Harry Potter novels which delighted and engaged millions of fans and transformed her own life as well. Now, these breakthroughs arose from the imagination of regular, ordinary men and women who were working to stay ahead of an ever-changing world. And can you recall a time when you imagined an outcome and then it happened? Well, of course. And this is the ability to keep turning on this switch that we have. I wake up every day and I say, "Is my imagination switch on?" So as we think about imagination, this is the very same for you and I. You are the navigator to plot the course of your life and professional development. This course comes from your intellect and impressions and feelings that you have, research and analysis and thinking. And perhaps the most important is using the foundation of your imagination. So the real question for you and for me is how can you flip and how can I flip this switch to on? And how do you spark your imagination? How do you avoid getting stuck in the mud and stale? Well, I'm going to suggest just a few things that may be helpful to you that I have seen across the United States and the world, where people have been able to turn on that imagination. So number one...I'm gonna suggest three things that we can do. Number one is think of the issue, the problem, or opportunity that you would like to improve. I recommend that you write it down. And can you more clearly describe what it is? Be as precise as possible. And is it the real issue or the real problem, the real opportunity? This is one of the ones that's most important. So we have a piece of paper, we have a device of some type. Let's get it down, let's look at it, it's front and center. Now once we have this idea in front of us, here are four things that we can do to develop that idea. What have or what are others doing right now? The internet is a tremendous resource, so go right in and just research what's happening regarding that issue that you have identified. Another thing that you can do is ask others for their advice. So identify somebody that's already traveled this way or somebody that you respect and just throw out the idea. Say, "Listen, I'm working on this idea. I'd love to get your thoughts about it." And get two or three or four people. This might be people that work right within your own organization. This might be family members. But you would be amazed at how this gets you unstuck. This gets you going. Another powerful tool that you can use is the skill set of brainstorming. Brainstorming is wonderful. What you're really working on is the quantity, getting down as many ideas in a shorter period as possible, and then going to back and adding the quality dimension, which are the best ideas? This can be done by yourself or you ca invite in a small group of people. Put a time, leave it on there 5, 10, 15 minutes, and give the instructions. No criticism. What you're doing is just trying to spark one idea after another, get the best ideas. And then from there take it and watch what happens. And these are all things that we can repeat time and time again. We don't see it as a one-time setting or a checklist. Imagination is wonderful because it's a process of starting got get it out on the table and we actually move in levels. History and research clearly shows this. Not long ago, my wife and I, Roxanne, had the opportunity to visit Egypt. And it was interesting to see where the idea of pyramids actually came from in the first place. There was kind of a crude type of what we currently see as a pyramid. There was a series of platforms on top of one another that a king devised to honor his service and burial so that people could see it. Well all of a sudden, this idea started developing. Hey, we can improve upon it. So this is how it goes. And then the last thing that you might consider doing as you're working on that particular issue or problem or opportunity is mind mapping. This is a vibrant, energetic, current day, virtual technique experience. I might say also another skill set that you develop simply by doing what we just talked about. You put idea in the middle of the page, put a circle around it, and start drawing arms off of that. Let's say that for example, my circle in the middle is fitness. I want to be more healthy and fit. So one arm might come off and it might have exercise. And another arm might come off and it might have diet. And another arm would come off and it would be cardio. And so you just keep going, your mind gets going, and under fitness you have two or three more arms come off of possibilities. Well, these are all things that you can do to flip the switch on immediately . Never sell yourself short. I mean, you have this capability. Everyone single one of us as human beings are endowed with an imagination. It's part of what we have. Now once we have all of these ideas that we start generating, the next thing we do, the second thing of the three is you pick the best ideas that you have come up with. And once you've exercised this creative process, you say, "What are the best things that I can do?" Maybe rank them one, two, and three. And the third thing is to move into action. Do something, try it out, see how it goes, experiment, test. And once you get some experience with this, you can start scaling the idea. So that's it, three things. One is identify the issue and then use your curiosity. These things that I just talked about all are a curiosity asking questions that you might have. And the more questions you have, it sparks this imagination. Number two then is pick the best ideas once you're done with the process. And then three, move into action. Do something. Who's gonna do what, when? So these three things will help us and then we evaluate how it went. We can go back and do it again and again and again. These are things that will spark your imagination. And practice it to reflex and you're on your way to a fuller and more abundant life. And you will be among those that help to innovate to success, regularly solving problems, developing valuable opportunities, and changing the world in the process. Just one last reflection here as we step back now and think about this, I'd like to give a couple of examples. Thomas Edison was born in 1847 and he was an inventor, a scientist, and a businessman. Edison had patented...had over 1300 different inventions. They were all patented, that's a lot. And those inventions included the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting practical, electric light bulb. He greatly influenced life around the world and the list of his inventions staggers the minds. And their impact is so vast that's impossible to measure. Not long ago I recent attended a speech by a modern day creative genius who is following the Edison footsteps, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, and I came away convinced that the imagination is even a more powerful force when it's paired with modern technologies. And it's interesting because Dr. Soon was born in 1952, 100 years after Edison. And Dr. Soon is surgeon, a medical researcher, CEO, a philanthropist, and professor at the University of California at Los Angeles. And he is one of the preeminent scientists and medical minds of world today. I just love it hearing the things that he did. Dr. Soon has a great creative vision. He's pioneered treatments for diabetes and cancer publishing more than 100 scientific papers, and finally more than 95 U.S. patents. He performed the world's first encapsulated human isolate transplant, which involves transplanting an isolated mass of tissue from a donor's pancreas into another person to stimulate the production of insulin as a treatment for type 1 diabetes. This remarkable man has also performed the first pig to man isolate cell transplant in diabetic patients. And in addition, he pioneered the use of a process for the treatment of breast cancer. And this a groundbreaking drug and it's now in trials for treating lung, gastric, and pancreatic cancer and melanoma. Dr. Soon is an entrepreneur as well. He's developed and solved two multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical companies. So as I think about Dr. Soon, how can anyone accomplish so many things? Well, highly successful people fire up their imagination with an insatiable desire to understand how things work. Their curiosity is boundless and their lives and accomplishments are built upon creativity and drive as well as powerful intellects. I love what Walt Disney said. This is something we can all do. Remember--and I feel this way--a very ordinary person trying to do these things it helps us do extraordinary things. Here's Walt Disney's quote: "Around here, we don't look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things. Because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." Isn't that great way to think? Well, this is the idea, folks. Hopefully, you've gained a couple of ideas. Let's just keep this in mind that as you and I continue to flip that switch on, we will continue to have new ideas, finding ways to solve problems and developing these opportunities in an ever-changing world. And in the process every single day you will be making a difference. This is Steve Shallenberger with "Becoming Your Best Global Leadership", wishing you a great day. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What Everybody Ought to Know About Trust Hi, this is Steve Shallenberger, your host for the "Becoming Your Best" podcast series today. And today we're going to have the opportunity to talk about one of the very powerful principles of highly successful leaders. Yes, those that make a difference, that create a culture by design and not a culture by default. And this particular principle we're talking about today is building and maintaining trust. Trust is like a...it's like a reservoir. It takes a long time to build and once the reservoir is full, it brings life and beauty to all around. It can withstand droughts and earthquakes and setbacks and continue to provide this type of life and sustaining to the environment around. And if it's well-maintained and managed, it will provide an ultimate benefit to everything within its reach. And just like a reservoir, if there is a break in the dam, all of that good that took years to build, can be depleted in just a few short hours. And it takes a significant repair and replenishing of the water before that trust is high enough that people can count on it again. Well, think about trust just for a moment. When trust is high, it's much easier to solve even the most complex problems together with other people. But when trust is low, it's difficult to solve even the easiest of problems and including the fact you may not even want to be in the same room with the other person where there's this low trust. I'd like to invite you to think of someone with whom you have low trust. And just think for a moment, why is there a low level of trust with that person? What have they done that may have bankrupt the trust bank if you will, and so the trust meter is at empty? So just think about that for a few second. What are the events, what are the actions, that broke that trust? And I hope that you have somebody in mind specifically. And there may have been one time or it may have been a repeated set of actions and we're going to talk about something called the trust meter in a moment and you'll see how those actions either drive that trust meter down or push it up to full. Now on the converse, I want you to think of somebody with whom you have a high level of trust. Why is there such a high level of trust with that person? What does that person do that deserves such a high level of trust? And what are the things that you do? Well, as you keep those two different examples in mind, building and maintaining trust is a choice. And it is one of the principles of highly successful leaders. It's something that we do unilaterally really, it's better when you have two people or a team or a whole organization. In other words, when it becomes a total culture. And I've seen that in many instances and this is where you have very successful organizations on a sustained basis. However, let me ask another question. How many people does it take to build and maintain trust? Well, really it takes one person, doesn't it? So regardless of where trust is today, one person can make a difference by the choices and actions that they make to improve trust. It's really this unilateral choice that I was just talking about. Now I'd like to have in your mind's eye, have you think about a gas gauge. And imagine yourself driving through the desert, late at night, on a very cold kind of wintery night. And you look down and the gas gauge is at full. How do you feel? Well, yeah. You feel confident, you feel happy, you're not worrying about if you're gonna make it to the other end of the desert. Okay. You can enjoy the trip. It's far more pleasant if there's other people in the car, you can enjoy a nice conversation and you can focus on the things that really matter most. Now on the other hand, let's say that you look down to the gas gauge and it is showing empty. Now how do you feel? Well, now of course, there's apprehension, you're upset, you're wondering what's gonna happen, you certainly can't enjoy the trip, you're thinking of all the options, "What happens if I ran out of gas in the next 10 minutes? Here I am in this cold environment." Well, you get the feeling. Well, trust is just like that and we call this taking a...having a trust meter. And it's very much just like a gas gauge. And so, when that trust meter is on full, then that means that your relationships are strong, they feel good, they're solid. On the other hand, if that meter, the trust meter is what we call it, if it's at a quarter tank or going down or even at empty, think how that relationship feels. It's far different, isn't it? Well, this a powerful metaphor that you and I can use to measure levels of trust with family members, friends, fellow workers, a boss, direct reports, customers and clients and even competitors. And it is uncannily accurate. All you have to do is in your mind's eye is hold up this trust meter in front of you with the gauge that's free moving and it can move to full or empty. And now just hold it up to each relationship that you have. It might be a son or daughter. How does it look? It might be a spouse or a partner. Or any of these individuals that I just mentioned and pay close attention to where the needle's going. And then once you seen where that needle is, then the real question is what can you do to improve, build and maintain a high level of trust? What can you do to move that needle up to full? And I think this is really the set of questions of things that we can do. Here, for example, are a few example...and by the way, one of the great exercises that we have in our seminars is for people to...on the left-hand column is to list specific relationships that you may have in mind, similar to the ones that I just mentioned. So for example, it might be a spouse or a partner, specifically by name. A son or daughter, specifically by name. And a customer, perhaps someone that you work with, a brother or sister. And then, out to the right by each of those names, what are some specific actions that you can take to move that needle up, to get that trust needle up to full on every single relationship? That's really the objective. And this is what you can do unilaterally. And my experience has been, that as you do this to other people, they have a desire to want to do the same thing to you and what happens then you have this culture that starts building between people and teams and organizations and customers and clients. And it leads directly to excellence. It leads directly to moving the level of performance to a high level of performance. It is what creates the environment of going from good to better to best. And so, what are some things, examples of things that you could do? I'm just gonna list a few of those. Here are some specific, unilateral actions that you can take, that you can do to be the difference. Here's one. Be determined to be a world-class communicator. And so, you're working with other people especially if you're the leader. Paint the picture, paint the vision and confirm that they understand what you're trying to accomplish. Everyone appreciates this on projects or on where we're going as an organization. So that's one thing you can do. How about this one? I love this when we do this frequently. My partner and I, Dave Clark, as we're working with some of our key associates or key managers, we'll just be walking through the office and we'll stop and we'll say, "Well, how are things for," whoever it is. Let's say, Matt. "How are things for you, Matt?" Matt has the chance to just visit and...but then we're gonna go a little bit further. So what are Matt's goals for the next one to three years? In other words, "What do you want to accomplish, Matt? What's important to you?" And we just listen. And this is so engaging because as a leader, now that I know what Matt's thinking about, I'm in a position to help him reach his goals but I can also be better informed on how we can work together to create excellence. So imagine the impact that this would have. What does it do for trust, how does Matt feel, especially if we're really sincerely listening? Well, we're all better off. Here's another one of things that you could unilaterally do. This was one that came through on an email today from somebody that was working on their pre-week planning. I love it. They listed about 10 or 15 things on their pre-week planning that they could do that essentially equated to building and maintaining trust. That was the result. Here was one of them. Take a walk with my wife. Great. I think that's way cool. Think of all the things that can happen. And then just listen. Ask how are things going. Here's another thing you can do that unilaterally allows you to build and maintain trust. Take a client to lunch or call someone on their birthday or write a thank-you note. I thought you might appreciate this experience that I read about in the Washington Post. And by the way, I've been at this for a while and...but even though I've been working on leadership for a long time, I found that these principles apply at all levels. Whether you're millennials, next generation, these powerful principles are what allow us to be...to develop the skills of being great leaders ultimately. All right, well, here you go. Here's the experience. The "Washington Post" reported that just a couple of years ago, the Facebook founder and Chief Executive, Mark Zuckerberg challenged himself to write one thank you note each day. The young entrepreneur, who was just 19 when he established Facebook in 2004, had grown sensitive about his reputation for being critical of people and especially his employees. So he decided to make an effort to build and maintain trust by being more appreciative of those around him. And this started changing Mark's thinking and interchanging, interfacing with the people within his organization and started creating a higher level of trust. You know, Zuckerberg is not alone in seeing the value of this. There is a former CEO of Campbell's Soup Company, Douglas Conant. He told "Post" reporters that during his 10-year tenure with that major food brand, he's written at least 30,000 thank you notes to connect with employees. And Conant said that he takes at least an hour a day to write thank you notes to employees who have done well. And he recommends the practice to other top executives who tend to over-develop their critical muscles. And so, this is a way to bring balance. And this is exactly like the reservoir that we're talking about, building up the strong reserve so that people can have a healthy relationship and work in the crucible of challenges, day-in and day-out and freely give and take and...but there's ultimately a foundation there. Well, these are things that you and I can do. Pre-week planning, by the way, is a great tool to help you consistently build and maintain trust. I will never forget an experience that I had three or four years ago as I've been invited by someone to Washington D.C.'s National Prayer Breakfast. This is where the president, the majority of senators, congressmen, the legislative body, members of the Supreme Court are all invited to join leaders from around the nation to pray, to ask regardless of your party, for help to work on unity. This is a powerful experience and in conjunction with this, they also have workshops. And I will never forget as I noticed one of the workshops that was being conducted by an executive by Chick-fil-A. And it was on building relationships. Well, I thought this is interested because at the time, Chick-fil-A was having some challenges because they'd taken a stand on a number of social issues. And this has become a tense and awkward public battle. Many people were picketing various Chick-fil-A locations. So this executive, as I attended this workshop, arranged to sit down with some of the protesters. But he didn't have high hopes for a positive resolution. As a matter of fact, he had a lot of trepidation about what might take place. And as they sat down, the Chick-fil-A executive...all of a sudden it occurred to him rather than just getting into it, to ask one of the principles from the picketing group about his background. He said, "I'd love to hear how you became an advocate for this cause." And so, the fellow said...you know, the executive appeared sincere and so he did, he started responding. And the picketer said that he lost his father 16 years earlier when a drunk driver had killed him in an accident. And then he gave a brief history of his involvement in this cause. Well then, the Chick-fil-A executive said that he was grateful for the man taken a few minutes to share his story. And then the executive said that he too had lost his father to a drunk driver 30 years earlier. And sharing their backgrounds, the two potential adversaries had established a common ground which is where trust begins. And they made a significant progress regarding the issues at hand and agreed to work toward shared goals. This is what I am talking about in creating a culture that allows people to work together because the trust is a higher level of trust. So one of the things that you and I can do is ask people, "What is your story? What's your story?" And then, just listen. We do this frequently in our seminars. We'll have people be put into pairs and working groups and we'll say, "All right, share what a dream is that you have? Or something that really inspires you or something that you would like to accomplish. In other words, what's your story?" And inevitably, at the end of that short exercise, there's such a high energy in the room. Such a connect between people that they maintain the connection after the seminar. So mastering this principle of building and maintaining trust, will bring you greater peace and happiness personally. Especially as you unilaterally take the high ground when the difficult situations come into your life and you just say to yourself, "I will only do things that move the needle up." That takes discipline and willpower. But 100% of the time, every time, you will end up in a better place. It will build greater and stronger relationships. It will build your business and be responsible for millions of dollars of business in the things that you do. So may you find the internal power and peace that comes from unilaterally doing things that push the trust meter gauge towards full. And as you hold that trust meter up and assess your relationships, just fill it inside, you'll know where it's at, then you will make the right decisions to do the right things. And you will make a difference every single day to lift things to good, to make them better and best. This is Steve Shallenberger, your host today with "Becoming Your Best", Global Leadership. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Join Us Starting April 22, 2017 I wanted to invite all the podcast listeners to join me starting this Saturday, April 22, for the free session of the Motivating the Minister Virtual Summit. We are all leaders, but do we know how to motivate? At Leading Saints the number one question we receive from elders quorum presidents, relief society presidents, or any leader called to serve is, how can I motivate those I lead? They won’t home teach, they won’t do family history, they won’t share the gospel, they won’t even bake a casserole for the sick neighbor down the street. How can leaders motivate those they lead to accomplish the goals that are set before us? Thank goodness this big question is being answered during a virtual online summit called, Motivating the Minister: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Home/Visiting Teachers. Leading Saints has gathered some of the sharpest mind on motivation: Brad Wilcox, Paul Gustavson, DeAnna Murphy, Scott Newman, Steve Shallenberger, and more. Over 8 hours of content! These leadership experts will all instruct us on building the skillset to be leaders that motivate. Join us starting April 22 when the keynote session will be free for 7 days. To attend you need to visit leadingsaints.org and put your name on the list. Let’s start a journey together to become leaders that can motivate! Click HERE for details.

The Transformation Challenge: The Six Steps of Planning and Execution Welcome to our podcast listeners wherever you might be in the world today, this is Steve Shallenberger your host. And have you ever had a big problem in your life, a challenge or a tremendous potential opportunity and not really sure how to tackle it? How to start? How do you develop it? How do I solve this problem? And sometimes the problems are highly emotional or discouraging. You're just not sure what direction to turn. Have you ever been immobilized by a problem so big that you just couldn't get going on it? Well, today we're going to talk about a tremendous process, it's an invitation really to each one of us of how to take our bad where it exists and make it better. And how to take your good and make it better. And how do we take our better and make our best and there is a process, it's a challenge really to each one of us. We call it the Transformation Challenge, and it is an invitation to each one of us to take these types of situations and transform them into something that is good, better and best. And how do we get the best results? This is the Transformation Challenge. When they come down the pike at us, whether it's a threat, or an opportunity, or a problem that we say we will take it on we because of our leadership, because of our commitment to get things to a better place, we will transform this. And so, let's go, game on. This is the idea, it's almost a response. So, we'll talk about a skill that you can use over and over and over again, that you can be courageous that you can have confidence, and be excited to tackle things. Wouldn't that be wonderful? And not only that, you can teach the transformation challenge to every member of your team. I'd like to give the background to the transformation challenge, The Six Steps of Planning and Execution. That's really the subtitle. About 30 years ago, I was working with an outstanding organization that has had a company named Buffalo Rock, one of the top Pepsi distributors in the world. They've been in business like for over 125 years and really great at what they do. I'll never forget as we're having the chance to work together that Jim, one of the very... he was the Executive VP of the company was sharing with me about a book that he read and he said, "This is the best book that I've ever read on planning and execution." And something happened to me that day that I said, "Hold it, this is a big part of what highly successful leaders do, the best of the best." And so, what is it? This is a learned skill and that if we can learn this skill, it helps us to get to a better place. So, I started researching and studying every bit of literature that I could find. Books, magazines, Harvard Business Review, the Stanford work that they had done and really from the best business schools in the world on planning and execution. How do we solve problems? And after all that time, I started developing some ideas. It had to be simple, it had to be something that anybody could really learn to apply from a child to a seasoned executive of a billion-dollar company. Could we really do that? Could that exist? Well, in the meantime, as many of you know, we've had a couple of sons who have been F16 pilots among other things. Another one has been an engineer and a lawyer, another got his master's in accountancy and so on. So, these you know, it's really been fun to watch them be thinkers about these kinds of things. Well Rob, as he is getting ready to get out of the United States Air Force, and we have decided to work together in a leadership training firm, he brought to bear as we talked about these Six Steps of Plan and Execution, this transformation challenge. He brought with him all of his experience in the Air Force world who are experts in planning and execution. Their ultimate success depends on being really the best in planning and execution and carrying out a mission. And so, what we did as we pulled these two worlds together, this experience that I had had and also planned it myself as a business executive and a leader, but also then bringing in Rob's experience and this is how we came up with the transformation challenge, The Six Steps of Plan and Execution. So, what are they? How can they be used? Well, you can use it virtually in any imaginable situation. How to increase sales, how to improve a relationship, how to save a relationship, how to save a marriage, how to improve operating margins, how to grow your revenues, how to take advantage of an opportunity if you're an entrepreneur, how do I really get this idea going and make it a success and how do I overcome depression? Well, let me first teach the six steps, and I invite you and challenge you to see if you can memorize these six steps by the time I've done. See if you can get them down cold and then they'll serve as a reflex, a guide any time you have an issue to move right into the transformation challenge you say, I've got this. And this is a lot different than a transaction challenge, a transaction could just be so routine and we don't think of all of the capacity to leave things better than when we found them. That's the heart and soul of the transformation challenge, to leave things better, leave a better world. To leave a better company, to have a better relationship. So, these are the ideas, here they are. Here are The Six. The first is, what is the vision? Typically, when we have a problem, we start with the problem when we try to solve it. We say, I've got this problem, but that is just exactly the wrong place to start. As leaders, what we wanna do is shift the playing field and take it to what is the vision? And you'll notice this elevates all of your thinking, it helps to see the problem in the perspective of a bigger picture. And so, many times a problem is weighed down with emotion or conflict or other people are involved, and it can get you're really off on the wrong pathway. So, when you shift it to saying, what is the vision, it helps get us to a better place and it puts the problem in a perspective and a way to deal with it. That is order number one, what is the vision? Step number two, what is the current reality? So, determine whether what you're currently doing aligns with the vision and will help accomplish your goals, and so this may seem simple, but it actually can be quite challenging. So, for example, how many banks since that there was a problem in 2007 when just a year later, there was a total collapse of our financial system creating this huge recession and even in many people's lives a depression. Or in a marriage, one partner might feel like, and you may know somebody where this has happened. Like everything is fine while the other partner's ready for a divorce. I mean, how many partners have been surprised that they came home and there's the paper sitting on the table seeking the divorce where they had no idea it was coming? So, be thoughtful and considerate yet brutally honest when looking at the current reality. And so, what you're doing is you're like a fly on the wall, you're saying, here's the vision, but what is the current reality? And if there is a gap between these two, that is the signal that you'll go through all six steps and apply the six steps to get to a better place. On the other hand, if there's no gap as you do this gap analysis, and your current reality is equal to what your vision is, then you just keep doing it. This is what you wanna do. But if there is a gap and you need to go through the six steps, then step three is, what is the real issue here? What's the cause of this gap? It's important to identify the real problem that's causing this gap between the current reality and the vision or your goals. And if you're not focused on the real issues and causes, it's easy to get distracted by secondary factors. So, the real issue is often allusive and you want to identify the root cause, the real problem, question or opportunity. And so, what you're gonna do is, be sure you keep an open mind, don't jump to conclusions, suspend your judgment and just analyze the facts. One of my favorite quotes has always been, "Get the facts or leave it alone or the conclusions you come to may be your own." Well, so analyzing this fact is a critical step and you're asking, What? How? and continue to ask why until you have the real cause. And rarely, are the initial ideas about causes correct. And when you continue asking why, and usually at least five times, the real cause is uncovered or determined. And I found that determining the real cause may take 10 minutes, it may take 10 days, it may take longer if it's a complicated issue. So, we're sure that we identify the real issue so we can solve the right problem. Step four, now let's just repeat the first three because you're gonna get these memorized so they can become reflex. Number one is, you shift everything to what is the vision. Number two, what's the current reality and as you compare those two if there's a gap you go through the six steps and move right to number three which is, what is the real cause? And once we identify the real cause, then we can go to Step four, what are the best options? And this is a fun part of the six steps because once the real problem, issue or opportunity is identified, we can work to find the best options. And this is brainstorming all the way I mean, you're listing all the options and solutions and you can ask whether each is feasible or ethical at the end, but what you do is, you come up with this bigger list as you can and you'll notice that encouragement and hope, and energy starts coming into this process and you may have started with a very heavy problem, but as soon as you start getting into this part, light starts coming into your life. And then once you have your list, you can weigh the possible options using a balance sheet. Positives on the left and negatives on the right and which alternative might be among the best and you can rank them one, two and three. And from this, now you're starting to develop a course of action with the best options first. So, this is Step four. What are the options and which ones would be the best courses to go. And this leads us right into step five. And Step five is that, we implement the best options, we implement a plan. So, all of the steps up to this point will help prevent the development of a plan that wastes time and resources by not accomplishing the vision or by maybe focusing erroneously on the wrong cause. Now, we're headed in the right direction. By this time, the real issues or the problems should have been identified and at least one viable solution or idea has been generated. Now, we'll walk through the specific steps in developing the plan and every step of this plan is important and critical to the overall success of the plan. And so, here are some of the components that we're gonna want to ask as we implement the plan. That's Step five, implement the plan. So, we list the key stakeholders or any additional inputs from them. We want to share with them the process we've gone through, some of the conclusions we've come to and get their thoughts and ideas. This will help improve then the implementation. What are the factors or threats that could affect this plan? So, we briefly pause and examine the external environment. We consider any of the threats from the external environment that could impact this plan and once they've been identified, we can put the proper steps to address these threats into the actual plan and what we're going to do. These are examples and I'll give a few examples in a moment of the application of the transformation challenge, the six steps to plan and execution. And then list the factors that could affect the plan whatever they might be, and as we do that then we start actually coming up with who will do what, when? What are the systems and structures and resources that are required to leverage put this plan into action. By the way a little sidestep here, and the Pentagon when the war plans are developed, they have something called "The Red Team". So, people that have not been involved in the planning process are invited in, these are very capable people and they actually look for flaws in the plan that's been put together and offer recommendations. And then once they've done that, they leave and the group that's been making this plan can contemplate the outside observations. The plan is then put into practice who's gonna do what, when and that is step five and it's kind of fun I think for all involved, for whoever's developing this plan to put together an executive summary of the six steps that you've gone through. Here's the vision, here's the current reality, here's the real issue, the process we went through to thinking about this, here is the brainstorming that took place on the options and weighing the pros and the cons and why we came up with the best options and now, here are the steps that we put together to implement the plan. This can be done on one page actually, an executive summary to give to your key stakeholders and before you really implement it, then you can invite final suggestions and then of course, it is the introduction of the plan, the rollout of the plan that's all part of the implementation. And last of all is, we evaluate step six, the results. So, we have put together a plan, we've said here's the problem, here's the opportunity. So, in that regard, here's the vision. Here's the current reality, here are the real causes, here are the options that we have. Now, here are the best options and how we're gonna implement this plan and how did we do? Did it solve it? Is the new result in line with our vision? If so, we keep doing it. However, if we're off the mark, then we can go back through the six steps. Let me just now illustrate a few case studies that helps illustrate how we can take this transformation challenge and get things to a better place by effective planning and execution using these six steps. One is the Challenger disaster that took place and as of course, the vision is what? The vision is to send our astronauts in the space with the shuttle on the shuttle program and bring them back safely having accomplished the mission objectives. Well, in the case of the Challenger, the current reality is, there was a disaster. The Challenger exploded and all perished and that was the current reality and so, there is a definite gap between the two. Now, what we need to do is what is the cause? And as the engineers and the leaders started going down the list of the real causes, it was cold, okay? Well, all right. What else happened because it was cold? Well, the O-rings were frozen, they didn't work. That's what caused the explosion, okay? So, why did we launch with the O-rings... now, just think what would have happened if the engineers those in charge would have stopped with that problem thinking that was the cause. Well, then they're gonna solve this problem, apply the rest of the things to the O-rings, but that wasn't the real problem. So, they kept going deeper and the problem was to go no go process in place, that there wasn't a way for people to speak up and stop the launch if they saw a problem. And so, indeed that was the problem and they were able to come up with a process, a way to create a failsafe go, no go process. And this prevented any future disasters from their launches. Of course, there've been other problems on the reentry, again, we go through the same process. This is how it is applied and we evaluate the results, we got a good result and let me just give a few other examples. A good friend of mine Crystal Maggelet is an outstanding person. I mean, she's one of the best people I know. Her father Jay Call, also a tremendous entrepreneur, he developed a set of truck stops called Flying J. Very successful throughout our country, Jay loved flying and his name was Jay so he called it The Flying J. They built this company to be one of the most successful in the country as Crystal was growing up, and came to the point where she could... she graduated from college, she could go to a graduate school, she chose the Harvard Business School, and was able to get in and had a great experience. That's where she met her husband Chuck. And some years ago, it's now probably been about 14 to 15 years ago, and Jay was flying to one of their executives with his wife, and one of them, he had been recovering from cancer I believe it was, and for some R and R. And during this trip, while he was flying their jet there was a problem that developed and an accident that took place and they all perished in the accident. It was a terrible tragedy for all of us who new Jay. Crystal sat on the board of Flying J, and within a short period of time, the CEO came to the board and said we have a problem. We are going to have a requirement for $400 million in cash within the coming month and we don't have it. We've tapped out all of our lines of credit, we simply don't have the resources and they looked in disbelief they said, "How could this ever happen?" And he had been running the company for some time and maybe hadn't been all the best that communicate in some of the decisions. The short of it was that after a crucial meeting they realized that the directions they were going were different and he resigned and Crystal became the president. She was an excellent business person in her own right, she had started a set of Hotels called The Crystal Lands and had been successful. But here Crystal was right in the middle of the biggest crisis they had ever had that threatened their future existence. The pundits said and the professional said they needed to... they were gonna go out of business. They were gonna go out of business, the employees are gonna lose their jobs, they're gonna have to close the doors. They simply didn't have options to come up with this money, they were gonna have to liquidate. There was doom and gloom all over the company and I think intuitively and instinctively, Crystal applied these six steps of planning and execution. And as she described it, she was so discouraged she just didn't know what to do. She was overwhelmed, but one day she woke up and realized that the vision needed to be save the company. And remember, everybody's focus is, how do we come up with the cash? But, the vision was shifted, there it was, save the company. And as soon as they did this, they sprang into action they said, "Okay, what's the current reality," and they got their key executives together. Crystal said, "We're gonna get in this room here today and we're not leaving until we come up with a plan and the vision is save the company." And so, they realized the current reality is that they were threatened with bankruptcy. They needed $400 million immediately and they didn't have it that was current reality. So, they then went to the step three, what are the causes for this gap that we have? And as they talked about it and did this analysis and went through the facts and asked why, why, why? They realized that two predominate factors had taken place. One is, they had invested in an oil refinery, it was going to cost, it was an older one, but they felt like it would be helpful to them. The spent several hundred million dollars and invested in this older plant, they're gonna have to renew it, and rebuild it, remodel it, bring it up to speed and that this had taken a lot of their valuable cash. The other is that they'd gotten into the pipeline business of shipping oil out from the Gulf, they had hundreds of millions of dollars of oil in the pipeline and the price of oil was dropping. So, these were the factors their primary business was very successful and they were being profitable there, but these two are what cost them the money. So now, they could go to Step four which is, what are the options? And the options they brainstorm, they came up with 15 different things they could do to save the company. They took the best ones and they came up with a plan of who would do what, when and where. When they left that meeting, Crystal described that they were excited, they were focused, there was fresh energy and it took about a year for them to fully execute this plan and involved a chapter eleven bankruptcy where they could have some protection and room to operate. They implemented some other measures including divest in themselves of the processing plant and also divest in themselves of the pipeline. They got the business back in order on their core business, they made some other key steps. The ultimate result a year later is that they came out of the Chapter eleven bankruptcy, they had satisfied every one of their obligations a 100% and the resulting company was a more successful company than they had had before by far. Now, this is a clear example of these six steps it gives you a starting point, but we have other examples. For example, you can do this informally. I was out jogging one morning with my daughter about seven or eight years ago, she was a junior in high school and loved soccer. We lived in Spain for three years, it got in her blood and so, she played a lot of club soccer, she played in high school and so she was contemplating playing soccer in college. And she said, I'm just trying to think about this dad and what we ought to do. So, here we are out just jogging along and so I decided without doing this formally, just take her through the process, six steps. So, I said, "What's your vision? And look how this focused discussion, how it's different. It wasn't, what college should I go to or you know, who do I pick. It was, I wanna go to an outstanding college, I wanna have a good environment, I wanna gain a good education, I wanna be where there are really good guys, dad. And where I can be happy. I'd like to be away from home, but not too far and so that was her vision. And we said, what's the current reality? And the current reality is, well, I'm a junior in high school and just getting going and I don't know a lot about the possibilities. Okay, what's the cause? And sometimes when you're planning in the future, it's not so much a cause, but it's what are the key factors? The things that might affect this decision and she said, "Well, I'm gonna need to visit, I'm gonna need to do some research, I'm gonna need to have a really good junior and senior years as a soccer player and then set up a list of criteria." Great, all right. So, what are the options? She says, "Well, I can set up a plan, I think I'll list 12 colleges I'd like to go to. I can look at each of the things, factors that are important and I can set up a rating system." And I said, okay. These are really good ideas, so the plan then was actually went into implementation. And so, as we talked about this, she said I need to write it down, get my colleges clear and then I'll weigh each one out. And so, that's exactly what she did. She set up the plan, started contacting colleges, set up a little informational sheet for herself, a bio if you will with her picture, with her accomplishments and she went to work. She had a number of full ride offers and she ended up actually choosing a college that I was a little surprised about. It was the archrival to the university town that we live in. It was the University of Utah and Pac 12 and we live about three minutes from Brigham Young University, and so, this was her choice and now that her college career is over, she had a great experience, she met great friends, she'll never forget that experience, it helped pay for her college, she met a wonderful young man who was a football player, he was the kicker for the Utah team and she graduated with a bachelor's degree in entrepreneurship and so here we are. There we go. See, I just can't imagine what would have happened if we didn't apply something like this transformation challenge, the six steps that made it so simple. Well, that's it today folks. So, let's just think about these six steps, here they are. Let's see if you've got them. Number one is, you shifted to what? To the vision. What's the vision? Any problem you have, any opportunity. Number two, what's the current reality and you do a gap analysis. Number three, right, what's the real cause for the problem? And we ask what, why, why, why, why, why, why and we really drill down, we pull back the layers. And your number four, what are the options? What are the possible options? We brainstorm and this is exciting. And number five, we implement the best options. And we talked about the things there. And number six, we evaluated, how did we do? What's the result? Well, this has been great folks, I hope that you've got a few ideas I challenge each one of you to start practicing this. Teach it to others you can use it formally or informally. One of our key managers for our team came to me, he started... he learned this like four years ago, and practiced it, and I guarantee you this key manager transformed an industry by taking a problem and taking that problem as a $25,000 administrative problem, and turned it into a $30 million contract. I'm not kidding, it was this that caused that to happen with his intellect, he took it and it helped him get to a better place. That took about six years to do by the way. And just three or four months ago, we were talking about this and he said, "Steve," he said I want you to know this is Matt and Doug, they were telling me this. He said, I walked into a meeting with some of our managers and they were using the six-step process to solve a problem that they had and they were gonna bring the solution to me. Now, isn't that what every manager wants? You want others doing this, thinking about how to solve the problems before they come up rather than bringing it to you and say, "What do you think we ought to do?" Well, that's the idea. Finally, then we evaluate and we see how we did. Well, remember as we do this, you will make a difference and this is Steve Shallenberger wishing you a great day. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Welcome to our "Becoming Your Best" listeners, wherever you may be in the world today. This is your host, Steve Shallenberger and I'd like to start out with a few questions. Today, how many of you and I would like to have peace, happiness, and joy in our lives? Well, that's kind of a stack question, isn't it? Well, of course, we want to have peace, happiness, and joy. And how many of us would like to have employees or children that are focused, engaged, aligned with the things that matter most, and excited about what they're doing, and they solve problems rather than you having to solve the problems? Well, yeah, wouldn't that be great? Well, today, I'd like to help us accomplish these things, talk about a process that's called the "Strategic Rhythm." And this is in contrast to a strategic routine, which is much different. A rhythm is a positive force that we get into within our own life. In this process, I'm going to talk about the strategic rhythm. It's something we can apply in our life to produce that rhythm, or in a family, or certainly, in our teams and our organization. And it is built upon the principles of Becoming Your Best and the 12 principles of highly successful leaders. So as we master those, this strategic rhythm is really what leaders do to get the result but they use these, the 12 principles of being true to character and leading with a vision, and managing with a plan, knowing how to prioritize our time. And these things create a transformational leadership. They're the very same principles that allow us to use this strategic rhythm process to get this kind of results that I just talked about. Or the 12 principles in regards to creating transformational relationships and cultures such as living the Golden Rule and conscientiously building and maintaining trust. And one of the things we can do to help us do that is to be an effective listener and really capture. "Oh, thank you. Thanks for sharing that or bringing that up and so let me be sure that I have it," right? And then the fourth principle in that transformational team and relationship is innovative or innovation through imagination. This is the culture, then, that just creates this energy of excellence and adapts. And then, of course, the last 4 of the 12 would be transformational living. And it is to be accountable where we take responsibility, we apply the power of knowledge, we live in peace and balance, and we never give up. So these 12 principles come together to create a magic and is producing phenomenal results. It's how they come together that unleash a culture to excellence. Okay. Now, back to the strategic rhythm and what we can do as leaders. In your mind's eye, if you can imagine a pyramid, a one-dimensional pyramid that you're looking at and it has seven levels. And I'd like to just describe each one because we put these pieces into place as a leader and what they do is that they unleash a huge focus and potential. So the first rung up on the very top of the pyramid, the first level, is leaders create the vision. So that's why I said it's built upon the 12 principles. So is there an inspiring vision that establishes the purpose and cause of the organization, or the team, or even in our own life? And remember that the vision, as a reminder, points to the direction that we want to go. In the next level, if you will, right under the vision is what are our core values and standards? And essentially, this establishes our character and the guide that, really, we operate by. On an individual basis, it's very much a character. Within an organization, it's the culture and character that come together. These two are extremely powerful because now we have a direction we're going and we have our mores that, in other words, this powerful guide, a basic fundamental values to guide us that direct us. So the next level and in fact, the levels three, four, and five, as you go down the pyramid, they all have to do with the principle of manage with a plan. So we established the vision, the first level. We're sure that we have strong core values. So for example, we don't lie, cheat, or steal, nor do we tolerate anyone that does. Or another core value is safety is not a program. It's a way of life. And of course, the 12 principles would be among those type of core values that give us direction, or a team or an organization direction. Now, the third level is something we call a TIG, totally inspirational goals. Well, what this level does is set up a target. And it's a shorter range. The vision, that's where we're going over a long term. The TIG, totally inspirational goal, is what are we gonna accomplish? What do we hope to accomplish in the next two to five years? And it should cause us to wake up and just be totally inspired. One of our really wonderful clients and a very successful company headed by Jean Henri Lhuillier in Manila in the Philippines. So for example, the vision for their company is to be the best. And then, they have these core values, the type that we just talked about. Their TIG, is currently, out of the 100 million Filipinos in the world, they serve 1 out 15. Well, as they got together and they were talking about this total inspirational goal, they decided that it would be to serve 1 out 3 by 2020. I mean, this just takes your breath away. It's so exciting. And what it does is it points all of their key executive leaders, their regional managers, and their thousands of employees in that direction. It just unleashes potential. So this is an example. Another one of our clients works within the energy services industry and they're in several marketplaces. Well, what they have done and said, "We are going to be in four market segments in each one of the locations that we serve in, and we are going to work to be one of the dominant...to be the dominant player in each of these four segments." I mean, this also is a huge TIG for this organization. It shifted their thinking. Well, that's an example. We can have one for our family. Someone may want to learn how to play the piano within the next two to five years on a personal level. So whatever it might be. The next rung, the next level, level number four as you move down, it's almost in the middle of that pyramid, would be the practice of setting annual goals. So this would be on a yearly basis and it decides what you will be doing. And for those who are familiar with the Becoming Your Best principles and processes is when we talk about annual goals or SMART goals versus generalized goals or something...so, for example, "to read more books," that's kind of a general goal. It's a good goal. However, watch how this SMART goal, which is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant to your vision, and time-specific, changes behavior. "Read 12 self-improvement books by December." See, that is much different and it changes behavior and so we, as leaders, need to teach that to our associates because we're 90% more likely to achieve something when we have a clearly written goal. And yet, only 10% of us have clearly written goals. And understanding that is a powerful message for parents and for us as leaders. Now, in an organizational sense, then we set these goals in place. And on an annual basis, whether we have a step away for an annual retreat, whether it's close to where your office is, or it's in a different location, you review how it went last year and then what are our goals for this coming year? If it's on a personal basis, remember that a huge way to increase your chance to accomplish those goals is to share them with other people. And the statistics is that you're 34% more likely to achieve something when you share your goals because it creates an accountability and involvement with other people. Okay. So now, we're setting the course, as you can see. Vision, core values, totally inspirational goals, two to five-year period. And what are we gonna do this year to hit it? So now, we're coming up upon a new year and all of us should be thinking, "Okay, what are our annual goals?" And a powerful practice is to set your goals by rolls. So think of your key...five or six key roles in life. The self, personal, for example. Fitness, security, financial, mental, spiritual. Another one might be family and friends, a spouse or a partner, or children or nieces, nephews, and then friends. These are all examples. What are the most important things you can do? And then, professionally, within your roles there. And then, maybe civically. So by thinking about your roles that inspire you to think in terms of "What can I do this year that matters most that has the greatest impact, especially in alignment then with the vision and the totally inspirational goals?" The next rung down, as we move down the pyramid, this would be number five, quarterly goals. Especially in an organization where we get together and every quarter, we go over, "How did we do last quarter and what are our goals for this coming quarter especially as they align with the upper part of the pyramid?" Well, what this does as you and I as leaders go through this process, it literally creates an engagement with all employees. It's really hard for anyone to sit on the sideline when we set up this process and then we're able to help bring out the best within individuals and teams, and it creates an accountability. And then, of course, from these quarterly goals that we have, we manage on a monthly, weekly, and daily basis to be sure we're hitting our key performance indicators. Okay, now, down to the last two levels. Level number six is one that brings the whole process together to now, each week of our lives, and that is doing in a weekly alignment meeting with your team and pre-week planning. Now, this establishes each week what matters most. And it's done on a weekly basis. Now, we've talked a little bit about pre-week planning in the past and drawing the analogy of a pilot that wouldn't dream of going into the air without having a mission where are they headed and a plan, a checklist they've gone through where they've checked the weather, they've checked the coordinates of the trip. They've checked their equipment. No pilot would dream of just jumping in the airplane, going up and flying to their destinations. Too risky. There's too many things that would happen. Well, the same thing applies for us in our weeks. It's just too risky to not do a pre-week planning. When is it done? It's done sometime during the weekend, whether it's Friday afternoon, at the end of your day, before you leave work. Or sometime on Saturday or Sunday but definitely before Monday morning at 8:00 a.m. because it's too late. The crisis already starts. And so, once again, if you haven't seen the Becoming Your Best planner or organizer, you can go on to the becomingyourbest.com website and check out our Best of Class planners. And they're already set up to help you do this pre-week planning. And it's a weekly layout. And across the top, what we invite you to do, once again, is think of each role. What is your role and what matters most this week? Set goals by that role. And then when will you do it? You put it down in the calendar. And literally, what you're doing is you're scheduling your priorities first in each key area of your life. And then, we prioritize our schedule, the meetings and things that we have to do. Well, what happens as you reflect and ponder and think about your week of how to have a great week before you ever start it? You've really gone through what is gonna make a great week and it's balanced and you feel at peace and you stay at it. This is totally a leadership component and it turns, really, all the other time management processes on their ear in terms of effectiveness, so this is a huge deal. And when you start the week, think of how different you feel when you've done this. It literally helps you...give you confidence and focus and be at peace, you're gonna be doing the right things, you'll feel greater happiness, less stressed. So I invite all of our listeners to really work to do pre-week planning especially as we've outlined it. First, think of your roles, what matters most, and set goals by those various roles and then sketch it out. See how it feels. The last level of this strategic rhythm that we set up is daily focus and execution. This is done, of course, on a daily basis. And I'd like to recommend just four things that we can do. Number one is that you think, when you start your day, look at it in the context of the weekly plan that you've already done which is totally aligned, by the way, with the other five levels of this pyramid above it. That's why it gives you such a tremendous alignment and strength and focus. Okay, the second thing you can do for a powerful daily focus and execution is the rule of three. And that is, each day, look at your things that you need to do and say, "These are the three things I definitely am going to get done today, come heck or high water." And so that's the rule of three. And every day when you start your day, say, "These three things, I will get done." And number three is chair fly your day. Chair flying is a pilot term and it's something that pilots do before they go in the air, and they actually just get in the cockpit or sit in a chair and actually fly their whole mission with their eyes closed without ever starting the jet or the plane. And they see themselves, they smell the smells in the cockpit, the smell of the fuel and they touch the equipment. They look around. And now, in their mind's eye, they actually see themselves starting the aircraft, taking it out to the runway, doing their final checklist. And particularly in the fighter world, looking at their wingman and they line up to take off and it's full throttle. And they see themselves lifting off, look back at the wingman and everything is proceeding as it should. They think of any with their eyes closed, any possible emergencies, what you might do. Up in the refueler, they do the refueling. Go up and see the mission, the target. They see their target, they roll out, pickle. And then, return to the base. They see themselves landing and having a successful mission. Well, this is the same thing we can do on a day-to-day basis. We anticipate things that can come up. And now when we start the day, we're ready. And last of all, as each day by doing these things, these little things of meditation and reading and prayer, exercise, these things and chair flying and getting ready for the week, they create, really, a private victory that gives us added personal strength and focus. And allows us to be more successful as we interact publicly with others. So that's it. That's the strategic rhythm. It is a powerhouse. If any of you would like to receive the graphics of this, just write to me on the email at Becoming Your Best. It would be steve@becomingyourbest.com and I'd be happy to send out the graphics that shows you this. Well, that's the message for today. We wish each one of you the best in all that you're doing. One person can make a difference. And it only takes one person to do this. Thank you and we're signing off for today. We wish you a great day. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

THE BECOMING YOUR BEST DIFFERENCE “THE 12 PRINCIPLES ARE CRUCIAL TO THE SUCCESS OF ANY LEADER, IN ANY ORGANIZATION, IN ANY INDUSTRY!” Stephen M.R. Covey Many wonder if they have what it takes to achieve their dreams and get the results they’ve always wanted. We understand how hard it is to lead a team, a business, or even your own life. That’s why after four decades of research, we have identified the 12 things great leaders and high achievers do to accomplish extraordinary results! Leaders, managers, and employees have finally found something they can use to create sustainable success. Regardless of your current situation, Becoming Your Best provides solutions to meet your needs

THE BECOMING YOUR BEST DIFFERENCE “THE 12 PRINCIPLES ARE CRUCIAL TO THE SUCCESS OF ANY LEADER, IN ANY ORGANIZATION, IN ANY INDUSTRY!” Stephen M.R. Covey Many wonder if they have what it takes to achieve their dreams and get the results they’ve always wanted. We understand how hard it is to lead a team, a […]

Old School Positive Thinking with Steve Shallenberger Jack Butala: Old School Positive Thinking with Steve Shallenberger. Every Single month we give away a property for free. It's super simple to qualify. Two simple steps. Leave us your feedback for this podcast on iTunes and number two, get the free ebook at landacademy.com, you don't even have to read it. Thanks for listening. Jack Butala: Jack Butala and Jill DeWit here, welcome to the Cash Flow from Land Show. Our guest today, Steven Shallenberger. Steve how are you? Steve S.: I'm doing great. Nice to be on your show. Jack Butala: Excellent, thank you. Steve has more than 40 years of experience as a successful business owner, trusted senior executive, top-rated speaker, and a number one bestselling author. He's best known for his fun, enthusiastic, and engaging personality. I'm afraid Jill, what we're known for. Steve has consolidated 40 years of success in leadership research into the national bestselling book, Becoming Your Best: The 12 Principles of Highly Successful Leaders. Leaders from around the world have raved about the impact and transformation their teams and organization have experienced by using the tools and processes found in his book. As a young entrepreneur, Steve built numerous organizations from the ground up. He has successfully lead companies in 3 different industries and has keen understanding of how to thrive in business. During he's formative years, he continued his education at the Harvard Business School. He also worked many years with Stephen Covey, as a senior leader and trusted member of his board of directors. Steve and his team helped Covey start the First Things First Training and time management seminars. Steve served as the president at the Bring Em Young University Alumni Association. He was a charter member and chair of the Utah chapter of Young Presidents' Organization. I remember that, YPO. He's actively involved in a World Presidents' Organization, WPO. Welcome, thank you so much Steve. Jill: Hey thank you. Glad you're here. Steve S.: Hey it's great to be here, looking forward to our visit. Jack Butala: Boy, this is a pretty impressive bio. Most of the bios of the people that we have in the show, they don't have anything going in their life like this at all, no history at all. Steve S.: No, right. Whatever. Jill: How long is your signature line Steven? I got to ask. Steve S.: It's long. I told Steve as we had the chance to visit just briefly before, "You know Shallenberger is a great name. It's a Swiss-German name, but I have been seriously considering changing it to Garcia. Jill: I love it. Steve S.: A little more simple, easier to say, spell. Jill: Smith is good also. Jack Butala: That's exactly what I said. If he changes his name, I'm changing mine as Smith. Steve S.: Great. Jack Butala: Steve, that's quite an impressive background. What stuck out to me is the companies that you've started. Give us a little summary on those or one of them, your favorite let's say. Steve S.: Just tell you since you folks are in a great business, the Land Academy type of business of building a business around land and real estate. When I was a young man that's actually how I started out. I was raised in Northern California, a place called Vallejo which was pretty much a blue collar town, naval shipyard. There were 8 of us that lived in a 900 square-foot home. We're pretty poor. My first job was in Italian restaurant. Then when I was 16, I became involved with a man by the name of David [inaudible 00:03:29] and he's a real estate broker and he had 5 very successful real estate offices in Northern California. He was really my first mentor through the experiences I had with him. I went through an enormous transformation and change not unlike many of your listeners go through when you have a new way to see things.

As some of the most in demand keynote speakers and bestselling authors, Steve and Rob Shallenberger have been adding value to executives and top leaders around the world. Every week, they will be answering your questions by sharing the same tools and strategies from their seminars, granting you free access to the same world class materials typically reserved for Fortune 500 companies.Steve Shallenberger has 40 years of experience under his belt as a successful author, CEO, speaker, and trainer of leaders throughout the world. But most importantly, he has been happily married to the same woman for 41 years and has six kids.In this episode, Steve will share:How he rose from humble beginnings in Valeo, CaliforniaThe power of dreamingThe first of twelve principles of highly successful leadersWays to find an inspirational vision for your lifeRob Shallenberger is a Harvard MBA, former fighter pilot, author, speaker, and trainer of corporate leaders with his father, Steve. He is also a husband and father to four beautiful children.Later in the episode, Rob will share:His turning point where he took charge of his life and his futureThe true opposite of failure and the cure to itThe goal of this podcast is to share this incredible, life-changing content with as many people as possible. If you like what you hear, please go rate us on iTunes and share this podcast with your friends, family, and team.SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST RESOURCESwww.becomingyourbest.comZig ZiglarSteven CoveyEarl NightingaleNorman Vincent PealeDenis WaitleyGood to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t- Jim Collins Becoming Your Best: The 12 Principles of Highly Successful Leaders- Steven Shallenberger See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.