The Two Wolves

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a
battle that was going on inside him. He said, “My son, the battle is
between two wolves. One is evil: anger, envy, sorrow, regret,
greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies,
false pride, superiority and ego.

The other wolf is good: joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.”

The grandson though about it for a moment and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?” The old man simply replied, “The one I feed.”

Personal Mastery

What is personal mastery? It is an activity that we integrate into our lives. It is a special level of proficiency — both personal and professional. What is that activity we integrate into our lives that creates personal mastery? Learning. It’s not about just acquiring information, it’s about using that information to expand the ability to produce the results we truly want in life.

People with a high level of personal mastery share several basic characteristics:

• They have a sense of purpose that lies behind their vision and goals. In Peter Senge’s book, The Fifth Discipline he says, “For such a person, a vision is a calling rather than simply a good idea.” You see they see “current reality” as an ally, not an enemy. They have learned how to work with change rather than resist it. They are committed to change and feel they are part of a creative process in which they can influence an outcome.
• They live in a continual learning mode. They never “arrive.” It is a process not something you possess. It is a lifelong discipline. They see the journey as the reward. It’s not about acquiring knowledge, it’s about making use of the knowledge. It’s about skillful personal development.
• They know how to practice. Have you every seen salespeople just wing it? Often right? Those who have sales mastery, never wing it. They are prepared, even over prepared. It was once asked of Michael Jordan if he expected a shot he made to go in the basket? He said I expect all my shots to go in! He had mastered the art of practice. He was prepared. He had shot the shot a million times. He had played the shot in his mind over and over. He practiced countless hours until he mastered it. Practice is a discipline. If you are in sales like me if you are going to master sales you must practice customer dialog, you must know your lines to where they roll off your tongue, you must visualize the outcome, you must know any and all objections and your responses, you must know your customer, you must memorize key scripts, you must practice behaviors and tell tale signs of customer content or discontent. In short if you are to master it you must practice it, over and over and over again.
• They choose the path of greatest gain. Those who have personal mastery choose challenging paths not because they are hard, but because they have the most to gain there. They are interested in being remarkable. Not status quo. They choose goals that move them in a direction of value, not based on which is easier but which will gain the greatest success.
• They are not comfortable with being comfortable. Many salespeople get caught with thinking they’ve arrived and that they’re good. They become complacent and that is the death of most salespeople. Mastery people thrive on being the best. They create new ideas, new methods, new strategies for achieving anything. They are interested in using their knowledge for the betterment of others. They are committed to the discipline of creation.

Are you on the path to personal mastery?

I recall attending a Todd Duncan Sales Mastery Conference in Denver, Colorado back in 1999. It was an event that changed my life. I remember most vividly the closing of the conference. Todd Duncan with lights drawn dim spoke as if he was speaking personally to me. There were about 550 people who attended this 5-day conference and who paid about $4,000 to attend. Todd said as he closed the conference that in a few days half of the people in that room were going to forget what they had learned. Then there is going to be the majority of the other half that will lose their zeal and passion for what they had learned in the following 30 days. But he said, there are one or two of you in this room that this going to burn in your belly and you will leave here today with a purpose to change your life. You will go home and you will take what you’ve learned and perfect it in your life and you will achieve dreams beyond your wildest imagination. I literally wanted to raise my hand and say Todd that is me! I left that conference elated and committed to a new way of doing business and life. I couldn’t imagine anyone not feeling the same.

To this day I point back to that conference as the catalyst for a new beginning. A beginning of mastery. I would study harder than my competitor, I would invest more in my business and life than my co-worker, I would practice and practice and practice until I gave a world class presentation, I would determine to know everything I could about my “main event”, I determined I would hire an assistant and delegate all the low payoff activities, I committed myself to be regarded as one of the best. Today, I have not arrived, I’m still in process. My goals and dreams are vivid and I am enthused about my progress. Perfect? No. But nonetheless growing and becoming. I encourage you to take this difficult path that only a few are willing to pay the price.

Are you the one or two reading this that are willing to pay that price?

Adversity Tomorrow

Adversity will happen. Something bad will happen to you and me tomorrow, the next day or sometime soon. What will you do? Most likely, your reaction will be predictable. It is what you have always done. How you face adversity defines you. What have you done in the past when hard things have happened? When someone treats you unfairly or cruelly? When you lost a job or a friendship? When hard times hit do you attack or retreat? Lead or cower?

You can’t just become courageous, or noble or wise or respected. Every adversity brings out the culmination of your past choices to adversity. If you have fallen short of what you desire when you honestly look back at how you handled hard times, don’t fret. The beautiful thing is that you will have plenty of opportunities to define yourself in a new way. Know that adversity is coming and prepare yourself. That’s living. Mere “existence” is just doing the thing you are scripted to do and avoiding pain altogether. It’s a poor strategy and a poor character in the end. Adversity defines you. Your choices define you.

Increasing Capacity

A recent Runner’s World article featured interviews with CEO’s of major corporations. These are guys under immense pressure from their responsibilities. The temptation they all have in times past has been to work harder and longer. However, over time they realized they were hitting walls usually in health or sanity. They started doing the counterintuitive thing - they started getting out to run in their already busy schedules.

What did this do for them? It actually gave them more capacity to work and execute. They created some space to gain perspective and let their subconscious mind work on all their collected problems. They gained creative answers in the process. One guy got in the habit of creating lists he wrote down right after his run as new ideas emerged.

I have experienced this in my own life. Sometimes you are so close to the action you can’t see perspective. Your mind accumulates problems and is not synthesizing answers. Furthermore, I lack peace of mind and overall steadiness. I have found I always have time to work out. It pays me back the time I think I have lost in better execution.

Whether it is running, motorcycle riding or pitching horseshoes, elevate your game by making your pastime work for you. Think of it as having double return on your work.

Custom Productivity

Some of us are highly focused people. Others are scattered. Some like music in the background when working. Others need quiet. Some people need a desk. Others feel more comfortable on the floor. We are each wired differently and some of the form factors around us help us thrive or get stressed out.

In case you feel the pressure of executing your tasks or projects a certain way, don’t be. Align with how you are wired. David Allen’s Getting Things Done is a fantastic read on productivity It mixes the artfulness with the technique as you flow through a day of execution. Sometimes the right thing to do now is to clean the room. Sometimes it is doing the bills first. He speaks about how doing what your intuition tells you frees up a lot of energy and doing sometimes what you may feel is a force fit is actually counterproductive.

Find your custom groove. If you are wanting that extra edge in execution, it may be a simple matter of learning how to choose the right things at the right times. You want to achieve a peace of mind about your undone tasks and have systems that cater to your custom style of executing. I enjoy helping people order their worlds to execute. In the next week, become a student of productivity and your eyes may be wide open. Contact me if you want to get to higher levels of productivity to add increased value to your life or profession.

Remarkable is in the Rear View Mirror

Seth Godin stated in Purple Cow, “Remarkable is not in the eyes of the marketer. It doesn’t matter one bit how hard you worked on something or how cool you think it is. It’s up to the consumer. If the consumer thinks it’s worth remarking about, then you’ve got a purple cow.”

For those that have worked hard at making something they are proud of, it’s unappreciative news, but Seth does us a great service in adjoining us straight to the brutal truth of reality. “There are no products, only customers” as Peter Drucker stated. It is tempting to revel over your hard work and accomplishment. There is something gratifying and rewarding about accomplishment. However, the eight ball is what customers think about your product, your service, and you.

In your pursuit of excellence and winning in your job, your market or your relationships, shift from your “product” mindset and move towards what the customer thinks. It’s simple and a true measure. Develop some purple cow of your own to drive success.