Posts Tagged ‘Success’

Guest blog from my good friend, colleague and fellow Perform Better Speaker Todd Durkin

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2011 – Your Best Year Yet

By Todd Durkin, MA, CSCS

I am a true believer. Each Christmas I notice everything printed with Believe or I Believe. Cards, calendars, ornaments, pillows – you’ve probably seen as much as I have or more. Well, I do believe. I believe in positive energy. I believe in persistence and mental toughness. I believe in myself and in others. I believe in YOU.

Each January brings the opportunity for a fresh start. We’ve passed through the gate of the New Year and have the chance to make 2011 YOUR BEST YEAR YET. Grab hold of this chance and run with it. So what if the first day of the year has passed. It’s never too late to start getting better. Whether you’re looking for dramatic change in your life or the chance to get 1% better each day, now is the time to be renewed in the spirit of new beginnings.

Keep reading for my personal list of actions and reminders that pack a potent punch and are sure to make a positive difference for you. Read each one. Implement a few or many. Find your favorites and go deep to discover the secret buried within. Then get ready for your best year yet!

83 Ways to Make 2011 Your Best Year Yet

• Be the most positive person you know.
• Get 1% better everyday.
• Define your “game-changing” move in 2011.  Then get it done!
• Take more risks.
• Do something that scares you everyday.
• Be a team builder, regardless of your title at work.
• Remember that business is about relationships and connections.
• People need motivation, accountability, and know how. Deliver it.
• Write your eulogy and then live your life backwards.
• Know your Big 5: the 5 most important things that need to happen by the end of the year to make 2011 feel like it truly has been the best year of your life.
• Read your Big 5 every morning.
• Post affirmations on your bathroom mirror.
• Don’t focus on making money – focus on creating value.
• Lead by executing and getting results. No excuses.
• Strive to be ‘World Class’ in all you do.
• Read The 4 Agreements by Dom Miguel Ruiz.
• Train like a pro athlete – exercise more.
• Eat higher quality foods.
• Get a massage once a week.
• Attend a destination spa vacation each year.
• Have at least one other “dream” vacation each year.
• Remember – no one has ever regretted a great workout.
• Be obsessed with learning.
• Join a Mastermind Group. It will accelerate your results, improve your mindset, and provide you with fertile soil in which to grow.
• Be impeccable with your words – don’t complain, gossip, or be negative.
• Be careful with whom you surround yourself. Just as much as the right people can pull you up, the wrong crowd can bring you down.
• Plan as if you will live forever but live as if you’ll die tomorrow.
• Say please, thank you, and I love you more.
• Give someone a massage.
• Write love letters like you used to.
• Call someone you always wanted to talk to but never thought you could.
• Call an old coach or teacher and thank them for positively impacting your life.
• If you want to resolve a conflict, use the phone instead of email.
• Write a hand-written note to a client or customer.
• When you travel, send letters to your kids on hotel stationary.
• If you want more, GIVE more.
• Do or do not – there is no try.
• The way you do one thing is the way you do everything.
• Journal. What are you thankful for? What are your intentions for the day? Who is in need of prayer today? Where were you outstanding today?
• Clarity precedes genius. Find clarity in writing and solitude.
• Track your success.
• Slow down in order to speed up.
• Be willing to fail. It’s the price of greatness.
• Spend at least 10 minutes every morning in quiet time, prayer time, or meditation time.
• Listen to inspirational music. Create your favorite play list for chilling out as well as working out.
• Listen to books on tape and podcasts.
• Read The IMPACT! Body Plan.
• Read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey.
• Read The Leader Without a Title, The Greatness Guide, and The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma.
• Watch a Rocky “marathon” with your kids on a rainy day.
• Do what you do best and hire the rest.
• Sometimes good is good enough.  Don’t let “perfectionism” rob you of getting things done.
• “Color code your life,” says my mentor, Wayne Cotton.  Green machine, blue sky, red tape, and mellow yellow. Visit www.nobrowndays.com for more information.
• Complete a 90-Day Wonder. What have I accomplished in the last 90 days? What are my current challenges? What will I accomplish in the next 90 days?
• Remember the 10,000-hour Rule. It often takes about 10,000 hours or 10 years to be recognized as an expert.
• Success takes time. Be patient, but continually invest in yourself.
• Work on your business, not in your business.
• Your big ideas typically come when you are sitting on a beach or skiing in the mountains.
• Hire only “A” players to build a winning business.
• Replace the bottom 10% of your players each year.
• Everyone in an organization should be considered a “leader.”
• Always believe in your dreams, even when they seem impossible or others doubt you.
• Focus, focus, focus!
• Water people everyday – lift people up instead of tearing people down.
• One quick “No” is better than 10 “maybes” or “I don’t knows.”
• Win the day!
• Remember what Walt Disney said, “Everything speaks!”
• Be more spontaneous.
• Block out the noise and focus on the signal.
• Develop a hobby.
• The bigger the dream, the more important the team.
• Run your own race – be authentic and original.
• Speak more. Write more. Read more.
• Turn OFF your TV!
• Eliminate excuses.
• Organize your time more effectively.
• “Eat that Frog,” says Brian Tracy.  Do the things that you don’t like to do or want to do but have to do early in your day.
• Get your mind right!
• Do more of what you love to do.
• Action is like gas in the car. Without it, you will not go.
• Be humble…be hungry.
• Create IMPACT everyday.
• Live by the mantra, “… And then some.”

Implement any single item on this list and you will create change. Combine a few to really rock your world and the world of those around you. Explore, experiment and find your favorites. But remember, there’s more to it than implementing a list of action items. YOUR BEST YEAR YET will require something deep within YOU.

You’ve heard me talk about the power of  “theme-ing” a year. In the days and weeks ahead, spend some time alone with your thoughts to find the theme that’s right for you – the single most meaningful, overarching and powerful pledge you can make to define who you will be and what you will do in 2011. Find it and treat it like an oath. It will deliver.

For weeks now, I’ve been doing this kind of thinking. I searched for and found my theme for 2011. Ironically, when I looked deep enough within and examined my soul, I found it there. 2011 is my year of “S.O.U.L.” I am making a very public pledge to nurture and go deep with my Spiritual development and inner life, to seek Outrageous fun and adventure, to create Unbelievable value and innovation in my work, and to step up and Lead in all areas of my life.

It’s January 13^th my friend. We’re through the gate and ready to run. Lace up your shoes and let’s go. After all, 2011 is going to be YOUR BEST YEAR YET!

Peace and love,

Todd

2011 – THE YEAR OF S.O.U.L.

S = Spiritual development and inner life

O = Outrageous fun and adventure

U = Unbelievable value and innovation

L = Leadership in all areas of life

2011 – YOUR BEST YEAR YET!

–
AC

PS – print out those 83 ways to make 2011 your best year ever and stick it on the wall.
Don’t forget to check out Todd’s latest book – the Impact Body Plan

What’s your educational half life?

I read once that the average doctor are so busy that the “half-life” of their education is around ten years. In other words – ten years after graduation, they only remember half of the information they knew at graduation – and are essentially only half as “qualified”.Now, part of that is just forgetting or not reviewing material, part of that is not knowing it in the first place, and part of that is that the field changes constantly and if they are very busy – the just can’t keep current.

We’re in the same position. Our field moves fast and is constantly evolving. The business practices in today’s economy have changed dramatically. Fitness programming itself has changed. We need to stay current.

But most of us are busy – you can come back from a seminar and you put your notes away because you need to get back to work, and suddenly it’s been three months and you haven’t even picked them up again. The “self help” program quickly becomes “shelf help”

As far as re-reading – I think it makes sense to review old books and DVD’s at least once a year. Make notes in them the first time and you can at the very least review your notes.

It’s actually shocking how much stuff that you miss the first time around.
It’s also fair to say that you’re in a different place or level when you re-read material , so some stuff wasn’t applicable the first time you read it, becomes really significant upon re-reading the material.

Beyond that

But the real key is – are you continuously sharpening your own tools and attending seminars and reading books?
Do you have a business coach who helps you with the vision and implementation of your business (this is something a lot of people are lacking)?
Are you involved in a coaching group or mastermind with like-minded individuals?
Are you retaining information and growing – or are you forgetting?

It’s a constant flux – either more material is getting in and you’re growing, or no more material is getting in, and you’re shrinking.

You need to mastermind with those who attract wealth, not those who attract poverty. People who want to get to the next level. (Statistically, your income will become the average of that of the 5 people you hang around the most ).

The definition of “mastermind” from Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill is “an alliance of 2 or more mind that create a friendly environment to gather , classify and organize new information for fast and effective implementation. You can’t do it by yourself.

7 benefits you get from Masterminding:

1. Brainstorming with likeminded thinkers and achievers.
2. Being listened to and helped.
3. Being motivated and challenged.
4. You’re accepted.
5. You’re recognized for your achievements.
6. You have a safe environment to share information.
7. Fresh eyes and objectivity.

It’s a good rule to review material you already have regularly as well as study new material and be involved in a coaching group or mastermind.

This week I am meeting with my own Fitness Business Mastermind group here in Santa Clarita.
2011 is here and it’s time to get to work !

–
AC

Starbucks has changed the service industry forever. They took a commodity — the coffee bean — and transformed it into an experience. I’ve studied them since the first day we opened our gym, and continue to do so.

Consider this — in the last fifteen years, the value of the S&P rose 200%, the Dow rose 230%, the NASDAQ rose 280%, but the Starbucks stock?–5000 percent!
Despite that tremendous growth – Starbucks has maintained it’s quality while expanding at a current rate of 5 stores per day, 365 days per year.

There is a concept known as the “Third place”. Most people have work, home and one more place that they spend time. It’s the idea behind the “local” in terms of the pub culture in the UK (as embodied in the TV show “Cheers” – ‘where everybody knows your name’…”).

The coffee shop (as seen in the TV show “Friends”) has become that – actually more specifically – Starbucks has become that for most people.
That’s why I study them – as I want my gym to become that “third place” and overtake Starbucks.

Do yourself a favor and pick this book up immediately — and then STUDY it! We recently interviewed the author of the book – Joseph Michelli – for our coaching group.

I’ve mentioned this book before, but I re-read it on a recent flight. If you’re in the service business — or you own a studio — you need to forget about just looking within our industry for ideas — look outside of your industry.

–
AC

If I were to tell you that you were about to get into a fight with the toughest opponent the world has ever faced, how would you prepare?

You’d probably learn some martial arts, do some combat training, get stronger, faster, better conditioned, hire instructors and formulate a strategy to take on the opponent.

But what if I told you that all the kicks, punches and chokeholds won’t work against this opponent? It’s invisible. Your instructors can’t help you.

That’s the reality of facing cancer.

I bested cancer. Twice. Most people don’t survive the first time. I have no idea why I was given these extra days on this planet, but I treat them like a gift.

Prior to my bone marrow and stem cell transplant I had to undergo a battery of fitness tests. The treatment itself is so brutal, you need a certain level of conditioning before the doctors will even consider doing the treatment. They did heart tests, lung capacity tests, and a ton more.

I passed the tests and entered the “fight” and won. I didn’t think much of it until after being in remission when I met a young girl who was facing the same transplant situation. She said, “Oh wow! You got the transplant — that’s amazing!”

I have to admit that I didn’t feel that amazing.

She went on, “I need to get one but I can’t pass the tests. I’m not in good enough shape to survive the procedure right now.”

That’s when I realized the horror of her situation. She, while fighting cancer, needed to improve her fitness, so that she could win.

How does a cancer patient get in shape when he or she is being bombarded with a malignant disease, chemotherapy, drugs, and radiation? It’s an uphill battle for everyone, but cancer patients are starting well behind the starting blocks.

I knew then that I had survived in part because when the disease hit me, I was in condition. I was strong. I had muscle. I had cardio fitness. I had gritted my teeth and grinded out a heavy last rep, or a max effort sprint.

My body could handle whatever the doctors were going to throw at me. Cancer couldn’t.

Because cancer didn’t train the way we train.

I started weight training to improve my martial arts competition skills. Who knew that the lessons learned in the ring, and the qualities developed under the bar would save my life?

–
AC
PS – make sure you are keeping up with me on Facebook — > Alwyn Cosgrove Facebook Page

*This was my portion of  a compilation article I recently contributed to at t-nation (full article HERE)

–
AC

This morning we began our last Results Fitness Biz Mentorship of 2010. This year we have seen over 100 trainers and fitness studio owners from all over the US, Australia, Ireland, Switzerland, Canada, England, Spain, South Africa and Lebanon all attend and learn from us on how to take their fitness businesses to the next level.

And our coaching group (graduates of our mentorship program) continue to grow their businesses and improve their lifestyles month after month through our website, emails, regular teleconferences, coaching calls, one-on-one days and mastermind meetings. If you want to take anything to the next level – you need to seek out mentors, and surround yourself with like-minded individuals, something that I have personally always believed in, practiced and continue to teach.

Yes – you can go it alone – but it’s slower, less effective and to be quite honest – just plain stupid.

It’s like learning martial arts. If I gave you a heavy bag and no instruction — how long would it take you to be an expert fighter or have black belt level skill? Read the rest of this entry »