Peaceful Warrior

See this motivating movie free!

Trailer

Request your free tickets here:

Tickets

Enjoy and live life to its fullest.

Reading is Fundamental

We are told how important it is to read to our children. We tell our children how important it is to read. But when it comes to us, well, we don’t have time. BS! You can make the time. All you need is 20 minutes. In 20 minutes you can reads 20 pages. 20 pages multiplied by 365 days in a year, that’s 7,300 pages. The average book is 350 pages, that’s 20 books in a year. Think of the information you can gather! Think of the fun and relaxation you can have. Here is a list of books that I have read recently:

Books Read

2005 - 2006

20. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell (Non-fiction/Business)

19. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell (Non-fiction)

18. Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (Fiction)

17. 1776 By David McCollough (Non-fiction/History) – Completed 7/24

16. Over The Top By Zig Ziglar (Non-fiction/Motivation) Completed 9/6

15. The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle By Jim Rohn (Non-fiction/Motivation)

Completed 9/12

14. House of Sand and Fog By Andre Dubus (Fiction) Completed 9/18

13. Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill (Non-fiction/ Motivation) Completed 10/14

12. Selling 101 By Zig Ziglar (Non-fiction/Sales) Complete 10/19

11. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (Fiction) Completed 10/30

10. Pledges by Alexandra A. Robbins (non-fiction) Completed11/8

09. Close to the Wind by Peter Goss (non-fiction) completed 12/23

08. The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough( non-fiction/history) 12/16

07. Teacher Man by Frank McCourt completed (non-fiction) 2/06

06. Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (fiction) 3/06

05. A Death In Belmont by Sebastian Junger (non-fiction) 5/06

04. The World Is Flat by Thomas Freidman (non-fiction)7/06

03. Lifeguard by James Patrerson (Fiction) 8/06

02. The Tender Bar by JR Moehringer (non-fiction) 8/06

01. 700 Sundays by Billy Crystal (Non-fiction) 8/06

2006 -2007

20. Dangerous Ground by Larry Bond (Fiction) 9/06

19. The Majors by John Feinstein (Non-fiction) 9/06

18. Suite Francaise By Irene Nemirovsky (Non-fiction) 10/06

17. Flag of Our Fathers By James Bradley (Non-fiction) 11/06

16. The Power of Positive Thinking By Norman Vincent Peale (Non-fiction) 1/07

15. The Pursuit of Happiness By Chris Gardner (Non-fiction) 1/07

14. A Break with Charity By Ann Ranldi (Fiction) 1/07

13. Mark Twain A Life By Ron Powers (Non-fiction) 1/07

12. for one more day by Mitch Albom (Fiction) 2/07

If Not, Then Goal Setting

Goal setting is important. Well, that’s what I was told and I do agree. The problem is determining how to set your goals. If you meet your goals every day, they’re too easy. If you don’t meet them they’re too hard. So you can’t win, or can you!

When I became a stockbroker in 1985 I was 20 years old and gung ho (“Gung Ho” a great book by Ken Blanchard). I asked my manger what he thought I should set as my goals. “Bill, to make it in this business you need to open 2 accounts a day, every day!” So I had my goal and I started to hit the phones (Remind me to tell you about my first call) and I wasn’t leaving until I hit my goal, 2 new accounts.

Unfortunately, on some days I ran out of time zones. I would start on the east coast and call until 8 PM. Then move to the central time zone until it was 8 PM there. Then off to the west coast for two more hours of calling. My boss told me that Hawaii was out. I remember how it felt as I left the office without hitting my goal. My head was down and I was pissed. The next morning my first thought was, “shit, I missed my goal yesterday”. Not a good way to start the day. That feeling set the tone for the whole day. I hated the feeling of not meeting my goals. That is when I came up with “If not, then goal setting”.

I started by interviewing the top brokers in my office. The one and only question I asked was, “How do you open 2 accounts a day?” The answer was the same from each of them. “Bill, it’s a numbers game. If you make enough calls you end up opening enough accounts.” Well, how many is enough? After talking to a lot of very successful brokers I came up with a formula.

My goals then looked like this, 2 new accounts, if not then, 10 qualified prospects, if not then, 30 contacts, if not then 200 dials. If I met at least one of these goals everyday I new I would be successful. Never again did I leave the office mad about not reaching a goal. Never again did I start the day with a negative attitude because I missed a goal.

Every job has a formula. What the formula for your job? Find it and set your, “If not then” goals!

On Time is Late, and Late is Rude!

I say this to my children often. They don’t get it; but they are 10 and 12 years old. Over my career I have watched people race from appointment to appointment. Literally running into meetings at the last minute out of breath and sweating. Not good!

You can have anything you want! You can even have a meeting go completely your way. But first you have to visualize it. Visualization will get you what you want and desire. But you can’t truly see anything if your running around like a chicken with their head cut off.

My staff will tell you that I am between 10 and 15 minutes early for every appointment. Why? So I can release the stress of thinking about the meeting, worrying about the meeting, preparing for the meeting, and getting to the meeting. During that extra time I sit and visualize how I want the meeting to track. I start the meeting in my head, presenting the agenda and take the meeting from beginning to end with the outcome I desire. If you try this you will be amazed how well it works.

I once had the opportunity to hangout at a golf course the week of a professional golf tournament. I was there watching the players arrive, watching there practice rounds, chatting with the caddie, and finally watching the four days of the event. During a practice round I asked a caddie why his players walk down a fairway and drop a ball in a particular location and then hit on to the green. He said,” Because he will be there tomorrow.” Well I have played a little golf and know it not that easy. “How does he know that he will be there,” I continued. Well the caddie opened up to me and said “tomorrow morning before his player’s tee time he (the player) will sit in his hotel room and play the course in his mind. What he is doing on practice day is taking the pictures he will use as he runs through the day in his mind.”

You need to do the same thing with your life. You can have anything you want you just have to see it first. You can’t see it if your running late!

Do Not Answer That Phone

Are you a doctor, fireman, policeman or EMT? If not, it can wait! You don’t need to answer it, reply to it, or open the door to it. Just stop! We spend are lives getting interrupted. I’ve been in sales and the next call is always the big order. Guess what, the order will still be yours 10, 20, 30, yes even 45 minutes later.

Our effectiveness has been studied. Let’s look at a project broken down into pieces or chunks, with a beginning, middle and an end. We find that the beginning, say the first five to ten minutes, are our least effective. We aren’t fully focused; we are still transitioning from what we were doing before. I’m not saying this time isn’t import. It is, it’s necessary to allow us to get into the middle stage which is very effective and efficient. You can’t get on a freeway without using an on ramp.

But we allow ourselves to get trapped in that inefficient first five to ten minutes. How? We answer the phone, read the newest incoming e-mail, check the markets, and respond to alarms, dings, and rings. Oh, we do this in the name of service, response time, multi-tasking and hyper efficiency. But in reality we are lowering our level of production. We are not operating at our PEAK. (Look at an article called “11 minutes before the next interruption @ lifehacker.com http://lifehacker.com/software/productivity/11-minutes-before-the-next-interruption-149467.php )

There is a reason it is called a “crackberry”. These interruptions are addictive. We need to break the cycle. We need to stop taking the drug and allow ourselves to work. How, through “time blocks”.

Let me tell you how I do it. I discovered a long time ago that my attention span is 45 minutes. So I have determined that I need to work in 45 minute blocks. Any project I have is broken down into 45 minute chunks. Before I start I close my office door, close my e-mail program, put my blackberry in a draw and put my phone on “do not disturb”. At the end of 45 minutes (timed by a widget) I return calls, reply to e-mails and take care of small short duration tasks.

My goal is to have as many blocks in a day as possible. Each project is broken down into whole or half blocks. At the end of the day I add up the number of blocks. This allows me to determine how efficient I have been.

What counts as a block? This will be different for each person and/or job. It is every activity that somehow relates to the achievement of a goal. For me it is meetings, projects, blocks of calling time. I even added exercise being that one of my goals is to workout 4 times a week. It is what ever is important to you and your goals that takes a minimum of 22.5 or 45 minutes.

Where to Start?

Where to start? Well, let’s start with the bad news. Everything is working against your performing at PEAK. You have the media, technology, social trends, and ingrained stigmas pushing you away from PEAK performance.

Let me give you an example, I was speaking with a friend while at my summer home over the July 4^th long weekend. He is one of the best golfers in our club and the Member/Guest tournament always starts the Thursday after the 4^th of July. I asked him if he was spending the week. He said no he was heading back to the office for Tuesday and Wednesday. I followed with “Why”? His response was “I have to put the face time in”. At this point it hit me, 50% of those putting in 50 to 60 hour weeks are just putting in face time. They're not operating at PEAK levels! They are there because they think they have to be to get ahead and receive advancement. Wouldn’t it be better if they worked 40 hours a week but were working at PEAK level the majority of the time?

Yes, I know that there are times when the work load at a company might require the extra time. But this should be the exception not the norm.

Another example would be the proliferation of drug commercials on TV. Don’t eat better, take a pill. Don’t exercise, take a pill. Don’t solve the problem, take a pill to remove the systems. Don’t do the right thing, take the easy way out.

So together let’s fight the pressure to go in the wrong direction taking the quick fix or following the crowd even if they are running in the wrong direction. You can take control of yourself making your own way to true PEAK performance. I will help.

PEAK Performance

I am not a doctor or a psychologist or a shrink. I am a business person who has worked with hundreds of professionals in helping them perform at their PEAK. What you should ask now is, "What is the definition of PEAK." Good question! I have seen people who look successful and appeared to be operating at their PEAK. This is until I took a closer look. They worked 12 hours a day, were having difficulty at home with their spouse, never saw there children, and were over weight with a multitude of health issues. So you know, this is not my definition of PEAK performance. My definition looks at the whole. The whole person and to be performing at PEAK levels there must be balance.

Hundreds of written self help books. Some are GREAT. Some are awful. The question is do you have time to read them all and pick at the choice pieces of advise what will help you perform at your PEAK level. My guess is no. So here I am to read and study and listen to the experts and report the best to you.

I am looking forward to helping you live a better, more productive, happier and more fulfilling life. YOU CAN DO IT! You have the power and ability all you need is the program.