November 23, 2016 by

Intentional Gratitude

Intentional Gratitude Happy ThanksgivingOne of the first CEO’s I had direct contact with while working with him often stated – the door swings both ways. This applied to a number of instances from deals we were negotiating to employees being hired or fired. The statement applies to viewpoints we all hold near and dear to our hearts as well.

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.” ~John F. Kennedy 

Have you ever considered how others see you? Especially when speaking out with a certain point of view or value system. Do we each live out these ideals and view points?

Is it possible, at least for a few days if not longer, everyone will intentional stop wearing their political opinions on their chest and enjoy having conversations with people on other topics?

“The way to develop the best that is in a person is by appreciation and encouragement.”    ~Charles Schwab 

Each day is there someone we come into contact with where we may offer our appreciation and even encouragement to them. Are there people we come into contact with often where we are actually withholding our appreciation and encouragement to? 

How many of us are going to a food store to pick up a few last minute items or to purchase everything needed for the family feast?  Do you stop and look at the person, the real human being, behind the register scanning each item? Maybe, just maybe ask how they are doing at this busy season? What are they doing for Thanksgiving?

Be intentional with gratitude for your family, your health, for what you and your family have in life.  Celebrate by being intentional with gratitude to people you interact with.

It does not take more than a few minutes. Your caring attention and a few kind words may make someone’s day.

“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.”
~ Mother Theresa

It is my hope and wish you will take in a few deep breaths and reflect on how really fortunate you are to be able to do exactly that. There are people who struggle for each single breath.

Here are a few thoughts to read through to help get you in the mood if you are not there yet.

“You never know when a moment and a few sincere words can impact a life forever.”                                                            ~ Zig Zigler

“They may forget your name but they will never forget how you made them feel.”
~ Maya Angelou

There may be some of you who are getting really upset with me. You feel that these are way too soft. In fact you are wondering if this article was outsourced. You should know me better than that by now. Every single word is written by me each week! This quote then is for all of you –

“Usually, what angry people need most is not more hostility, but to hear just a few kind words… to know someone cares. Like ‘Calm down, everything is going to be okay, you stupid psychotic f***’.”
~ Buster Gore

Enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday.

Mitch Tublin runs a boutique consulting company providing strategic and lean advice to a variety of mid-size companies to start-ups. As an advanced certified coach his practice is based in Stamford, CT.

Filed Under: Inspiration, Mindset Tagged With: , , , , , ,
November 18, 2016 by

What Does It Take To Run Your First Marathon?

What does it take to run your first marathon?

Very much like running your first business.

Let’s start with the fact that the assumption is you want to run a business with staying power. Not a hit and run quick buck – which almost always is some type of a scam – business but a long-term real business.

Rule #1 – It is a marathon! Not a sprint! It is my guess almost anyone can sprint for ten meters. A lot of people can sprint for twenty five meters. How about going all out for as fast as you can for 100 meters? Any takers? This is not how to run a marathon and it is certainly not how to run a business.

Unless you are already working in the business you want to run – there will be a learning curve. You must become a sponge for the important information and be able to edit out the noise. Even when you are ready to start your business learning and growing, having a coach to guide you along the way and challenge you at times is going to be critical.

Rule #2 – It is your first marathon! Speak with people who have run a marathon before and ask them questions about everything from nutrition, training programs, pacing during the run, what shoes and gear to wear, ask about anything. Similar advice goes for starting your own business. Many people have been in your shoes before – seek them out and leverage their knowledge in terms of not only the things that worked – the things that did not work too.

Do you have accountability partners and possibly a support network? You do not need to be an elite runner to have accountability partners for your training, your nutrition program and everything you are doing for running your marathon. There are running clubs all over the world who set up and match up people based upon their running pace and goals. A support network may be a coach for running and training and a coach for your mental approach to everything you are doing.

Rule #3 – You do not have to do everything by yourself – other than run the marathon, of course, other people may run alongside you for encouragement! In starting your business let everyone in your circle of friends and family know what you are doing. You never know who they know.

There are many more people who will never even try to run a marathon vs. how many people do at least try. In fact even less actually sign up, train, show up and run and finish their first marathon.

Rule #4 – Your attitude will get you through it. Have the best possible attitude throughout the process. Throughout your training everyday you run. This will further prepare you for what it is going to take to complete your run.

In starting your business you must really want your business to succeed. The numbers are staggering how many new businesses fail within their first three years.

In closing, our entire family is bursting with pride as our son, brother – Bryan completed his first marathon – the 2016 New York City Marathon in a time of 4:32. We all were there to see him run. We each selected different sections and rode the subway to overtake and catch up along the route. Bryan set out a goal to complete his first marathon and he did it!

bryan NYC Marathon

Bryan Tublin

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified coach, trainer and business consultant based in Stamford, CT.

Filed Under: Accountability, Business Planning, Business Strategy, Inspiration, Mindset, Small Business Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
August 19, 2016 by

Going for Gold – Part Two

Going for Gold - Part 2 - SwimmingGoing For Gold – Part One discussed the lessons from the Olympics and the U.S. Gymnastics Team which are applicable to your business. Here is the link to the article Going For Gold – Part One if you missed it.

Going For Gold – Part Two is about the medals and the athletes in the Olympics. How does this translate into a consideration for how you run your business?

In terms of Medals for events there are what maybe around three hundred medals in total? Let’s say four hundred to be safe. Then for Gold Medals there would be around one hundred and thirty two? Meanwhile there are close to twenty thousand athletes competing in the Olympics!

Does the odds of winning a Gold Medal stop an athlete from competing?

No not at all! In fact take look at swimming or track as an example…the difference in time between the Gold Medal Winner and the next three athletes is usually very close. In fact in one race, the Men’s 100 Meter Butterfly with Michael Phelps there was a three way tie for the Silver Medal! While the Gold Medal winner Joseph Schooling finished fractions ahead.

GOLD       Joseph Schooling – Singapore   50.39

SILVER   Michael Phelps – USA               51.14

SILVER   Chad Le Clos – South Africa     51.14

SILVER   Laszlo Csen – Hungary             51.14

Everyone – every single athlete and team who made their way to the Olympics represents the best in their chosen event. No one is giving up in their effort to win a Gold Medal or a Silver Medal or a Bronze Medal.

How does this translate to your business? In whatever type of business you are involved in you should always strive to be the best! The best at what? My thought is that your model should begin with the best experience for your customers and clients. This should be your starting point. Then move into the competition in your space or your market if you will. Who are your competitors? How do you stack up? Are you measuring yourself against your equivalent competition? Quite possibly the keyword here is ‘measuring’.

Are you measuring on a regular basis the key elements of your business and then making the corrections necessary to improve these numbers?

Another key element is even if you are not the number one in your market you keep working to become the best. What type of award do you strive to win in your region?

Do you know what the awards are which may be attainable? The ability to make it to the final round of selection for an award is often quite an honor.

If you are ready to work with Mitch to review your business with you and help you to become the best at what you do in your market click here.

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified coach, trainer and speaker based in Stamford, CT.

Filed Under: Achieve Goals, Business Strategy, Inspiration, Mindset Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
March 10, 2016 by

Who Are You Spending Most Of Your Time With?

Building strong relationshipsReally, think about it and write down their names. Who are you spending most of your time with? Are you being challenged, stretched, held accountable?

In setting up the topic for this article allow me to reference a previous writing of mine.

In the article: https://easysmallbusinesssolutions.com/do-you-do-it-alone/

One of the topics discussed was around highly competitive athletes. Here is a portion:

“In fact the top twenty to thirty people are all putting in the training regimen, the workout, the practice time, the diet – so what is it that differentiates the top three or one from the rest? It is their mental approach. How they handle their performance under extraordinary pressure time and again, over and over. Plus, how they approach their training regimen, their workout, their practice time, their diet – the mental approach they bring to these efforts each day as well.

This is the great separator. The example is for highly competitive athletes, however, it is the same in the world of business, start-ups, entrepreneurs and politics! No different.”

The article moves on to discuss the importance of building a strong team around you. Another important item to note is who you are hanging out with or more specifically who are the top three to five people you are spending the majority of your time with. Are they each approaching or exceeding the competitive nature of whatever you are all involved in at the same level or more? How would this add to your mental approach?

Jim Rohn, the entrepreneur and motivational speaker, said, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

It is my suggestion you take into consideration what your goals are and what is the vision you see for yourself? You must, absolutely must, find the people to spend time with who will challenge you, stretch you, or even hold you accountable. You want these people to be of a similar mindset to yours, however, some may be more advanced on their path than you are at this time. This is not a requirement – in fact – even better, might be that each one of you have an area of expertise that is higher than anyone else’s in that specific item – again not a requirement.

The mindset is key – that each person is driven and competitive in order to achieve their vision of where they intend to go in their life and in their business. Consider the following statement from the classic book, “Think and Grow Rich”, by Napoleon Hill –

“When a group of individual brains are coordinated and function in harmony, the increased energy created through that alliance becomes available to every individual brain in the group.”

Let’s look at a few options of how you might move ahead with locating and obtaining agreement from the people you want to be able to spend more of your time with. We will look at two methods, however, certainly there may in fact be numerous other methods available for you to try out. The first method is to list the names of the people you would want to be one of your four or five people and then begin to reach out to them.

A second method is to be clear on your own vision and what you intend to achieve. Then locate a group, such as a Mastermind Group, run by a professional who has been trained and certified by the best in the business of leadership and communication. The people who participate in this group will highly likely be the exact type of people you will want to spend most of your time with. Interested in joining a Mastermind Group such as this type run by Mitch Tublin CLICK HERE.

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified coach, trainer and speaker based in Stamford, CT.

Filed Under: Accountability, Mindset, Relationships, Self Improvement Tagged With: , , , , ,
November 26, 2015 by

Attitude of Gratitude

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”  ~Epictetus

Whatever we have, we must be thankful for. There are those who have more – things. There are those who have less – things. None of them will lie in our bed at night. None of them will wake up in our bed in the morning. We all have our own situation. Let’s be thankful for what we have and those we have around us to share our lives with. 

“The way to develop the best that is in a person is by appreciation and encouragement.”    ~Charles Schwab 

Each day is there someone we come into contact with where we may offer our appreciation and even encouragement to them. Are there people we come into contact with often where we are actually withholding our appreciation and encouragement to? 

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.” ~John F. Kennedy 

Have you ever considered how others see you? Especially when speaking out with a certain point of view or value system. Do we each live out these ideals and view points?

Happy Thanksgiving

30 Day Journey: Change Your Life in 10 Minutes a Day – Learn more about this journey here

Mitch Tublin is a speaker, certified coach and trainer based in Stamford, CT.

Filed Under: Inspiration, Mindset, Self Improvement Tagged With: , , , , ,
October 15, 2015 by

How to Make a Colossal Difference with a Small First Step

Guest Blog Post: John C. Maxwell

John Maxwell and Mitch TublinMany people look at all that’s wrong in the world and mistakenly believe that they cannot make a difference. The challenges loom large, and they feel small. They believe they must do big things to have a life that matters. Or they think they have to reach a certain place in life from which to do something significant.

Does that seed of doubt exist in you? Have you ever found yourself thinking or saying, “I will only be able to make a difference . . .

“When I come up with a really big idea,
“When I get to a certain age,
“When I make enough money,
“When I reach a specific milestone in my career,
“When I’m famous,” or
“When I retire?”

None of these things is necessary before you can start to achieve significance. You may not realize it, but those hesitations are really nothing more than excuses. The only thing you need to achieve significance is to be intentional about starting—no matter where you are, who you are, or what you have. Do you believe that? You can’t make an impact sitting still. Former NFL coach Tony Dungy once told me, “Do the ordinary things better than anyone else and you will achieve excellence.” The same is true for significance. Begin by doing ordinary things.

Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” That’s true. In fact, so does every human being’s first journey. As children, we had to learn how to take that first step in order to walk. We don’t think anything of it now, but it was a big deal then.

Every big thing that’s ever been done started with a first step.

When Neil Armstrong took his first walk on the moon, he stated, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” But the first steps of that achievement occurred decades before. We can’t get anywhere in life without taking that first small step. Sometimes the step is hard; other times it’s easy. But no matter what, you have to do it if you want to get anywhere in life.

You never know when something small that you do for others is going to expand into something big. That was true for Chris Kennedy, a golfer from Florida. In 2014, a friend nominated him to do the Ice Bucket Challenge for the charity of his choice. Kennedy passed along the challenge to his wife’s cousin Jeanette Senercia because the two liked to tease and challenge one another. Kennedy chose ALS as his charity because Jeanette’s husband suffered from the disease. Jeanette accepted the challenge, posted the video on her Facebook page, and nominated others.[i]

That was a small start of something big. In today’s digital world we talk about things going viral. The term viral was coined because ideas and initiatives can spread quickly the way germs do. Almost anything that starts out as a single idea, a bold statement, a YouTube video, or a creative or memorable photo can gain vast popularity and quickly spread through word of mouth via the Internet.

The Ice Bucket Challenge soon went viral. If you somehow missed out on it, the idea was to either donate to the ALS Association or record a video of yourself being doused with ice water, and then challenge three other people to donate or get doused.

This turned out to be a brilliant idea to raise money for an important cause—to help fight a disease that many people otherwise might not have known about and would not have donated to see cured. I participated in the challenge. Sure, I was aware of the disease, but it wasn’t a charity I normally gave to. I was nominated by colleagues to take the challenge, and I was happy to participate.

Most people chose to give and get doused. When I accepted the challenge, I made a donation and asked three of my grandchildren to do the honors of soaking me. They used not one, but three, freezing cold buckets of water on me. Though I pleaded for compassion and warm water, the grandkids showed no mercy!

The best part is that over $113.3 million was donated between July and September of 2014 as a result of the ice bucket challenge, compared to $2.7 million dollars donated during the same period of time the previous year. On Facebook alone, over 28 million people uploaded, commented, or liked ice bucket related posts the last time I checked. The purpose of the campaign wasn’t just to raise money. It was about raising awareness. But they accomplished both with great intentionality.

What can you do now? As you think about making a difference, be willing to start small. You never know whether your passion-fueled idea will have an outcome similar to that of ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

~ Adapted from John C. Maxwell’s new book Intentional Living

Would You Like To Hear More From John C. Maxwell? Be intentional and click HERE

 

[1] Alexandra Sifferlin, “Here’s How the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Actually Started,” Time, August 18, 2014, http://time.com/3136507/als-ice-bucket-challenge-started/, accessed January 29, 15.

 

 

Filed Under: Inspiration, Mindset, Self Improvement Tagged With: , , , ,
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