June 30, 2016 by

Who Is Going To Light Your Fuse?

lights-your-fuseIn the United States the Big Bang Holiday is Independence Day each year – July 4th. It is a National Holiday where communities get together, families get together and there are Bar-B-Que Grills fired up everywhere. The colors to wear are definitely Red, White and Blue and the Flag is waving all over the place.

Growing up in the New York City area you had to make your way over to watch the Macy’s Fireworks show live at least a handful of times in your lifetime. Of course as a parent, who grew up in NYC, with kids who grew up in Connecticut, it was something they had to experience live as well! So we all did together! Similar to experiencing and eating real pizza – that is a story for another day!

In terms of Fireworks these are displayed both professionally and by your average citizen. Please do not light or set off Fireworks and keep your kids informed about the very real dangers of Fireworks. What sets off the firecracker? A regular citizen lights a match and puts the flame to the fuse which then ignites and ultimately sets off the explosion. The professional show is now a digitally controlled display choreographed to music where the explosives are set off through a variety of ignition techniques. Here is the point – the explosions – the displays of color and sound – are all set off by the lighting of a fuse or the ignition of an explosion.

Now that half of the year is completed are you where you want to be?

  • Personally
  • Developmentally
  • Business – wise
  • Career – wise

If you have your goals you had set for this coming year back in December or January pull those out and let’s have a look. Make adjustments or changes for real reasons if you must.

Please don’t start making excuses!

If you are not where you want to be then – who is going to light your fuse? 

How about adding a bit of fireworks into your schedule? Are you working on the things that really matter to make the items on your original-start-the-year-out-list happen?

If you are not maybe it is time for you to start working with a Business Consultant – Coach like Mitch Tublin – Click Here.

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified Executive and Personal Coach, Business Consultant and Professional Speaker based in Stamford, CT.

Filed Under: Achieve Goals, Inspiration, Self Improvement Tagged With: , , , , ,
January 7, 2016 by

Time To Set 2016 Goals

Setting Goals in 2016If you have not set goals yet for 2016 in December – what exactly are you waiting for?

“Insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results.”  – Attributed to Albert Einstein

We all know we must set goals for ourselves, our family and in our careers or business. This should never be a once a year activity. In reality we have our why – our big dream or wish. Our goals should be set to help take us toward our why.

My good friend, Paul Martinelli, the President of The John Maxwell Team, recent said to me that – “people who set goals which are for things they know they can do and can achieve – well they have already lost – they have given up!” The point of setting goals is to challenge us to take ourselves on a journey. If we want to tread water everyday for ten hours a day, then we should go do that.

For each goal there must be a timeline and a purpose. Each goal must be consistent with moving us toward our why. Some of the goals may seem almost out of reach and may have you questioning yourself a bit – ‘how am I going to do that one?’.

This is a thought that needs to be erased!

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” – Zig Ziglar

Where many of us fall off the wagon on our goal achievement is either not creating an accountability process, or sticking with a plan which isn’t serving us and refusing to change the plan, or both of these!

Another key aspect of goal setting is to revisit our goals regularly throughout the year. For some people or businesses this is done once each quarter. For numerous entrepreneurs, a reality check should be conducted at the end of each month.

“When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps. – Confucius

There are so many great books on goal setting and probably a number of not so good ones as well! Let’s recap in this short article the main points.

  • First is always start out the year with goals
  • Know your why – your big dream or idea – and if not – write it out
  • Our goals should challenge us
  • Goals must have a timeline, a purpose
  • We must create a process of accountability
  • Revisit our goals throughout the year and adjust our action steps first

Be Intentional each day – get started with the 7 Day Experiment with John C. Maxwell.

Mitch Tublin is an advanced, certified coach, speaker and business consultant who resides in Stamford, CT.

Filed Under: Accountability, Achieve Goals, Business Planning, Self Improvement Tagged With: , , , , , ,
October 22, 2015 by

Where Is Your North Pole?

“A goal is a dream with a deadline.” – Napoleon Hill

When you Google ‘goal setting’ the return is 27,000,000 results. A fairly significant number! The reality is goal setting does matter. The question for you is – how does this inforation help me? You that is!

Some folks say they are not really into goal setting. Let life happen is their often repeated mantra. Fine for them! Is it possible no one ever shared with them how to set goals and the critical importance of setting a goal?

“In the absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily acts of trivia.”

Let’s begin with a sea story – my personal favorite is always a sea story. If we go to a time and place when electronic navigation did not exist. All navigation was executed by utilizing charts, the sun and the stars.

“To Reach a Port, We Must Sail – Sail, not tie at Anchor – Sail, not Drift.”  – Franklin Roosevelt

For most people, even the casual boater, the fact that the True North Pole is not in the same location as The Magnetic North Pole does not matter. For a short trip where you would like to know kinda sorta where north is – so the two north pole locations will not materially make a difference to you in your journey.

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However, if you were taking a longer journey for a greater distance, the fact that True North and Magnetic North are not in the same location would have a significant impact on your navigation and potentially your location and timely arrival to your destination.

If one of the tools being utilized is a compass with a free standing Magnetic arrow pointer in order to effectively determine which direction, which course will take you toward your destination. Let’s assume you want to head north. Not a specific location – only head north. You may not be aware of this – the free standing compass is a magnet – it is this magnet which will point general toward the earth’s ‘magnetic north’. There remains a considerable amount of distance between the Magnetic North Pole and the True North Pole.

“If you don’t know where you are going, you will end up someplace else.”  – Yogi Berra

Let’s now think about how we set goals as opposed to having a big huge dream. A dream remains a dream until we define small achievable goals with a date attached which move us toward our dream. Similar to taking one small step at a time to climb up a long steep staircase, it is worth it to determine small wins along the planned route. By plotting these points along the way we are able to determine if and when course changes are necessary. If our ultimate dream or big goal changes we need to adjust our smaller attainable goals to now move toward this big goal. During this process having someone to speak with to provide accountability, to provide encouragement and to double check if we are on track is invaluable.

This is very similar to goal setting and not finding setting goals to be important. When we take our eye off of where we are, where we want to go and then compare the results to reality – this is how we end up getting lost, confused and potentially nowhere near achieving our goals. When we are working with someone so we have a regular reality check, when we make course corrections, when we adjust our big goals for where we are now in life, all of this combined is how we move ahead and obtain our goals.

Consider taking steps each day to create “Intentional Living” – Be intentional and click HERE.

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified executive coach, trainer and speaker who resides in Stamford, CT.

 

Filed Under: Achieve Goals Tagged With: , , , , ,
January 9, 2015 by

Embrace Failure

embrace-failureEmbrace failure – what? We are starting out the New Year and you want us to embrace failure?

It is the time of year to set goals and plan out the year.

It is the time of year when we all say we will lose weight! Get fit! Eat right!

It is the time of year when we say – “okay so I am going to read a new book or two every single month this year!”

Here is my question – isn’t it a reality that in a month or six weeks when all of these new behaviors go away and are forgotten that it was in reality a failure?

What if instead we turned off all of our distractions and set aside some time with a pad and a pen and our thoughts? Do this right now in this first week of January.

  • Write out your own plan.
  • Write out your own agenda.
  • Write out your own dreams.

What is holding you back from moving forward on each of these?

Is it the fear of failure?

This is not asking for a miracle. Some of the best success stories have been brewed through failure. Here are a few names and brief notes to consider. Do you recall a few other names and their stories? Add these into the comments section for us all to read.

Henry Ford had numerous setbacks and failures in his car business. One of his quotes: “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.”

Frederick W. Smith originally called his concept – Zapmail – this concept lost over $300 million in a few years. Later he recreated his concept which we now know as FedEx. One of his quotes: “Leaders get out in front and stay there by raising the standards by which they judge themselves and by which they are willing to be judged.”

Mary Kay Ash tired of being passed up for promotions by the same men she trained for over 25 years. She started her own business. Mary Kay Cosmetics is an international company with sales exceeding $2 billion. One of her quotes: “For every failure there is an alternative course of action. You have to find it. When you come to a roadblock, take a detour.”

Steve Jobs built Apple and then was forced to leave the company. His return brought the iPod and the iPad and more. One of his quotes: “You can’t ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.”

These examples could continue on and on right here as there are story after story – name after name. The point is to challenge yourself, embrace failure when it happens, then move through it and passed it.

“You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.” ~ Walt Disney

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified executive and personal coach who resides in Stamford, CT.

 

Filed Under: Inspiration, Self Improvement Tagged With: , , , , ,
January 15, 2014 by

Just Get One Thing Accomplished

Image courtesy of Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It is early January and you cannot miss the blogs, magazine articles, news stories, and advice from those of all walks of life on the “Top Ways To…” insert whatever the particular New Year’s Resolution might be.

A few of the annual resolution topics are as follows:

  • weight loss
  • become more organized
  • save more money
  • stop smoking
  • better fitness and health
  • spend more time with family

Again and again these topics appear on the list as most often selected by the general population to resolve to achieve.  The reality is less than 10% of people ever achieve the resolutions they absolutely intend to!

There are numerous reasons why the failure rate is so high, here are a few:

  • too many resolutions are selected
  • lack of accountability
  • do not create a plan of action
  • fall into the regular routine
  • not keeping the change at top of mind

Here is a suggestion if you identify with this discussion in your business or personal life.

Why not select one specific item you wish to change or goal to obtain?

For example:

  • learn to speak a new language
  • complete a course or training in a skill
  • smile more often

These are examples, you should create your own. By identifying one specific thing to accomplish you will be way ahead of the game.

Next create a time-frame for when you wish to accomplish the goal.  For example: if the goal is to speak a new language, for the majority of people a time frame of one week would be too short a time frame. Therefore the time frame must be a realistic and achievable time frame for you.

Once the time frame is established create smaller steps or goals to accomplish along the way to completing the big goal. Each of these steps should have a time frame for achievement associated with it.

At this point an accountability process needs to be set up. This may be with another person who has a similar goal or with a professional coach. The failure to attach accountability to this process will likely lead to failure in achieving the goal.

Take the opportunity to try these easy steps and follow the process. Have fun along the road to your goal.

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified executive and personal coach who resides in Stamford, CT.

Filed Under: Accountability, Achieve Goals, Self Improvement Tagged With: , , , , , ,
March 30, 2012 by

To Be Successful, Does it Have to Hurt First?

Have you ever had your fingers caught by a car door closing on them? Man oh man, it hurts! The very next time you are in a car, are your fingers anywhere near where they were when they were slammed by the car door? Do you consciously think about it and make certain your fingers are nowhere near that spot? How about the next time you are in a car?

Why do we think we will achieve different results from our business, when we keep doing the same exact things which have not worked before? We attend the same networking events. We give the same two minute elevator speech every single time. We make the same phone calls, eat the same lunch, and frequent the same restaurants every single day. Why do we expect different results?

Do you hear that? It is the door closing on the first quarter of the year. How are your business results so far?

To be successful in business we have to be willing and open to change, to learn, and to grow. It does not have to hurt like your fingers getting crunched by the car door for you to change your habits. There are numerous quotes and inspirational messages to grab from and share here. One which you may find to be helpful is:

Successful people make just as many mistakes as anyone else…they just learn from each mistake.

-Paul J. Meyer

Why this quote is meaningful is, we get stuck. We develop a fear that if we change, we may fail or mess up.

What will happen if we fail?  Doesn’t this really move us closer to success?  The more we fail the closer to success we are?

If you are doing the same thing every single day in your business and you are not getting the results you desire

You must change. It is the only way you have any chance of meeting or exceeding your goals.

What are some of the action steps you might consider doing right now to shake things up?

  • Start with your week. Begin to write down what you and your team (they may record their own for you) are doing every fifteen minutes of each day for a week straight.
  • Critically review your recorded list. Circle every item which is not a direct client contact or marketing effort. All of these items need to go. Either someone you hire needs to do them, or someone already working for you needs to do them from now on. Just not you any longer.
  • Clearly write out your goals for the year. There are nine months left to go. Share this information with your team.

Follow these action steps immediately. The payoff is virtually guaranteed.

Do you or your team know you need to hear tips and techniques just like these directly from Mitch Tublin? Increase your level of productivity and your business results immediately contact Mitch Tublin here www.thementorguy.com.

Filed Under: Achieve Goals, Business Strategy Tagged With: , , , , , ,