Author Archives: appreciative

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Job Perspective and Chances

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Does anyone really love what they do? The answer of course is, yes.

What about you?

Some people love what they do, but it isn’t their job. Others take pride in their work but they would never do it if it wasn’t for their paycheck. Still others insist that they could never do anything else. And still others just do what they have always done.

Maybe it is all about perspective. When you work from the belief that your only purpose for work is for pay, chances are you’ll love what you don’t do, what someone else does, or anything other than what you’re doing. When you are paid for what you love, chances are great that you’ll also love what you do.

Funny how things change sometimes, the person who encounters an unexpected job loss, debilitating injury, or sickness, would love to do the work that makes so many unhappy. Chances are—someone else loves your job, why not you?

Maybe it is all about perspective.

– DEG


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Legacy

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Legacy is a bold word. People sometimes don’t see or believe that each and every person has the opportunity to build some kind of legacy. It may seem small or insignificant, or it may seem larger than life. When you consider legacy, size doesn’t matter—does it?

Sure, being one the richest people on the planet, the President of a country, or a medical researcher who discovers a valuable cure may enable a rather notable legacy; but even ordinary people build them. There is that all important teacher you had in high school, that friend of a friend who created something special, there are aunts, uncles, mom’s and dad’s. We can go on, co-workers, a boss, you name it. People have the opportunity to build a legacy; but perhaps only when they choose to.

A legacy is handed down. It is a gift, a rite of passage. It can be knowledge, wisdom, or even something material, but it happens most when you make a conscious choice to build one.

What legacy are you building—or am I asking the wrong person?

– DEG


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Listen to Yourself

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Being positive is not a statement. Being positive is a mind-set.

So many people talk with me about motivation, positive thinking, and accomplishing dreams, but few really understand that being energized and positive is a mind-set, not a statement. Often people will tell me that they are “trying to stay positive,” or “think positive.”  Sure the concept of pushing towards the positive is, well, positive; however it is not the same as actually changing your life with a positive mind-set.

You can’t fake mind-set and you can’t, “fake it to make it,” when it comes to being positive. A focus on past negative experiences, dreading some upcoming event or activity, or chronically discussing everything that is wrong in the world with anyone who will listen is not a positive mind-set.

Not feeling particularly positive?

Listen to yourself.

– DEG


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Acceleration and Mistakes

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If you’re moving fast chances are good you’re making some mistakes. The question then becomes, does your speed gain you enough ground to make up for the errors?

TrafficJam-ByMattLemmon

It seems nearly everyone is concerned about time, concerned about pace, speed, shortcuts, slow pokes, traffic jams, age, and when they’ll finish whatever it is that they have started. The meaning of success is in our individual ideology; success is different for everyone, but what about time?  When you measure time it is the same for everyone, when you measure accomplishments it is different for everyone.

Success then, across a continuum of time is based on productivity, efficiency, and results. If you apply that logic it would seem that it is not about time, but it is about the quality of your use. Mistakes are valued by learners, learners take steps to improve, and quality ultimately comes from learning from your mistakes.

The best news may not always be the easiest. If life seems too short, or you’re spending too much time worrying about your mistakes, it probably means you’re just not going fast enough. 

– DEG

Photo Credit: Matt Lemmon


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Create Demand

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Nearly everyone has probably heard or commented on the idea that some people look for or take the “easy road.” It is that view on choices, outcomes, and life that appear to be simple, less obstructed, and a shortcut. Despite some of the obvious outcomes of the easy road, one that is not so obvious is that easy, provides little value.

When someone needs help with a tough assignment, a problem they’re not so skilled at solving, or a circumstance where they have no experience, they look for someone who can help. This is not the easy road kind of person, it is the person who can and is willing to do the tough stuff, with this there is value, and where there is value there is demand.

Be the person who can, and does, the tough stuff. You’ll be paid more, valued more, and perhaps most important—in demand.

– DEG


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Speed and Choice

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Decisions aren’t always about hurry, rush, and fast action. Many people believe and feel that time is beating them. They have the knowledge, the skill, and the ability to do more, be more, and get more but time prevents progress. Fast choices and quick decisions are often claimed to be made by experience or gut feel.

SpeedOfLightByTobias

Have you been to see your doctor, had your car in for repair, or considered purchasing something special for yourself? Decisions and choices made quickly and based on experience can sometimes be the worst choices of all. A wrong diagnoses, back in the repair shop again, and buyer’s remorse. Even experts can easily be mistaken by self-deception and false perceptions.

Back to the issue of time, often the best choices are made with careful analysis, time for the data and our experience to settle in, take shape, and balance emotion with reality.

Ask the Vegas bride, the boss who fired the best employee, and the person selling their current model year car, sometimes the best decisions aren’t fast.

– DEG

Photo Credit: Tobias


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Compared to…

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Comparison conversations often lack the comparison. My way is better, his business is better, she has a better job, and they have a better house, car, boat, and life. There’s more, this tastes better, these shoes are more comfortable, and her hair looks better. Compared to what?

SoccerballsByStevenDepolo

Some comparisons occur because of the difference of what we have, want, or need. Other comparisons come with the price of judgment, bias, and envy. Still other comparisons are believed to measure health, wealth, or happiness. Compared to what?

Discovering your success may be a comparison, but it should always be compared to your goal.

– DEG

Photo Credit: Steven Depolo


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Accelerate Reality

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It is part of a commercial that many would recognize, it is part of the discussion before the big sports game, and it is something that successful people consciously or unconsciously need in order to perform at their best. It’s getting in the zone! Whether you are getting in the zone at AutoZone, concentrating on your personal performance (work or play), or accelerating your results in any capacity, you have to get in the zone.

You are in the zone when you are so deeply connected with your thoughts, actions, and perhaps physical abilities that you are unstoppable, unflappable, and overwhelmingly confident. I often suggest to people that you cannot fake mind-set; in fact mind-set has a lot to do with my writing in the 2014 book release, Pivot and Accelerate. You cannot simply tell yourself you are going to get on the fast track to your personal or business best; you have to truly believe it.

One sure fire way to accelerate your results it to let go of self-limiting beliefs, those beliefs that make you say or think, “ok, but,” or “only if,” or worse yet, “possibly, but.”  These are self-limiting beliefs. Sure, you have to reach for your goals in steps and you can’t just wish or think them into existence, you must have appropriate action.

Something else I’m certain of; if you don’t believe in your mind, heart, and soul that it can happen, nobody else is going to believe it either. Worse yet, you will never reach the goal that you claim you desire.

If you believe it, then I believe it, and then everybody believes it.

Better yet, you’ll achieve it—believe it.

– DEG


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You Can’t Fake It

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When you want to have a great day you try to convince yourself to think positive.

FakeMustacheBY-StevenDepolo

When you strive to get the sale, close a deal, acquire a new customer, or start a new business relationship you approach it by being positive.

When you see a doctor, a dentist, or prepare your annual income tax return you seek positive results.

There is at least one problem with thinking positive: you can’t fake mind-set.

When people tell me they are going to be positive, think positive, or stay positive they most likely have already introduced their negativity. They include in many of their sentences words like: can’t, won’t, and never. Positivity is a state of mind, it is a mind-set, and it is not something you do like walking the dog, loading the dishwasher, or shopping for groceries.  

When business enterprises tell me they need help with leadership development, strategy, developing employee teams, and improving communication they should recognize that while their diagnoses sounds like it is task driven, it is often mind-set or culture that produces a the end result.

You can act more positive, think more positive, and even create a more positive environment, but when you can’t seem to get there, someone might suggest you just fake it, but you’ll never fake mind-set.

– DEG

Photo Credit: Steven Depolo


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Accelerate Now!

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Talking about it is easy. Doing it requires action. Fear, concern, and even confidence may lead to procrastination or hesitation, neither of which is consistent with people or businesses that are on the move. You can’t just talk about it; you have to do it.

Jet-ByPeterGronemann

Acceleration is not for the weak. It takes courage and mind-set to grab on to your direction and take action. Many people I speak with, individuals or business leaders suggest that they are “doing okay” and that they have a plan moving forward. A plan is great, but it takes action, accelerated action.

Ask yourself these questions:

  1. Is the momentum moving in the right direction?
  2. Can I afford to let someone else get there first?
  3. Has the opportunity peaked?

If the answer to any one (or more) of these questions is, no, then you cannot afford to wait. The difference for most people who are persistent in their pursuit and become successful is knowing when and how to accelerate to maximize their opportunities. Acceleration may sometimes feel scary, but your opportunity needs to be significant enough to draw you in, get you hooked, and pull you forward. If it isn’t a little scary you probably haven’t dug deep enough, reached far enough, or dreamed big enough.

– DEG

Photo Credit: Peter Gronemann


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