practice Archives - Dennis E. Gilbert

24
Aug 20
-

Increase Confidence Not Worry or Stress

Tags : increase confidence practice prepare stress worry

What would happen if you could increase confidence? Would that mean less worry and stress?

Sometimes the unknown makes us better.

My navigation system may not work in that remote location. I better study it on the map.

I’m giving a presentation to the committee. I should think through every question they might ask.

It’s been a while since I’ve done this. I better practice first.

Under-pressure is sometimes a way to get things done. It does provide a certain amount of motivation, determination, and commitment. However, under-pressure may create anxiety, unnecessary stress, and even panic.

Dress for success, rehearse the obstacles and freshen up on the skills. It’s true for the face-to-face meeting and it is true for the virtual meeting.

It is true for the job interview, how you’ll navigate change resistors, and even the chance encounter with the CEO.

Choose Confidence

Although many would argue that they lack choice, everyone has a choice for how they’ll manage worry and stress.

A simple course of action is preparation. Prepare.

Lacking confidence may mean that you haven’t appropriately prepared.

You haven’t prepared to drive 250 miles to an unfamiliar city and get to your destination on time.

It’s been a year since you created an Excel spreadsheet using complex formulas, and the CEO expects it tomorrow.

You didn’t run through your Powerpoint to consider what you might say about each slide.

Worry and stress.

Increase Confidence

Worry and stress are often built by not preparing.

When you prepare, you improve your confidence. You can rehearse and imagine the unexpected. It makes your work better.

It may be hard to cover every possible angle, yet, the more you cover in advance the higher your confidence.

Appropriate confidence has another perk.

Confidence sells.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

21
Aug 19
-

Creating Habits That Stick

Tags : change habits practice

Change out the bad habits for good ones. It is the simple expression that is believed to prompt change. Creating habits often requires a little more than a clever statement to prompt lasting change.

People are the product of what they do day-in and day-out. Habits are not always daily. They may be as much about hourly as they are about weekly.

Hanging out the holiday lights in November or December probably isn’t a habit, it is an event.

Running the vacuum a couple of times a week may be more about a habit.

Good Habits

When we want to learn more, it may be about our habits. Certainly, an open mind is part of it, but always seeking to discover more and asking yourself, “What did I learn?” may create a habit.

It is also true for drinking a couple of glasses of water each day, walking the dog, or answering all email messages within 24-hours.

Habits can become etiquette too. We sometimes refer to them as manners, yet manners are about our habits. Practice long enough and when in doubt, your habits will take over.

It is the, “when in doubt,” part that makes your habits so valuable. A change in habits means a change in you.

Creating Habits

Consider when you want to strike out with a rebuttal in the meeting. When a team member speaks and you choose not to listen. Perhaps, it is when you delay an email response because responding too soon implies, “I’m not busy.”

These are largely about bad habits. They are changeable situations. The positive change develops with practice.

You can do better work when you feel the threat of being passed over for a new opportunity, or you can adjust your habits to do something better each day.

Then make it stick.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

26
Apr 18
-

What Happens Next, You Always Decide

Tags : goals habits practice skills time

There are plenty of financial experts ready to help you plan your savings, your retirement, and where you’ll invest. The idea is that in that near the end, you’ll end up where you planned. What about your career? Do you have a plan for where you’ll end up? One thing is certain, what happens next is up to you.

More Than Work

Work is more than the labor that you can see or touch. It is more than the numbers on the spreadsheet, the product ready to ship, or the size of your sales funnel. Everyone in the workplace is also processing some level of emotional labor. It’s hard to measure and hard to see, but it is happening, every day.

What do you spend ten minutes on each day, how about twenty minutes?

Imagine if you spent ten minutes each day to study something unfamiliar, what would happen? Perhaps it is about best practices for your trade, management skills, or knowing more about the healthiest foods. It could be about auto repair, landscaping, or fixing the kitchen sink.

It doesn’t really matter if it is about business skills, hobby interests, or fitness. When you spend ten minutes each day working on it, learning something new, and practicing it you’ll become better.

What happens next? If you do it long enough, most likely you can become an expert.

Expert In What

Of course, there is always the other side of how you’ll spend ten minutes. You can spend ten minutes complaining about being short changed, how things are unfair, and that the boss is a jerk.

You can spend ten minutes reminding yourself of where you came up short, the mistake from yesterday, or how much money someone else is making.

Alternatively, you could spend ten minutes asking questions about why the woman down the hall is wearing jeans, why the outside salesman isn’t wearing a tie, or how long the boss will put up with a lack of accountability.

What Happens Next

A penny, a quarter, or a dollar only seem small until you collect one each day for five years. Ten minutes doesn’t seem like much until you add it up for the week, a month, or across a year or more.

The difference between who you are today and who you’ll become is based on how you spend your time. It is conditioned by your emotional labor. The product is you. Will you end up where you planned?

Bit by bit, what happens next, is entirely up to you.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a five-time author and some of his work includes, #CustServ The Customer Service Culture, and Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

Tag Archives: practice

Aug 20

-

Increase Confidence Not Worry or Stress

Choose Confidence

Increase Confidence

Aug 19

-

Creating Habits That Stick

Good Habits

Creating Habits

Apr 18

-

What Happens Next, You Always Decide

More Than Work

Expert In What

What Happens Next

Search This Website

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Blog (Filter) Categories

Facebook

Follow me on Twitter

Assessment Services and Tools

Recent Posts

Sweet Spot Is An Attempt To Please Everyone

Status Quo Defense, Is That Your Position?

Are Social Metrics Valuable or Just Hype?

Valued Services Are a Measurement Of The Customer

Beautiful Jobs, Have You Lost One or Found One?

Email Signup

Subscribe to newsletter

Contact Info