1. An executive is only a leader if people choose to follow. How can you tell whether people are following or just doing their job?
2. Everyone says leadership is important, but why does it make a difference?
3. If an executive produces a good bottom line are they a good leader?

I think the first question is one that most leaders rarely ask but should. Unless you understand and observe the distinction between people who are following and those just doing their job, it becomes easy to have the misconception that you are being effective as a leader, even though the reality may be quite different.

When people are just “doing their job”, they are essentially just doing enough work to keep their job. They’ll do what’s asked of them – but generally no more. They’ll do a good job performing their tasks and fulfilling their responsibilities – but nothing notable. They’re not argumentative or confrontational – but they’re not passionate either. Basically, they do a good job. But there’s a big difference between doing a good job and doing a great job.

In contrast, when people are following a leader, they become engaged and enthusiastic in their work. When a leader builds a team that is enthused and engaged, remarkable things happen. They take pride in their work and regularly strive to improve the efficiency and quality of their work. Instead of simply putting in the time to complete their tasks and fulfill their responsibilities, they make an effort to accelerate their progress, going the extra mile to be the best they can be and producing the best results. Apathy falls to the wayside and people begin to care – not only about the quality of their work, but in their ability to make a difference.

Rest assured, if your team is simply going through the motions, they’re just doing their job.

The second question – the one about why and how leadership makes a difference – is also an important question that rarely gets asked. I’ve reflected on the answer to this question for years and I’ve been able to distill it down to one simple statement. “Eliciting excellence is the essence of leadership.” A great leader doesn’t directly produce great results. Instead, they work to bring out the best in the people they lead who, in turn, produce great results.

The key then, is to understand how a leader accomplishes that. Bringing out the best in people is accomplished in a number of ways. I believe a key to eliciting excellence is to adopt a coach-like approach to leadership. This approach is one of listening and asking good questions. A leader who is committed to bringing out the best in people promotes independent thought and personal growth, creates opportunities to develop people to their fullest, respects each person (which in turn earns their respect), and develops a vision which attracts and aligns people.

The third question about whether someone is a good leader if they produce good results arose as a consequence of a comment made during one of the LinkedIn discussions. The commenter’s contention was that an executive’s responsibility was to produce the desired results for the shareholders and was therefore a good leader if they achieved those results. My issue with that perspective is that, although a leader is responsible for achieving the desired results, if those results are achieved at the expense of the team, then the effort and the results aren’t sustainable. Consequently, I don’t believe that just because an executive achieves results he or she is necessarily a good leader.

So then, how does one become a more effective leader? There are many factors that go into making someone a good leader, but here are some of the more important ones:

Integrity: Acting with integrity means doing what you say you’re going to do and being true to your stated values. Consistency of action creates trust and respect, which allows a leader to inspire, motivate, and influence.

Respect: Showing respect for others is essential. Human nature is to respect those who show respect for us. Without earning the respect of followers, leadership is ineffective.

Transparency: Being transparent means being who you say you are. We need to avoid putting on the façade of someone we’re not. People eventually see right through a façade and if they find a different person, we lose credibility.

Vulnerability: Being vulnerable means admitting when you don’t know the answer and/or when you’ve made a mistake. People respect someone who acknowledges their weaknesses along with their strengths.

Development: People appreciate being valued and appreciate when someone thinks highly enough of them to invest their time in developing them. When we invest in others it creates the feeling in them – almost an obligation – to invest in you and your vision.

In conclusion, most people will do a good job regardless of whether an executive is an effective leader. The art of leadership is getting people to be and do their best. Good efforts produce good results. Great efforts produce great results. The challenge we each have as leaders is to be mindful of how engaged and enthusiastic our team is, and then to be honest enough with ourselves to admit when the reality is less than we’d like.

The third benefit of being highly productive is often overlooked.  And that benefit is that being productive sets an example for the rest of our team.  Generally, we tend to focus on our words and actions during “important” events such as meetings or speeches, but the truth is that people observe us all the time, even in our “insignificant moments”.  In fact, the impact we have during those important exchanges is always colored by the image we’ve painted over time with our words and actions in those “insignificant moments”.  Consequently, how we attain high productivity is as important as the productivity itself.  Sacrificing one’s personal life, health and family isn’t the most admirable example to set.

The key, therefore, is to become highly productive and at the same time, reduce stress and set the example you’d like duplicated by your team.  There have been scores of books written and courses taught about time management.  The strategies promoted focus on things like prioritization, list-making, and calendar management.  And most of them make sense except for one thing.

I don’t know anyone who’s achieved sustained productivity using these methods.

Don’t get me wrong – prioritization and creating lists are important factors to becoming highly productive.  But unless another critical factor is addressed, all the prioritization and list-making in the world won’t help.  And that issue is energy.  The issue of personal energy management has garnered growing attention in the last years.  It’s something I’ve done intuitively for many years and is nicely supported in a book entitled, “The Power of Full Engagement” by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz.

The energy I’m referring to has four components to it, and the management of that energy pertains to our ability to maintain and replenish those reserves.  These four energy reserves are Physical, Emotional, Mental and Inspirational.  Addressing each reserve is essential for high productivity.  Let me briefly discuss each energy reserve and then offer some strategies to help keep them buoyed up.

Our physical energy affects our ability to push forward.  It helps our drive and our self-discipline.  It improves the functioning of our organs, which, in turn, allow us to get oxygen to our brain, nutrition into our body, and toxins out of our body.  If you’ve ever had a “mid-afternoon crash”, then you’ve experienced the impact a low physical reserve can have on productivity.

Our emotional energy impacts our ability to deal with stress, to communicate well, to think clearly, and to interact with others effectively.  It’s not uncommon to become short with people when we’re feeling stressed or tense (which is caused by a low emotional reserve).

Our mental energy affects our ability to think clearly, to concentrate and focus, to solve problems, and to be creative.  Clearly, a low mental reserve hampers productivity.

And finally, our inspirational energy is the fuel that motivates us.  It is our passion, purpose, and inspiration that spark self-discipline, extra effort, and new direction.  In the absence of motivation and inspiration, we end up just going through the motions.  Low inspirational energy saps the productive juices right out of us.

Maintaining our reserves is critical if we’re to be highly productive on a consistent basis.  I like to draw an analogy to a four-legged stool whenever I discuss the topic of energy management.  We’re all familiar with the analogy of a three-legged stool.  All three legs need to be present in order to use the stool.  Without all three legs the stool is useless.  But the story is different with a four-legged stool.  Unlike the three-legged stool, a four-legged stool can still be used even if one of the legs is missing.  A person can sit on a four-legged stool missing a leg by exerting a bit of effort and balance.  It’s not especially comfortable and requires an ongoing expenditure of energy to maintain.  But it is functional.  The same goes for our four energy reserves.  We can function even if one of our reserves is depleted or all four reserves aren’t at the same level, but it’s inefficient, draining, and can’t be sustained for very long.

It’s not that difficult to maintain relatively high reserves, but it does take some intentional effort.  There are a number of very effective steps that can be taken to recharge your reserves.  Here are a few of them:

1. Take breaks throughout the day.  Break every 2-2.5 hours to recharge and rejuvenate.  What you do during those breaks makes a difference.
2. Eat “strategically”.  Eat about six times a day.  Make sure to balance protein, carbohydrates and fats.
3. Maintain your attitude.  If you don’t decide what goes into your head, someone else will.  Introduce positives and eliminate negatives.
4. Get restful sleep.  Avoid caffeine late in the day – it really does work to keep you awake.  Avoid eating a big meal late in the evening – your body can’t rest if it’s working hard to digest.

Don’t be fooled by the simplicity of these strategies.  For years they’ve allowed me to accomplish about 50% more than most people do.  Managing your energy reserves combined with prioritization of tasks will make you a productivity superstar.

Blind spots can severely impact an executive’s strategic vision, their course of action, and their rate of success. They impact decision-making and creativity (or lack thereof) in solving problems and they act to limit the strategic initiatives we are willing to consider. They even affect how we relate to others – hampering our leadership effectiveness, our political adeptness, and our executive presence.

It doesn’t matter what our experience in life or in business has been, what our background is, our age, level of education, or intelligence. We’re all subject to blind spots. Executives, like everyone else, acquire blind spots from life, but as leaders, they suffer additional blind spots caused by their need to operate within the corporate environment.

Blind spots show up in our beliefs, our thoughts, and our actions. These beliefs are self-limiting and are often at odds with the goals we say we want to achieve. Our beliefs are formed – good or bad, limiting or expansive – as we develop from children into adulthood. We formulate these beliefs from the stories we invent as we seek to explain events. Unfortunately, we view these events through the lens of immaturity and without having all the facts. These flawed stories act to limit us and sometimes even come to define us. The key to moving past these limiting beliefs is to replace them with beliefs formed from fresh perspectives.

When it comes to our thoughts, the same thinking that got us where we are can’t take us further. If we keep thinking in the same way, we’ll keep coming up with the same kinds of solutions. Our thinking becomes stagnant without outside stimulation. The only way to expand one’s thinking is to seek out new perspectives, which of course, come from reading and seeking outside input.

When we get attached to the process of how we imagine success will be attained we become blind to other possibilities. And when that happens, we’re like a fly incessantly beating its wings against a pane of glass trying to reach its goal. It doesn’t matter how hard we try if we’re pursuing success in the wrong way. When we’re not willing to consider other courses of action, we limit our success. How does one distinguish between dogged determination and blindness? It usually requires input from an outside, unbiased source.

Blind spots within the corporate world arise from two sources. The first source is corporate culture – corporate culture in a general sense as well as the specific “culture” of an organization. We hold beliefs about how organizations should function, how they should be structured, and which behaviors are valued. Every organization has its own special culture – either by design or by default. And while a corporate culture can be an asset, it often acts to create blind spots with executives. The second source of executive blind spots arising from the corporate world stems from the need of leaders to achieve productivity through others. As executives, we run the risk of our thoughts and beliefs being influenced by the thoughts and beliefs of the people under our guidance.

Breaking free of limiting thoughts and beliefs is essential for achieving the results we want, however, there are some inherent challenges in releasing blind spots. Many blind spots are so deeply ingrained within our make-up, we’re no longer aware they control us. Without outside perspective, these beliefs appear to be truths. It’s important to keep in mind that generally these limiting beliefs are YOUR truths rather than THE truth.

It is critical that we identify and release the self-limiting blind spots which hold us back if real progress is to be made. To that end, it requires outside perspective and input from someone who can point out what we can’t see for ourselves.

One evening I was outside enjoying a cigar on the patio of the resort hotel.  The weather was beautiful and the atmosphere was vibrant with relaxed resort-goers.  There were palm trees, a balmy breeze, and soft music playing in the background.  The resort had fire pits lit as the evening air cooled down.  The building was dramatic with 2-story high windows and accent lighting washed the outside walls, adding to the feeling of opulence.  In addition, there were plenty of friendly, attentive staff.

The bottom line was that the whole experience was memorable and notable.  It wasn’t any one thing that created the feeling.  Everything worked in harmony to create the experience.

So here’s the question…

“What is the experience your clients have when they work with you?”

Do they feel important or do they feel like an account number?  Do they feel appreciated or taken for granted?  Do they feel that they’re someone on the inside, or do they feel like everyone else?  Is working with you easy and comfortable, or do they need to do things “just so” in order to get the full benefit?

In short, you need to take a step back and examine what your clients and customers “experience”.  A smart business strategy is to give prospects, clients and customers the best experience possible.  It’s not simply having good systems in place – it’s about the “feeling” that the person gets.

Enhance the experience and you enhance the value.  Enhance the value and you enhance your bottom line.

The first benefit, obviously, is to the person being developed. When we help someone expand their skill set and knowledge base, we make them more valuable and more versatile, which in turn, instills a sense of pride. Instilling pride in work and workmanship is a cornerstone of the foundation for eliciting excellence. In addition, we demonstrate our belief in them, their abilities, and their potential. This in turn nurtures loyalty and responsiveness towards you.

The next way that developing people elicits excellence is the impact on our team. When individual members of a team grow their abilities and stretch themselves, they in turn inspire others to do the same. Even though you may not have personally worked with each member of your team (although hopefully you will at some point), the people you developed act as examples of what is possible, which if you have the right people on your team, will act to motivate others to take the initiative to improve themselves for the betterment of their future and the benefit of the organization.

The third manner in which developing others brings forth excellence lies within us. By mastering the art of developing people, we become more skilled in our communication abilities, more effective in our leadership, and more leveraged in our efforts. All of these benefits act to make us more productive, more creative and more confident, thereby eliciting excellence.

Given the impact and far-reaching implications of developing others, it is critical to master this important function. At the heart of this effort lies the leadership style of “coaching”. Adopting a “coach-like” attitude and manner is the fastest and most effective means of developing others.

What does a coaching style of leadership look like? Being “coach-like” embodies a number of competencies and strategies, all of which interlock and work in conjunction with one another. The first concept to acknowledge is the power of asking rather than telling. Many of us, in an effort to help someone “get it right” (and in the name of expediency), tell others what to do and how to do it. And while this does get the work done, it does little to develop the other person, their skill set, and their confidence.

The alternative, “coach-like” approach, is to ask. Instead of starting off by telling them what to do, ask them what they would do and how they would do it. This strategy serves a number of very important functions. Firstly, it demonstrates that you have an interest in what they have to say. When you listen to what someone is telling you, it acts as a sign of respect. It demonstrates that you value what they have to say. The next benefit of asking is that their answers will give you a sense of how they think. The answers will reveal their level of insight and judgment, and will illustrate their problem-solving abilities. And lastly, listening to the answers to your questions will provide clues as to how best to help them develop. It helps you understand which aspects of development they need help and guidance with.

When you choose to develop people this way, it creates the opportunity to mentor them, rather than to simply “train” them. Training is good for technical matters and knowledge acquisition, but if you also want to develop someone’s judgment, you need to share your insights, improve their thought processes, help them understand better ways to approach problem-solving, and basically give them the benefit of your experience.

In addition to adopting a coach-like approach with people, practicing effective delegation is essential. Effective delegation consists of choosing the right tasks to delegate, choosing the right people to delegate to, delegating in such a way that the person grows from the experience, and making sure the work gets done accurately and in a timely manner.

In a nutshell, here is what all of that means…
“Choosing the right task to delegate” – Generally, any task which doesn’t require judgment is a good task to delegate. Also, if one of your goals is to develop a person’s judgment, then choose a non-crucial task requiring some judgment.

“Choosing the right people” – The right person to delegate to is dependent upon their present skill set, their level of self-confidence, their openness to growth, and their level of ambition. Clearly, choosing the right people is an art rather than a science.

“Helping the person grow from the experience” – The success of this is contingent upon using a coach-like approach when delegating. Once you’ve clearly explained what needs to get done, ask questions to not only ascertain whether they understand what’s required, but also to see their thinking process as it pertains to the task at hand.

“Ensuring an accurate and timely completion” – It is essential to let someone know when a task is to be completed and to hold them accountable for its completion. The more important the task, the more critical it becomes to provide ongoing feedback with course corrections. This, of course, will ensure that the work is completed in a timely and accurate fashion, but also demonstrates your integrity by following through on the things you said were important to you.

By effectively developing others, you elevate everyone. As people grow and stretch, their value and their sense of pride expand, which in turn, elicits excellence from them and the entire organization.

Attendance to the Summit is FREE and you can listen to the programs online. By attending this virtual event, you’ll get loads of innovative ideas and strategies for becoming a more effective leader – all from the comfort of your home or office.

Take a minute, and visit this website to learn more.
www.ElicitingExcellence.com

Act now while it’s on your mind. It starts on October 11.
And this is one event, you don’t want to miss…

See if this scenario sounds familiar.  You decide to work towards some new level of accomplishment.  So you set a goal for yourself.  Actually, you probably set a few goals.  The first goal you set is for the end result.  Your goal might be to reach a certain level of sales, or to drop X pounds, or to build a sales team of a certain size.  You get the idea…

Next, you set an activity goal.  No… more like 2 or even 3 activity goals.  Because you know what it will take to succeed and you’re “committed” to your success.  So you have one or more daily activity goals, maybe a weekly activity goal, and perhaps even a monthly activity goal.

But after a month passes, not much has changed.  Things started out pretty strong, but then… well… you know… life got in the way.  Things just seemed to spring up, derailing your plan.

So then you decide to set S.M.A.R.T. goals.  S.M.A.R.T. goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Specific.  Logically, these make sense.  What more could you ask for from a goal?  But of course, they don’t work for us.  After all, our original goals weren’t THAT different from a set of SMART goals.

And then there’s the strategy of creating a prioritized list to keep us focused and on track.  How perfect is that?  Make a list of all the things that have to get done and then decide which ones have highest priority, which ones come next, and so on and so forth.  The only problem is that half our time is spent re-prioritizing our list and the other half is spent justifying why a lower priority task should be done first.  Besides, “stuff” always gets in the way – interruptions and distractions.

So although setting goals seems like it should work, it doesn’t.  This brings us to the question of why goal setting doesn’t work.  Why is it that when a sales agent creates a marketing plan for the coming year, the result is that nothing really changes?  Why is it that so many people set “New Year’s Resolutions” only to fall back into old habits?

The reason is that although most people basically know what to “do”, they either 1) lack the motivation to do what needs to be done or 2) they wrestle with “conflicting intentions and beliefs”.  Only by being sufficiently self motivated and by being free of internal conflict can goals be achieved.  Most people “put the cart before the horse” by setting goals before they’re truly committed to making a change.

Self motivation is powerful but often elusive.  The challenge with becoming motivated is moving from the “logical” to the “emotional”.  For example, logically it makes sense to lose weight and get fit, but the reason most folks struggle with their weight and their fitness is that they’re not emotionally motivated for self improvement.

Someone who’s emotionally self motivated won’t let distractions and interruptions knock them off course.  When we’re self motivated, we’re driven to achieve our goals.  We’re enthusiastic about them.  Putting in action to achieve goals we’re motivated to achieve energizes us.  In contrast, putting in activity to work on something we’re not motivated to do is draining. (Hence we tend to avoid doing it.)

Then we come to the issue of “conflicting intentions”.  The concept of “conflicting intentions and beliefs” is important to understand.  This is one of the main reasons – if not THE main reason – that people don’t succeed in reaching their goals.  Let me explain more about this concept.  A person has a conflicting intention when they say or want one thing, but in their head or their heart, they want or believe something else.  For example, they might declare that their goal is to make $250,000, but secretly they don’t really believe they could ever make that amount of money.  Or they believe they’re not “worthy” of making that kind of money.  Or they believe that the effort to have the level of success would overwhelm them.  Or they believe that people who make a lot of money are superficial and materialistic.

The consequence of harboring conflicting intentions is that every action, every activity, and every effort is “energetically” counteracted.  In other words, the positive gains from one’s efforts are canceled out by the conflicting or negative energy, resulting in an outcome that is “OK”, but not nearly what it could or should have been.  This principle affects everything in our life – money, relationships, success, you name it…

The bottom line is that setting goals and working towards them often will be a frustrating exercise until one is truly motivated for self improvement and has cleared out any major conflicting intentions and beliefs.  When you’re self motivated and not in conflict, you’ll reach your goals faster and easier than you ever thought possible.

This idea of being “normal” starts to take hold in high school.  There begins to form this desire to “fit in” – to be part of a group.  Or at least, not be singled out as someone who “doesn’t fit in”.  Along with that comes the desire to be an “insider”.  This need to belong and to be an insider can be very strong for many people.

Although the challenges and insecurities from our high school days are long gone, that need to belong – to be part of the group – to be accepted – to belong – can still be very strong.  There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be accepted and/or wanting to fit in, but when this “wanting” turns to “needing”, it becomes detrimental to a person’s success.

This often occurs when a person has an “external frame of reference” rather than an “internal frame of reference”.  Having an external frame of reference means looking outside of one’s self to determine the truth of things.  Things like right vs. wrong, appropriate vs. inappropriate, and successful vs. unsuccessful.  When a person has an external frame of reference, they look to others for approval.  They base their self-worth and their self-image on what others think and say about them.

Conversely, having an internal frame of reference means looking within one’s self to determine the truth of things; to determine right vs. wrong, appropriate vs. inappropriate, and successful vs. unsuccessful.  When a person has an internal frame of reference, they don’t look to others for approval.  I’m not saying recognition and acknowledgment aren’t meaningful to someone with an internal frame of reference.  I’m simply saying that they aren’t the driving forces for their actions.  Someone with an internal frame of reference bases their self-worth and their self-confidence on what they know to be true about themselves.

Which brings us back to the idea of being “normal”.  Most people consider themselves to be “normal” and consequently most groups of people consider themselves to be “normal”.  Therefore, in order to remain part of the group, one needs to remain “normal”.

And being “normal” – by definition – means being “average”.  Consequently, many people – in an attempt to fit in and belong – spend their lives striving to be average.  Sometimes they do it consciously and sometimes they do it unconsciously.  Sometimes it’s done by intent and sometimes inadvertently.  But it happens nonetheless…

A person is striving to be average (or “normal”) when they work hard to meet a quota rather than exceed it.  A person is striving to be average when they purposely minimize themselves and their dreams so that their associates, family and/or friends don’t belittle them for dreaming big.  A person strives to be average by “playing it safe” – not in terms of taking physical or financial risks, but in terms of taking the risks inherent in hoping for, dreaming of, and working towards the things that would set you apart from the others.

It takes courage to break away from “normal”; to separate oneself from the crowd.  You risk not fitting in and not being accepted by the group of people you’ve been a part of.  You risk feeling embarrassed if you don’t achieve your goals when you said you would.  You risk being disappointed and frustrated.

But when you reach your goals – when you realize your dreams – you will know that you are not “normal”.  You will not be average.  And interestingly enough, you will find that you’ve become part of a new, different group.  You will be part of a group that is not “normal”.  You will be part of a group that knows that each member is not “average”.

Mark Twain once said, “Keep away from people who belittle your ambitions.  Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”

The decision to separate yourself from the crowd comes from a within.  It arises from a desire to realize one’s full potential and a resolve to take responsibility for one’s future.  It doesn’t matter what others say or do or think.  None of them pay your bills.  None of them have your dreams.

Sometimes it’s a lonely path.  Sometimes it’s hard.  Sometimes it’s frustrating.  But one thing is true for sure.  It’s always worthwhile.

I know what it’s like to try to fit in.  I know what it’s like to try to be normal.  I used to have an external frame of reference.

But I changed.  I stopped trying to fit in.  I stopped trying to be average and I started striving for excellence.  I started setting bigger and bigger dreams and goals.  I started associating with other successful people.  I don’t fit in very well with people who are “normal”.  I never have.  But I’ve come to realize that I fit in with people who are extraordinary.

So stop trying to be normal.  Come and join me instead…

Let’s start with a discussion of how stress affects our work and our leadership.  You’ve probably thought of a couple of consequences of stress already, but I’ve identified five areas of significant negative impact from stress.

When you suffer from continued stress, you will see a marked drop in:

•    Health
•    Energy
•    Patience
•    Creativity
•    Productivity

Health – As stress settles into our lives, it begins to take a physical toll on our bodies and our health.  High levels of stress can cause heart problems, weight gain, headaches, and sleeplessness.  It often affects the balance in our life.  By focusing strictly on our work or our challenging situation, and neglecting our health, eventually the Universe will swing the pendulum the other way for us.  In other words, we’ll become unhealthy and essentially be forced to care for ourselves (and sometimes have to neglect/abandon our work).  Talk about a drop in productivity and a shift in time management!

Energy – Stress in an energy drain.  If you’ve ever been or presently are under a lot of stress, you know how it just saps the energy right out of you.  Your ambition drops, your stamina declines, and your focus isn’t anywhere to be found.

Patience – We all know that when we are feeling stressed, our patience can go right out the window.  Since leadership is a matter of effectively relating to others, our leadership competencies often get “high-jacked” whenever we feel stress/pressure.  Since much of a leader’s productivity is a result of the effort of others, productivity and long-term leadership effectiveness can suffer greatly when we experience long periods of high stress.

Creativity – The creative process takes place in the neo-cortex of the brain, while emotions (like stress) are processed in the amygdala.  Here’s the challenge we face:  When our brain is focused in the amygdala, it essentially blocks out our ability to properly tap into our creative processes.  It’s like when we hear someone who’s stressed say, “I’m so angry I can’t think straight!”  High stress blocks the creative process and hampers logical thinking.

Productivity – Our productivity drops significantly when we’re under stress.  We don’t think clearly, we get overly tired early in the day, our self-discipline drops, and we aren’t able to concentrate.

So what can we do about all this?

In my workshops, I’ll ask participants for examples of stress-causing situations or events.  They’re always eager to offer real-life examples of stressful events.  (Some examples may have already popped into your head as you read this.)  But the reality is that there are no stressful situations!  It’s how we react to events and circumstances that cause us stress.  I guarantee that I can find someone who will not be stressed out by a situation that causes you to feel stress.  This is an important point…

It’s not what happens to you that creates stress, it’s how you react to what happens to you that causes stress.

It only stands to reason then, that we have the ability to reduce or eliminate our feelings of stress.  They’re not a “given”.  You’re not obligated to feel stress, even if everyone around you feels stress.  You are free to choose to experience your circumstances in any way you want.  The question then, is how to affect how we experience the events in our life.  Here is a list of things that can help change the way you are able to deal with the challenges in your life and to minimize or eliminate the feelings of stress.

1.    Exercise
2.    Meditation
3.    Diet & Nutrition
4.    Sleep
5.    Perspective
6.    Attitude
7.    Play

1. Exercise: OK, OK, we’ve all heard about the benefits of exercise, but not always as it relates to the feelings of stress.  When we work our muscles and our heart, we release the tensions held in our bodies.  When we store tension, it causes fatigue, headaches, pains, and makes it hard to concentrate.

2. Meditation: Meditating allows us to gain intuitive insights and helps us gain new perspectives.  Meditation does not have to mean sitting quietly and chanting (unless you want to).  Meditation is about quieting the mind and eliminating the “chatter” we have running in our heads.  There are a number of ways to accomplish this.  It can be through classic seated meditation or through active methods.  One of the classic forms of meditation is archery!  For you, it may mean walking in nature, immersing yourself in a hobby, quietly listening to classical or new age music, or meditating in some other way that works for you – your own approach to meditating.

3. Diet & Nutrition: When our energy is low, our patience and our creativity drop, and our stress level rises.  When are nutrition is lacking, it affects our blood sugar level , which in turn, causes us to deprive our brain and our muscles of necessary energy.  Eating balanced meals (protein, carbohydrates & fats) maximizes energy levels and therefore productivity.  Cut out fast foods and junk foods, and don’t skip meals.  Additionally, since the nutrient value of the foods we eat is nowhere near what it used to be years ago (that’s a whole other discussion…), it’s important to take a high-quality vitamin-mineral supplement or eat SuperFoods.  Think of it has Health Ensurance instead of needing Health Insurance!

4. Sleep: Besides the obvious requirement for sleep in order to have a good energy level, I’ve noticed that when I don’t get enough sleep over a few nights, my outlook on the future and on the possibilities for success drop noticeably, which causes the feelings of stress to rise.  I have found this to be true with other people as well and maybe you’re one of them.  Getting sufficient sleep is critical for high productivity, high energy, positive attitude, and high creativity.

5. Perspective: A smart way to manage your level of stress is to keep those stress-causing events in perspective.  Very few incidents put our life or our health in jeopardy.  Give yourself credit for having the ability to figure out a solution if things don’t go as planned and let your feelings of stress drop.  And by the way, … learn from your mistakes.

6. Attitude: A major factor in determining the level of stress we feel from a situation depends on one’s attitude.  We live in a world where we’re literally bombarded by messages day and night.  Unfortunately many, if not most, of those messages are negative.  Therefore, in order to protect our attitude we need to regulate what we see and hear as much as possible.  First off, cut out the negatives.  Stop watching and listening to the news, stop reading the newspaper cover to cover, and avoid negative people who are pessimistic or who belittle your goals, dreams, or abilities.  Then, add positives.  Read personal growth books – books that help you adopt new success attitudes and habits, or books about people you admire.  Listen to tapes or CD’s which do the same.  (Two of my favorite sources for these programs are: www.nightingale.com  and www.success.com )

Protecting your attitude is one of the best things you can do to lower stress and ensure your success.

7. Play: Sometimes the best way to break out of the cycle of stress is to stop working and start playing.  Take a break and do something fun.  (Don’t confuse “fun” with “pleasurable”.  They’re not always the same.  Make sure that what you do isn’t self-destructive.)  Whether it’s a hobby, a sport, a get-away, or a simple diversion, taking a break and taking your mind off your circumstances can really help you get things under control.

Working to effectively minimize or even eliminate stress will have a significant impact not only on your health, but on your creativity, energy levels, people skills and relationships.  The most productive people I know have learned to deal with events in their lives in such a way as not to feel much stress.  It’s not that they are indifferent, thick-skinned, or robots.  Instead, they’ve developed “rituals” to deal with situations that might cause others to feel stress.  They carefully guard their attitude and their energy levels, along with having a clear sense of priorities.

If you want to be at the top of your game, spend the time to determine which “rituals” help you to alleviate stressful feelings and be committed to taking care of yourself.  I have a Zen Buddhist saying on the wall of my office which says, “Live half for yourself, and half for others.”  It’s a good philosophy to live by.

Being grateful means enjoying and being appreciative of the things we have in our lives. Don’t get me wrong. It’s good to strive to be better and to have more success, but it’s just as important to be happy for and to appreciate those people, things, and circumstances that exist in our life at this very moment. When we look for ways to be grateful, we find the opportunities that others miss. Often we take for granted much in our life because we’re either blind to their existence or don’t even realize that we have something that others – sometimes many others – don’t have. Let me share a personal experience with you to illustrate my point.

A number of years ago, I was disillusioned with the United States and ended up with an opportunity to live and work overseas. I was thrilled and it thoroughly turned out to be the experience of a lifetime. During my three years abroad I met people from all around the world – people from different cultures who had different views and beliefs. They all, of course, came from different countries with different governments, different customs, and different laws. I began to learn about the rest of our world and how people live. Little by little I came to a profound realization. I slowly came to realize that for all its faults, the United States is the greatest country in the world. I don’t agree with many of the policies our government has nor do I agree with a number of the actions our government has taken. However, that being said, I am extremely grateful for everything we have here in the U.S. I’m grateful for the freedoms we have (and the challenges they bring). I’m grateful for the wisdom that the founders of our country had in structuring our government with checks and balances, with freedom of speech, and with the separation of church and State. Even in the face of all the dysfunction that exists in the U.S., all the political maneuvering that exists and the occasional dishonesty that surfaces, I’m grateful for what we have here in the U.S.

Having gratitude affects how I experience life.

When a person is grateful for what they have – even though it’s often not all they want to have – they gain the ability to see the positive in pretty much every circumstance. And that, in turn, allows them to see the opportunities that exist. When a person doesn’t have an attitude of gratitude they tend to see only the obstacles. When a person isn’t grateful, they tend to be unhappy much of the time because they only see what they don’t have. When a person only focuses on what they don’t have or what they haven’t yet attained, then they can’t help but be frustrated, stressed, regularly dissatisfied and generally unhappy.

Someone who is grateful and appreciative for what they have – even though striving for more success and greater heights – is generally happier, is more positive, sees more solutions and opportunities, and is enjoyable to be around. In short, they enjoy the experiences of their life and they become someone that others want to be around.

Being grateful is an acquired habit – a habit that pays wonderful dividends.

Learn to be thankful for the sun and the wind and the rain. Be grateful for the people in your life that you enjoy. Be grateful for the people in your life that are challenging – they help you grow and help you appreciate the positive people even more. Be grateful for the taxes that you pay, for they are a result of making a great income. Be grateful for your health – good or poor. Don’t take good health for granted for it allows you to do the things you enjoy. Be grateful for poor health, because it helps you appreciate the importance of regaining health and helps you appreciate the challenges of those worse off than you. Years ago when I first started my coaching practice, I used to be frustrated when I lost a client because of a setback in their life. Now, instead, I feel grateful that I don’t have to go through the challenges that they do. Be grateful for having the knowledge or skill or drive to bounce back from a setback – not everyone has that ability.

Be grateful for being alive to experience a new day – for the ability to just enjoy the simpler pleasures in life like a brilliant sunrise, a spectacular sunset, bright stars in the night sky, a cool breeze, and the fresh air after a storm.

Having an attitude of gratitude will elevate your energy and your outlook, and will propel you towards ever more success.