Archive for July, 2010
Correcting Unhappiness
I often use simple models to analyze and fix problems. One of my favorites is designed to help simplify understanding why someone is unhappy in life (it can also be used to analyze why someone is unhappy at work). The model is as follows:
| Model of Life = Realty; then you have happiness
Model of Life ≠ Reality; then you have unhappiness Model of Life ≠ Reality (and you reach of point of hopelessness to fix life); then you have suffering
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In reality, there are two paths to resolving unhappiness. The first is to change your Model (life, business, relationships, etc.). Remember, our models are simply pictures in our mind of how we fulfill our needs and follow our beliefs. The second is to change your reality. When broken down, it is easy to see that there are only two sides of the formula – the model and reality. You can change either one by the choices you make. Consider these three options:
Given our choices, there is only one that fuels unhappiness – focusing on the aspects of life we cannot control. Some common examples of issues we cannot control include the behavior of others and the economy. If you fuel this process all you are fueling is a victim mentality which typically leads to frustration, anger and disappointment. The story of how issues outside your control impact your ability to change becomes your story to the world. It stops resourcefulness and has a profound impact on all areas of your life. If this is the strategy you commonly use to solve problems, you might want to consider taking one of the other paths in life. Let me give you some integration thoughts on how to use this information in order to find happiness.
Fixing the Model
I have found in my coaching that a common problem on this side of the formula is that people adopt models into their life vs. create one that works for them. We all become products of our environment, so often we adopt a model from the environment. For example, when I was growing up the work model that society taught was to go to school and then work for a company until you retire. For many entrepreneurs, adopting this model only brought unhappiness. I was one of those people. When I recognized the model was wrong for me and created my own model of work, I found happiness immediately. It is important to remember that we often adjust our models throughout the stages of our lives.
Often our models are really pictures of how we fulfill our goals or purpose in life. I see so many people struggle because they adopt the goals created by others. Let me give you an example. As you can see from the diagram below, there are several common themes in life:
Imagine if your model is one that puts relationships first (a common example would be a mom). If you got involved in a business and the model created for you was to put family second or created unrealistic timelines on goals because the goals were built around a full-time focus, then you have set yourself up for unhappiness from the inception of the process.
In the end, the right model is the one that (1) fulfills your needs, (2) is in alignment with your nature, and (3) encompasses your core beliefs and values. If you build your models for life, business and relationships based on those three criteria, then you may find life to be much more fulfilling.
Fixing Reality
Often the model we have adopted is fine and instead we need to focus on changing our reality. This drives the process known as “personal development.” There is so much that can be discussed regarding fixing our reality, however the basic concept resolves around three simple areas of focus:
1. Awareness. Awareness is a thinking process. It allows you to solve problems, make better decisions, and plan better for all aspects of life. I have found that having the right thinking is a critical aspect of having the right reality. Thinking should revolve around four simple questions. Answering these questions will provide the awareness to create the necessary thinking needed in order to improve life (or your reality):
a. How do I grow more?
b. How do I contribute at a higher level?
c. How do I have more fun in life?
d. How do I find gratitude and appreciation in life?
2. Activity. Activity is the path to results. Awareness has little value if you don’t put thinking into action. To change reality through activity, the focus needs to be about strategies and systems. These two items create structure around activity.
3. Resolve. I have found that discipline is a critical part of both success and happiness. Our habits (good and bad) create our reality. If we want to fix our reality it is important to be committed to change. As the old adage goes, change is the only constant in life. So many people allow life to control them vs. them controlling life. It is critical to understand what drives discipline and for the importance of discipline to be part of your reality. You cannot afford to be a weather vane that changes with the breeze if you want to create the reality that matches your model.
In the end, this is simply a model designed to analyze (1) why you don’t have happiness, and (2) how to fix that problem. Of course there is much more involved in the process, however, this is a good starting place to ensure that your life’s journey will be characterized by happiness.
The Compound Effect …
As a general rule, I do not make recommendations on my website. However, I want to make an exception and introduce everyone to Darren Hardy. Please note that I do NOT have any business interest or business dealings with Darren. I am sharing this because I believe it could provide value to my readership, not because I am getting paid to share it. Remember a key fundamental rule of all business – You grow before your business grows. Often that means learning to grow inside your business AND outside your business. My expertise is inside business. Darren’s expertise is Personal Development. Below is a little information about Darren, his new book, and how to join his Facebook page.
About Darren:
Darren Hardy is the visionary force behind SUCCESS magazine as the Publisher and Editorial Director and the author of what is being called “the modern day Think and Grow Rich”, The Compound Effect—Multiplying Your Results. One Simple Step at a Time (www.TheCompoundEffect.com). More from Darren on his blog (http://DarrenHardy.SUCCESS.com), Facebook (DarrenHardyFan) or Twitter (@DarrenHardy)
About the book: (description provided by Darren Hardy)
Finally, a book revealing the truth about the commitment, disciplines, habits and hard work necessary to earn success…
SUCCESS magazine Publisher Darren Hardy has taken the experience of his own journey of success and all that he has learned from interviewing the most successful achievers of our time and distilled it down to the core basics of what it really takes to earn success.
The result is the book, The Compound Effect: Multiplying Your Success. One Simple Step at a Time. I am excited to share this remarkable book with you.
We both know you are in the people business. This book delivers the philosophy and discipline essential for your people to be more successful in their efforts to grow your company—told by a credible third-party source from proven personal experience.
For the benefit of your organization this book teaches:
• The success disciplines needed for lasting results
• Staying motivated, even when you don’t feel like it
• Developing daily routines that lead to momentum
Do you want success? More success than you have now?
And even more success than you ever imagined possible for you before?
Finally, the truth. No gimmicks. No hyperbole. The real deal on what it takes to earn success. Made plain and simple.
In this book is the essence of what every achiever needs to know, practice and master to obtain anything more than ordinary success. Inside you will find strategies on:
• How to win—every time! The number-one strategy to achieve any goal and triumph over any competitor, even if they are more talented, smarter and more experienced.
• Eradicating the bad habits (some you might be unaware of!) constantly derailing your progress.
• Painlessly installing the few key disciplines required for a major breakthrough.
• How to get yourself to do things you don’t feel like doing. The real key to motivation. Getting it and keeping it.
• The simple formula for increasing your income by 1,000% over the next 10 years.
• Capturing the illusive but awesome force of momentum. Catch it and you will be unstoppable.
• The acceleration secrets of super-achievers. Do they have an unfair advantage? Yes they do, now you can too…
If you are serious about being extraordinary and living an extraordinary life, this book will take you on a journey that will have a dramatic effect on your life… a COMPOUNDING Effect in fact. Get your hands on your copy now: www.TheCompoundEffect.com
Is Economic Reality Helping Drive the Entrepreneurial Movement?
There seems to be more and more people who are interested in owning their own business. While that has always been a common piece of the American dream, I was reminded once again this weekend that the current economic realities are fueling this process.
This weekend I read an article in Market Watch entitled “Why You’re Not Making More Money than a Decade Ago”. If you want to read the article click on this link http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/110041/why-youre-not-making-more-money-than-a-decade-ago?mod=career-salary_negotiation. There are a few parts of the article that I feel are worth noting.
1. Median weekly income, adjusted for inflation, is lower in 2009 than it was in 2000 for both high school and college graduates. (Economic Policy Institute).
2. Between 2002 and 2007, wages fell despite the country being in a period of economic expansion.
3. Planned salary increases for 2011 are at 3% for clerical, supervisory, middle management and executive positions. That 3% gain is below the 4.5% to 5% increase seen at the beginning of the decade and the steady 4% from 2005-2008 (Hay Group, Global Management Consulting firm).
4. The last 3 years have seen the lowest salary increase that most employees have ever experienced.
For businesses, stagnant and decreasing wages can have a positive impact. It allows them to lower costs and hire at lower rates. It is important to remember that almost 50% of those unemployed have been unemployed for over 24months. That means employers now have a large pool of potential workers from which to choose. Also, the makeup of the unemployed has changed. In the past a lot of the unemployed were people that simply didn’t want to work. However, today that is not the case as more and more educated, experienced and hard workers are seeking employment. I thought it was interesting that one of the attached articles to this article was titled “Lowball Salary Offers – Take it or Leave it? In my opinion, it is simple macro economics. If there are more and more people (demand) looking for less and less jobs (supply), then wages go down (price).
What about the “Expense Side of Life”?
To understand the complete economic effect, you have to look at both the income and expense side of the formula. As noted above, the income side is stagnant and probably going to get worse. However, if expenses followed the same path, then the net difference would be the same. There in essence is the problem. From 2000-2010, the Consumer Price Index (how we measure our cost of living) increased by 27%. However, there were expenses that went up much more. For example, the average price of a home went from $134,150 (2000) to $263,400 (May 2010). That is an increase of 96% or almost 3.5 times more than the average cost of living expenses. Another example is gas. In 2000, the average price of gas was $1.26 per gallon. As of July 2010, the average cost of gas is $2.73. That is an increase of 116% over 10 years. Keep in mind that gas was close to $4.00 per gallon not too long ago.
The Entire Economic Picture Going Forward
There are 4 components of the economic picture that impact all of us:
Incomes are likely to go down. Deriving income is typically done from either (1) work, or (2) investments. In challenging economic times, both areas find it harder to create income than in good economic times. As for expenses, there are those we can control and those that are out of our control. You can only budget so far. It is the expenses we cannot control that will likely continue to increase (and at an alarming rate). This would include taxes, fees and inflation on items that everyone needs (fuel, food, etc.).
I think the other challenging aspect of the economic winter will be how the de-leveraging of our society creates change. I suspect we will continue to see decreasing values (deflation) with anything that requires debt for growth. This would include cars, boats, homes, and businesses dependent on using debt to survive and grow. Banks will likely drive revenue from fees vs. loan income (these are known as Zombie Banks). In the end, as society changes, you have to change in order to survive and thrive.
Taking Financial Control of the Future
Many new entrepreneurs are already taking steps to own their own business vs. depending on a job. For many, the business model of choice is a “Plan B” business. This allows them to work a full-time job while they build a part-time business. For many, this is the only way they can have a business because (1) they don’t have the resources to work a full time business, or (2) they are not prepared to take the risk of starting a full time business and quitting work. I would note that we are seeing a similar entrepreneurial movement around the world because the global economy is suffering from some of the same problems as the US. In closing, there is a very critical message in all this data. That message is that there has never been a time in our life where it is more important to take control of our financial future than right now. Those who are proactive and play the game right will be the ones that prove a lesson seen in economic history – chaos and adversity are often a catalyst for opportunity.
Influencing People through Stories
For my entire life, I have been a person that puts huge value in data. I have always been a believer that information is critical to making good decisions. However, recently I have been doing a lot of reading related to how neuroscience impacts human behavior. Over the last decade, there has been a lot of research on how the brain impacts behavior. Some of this research has been applied to business especially in the area of leadership.
There is one part of this research that I believe can be very valuable to understand and apply to business. That value piece is understanding how stories are a powerful and effective way to impact thinking and behavior. In reality, new studies in both neuroscience and cognitive science show that “stories” are integral to how the human brain thinks and learns. Author and consultant Charles S. Jacobs noted in his book Management Rewired that “most cognitive scientists now believe the mind works through stories. So we’re going to be far more successful in influencing the way people think and then behave if we use stories as opposed to reason”. This is a profound shift in thinking in the area of leadership because so much of traditional business models evolve around data and logic.
Part of the science behind these findings revolves around “Mirror Neurons”. I won’t try to explain mirror neurons but it is important to understand what they do in the brain. Mirror neurons mimic activities of other individuals. More importantly, they also mimic the “intentions behind those activities”. In essence, that means we are all hard-wired to empathize with people. There are two key factors when it comes to telling stories (1) having the ability and (2) changing the way that people think. Stories inspire others to mimic the actions and also the mindset of the story teller. If a person believes that the story teller’s story is more attractive than their own, then they are more apt to “pick it up and go with it”. The studies also support the importance of how well you tell the story and how “energy, enthusiasm and optimism” are necessary to maximize the value of the story.
The Key Components of a Story
Clearly there is value in utilizing stories to impact behavior in others. It helps create decisions and change thinking. Below are some key points that I think are important in order to better utilize stories to impact others.
1. Character Component. Remember, character is a measurement of selfishness. Therefore a good story can show that you are a person who is more focused on serving the needs of others than fulfilling your own needs. Stories are delivered by people, so judging those delivering the story is a natural part of the process. I have always believed that relationships are the foundation of all business. Therefore, make sure your story leaves people with the conclusion that you are the type of relationship they want in their life.
2. Value Component. If your goal is to spur people on to making decisions, it is useful to understand WHY people make decisions. People make decisions in order to serve a need (finances, relationships, fun, love, contribution, growth, health, etc). By better serving one’s needs, a decision can enhance pleasure or diminish pain. Since value is the ability to fulfill the needs of another, your stories need to demonstrate that you can “better fulfill the needs of another”. If the story does not indicate that you, your business, your product, your service, etc. can have some positive impact on someone’s life, then the story will lose its effectiveness.
3. Emotional Component. One of the key concepts in personal development is that people will not care what you say unless they know you care first. Caring is expressed more in HOW you deliver communication than WHAT is contained in the information. Your story needs the fuel of optimism, excitement, enthusiasm, confidence and empathy in order to have a real impact.
4. The Curiosity Component. The brain’s innate sense of curiosity plays a vital role in helping us make sense of our reality. As George Loewerstein, a behavioral economist at Carnegie Mellon wrote, “we feel curiosity when we feel a gap between what we know and what we don’t know”. If the story creates curiosity for “what they don’t know” then often that triggers an interest in finding out “what you have to teach them”. The research on behavior clearly shows that we get the most out of people if we “ignite and feed their sense of curiosity.”
5. The Time Component. One of the most precious assets to people and also one of the most tough to manage is time. Knowing that fact points out an important aspect of utilizing stories – the ability to do it effectively. Often, the longer the story the less effective it is on impacting behavior. One of the basic sales principles is to tell less to more people. To be effective, you have to be able to get your point across in a short period of time.
6. The Timing Component. Often the impact of a story directly correlates to when you tell it. What happens when you try to tell someone a story and their mind is occupied by something else? What happens when you try to tell a story and someone is in a bad mental state? What happens when you try to tell a story when someone is in a chaotic environment? Remember, the timing of a story matters. If you can determine WHEN and WHERE are the most effective places to tell a story, you will probably find the impact of the story is much greater.
In the end, there is certainly value in mastering the stories we use to influence behavior. You will know you have mastered it when the story produces the results you are looking for. Additionally, let’s not forget another important takeaway from the value of stories – the value of collecting stories. Often it is not your story that impacts behavior but sharing the stories of others.
With that being said, if you are in a leadership role it is critical to understand the power that stories can play in impacting behavior, and to do your best to master the skills of (1) building a story and (2) communicating a story.
Out Of Control Healthcare Costs – What It Means To You
This week the OECD released a report on “healthcare spending”. The OECD (Office for Economic Cooperation and Development) is a recognized global organization helping governments around the world tackle the economic, social and governance challenges of a globalized economy.
Following are 2 charts that I thought you might find interesting. One graph is from their report. The other is from the Economist.
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Here are some important points contained in these charts:
1. Without exception, healthcare costs are going up everywhere. Average spending by each country increased from 7.3% of GDP in the 90’s to 8.3% in the 2000’s. This was attributed to (1) technology changes, (2) population expectations, and (3) an aging population.
2. Total spending on healthcare is going up faster than economic growth in ALL OECD nations (31 countries worldwide inclusive of all the major countries around the world).
3. The speed at which it is going up has increased over the last two decades.
4. As you can see from most of the nations included in this chart, “public spending” on healthcare is a major part of all healthcare spending. That means that governments control much of the spending decisions. This can be problematic as governments around the world struggle to manage huge debt and economic decline. This is a big problem where “public health” is a right for citizens of a country.
5. It shows that healthcare costs continue to be a major (and increasing) cost to GDP of all countries. This means that healthcare has a major economic impact on societies around the world. The healthcare spending as a percentage of GDP has increased from 12% in the early 90’s to over 16% in 2008 (a new record for healthcare spending as a percentage of GDP).
6. Between 2000-2008 healthcare spending by individuals increased by 4.2% a year on average. That means that healthcare costs are increasing faster than inflation.
7. In the US, the average person spent $7,538 on healthcare in 2008. That is more than DOUBLE the $3,000 average of all OECD nations.
What Does All This Mean To You?
In my opinion, this is just more data to support that we have a global economic and social problem related to broken healthcare systems. While some are more broken than others, it doesn’t change the fact that governments around the world are going to make significant changes because the economics of healthcare will destroy the global economy. Much of this change is focused in 2 directions – better management of healthcare spending and movement toward prevention. While both of these areas will make a difference, it will not change the reality for all of us. Systems will change and we will suffer the impact of those changes. In the end, we will all pay more to fix this problem whether it is through paying more on healthcare spending, taxes, or fees.
This is an important time to take a more proactive posture in managing your healthcare spending and health decisions (eating better, exercising, etc.). Equally, this is more support that the Prevention and Wellness industry will continue to be in a long-term uptrend because they are a critical part of what is necessary to correct healthcare around the world. If you are looking for a good industry to be a part of in the future, Wellness and Prevention will continue to grow regardless of the economic trends.
A Show You Don’t Want To Miss
Now for the important part of this blog… Tony has a new show on NBC called Breakthrough. The first show is tomorrow night, Tuesday July 27th at 8 pm EST/7 pm Central time. You can get the details from your local TV listings. Below I have attached a short 3 minute clip that Tony has just released about the show. Knowing the power of what Tony can do, this show is a MUST watch. I highly recommend that you sit down with your family and invest an hour in watching the powerful transformation of lives that have experienced challenges beyond the comprehension of most of us.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od0eTtJw7Ms&feature=youtu.be