Category: Time

Post is related to the best use of time to provide optimal wealth and happiness.

Were you just robbed?

   The Pareto Principle is all around us, from our homes to our relationships, all the way to the workplace. The principle states that 80 percent of our results come from 20 percent of the activities. But that also means that 80 percent of our time is spent kicking the ball in the wrong direction. 

   The majority of your efforts aren’t being directed at those real rain making activities. And that’s robbing you of the impact that you're capable of producing.

   But how do you stop robbing yourself?

   The Pareto principle is telling us something we all know. Not all of our work is created equal. Certain types of work that we perform really add value, and other tasks that we do aren’t anywhere near as important. As a professional, you know which tasks you do that are value-add. Often, those are the tasks that you were hired to do, the tasks that you are evaluated on in performance reviews.

   If you still can’t narrow the list down, ask your boss! They’ll be happy to tell you what is most important to do. 

   In one of the major projects that I am involved with, one of our key contributors faced this dilemma. Her experience (let’s call her Jane, not her real name) is likely one that resonates with you, either in your own life, or you see in your co-workers.

   Failing to plan and prioritize effectively, Jane was caught up in the habit of being busy. But as we’ve discussed, not all tasks are created equal. While our unfortunate heroine of this story worked herself into the ground, the small fires that she was putting out day after day weren’t really driving the needle. As a result of spending too much time and energy on the wrong 80% of activities, the company failed to meet its implementation deadlines.

   One of the other challenges that we all face is understanding exactly how much a certain activity is worth. Which tasks in that 80% of low value are worth the least? If you could answer that, it would be far easier determining which tasks to cut out.

   The impact of not prioritizing on the vital work for the implementation means that we need to leverage consultants to do the work instead. Downstream implications of those missed deadlines aside, the hourly cost for not working on the implementation will be $250 USD per hour that we now need to outsource. 

   What does that actually mean?

   When looking at Jane’s schedule, she spent hours building reports that will only get a cursory glance at best. Hours more responding to emails and troubleshooting basic system issues that anyone on her team could have done. All of those activities are worth far less than the $500,000 USD annual salary that we’d be saving if we didn’t need to hire a consultant. (Annual cost: $250/hour * 2,000 working hours annually.)

   Why look at the annual cost?

   Sure, the implementation consultants are only brought on for an extra 2 weeks, or a total cost of 80 hours * $250, or $20,000. But extrapolating the impact of your decisions to the entire year shows the seriousness of the situation. Those errors in prioritization affect you day after day, week after week, those errors add up. 

   It’s far too easy to think that spending an extra hour on email, or gossiping at the watercooler, or any other low-value activity isn’t affecting you. But just as in Jane’s case, spending an hour on a $20/hour activity and not on a $250/hour activity has just cost the company $230 USD. 

   You bear those costs too, every time you do something that isn’t in that list of the 20% that Pareto identified.

   How do you stop robbing yourself?

   Become very clear on what you’re worth. And then look at the tasks that consume your life force. Are you working on tasks that are worth more than you’re paid for? Or less than?

   That doesn’t just mean looking at your annual salary. What about where you want to be financially. Is that six figures? A quarter million annual salary? Think about what your number is, and work backwards. How much is that each week? Each day? Each hour?

   If you want to stop robbing yourself, make sure the tasks that you spend your time on deliver that value. Hour after hour, day after day, week after week. Do that, and you’ll truly earn that paycheck that you’re thinking of right now.

Appendix 1

Here’s a chart showing the value of a $250,000 / year salary.

Term Cost
Annual $ 250,000.00
Month $   20,833.33
Week (50 working weeks) $     5,000.00
Day (250 working days) $     1,000.00
Hour (2,000 working hours) $        125.00
Half Hour $          62.50

How can you be better at your job?

   This week, several members on my team approached me with the question, “How can I be better at my job?”

   It’s an important question. One we all have asked at one point in our lives. And the answer is one that can have a profound impact on your entire life.

   The answer, perhaps overly simple,  has only 3 parts.

The To-Do List

   Opening up the notebooks of my team members, the first thing that practically fell out was a seemingly endless list of “To-Do’s”. Each of them, independently, had written down all the balls they were juggling right now. 

   And there were a LOT of items on those lists. No doubt, you can relate. How many things are on your lists? 

   How many times have you thought, “There simply isn’t enough time in the day to get all this done?”

   Trying to help take inventory of what their tasks were, we started putting those To-Do’s into buckets. Grouping tasks by the nature of the work gives a better understanding of what my team was spending their time on.

   Ultimately, we were able to separate these task lists into a few separate groupings, or buckets.

   Batching tasks helps give some clarity over where you are actually spending your time. Take out your to-do list, and group those tasks into buckets of similar items.

Make it Rain

   Putting those To-Do list buckets to the side for a moment, we then looked at what jobs they were each trying to do. Boiling down the job into the most basic metric: what makes it rain?

   Think about your work. What is it that you do in your work that makes it rain? What work do you do that makes money? 

   If you are a software developer, it’s producing working software. If you’re an artist, it’s making and selling art. If you are an event planner, it’s running smooth events.

   In every role, there are a handful of actions that really make it rain. Understanding what those few critical levers are will help you become more valuable. 

   Now think back to that endless list of To-Do’s that you have. Which of the buckets are the same on both lists? The To-Do list tasks that fall into one of your make it rain bucket, those are your money-makers. Do more of those, and do them well, and you’ll become way more valuable.

What The F*?

Focus. 

What the focus.

   Asked separately, both Bill Gates and Warren Buffet gave the same answer. The keys to success lie in your ability to focus on the important things.

   As my team members looked into their To-Do list, they were really revealing their focus. Anything on that endless list was something that was weighing on their mind, and sapping their time and energy.

   By putting more focus on the activities in the make it rain buckets, my team members will ultimately be more valuable to the company. Put another way, by focusing on the real value-add activities, my team members will be better at their jobs.

   You want to be better. Better in your career. Better financially. Better in all aspects of your life. I know you do, because that’s why you show up here each week.

   Understanding what it is that you do to make it rain, and then allocating more of your time to focus on those key activities makes you better. And that difference in performance between you and everyone else? That will, in time, be rewarded.

   Think about these elements this week: What can only you do to make it rain? Are you spending enough time on those activities? Can you increase your focus, time and energy on those money-makers to become even more valuable?

It is Never Good Enough

   I hated doing dishes growing up. It was never the mountains of dirty dishes that somehow made our family look like a ravenous army. Or the soapy water that inevitably went cold and grungy. It was the glee on my sibling’s faces when they were able to hand back that pot that I swear was always dirty.

   “Good enough.” I’d grumble, lamenting as it was handed back for a second washing attempt.

   Oh brother was I ever wrong. What seemed to be a pain in the ass back then now seems like a blessing. Not the re-washing part, of course. But reaching into the cupboard and pulling out a dirty dish, ugh, I cringe just thinking of that. And as the cold sweat and shivers run down my spine, we come to the lesson of the letter. It is never, “Good enough”.

   Good enough, is not a reflection on the task at hand. It is a reflection of your values; of the thoughts, actions and words that define who you are, both to yourself and to the world you encounter. 

   Everywhere you look you will be confronted with the half-finished work and poor quality results of the “Good enough” crowd. It’s in the trash on the sidewalk, the mess on every counter and surface, all the little things that aren’t done quite right. There is enough of that already. Hold yourself to a higher standard.

   So next time you go to do the dishes, don’t let that mountain get in your head. That cold, murky water isn’t so bad. And make sure when you’re ready to move that never-clean pot to the dish drying rack, that this time, it’s clean.

   Apply that level of care to everything you do, because you’re worth the price of excellence.

   Every day is a use of our energy, our time. Don’t spend time on re-work, on fixing the little things that could easily have been done right the first time round. It’s never good enough, it’s simply, good. Because if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.

3 Questions to Align Your Goals

Are your goals really going to take you to the good life?

We all have goals in some capacity, focused on each of the areas of our life. Maybe that’s more money, a healthier lifestyle, more close friendships, or more impact in our careers. Many of these goals were set either some time ago, and we’re working towards them. Or they came about through social pressures; I should be healthier, I should chase more career success, I should save more money. Both these reasons for setting goals are valid and effective, but only when they are aligned with your values and your vision for your life.

And it is this alignment that we need to ensure exists.

But how do we know if our goals are aligned?

We can do this by looking at three different questions. These questions have been cultivated by some of the iconic thought leaders and speakers of our time, Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy, and others. By spending time reflecting on the answers, we can determine if our current goals are in alignment with our life plan. Let’s look at the questions, and how they help us find that alignment.

What would you set as a goal for yourself if you won 5 million dollars? What would you do differently?

This two part question eliminates some of the constraints that we often consider when setting goals. Often times our goals, and the action plan associated with them, are influenced by our limited resources. Of the three limiting resources, this question reduces the impact of the financial side.

Take a look at your list of goals that you have today. If money wasn’t an issue, what would you change about that list? How would your goals be different? What would that do to your action plan, how you spend your time and energy each day?

What would you do if you only had 6-months to live?

A real eye-opener, which unfortunately some people actually do hear. Many of our goals are set with a long time horizon in mind. Saving for retirement 30 years from now, living a healthy life so we can experience those years with energy and vitality. Or climbing the corporate ladders to reach our highest levels of impact 10 or more years from now. But what if that time wasn’t there?

How differently would you act? How would your priorities change? This question helps clarify what is truly important in our lives, so that we can include more of that in today’s plans. If your answer involves adventure, what adventures can you take now? If your answer includes family and friends, are you spending enough time with them now? Are you showing them how much they mean to you?

What one great thing would you dare to dream if you KNEW you could not fail?

This final question asks about our current goals. Are they big enough?

Again, our current goals are often constrained by certain elements; our time, our energy, and our money. But there’s one other constraint we often don’t consider, but one that shapes our entire existence. The thought that maybe we might not succeed. This fear stops us from attempting those grand schemes and desires that would really make our lives great.

If you didn’t have that fear, what would you dare to dream?

Finding alignment between our goals and how we plan for life to turn out can be hard. By asking ourselves the right questions, we are able to find clarity over what is truly important. Knowing what we find essential to our lives helps us build more of that into our goals and vision for the future. Answer those questions, identify what is important to you. And most importantly, dare to dream that it is possible. You can have that life you dream of.

Action Item:

Break out a sheet of paper or a new word document. Answer the 3 questions:

  1. What would you set as a goal for yourself if you won a million dollars? What would you do differently?
  2. What would you do if you only had 6-months to live?
  3. What one great thing would you dare to dream if you KNEW you could not fail?

Now reflect on the answers, are your goals leading you to the life you desire? And one last challenge; I dare you to dream of what is possible for you in your life.

Stepping to the Finish Line

… and Beyond

   In our last article we discussed leading behaviors and the steps to achieving goals. This time, we’ll be hopping back into leading behaviors in a more practical way.

   As a recap, leading behaviors are the steps that you can take today and every day that lead to your next goal. Unfortunately, we at Business Minded cannot tell you what those steps are for each of your goals. This is something you need to figure out based on your own individual goals.

   And that’s where this article comes in.

   Think about your current goal. Now start to think about the steps that it will take to reach that goal. We’ll throw a couple of examples your way to illustrate, but likely our examples are more simplified than your goals.

   Let’s say you’re looking to save an extra hundred dollars per month, to put towards your passion project, your retirement, the uses are your goal. What do you need to do each day to reach that goal. That could be brewing your own coffee at home each morning (we hate that example, but in this case it could work). Or it could be making your own lunch every day. (This saves you money and helps you control your diet, a far better example than your morning cup of jo.) Making your lunch every day will save you probably $5 or more a day (if you live in a city). That’s an extra $25 a week to put towards your goal, or an extra $100 a month. Your goal achieved. But you don’t even need to worry about saving the extra $5 a day or the $100 a month. You just need to focus on making lunch for the day, each day. In that case, making lunch is the leading behavior.

   To see this in action we should look at James Clear’s book, Atomic Habits, and his research, on the paperclip strategy [https://jamesclear.com/paper-clips]. 

   Reading the article, we can see that the leading behavior was simply making a call. While James jumps into the various psychological cues of the behavior, the actual behavior itself is what drives success. [You can check out JamesClear.com for some advanced habit forming practices and rituals.] The behavioral trigger led to some incredible results, incredible successes, incredible finish lines crossed. 

   The habit, the progressive chase after the daily behavior trigger leads to successful accomplishment of goals. These are the steps that lead across the finish line. That’s why we have our daily and weekly checklist. This helps us track our daily behaviors that eventually lead to success. With enough check-marks in effective behaviors, success is inevitable.

   And so we leave on this; For each of your goals, for each of your pillars, what are the daily behaviors that you need to do that move the needle towards your next milestone? What can you do today to shape the future of tomorrow?

Steps to the Finish Line

   Goals are essential for achievement, which is why we’ve looked at setting SMART goals. The SMART goal setting framework is one of the most effective and most widely understood frameworks for goals, whether personal or professional. This provides us a clear “finish line” to reach. For our largest goals, we should break them down into shorter milestones to keep us focused. But even those milestones can seem out of reach sometimes.

   Achieving a goal is a lagging indicator. You see the completed goal when you sit back to reflect on your progress. All this happens after all the work has gone into your success. Therein lies the issue many of us face, we only see a positive result after we have worked tirelessly for an extended period of time. While it sounds easy to sit here and spout motivation for the grander vision, or talk of the success we feel when we accomplish something, real life doesn’t work that way. In real life, we could lose our drive from one day to the next, and have it back again just as fast. Real life is unpredictable. 

   To face that unpredictability, we can’t look only at the finish line, that marathon distance away. If we look too far into the future we will stumble. We need to know where we are going, looking down the road, but also be aware of what is happening right in front of us each day. That is why we need to focus on leading behaviors. 

   Leading behaviors are the steps that we take each day in the direction of our goals. These steps are few and small enough that we can count. And we need to, count that is. Keep track of the steps or behaviors we take each day, each week, as these will carry us across the finish line of our goals. 

   What does this look like? This is the salesman who makes 50 calls a day (insert a realistic number for your profession). These 50 calls, made with as much enthusiasm and energy as the first, will eventually lead to sales. This is the husband who shows his appreciation each day, leading to a long and loving marriage. This is the athlete hitting the gym each day (except for rest days, those are also important), striving to become better, faster, stronger with each rep. This is the monk, absorbing scriptures or meditating, or expressing gratitude. This is the banker, making her own lunches to have money to spend on what is truly important. This is the parent, carving out time each evening for their child’s development. This is the dreamer, putting in the unappreciated work after the sun goes down, or before the sun comes up, striving to build a better tomorrow.

   This is you, making the small daily choices that carry you across your finish lines, and beyond.

The Resume on Your Casket

   How do we measure success in our lives?

   I talk often about the grand vision, the life-defining projects that shape our entire lives. The continuous pursuit of these lofty goals is a life well lived, a life of success. But there is more to it than that. The dreams we pursue leave a legacy. Our accomplishments are sweetest when they enable others to thrive in their lives. And we are remembered by both the accomplishment, and how we conducted ourselves as we chased those goals.

   To bring this idea into some clarity, let me tell you a story.

   Earlier this summer, I attended an event celebrating the life of my uncle, Don. For all that knew Don in his younger days, they knew a man of great strength and sharp wit. Those attributes helped him climb the rungs of his career ladder, eventually becoming Vice Principal at his highschool. To achieve these accomplishments, he embodied the qualities that lead each of us to success; a positive attitude, a vision of where he could take his life, and consistent action working towards that goal. 

   Like any accomplished professional, his resume was strong. Solid performance in academics, being awarded a degree from a reputable university. Excellent job performance, a proven ability to rise to new challenges. Coaching extracurricular events, and strong involvement in the school. But for all the bullet points on a piece of paper, none of these accomplishments were talked about as we remembered Don.

   You see, your accomplishments, the ones that really matter, are the ones that you leave written on other people's lives and hearts. 

   Hundreds of people filled the room, all the seats were taken, and many of us were relegated to standing room only as we crammed in the large auditorium to celebrate Don. Friends and family members alike took turns standing, giving speeches, remembering the man. Story after story, letters dug up from hundreds of young students that had been impacted over the years. Each of these stories touched on similar points; the kind words of encouragement that picked you up on your darkest days, the smiles that always seemed like they were saved just for you. The countless times Don had gone the extra mile for his students to see them succeed. The supportive friendships he developed with fellow teachers and school administrators.

   We laughed and cried, as grief mixed with joyous memories of all the good times. And there were so many good times. Through it all though, those same themes held true. The strength, kindness, his smile, a kind word, the little actions that seem so trivial but have the largest impact. These are the true bullet points on Don’s resume. That is the resume he wrote on his casket, that is the legacy left by the man.

___________________________

   For a man who did so much good in his life, it would be a lost opportunity to not evaluate how to measure success in our own lives. The career resume, the list of professional accomplishments were essential for Don. Those goals, that vision for a better, brighter future provided him the strength to see him through hard times. And by accomplishing those goals, he was in a better position to have a greater impact on others. By setting goals, and taking action in pursuit of those goals, Don was able to fill an auditorium to overflowing with the people whose lives were brighter thanks to his efforts. And that is why our goals are so important. They provide us the opportunity to impact more people in a positive way.

   And the other way we measure success is through the little actions that we do every day. If we can learn anything from Don, it is how you show up every day is important. The little things, like a kind word to a friend or stranger, or a smile to brighten someone’s day. Those little things, done consistently throughout your life, will build you a legacy that fills stadiums of people positively impacted by you being here. 

   So dream big, accomplish those goals that you have. Achieving those goals multiplies the impact you have on the world. But the impact, the true resume on your casket, will be how you show up every day as you strive for greatness. How can we measure success? We can measure success through the legacy that you leave behind. Let’s make sure that your legacy fills stadiums with joy and cherished memories.

 

Action Item: What can you do TODAY to build your legacy? A kind word for someone in need? A smile for someone who needs it most?

Batching Your Success

   How are you batching tasks in your life? And how can you take that practice further, to take your success further?

   We all know about batch cooking, preparing the weeks meals ahead of time so that we save time during the week. This let's us focus on cooking when we're cooking, and the rest of our lives when we aren't. This practice saves us time when implemented well. And that valuable resource, time, can be reallocated towards our other goals. 

   So why don't many of us batch other tasks? 

   This is a practice I have been doing for years, and it works wonders for improving my outcomes professionally. I decide the night before exactly what related tasks I will be working on the next day. This helps me be more efficient, effectively getting more done. And because I am focused on one area at a time, the quality of my results improves as I don't need to switch cognitively between different unrelated action items throughout the day. 

   I do this by spending a couple of minutes preparing at the end of each day. Rather than grinding right until quitting time, I will take 15-20 minutes at the end of the day to get ready for the following day. This process provides some huge benefits in two main areas. 

   The first benefit, my efficiency. In those last 15 minutes, I can source the data and reports that I will need first thing the next morning. Having those files open on my desktop enables me to jump right into those important tasks without extra mental efforts the next morning. I don’t need to think about the long list of to-do items first thing in the morning, I already know what I’ve selected to do. And that simple process saves some of those important decision-making “juices” for later in the day. Prioritizing this way also helps me group my to-do list into general areas. As an accountant, I will batch tasks such as vendor expense reconciliations and payments, since these are both related to corporate expenses. Another day I will deal with invoicing, analyzing outstanding receivables, and forecasting future revenues. Again, these tasks all have a similarity. Once I know what the day will be spent on, I can forget about the other aspects of the business, knowing that the time for analysis and reporting is scheduled for another day.

   Many of the ultra-successful have practices like this. Joel Osteen, the iconic pastor and world-class orator, batches his tasks. Certain days are dedicated exclusively to reading, generating ideas. Other days are spent entirely on writing his weekly speech. And yet other days are dedicated to practicing that speech. By batching his tasks, he is able to produce a brand new key-note speech each and every week. That is the power of batching. That is how you can batch your success.

   The second benefit is more subtle, but exceptionally powerful. By spending the last few minutes every day closing down that day’s tasks, and planning for the morrow, I am effectively closing down my work day. This helps me leave work at work.

   We’ve all had days where we don’t get what we wanted done. We show up and it seems the whole business went up in flames since we last looked. All our carefully laid plans are thrown out the window. Spending the last few minutes of the day setting plans of attack for the following day helps us stay in control. And knowing you have a plan before you head home helps you leave some of that chaotic stress from the office at the office, and not bringing that frenzy of stress and negative energy into the home.

   Batching tasks helps us operate more efficiently, which allows us more time for everything else. Our productivity increases, and our results become of higher quality. This is an exceptionally powerful strategy for achieving career success, as getting more work done, of higher quality is certainly a way to increase our professional value. And once the day is done, we can plan our batched tasks for tomorrow. This helps us leave work at work, and promotes a healthier home-life. Success is sustainable only when we lead a healthy, balanced life. Batching for success can help us achieve that.

Paralysis of Information

You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

How do you make financial investment decisions? For many of us, the process of making a financial decision involves researching the available options. But can we fall into the trap of having too much information? We can. And this is the paralysis of information.

When you are starting out anything new, you always want to do research to find out a bit about your new endeavor. Investing is no different. But with investing, the options are nearly endless, and in that ever expanding universe of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, derivatives, options, dividends, interest rates, etc we can find ourselves quickly overwhelmed. In this state, rather than follow through with our original good intentions, we hesitate, we become paralyzed by information.

To illustrate this point, we can look at the steps we need to take to learn a new skill. As we learn something, such as driving, the list of steps and elements we need to remember is overwhelming. Turn the ignition, put the car in reverse, release the parking brake, ease off the pedal brake, slowly apply gas, turn the wheel, brakes, change gear, check mirrors, signal, check mirrors again, ease off the brakes again, apply pressure to the gas pedal, turn off indicators, check mirrors again.

When we look at a list of what we need to do, the process seems alarmingly complicated. And that’s if we already have an automatic-transmission car. But for many of us, driving is second nature now, so much so we have the confidence to talk and eat while driving too. How did we get to that stage of knowledge and familiarity that we can approach any vehicle? By actually driving. We overcame the paralysis of information by taking action. And our decisions and choices got better over time.

The same applies for financial decisions, especially investing. As we begin our research, we will undoubtedly come across talks of management fees, market swings, dividend yield, historic growth, and many other elements that help us evaluate different investment options. These are all incredibly important to know when making a decision. Charting these elements for the available options is an effective way at determining what investment will be right for you. But the most important part is taking action. As you make more investment decisions, you become more familiar with the elements that are important to you. And as a result, you make better decisions.

 

Application Steps:

How do we overcome this paralysis of information?

  1. Set a deadline for when you will have research conducted by.

  2. Perform research up to that deadline.

  3. Make the best decision you can with the information gathered in your research. You won’t have all the information right now, and you never will. The most important aspect is that you make a decision.

  4. Take action! Now, today, right this minute!

 

What decisions have you been putting off because you don’t have all the information? Set up a deadline for how long you’ll allow yourself to research. Then research until that deadline. Finally, on that deadline, a decision must be made based on the currently available information.

Remember, not making a decision is still a decision. And that inaction costs far more than any investment fee or poor market timing.

How to Create Career Success

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   Do you have a career plan in place? If so, what is on it? What should be on it?

   As we approach our professional lives, we need to understand the various elements that lead us to greater career success. To do this, we need to understand a few things, some unique to each of us, and some are shared.

Our Unique Talents and Abilities

   Our strengths and weaknesses will help define our areas of focus when it comes to our careers. Building off our strengths, we can leverage existing and inherent traits about ourselves. Leveraging our own unique strengths will enable us to out-perform others in similar roles and situations. We do this simply through accomplishing more, in a shorter period of time. The less effort required for us to produce the same results as someone else means we have more time and energy to devote to more projects or continued development. This is the beauty of leveraging our strengths, and also a reflection on how to treat weaknesses.

   Knowing our weaknesses usually highlights areas we should not be doing. If we can outperform by leveraging our strengths, then taking on tasks that are negatively influenced by our weaknesses means the same results will take us more time, and more energy. Since both time and energy are limited resources, we will fall behind as we try to compete against others that are leveraging their strengths. 

   What does this actually look like? I am a strong writer. When I sit down with a keyboard, I am able to produce written material quickly. In contrast, I do not have a strong sense for music. While I could learn, I will forever be slower than someone who is musically gifted. My strength lies in writing, and when I focus on that, I am leveraging that strength. If I have a need for music, rather than do it myself (which would take forever) I am better off outsourcing those tasks so I can continue to leverage my strengths.

   To highlight this point, we can look at a quote from actor Will Smith:

“The separation of talent and skill is one of the greatest misunderstood concepts for people who are trying to excel, who have dreams, who want to do things. Talent you have naturally. Skill is only developed by hours and hours and hours of beating on your craft."

Will Smith

   Focusing on your strengths, your talents, will help you out-perform and out-produce all those around you. Do you know what your greatest strengths are?

Action Item: Ask 3 friends to tell you what they think your greatest strengths are.

Necessary Skills for Our Path

   The second element to creating career success is in the pursuit of the skills that you do need. The development of these skills should be pursued with a focused, planned growth strategy. Many times we simply try to learn a skill after we are presented with a new problem. This slows us down, as we then begin learning from scratch right when we need the skills the most. A clear growth plan will help alleviate this bottleneck of skill vs. need. With a growth plan, you can start developing your understanding, and practicing the skills before you are put in a position to use them. In this way you can respond faster to problems, and be more comfortable taking on stretch projects that really advance your skills, both in your eyes and in others. 

   How do you know what skills you’ll need? Almost nobody is walking a path that hasn’t been walked before. Even on the cutting edge fringes of science, there are parallels between different career paths. It is these other examples that you need to seek out. Once you have sought a good example out (one that is doing what you want to do), analyze the skills that they utilize most to be successful. Do you have those skills? Are they something you should be working on?

   Knowing the skills that are used on your next step will help you frame a growth strategy that aids you in your career growth. Armed with this knowledge, you can start developing those skills now. As Will Smith said, “Skill is only developed by hours and hours and hours of beating on your craft."  Starting early, you will surpass everyone else simply as a result of your extra hours devoted to learning and growing. 

Action Item: Find either job postings or example persons to determine the skills you’ll need most at your next career level. 

How do you create career success? 

   Leverage your strengths, and don’t try too hard to improve your weaknesses. This will ensure everything you do, you’re the best at. And for the rest? Leave it to people who are better suited for those tasks. Your success will skyrocket as you out-perform everyone else! And as you leverage your strengths, be sure to keep an eye on the skills you’ll need in the future. Developing these through your own professional growth plan will help you get a leg up on the competition, as the hours you’ve spent preparing for future obstacles will give you an incredible head start over anyone else!

Success like a Raptor

   As we come down off a week long celebration of the basketball prowess of our very own Toronto Raptors, we should take a moment to reflect on the lessons learned along the journey. Without overwhelming ourselves with basketball commentary, we can relate the NBA Championship back to the basic principles of success.

Where did this victory start?

   Asking ourselves how we got anywhere is an excellent start to dissecting our successes. And while some may argue that the championship started at the beginning of the season, or even when we traded for Kawhi Leonard, the steps leading to success began long before.

When was the first step?

   Each player on the Raptors started with the same first step, at some point in their basketball career. That first step is identifying the right staircase(s) to traverse. This is the identification of the skills that would be needed to take their basketball game from the scrimmages in local parks before the lights were turned off for the evening. The skills that would lead to the bright stadium spotlights that never cease to shine. For our local heroes, these skills can be identified as fitness, shooting ability, and game knowledge.

And the Next Steps:

   Identifying what we need to focus on to be successful puts us a long way ahead of our competitors, but it's still only the first step. The long road of success is filled with early mornings in the gym, late nights shooting free-throw after free-throw, and countless hours reviewing game footage. Those next steps, they’re a daily pursuit. Every day our Raptors earn their success in the gym, on the court, and in the screening room. Every day. Not just game days. Every. Single. Day.

   The sweet celebrations of hoisting that NBA Championship Trophy, that is the culmination of countless successes along the road. Those daily successes of lacing up and putting in the time practicing, even when exhaustion is setting in. Especially when exhaustion is setting in. That is how to earn Success like a Raptor.

What are the lessons?

   As we look at the championship trophy being hoisted high in the air amid the cheers of the crowds, we can take away some success lessons from these Championship ring-bearing professionals.

   Learn what critical elements drive success. The skills you devote yourself to will determine the direction of your success. With a clear goal, you can identify which skills help you on your journey.

   The second lesson’s importance cannot be overstated: action. Success is a daily discipline. To realize success like a Raptor, you need to devote yourself to mastery of your chosen skills every day.

   With the right direction, and consistent action, you will achieve Success like a Raptor. You will be a champion.

What Does Success Look Like?

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Do you know what success looks like?

   Scrolling through Instagram and other social media feeds, we soon become inundated with an endless barrage of fancy sports cars, pristine sandy beaches, yachts, high-rise patios, and the list goes on. Picture after picture, story after story, surely this is what success looks like.

But is it?

   Success is not achieved by having any of the aforementioned pictures alone. Those celebratory poses, when not faked, often come with a long back story that isn’t near as glamorous. And I’m not referring to trolling city streets looking for a parked Ferrari to take a selfie with. No, I’m talking about the owner of that Ferrari's story. Success looks like the countless years of grinding, on the phone with prospects, scribbling furious notes in online courses, constantly growing, constantly grinding. The long days and late nights, sticking it out when times’ are tough. And that is only one image of success.

   Success looks like the teacher who is laughing with her students, celebrating top grades across the class. Taking in the look of jubilation on those students faces, knowing that her years of study, late nights marking tests, staying after school and sacrificing lunches to help others learn. That is the image of success, because she chose to be a teacher. Because she worked hard to earn those cheers of her students.

   Success looks like the glitter falling from his hair, because he defined success as being his daughter’s father and best friend. The make-up shining his cheeks to a rosy red, pink lipstick smeared across his face. The endless clean-up, driving to early morning practices, late nights listening to her first heart-break. All the behind-the-scenes care and support. No flashy picture captures that. But the laughter and memories made, that is success. That is his success. That is the success he chose.

   These are the stories of success we don’t see as we scroll through the day’s social media posts. But these are the real successes. So let me ask you, what does success look like? What does success look like for you?

Checking the Rearview

Checking the Rearview

   At Business Minded we talk a lot about where we’re going - mapping out our direction and taking consistent action to reach our planned destination. Small consistent wins are the only way to achieve the highest Return on Your Investment possible. That forward focus is essential to drive to the right destination, as picked by you.

How do you know you're on the right track?

   To stay on track for our success, we also need to remember to check the rearview every once in a while. This is essential for several reasons. The main reason is to appreciate the distances we’ve come. Reflecting on our accomplishments is a good way to appreciate the efforts that we’ve put in to get to where we are, and to remind us that we can, we will, achieve our goals through consistent action.

   This action of reaffirming why we started, where we’re going, and where we came from helps us stay grounded in our pursuits. And while our past doesn’t need to define our future, we shouldn’t forget the trials and tribulations that made us who we are.

   Checking the rearview also assists us in our future goal setting and plans. As a quote from Matthew Kelly in his book The Long View:

“Most people overestimate what they can do in a day, and underestimate what they can do in a month. We overestimate what we can do in a year, and underestimate what we can accomplish in a decade.”

- Matthew Kelly, The Long View

   When checking the rearview, we can see the level of investment that has provided the current returns. If we want to accomplish more, we can gauge the increased investment required to hit those larger, more inspiring goals.

   So look up, glance at that rearview and remember why you started. Remember how far you’ve come. And remember what it took to get there.

   Now draw on the strength built in your accomplishments, and more accurately plan out your goals, knowing what it took to get here. Decide what level of investment you need to hit the next milestone in your life, and take action. That new lofty goal ahead of you, that will soon be a map-point in the rearview as well.

Defining your Career

Designing your Career

   Unless you're the beneficiary of a reclusive billionaires' estate, you're likely going to have to work. Your career is therefore an essential part to your success plans for the future. Are you on track to reach those career goals?  

   Knowing if you are on track to reach your career goals starts first with designing the career, and the life, you want to live. So what is the process to design your career?

   The process of designing your career falls into 3 steps:

  1. Set your career Goals
  2. Modelling the success of others
  3. Investment in your skills

   The first step to leading a successful career, the first step to success, is to work out what your goal actually is. The importance of this first step cannot be stressed enough. Often times our careers are treated haphazardly, accepting work and jobs based on a select few criteria. Settling into a career because "that's what my parents wanted", or following in their footsteps. Or we chase career progression for the paycheck, and the prestige we think that buys us.

   How many times have we answered that "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" question with where we think that job will lead? How many times have we looked into the future without asking if our path is heading where we actually want to go?

   Once we have taken some time to determine where we want to be professionally, we need to evaluate what it will take to get there. Fortunately, every next step that we want to take has already been taken by someone else. At one point in time or another, someone has walked a similar path to the one we're headed down. And this is excellent news. Now we have an example to follow, the skills, the knowledge, and the understanding that our dreams are possible.

   The second step to designing your career is best summed up by Les Brown, as he reflects on a lesson his mentor taught him,

"Success leaves clues. Always listen to, and follow people who are doing what you want to do, at the level you want to do it."

Les Brown

   Studying those who are standing where you want to stand will provide a clear picture as to what skills you will need to develop. That knowledge is invaluable. Write down those skills. And on the page before you will be a list of skills, a road map to the successful career that you hope to live.

   Finally the third step; investment in your skills.

   This is by far the most time consuming, expensive, and exhausting step. To learn the skills needed to be successful, we need to continually invest in ourselves. Investment in the audio programs, the mentors, the books, and the courses that develop our skills. These investments are essential to becoming more valuable, more capable of following the road map to our success.

   The first two steps have provided you the road map to the career you aspire to. But the blueprints to your career are only valuable if you put in the time and effort required to build the skills necessary. This third and never-ending step of investing in yourself and your abilities will result in you working, and living the life that you desire.

The Roller Coaster of Emotional Investing

The Emotional Roller Coaster of Investing

   What happens when the emotional roller coaster of investing runs out of control? Are you at risk of losing thousands?

   Illustrated in a 2018 Forbes article, The Cycle Of Market Emotions: Where Are We Now?, the emotional roller coaster was presented in emoji form. The dangers of falling to any emotional bias when investing is something everyone should be aware of. While we looked at an extreme example in our Three Parts to Growing Your Investments, falling victim to emotional investing can have catastrophic consequences.

The Cycle of Market Emotions

   The most prevalent form of emotional investing is relying too heavily on the market timing lever. As you can see in the above image, when the market is on the rise (a bull market), investor confidence is high. When this happens, most would logically assume that it is a good time to invest. After all, why not? The 6 o’clock news keeps telling us that the market is hitting new record highs every day. And with all that happiness and wealth being generated, it sure sounds like a good idea to jump on the ride!

   But record highs mean that prices are up. You are actually paying a premium to enter the market. While we drive the extra 10 minutes to a store further away to save 10% on shoes, we’re suddenly prepared to pay extra for our investments?

   On the other hand, when the markets are crashing (bear markets), our confidence is low. Prices are dropping and the Wall Street media yells and screams day after day that the end of times is near.

   Looking at the above rationally, the best time to get in is when stocks are on sale, or at the lowest price point. This of course goes contrary to our emotional preferences, since when the prices are lowest we’re stuck somewhere between the anger, frustration and sorrow of how much we’ve “lost”.

   Taking rides on the emotional roller coaster, trailing the ups and downs of the cycle of market emotions is exhausting. While the highs are euphoric, the feeling when the market, and our stomach drops out from beneath us is exhausting. Financial success is therefore not climbing on the emotional roller coaster. Instead, routine, automated investing will help average out the cost of our investments and capitalize on long-term economic growth. All while weathering, and prospering, through economic winters.

   Don’t lose your money and your mind. When the roller coaster of emotional investing sends others into a spiral, trust in your automated system to steer you to financial freedom by the end of the ride.

Dissect your Successes

Dissect your Successes, Identify what is working, and what is not.

   Setting goals puts us on the right road. This we know. Success only ever lies down a path we choose to walk. But once we achieve those initial successes, the journey is far from over. There are two essential elements that must follow each achievement, Celebration, and Dissection.

   Taking time to celebrate our successes adds to the reward of achievement, and helps motivate us to continue achieving so that we can continue celebrating. And celebrations are fun. The road to success is often difficult, grueling, exhausting, and sometimes demoralizing. Pausing long enough to smell the roses and raise a glass to our accomplishments helps us to center ourselves for the next challenge.

   The other element is dissection. As iconic billionaire investor Warren Buffet has been heard saying, we need to dissect our successes, and failures. The dissection process shines a spotlight on what went right, and what didn’t. This learning helps us understand what we do well, where our skills and abilities are strongest, and what needs to be improved. This dissection of our successes leads us to capitalizing on strengths, outsourcing or improving on weaknesses, and ultimately leads to more success.

   But how do we dissect our success? If you have a Success Coach, talking through the challenges and obstacles will help you process your efforts, your accomplishments. Regular check-ins will keep you focused on the important elements, identify strengths and weaknesses, and put together an action plan to perform optimally.

   Our Business Minded coaching program has the touch points and insights to help dissect your successes, to set yourself up for even more accomplishments in the future.

   Even if you don’t have a Success Coach, you should still be dissecting your successes and failures. At regular intervals, you should pause and reflect, writing down the challenges you are facing, and the progress you’ve made towards your goals. This focused journaling will help you structure your thoughts, letting you objectively look at the challenges you’ve faced and those you are still facing. And why write this down? Even if you never plan on reviewing your notes, the process of writing causes you to slow down. If you’re anything like me, your mind can race ahead at a million miles a minute, and at that pace it’s very hard to pick up on the small details, the small wins and losses you see during every step. The forced slow down with a pen and paper, or even the rhythmic keystrokes, will apply the brakes just enough to see some clarity while you dissect your successes.

   Like anything, this process gets better over time. The more you practice, the better you become at learning your own strengths and weaknesses. Armed with these insights about yourself, obstacles become easier to overcome in the best way for you. Those achievements start becoming more frequent, giving you more to dissect, and perhaps most importantly, more to celebrate.

   Dissecting your successes and failures helps illuminate your strengths and weaknesses. Spend time with your success coach, or grab a pad of paper and scalpel, or pen in this case, and begin dissecting. As you practice, you sharpen your skills and abilities, bringing more success into your life.

The Three Parts to Growing Your Investments

   In a healthy financial strategy, investments are one essential element for achieving financial success. When looking at where and how to invest, there are three essential elements that need to be considered. These are asset allocation, market timing, and time.

   Asset allocation is simply how you have invested your funds. Here is where diversification comes into play. A well diversified portfolio enables you to avoid some risk, while taking advantage of economic growth on a large scale. To illustrate, let’s look at the portfolios of two friends, Bill and Katelyn. Bill invests in the S&P 500, as a diversified portfolio that tracks the movement of the 500 largest companies traded in America. Katelyn however has invested her money in a company she is betting on for the future, Tesla.

A chart showing the impact of one asset vs a balanced portfolio.

   By allocating your assets in an undiversified portfolio, you can expose yourself to massive risk. In Katelyn’s case, having $10,000 in Tesla on March 1st led her to see an unrealized loss of $ 3,044.88 by May 21st, 2019. This could be devastating to any portfolio, especially if life circumstances required her to sell at the low point. Bill on the other hand saw moderate gains in the same period. His more diversified portfolio wasn’t exposed to massive gains, but also was protected from the huge losses his undiversified friend.

   As this rather extreme but not unheard of example illustrates, the volatility of investments makes it very risky to keep all your eggs in one basket. For those without immense knowledge of the market, that risk is usually not worth the potential reward.

   The above example also works well when looking at the second element to growing your investments, market timing. Timing the market means buying low, and selling high. Knowing precisely when to buy and sell is impossible for even the most talented stock trader. Taking a look at the S&P 500 again as our benchmark, we can look at the price on the first of every month for the last 9 months.

A graph showing S&P 500 market volatility.

   No investor has ever accurately predicted the right time to buy and sell on a consistent basis to be able to beat the market regularly. By looking at the graph above with only 9 data points, we can see that it would be hard to time exactly. If we looked at the daily market prices, the graph is even more sporadic.

   The final element to growing your investments is time. In the long run, historically investments have increased in value. This can be seen when looking at the market price of the S&P 500 since its inception. For our example purposes, we are only looking at the last 5 years.

A graph showing S&P 500 market growth over 5 years

   Even in the last 5 years, despite economic fluctuations, the price of the S&P 500 has increased 43%, or 8.6% annually.

   The three elements that are essential to growing your investments are asset allocation, market timing, and time. Diversification of your investment portfolio helps mitigate risk, while combined with the final element, time, leads to consistent growth. Market timing is risky, as knowing when to buy and sell is impossible. And by staying out of the market thinking you will buy at the lows, and sell at the highs, leaves you missing out on the one main element you can control, and that is time.

   Investing part of your monies for the future is the only way to reliably achieve financial freedom, and that is something not worth gambling over. Investing in a diversified portfolio regularly, automatically, will help you stay in the market. This capitalizes on the time element you can control, and takes the gambling out of market timing.

Setbacks vs. Step Backs

   At the surface, there is a vast difference in suffering a setback, and taking a step back. Step backs are a conscious realization that your current approach is not yielding the results you want, and that you need to adjust your efforts. Step backs are needed to get perspective on what is truly important, and chasing after it with renewed fervor.

   Setbacks on the other hand, setbacks hurt. Setbacks sound like failure, like the challenges you face have knocked you down. And maybe they have. But now that you’ve stumbled, now that you have been knocked back, maybe even flat on your back. When you stand up, and you will stand up. Take a moment, take a look around. Notice where you are?

   You’re standing in the very place you would have been if you had simply decided to take a step back. Sure you hit that problem hard. Sure it hurts. But you’re in the same spot as you would have been if you hadn’t charged so hard. So stand up. Look around, refocus on what is truly important to you. Adjust your approach, and keep on chasing that dream.

   And remember this lesson, there really is no difference between a setback and a step back.

And you will stand up.

   So charge. Charge after what you want. Because if you take the time to decide what is important to you, plan your approach, and charge. If you do that, the pain you could feel is minimal, or you could bust through those challenges that might otherwise have caused you to hesitate. You could knock those obstacles aside with the power of decisive action.

   You might charge headlong into a setback. Or you just might charge right on through. You might charge over that obstacle that would have caused a step back. Or not, and you’ll end up in the same spot you were heading for all along. Only faster. Because at the end of the day, there is no difference between a setback and a step back. But you could just arrive where you want to go a whole lot sooner if you don’t fear the setback.

Why you need an Emergency Fund

We often hear about Emergency Funds in personal finance texts. A fund of easily accessible cash put aside for emergencies, if they should arise. Sometimes, especially when savings seem hard to come by, it might sound tempting to invest all our extra reserves to take advantage of economic growth. Certainly these past few years (currently 2019) have seemed an opportune time. But it wasn't always so.

Recently we had the opportunity to speak with some more seasoned life travelers. One story in specific stood out among the rest.

Francis (name changed to protect identity) grew up on the other side of the tracks. Don't leave the house after dark kind of tracks. But after going to college and starting his life, he got out from that circle of viciousness. He had a job, a tidy sum invested in the stock market. Things were on the up and up for Francis and his budding family. But then 2008 hit.

In 2008 the stock market crashed, as the US economy entered the worst recession in recent history. Jobs were lost, housing and stock prices plummeted, for some, it was the end of days. And bad luck has a way of following some people around.

Francis had recently had his second child, a sublime cause for celebration! Except there were complications at birth, and suddenly that exhilaration turned to concern. And a hefty doctors bill.

Not to worry! Francis had investments.

But in 2008 during the stock market crash, his investments were at an all time low. Liquidating at this time was ill-advised. But with mounting doctors bills, necessary. See Francis didn't have an emergency fund. He was enjoying the upward trajectory of the economy, right up until he wasn't enjoying it any more.

An emergency fund would have helped Francis weather the storm, and would have saved him from extraordinary losses as he paid off doctors bills.

Fast forward 10 years, and Francis has recovered economically, but his learning were paid for the hard way. And those lessons? Keep a little stashed away on the side for those sudden curve balls life throws. With a little emergency fund, you can be sure to weather economic storms and not see your fortunes washed away in a tidal wave.

Who are the three people we all need in our lives?

   When we set about building our professional networks, there are a few key roles that we need to fill to set ourselves up for optimal success. These three roles are: a mentor, a coach, and a cheerleader.

   Finding and engaging with a mentor is one of the more popular professional development elements. These mentors are individuals who have the expertise in one or more areas of focus for our professional lives. They have the knowledge of the mistakes that they have made on their journey, and that wisdom can help us avoid the same mistakes. A smart person will learn from their own mistakes, the most successful persons will learn from others mistakes, so as to avoid those pitfalls. Mentors are relied on for advice, and looked up to as examples of what you hope to achieve.

   When dealing with mentors, they are best utilized with smaller, more infrequent interactions at critical times. Most of the mentors that we seek out are busy professionals themselves, and therefore lack the time to help with the day-to-day challenges we face. And their role isn’t to hand hold and do the work for you, a mentor gives solid advice based on their experiences, and lets you take action yourself. Based on these actions, a mentor will also help you pull out the useful lessons learned. Learning from their mistakes, acting upon their advice, and extracting your own lessons learned will help you optimize your relationship with your mentor. And be sure to share all the successes and failures with your mentor! People love hearing of the successes that their advice helped you achieve.

"There are few obstacles capable of standing against human willpower, but when that willpower starts to fade, you need a coach to keep you pushing forward."

   The second person you need in your life is a coach. Coaches are more hands-on than mentors, and while you are still the one putting in the effort, your coach will help you stay accountable and focused on the goals. The best coaches will help provide the focus to achieve your goals, working out what obstacles you are facing and helping determine the next steps to overcome those obstacles. By keeping you focused and accountable for both action and results, a coach is an essential component of any successful persons team.

   Coaches are also great for telling you the hard truths that other friends and colleagues won’t tell you. A good coach isn’t concerned about hurting your feelings, they want you to succeed, sometimes even in spite of yourself. This doesn’t mean they’re a drill sergeant, but if that’s what it takes, your coaches are the ones to yell, scream, and push you to be better. Your coaches are in your corner, pushing you to surpass any obstacles. There are few obstacles capable of standing against human willpower, but when that willpower starts to fade, you need a coach to keep you pushing forward.

   The last person you need in your life is a cheerleader. These are the people that you can talk with, who support you no matter what. They are always in your corner, encouraging you to be the best you can be, but also there to help you up when you stumble. Your cheerleaders are often friends who are genuinely excited for your success.

   Of the three people you need in your life, the cheerleader is the hardest to find. Mentors that you have a connection with are excited at the prospect of sharing their knowledge and experiences, especially when they see how it helps you succeed. Coaches are always eager to push their clients to greater successes. Holding you accountable to yourself and your dreams is an exciting prospect for the best coaches, and we’re eager to push you to greater heights. Cheerleaders on the other hand, these are the friends and partners that support you no matter what. Certainly the most valuable, but also the hardest to cultivate because they can’t be bought or sold. Ingratiating yourself into a community with similar interests and aspirations helps you meet like-minded individuals who you can support, and whom will in return support you.

   So as you build your team, your professional network, keep in mind these three roles. Who is your mentor? Who do you trust and respect, whose advice will guide you through the tough choices? Who is in your corner, coaching you to greatness? The coach(es) who push you past your limits, the coaches who hold you accountable in your journey for success. And who is your cheerleader supporting you and cheering you on? Who will be there to lend an ear when the times are rough, and to raise a glass when successes are realized?

   Your mentors, coaches, and cheerleaders all have one thing in common, we all want you to succeed.

What is the best investment?

   There are so many options for investing, the choices can be overwhelming. Stocks? Bonds? Real estate? Foreign currency? Or, weed stocks because we overheard a tip from our local barista? Oh! And don’t forget bitcoin, we could all be rich with bitcoin! Or we could be broke. Depends on the day. So when we invest in our future, which option is best?

   The list above has actually left out the best investment you can make. And no it isn’t rare metals, stamps, watches, or baseball cards. The best investment that you can make is, you.

Investing in yourself is the safest investment that you can make. And the ROI on that investment is unbeatable in the marketplace. And the best part? That investment can come in many different ways.

When you consider where you are in your career, does someone in your company make more money than you? Your boss, or their boss? Or for the self-employed, is there anyone doing something similar who is more successful? Investing in your skill set makes you more valuable, which you can use to command higher earnings. And those gains, just like investments, they compound. The better you get, the more valuable you are, and the higher your earnings will go.

The best investment that you can make is, you.

   You can also invest in yourself in other ways, that aren’t solely based on career progression. Take fitness for example, the more physically active you are, the lower your risk of costly health issues. These investments cost little more financially than a pair of running shoes, although a personal trainer might be handy for some. But these investments come more in the form of time and mental energy dedicating yourself to a healthier lifestyle. The return on investment (ROI) you will see here comes in the form of cost savings, with lower healthcare bills. And a not insignificant opportunity cost of being productive when you would otherwise be sick.

   Any area of our life can be improved with investment, and the returns can be exceptional. Want to eat healthier? Hire a nutritionist, or take a cooking class. Want to be more spiritually in tune? Go on a retreat, or speak to a counselor. No matter what area of your life you want to invest in, there are options and/or coaches for that. Find a coach or teacher that will help you become a better version of you, and enjoy the return on investment for the rest of your life!

   You may find yourself asking; if investing in ourselves is the best investment possible, why are these investments overlooked so frequently? The returns on investments in ourselves aren’t track able the same way as investing in stocks or real estate. Those have real purchase prices and selling prices, the difference being our gains or losses. When we invest in ourselves, how much of our gains, or savings from living healthier, can be attributable to our good decisions? How much of our “gains” would we have experienced naturally? The ambiguity of personal development causes many people to fail to invest in themselves as much as they should.

   Part of any solid financial plan involves investing in yourself. So whether that’s an extra course, hitting the gym, simply reading more, or hiring a coach - be sure that you invest in your future success by investing in you.

The Staircase to Success

   Previously in The Appetite of Success I shared the pathway to becoming an achiever. For the sake of brevity, I omitted two crucial elements, which will be dealt with here. If you haven’t read The Appetite of Success, I would strongly recommend doing that first.

   If you recall, we looked at the journey from Newbie to Achiever, following the Motivated Equilibrium line. (Refresher image below:)

Motivated Equilibrium

   The journey, as we discovered, was a series of increasingly challenging goals, causing us to develop our skills further. Each of these becomes a step along the path. But in this case, “step” is a literal translation.

Pick a goal that is more challenging, and build the necessary skills.
Pick a goal that is more challenging, and build the necessary skills.

   The staircase we see is our skills building to surpass each new challenge we set before us. Each step pushes the boundaries of current achievement, the Motivated Equilibrium line, then we continue to grow our skills incrementally before taking the next challenging stair up the staircase. As we take each new step, conquer each new challenge, we gain a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. This feeling of accomplishment helps us look towards the next step, and grants us the perseverance to stick with our craft, building more skills to take us to new heights.

   When taking stairs, in life and in our metaphorical sense, too many stairs at one time will leave you stumbling. This is why you cannot simply jump up entire staircases. Nor can you build skill and charge up too many steps at once, as fatigue will set in and cause you to falter.

   And faltering brings us to our next crucial element, landings. Not all skills and endeavors are destined to bring us to greatness. Indeed, we need to focus on just a few core staircases that lead us to our highest levels of achievement and success. That means some of our areas of interest we need to either abandon, or at least hold at a level that is acceptable. Let us quickly define acceptable in the instance of this article as: the point where desire equals effort + time. The landing we hold should maintain our desired skills without costing too much effort and time. If it costs more time and effort than we want (desire) to dedicate, then we need to scale back to a landing that is comfortable.

Maintaining your skills requires consistent practice at the same level of challenge.
Maintaining your skills requires consistent practice at the same level of challenge.

   Landings require some effort to maintain our skill level, but we are no longer devoting extra time and effort to grow our skill base. This means we are holding skills constant without striving for achievement in this area of focus. To tie this back to our guitar playing example, progressing along our motivated equilibrium between challenge and skill, but recognize that we would rather be an exceptional <insert profession here> mother, father, teacher, athlete, entrepreneur, lawyer, developer, salesperson, etc. Our efforts should be focused on that staircase, but since guitar playing is still important, we need to continue to practice to maintain our skills. Instead of playing Through the Fire and the Flames by DragonForce, perhaps we’re comfortable strumming out some Beatles around a summer campfire. This means we still need to practice, but to a lesser extend, freeing up time and energy to continue along the path of who we truly want to be. To thrive, to continue to climb upwards along your chosen staircase that is important to you.

The Appetite of Success

   We’ve all heard the idiom before:

Don’t bite off more than you can chew.

   And how wise those words are. The issue with biting off more than you can chew is the struggle to swallow. Many times, tackling an obstacle that far exceeds our skill level is too daunting, and when that happens we give up. We step back from the challenge, and take smaller bites. This is especially true when setting goals, as too lofty a goal will leave us standing slack, overwhelmed by the enormity of the task. And in that paralyzed state of overwhelm, nothing gets accomplished.

   But the reverse is also true. Goals, real goals, goals that mean something to ourselves. Those goals need to be challenging enough to keep us striving to be better. Taking too small a bite leaves us malnourished. This malnourishment shows up in the form of boredom. Overcoming obstacles that are so far beneath us that we glean no sense of satisfaction from their accomplishment. Without the sense of satisfaction, we become complacent, and our skills deteriorate.

   So there we have it, don’t bite off more than you can chew, and eat enough to keep from starving. There exists in the middle a space of not just surviving, but thriving.

   To help visualize the line that we all need to strive for in our own lives, the below graph shows the quadrants we are looking at:

Motivated Equilibrium

   Arguably, at birth we start with no skills, and no real challenges. From there, we start to take on more challenges, and gaining more skills. This is the same in any new endeavor, regardless of age. From the first thought, to progressive realization of a new skill. If we follow the Motivated Equilibrium line carefully, we progress from being new to the challenge, through to being a real achiever. Where we get off the line, or come to a plateau is completely up to us.

   How does this shape up? Forgive my musical ignorance, but we will use guitar playing in our example.

   We begin with the idea of playing a guitar. Never picked one up, never strummed a chord, we’re a newbie (new to this). From the first moment we decide to learn this skill, we enter the lower left quadrant. At this moment, biting off more than you can chew, trying to play Through the Fire and the Flames by DragonForce. This song would be so completely overwhelming, for virtually everyone, this would be the point where they stopped trying to play the guitar.

   On the flip side, let’s fast forward a few (or a lot of) hours of practice. So now we can hit every chord with our eyes closed. Our fingers know the struts and the strings, the sound is as familiar as our own voice. If all you played from this point forward was Mary had a Little Lamb, it wouldn’t take long for boredom to set in. All those skills you had developed over hours and potentially even years of practice, those skills would eventually falter. You would become rusty, and your skills would deteriorate.

   We see this deterioration every day, the lessons taught in past schooling that no longer seem relevant. I couldn’t tell you the first thing about Canadian French, or the nuances of biology, or even guitar playing. My once acquired knowledge and skills faded into boredom with misuse, and eventually deteriorated.

   So where does achievement lie? And how can we retain and grow our skills? We need consistently evolving goals and challenges, only within reach. These cause us to strive for greater skills, which in turn help us push our goals further out as we take on bigger and bigger challenges. This walk along the path of Motivated Equilibrium leads us to excellence. But that walk is a tightrope. Too much or too little, and we’ll stall, or fall. If we stick with biting off exactly what we need to become better versions of ourselves, throughout the passage of time and effort, we will not only survive, we will thrive.

Milestones and Mile Markers

   Have you ever had the chance to watch an amateur marathon? The most interesting place to watch is, of course, the finish line. To see the runners striding in, achieving their victory as they excitedly cross the finish line. The marathon is, for many endurance runners, a crowning achievement. That inflatable banner with the word “FINISH” inked across it, the realization of a goal accomplished. And it is beneath that finish line that we can see the true measure of one’s goals.

She wasn’t running for the finish line, she was running through the finish line.

   I had the opportunity recently to view such a finish, and the insights that parallel so perfectly into our own lives with our own goals, our own unique challenges. To highlight these insights, we need to look no further than two exhausted runners entering the home straight. Feet striking the pavement, blood deafening as it pumps through their ears, the cheers of excited fans boosting adrenaline. As these two runners stormed down the final straight, an interesting thing happened. The lead runner looked at the finish line. This was his destination, this was where he needed to get to, his final mile marker. As he approached the last milestone that would signal the completion of the marathon, he eased off just a touch, letting his motion and exhausted legs coast across the finish line. The runner who was lagging as she entered the home stretch however, she wasn’t looking at the finish line. She wasn’t looking at the other runner. She was looking beyond the finish line. I could tell by the distant look in her eyes that she wasn’t running for the finish line, she was running through the finish line.

   And sure enough, 20 meters left, 10 meters left, the gentleman let off his pace and she flew past him. Beating him by almost a full second.

   Now this wasn’t a race between the two. By their high fives and congratulations at the end, it was clear they didn’t know each other. So why then did the lady, who was losing coming into the final straight, win? It might have been competitive drive. But likely it was something more than that. She won for the same reason some people hit their goals and some people exceed their goals. She won because she wasn’t focused on the finish line, the mile marker, the milestone. She was focused on exceeding her stated goal. She was focused on excellence.

   Therein lies the important lesson. If you want to succeed, I mean truly succeed in any endeavor, you need to look past the next milestone. You need to see the horizon beyond the next mile marker.

   It is important to appreciate the milestones that keep us on track. That is why we set goals, and break them down into bite-sized, actionable steps. These milestones that line the path to our vision of an ideal life keep us on track, and not overwhelmed. But once we have momentum going, it is important to keep striving for excellence, to keep pushing past the next finish line and into the life of our dreams beyond.

Why you need a Success Coach

What is a Success Coach? & Why do you need one?

   When we look at the success framework, it is clear that success is achieved by taking strides towards your ideal future. This ideal future is why success means such vastly different things to different people, but the similarity is that each of us is striving for a future where we want to live. We set our sights on a future target, we create SMART goals, and we begin taking action. Now that we’ve set goals and are working towards them, we’re in the success game. And as with all truly great performers, regardless of their craft, they all need a coach to help.

   The greatest singers have vocal coaches, someone that helps them refine their craft so they continue to be at the top of their game. Athletes that excel, they have coaches, many coaches. Each there to help the individual player excel, whether that be fitness, skills, mentality, or other discipline. The prevalence of coaches among top performers is without fail, which highlights an important element to success. Nobody achieves success alone.

What does a Success Coach do?

   As defined by Oxford dictionaries, a coach is “an instructor or trainer; to give (someone) professional advice on how to attain their goals.” Simply put, a coach ensures that the efforts are accurately directed towards the eventual goal, and keeps the performer, you, accountable. And that is where a success coach comes in.

   Success Coaching is focused on helping identify the most impactful behaviours and actions to achieve your goals. This means working closely to map out SMART goals, and breaking those goals down further into more manageable actions that you can held accountable for daily or weekly. Tracking your progress is an important element of any coaching program, to ensure that you are actually making progress, and not simply movement.

   What does this look like in practice? For illustrative purposes, we’ll use a career goal of: Develop the skill-set of a manager/leader within 12 months. The success coach would work with you to identify the skill-set required; communication skills, delegation skills, time management skills, and so forth. Focusing on one skill at a time, the behaviors you would be held accountable to by your coach might be communication, with weekly presentations, reading requirements, and effective email writing practice. Breaking the learning down into manageable pieces, your coach forces you to become more than you are right now, so that you can be more successful than you are right now. And to top it off, the best coaches help you reach your goals without sacrificing the important areas of your life. This isn’t a “survive on 4-hours of sleep” regimen, nor a “sacrifice years of fun and enjoyment for the hustle.” Success is hard work, but it doesn’t need to come at the cost of your life.

Where do you find a Success Coach?

   A success coach can be anyone who is able to help you sharpen your focus on your goals, and holds you accountable for their achievement. Some of us have friends or partners that are able to help us reach for higher levels of achievement. If that isn’t an option, success coaches and accountability partners can be found online, or through professional organizations.

   Just as not all fitness coaches are right for everyone, not all success coaches are the right fit. Be sure to ask how your coach plans to help you achieve your goals. It is essential to find a coach that supports your goals and vision, and can give you tangible, actionable insights as to how to achieve success. And perhaps most importantly, you need to be willing to hear constructive criticism from your coach. Which means the criticism must be offered by your coach, and listened to by you.

*Consider this a cautionary note, before you put undue stress on relationships or friendships. You can always part ways with a coach you’ve contracted, but it’s much harder to part ways with a friend.

   If you’re interested in seeing how our success coaching programs at Business Minded work, check out the page here.

   As you embark on your journey to reach new heights, just remember, that vision of the future you’re working towards? It’s worth it. And when the road seems too steep to push on further? You aren’t alone, you’ve got a success coach ready to help you push for new successes.