Boiling down a few key bits of life and career growth advice into 10 minutes was quite a challenging assignment! It forced me to sift through my experiences and material to get to the core essence of what I’d do over or change if I was starting my career again.

Here are the four key areas I identified:

Harnessing the Power of Imagery or Visualization
I first came across the Law of Attraction in 1974. It fundamentally shifted my reality and changed my life. There’s now a rapidly growing body of scientific research, such as quantum mechanics and string theory, helping us to understand this incredibly powerful magnetic force. Whenever we think about the future, whether the next few days or longer term, we’re visualizing or imagining potential scenarios, actions, and outcomes. The vital question is whether we’re visualizing a future that’s mostly positive or negative. What we focus on sets the polarity of our personal force field.

I’ve written quite a bit about my experiences with visualization. CLICK HERE to peruse such articles as “How Visioning Changed My Life,” “Visioning Harnesses the Power of our Pictures,” “Yield of Dreams” and others.

Building Upon and Aligning To Our Strengths
Most of us intuitively know that being “in the flow” or “in the zone” comes when we’re using our core strengths. It would have been helpful to me to have a more explicit understanding of this much earlier in life.

I recommended to the young professionals (as I do many of my audiences) to check out the excellent work of the non-profit VIA Institute on Character (www.viastrengths.org.) This organization was founded to create a scientifically rigorous classification of character strengths and a way of measuring them. The VIA (Values In Action) survey is based on 24 universal character strengths defining what’s best about people. The VIA Survey is the result of a three-year effort involving 55 noted social scientists. Approximately one million people have taken the VIA Survey on Character Strengths. Taking the test and aligning our lives to our core strengths is key to health, happiness, and enduring success.

Build a FOD Fund
The more savings we have, the less we’re beholden to an annoying boss, the economy, or sudden job loss. Early in my career, I started a “fly off and die” savings fund. This money was to allow me or Heather to tell any bad boss to get lost, and survive a job loss, or start our own business. It’s been the fallback factor enabling us to do what we do because we want to – not because we have to. Without this financial cushion, the chances of being exploited by a bad boss or getting stuck in a soul-destroying job are much higher. Debt can be a ruthless master.

I advised the young professionals to be very conscious that as their income rises they don’t also raise their standard of living. Keep it constant or even lower. Put all of that additional money into savings. Pay yourself first and have savings automatically deducted from your bank account on pay days, before you have a chance to spend it. Set a target of saving at least 10 percent of your income – shoot for 20 percent or more. Avoid borrowing money and pay off your mortgage as soon as you can. Collect interest; don’t pay it. If you can’t save up and pay cash for everything else, do you really need it or do you just want it? Wants, you can do without.

Hire and Align with Leaders, Beware Followers, and Avoid Wallowers
My latest book, Growing @ the Speed of Change, is built around our Lead, Follow, or Wallow model. If I had to do it over again, I’d put even more focus on hiring Leaders, not Followers, and avoid Wallowers like the dangerously infectious people they are. I’d also help our kids earlier in their lives to recognize more clearly the types of people they hang out with and the consequences of those choices to their happiness and well being.

Click on the following links for recent newsletter articles about these basic choices:

• Five Resolutions to Lead, Not Follow or Wallow in 2010
• New Habits for the New Year: Move Beyond Wallowing and Following to Leading
• Getting Out of Wallow Hallow: Helping Co-Workers and Team Members to Stop Groaning and Start Growing

You can also find this model outlined in much more depth in Chapter Three: Lead, Follow, or Wallow (keep clicking “Next” at the bottom of the pages to read the entire chapter.)

If you knew then what you know now, what would you do differently? Why not start now?

This is the perfect time to think about springing forward in our personal, team, and organization growth and development. But most of us need to be much more strategic and thoughtful about what we call growth and development. I once sat through a scarily high-energy presentation given by an academic specializing in knowledge management. He poured out an overwhelming array of statistics showing that the world’s knowledge was growing at mind-blowing rates. The gist of his presentation was that we need to re-train our brains to absorb more and more information, more and more quickly. His goal seemed to be to bombard us into using his knowledge management approaches so we could cram more stuff in our craniums.

This is dead wrong. He was peddling dangerous misconceptions leading to high stress, attention deficit disorder, and unhappiness. In times of dramatic, discombobulating, light-speed change, we need to step back to step ahead. We need to slow down to increase our speed.

Roderick M. Kramer, social psychologist and professor of organizational behavior at Stanford University explains, “Successful leaders strive to become more reflective. That’s paradoxical given that today’s business culture celebrates action over hesitancy. Americans in particular admire leaders who break new ground, transform industries, and smash glass ceilings. Given this overemphasis on doing, perhaps it’s not surprising that many of the fallen leaders I studied appeared to have a strikingly impoverished sense of self. Though they often know how to read others brilliantly, they remain curiously oblivious to many of their own tendencies that expose them to risk.”

The growing mass of research on time effectiveness, strategic focus, our increasing volume of electronic messages, happiness, dealing with stress, relationships, coaching … the list is endless … clearly shows us that less is more. Paradoxically, we get more done, build stronger teams, and increase personal and organizational effectiveness by stepping back regularly to assess our progress, savor our successes, celebrate achievements, and set new priorities.

“The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur.”
- Vince Lombardi, American football coach

“At the (2002) winter Olympics the difference between gold medal and no medal was often less than 2%. Against truly global competition, a lot of stunningly good performers were just not good enough. In the men’s 10,000-meter speed skating, the difference between a gold medal and no medal was 1.9%. In the women’s giant slalom it was 1.1%; in the four-man bobsled, 0.2%.

A lot of managers claim their companies will ‘bring home the gold’ this year. Terrific, but remember that many excellent competitors went to Salt Lake City and were 98% or 99% as good as the best – and brought home nothing. By all means try to bring home the gold, but don’t delude yourself about how hard it is.”
- Geoffrey Colvin, “Think You Can Bobsled? Ha!” Fortune magazine

“The society which scorns excellence in plumbing because plumbing is a humble activity, and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because philosophy is an exalted activity, will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.”
- John W Gardner, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare under President Lyndon Johnson and author of books on improving leadership in American society

“National Quality Institute has tracked these award winners since 1990, and the results show that many Canada Awards for Excellence recipients have consistently out-performed the TSE, Dow Jones, and Standard & Poor’s indices by almost double. CAE recipients have reported results such as a 91% reduction in employee turnover, a 215% increase in cost savings, and an overall 90% increase in customer satisfaction. Companies in the manufacturing sector have also reported a welcome 57% decrease in workplace injuries.”
- National Quality Institute, Toronto, ON Canada

“Your preoccupation should be on doing what you do as well as you can. What your co-workers say about you, what your opponent is doing – that doesn’t matter.”
- Jay Leno, American comedian, (retired and then rehired) host of “The Tonight Show”

“I read a story that conveyed to me what (excellence) means. It is a story of the greatest sculptor of ancient Greece, Phidias. He was commissioned around 440 B.C. to make the statues that to this day stand on the roof of the Parthenon, in Athens. They are considered among the greatest sculptures of the Western tradition, but when Phidias submitted his bill, the city accountant of Athens refused to pay it. ‘These statues,’ the accountant said, ‘stand on the roof of the temple, and on the highest hill in Athens. Nobody can see anything but their fronts. Yet you have charged us for sculpting them in the round – that is, for doing their back sides, which nobody can see.’ ‘You are wrong,’ Phidias retorted. ‘The gods can see them.’
- Peter Drucker, “My Life as a Knowledge Worker”, Inc magazine

Pick up a cup of water or coffee and estimate how heavy it is. Now hold it straight out sideways at shoulder height. How much heavier does it feel? What if you hold it that way for five minutes? How about an hour? Imagine if you tried to hold it that way for a day. In the unlikely event you could, your arm and shoulder would need serious medical attention.

Focusing on our weaknesses causes us to hold on to past failures, and our shortcomings, for far too long. The longer we hold on, the heavier those burdens become. As we hold on, we fantasize and magnify those weaknesses. We make the proverbial mountain out of a molehill. Dwelling on weaknesses and all that we’ve failed to accomplish is deadly to our health, happiness, relationships, performance, and just about everything else in our lives.

Some Steps for Playing to Our Strengths

Here’s a menu of ideas to help you, compiled from my new book Growing @ the Speed of Change: Your Inspir-actional How-To Guide for Leading Yourself and Others through Constant Change:

Complete tests like VIA Character Strengths, the Kolbe Index, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Gallup’s Strength Finder Profile, Social Styles, and so on, to determine your personal style and how you can maximize your preferences and strengths while working effectively with varying styles among co-workers or team members.

You can manually brainstorm a list of all of your strengths. Your list might also include Emotional Intelligence, technical aptitude, service orientation, training/teaching, speaking, writing, self-discipline, helping others, visionary or strategic thinker, or trustworthiness. List any quality or strength you feel you have to some degree. Now cluster similar strengths until you have three to five groups. Put a heading or title on each group. Cluster headings might include Persuasive Communications, Leading Others, Personal Growth, Achievement Drive, or Generosity. Write a sentence or short paragraph defining each cluster. These are your core strengths. They are your energy source.

If you’re in a management position but your work isn’t energizing you so you can energize and lead others, you have four choices: (1) Do nothing and wish for your “fairy job mother” to appear, poof!, and straighten out your life; (2) Get out of a leadership role so you stop dragging others down to your low energy level; (3) Realign your work with your values and strengths; (4) Figure out what your ideal job is and go find or create it.

Develop hobbies or special interests that play to your values, strengths, and passions.

Don’t focus on your weaknesses unless they become “fatal flaws” that seriously hold you back. Instead, concentrate on your strengths and how to align all aspects of your life with them.

If you’re a sumo wrestler, don’t waste time trying to be a ballerina. We can’t teach frogs to fly. Don’t allow others to “should” on you by making you feel guilty about your weaknesses (as long as they are not fatal flaws) and telling you what you should do. Do what aligns with your values, strengths, and purpose.

Ensure that your day planner and calendar reflect your values and play to your strengths. Schedule personal and professional activities that are aligned to them. Don’t allow today’s pressures to crowd out what’s really important in your life.

Analyze your calendar and meeting agendas for the past few months. Do they clearly reflect your top goals, priorities, and strengths?

If your work needs realignment, talk with your boss about your values, strengths and what you’d like to change in order to be more effective.

If you have tried your hardest to align your work to your strengths and haven’t been able to do that it may be time for you to find other opportunities. Life is too short to live in misalignment outside your strengths zone.

Identify a complementary partner in your business, on your team, or in your personal life, whose strengths are your weaknesses. Work together to balance each other. This won’t always be easy or conflict-free. Practice give-and-take based on connections around your shared vision, values, and purpose.

Develop and keep expanding your Blessings and Brag list. List every accomplishment, strength, and success you’ve ever had or thing you’re grateful for. Make it as long as possible and keep it growing. Review the list whenever you’re feeling down on yourself, anxious, or a little sour.

This is similar to the common problem of being too rushed or busy to learn. The American writer and futurist, Alvin Toffler observed, “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” I’ve spent decades listening to people explain that they just don’t have time for personal learning or investing in training and organizational development. As they get busier, they have even less time for learning. As they have less time for learning, they need to work harder because the tools and skills they are using get ever duller. As they work harder and faster using old ideas, methods, and approaches, there’s even less time to learn how to be more effective. This spiral leads down the slippery slope into the swamp of Wallow Hallow.

I contrast this all-too-common “victim” approach with highly effective people, teams, and organizations I’ve been privileged to work with. They have reversed the vicious busy circle into a virtuous circle of continuous growth and development, leading to ever more effectiveness which leads to less crazy-busyness and more time to learn. Here’s how Barry Chow, a Client who’s built a highly successful business in Calgary, Alberta, puts it:

“‘I don’t have time to learn,’ is actually equivalent to ‘I don’t have time to improve.’ This is poison to both our professional development and to our own fulfillment as individuals.

‘Learning’ is sometimes easy to dismiss, whereas ‘improving’ is an unarguably desirable goal that leaves no wiggle-room for procrastination. Learning isn’t just some necessary evil that we were finished with after our schooling, but a lifelong process that is indispensable to our continuing growth and improvement as human beings.”

By slowing down, learning, refocusing, and being more strategic in how we use our time we can actually speed up our effectiveness.

• This is the perfect time of year to harness the magnetic power of imagery and visualization. Describe what your ideal life would look like if things were going extremely well three to five years from now. Outline your perfect job. Envision your ideal family life. See yourself helping to build whatever communities you’re now part of. Visualize a strong and secure financial situation. Imagine your preferred social circle. Feel an even stronger connection to your philosophical or spiritual beliefs. See your optimum health or physical condition. Include your spouse or “significant other” as a joint exercise; two visualizations are probably better than one.

• When faced with a crisis or very negative change, recall or even list times in the past when you overcame problems as bad as or worse than this one. What can you draw from those experiences? Can they at least help you keep this problem in perspective?

• Unless you’re trying to influence them, spend as little time as possible with pessimists who continually complain and dwell on all that’s wrong. Seek out optimistic people who focus on finding solutions and moving forward.

• Develop or join a network of colleagues interested in personal growth. This can be a powerful source of learning from others’ experiences. It’s also a great way for you to reflect on your own experiences and articulate your improvement plans.

• Find a personal coach or counselor to guide your personal development. He or she can be a sounding board, gather feedback from those you work with, prod you to reach your goals, provide advice, and encourage you.

• Catch and stop yourself from saying things like, “I am too old to change,” “That’s just the way I am,” or “There’s nothing I can do.” Identify those habits or characteristics you’d most like to change. Now develop a series of positive affirmations as if it’s already happening. For example, “I am ….,” “I love to …..,” or “I can …..” Post your affirmative statements built around your visualization where you’ll see them every day. You could use them as screensavers, or put Post-It-Notes in your work space, bathroom mirror, car, wallet, purse, briefcase, or day planner.

"Fast savoring" is an apt oxymoron for our time. We’re in the midst of an epidemic deficit of focus and attention in our society. Edward Hallowell is a psychiatrist and the founder of the Hallowell Center for Cognitive and Emotional Health in Sudbury, Massachusetts. He began his career treating ADD in kids. He’s the author of twelve books, some of which deal with ADD in kids. They include Delivered from Distraction: Getting the Most out of Life with Attention Deficit Disorder and CrazyBusy: Overstretched, Overbooked, and About to Snap! Strategies for Handling Your Fast-Paced Life. He also published an article in Harvard Business Review entitled "Overloaded Circuits: Why Smart People Underperform."

Hallowell has found that managers and professionals in the 21st century suffer from a newly recognized neurological phenomenon that he calls Attention Deficit Trait, or ADT. "It isn’t an illness; it’s purely a response to the hyperkinetic environment in which we live. But it has become epidemic in today’s organizations….people with ADT have difficulty staying organized, setting priorities, and managing time, and they feel a constant low level of panic and guilt." He reports that the number of patients with ADT coming into his clinical practice has mushroomed tenfold in a decade.

Hallowell finds that the benefits of multitasking are illusionary and a big part of the ADT problem. Many people believe that younger generations raised in an environment of juggling multiple technologies at once are better at multi-tasking. Numerous studies have shown that to be completely false. Stress research has found that shifting attention every few minutes to respond to incoming electronic messages increases levels of cortisol (a stress hormone), which decreases memory function. Studies by Glenn Wilson, a psychologist at London University’s King College, showed an average IQ loss of ten points among 1,100 frequent electronic communicators who were flipping back and forth between tasks, conversations, and their electronic messages.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t afford to lose ten IQ points! So I shut off all of those notifications. By point of comparison, marijuana smoking causes only a four-point IQ drop. You’d have to miss a whole night of sleep in order to get to the ten-point drop caused by the technology distractions measured in the study.

“He was going to write a book… but then he found out you can buy them for $19.95
Unknown

“Your library is your portrait.”
George Holbrook Jackson, British journalist, writer and publisher

“I have sometimes dreamt that when the Day of Judgment dawns and the great conquerors and lawyers and statesman come to receive their rewards, the Almighty will turn to Peter and will say, not without certain envy, when he sees us coming with books under our arms, ‘Look, these need no reward. We have nothing to give them here. They have loved reading.’”
Virginia Woolf, English novelist, critic, and essayist

“Employ your time in improving yourself by others’ writings so that you shall come easily by what others have labored hard for.”
Socrates, Classical Greek philosopher

“A best seller was a book which somehow sold well simply because it was selling well.”
Daniel J(oseph) Boorstin, American historian, professor, attorney, and writer

“When you read a classic you do not see in the book more than you did before. You see more in you than there was before.”
Clifton Paul Fadiman, American writer, editor

While researching and writing Growing @ the Speed of Change, I came across the following wisdom from the delightful and insightful book The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living Written by the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler they describe a central tenet of Buddhism critical to thriving in tumultuous times: “Without cultivating a pliant mind, our outlook becomes brittle and our relationship to the world becomes characterized by fear. But by adopting a flexible, malleable approach to life, we can maintain our composure even in the most restless and turbulent conditions. It is through our efforts to achieve a flexible mind that we can nurture the resiliency of the human spirit.”
Mystics, philosophers, and spiritual teachers have for centuries emphasized that a fundamental key to dealing with life’s turbulence is acceptance of life’s impermanence.

After reading my above blog post, Patricia Katz sent me this insightful comment:

“Not getting too attached to an elusive and imaginary status quo – now that is indeed the central challenge of change!”

Pat has a wealth of excellent and thoughtful articles on balancing our busy lives and giving ourselves “permission to pause” at http://www.pauseworks.com/library/articles.php or  http://www.pauseworks.com/wp.

This is dead wrong. He was peddling dangerous misconceptions leading to high stress, attention deficiencies, and unhappiness. In these times of dramatic, dislocating and rapid change we need to step back to step ahead. Otherwise we could end up like the befuddled pilot who told his passengers that “we’re lost, but making great time!” What if you’re racing down the road that leads right into a swamp…or over a cliff?

I first started researching, writing, and speaking about dealing with rapid change during my Achieve Group days in 1985. The first chapter of my first book (The VIP Strategy) focused on how our world was in the midst of a huge multi-decade shift. Change author, Alvin Toffler, called our current times “a hinge of history” when everything about the way our world works dramatically pivots to something new, different…and totally unpredictable.

The growing mountain of research on time effectiveness, strategic focus, dealing with our overflowing e-mail inboxes, happiness, stress, relationships, coaching, and so on clearly show us that less is more. Paradoxically, we get more done, build stronger teams, and increase personal and organizational effectiveness by stepping back regularly to assess our progress, savor our successes, celebrate achievements, and set new priorities.