This blog is simply a place where I talk about challenging ourselves beyond our comfort zones. I’m not going to just talk the talk I’ll be walking the the walk too.

How am I going to do that you might ask? I will be challenging my self each month with something that is going to kick me out of my comfort zone. Like I said I’ll be walking the walk.

My ultimate goal is to inspire others to challenge themselves to achieve things that they never thought they could, in any area in life.

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Yes I am a big screw up…I’ve screwed more times than I can count…and I can count really high.

Are you impressed yet?

I’m not really bragging I’m just telling it like it is…actually I am bragging a bit…more on that later.

Why would I even want to tell the world that I’m a big screw up?

I’m actually proud of my accomplished mistakes.

Yes you read that correctly, not only am I comfortable divulging my screw ups, I’m also a bit proud of them. I’m proud of them because all my mistakes have shaped the person I am now. I’m pretty fond of that person and wouldn’t want to change that.

I’m not going to tell you all my mistakes…I know you have better things to do then spend a week reading a long ass post. Besides, that’s not the point I’m trying to make.

I am a recovering perfectionist (did I spell that right?) myself. That alone has prevented me from doing a lot of things in life. From my younger days, For example, not calling a girl because I didn’t have the perfect line to persuade her to go out with me. I had zero chance of going out with her if I didn’t talk to her. If I wasn’t stuck on trying to be perfect, at least, I would’ve had some chance of scoring. The wrong action is better than no action, in most cases.

“Don’t worry be crappy” – Guy Kawasaki

I think about that quote every time I get caught up in the perfectionist trap. You know what I’m talking about, waiting for that magic word to complete that post or the perfect spice to throw in that chilly.

I’m not saying that I’ve lowered my standards or suggesting that you lower yours. All I’m saying is, don’t let your high standards prevent you from getting things done. That perfect novel isn’t doing any good if its stuck on your shelf because your waiting for that perfect paragraph to tie it all together. Unpublished books don’t win awards…at least I don’t believe they do…there is a lot of award shows these days.

Most peoples standards are not as high as ours anyways…most of the time. Chances are that they don’t even care about that minor detail that you’ve been stressing over for a month. In fact, you might even find out that they cared about something totally different then you thought. You would’ve never known if you didn’t at least put something out there…are you getting my point?

Just like Guy Kawasaki say’s “Don’t worry be crappy” unless your about to perform brain surgery (assuming your a doctor)…then don’t.

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Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach To Customer Service

By: Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles

I’ve recently became a fan of Ken Blanchard after I heard an interview he did with Tony Robbins. I’ve since purchased five of his books which is only a small portion of his work.

Of course I’ve heard of him before because of his most popular book, “The One Minute Manager” I just never got around to reading it (I have the book now).

I have to be honest though, I actually didn’t read it, I listened to the audio version. Which is my format of choice mainly because it allows me to take advantage of my commute.

I think the audio version actually served this book well because it is written as a parable as is most of his books (I think). Which I actually like…I can’t tell you how many books I couldn’t finish because they bored me to tears.

The Rundown:

You might think that a book released in 1993 wouldn’t be relevant anymore. Actually it’s more relevant now due to the current conditions. We can no longer get away with taking our customers (and relationships) for granted.

The books sums it down to three secrets to killer customer service. I would actually call them principles because we should all live by them…Secrets just sounds more intriguing.

The triple D (not that kind) approach to creating “Raving Fans”

1. Decide

The most important one, you have to determine what your standards are. You can’t be every thing to everyone…you don’t want to anyways (it’l get old real quick). Create a vision of perfection for your organization, centered on your customer.

Ask yourself…What are we about? Low prices, high quality, speed, unique experiences, Etc.

What does the customer experience when they interact with our company?

Again, we can’t be everything to everybody, Walmart doesn’t sell Rolexes…maybe Bolexes. Rolex doesn’t sell affordable watches either, at least not to Walmarts standard of affordability.

Decide what who you are and what you standards are.

2. Discover

Find out what your customer wants, not what you think they want and not even what they say they want.

“Don’t just hear the music, listen to the lyrics” – Ken Blanchard

The whole purpose of this is to find a balance of your vision and your customers.

But isn’t it all about the customer? Why does my vision even matter?

No it’s not all about your customer and your vision does matter. If your customer is all about the lowest price and your vision is all about high quality then you will never be able to make them happy. The only thing that this will do is create headaches for you. Your energy is better spent with people that actually want what you have to offer.

In that case you will have to fire your customer…yes I said fire.

Again, you can’t be every thing to everybody (see a pattern forming here).

3. Deliver

This is where a lot of people fall down…failing to deliver every time. Not only deliver every time but plus 1%.

Why plus 1% ?

There is two main reasons. One, you have to continually improve because if you’re not, your competitors are (especially if they know the triple D secrets).

Two, our expectations continue to rise. Remember the dial up days…now, if we have to wait more then a couple seconds for a page to load, we get a bit frustrated. Why? Our standards are higher then they were back then (the dial up dark ages).

The bottom line is this, our customers expectations (just like ours) rise every day. If we fail to deliver plus 1% and we deliver 99% our customer probably won’t let us know. If they do tell us, they will do it by not returning.

The Takeaway:

This book is written from a business perspective, but the word customer, could easily be replaced with, friend, coworker, spouse, Etc. These same principles will help you form “Raving Fan” relationships.

The principle that I seem to overlook is the first one, decide. Which is the most important one, how can you deliver if you don’t have a foundation to build from. That’s actually the main component of the law of attraction, know exactly what you want.

To sum it up, this is a great book that should be required reading for anyone involved in business in any way. Regardless if you have any direct impact on customers. As I stated before, you can replace the word customer with any type of relationship and the principles are still highly relevant.

Not only is it a great book but it is an easy and short read (or listen). Which I like because I have a short attention span…

Now start creating “Raving Fans”

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As I stated in an earlier post, I’m not into the whole New Years Resolution thing. So I came up with some something that I believe is much more sustainable. I’m sure I’m not the only one to take this approach…but to make things simpler we’ll just say that this is my totally original bad ass idea (Dang I’m good).

What I am proposing is this, don’t have a resolution, have a theme. My theme for this year is…

“Rock It Out”

What does that mean? “Rock It Out” is a catch phrase that I like to use all the time. Sometimes for impact I might throw in an expletive (for impact), “Rock That S___ Out” for example.

Definition:

“Rock It Out”

Function: Verb

1: Get something done in an awesome way, much like a band would rock the house (Screaming fans chanting “Encore”…”Encore”).

Example: I’m going to Rock It Out this year.

Rather then focusing on a couple of things that we’re not going to do anyways…at least not after the first couple of weeks. Why don’t we just come up with a theme that we can interweave throughout the year.

Instead of trying to change all our habits at once it would be much more sustainable to make our good habits even gooder.

(Note to self: Rock out my grammar skills)

Lets all “Rock It Out” this year and beyond!

Whats your theme going to be?

Photo Credit: Souterrainman

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Productivity for procrastinators, sounds like an oxymoron right. By the way, I’ve made this post very short, I know how you guys are. Yeah…Yeah… you’ll get to it later.

Is there hope for us procrastinators? I think so

I am a very experienced procrastinator, over 29 years in the game. In fact, I came out of the womb procrastinating, 2 weeks to be exact (I was comfortable). Along with my many years of experience, I read a book on the subject(impressive, I know).

The internet, what a play ground for us procrastinators, millions of excuses not to get things done. Based on my personal experience and my extensive studies (I almost read one whole chapter…almost), I came up with some killer ideas to help curb this nasty habit.

Here is 5 killer ideas

1. If you can do it now, do it! Is it really that hard? (Says a guy who tripped over a box for a month but wouldn’t move it)

2. Be honest, don’t say your gonna do something, unless your really going to it. We might have good intentions, but deep down… we know.

Disclaimer: If your married or have a significant other, you accept all liability for there reaction. In certain cases, your probably better off just doing it.

3. Get rid of the “To Do” list, seems counter productive right. Change it to a “things to get done” list, I stole that from Larry Winget. We won’t get into the psychology of it right now, just try it.

4. Reward yourself,it still works for us adults. For example when I finish this post, I’m gonna get an ice cold beer…hell yeah.

5. For the final tip

I’ll finish this later…there’s this bad ass new website, I just gotta check out.

Yeah…I know… predictable ending, I couldn’t resist…besides I think I was loosing you anyways.

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For the extrovert…

You love to go out all the time. You love to talk about the latest reality television show. You love to gossip about the girl down the hall with all the boyfriends. You love to know everyone’s business. But, how do you deal with the person who does not respond to all of your good-time, free-flowing, high-level energy? How does an extrovert deal with an introvert?

Well, if you think you are going to pull them out of their shell and put them on your team, you are wrong. There is nothing more disrespectful than a blatant attempt to change one’s personality. By attempting to change an introvert into an extrovert, you are alienating a potential friend. You need to begin by knowing that the introvert probably thinks of you as shallow and not terribly intelligent. The introvert sees your extrovert personality as a mask, a phoniness, and because of the amount of your extraneous chitter-chatter, probably doesn’t trust you. In order to deal with the introvert, you will need to prove them wrong. By lowering your energy level, showing a genuine interest in the introvert, and making it very clear that you are not attempting to change them, a level of trust may begin to build.

You must also keep in mind that the introvert simply does not need you. They don’t need your attention, your flattery, or your social connections. They are quite happy in their introverted world. As an extrovert, that may seem hard to understand, but it is true. In fact, you may need them more than they need you.

Dealing with an introvert takes patience, kindness, and an understanding that people are different. In the words of D.H. Lawrence, “One man isn’t any better than another, not because they are equal, but because they are intrinsically other, that there is no term of comparison.”

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Why the heck does this blog exist?  What separates this blog from thousands and thousand of other personal development blogs?  I’m glad that you asked.

Second question first, why is this blog different then the others?

I’m a personal development junkie so I’m always reading blogs and consuming allot of educational materials.  I noticed that there was a huge opportunity to have a fresh approach to the subject.  So hence www.thethriveblog.com , the seriously, not so serious, approach to personal development.  Why not have fun with it right?

OK, the first question, why does this blog exist? 

Well, you know what, I already answered that.  That was easy…

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Are you a multitasking junkie, like me?

I have to say, that I am a recovering (multitasking)junkie myself…I’m in a twelve step program. I had the mentality that being a multitasker was a strength, but in reality, it’s a weakness.

I was reading a post over at productive flourishing about not checking your e-mail, and it made me think about my bad habit. I realized that I had a compulsive need to check my e-mail, and I realized the reason why. In my case it’s generally an excuse, not to do, what I should be doing.

Actually, while I’m writing this I’m tempted to relapse and check my mail…but I must remain strong.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the internet is a playground for procrastinators. One quick check of the e-mail quickly leads us on wild goose chases around the web. They call it “the web” for a reason, once you get trapped, it’s hard to get out…you’ve been on one of these trips right?

Yes, there are times when e-mails need immediate attention, or we’re waiting for vital information. Generally, there isn’t any urgency…at least real urgency.

I came up with a couple quick tips that I’ve used to help me with my affliction.

1. Set up folders

I’m not going to get into all the details of how to do this, I just want to give you the general idea.

The first thing that I did was, set up folders in my e-mail client. At work I use Microsoft Outlook, but most e-mail software will allow you to do this.

I created the folders, customers, vendors, personal, etc. then I set rules for all my contacts. What this does is, send emails to their designated folder when they come in. Certain folders get a higher priority, so I might check those more often then others. This has helped me prioritize my time by not being distracted by non urgent communication.

2. Set up an alert

Alright, before you productivity experts start grumbling, I’m talking about a custom alert. We know that we want to turn off the e-mail alerts for all our mail, because that’s a good way to get distracted.

When we have an e-mail that we are waiting for, we usually know who it’s coming from. Most e-mail programs will allow you to set up custom alerts for a single e-mail addresses. Instead of checking our e-mail every two and half minutes, just continue with the task at hand. When that important e-mail arrives, you will be notified…”yes, I won the lottery again!”

Does you e-mail get you distracted? How did you kick the habit?

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“How not to run into a tree” it’s not just a intriguing title. There is a purpose, you’re just gonna to have to bear with my analogy and occasional bad jokes.

I know… it’s easy… just pay attention to what your doing…right? problem solved

Yes, that’s true to a certain extent, but it’s only a small piece of the puzzle. Paying attention is very important, but what’s really essential is being in the moment.

How did this tree get involved anyways?
I suited up and jumped on my bike, with my jersey fitting a little tight (too much beer, not enough riding). See, I haven’t been on my mountain bike for a quite awhile, hence the tight shirt.

As I headed down the trail, it became very clear, just how much I was out of shape. (Insert heavy breathing, and not the good kind). Now that’s a another subject in it’s self, but you get the picture right?

I know this trail very well; in fact, we’ve hooked up hundreds of times. We even got really close on a couple of occasions (aka, I ate dirt) and not by choice (I grew out of that several years ago).

As I was flying down the trail, whizzing by trees, stumps and even squirrels, something came to me. I realized just how important “being in the moment” was. If my mind was in some other world and I was not there, on my bike on that trail at that time. I could get very up close and personal with a tree, a rock or even another rider. I know this from experience, unfortunately. I didn’t meet any trees that day, but I have been very intimate with a tree or two, in my day.

This wasn’t a huge revelation, I know how important, being in the moment is. But sometimes times, I need a reminder, it’s not always pleasant but it is effective.

And by the way… I didn’t call her the next day, as I recall, we left on some what bad terms…depending on who you talk too.

Easy right? Being in the moment… Note exactly, at least not for someone like me, who is always thinking about 12 ½ different things at once. “Mmm beer” “She’s hot” “Great idea”

So what? I don’t ride, how does this apply to me?

Simple, what ever your doing, just be in the moment. Now, I’m not suggesting that you be reckless, just be there.

If your talking to someone, be there, not thinking about what to say next, or about what reality show your missing…be in the moment.

If your on vacation, have fun, relax, be on vacation (not just physically). Don’t think about the e-mails, or what your employees are doing (yeah, I know it’s hard)…be in the moment.

Be in the moment

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