How To Stay Calm and Cool In A Crazy Uncertain World (Gus Fring Style)
In the hit TV show Breaking Bad, Gus Fring is a drug lord and one of the most prominent meth distributors in the southwestern United States. At one point, Gus is brought in for questioning by the Drug Enforcement Agency. He doesn’t know why until they start asking him about his connection with the murder of Gale (who they don’t know was his former employee). Watching the scene and knowing Gus is sitting there right under the nose of his enemy ...
Time To Shift Into High Gear
In France, where my sister lives with her family (including two school-age children), early September is known as la rentrée, and it’s a Big Deal. It’s when everything picks up again after the two-month break that is summer holiday season (see just how deserted Paris gets in this video). Here, at The Step Up Your Game headquarters, however, September is known as la time to “shift into high gear.” It’s the time when I take a hard look at my progress ...
What Are Your Rules?
A few weeks ago, at the Dark Knight shooting in Aurora, Colorado, there were a number of media stories about Jamie Rohrs who went to see the movie with his girlfriend and their two children. When the shooting started, he tried to retrieve his son but eventually jumped over the balcony and fled. “It just felt like the worst thing ever because my son’s still in there,” he told ABC News. “My girlfriend is still in there. I’m out here. ...
Who’s In Charge, You or Your Emotions?
Thanks to the Olympics, it’s been an inspiring week of seeing the most gifted and dedicated athletes in the world showing us the heights of human ability and self-control. Speaking of self-mastery, Kyla Ross, one of the ‘Fab Five’ on the US women’s gymnastics team and, at 15, the youngest competitor of the entire 530-person American field, seems to have maturity beyond her years — often acting with more poise than her older teammates. When the women were named to ...
[VIDEO] Visualizing the Perfect Vault
One month before the Olympics, US gymnast McKayla Maroney explained how she visualizes the perfect vault. Notice how she includes details like taking one step back, leaning back and then gaining speed as she starts her approach. She even imagines the crowd cheering. That feeling of just “knowing” that it’s going to be good — that’s when you know you’re ready. Here she is at the 2012 Olympics, executing the perfect vault.
Why Getting Things Done Is Not The Answer
Awhile back, during one of the sessions in my Productivity Mindset course, one of the participants asked, “What’s the best way to use 10 or 15 minutes where you don’t have anything planned?” You should have heard the shocked silence when I said, “Well, you could just do nothing, you know.” Do nothing!? Like, stand in line without checking your phone? Like, sit in a chair and stare out the window? What a concept. Most of us feel like we should always ...
Five Things That Are Rocking My Summer
Summertime is here and along with the rising temps, I feel like my world is expanding by leaps and bounds. Blockbuster movies aren’t my thing (though it was kind of fun to wear 3D glasses to watch The Amazing Spiderman) but here are a few of the books, projects and ideas that have me buzzing with excitement. 1. The power of vewy quiet. When I was growing up in Iowa, a trip to the library with my mom and sisters ...
Yes or Yes: How to Make Fewer Decisions
A married couple was celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. At the party everybody wanted to know how they managed to stay married so long in this day and age. The husband responded, “When we were first married we came to an agreement – I would make all the major decisions and my wife would make all the minor decisions. And now, after 60 years of marriage, I can truthfully say that we have never needed to make a MAJOR decision. ...
The Best of Times, The Worst of Times
I confess, I came this close to flaking out on you. For many of you, our relationship started at last year’s Mental Toughness Summit. I had plans to make it an annual event but when April rolled around this year, I was overcome by overwhelm and inertia everytime I thought about putting together another Summit. Then synchronicity intervened. One of my former clients introduced me to the work of Dr. Les Fehmi, the author of Open Focus. I had a ...
How Jeremy Lin Deals with the Pressure of Expectation And You Can Too
Seven weeks. That’s how long it’s been since New York Knicks Jeremy Lin burst onto the NBA scene — and already there’s speculation whether he can take his game to the next level as other teams gear up for him, or is he just a “one-year wonder?” In a matter of weeks, Lin went from sleeping on his brother’s couch to being in the glare of the global spotlight. On top of it all, he’s carrying the hopes and dreams ...
