Crush It At the Holiday Party: Six Ways to Network Like A Navy SEAL
Ah, the holiday season. In addition to the usual networking events and industry conferences, there’s the year-end cocktails and company parties chockful of opportunities to socialize, re-connect and talk shop. Most people will take a casual approach and flit through the season’s festivities, chugging eggnog and scarfing down hors d’oeuvres. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to capitalize on this goldmine of opportunity to connect and bond with the people who could be important catalysts for your ...
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. ...
[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.
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 ...
Rule No. 6
Two prime ministers are sitting in a room discussing affairs of state. Suddenly a man bursts in, apoplectic with fury, shouting and stamping and banging his fist on the desk. The resident prime minister admonishes him: “Peter,” he says, “kindly remember Rule Number 6,” whereupon Peter is instantly restored to complete calm, apologizes, and withdraws. The politicians return to their conversation, only to be interupted yet again twenty minutes later by an hysterical woman gesticulating wildly, her hair flying. Again ...
[PRESSURE SERIES] MISTAKE #4: OPERATING AT YOUR MAXIMUM, NOT YOUR OPTIMUM
How many times have you read a profile of someone’s success that details the extreme measures they take in pursuit of their goal? How few hours they sleep, how many years they’ve gone without vacation, how they subsisted on Velveeta and Spam sandwiches… Welcome to the “no pain, no gain” bravado of Western culture, with high-achievers leading the charge, shifting into overdrive when the pressure is on. Often operating on sheer willpower, they push as hard as they can for ...
[PRESSURE SERIES] MISTAKE #3: FOCUSING ON THE OUTCOME NOT THE PROCESS
High-achievers, to state the obvious, are focused on achievement. They thrive on setting and reaching the tangible results – the top producer award, the record-breaking deal, the corner office – of their hard work, discipline and perseverance. Leave Your Ego Out Of It No question, knowing what your desired outcome is clarifies your direction and fires up your motivation. Putting your focus on achieving a specific outcome, however, is an ineffective way to achieve it. Doing so creates internal pressure, ...
[PRESSURE SERIES] MISTAKE #2: LEAVING YOUR SELF-CONFIDENCE TO CHANCE
Confidence – it’s the linchpin to your success and how much you achieve. It’s what spurs you to take risks, overcome obstacles and enjoy challenges. It inspires others to have confidence in you and follow your lead. So the biggest mistake high-achievers can make with their confidence is leaving it up to chance – acting as if it’s out of their control and letting it be dictated by external circumstances. The board praised your proposal? Confidence rises! You flub the ...
WHAT COACHING DID FOR ONE UBER-ACHIEVER AND HOW IT INEVITABLY ACCELERATES RESULTS
I have a surgeon crush. His name is Atul Gawande and he’s pretty much the patron saint for high-achievers everywhere. In addition to being a practicing general and endocrine surgeon and professor at Harvard Medical School, he’s a recipient of the prestigious MacArthur (a.k.a. “Genius”) award, and author of three New York Times best-selling books, Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance, Complications and The Checklist Manifesto. Personal Best And yet, in his latest article, Coaching A Surgeon: What Makes Top Performers ...
Why It’s Not Your Fault You’re Stuck
In my view, there are two types of people in the world: those who are resigned to staying where they are, thinking it’s not possible or would take too much effort to make significant changes in their lives. (They’re probably not reading this.) The second type – hi there! – is always striving to improve and continuously looking for ways to become better in their personal and professional lives. Unfortunately, the first type is right about one thing: it’s devilishly ...
