focus: Cogito ergo sum - I think, therefore I am #in
- 01/21/11 09:13 AM
Posted on January 21, 2011 by Barry Owen
René Descartes sure got it right. "The simple meaning of the phrase is that if someone wonders whether or not he exists, that is, in and of itself, proof that he does exist (because, at the very least, there is an "I" who does the thinking)." (From Wikipedia)
Have you ever had one of those moments in which you wondered if you really exist . . . or has this life of yours just been a figment of your (or someone else's) imagination?
Those are the times when we pinch ourselves just as a … (3 comments)
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focus: A few things I learned while walking the dog #in
- 01/15/11 09:47 AM
Posted on January 15, 2011 by Barry Owen
Every morning and evening, we walk dog Apollo.
On the surface, the "goal" is for him to empty his bowels each time.
Other things happen . . . and we learn.
These walks usually happen @ the same time each morning and each evening, so he always gives us a nudge when the time is nearing. If we're mired in another project and ignore the nudge, he exhibits patience and stays present until we are ready. He is ALWAYS rewarded by a walk.
It ALWAYS starts at the right time . . .
… (1 comments)
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focus: Channeling Entrepreneurial Spirit #in
- 01/06/11 02:39 AM
Posted on January 6, 2011 by Barry Owen
To some degree, all of us were born with Entrepreneurial tendencies.
Some of us do more with it than others . . . both in productive ways and some not so productive ways . . . while others prefer the "known" and squelch it near zero.
I know some rabid (serial) entrepreneurs. These are very exciting folks to be around. They're ALWAYS into something new and different . . .
If it's selling, you never know what you're going to get when they call - Travel Club? Cosmetics? Health supplements? Mail out cards? . … (0 comments)
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focus: Monday Morning Coffee - Scruples and Family #in
- 12/20/10 12:15 AM
Posted on December 20, 2010 by Barry Owen
Good morning!
I wrote a mini-novel this morning . . .
In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt wrote that the "highest of all joys" came only from having and raising "many healthy children." Anyone who "deliberately" shunned marriage or who had "a heart so cold . . . and a brain so shallow and selfish" to avoid having children was committing "a crime against the race."
He went on to say that He and Edith would not entertain "loose living" people. Easy divorces were dragging the country into the "barnyard."
Quoted from a fascinating … (3 comments)
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focus: Hang up and DRIVE (Your life)! #in
- 12/06/10 11:00 PM
Hang up and DRIVE (your life)!
Posted on December 7, 2010 by Barry Owen
These darned phones are SO smart that most folks don't need even need to speak with each other any more . . . unless it's to swap intel @ aps . . . or talk about which phone is the BEST phone that does the MOST the FASTEST.
Are your peeps more important than your family, your friends, your personal & professional performance, and your ability to FOCUS?
Is the first thing you do each morning (before rolling out of bed) is to grab that phone and check email … (6 comments)
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focus: Your Trigger . . . #in
- 10/08/10 12:40 AM
Your trigger . . .
Posted on October 8, 2010 by Barry Owen
I've coached a LOT of folks in my life.
Coaching is fun for me because it's a little like a treasure hunt.
The prize is discovery of the coachee's trigger.
What's a trigger?
For each of us, there is this subtle nuance, niche, way of doing things, group of people, unique talent, relationships from the past, etc . . . something inside that IS the key to converting effort into high achievement.
Anyone can achieve at an extremely high level . . . Not everyone will . . . … (2 comments)
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focus: It's none of your business what anyone else thinks about you! #in
- 05/16/10 08:46 AM
Are you willing to let other people's self-made perception of you stop you from achieving your goals?
When you are REALLY focused on something, do you pay attention to anything or anyone else around you?
Especially when the thing you are doing MATTERS, singleness of purpose is critical.
If you don't give that level of attention to things that really MATTER, you're giving up on yourself.
Seth Godin wrote a great blog post today Seth Godin's Post . . .
Often, VERY focused people are grossly misunderstood by others.
When I am COMPLETELY present in the moment with a person or task that … (3 comments)
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focus: The POWER of FOCUS!
- 03/14/10 11:32 PM
Gary Keller's 1.5 minute cartoon says most of it . . . My words below paraphrase a few more "Kellerisms" sprinkled with my own seasoning.
Get this . . . and anxiety, resentment, depression, disappointment all wane . . . and as my wife has uncovered in her research . . . your overall HEALTH will IMPROVE. Many people are literally killing themselves by what they do to themselves mentally as they try to do it ALL and please EVERYBODY along the way.
They say most businesses are not life threatening . . . I say all business are life threatening … (7 comments)
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focus: TOP TEN ways you know you need a coach. #in
- 03/10/10 11:50 AM
Everyone needs a coach, mentor or role model.
Just ask any successful person, and most will tell you they had a goal . . . then sought out someone who they perceived to have already "Arrived" in that field of endeavor . . . and took action by following that person and/or hiring them as a mentor or coach.
Most people won't do this because most people believe they can do this "all by myself!"
Success leaves clues!
No need to reinvent the wheel.
While walking the dog this morning, it occurred to me that there are SO many people out … (1 comments)
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focus: Your cover is blown - You can't hide behind your behavioral profile any more. #in
- 02/22/10 10:00 PM
Don't let your awareness of your behavioral profile enable your latent desire to fail.
That may sound strong, and it is.
Many folks abuse this information by jumping to conclusions about themselves which end up precluding their ability to achieve the uncanny levels of success for which they have potential.
Gary Keller says: "There is no behavioral style for success."
so . . . Let's keep this in proper perspective.
You DO want to be extraordinary in this short life of yours, don't you?
If so, then quit looking for excuses and TAKE ACTION.
Taking action means not much more than the … (2 comments)
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focus: How Intentional Deadline driven high performance rituals will optimize your human experience #in
- 02/11/10 10:15 PM
Unless you have figured out how to make some kind of special arrangement with God, your days here in your human experience are numbered - Finite!
None of us can know how many days we will have here.
With this "ultimate and inevitable deadline" looming in the future, what will you choose to do with your time?
I'm determined to get MY unfair share out of this human experience, and I've learned a few things about achieving unusually high levels of performance.
Intentionally planned, Short, INTENSE bursts of highly focused action tend to yield amazing results.
You know EXACTLY what I'm talking … (2 comments)
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focus: Are you workin' too hard? Might be time to watch some water boil . . . :-) #in
- 01/28/10 11:08 PM
Have you ever watched water boil?
If you haven't, here's the recipe:
Grab a pot and fill it to @ an inch below the top with COLD water.
Put it on your stove on HIGH HEAT or over your campfire - NO lid.
Watch it carefully.
The old saying is that a watched pot never boils, so don't watch the pot . . . Watch the WATER!
I promise . . . It WILL boil!
The first thing you'll see is little bubbles forming on the bottom and one by one losing their grip and climbing to the surface where they … (1 comments)
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focus: Eating the elephant one bite at a time is a complete mind game that's worthy of mastering #in
- 01/26/10 10:29 PM
Our daughter Jessica was sick with strep for a few days.
She was ecstatic to be able to miss 2 days of school while she mended (Much to the parental unit's chagrin).
BUT . . .
When she returned to school, she found herself facing a veritable MOUNTAIN of work to catch up.
She FREAKED!
"HOW CAN I GET ALL OF THIS DONE BECAUSE THERE'S EVEN MORE HOMEWORK ASSIGNED EVERY DAY!"
Then . . . She remembered her 2nd grade teacher telling her: "Don't sweat the small stuff" . . . and her Mother (Deb) snapped her out of her panic … (3 comments)
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focus: We all have the SAME 24 Hours in a day! Why do some folks seem to get so much more out THEIR 24 hours than others?
- 09/20/09 11:40 PM
Do you ever get to the end of a day with the feeling that you're just flat WORN OUT but not feeling like you really accomplished all that much?
Doesn't feel very good, does it?
Why did this happen?
I'm betting that if this is your experience (Which if you are human in this day and age I think it IS occasionally), it's not necessarily about your ability to manage time.
This is about your HABITS . . . Your DISCIPLINE!
The "Rock and Roll Superstars of Time Management" are all very good about creating calendar templates and time blocked days … (5 comments)
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focus: "Getting it all done" takes on a new flavor when perspective shifts
- 09/14/09 12:21 AM
Do you live by your "list of things to do"?
Well, you've GOTTA do it because it's on your list, RIGHT?
What would happen if you LOST YOUR LIST?
OMG!
In the Frog and Toad book "The List", frog made a list of everything he was going to do that day with the goal to mark each thing off the list as he completed.
All was going well per the plan til the wind took his list.
He spent the remainder of the day looking for the list with his friend Toad.
What would YOU do if you lost your list?
… (1 comments)
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focus: AHA! 3 days packed into one visual and 35 quotes - Read between the lines!
- 08/29/09 11:57 AM
A brief Definition of Focusing on what MATTERS in your life from the Productivity coach Mastermind
Your job is to work your way from the bottom line to the top :-)
This I where I choose to be
_________________________________________________________
This is my Job Description
_________________________________________________________
This is where I am now
What you focus on EXPANDS!
Your physiology tells people who you are . . .
Who you are is who you attract!
Gary Keller Quotes:
"We have just experienced an Economic TSUNAMI"
We are (NOW) borrowing Buyers from the future AGAIN . . … (5 comments)
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focus: So all that gadgetry frees up lots of your brain band-with - Don't let it destroy your ability to THINK!
- 07/15/09 11:53 PM
When Deb and I started using her new "Tom-Tom" GPS, we both thought we'd died and gone to heaven.
How wonderful (and easy) it is to punch in an address and be able to choose the voice that guides us to our destination without us having to even THINK.
Just think . . . No more arguments over the best way to go - We just let Tom-Tom take us there.
Several months into using this thing, we are starting to see a down-side.
Tom-Tom isn't perfect.
Sometimes, the street we seek isn't in Tom-Tom's memory.
INSTANT PANIC!
Why?
Because we … (2 comments)
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focus: "Are YOU in your 20%?" - Perhaps the fastest accountability session known to man
- 07/09/09 11:37 PM
The only faster accountability method I know of is . . . "THE look"!
You know that "look", don't you?
It's the one your Mother could give you when you were misbehaving . . .
It would send bone-chilling shivers throughout your body INSTANTLY.
"That look" would freeze time for what seemed like an eternity as you shuffled around inside your own head first to identify WHY "the look"? . . . and then to scramble your internal forces to figure out how to get yourself out of the mess you just got yourself into.
"The look" results in a level … (1 comments)
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focus: The power of distraction
- 07/06/09 11:55 PM
Yesterday I did something I have not done in 10 years . . .
and have only done it 4 times in my entire life . . .
I went GOLFING.
Yep!
One of my friends Buck called last week and asked if I would go. He knew I wasn't a "golfer" but said that would be OK because he and the other 2 players were "rusty novices" . . . and no-one would judge me.
I did better than I expected.
I actually connected with the ball every time (but once) I took a swing. That was a miracle in … (4 comments)
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focus: Finding and Sustaining your personal RHYTHM will Regulate your income
- 06/29/09 12:39 AM
Rhythm is cool.
Without rhythm, there wouldn't be music . . . or we'd call it "cacophony"
I love hearing music LIVE because I can FEEL the rhythm.
The "base-line" for rhythm in music is usually set by the beating of a drum, or tapping of a foot, or picking of a bass guitar . . . It's seldom heard as being the song . . .
The melody and lyrics get all the fame.
Yet it's the bass that creates the appropriate space within which the Melody and lyrics can thrive.
And so it is in your business . . … (2 comments)
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Posted on January 21, 2011 by Barry Owen
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