Citius, Altius, Fortius

This is the motto from the Olympics which means "Swifter, Higher, Stronger". Think of the Olympian, who by definition is one of the world's elite athletes, arriving on the competitive stage with all the other elite athletes from other countries. The focus that each competitor must have is surely intense. What could be a better mantra to focus on than, Citius, Altius, Fortius?

As I work toward my pursuit of personal excellence, I have to constantly remind myself to avoid complacency. I think it is a natural tendency to relax our focus at times - especially right after achieving a monumental goal. It is difficult to only have a brief celebration and then engage 100% again on a new goal.

I have heard this explained as the "Thermometer Effect". Basically it is assumed that everyone has a "setting" at which they operate... just like we may set the thermometer for air conditioning or heating. As we go through our years of work, we find that we have instances where we may be above the setting, or below the setting. An example could be that in sales, we are working hard to win new business, and meet the quota, etc. We may put in extra work that results in achieving an outcome high above the goal - We may have become HOT! So, our thermostat kicks in and begins to "COOL" us down subconciously. We may find that our efforts are more relaxed and the ensuing results bring us back to the average setting at which we are comfortable.

So, how do we reset our thermostat? Using a reminder, such as "Citius, Altius, Fortius" may be the thing we need. Especially if it links us emotionally to the big hairy audacious goal we are aiming for. As I am pursuing my personal best in many aspects of my life, I am looking for those emotional anchors that will allow me to consistently attain my objectives more frequently and at a more rapid pace. Be Excellent!

"Leave it all on the court"

I heard this phrase so many times as I have played sports through the years, especially from playing highschool basketball for four years. A Coach's job is to develop each individual player to perform to his/her best and to help the team work as a cohesive group that performs at an even higher level together so they can beat all opponents. In life, we must develop that coach within ourselves.

During basketball season, our practices consisted of running drill after drill, scrimmaging, running plays, and then repeating for about 2-3 hours everyday. At the end of each practice, we would line up on the baseline and run "suicides". [This is a drill in which you run back and forth touching all the lines on the court in under 30 seconds] After several of those, the coach would pick a teammate and have them shoot a free throw while they were tired. If the shot went "in" we were done and could go shower... If the shot missed we ran more suicides. Coaches would always share analogies about our work ethic in practice and how it would relate to the game situations and real life, and I remember them saying when we were dead tired to "leave it all on the court".

We can apply this concept to our lives - work, relationships, family, volunteer work, church, etc. Last week was one of those tough weeks for me... I had so many different things to do, important presentations to prepare and deliver, something crucical for each of my clients that needed to be done NOW. As I spoke with my manager throughout the week, he realized that I was putting in the 15 -20 hours each day to get everything done. One night I woke up at 2:30am thinking about what I was going to present at noon the next day - I had not prepared the slide deck that was to be delivered because I could not decide on the right way to deliver my message. But, at 2:30am the ideas started to flow. As that happened, I lay there thinking how I wouldn't be able to fall asleep again for another hour, which would only leave another 30 mins before I was going to get up at 4am... So, I decided to start my day at 2:30am. I remember thinking that I can only do my best, and if it weren't good enough then I could be content knowing that I did everything that I could. I had laid it all on the court! I got up and went to my office and got busy -- prepared my slides and delivered my presentation to my client at noon. All went extremely well!

So, at the end of the week was I tired? Sure. The physical laws of nature and biology didn't evaporate. But, did I survive? Absolutely! And, now I am on to another week that was built upon the last. There is still a huge mountain to climb in front of me, but I know that I can conquer that mountain one step at a time. And, I know that I am not the only one who faces these types of challenges, so I hope any readers of this blog will gain the courage to keep pressing forward in their goals. Onward and upward!

Ok. Now off for a quick 5 mile run before sitting back down to do some work!

BHAGs (pronounced BEE-hag)

Do you have a Big Hairy Audacious Goal? I was introduced to this concept from my previous employer who promoted the books written by Jim Collins. Even though the book focuses on what makes companies great, I think the principles shared can be applied to the individual pursuit of personal excellence.

A BHAG is a form of vision statement "...an audacious 10-to-30-year goal to progress towards an envisioned future." "A true BHAG is clear and compelling, serves as unifying focal point of effort, and acts as a clear catalyst for team spirit. It has a clear finish line, so the organization can know when it has achieved the goal; people like to shoot for finish lines." —Collins and Porras, 1996

I am working on developing my own Big Hairy Audacious Goal which will encompass all the aspects which I am writing about in my book, but at this point I will share one stretch goal which pertains to my physical health and competitive spirit... I will compete in an IronMan Triathalon within the next 3 years. For those who may not be familiar it is a race consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike and a marathon run(26.2 miles) raced in that order and without a break.

At this point I don't know how I will accomplish the goal, I will work to find how I can fit the necessary training into my busy life. But, I know that stating a goal and working towards it is the first step. I welcome any who have met the IronMan challenge to share their experiences with me. It must be remembered that in our efforts to improve our personal best, we can gain from the experiences of others. I look forward to hearing yours.

Courage

Courage is required on the path to personal excellence. I have found a few quotes which I will share today -- they capture my thoughts quite well. I love the following quote because it states a simple truth about the greatness that lies within each of us. "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.' We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." (A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles", Harper Collins, 1992. From Chapter 7, Section 3])

Another quote which was given by Eleanor Roosevelt is also awesome... "You gain strength, courange and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face... You must do the thing you think you can not do." As I mentioned in one of my other postings, we learn our fears by experiences, watching others, etc. The "unlearning" of those fears occurs as we continue to act inspite of the fear. Ambrose Redmoon (don't know who he was) said, "Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear."

The pursuit of our best will only come as we face the challenges in front of us and consistently focus on developing strengths to become great!

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FEAR - Friend or Foe? (Cont.)

When I think of the struggle in overcoming challenges in the pursuit of personal excellence, I think of the movie scene from Rocky III where Rocky is training with Apollo Creed for the big fight against Clubber Lang. Rocky has become used to living large and has lost his edge which helped him defeat his past opponents.
He doesn't really have the "Eye of the Tiger" anymore. The scene I am referring to is with Rocky and Adrianne on the beach where he admits that he is scared for the first time in his life. I think everyone can relate to Rocky's feelings. It is amazing the impact fear can have on our lives. Fear is an interesting emotion that can either spur us into action, or freeze us in our tracks. I am interested in what motivates people to turn their fear into a positive force that pushes one beyond their ordinary capacity. I made the comment last week, that fear can be unlearned... and believe that it can if the person really wants to overcome the fear. A perfect example is public speaking, which has been said to be the number one fear, even ahead of fear of death. Here are the Top 10 Fears that I have found searching this topic.
1. Fear of public speaking (Glossophobia)
2. Fear of death (Necrophobia)
3. Fear of spiders (Arachnophobia)
4. Fear of darkness (Achluophobia, Scotophobia or Myctophobia)
5. Fear of heights (Acrophobia)
6. Fear of people or social situations (Sociophobia)
7. Fear of flying (Aerophobia)
8. Fear of open spaces(Agoraphobia)
9. Fear of thunder and lightning(Brontophobia)
10. Fear of confined spaces(Claustrophobia)

When I was younger I remember thinking about how to become more outgoing. For some reason, I learned to be reserved and quiet as I gradually grew older. In the 10th grade, I observed a friend who was a year older - he was often loud and some would say obnoxious. But, to me he seemed to be happy and trying to make others happy. So, I decided that I would "be" more outgoing. I acted inspite of my fears when I was around others. I chose to put my faith and courage ahead of my fears. I continue to look inside daily and force myself outside of my comfort zone, because I know this habit will help me on my way to attaining my personal best.

FEAR - Friend or Foe?

I'm going to jump right in on this topic because I believe "Fear" is a two-edged sword. It can either help us or hurt us, AND it depends on YOU (and me) to decide which it will be. Will I allow fear to help me achieve my personal best or keep me from my greatness?

When we are born and brought into this world, there are only two things that a baby is naturally afraid of. All other fears have been learned... which means we can unlearn those fears. This is perhaps the reason why I am so interested in the things that hold us back from reaching our full potential - our Personal Best. By tapping into the mindset and experiences that engrained certain fears in the first place, and by working through the thought processes engrained in our subconscious, we can recondition our thoughts, feelings, and actions to produce different results. We can unlearn anything that holds us back!

Now, you are probably waiting for me to tell the two fears we are born with... One, is the fear of loud noises. If you clap your hands loudly by a peaceful baby, then you will see the startle reaction and recognize that you scared the baby. Two, is the fear of falling. If you hold a baby and create the sensation of free-falling, you will notice the baby immediately outstretches their arms and the face will tense up with anticipation. These are the two things we have natural fear about.

In order to acheive our personal best, we must conquer our fears. We must learn to turn weakness into strength. We'll explore this topic in greater detail and focus on the positive and negative aspects of Fear. Till then... Be awesome!

Inspiration

The concept of writing about achieving personal excellence has been in the works (in my mind) for a few years. It began to solidify a couple of years ago when I watched my youngest daughter swim the 25M Freestyle in a swim meet at 3 yrs. old. I don't think she had any fear at that point, but just wanted to copy her two older sisters -- she had no inhibitions and just enjoyed the fun in the water.

A year later, she developed a sense of social consciousness and would not swim. Even with all the encouragement and coaxing, we were not able to get her to swim. She would only stand on the platform and cry - frozen with fear. What was the difference? How could I as a parent help my daughter? I wanted her to succeed so bad - not for me, but for her! I want her to constantly improve, to be her personal best!

For much of my life I have been interested in personal improvement, eliminating fear, empowering thought processes, solving problems, and really interested in anything to do with choosing to be better and helping others in the process. With this new year, 2010, along with the prompting of my wife, I have decided to document the Pursuit of my Personal Best.