Posts Tagged ‘fired up’

Are You Bland and Boring or Fired Up?

Sunday, September 20th, 2009

We all need some excitement in our lives – at work and at home. Excitement means playing to your passions – to those things that get you out of the bland and boring and into a fired up! life and work.

I have been speaking and working with both companies and individuals for over 25 years. Most seem to be convinced that their work life and their home lives are supposed to be average; that passionate and exciting lives are reserved for the famous and the few. My message in all that time has been to train people to spend time with themselves – to learn what they are great at and what they love to do. It may be reading, cooking or gardening. It may be flying, singing or investing. It may be connecting with others, inventing or working with computers. Each of us is gifted with a very specific combination of talents and strengths. Our lives are given to us to discover who we are, discover our combination of talents and strengths, and then build a work and home life that plays to what we are the best at and the most passionate about. This is how we own our lives. This is how we live more authentically and honestly. This starts with a greater self-awareness by answering the two questions: What am I a great at? What am I passionate about?

Life is not a dress rehearsal. The sooner we learn what gifts, talents and passions we have, the sooner we can build our lives around them. Not only does this make us more competitive in our work lives, but it amplifies each day of home lives. We live more fully, contribute more significantly and enjoy our lives. Albert Einstein said, “The single most important decision any of us ever have to make is whether or not to believe we will live in a friendly universe.” That means do we feel that life is supposed to be extraordinary and that the world is a positive place waiting for us to contribute our best. Or, as many feel, life is meant to be bland and boring…and they just count the days until it ends.

For me, and for those I speak to, the only way to approach life is Fired Up! Be passionate, be excited, love what you do and the life you have. Know yourself, play to your strengths and build a life that lets you work and live in a way that excites you and moves you. It is your choice. The buck stops with you. You own your life and your decisions about it and work. If you hate your job, start to identify a job you love and build a plan to get it. If there are aspects of life that are bland or are not for you, start to build a plan to change. Time doesn’t wait. Bland and boring is a waste of your time. Choose great. Choose passionate. Choose Fired Up!

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The Ten-Minute Reconnect – Get Fired Up!

Friday, August 14th, 2009

Fired Up! is the only way to live and work. As many have said, life is not a dress rehearsal. If we have just one great ride on this planet, then I want mine to be extraordinary. I want to be fired up, excited and passionate about what I do in life and in work. I want to be optimistic, enthusiastic and energetic. Because I realize it is my choice.

But I am also a realist; sometimes life can be very challenging. Sometimes it is difficult to be upbeat and positive when we are constantly bombarded with negativity, dire predictions, social challenges and decreasing resources. So that means each of us needs a plan to deal with these times head on; we need to create a plan that builds our confidence, activates our courage and enables us to be optimistic and focused.

For this, I share my morning “Ten-minute Reconnect.” Using this approach, I find that however challenging things are, I land on my feet. I feel confident and focused, and direct my attitude and day in a productive and upbeat way. Though I start my day this way, consider using this “Ten-Minute Reconnect” whenever you need to regain your energy, focus and optimism.

The “Ten-Minute Reconnect”:
1. Read from someone who you find inspirational (my favorites are Steve Farber, Sherwin Nuland, Tom Peters and Ogden Nash). Get inspired.
2. Recommit to your statement of purpose or happiness (what do you want from work and life). Get focused.
3. Identify three things you are grateful for (see abundance instead of scarcity). Be thankful.
4. Identify two people who need to hear something positive from you today (see that there is more to the world than just you and your challenges). Be available.
5. Identify how you will play to your strengths today (create a plan just for today – a day at a time). Be confident.

Ten minutes is all it takes. A ten-minute investment in yourself to stay focused, optimistic, upbeat and thankful. When we move from a place of gratitude and optimism, we can more easily handle whatever comes our way. Wise people have stated that our challenges are nothing more than lessons to help us see how capable we are. Starting from a point of strength each day encourages a more powerful day and greater success with life’s lessons. Invest ten minutes. You are worth it.

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Can all employees be fired up?

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

There are some employees that, even after a Herculean effort to put them in the right job and get them personally connected to their work, still seem disinterested, disengaged and distracted. What to do next?

Remember that in today’s workplace, how you respond to your employees (your emotional intelligence) is critical to your success. So, to deal with the employee who seems to have trouble getting fired up, first look at yourself and be more self aware and socially aware (try the little softer side of management). Consider the following:
1. Sit down for an honest and open one-on-one conversation. Ask about how they “feel” about work (not what they “think” about it).
2. Sense their emotions and see if you can uncover any area of discontentment. Deal with it up front, with empathy and attention.
3. Invite the employee to create a response to improve things. Establish another meeting to review the plan. Set dates and action items. Assess changes to employee attitudes. Be open to changes in your behavior as they may be what is impacting the employee’s response.

In most cases, employees who are not fired up are working in the wrong jobs (they don’t feel capable or confident), they don’t love what the do (there is no passion) or they feel disconnected from the manager and workplace. Address each and employees quickly become excited, passionate and engaged. To solve this you have to get real, get human and get connected.

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What Kind of Performance Do You Have?

Sunday, May 10th, 2009

I see it over and over again – average or lousy employee performance. I see it because I am a customer and those who wait on, provide service to, cash me out, answer questions or help me are so disconnected from what they do. Great performance requires that employees are connected – intellectually (they are good at what they do) and emotionally (they are passionate about what they do). When both are in place, you have a maxperformer – a super performer. When not in place, you have an average performer who aggravates your customers and costs you money.

See it CLEARLY Now that you know the two components, start to watch wherever you go. See the average performers and notice that they are in jobs that don’t make sense for them, or they hate what they do. Either way, you lose. Ignite your employees performance by learning how to hire the right ones (intellectual connection) and then engaging them with high-energy, customized roles (emotional connection). This process is spelled out in a step-by-step process in Fire Up! Your Employees and Smoke Your Competition. Download some chapters to see its process. Purchase your copy now and get your employees Fired Up! – instead of Fizzled Out.

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