Mike Acker's Blog, page 11
June 4, 2019
HOW SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE START THEIR DAY
On June 2nd my book Speak With No Fearwas published and launched. It instantly became a best seller. People ask, “how did you write a best seller when you have a full schedule.” Here is the answer: morning routine.
The words ‘morning routine’ might sound intimidating, like something only millionaires or celebrities can handle, but you already have your own morning routine – even if you aren’t fully aware of what it is and how it’s affecting you! More often than not, the difference lies in how you make the most of your early hours before the hectic, frantic, exhausting day sets in. After all, either you run the day… or the day runs you.
A great way to settle into morning routines is to get inspired by someone who already has a successful, productive one going, and the last blog in this series outlined the morning routines of three such people: Jeff Bezos, Oprah Winfrey, and Tony Robbins. Here are some more examples of celebrities who know how to “run” their day.
Arianna Huffington
Contrary to a lot of early-bird celebrities, the bestselling author and founder of Huffington Post believes in focusing more on what notto do than what to do: not using technology, not relying on alarms to wake up, and not rushing to get out of bed. Instead, she wakes up after a full 8 hours of rest, takes a deep breath, feels grateful, and sets her intention for the day to come.
This sort of morning routine would work best if you like to ease your way into the day after getting plenty of rest and waking up on your own terms.
Jennifer Aniston
This Hollywood actress is possibly one of the fittest celebrities out there, and it shows in her morning routine. She starts by drinking a cup of warm water with lemon, washes and moisturizes her face, and meditates for 20 mins. Her breakfast consists of a protein, fruit, and vegetable shake, after which she exercises with a trainer.
If you’re already active and health-conscious, you would do well to take after Jen Aniston and her morning routine.
Indra Nooyi
The former CEO of PepsiCo’s morning routine ideology clashes harshly with the first example mentioned in this blog. She generally sleeps only four hours a night, and is up by 4 am and in the office by 7 am. She says what motivates her to get up early is a healthy fear of the world changing – and the conviction that, to win, she has to change faster and be more agile than anyone else.
Fear isn’t the best motivator for some people, but if you’re a morning person already and you agree that fear can definitely ‘wake’ you up, then Indra Nooyi’s super-early-bird routine might work wonders for you!
You
No matter what, morning routines are very individualistic, and what works for a well known celebrity may not work for you. But experimentation is key until you figure out how best to greet the day when the sun rises. Get up, get inspired, and get working for your best life!
– Mike Acker
Lead Coach & Speaker at ADVANCE
Author of the bestselling book, Speak With No Fear
425.280.5610
The post HOW SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE START THEIR DAY appeared first on ADVANCE, COACHING AND CONSULTING LLC.
May 30, 2019
From BOOK. Before You Begin: BELIEVE
Thanks for taking time to read my articles and blogs. Before I resume with my articles on success, career, and leadership, I want to give you one more part of my book, Speak With No Fear.
The following is the short chapter that precedes the 7 strategies to overcoming fear in public speaking. Check it out.
– Mike Acker
You are welcome to jump into the strategies. I won’t stop you from taking action. Just promise me that you won’t start with doubt.
Doubt deters you from taking strategies seriously. Doubt erodes confidence. Doubt makes truth seem like lies. Doubt will feed your fear and give you more speaking nightmares. So you have to let go of your doubts and start believing in yourself.
Where you are is not where you have to be.
This sentence was included in my introduction. Do you believe it? Do you believe in yourself? At least some part of you does. Otherwise you wouldn’t have picked up this book! Let’s build on this belief. Take a moment and whisper the immortal words from the classic story, The Little Engine That Could, “I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.”
Are you struggling? Do you find yourself dwelling on negative thoughts? “It’s not going to work for me.”“I’m just not a good speaker.”“I’m an introvert. I just can’t.”“I’ve tried in the past, and it didn’t work.”
If you are struggling to believe, will you suspend disbelief while you read?
Read this book as a believer, not as a skeptic. Education will often teach you to think critically. Keep that mindset for work and academics. This book needs you to think receptively. Trade in any negativity for positivity. Think well of yourself. Believe in yourself. Where you are is notwhere you have to be.
I have lived this mantra. I really can help you live it as well. That is why I started my coaching practice, ADVANCE, Coaching and Consulting (stepstoadvance.com). I help people take their next step forward so they can advance their goals, business, skill sets, careers, and life. I want to help you. And belief is where that help begins.
I believe in you. You can turn your speaking nightmares into living your dreams.
MY SPEAKING NIGHTMARES
Imagine (or better yet, recall) one of these scenarios: You are asked to give a toast for a wedding. You are requested to give a presentation on your area of expertise. Your company has grown and you want to pitch an idea to obtain additional capital. You need to give some kind of speech or presentation. And what happens? You’re nervous. Sweat starts to pool under your arms. Butterflies begin to flutter in your abdomen. You want to throw up. Your anxiety causes you to endlessly ramble. You wish you could quit the speech and run away. But you can’t; you have to get up in front of people and speak.
If you have a speech coming up, then you are being forced to face the number-one fear in America (above even death). Yes, you read that right; public speaking is often ranked as the number-one fear in America. Do you relate? You would rather die than speak in front of people!
If you feel fear, anxiety, and nervousness at the prospect of public speaking, then you are not alone. Hundreds, thousands, actually millions of people are right there with you. And each day I get to help some of them overcome that fear.
You don’t have to have that same fear forever.
You really don’t. I believe in you. You canconquer that fear!
I can help you. I can’t erase the fear but I can give you understanding, tips, and skills that will ease your fear. That fear can devolve into the appropriate type of energy. I can teach you how. It’s what I do.
Don’t wait to get started. Don’t push this off to another day. Today is the day! Don’t delay.Unattended fear only feeds on itself and grows into nightmares.
Every time I spoke in front of my middle school and high school class, I was made fun of. It became a common theme for people to laugh at my stage presence. Each month, I had to wrestle that familiar sensation that struck me when yet another presentation was assigned to our class. I grew friendly with the fear of public speaking. Over time, I learned how to manage the fear, but every presentation was still accompanied by fear.
Outside of my school fear, I had the opportunity during high school to speak at a banquet. I had some good thoughts to share but when I spoke it came across poorly. While I meant to honor another person, my speech seemed to focus only on myself.Later, my mom pulled me aside and rebuked me. She was embarrassed that I had talked so highly of myself. But I didn’t mean to brag! I was honoring someone else. However, my speech went wrong and I was humiliated. 20+ years later, I’m still embarrassed of that speech.
These negative experiences tainted me. After the banquet, I panicked at the next opportunity to speak in front of others. “What if I screw up again? What if I embarrass myself? What will my mom think? I should just shut up. I should run away. I should fake sickness. I should move to Australia. I should become a silent monk. Yes, I will become a monk.” And that is what I did. I moved to Australia and became a monk. I don’t have to speak to people anymore…
Of course not. That isn’t how life works. You can’t run from public speaking. At some point in your life, you will have to speak at your business, your school, a wedding, a memorial, a party, an interview, or one of a hundred different scenarios. You will have to get up in front of people, so you might as well learn how to do without fear. And that is what I did. I gradually worked on managing my emotions. I learned how to use my personality, how to switch my focus, and how to use fear for good. I began to believe in myself.
I internalized how to ease my fear and turn the negative to something positive. My only wish? I wish I’d started earlier. Don’t delay it anymore. Begin to believe in yourself today.
GARY’S BELIEF CHANGED MY LIFE
In college, I took my first class on public speaking, a small class at my small private university. I stood there in front of people with the battling emotions of fear and excitement (two sides of the same coin). My abilities had grown since high school, which alleviated some of my fear. At the same time, I had failed in front of other audiences, which made me relive moments of panic.
When I gave my speech to the class, I didn’t die of a heart attack, but I didn’t inspire my audience, either. I guess my battling emotions agreed to call it a tie.
After the speech, the professor invited me to join the college debate team. I told him no. For a few months, he persisted. He believed that if I pushed past my insecurities, weaknesses, and fears, I could do well. He believed in me. He had coached hundreds of people to overcome their fear. He had helped hundreds of people develop the skill of public speaking so that they could attain a higher level of excellence in their career. He impressed upon me the importance of learning how to speak in front of others.
Let me do that for you. You can push past your insecurities. Your past failures don’t have to mark your present reality. Your weaknesses don’t have to define your work. Your fear can be relieved. As Gary believed in me, I believe in you.
As you develop this skill of public speaking, you will do better in your career. Don’t miss the value of improving your speaking skills. The famed investor, Warren Buffet, attributes part of his success to taking speaking lessons as a young man. The better you speak, the better you will do. The small actions you take here will translate to great actions out there in your world.
Professor Gary Gillespie convinced me that if I joined his traveling debate and speech team, he could do something great for me. He promised me that I didn’t have to remain a novice. He told me that he wanted me on his team.
(Later, I realized that the incredible senior class was graduating and the debate team was in desperate need of new members, but I didn’t know it at the time!)
Finally, I believed him. I started imagining myself not to be a bad speaker, or just an okay speaker, or just a good speaker. I believed I could be great.
Youdon’t have to be the same nervous speaker you are today. You don’t have to be afraid. You don’t have to be insecure. You can become great.
“Mike, I’m skipping to the actions.”
Don’t skip ahead. The most important action to overcome fear is to believe. Reading this book will help you believe in yourself and believe in your ability to overcome your anxiety, nerves, and dread.
BELIEVE YOU CAN
Did you see Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Arc? In one scene, the actor Harrison Ford must cross a deep chasm with a pit below. If he turns around, he will forfeit everything. Compelled by a deeper understanding, he puts one foot over the chasm, believing that somehow he will be able to walk across. As he steps out in belief, his foot lands on an invisible yet solid bridge. His faith allows him to move forward.
Step out in courage. Believe in a deeper understanding. You can do this. You will do this. And each time you do this, you will get better.
I guarantee you that if I were to speak to you face-to-face, or if you were in one of my seminars, I would look you in the eye and say, “You can do this.”
Remember Mark Twain’s words: “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the mastery of it.”
FROM TEENAGER TO ORATOR
On September 23rd, 2016, tragedy forced together our community in Skagit County. A shooter entered the local mall less than a mile from our home. He killed five people. The community reeled in shock and quickly rallied to support each other. Three days later, we had organized a vigil outside of where the violent act had occurred. I worked with the Mayor, a well-known pastor, the police chief, and other community leaders to prepare to bring peace back to our towns which fear had stolen away.
Word of the vigil got out. Our event on September 26, Light up the Boulevard, welcomed hundreds and hundreds of people. The team of volunteers extended the blockades to hold the growing audience. People brought candles of all shapes and sizes. The police chief was speaking to two other chiefs from neighboring towns.
He beckoned me over and said, “I’ve never seen something like this here in Skagit county.”
“How many people are here?”I inquired curiously. The lights had faded. It was impossible to count. Even the pictures failed to capture the people who crammed into the cordoned parking lot.
The three chiefs looked at each other and sized up the space. “At least 3,000.”
At least 3,000.
Almost 20 years earlier, teenagers had mercilessly teased me when I stood to speak to them. Now, I was about to walk onto a stage to speak about hope to more than 3,000 people.
The moment came for my presentation. The stage called me forward. All eyes were on me. Insecurity, doubt, and fear no longer marked my interior. My nerves ignited into energy as I stood to speak to the audience of 3,000 neighbors. As my presentation began, so did the nodding. 3,000 people stood holding their candles, listening to my words in agreement with me. I was not alone. I didn’t have to rush; instead I confidently took time with my words. The presentation took people from feelings of darkness to anticipation of light.
Your journey can mirror mine. You don’t have to be afraid any longer. This is what life can look like. Begin to believe this truth. You can learn to enjoy presenting, selling, educating, storytelling, and speaking in public. The same strategies I used in my life, you can use in yours.
These strategies are not miraculous, but they are miracle workers. If you take action and do the assignments, you willexperienceresults. If you take heart and believe in yourself, you will see how the work you do becomes the miracle you hope to see.
If you change your perspective, invest in your preparation, and take time to practice, then I promise you, you will overcome your fear of public speaking.
Want to help LAUNCH this book?
On JUNE 2nd I’m taking the week to launch this book. I would love to have you join!
THE REQUEST:
1. Join the Facebook Launch Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/speakwithnofear/)
2. Sign up for the e-mails (https://subscribe.stepstoadvance.com) 3. Invite friends/co-workers who might be interested. 4. Buy for $0.99 cents today! 5. LEAVE AWESOME REVIEW (not as a friend or client, but as a reader) 6. Share with others! 7. Come to the LAUNCH PARTY in Seattle!
The post From BOOK. Before You Begin: BELIEVE appeared first on ADVANCE, COACHING AND CONSULTING LLC.
May 27, 2019
My Book Introduction from Speak With No Fear
YOU ARE NOT ALONE
I was in the 7th grade. Pimples, growth spurts, and a cracking voice defined my exterior. My parents had forced me to go to a new school in a different country. I was an outsider to the school and a foreigner to the nation of Mexico where my family had transplanted.
The day came when I had to give my first presentation. La Maestra (the teacher) called me forward. All eyes rested on me. Insecurity, doubt, and fear marked my interior. My nerves fried as I stood to speak to the class of forty peers. As my presentation began, so did the laughter. Forty teenagers cackled at me as I stood all—alone. I sped through my words, turning the presentation from merely okay to unintelligible.
Finally, it was over. I made it through the rest of the day amidst teasing and others talking about me behind my back. I literally ran home (we lived 3 blocks away).
Fear gripped me, causing psychosomatic sickness to set in the next day so that I could skip school. I didn’t ever want to do that again.
YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE AFRAID
Fear is why you bought this book. My guess is that you have an upcoming event at which to speak. Or your job or schooling requires you to get in front of people constantly. Each time this happens, your stomach drops, you begin to sweat, and you want to throw up.
I get it.
You don’t have to be afraid any longer. This book can help you. You will learn 7 strategies you can begin today. These strategies will give you a new perspective, they will prepare you, and they will give you actions to practice. As you implement these strategies, your fear will begin to fade.
How do I know that? I have personally acted out these strategies. Years later, I am widely educated and I am broadly experienced in communication. Additionally, I started a company called ADVANCE and I have twenty clients work with me each week to grow their skills. They are in the middle of conquering fear, or have already learned to conquer their fear. You can do this too!
I understand what you’re feeling right now, and I promise you, I know how to get you where you want to go. You can overcome your fear.
I know what it’s like to be nervous, worried, sweaty, and anxious. You are not alone. Today, you can take a step in a new direction. You can begin the journey to overcome your fear right now. If you are overwhelmed by the fear of speaking, begin to believe that things are going to start to change today. You don’t have to be afraid forever.
Or maybe you’re a student of communication, and you just want to hone your skills. You already know how to conquer your fear; you just want to get better at controlling your anxiety and your nerves. This book will help you develop that ability.
Or maybe it’s just been a while since you’ve spoken in front of people, and you want to regain a sense of mastery.
Each week, I work with all kinds of clients who express the desire to get better. I believe you are committed to improving as well, and I applaud you as you take this next step. These 7 strategies can be added to your tool belt if you are brand-new or just need to sharpen the tools that you already have.
Ultimately, this book will help you. You can take these 7 strategies and immediately get to work to overcome your fear. If you want to skip ahead, just go to http://www.speakwithnofear.com/actionchecklist to download my action checklist. These will give you specific actions to practice. However, this entire book will do more than just provide actions to take: it will give you the understanding to help you develop a new mindset.
Whatever your situation currently is, I understand. I used to get sweaty, nervous, and nauseated even to small groups. Now, I have had the chance to speak to 3,000 people at civic engagements, lead leadership workshops, speak to several thousand people at a megachurch, engage audiences of kids and youth, speak at churches of many sizes, and many more events.
MY PROMISE TO YOU
I promise you that you can do this. You can speak with no fear.
Where you are is not where you have to be.
Don’t wait any longer. One day turns into one week. One week turns into a month, into a year, into a decade, and into a lifetime. Don’t let life pass you by while you wrestle with the same old enemy of fear. Do something about it.
Take action today. Begin to read. Begin to learn these strategies. Start now.
Want to read more? Join my launch team at SpeakWithNoFear.com
Or visit amazon.com/author/mikeacker
The post My Book Introduction from Speak With No Fear appeared first on ADVANCE, COACHING AND CONSULTING LLC.
May 22, 2019
Keys to Receiving a Promotion or Raise
When you improve your public speaking ability improve your probability of success. That is what I do. I help people advance their skills. (Schedule a call at https://advance.as.me)
BUT… There are other way you can improve and prove your worth at work. Some are simple. Some are difficult. Take a look and then take your next step to get where you want to go.
Tecniques and Tips to Improve Your Probability
1. Become better at your job. Promotions and raises often (not always) go to those that have earned them. Be the person that deserves it the most. Grow as much as you can regarding your expertise at your job. Find ways you can stand out from your peers. Everyone knows who the best in each department is. Be that person.
2. Volunteer for assignments. When there are new opportunities available, be one of the people that volunteers for them. These are a great way to stand out, show that you’re motivated, and grow your presence within the company. If you have any new ideas for how things can be improved, present them.
3. Get feedback. You don’t know what you don’t know. Ask your superiors for feedback on your performance at work. Ask for advice on what you can do to get ahead. It shows that you want to do better. It also makes it hard for them not to give you a raise or promotion if you follow their advice.
(This is a growth area for me! Join me in getting better at receiving feedback.)
4. Dress for success. Dress for the next job you want. Studies have shown that your appearance can make a huge difference when it comes time for a promotion. Avoid overdoing it. Don’t dress like the CEO unless that’s the next obvious transition for you.Dress along the lines of the formality of your boss.
5. Be indispensable. Be so important that they can’t possibly let you go. They’ll want to promote you or give you a raise just to keep you happy. Think about things you can do that will make you more important at work.
6. Know the people that matter and make a good impression. Every workplace has its movers and shakers. Who are those people in your company? Who is likely to have an opening soon that would be perfect for you? Who do you have to impress in Human Resources? Who makes the decisions that affect your future?
7. Be visible. If you do great things, but no one knows about them, you’re not getting the most out of your effort. Ensure people know about the great things you’re doing. Choose assignments that have the greatest visibility.
8. Make your desires known. Let the appropriate people know that you’re interested in growing your career. Sometimes this is all it takes to start seeing some progress. Talk to your boss and their boss about this. Talk to other department heads that might also be applicable.
9. Be willing to walk away. It’s sad, but often true, that you won’t be rewarded for your loyalty. Often, it’s the person that’s willing to move on to another company that gets the raise or promotion. If your company strongly believes that you’re not going anywhere, you might be less likely to be rewarded.
If it’s been awhile since you’ve gotten a promotion or raise, it’s time to change your tactics. Make yourself as valuable as you can to your company and ensure that everyone knows about it. Take a hold of your caeer path and get the increased salary you desire.
Mike Acker
President & Lead Coach at ADVANCE
The post Keys to Receiving a Promotion or Raise appeared first on ADVANCE, COACHING AND CONSULTING LLC.
May 20, 2019
Listen Before You Leap to Reap Greater Rewards
I need to get better at listening. Do you?
As I wrote my book, Speak With No Fear, I wrote about the power of listening. I felt a bit hypocritical as I wrote it because that is not my strength. I write this article to give you direction and to teach my self.
Think about how well you listen. You know that sometimes you leap into actions and assumptions. You know you’ve done it more than once. You’ve opened your mouth and let your words fly, only to wish you could somehow take them back. You thought you knew it all. You might have been a little angry. You knew you had the right to say it. But in the end, you have little more than regret to show for it.
Discover how to change the outcomes of your interactions with these ideas about how to listen more effectively.
Listen first, by implementing these tips:
1. Put your full attention on the other person’s words. Most people don’t listen well. They’re just waiting for the other person to finish so they can speak. Instead, use the time to relax and pay attention to the other person. This isn’t the time to allow your mind to wander. Stay focused.
2. Maintain eye contact. There are few things more annoying than speaking to someone while they look around the room as if they’d rather be doing something else. Others appreciate it when you pay attention to them. They’ll actually like you more if you simply maintain eye contact during a conversation.
3. Let them finish before you begin thinking about what you want to say. Hear everything that’s being said before formulating a response. Your conversation partner can tell when your mind is elsewhere. Be patient.
4. Get all the information before you speak. Ask necessary questions and follow up with the appropriate people before saying something that might create drama.
5. Clarify.Ensure that what you heard is what they meant. It’s common to misunderstand, especially when the other person isn’t articulate. Take a moment to ask the necessary follow-up questions.
6. Avoid making assumptions. Every assumption carries the risk of error. Again, find out everything you need to know before you speak. No one can make the right assumptions 100% of the time.
7. Decide if it’s better to be right or to be happy. Maybe you’re in the right. That doesn’t mean that things are going to work out in a favorable way for you. Sometimes, it’s wiser to be happy than to be right. If you insist on being right at all times, you might want to work on keeping your ego in-check.
8. The more you listen, the more you stand to gain. In a work environment, you can learn a lot by listening. You don’t learn much from speaking. You’ll be surprised by what the other person will reveal if you’re willing to listen. A short silence is often enough to get the other person to share a lot more.
9. The more you listen, the more others are willing to listen to you. Listen respectfully, then others will listen when it’s your turn. The less you say, the more your words will count, too. People ignore the person who never seems to stop talking.
10. Put your phone away. Your favorite game might be far more interesting than listening to your coworker prattle on about her children, but your game can wait. Keep your phone out of sight and out of your hands while you’re having a conversation.
Listening skills are in short supply in modern society. We have a lot of distractions and a strong focus on ourselves. However, poor listening skills can be costly. It can be easy to jump to the wrong conclusion or to offend someone by not giving them the attention they deserve.
Be respectful. Get all the information you need before taking any action, including speaking. Listen before you leap.
Mike Acker
President & Lead Coach at ADVANCE
The post Listen Before You Leap to Reap Greater Rewards appeared first on ADVANCE, COACHING AND CONSULTING LLC.
May 15, 2019
7 Ways to Get More Respect
Does it seem like people don’t listen to what you have to say? Do you feel ignored? Many people don’t receive the respect they either feel they deserve or would like. Unfortunately, once we train people to treat us a certain way, it’s challenging to change.
I’ve watched this trend happen to many people. I’ve coached people who feel this way. Now, I’m going to walk you through some techniques to get you the respect you hope for. Regardless of where you are now start by remembering this classic line, “where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
Use these techniques to get the respect you deserve:
1. Do what you say you’re going to do. We all know how challenging it can be to follow through on your proclamations, whether you agree to pick up someone at the airport or you’re trying to follow a diet.
We respect people that actually do the things they say they’re going to do. It shows reliability and self-control, both of which are worthy of anyone’s respect.
2. Live your values. When you know your values and live them, it’s clear to others that you have principles and follow them. It also makes it easier for you to make productive decisions and to advance your life.
There are many benefits to identifying your values and putting them into practice each and every day.
3. Call out disrespect when it happens. People can lose respect for you if they treat you poorly and you allow them to get away with it. Just seeing others get away with being disrespectful to you can cause them to lose respect.
Let others know that you don’t appreciate the treatment you’re receiving. Looking someone in the eye and telling them you’re displeased can be surprisingly powerful.
4. Speak up. Another mistake we often make in the name of being nice is allowing others to have their way. We’ll let others pick the restaurant, the movie, or the vacation location. When you act like everyone else’s opinion is more important than your own, people start to believe it’s actually true.
Give your opinion when it comes to what’s going on in your life. Act like your opinion matters, and people will realize that you matter, too.
5. Avoid over-apologizing. When you mess up, apologize. When you apologize too much, you appear weak. Weak people don’t receive a lot of respect in our society.
Don’t apologize for the music you listen to in your car, the fact that you only have water to drink in your house, or because an accident on the highway made you late.
When you don’t mess up or mistreat someone, it’s not your responsibility to apologize.
6. Work on your body language. Your body language can reveal more than your words. Keeping your head up, back straight, and maintaining good eye contact can make a huge difference.
● Movies can be a great way to learn about body language. Find a strong character and study them.
7. Consider the impression you make. Think about how you judge strangers in the grocery store. Imagine that you see one man with disheveled hair, a dirty t-shirt, flip flops, and 50 extra pounds. Your impression of him is very different that than of a man you see with a $90 haircut, a suit, a $300 pair of shoes, and a fit body.
● Consider what your appearance says to others. Do you look like the type of person that deserves respect?
● This might seem shallow, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. Do your best to look your best.
Few things feel worse than disrespect. We inadvertently teach others that they don’t have to respect us, so they don’t. However, we can teach them to treat us differently. Be a person that deserves respect and respect yourself enough to demand it from others. You can change how others view you.
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May 13, 2019
Exercise Your Mental Muscle
Losing weight is the most common New Year’s resolution. After all, we have to take care of our body so it can take care of us. But here’s a bigger thought: what about taking care of your mental muscle?
Just like your physical muscles atrophy when you don’t exercise them, the brain loses strength, too. Whether it’s forgetting someone’s name seconds after you’re introduced, or being unable to come up with ideas during your meeting, losing your mind muscle is more common than you’d think.
How should you exercise your mental muscle? Personally, I like word search puzzles and lots of reading. But just like going to the gym isn’t for everyone, neither is solving puzzles, reading excessively, or the sudoku. That’s fine. You don’t have to cancel your Saturday night plans to make room for Scrabble or wake up to a word search. There are a lot of ways to exercise your mental muscle, and word games or number puzzles are only one of them.
Use your non-dominant hand
This sounds a little intimidating because even the best calligraphers can barely draw a straight line with their non-dominant hand – so how will you pull this off? But that’s the point. When a workout is easy, you up the ante. Do the same with day-to-day activities. Use your non-dominant hand to spoon your rice and brush your teeth, or (if you want to go the extra mile) buy one of those children’s handwriting books and write away!
Mindfulness meditation
Meditation can make you more attentive and focused, and is a proven technique to reducing stress and anxiety, but being mindful of your body, thoughts, and emotions during a meditation session can also engage new neural pathways in your brain.
Mix up your routine
Routines are an excellent way to keep you motivated and productive, but oftentimes, doing things the routine way can make you go on ‘autopilot’ mode. According to brain imaging studies, this has shown to reduce activity in certain areas of the brain. Instead of scrapping the routine altogether, mix it up! Take a different route to work. Work out to a different playlist. Eat a different kind of cereal, or read the newspaper back-to-front instead of front-to-back.
Write down 10 ideas
This mental exercise comes from James Altucher, who says writing down 10 ideas every day can make you an ‘idea machine’ as, over time, your brain learns not only to generate ideas at the drop of a hat, but to filter out bad ideas and produce better ideas than before. Writing down 10 ideas for something – even if they’re silly or stupid – can pave the way for better ideas. After all, even the strongest guy at your gym could barely lift a barbell at one point. Whether it’s 10 ideas to get that promotion, 10 ideas for a best man speech, or even 10 ideas for Thanksgiving dinner, make sure to get the full list done in one sitting.
Do things with your eyes closed
Sight is one of your most important senses, and it’s often the sense you use to process information before any other. So when this sense is compromised, the rest of your senses are enhanced significantly. Even when done in short bursts, it helps improve brain activity to use your secondary senses instead of your primary. Watch your favorite movie with your eyes closed, or try a new cuisine while blindfolded. Chances are, you’ll experience something completely different.
Make time for your mental muscle just as you do for your physical muscles. When you wake up, brush with your non-dominant hand. Swap your soap for a different-flavored one and shower with your eyes closed. Meditate while you’re stuck in traffic, being mindful of all the sounds, scents, and sensations around you. And write down 10 random ideas on your phone when you’re waiting in line at the grocery store.
Trust me, your brain will thank you.
Mike Acker
President & Lead Coach at ADVANCE
The post Exercise Your Mental Muscle appeared first on ADVANCE, COACHING AND CONSULTING LLC.
May 8, 2019
Create a 5-Year Plan for Your Life
At 22 years old I sat down at Starbucks with a blank page. Over the course of one hour I mapped out a 1, 2, 5, and 10 year plan for my life. 16 years later it’s amazing to see many of the goals come true. How about you? Do you have a map for your life? If you don’t, you can!
For this article, just think about that 5 year mark. Did you plan out the last five years of your life? Most people don’t plan ahead that far. We often don’t even plan out the next day.
Imagine how much YOU could accomplish over the next five years if you made a reasonable plan and stuck to it.
Without a plan your life is unlikely to change much. You put yourself at the mercy of the ebb and flow of life. Instead of drifting on the sea of change, take this article with you to Starbucks and map out a plan.
Consider these aspects of your life:
1. Finances. Think about where you want to be financially. Consider income, net worth, debt, savings, and investments. Are there new income streams you want to create? What are your future plans for spending? Do you want to purchase a house? A boat? An investment property?
2. Health. What are your current health challenges? How much do you want to weigh? What type of diet do you want to follow? How fit do you want to be?
3. Career. Where do you see yourself in five years? Where do you want to be working? What do you want to be doing? Do you need to go back to school? What is your dream job?
4. Relationships. Are there any relationships you’d like to create or dissolve? Do you want to have children or more children?
5. Personal Development. Do you want to learn to speak Spanish or to play the piano? Would you like to learn how to dance? What would you like to learn or to become? What skills do you need to acquire to make the most of the next five years?
6. Adventure. What would you like to do? Climb a mountain? Go skydiving? See a volcano? What adventures would you like to experience over the next five years?
Write down what you want for each of these six areas of your life. Once you’ve completed that, begin the process of making a plan for the future. It’s not enough to know where you’re going. You must plan your path, too.
These strategies will help you to create a plan and execute it:
1. Set goals. Create a few goals for each area of your life and set deadlines for each goal. Avoid just having long-term goals. It’s important to have shorter-term goals that lead up to your bigger goals.
● It’s hard to maintain focus on goals that require more than 10 weeks to reach. Break your goals down into smaller chunks.
2. Write a plan. You know what you want to accomplish. You have goals. Create a detailed plan about what you want to accomplish over 10-week segments of time. Just start at the end and keep working back to the present day. Make beginning simple enough that you could literally start doing something today.
3. Create habits. Goals are easy to achieve if you can create the right habits. The challenge is figuring out the right habits and then implementing them. With effective habits, success is a cinch.
There’s a lot of material available on how to create habits. Educate yourself. It’s an incredibly valuable skill to have.
Choose a direction for your life by choosing a destination.
Most people fail to plan their lives in any meaningful way. We often keep our focus too short to ever create anything substantial in the future. A 5-year goal is a good step towards making impressive changes in your life.
If you want someone to work with as you plan your next 5 years, e-mail Contact@stepstoadvance.com and let’s set up a time to work on this.
Mike Acker
President & Lead Coach at ADVANCE
The post Create a 5-Year Plan for Your Life appeared first on ADVANCE, COACHING AND CONSULTING LLC.
May 6, 2019
Easy Ways to Have More Meaningful Conversations
Several years ago I enrolled in the Dale Carnegie Institute. My desire was to get better at speaking and to develop my speaking skills. In this process, I realized that being an excellent conversationalist is part science and part art.
For most of us, it will take time and practice to be successful at communicating verbally both on stage and off.
There are plenty of little tricks and strategies you can use to enhance your conversation experience. This will lead you to enjoying your conversations more, and it will benefit the people you are speaking to as well. Additionally, verbal skills are great for advancing your career and social life.
Practice these techniques to enhance your verbal skills:
1. Listen well. Listening is half of the conversation. Keep your eyes and attention on the other person. Think about what is being said. Avoid thinking about what you want to say next. Just keep your attention on what’s being said to you.
2. Ask better questions. Ideally, you shouldn’t have to say too much during many conversations. Just a few, well-chosen questions can keep the other person talking for quite a while. Ask open-ended questions about something meaningful to the other person and just kick back and relax.
Good questions are an easy way to keep the other person engaged in the conversation.
3. Lower your requirements for success. When it comes to making small talk at a social gathering, too often we want to be the most amazing conversationalist the world has ever seen. It’s not necessary to be the “best” anything to leave a positive impression or to have a successful conversation.
By lowering your performance requirement, you can relax and be a better conversation partner.
4. Ensure that you’re both understood. Make sure you heard what you thought you heard. Verify that you’ve been understood, too. Good communication requires that the relayed information was received and understood.
5. Wait your turn. Avoid interrupting someone. Just because you’re done listening doesn’t mean they were done speaking. Wait until the other person is done talking and then feel free to respond. The other person will appreciate the consideration.
6. Be interesting. Unless there was recently a tornado or a record high temperature, no one other than a meteorologist wants to talk about the weather. Have a couple of good stories ready to go at a moment’s notice.
One easy way to be interesting is to stay on top of current events. Watch the news while walk on the treadmill or start your day reading the news on your smart phone. However you manage it, ensure you know what’s going on in the world.
If you know what the other person is passionate about, you can use that as a conversation topic.
7. Be open and honest, but polite. Honesty and openness are refreshing. Too many people are overly concerned with being politically correct or socially acceptable. This isn’t an excuse to be rude, but having an opinion that you’re willing to share puts you head and shoulders above most.
8. Show enthusiasm for the chance to speak with the other person.Make the other person feel special. You know how good it feels when someone is excited to see you. See if you can create a similar feeling in the other person.
One of the ways that I try to achieve this is with expressive eyes and with a ready smile. Smiles set people at ease (smiling is one of my most common tips I give when coaching speaking clients.)
9. End the conversation when the time is right. It’s better to go out on a high note than after the conversation has died. This way, they’ll be eager to speak with you again soon.
We aren’t taught how to be a great conversationalist in school, but we should be. It’s a valuable skill that can help your career. It can also allow you to have a more enjoyable time at social events. It can give a great boost to your social life in general. Take advantage of every opportunity to work on your conversation skills.
As an added benefit, a great conversationalist always has someone to talk to!
Mike Acker
President & Lead Coach at ADVANCE
The post Easy Ways to Have More Meaningful Conversations appeared first on ADVANCE, COACHING AND CONSULTING LLC.
May 1, 2019
Have a More Productive Day
The more you get done each day, the more success you can experience. You also give yourself the opportunity to have more free time, too.
Time always seems to be in short supply. However, If you get more out of your day, you’re making better use of your time.
Increasing your productivity can have a positive effect on your professional and personal life. Personally, my desire is to excell at work and to succeed at home as well with my wife and son. How can you and I do this?
Use these tips to get more done in less time:
1. Plan. To get the most out of any day, it’s important to know what you’re going to do before the day begins. Decide how you’re going to spend your day the night before (I use the Best Self Co Journal.) That way, you can get busy accomplishing things first thing in the morning.
2. Get up earlier. You’ll be surprised how much more you can accomplish and how much better you feel about the day if you start your day a little bit earlier. Many of the most productive and successful people in the world share the habit of rising early.
3. Turn off social media. Social media is often a time-waster. Set aside a time in the evening to catch up with your friends and family, but avoid wasting too much time on this type of activity. It’s a huge mistake to engage in social media during work hours. You have more productive things to spend your time on.
4. Say, “no” more often. It’s easier to be productive in a meaningful way if you’re attempting to do fewer things each day. Be willing to say no to tasks, obligations, and people that get in the way of your productivity.Make it a point to leverage your time as well as you can.
Make a list of how you actually spend your time in an average day. Do you see any activities you can eliminate? Saying, “no” can also mean refusing yourself the opportunity to waste your time on meaningless activities.
5. Get as much done as possible early in the day. If you can get a lot done in the morning, the rest of the day will go well, too. However, if you struggle to accomplish anything early in the day, the rest of the day usually goes poorly also. This is part of the reason why it’s so important to have a plan and to get up early.
6. Stick to one task at a time. Multitasking is for people that don’t want to be productive. Choose one task, complete it, and then move on to a new task. Many studies have shown that multitasking is ineffective.
7. Focus on the most important task or steps.Avoid just doing the easiest or most enjoyable tasks. Focus on completing the most important tasks, and you’ll be much more productive.
8. Take regular breaks. You might get less done in the short-term, but you’ll undoubtedly accomplish a lot more over a long day of work. Taking regular breaks refreshes your brain and makes it easier to focus. You’ll be much more effective in the afternoon if you’ve been taking breaks earlier in the day.
How productive are you? How would your life improve if you got more done each day?
Most of us could use a couple more hours each day. Unfortunately, no one has found a practical way to alter time. However, we can all learn to make better use of the time we have.
Spend a month being more productive and see how it changes your life.
Mike Acker
President & Lead Coach at ADVANCE
The post Have a More Productive Day appeared first on ADVANCE, COACHING AND CONSULTING LLC.
