Michael Hyatt's Blog, page 87

Most Influential Keynote Speakers [Appearance]

This is an interesting list. It basically shows “how influential keynote speakers are on the web and social media.” I am listed at #2. The list is dynamic—it updates as the speakers’ social media stats changes.

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Most Influential Keynote Speakers

How to Fire Your Best Friend (And Still Be Friends) [Appearance]

In this Inc. magazine article, Danny Iny quotes me about how to fire someone without losing the relationship.

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How to Fire Your Best Friend (And Still Be Friends)

3 Ways to Treat the Scourge of Cynicism

What to Do if Your Organization Is Infected with the Disease

I hate cynicism. It is like cancer to the human soul. It is especially deadly when it infects an organization.

A few years into my tenure as the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, I thought we had pretty much eliminated it from our company. I was hoping the disease was in remission. But, one morning I discovered that it was still alive and well—at least in parts of the company. The worst part was that a few of our leaders were manifesting symptoms of the disease.

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We’re Looking for a Rockstar Marketing Automation Manager. Are You a Fit? [Announcement]

We’re Looking for a Rockstar Marketing Automation Manager. Are You a Fit?

Great news: I’m looking to fill a brand new position on my team. We’re a fast-growing company with big goals, and I need to fill this role to help take us to the next level. Click on the title below for all the details.

Marketing Automation Manager

What if you’re not a candidate? Would you mind passing this along to someone you think might be a fit? Thanks for your interest in helping our company grow!

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Encore Episode: The One Way to Guarantee You Won’t Succeed [Podcast]

6 Tricks for Training Yourself to Persist When You Want to Quit

Our podcast is on hiatus for 3 weeks as we prepare for Season 8. But we’ve gone through our content and found some of our most popular episodes to share with you during the transition. Enjoy this listener favorite!

In this episode, Stu McLaren (who filled in for my regular cohost Michele Cushatt) and I discuss the one way to guarantee you won’t succeed.

Persistence is critical to success. But sometimes when things get tough we really want to bail, don’t we? The good news is that we can get through those moments and stay on course. I’ve got six tricks for training yourself to persist when you want to quit.

Listen to the Audio

MICHAEL HYATT WITH STU MCLAREN
S04E001 - The One Way to Guarantee You Won’t Succeed: 6 Tricks for Training Yourself to Persist When You Want to Quit

Subscribe to Podcast in iTunes | Play in Browser | Download

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“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” —Thomas Edison [Photo]

How to Become Better Than You Ever Thought Possible

3 Practical Steps for Achieving Peak Performance

This is a guest post by Jeff Goins. Jeff is the author of four books including the national bestseller The Art of Work (available for $2.99 this week only). You can find him on Twitter and follow his award-winning blog.

Why are some people so good at what they do whereas others struggle with the most basic of tasks? Have you ever wondered if you were capable of achieving more in your work and life?

This question is what researcher Anders Ericsson has spent most of his career pondering. And the answers might surprise you.

In his recent book, Peak, Ericsson points out the obvious fact that many people in our world appear as if they are endowed with certain genetic gifts and abilities that seem downright superhuman. But where do these gifts actually come from? Can anyone become an expert? Or is that category reserved for only the elite?

Take the example of famous composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who at the age of seven years old appeared to have “perfect pitch.” He understood music at a level of expertise that is uncommon for most adults.

Surely, that was a gift. Wasn’t it? Maybe not.

Starting at the age of four, young Wolfgang began working full-time with his father, who was also a musician, on practicing the violin, keyboard, and other instruments. By the age of seven, he had put in more hours than most students graduating from Juilliard School in New York City.

So was Mozart born with some special ability to discern musical notes in a way that most people cannot? According to science, no. Nonetheless, Mozart was gifted. He had the same gift we all have. He had his brain, a brain that is capable of achieving a level of performance that looks a lot like magic to those who don’t understand it.

The “gift” that we often talk about is your ability to learn, and grow, and adapt. And that’s a gift we all are born with. In other words, you’re closer to reaching your personal peak than you may realize.

I learned this in writing my last book, The Art of Work, in which I studied Ericsson’s research on deliberate practice and compared it to my own study of individuals who had discovered their life’s work. And what I learned surprised me.

The hundreds of people I interviewed, people who appeared to be “gifted,” were, in fact, no more gifted than you or I. They had just learned how to practice.

So here are three tips for how to accelerate your performance and reach your own peak sooner:

Master your mindset. What you think about, you become. And if you are still caught up believing that some people are “just born with it,” that’s going to create a limitation on what you think is possible. Ericsson encourages another mindset that he calls the “deliberate-practice mindset,” which argues that anyone can get better if they take the right approach. So this approach begins with thinking a personal breakthrough is even possible.

Practice with purpose. Not all practice is necessarily equal. Sometimes, trying harder doesn’t get you better results. “If you are not improving,” Ericsson says, “it’s not because you lack innate talent; it’s because you’re not practicing the right way.” To reach peak performance, you must push yourself past what you think is possible. If you’re not doing that, then you aren’t really practicing. You’re just spinning your wheels. You have to put in the hours, but you also have to put in the effort.

Get around greatness. It’s not just mindset or practice that affects our performance. It’s also our environment. This means that putting yourself around others who will challenge you and help you grow is essential to mastering any skill. In Peak, Ericsson shares a fascinating study about London cab drivers, in which the cabbies’ brains were measured before they became licensed cab drivers and then years after. What they found was the part of the brain responsible for navigation had grown significantly larger after years of intense daily training in the same environment. So if you’re not achieving greatness, then it may be time to surround yourself with others who will challenge you to grow.

We all love heroic tales of overnight success, but the truth is expertise is never an accident. Without the right training, peak performance is practically impossible.

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We love heroic tales of overnight success, but expertise is never an accident.

—JEFF GOINS

The good news, though, is anyone can achieve expert status if they understand the process and are willing to do the work.

Remember: it starts in the mind, works itself out in your daily practice, and is cemented by the company you keep.

Question: What changes do you need to make in your mindset, practice or environment to achiever greater levels of success? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

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The Insanely Simple Way To Prioritize Your Work And Life [Appearance]

In this Fast Company article my friend Jeff Goins mentions me and my concept of an Ideal Week.

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The Insanely Simple Way To Prioritize Your Work And Life

Encore Episode: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less [Podcast]

An Interview with Greg McKeown, Author of ‘Essentialism’

Our podcast is on hiatus for the next 3 weeks as we prepare for Season 8. But we’ve gone through our content and found some of our most popular episodes to share with you during the transition. Enjoy this listener favorite!

In this twelfth episode from Season 3 of the This Is Your Life podcast, Michele Cushatt and I interview Greg McKeown, best-selling author of Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less.

We live in a culture that drives us to do, produce, and consume more—constantly. As a result, our schedules are packed, while our lives seem empty. Greg McKeown’s Essentialism, one of the best business books I’ve ever read, offers the perspective and tools we need to break free from this trap.

Listen to the Audio

Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play in browser | Download

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“Feeling afraid? Do it scared.” -Michael Hyatt [Photo]

Click here for my complete collection of quote card images.

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