Mindset, the Media, & Reaching Your Potential
PJ McClure Interview July 2010
In this interview with PJ McClure you will hear the Mindset Maven himself discussing, not only how mindset impacts your results in life, but also the Six Elements of Personal Choice that comprise Mindset.
Learn what he considers the most valuable thing that he lost when his home was destroyed by fire.
Find out about the “gift in the ugly wrapper” and what you have to do to receive it.
Finally you will hear PJ’s top tips that you can employ starting TODAY!!!
I urge anyone who is trying to take their performance to the next level to hear what PJ has to say.
Seven Success Lessons from the Sydney Opera House
BEFORE
BEFORE
The Sydney Opera House, this beautiful facility is one of the most iconic structures of the modern era. The only structure to be named as a world heritage site while it’s architect was still living, it is recognized by 2/3rds of the people on the planet! Hosts seven MILLION visitors each year, 300,000 who tour the facility and there are around 1,500 performances each year attended by over a million spectators. The structure has become synonymous with the Sydney harbour (or harbour, for you locals) but to many it represents much more.
AFTER
Like most stories if you dig a little deeper, to the story within the story, there are insights to be gained, lessons to be learned. Recently my family took a tour of the opera house and I was so struck by the lessons I took away I felt compelled to share them. So here goes.
- First and probably most obvious is the power and importance of a Big Vision. If the Opera House had been just another rectangular box it is unlikely that it would have garnered the adoration that it enjoys. It is also unlikely to have had the economic impact that it has had for the Australian economy. The vision was also the power of re-design. Prior to the opera house the location was the “end of the line” Read the rest of this entry »
Focus and Performance Improvement
Intuitively we all know that we can’t do everything, all at once. If we really want to make measurable improvement we need to start with focusing our energy, effort and resources on the “critical few”.
Almost everyone is familiar with the 80-20 or four fifths rule. It was a postulate developed by Vilfredo Pareto an Italian economist who found that 20 percent of the people owned 80 percent of the land. It was popularized by Joseph Juran who used it for identifying the “critical few” specifically related to quality. Since then it has been widely accepted that this phenomenon extends into most of the realms of life and business.
This would say that 20 percent of customers generate 80 percent of revenue, 20 percent of customers generate 80 percent of headaches (Tim Ferris suggests firing these customers in the four hour work week), 20 percent of your habits generate 80 percent of your results (good or bad) and so on. So what is the point and what is the value of this information? Read the rest of this entry »
Before you consider your challenges, consider this…
Last night, I saw a guy named Nick Vujicic speaking to a packed house.
So packed that there were overflow rooms where people, who could not fit in the main auditorium, could watch on closed circuit TVs.
He is an amazing twenty-seven year old man, born without arms or legs. He swims, surfs, has met 5 presidents and spoken to people in 35 countries, prison inmates and is scheduled to address the UN.
It is truly an amazing story and the fact is his challenges are one of the main components that have enabled him to accomplish so much. More than just his challenges, as the world is full of people with challenges who accomplish little, but his challenges coupled with his vision, drive, determination and sense of humor. The kite rises against the wind. Read the rest of this entry »
What’s up with: You Suck, Get Better?
Nearly everyone is familiar with the “annual review” process. At the heart of it is the message that “you suck get better” rarely is it communicated in these exact words but so many times this is the theme. So many times in fact it has become a joke among many employees.
If you have a really good boss who cares about you and your future it may be very direct.
However, more times than not it is veiled in terms like “you are so valuable in your current role that we can’t afford to promote you” or “we really need you where you are right now” and some times it sounds believable especially when we are still operating in the mode of “I am really good” at what I do.
This is fine if you don’t mind training your new boss or just aren’t interested in taking your career to the next level. It sounds good, it is nice to tell your spouse or neighbors but if you are hearing these types of messages the fact is you suck and you need to get better, if you want to take your career / compensation / life to the next level.
Most bosses (like most people) don’t want to deliver bad news. So you can continue to get average to slightly above average reviews and be happy with what you have today or you you can realize that at some level (the next level) you suck and you need to get better.
Honestly, this was me (for years) I wanted to move my career to the next level and kept getting bypassed, although I was a top performer at my current level, something was holding me back. I moved through a number of companies (a couple Fortune 500’s (r) and several smaller ones) until I came to the hard to recognize fact that that the issue was me!
I was sure that the issue was things I didn’t control; like my background or the way I looked or the folks at senior levels didn’t understand my capability (you have your own similar answers, I’m sure) but at the end of it all I realized it was much like the advice I was giving my children.
“If you know the rules and you aren’t winning, it’s your own fault”
Honestly, as an HR guy, I knew the rules but I thought that my performance made the rules not apply to me. How dumb is that? I knew the rules, intimately, but thought that because I was such a good performer that they didn’t apply to ME! I eventually, by blind luck, landed a job with a boss who really cared about me.
I have now come to realize Read the rest of this entry »
Knowing you Suck, The First Step to Improved Performance.
Most human beings want to hear how well we are doing or have done. We all like positive feedback and naturally dread hearing “constructive criticism.” It never seems constructive and typically hurts our feelings or stings our ego.
The fact is the best performers, at anything, have been those who were the best at hearing how they could be better. Those who don’t want to hear how they can improve or why they sucked have always limited their ability to achieve results.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_woods
Tiger Woods (his current personal issues aside) in 2003-4,was the top player in golf when his coach challenged him to redesign his swing. WHAT?? Is that Crazy? You know the coach couldn’t beat Tiger in a heads up match, so why would Tiger be willing to accept nearly two years of commentators saying he was in a slump? He knew that his current swing was not sustainable with his surgically repaired knee and Tiger was not content with his current level of performance he wanted to Read the rest of this entry »
