These thoughts were prompted by this little parable, which illustrates the point perfectly (with thanks to Steve Mills for sending it to me):

The Tiny Frog

“We must stand guard at the doorway of our minds”
Once upon a time there was a bunch of tiny frogs who arranged a climbing competition. The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower.

A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants. The race began.

Honestly: No one in the crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower. You heard statements such as:  “Oh, way too difficult!” “They will never make it to the top.” “Not a chance that they will succeed.” “The tower is too high!”

The tiny frogs began collapsing one by one – except for those who kept a fresh tempo and kept climbing higher and higher.

The crowd continued to yell, “It is too difficult!  No one will make it!” More tiny frogs got tired and gave up.

But one continued higher and higher and higher. This one wouldn’t give up.

At the end everyone else had given up climbing the tower. Except for the one tiny frog who, after a big effort, was the only one who reached the top.

All of the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to do it. Another contestant asked the tiny frog how he had found the strength to succeed and reach the goal.

It turned out… the winner was deaf.  The wisdom of this story is: Never listen to other people’s tendencies to be negative or pessimistic. They take your most wonderful dreams and wishes away from you if you let them– the ones you have in your heart!

Be deaf to the people who tell you that you cannot fulfil your dreams, goals and aspirations.

Author unknown

I can highly recommend everything on the list (including a K&H Goal Getter strategic planning day for item 4, of course) EXCEPT for item 3, which you should only get if you are very disciplined with your time.

Here’s the list:

http://www.e-myth.com/cs/user/print/post/top-10-holiday-gifts-for-a-technician

See what you think.

The most common reason that clients give me for not working ON their businesses (eg not doing the strategic work, systemising etc) is that they are too busy. Too busy working IN the business (eg managing people, selling, doing the accounts, making the tea etc etc). Admittedly, the size of the task is huge and as daunting as eating the proverbial elephant.

The clients in question are often working 60 to 70 hours a week so their reason is a genuine one. However, I know from my own experience that it is always possible to make progress on the strategic stuff IF you manage your time well.

A recent blog on the E-Myth website gives some thoughts on how to tackle this problem under these headings:

• You Can’t Hit a Target if you’re Aiming at the Sky
• Focus on the Results, Not on the Work
• Approach that Elephant Strategically

The most time consuming “working ON” area is systemisation for most businesses. Remember that a fully systemised business is worth 87% more than an averagely systemised business, so tackling this problem has to be worthwhile.

Have a look at the whole article and please do let me know if you think this will help you eat your elephant.

On the other hand, I read a book that my client Julian Sharples recently bought me a (The Inside Advantage) within a few days. (Thanks again, Julian.)

This made me reflect on what makes a really compelling business or personal development book (pretty much the only sort I of books that I read these days).

For me to want to read a book through to the end it must be:

Written in the right style. Many authors recognise this, eg The One Minute Millionaire is actually two books: even numbered pages are conventional, factual style and odd pages carry the same message but as part of a story.

Have the right layout. I find dense blocks of text hard to wade through. Anything with graphs, varying fonts and text sizes are much easier to take in. I think the books in the Q-Learning series are great.

Relevant to where I am or to where my business is now. It can be the best book in the world but if is about start-ups and mine is a mature business I will not get much from it.

(Sometimes) up to date. eg a marketing book that predates web 2.0 and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) etc is unlikely to offer all the help that it should. On the other hand, the message in some book is perennial. The Inside Advantage was published in 2008.

Free of padding. Surely not every point needs to be illustrated by a parable or example? The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is a great book but it would be a lot better if it were half as long.

Recommended by someone who understands the reader’s preferences and needs (especially point 4). We give out the E-Myth to many small business owners because such a large part of that book so relevant to them- even if they don’t or can’t accept that fact!

These are just my personal criteria. Please let us know what factors influence how much value you get out of a business/personal development book – for example I know a lot of people who swear by audio versions for use in the car, MP3 players etc.

Also check out our Business book reviews on this site.

For those of you who are not familiar with the Firewalk experience, this is a ritual that has been used in many societies, ancient and modern, to test the mental strength of those taking part. The challenge is to maintain the mental focus and determination to overcome fear and every instinct of self-preservation and walk bare-foot on a surface over 1000+ degrees.

Pauline Williamson (our MD) and I successfully completed the challenge a week ago, with barely a charred toe between us. This was part of day 1 of Anthony Robbins’ famous Unleash the Power Within (Firewalk) “seminar” covering 4 days from Friday 22 to Monday 25 February.

So what did it feel like? The simple answer is “hot”!

Much more interesting was the experience of preparing for the firewalk. But that was completely overshadowed by what happened on day 3 of the event.

This climax on day 3 did not involve any physical challenges or anything that can be effectively described in writing. Sufficient to say that it is like having an extremely personal group therapy session (with 8000 people) at which you visualise your past, present and future(s) using NLP techniques to “re-condition” your mind to remove limiting beliefs about yourself etc. Many participants liken this to a rebirth- like being a Phoenix emerging from the firewalk flames. I don’t think I am known as someone who exaggerates or over-dramatises, but I came out of the experience describing it as one of the most profound experiences of my life.

For me, the world is a subtly different place since that weekend, and the firewalk was done by a subtly different person.

In my experience working with business owners, the main obstacle preventing them from moving forward is their fear of failure and the limiting beliefs that they hold about their own abilities. The UPW event is the quickest and easier way to overcome these and start to take on new challenges.

If you are not afraid of being taken out of your comfort zone ( in many ways), then this is an experience that is a must for you. If you are afraid of going out of your comfort zone then it is absolutely essential for you.

If you’d like to know more, I’d love to tell you more.

In other words, will having goals make you happy (assuming that happiness is everyone’s ultimate aim, for ourselves and for others)?

A book I have just read called “Happier” (by Tal Ben-Shahar) examines this in more detail and draws some interesting conclusions that all of us who are involved in giving business advice should, I believe, keep in the back of their minds when giving that advice. In a nutshell:

• Happiness as a result of pleasure and purposefulness in life (just one or the other of these is not enough)
• Purposefulness can come from striving for goals (not from achieving them!)
• BUT the goals must be “self concordant” ie consistent with our own personal values and beliefs
• When we are working towards a goal, we can get into a state of “flow”, where the balance between boredom and stress is just right and when time passes very quickly
• We have more of these “flow” experience at work than during our leisure time.
• Money does not create happiness (except in so far as money is the measure by which you judge your progress towards your goals).

The conclusion from this is that should be happier working than playing! This is contrary to all the received wisdom about what “work” is and the anomaly is caused by the fact that there is a deep rooted prejudice in our society against work (including school work and studying). This prejudice creates a barrier that prevents us expected (and therefore getting) any enjoyment or happiness from our work.

Other business writers (including David Maister) have long talked about the fact that financial success inevitably follows from doing work that you enjoy with people that you like.

To me the actions that come out of this are:

• First, read the Happier book yourself
• Then find work that you enjoy doing, and happiness and financial success will follow.

Let me know what you think.

The excuse we use to justify this is that we need the energy to do our jobs and we do not have time to tackle the problem in any other way.

This is particularly relevant to business owners. When I ask business owners how many hours they work each week, the average answer is about 60. In other words, they are doing the equivalent of nearly two full time jobs. And that doesn’t include the mind-time and sleepless nights caused by the innumerable stresses inherent in most peoples business.

The article explained that in reality, the “energy” we’re chasing is simply mental alertness and included 3 tips to get more energy naturally and improve your job performance by 15% in the process:

1) Exercise – It doesn’t matter what time you exercise, just be consistent. Fit it in based on your schedule and personality. If you have to do it first thing when you wake up, just do it. Don’t even let yourself think about it. Just get started. Focus on intense strength training for 20 minutes followed by a brief interval training session to boost your metabolism all day long.

Exercise is a drug. Like caffeine and nicotine, exercise causes the release of many chemicals into your blood, resulting in mental stimulation and an improved sense of overall well-being. Exercise just makes you feel good.

2) Eat smaller, more frequent meals. Skip the cycle of starving and feasting characterized by no breakfast, a high-carbohydrate lunch, and a huge dinner. Instead, eat breakfast and then continue to eat every 3 hours for the rest of the day. Research shows that a high-fibre breakfast helps control appetite and increases mental alertness all morning, and improves your ability to process information. Do not skip breakfast and rely on a coffee to get you through the day.

Got no time? C’mon! You’re an adult, you can get up 10 minutes earlier to have a protein shake, some almonds, and an apple. You’re not in high school anymore. No excuses!

3) Eat only whole, natural foods, such as fruits, vegetables, organic proteins, raw nuts (not roasted in oil), Green Tea, water.Trying to run on processed foods is a recipe for an energetic disaster. Stick to whole, natural foods during the day, snacking rather than binging on big meals, and you’ll never feel like dozing off. If a food is from a bag or a box, it doesn’t deserve a place in your nutrition plan. Avoid all added sugars. Surely, you’re already sweet enough!

Bonus Tip! Take mini-breaks during the day to work on your mobility. Work environments zap our ‘energy’. From poor posture, to eye-strain from computer screens, your office, cubicle, and car seat will suck the life out of you.

According to Men’s Health magazine…”British researchers recently found that when people exercised during their workday — regardless of the duration or intensity of the movement — they were less likely to feel fatigued, and that translated into a 15 percent improvement in job performance.”Daily exercise breaks are essential to not only boost energy, but mobility. Each day, as your computer sucks you into its visual vortex, your upper body becomes rounded forward and tense. You need to reverse that movement.

Here’s how…Stick up Stand: With your back to the wall and feet about 4 inches from the wall. Place the back of your arms against the wall with upper arms parallel to floor and forearms at 90 degrees. Stick up your arms over head while keeping your arm against the wall at all times. Slowly return to below the starting position tucking your elbows into your sides and bringing shoulder blades together. Repeat for 12 reps. Do this every 60-90 minutes. In addition, get outside into natural light whenever possible.

Let me know how you get on!