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“To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.” ~Anatole France

dreams, friendship, from dreams to goals, goal achievement, goals

A Bit About Goal Setting

Sep 1st

Posted by Jack in Coaching

“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” ~Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854

As I write this, I am sitting in a coffee shop on the South side of Minneapolis, Minnesota. I have just finished walking for an hour around Lake Calhoun, one of the beautiful string of lakes and parks that help to make this city such a delight. Even though I am traveling on business here today, I made time for this walk – regular walking is a critical component to my achieving the goal that I shared last time. (The weather here is so nice today, it really was not a challenge at all to get myself out walking – today the challenge was to quit at an hour!)

I am going to be sharing just a bit more about my health goal for next year. I’m doing this for a couple of reasons. First, I want to clearly state to the world, and of course myself, exactly what I am going to do. (The how I am going to do this comes later – I certainly don’t know all of the how yet, but I have faith that I will find it.) Second, some of the ways that I have formed this goal, and am now committing to it, may be of use to some of my readers.

To recap, last time I shared that I had committed to the goal of getting myself back in shape in the coming twelve months. I made this goal public on this blog to get leverage on myself. Getting leverage on yourself can be a very good thing indeed. So can making a public commitment to getting something accomplished. I realized today that I had not been very specific in the details that I shared about that goal. Here are those missing specifics:

By July 1st, 2011, I will weigh no more than 195 lbs (dressed in summer workout gear including shoes). This is very specific.
My bodyfat percentage will be no more than 15% and I will have this professionally measured by a personal trainer at my health club.
I will also be very aerobically fit. I will measure that this way: I will be jogging at least 3 times per week for at least 30 minutes each time at a pace no slower than 10 minutes per mile. Additionally, I will be bike riding at least 3 times per week for at least 1 hour each time at a pace no slower than 10 miles per hour.

Now that is a decently written goal for me and here are some of the reasons why:

It is doable in the time frame (barely!).
It is very measurable.
It does take into account some larger aspects of my life. (I must be aerobically fit and has a healthy ending bodyfat percentage – it isn’t just about my ending weight.)
Accomplishing this goal will open up lots of other aspects of my life as well.

Okay. Enough for today about my getting in great shape goal. Here is a question for you: Should you always share your goals publicly? I say no. Next time I’ll talk more about the why and why not of this.

Till next time faithful reader…Jack

“It is never too late to be who you might have been.” ~George Eliot

getting in shape, goal achieving, goal setting, goals, NLP, well formed goals

A Renewed Commitment to Health

Aug 31st

Posted by Jack in Health

1 comment

“The part can never be well unless the whole is well.” ~Plato

Thirteen years ago, almost exactly to the day that I am writing this, I quit smoking. I didn’t quit because I got sick. I was a very fit smoker; I would jog four miles at a nice eight minute per mile pace and then light up a cigarette as soon as I finished. I quit for other reasons.

It had been obvious to me for years that I needed to quit. The smell, the expense, the increased risk of cancer – all of these bothered me – but they weren’t enough. I finally stopped because my career as a public speaker, and my beliefs about what it truly meant to live a successful life, and the habit of smoking had become completely incompatible. I just could not continue to talk about success when I was addicted to a substance that I knew was not good for me. So, I quit. It was a horrific process, but I made it thru. Thirteen years later and I have never smoked again.

I did however gain weight after I quit smoking; I gained lots of weight. In the year after I quit smoking I gained nearly ninety pounds of bodyweight and I still carry most of this excess today.

So, I find myself back in a very similar situation to the one that I found myself in thirteen years ago: being overweight and the health consequences of that are no longer compatible with the rest of my life. I have committed to returning to my ideal bodyweight and body-fat percentage within the next twelve months. I don’t know all of how I will accomplish this yet, but I am going to make it happen. Wish me the best and follow along as I travel back in time to a much younger and fitter body. I will be updating my blog weekly with my efforts and my results.

Also, since I am releasing a book about goals and achievement next year, this seemed like a great time and place to use this leverage on myself for myself! More about this process next time.

Till next time faithful reader…Jack

“The greatest wealth is health.” ~Virgil

fat loss, getting in shape, goals and achievement, Health, weight loss

$100,000 Mistakes in Book Writing

Aug 27th

Posted by Jack in Books

“A friend accepts us as we are yet helps us to be what we should.” ~Author Unknown

This article assumes that you have some interest in getting a non-fiction book published some day. You might find it interesting even if you don’t have any such desires!

Book Writing Mistakes Cost $100,000

Last time I talked about the mistakes that I made after I decided to write a book. I would guess that those mistakes cost me at least three years – three additional years where I did not have a book working for me to increase my income. Guessing what that has meant to me in lost income from additional speaking engagement fees, increased coaching income and direct book sales to my seminar participants, without out even calculating in any book sales thru Amazon or other sources, I am going estimate that not having a book for those three years cost me at least $100,000 in additional income. (Wow! It even hurts to type that out and read it!)

What will it cost you to add an additional three years onto the book writing/publication/marketing cycle? I don’t know, but I guarantee it will cost you at lot! Depending on your business, it could cost you much more than $100,000!

So what would I do differently if I was starting a book today and wanted to get it done and working for me as quickly and elegantly as possible?

11 Steps to Non-Fiction Publishing Success

I would completely forget about getting my first book published traditionally and I would immediately start the process of becoming an expert on self-publishing. (I’ll talk about the why of this in future entries, and notice that I said first book.)
I would find and join or create a non-fiction writer’s group that met weekly and made me read new, not revised, material each and every week. (I’ll talk more about this in future entries as well.)
I would immediately start blogging, however short the entries, 5 times per week. (More to come here as well.)
I would immediately hire an email newsletter service and start collecting names of people that like my material. (More coming)
As quickly as possible, I would start to release a weekly newsletter to those collected names – however short the newsletter! (More coming)
I would create a Mastermind group of like energy and achievement minded and completely different skills people and we would begin to meet weekly. (Much more about this process later – this is one of my strongest passions!)
I would decide and commit that I was going to write every single day, no matter what, and I would slowly amp up the volume of that writing. (More coming)
I would hire a book writing coach, if I could afford one, or join a monthly book writing coaching membership site if I could not afford a personal coach. (More about this to come as well)
If I wasn’t already a public speaker, I would join Toastmasters and start the process of becoming one! (Yes – you guessed it…more coming)
I would open a twitter account and start following people that interested me. (More to come!)
I would start on account on LinkedIn and then dedicate just a bit of time each week here.

I wouldn’t expect to get all of these things done right away. But I would expect to have most of them in place within six weeks and all of them in place and working for me within six month. (In point of fact, I don’t quite have all of them in place myself yet, but I will within a couple of weeks!)

Did I mention yet that I have a non-fiction book coming out in September of 2011? I do! More about that next time as well.

Till next time faithful reader…Jack

“A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.” ~John Wooden

Coaching, Mistakes in book writing, self publishing, toastmasters, Writing

Avoid These Mistakes When Starting Your Book

Aug 25th

Posted by Jack in Coaching

1 comment

“A peacefulness follows any decision, even the wrong one.” ~Rita Mae Brown

In 2005 I decided that I was going to write a book. As I mentioned in my last entry, this wasn’t a consciously made choice. My unconscious mind decided that it was time to take action and let me know this at the end of a seminar.

I am not sure why I made that decision at that particular time. I had known that I would benefit from a book for years; as a seasoned and in-demand seminar leader, I almost always had the opportunity to sell products at the end of my presentations. Instead I used this time for chatting with attendees and over time, many of these chats ended up becoming coaching or consulting clients. (Although I can successfully coach virtually anyone that speaks a common language with me, I only consult on a handful topics.)

So, these seminars, along with other marketing techniques, kept me with a consistently full coaching practice, commonly with a waiting list, and I was complacent. Not lazy, just complacent.

Use me as a BAD example

Once I had made the decision to become a published non-fiction author, I thought about it virtually every day. And there is the beginning of the first mistake. I thought about it everyday. I invested energy into it every day. I felt bad that I wasn’t writing more – almost every day. What I didn’t do was take action on it every day – that would have taken a different and much wiser decision!

Three Mistakes I Made

Looking back 6 years, I am embarrassed. I should have known better! As an NLP practitioner, I had helped hundreds of people get unstuck and begin taking consistent action from a place of pleasure. From my slightly more enlightened future, I can look back now and see three big mistakes that I made.

My first mistake was not deciding – not committing to – taking action every single day.
My second mistake: I was using a pitiful motivation strategy to get myself to take what little action I did take! (I’ve talked about good and bad motivation strategies before and I will again – really useful stuff!)
Finally I was not accountable to anyone for getting this book done. The only person I was reporting to about it was me and that was just not good enough.

Next time I’ll talk about what I would do differently and what I am doing differently now to write books.

Till next time faithful reader…Jack

Connect with me on Linkedin

“Choices are the hinges of destiny.” ~Attributed to both Edwin Markham and Pythagoras

goal achievement, NLP, Writing, writing a book

I want to be an Author?

Aug 24th

Posted by Jack in Writing

“To be a writer is to sit down at one’s desk in the chill portion of every day, and to write; not waiting for the little jet of the blue flame of genius to start from the breastbone – just plain going at it, in pain and delight. To be a writer is to throw away a great deal, not to be satisfied, to type again, and then again, and once more, and over and over….” ~John Hersey

I want to be an author? Really?

I remember clearly the day that I decided that I was going to write a book. I had just finished presenting one of my business seminars at the Boulder Colorado Chamber of Commerce and I was standing in the front of the room meeting some of attendees. The seminar had gone well; perhaps 80 people had shown up for the ninety minutes of my presentation.

This was in the early fall of 2005 and I had at this point been writing and presenting business seminars for nearly 10 years. The seminars were fun for me and they made me some money – sometimes a little…sometimes a nice amount. I mostly gave these smaller seminars at various Chambers of Commerce around the country as a part of my marketing for my coaching practice and they worked well then and work still marvelously. I never tried to sell anyone on coaching. I just gave my best, did my absolute best for my audience, and if it was the right time in their lives – we ended up working together.

I had been asked many times if I had a book or audio program and I always responded with something similar to: “I’m a great coach and a speaker, but not an author.” That was my standard response but on this day I startled myself by responding: “I don’t have a book yet or an audio program, but I’m going to.” Wow! Really? What was different about that day? I don’t know, but I know now that it was the true response.

Fast Forward Five Years

It has been nearly five years since that time and although my book is not yet done, I can now see the actual end of the marvelous, frustrating, incredible, time consuming, best ever, worst ever process. My book will be out in 2011 – almost exactly 6 years since that seminar. What took me so long? What did I learn along the way? What can you learn from my experience? Excellent questions and I will answer them soon.

Till next time faithful reader…Jack

“It is by sitting down to write every morning that one becomes a writer.” ~Gerald Brenan

becoming an author, writing a book

I’m Back!

Aug 23rd

Posted by Jack in Books

“Every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around.” ~Sofia Serrano speaking to David Aames in the movie “Vanilla Sky (2001)

I’m back!

I’m finally going to have the time to start updating this blog on a regular basis again. I’ve spent much of the past 4 months buried in writing the first draft of a book. What time I had left over from that adventure, I split between working with my coaching and consulting clients, working out 6 days per week with personal trainers and of course, my family time always comes first. Anyhow, enough excuses and as Paul Newman said so well in the movie The Color of Money “I’m back!”

What you can expect to find here

So, what can you expect to find here? Of the many blogs that you could decide to read, why add mine to that list?

You’ll find useful pieces that you can use immediately to improve your life – these nuggets will initially be drawn from my upcoming book about goals and achievement. I’ll share everything I’ve learned about setting goals and the process of achieving them rapidly and pleasurably.
You can watch and learn the entire process of getting a non- fiction book written and profitably (I intend!) self-published. You will also learn why I decided to self-publish even though I had offers to buy my book from traditional publishing houses.
See me as I transform my 50+ plus year old body from a neglected, taken for granted shell to a fit, muscular and energetic living work of art! (Wow! That even motivates me!)
Learn from all of the massive mistakes that I have made all along the way. That way you can either avoid them or at least have a heads up on what to expect if you go there yourself.
Learn first-hand the tips, techniques and strategies that I have developed and used with my clients over the course of more than 20 years working as a coach and business consultant.
Get my take on business books that you might want to read or maybe not read. I am an avid reader of both fiction and non-fiction and I will be reviewing business books here on a very regular basis.
And if I go or do something interesting, you can bet I’ll share that as well.

Till next time faithful reader…Jack

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“Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.” ~Goethe

goal achievement, goals, self publishing, weight loss

Stopwatch Today – Hourglass Soon

Jun 30th

Posted by Jack in Books

“Time goes, you say? Ah no!

Alas, Time stays, we go.”

~Henry Austin Dobson

Just before I wrote this blog entry, I had been working on reviewing my goals for the year. As I write this, the 6 month mark is passing and I am heading into the second half of the year. How have I done so far this year on achieving my most critical goals? Frankly, not very well yet! It’s a good thing that I still have 6 months to get them done!

As part of the goal review process, I was thinking about new skills or habits that I had started to use this year – skills and habits that helped me to achieve more and have more fun along the way. The biggest beneficial new habit, other than lifting weights at 5am, is the use of a stopwatch! I’ll get into exactly how this ‘using a stopwatch’ has helped me later, but now I must go make a quick revision to my book in process and add some information about this very subject!

Till next time…Jack

“Time is the fire in which we burn.” ~Delmore Schwartz

goal achievement, goals

Learn to Write Like Author Richard Bach

Mar 9th

Posted by Jack in Books

1 comment

“The meaning I picked, the one that changed my life: Overcome fear, behold wonder.” ~Richard Bach

Last time I wrote about planning and the importance of setting big goals, long term goals that stretch out at least 10 years. I was going to write today about the process of setting these goals and how to create a great attitude that makes this process even easier and even more fun. Well, scratch that bit of learning for a couple of days, wonderful as it would be and will be again and instead let’s go on a little adventure filled side-trip together. Let’s take a trip into the mind of best-selling author and pilot Richard Bach.

Learn to Write Like Richard Bach

I have been reading Richard’s books since early 1970 and after nearly 40 years, his books are still some of my best friends. Just like my human best friends, I enjoy seeing Richard’s books each time and I enjoy spending time with them. Also just like my human friends, Richard Bach’s books are smart and I learn something from them every time we meet. I had the pleasure of finding a short video interview with Richard Bach a couple of days ago and it really had an impact on me. I am including a link to this video here and I encourage you to watch it. For ears that are ready to hear, there are wonderful, bright and beautiful gems of empowering beliefs just waiting to be picked up in this interview. Next time I will talk about some of these beliefs that Richard is gifting us with and how we can use them to make our own writing better and more fun for us and for our readers. The link will autoload and start to play immediately. Link to Richard Bach video interview.

Till next time faithful reader…Jack

“When you have come to the edge of all the light you have

And step into the darkness of the unknown

Believe that one of the two will happen to you

Either you’ll find something solid to stand on

Or you’ll be taught how to fly!” ~Richard Bach

empowering beliefs, modeling excellence, NLP, Richard Bach, Writing

How Far Should You Plan Your Life?

Feb 24th

Posted by Jack in Coaching