Imagine a world where the work you do is fulfilling, enjoyable and makes a valuable contribution.

 

Imagine a world where the work you do is fulfilling, enjoyable and makes a valuable contribution.

We all want to work in a place like that… and if you’re a leader, so do your followers.

Working isn’t just about getting paid… it should be so much more than that!

With a little thought and determination, This is possible… for you.

It is important to understand that pretty much every job you will ever do will have three separate work types within it… Bad work, good work and great work.

What you have to do is identify which tasks fall into each section and then ensure you appropriately distribute your time, to allow for more great work.

Bad Work

This is the pain in the arse, boring, life-sucking tasks your job involves. You know what I am talking about. The stuff that you have to do, which doesn’t appear to have any redeeming qualities or add any value to anything!

It’s the red-tape… The administration… The things that are in your job that are designed to keep you busy.

Good Work

This is pretty much your job description – The day to day tasks that enable your role to be productive. These are the tasks that are directly linked to objectives you have and enable you to make progress towards them.

If all you ever do is your job description, you will be doing good work… But not fulfilling work… 

Great Work

This is value added tasks and responsibilities. This type of work won’t be in most standard job descriptions as it is way over and above the basic expectations of the job.

This is the type of work that is autonomous, creative, has real impact and contributes to the growth and development of you and those surrounding you. It makes your hair stand on end, it gets the blood pumping and the adrenaline flowing… It generates long term value to your company and your people.

99.9% of the world’s population want to make a positive contribution. They want to be a part of something bigger than themselves. A job description isn’t that… Great work is.

Ask yourself, “If I could do anything to radically improve the performance of myself and the people around me, what would I do?”

And in the answer, you have great work.

In Summary

Identify what tasks in your job are in each section – Bad work, good work and great work.

Pro-actively reduce the amount of time you spend in bad work (I know it might be red tape that needs to be done, but does that honestly mean you have to spend your quality time there? No… Do it, do it quickly and don’t let it take more energy than it deserves!)

Do your good work… This needs to be done to do a good job!

Create time and opportunities to partake in great work – Make it a priority. If you do your performance will rise, your wellbeing will improve and the value you add will be a powerful contribution to those around you.

If you are a leader… Just take a moment to think about your followers. How much  bad, good and great work do they have?

As a leader it is your responsibility to allow the environment for great work for your team – more great work will equal more innovation, creativity & productivity, which in turn equals ultimately better results.

How To Find Fulfilling Work

What would you do for a job if you didn’t need the money?

I think that when we explore this question fully, we can discover our true passion and what we are destined to do…

Find out more in this video:

 

Click here for a blog I love…

 

Become free of the limitations you create

Joy and energy are items that can be attained – they are powers that are always inside you. The trick is finding out how to unlock these powers.

When you do, it will transform your life forever.

However, this is not a simple process. You will have to be prepared to look within yourself and work to release all the blocks and barriers that you have created throughout your life.

It is worth it though, because when you do, you and can experience absolute joy and fulfilment.

If you desire ultimate joy and freedom, then you will need to break down the following barriers:

Fear

Fear gets in the way of your dreams and goals.

You have to identify your deepest fears and then clearly surrender them. They do not serve you and your fear is a choice. Let go of fear.

Guilt

What do you blame yourself for?

You have to accept the reality that these things happen. You cannot let guilt cloud and poison your life. You cannot change the past and if you genuinely want to be a positive influence on the world – you have to forgive yourself.

Willpower

How have you let yourself down? What mistakes have you made?

It is vital that you accept and allow all aspects of yourself – even the mistakes and disappointments. Understand them, learn from them, then let go of them… they do not define you now.

Grief

Lay all of your grief out in front of you – in whichever form it takes.

Realise that love never leaves… never. You have to allow the pain to float away and re-birth love.

Love never leaves, it just changes form – allow this.

Denial

Be honest – what are the lies you tell yourself? What are the rules of life you create to protect yourself?

It is important to embrace your own nature and be happy in your own skin. You are imperfect, but that is okay – you don’t have to hide away or put on a mask – embrace the authentic you.

Connection

We are all connected, but often we see through divided eyes. Open your eyes and recognise that we are all the same – we all struggle.

When you can truly see we are all one life, you can understand others’ struggles, you won’t judge and you will be able to forgive – because you will see yourself in everyone.

Putting it all together

You have the power to live a life of ultimate joy and happiness – it is within you. Look deep within, release the barriers and become the best version of you.

Like this post? Then get my FREE ebook that will help you become the best version of you & design your destiny CLICK HERE NOW!

How Will You Measure Your Life?

When you reach the end of your life, will you be able to look back and say you lived a fulfilled life? A successful life?

Will you know?
What measurement criteria are you using?
Are you measuring yourself by that same criteria everyday?

This video asks all of these questions… and offers some ideas to help you ensure that when you do look back, it is with pride, achievement and joy.

A New Year… A New You?

This is the week when over 90% of people will give up on their new years resolutions… This short video explains why you shouldn’t give up and how you can significantly improve the quality of your life:

Can you REALLY find fulfilling work?

As the new year begins, we all have the opportunity to reflect on our past, set goals for our futures and maybe dare to dream of a little bit more than just paying the bills…

And in this moment of thoughtfulness, I have to ask: What do you want from your career?

Of course there are predictable answers, such as more money/status/position, but the most common desire is to have fulfilling work. Work that is enjoyable. Work that connects with your values. Work that utilises your skills. Work that contributes in a way that fills you with pride.

Although the idea that work can and should be fulfilling is a relatively new concept, it is now one of the primary expectations of todays workforce.

It’s not like the old days, were work was so horrid and boring that the only way anyone would do is was to be paid.

No, in todays world we don’t only desire money for our labour, we also desire deep meaning and satisfaction.

The thing is… fulfilment is a big ask – and can probably explain why we all have career meltdowns after being on holiday or reflecting on our lives at new years – we desire fulfilling work.

So how realistic is it? Here are three ideas that might help you find fulfilling work:

1. Being confused about career choice is normal.

Again, it’s not like the old days when you only ever had one or two career choices depending on your social ranking. Today is different. Today there are so many career options open to us it becomes difficult to choose. The fear of making the wrong decision and then being stuck in a job you hate for the rest of eternity can literally stop you in your tracks and stop you from choosing a career path.

Don’t let fear take hold, any choice is better than no choice. It is better to take action and learn, than take no action at all. Even if you are wrong, you will be one step closer to finding out what is right!

2. Know Yourself

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom”

Aristotle

Answering the question, ‘What is the meaning of my life?’ is easier said than done.

Understanding your deepest values and purpose is an emotional and difficult process. It is, however, tremendously rewarding too. Spending time to learn more about who you are and why you are here will help direct your work life.

In the simplest of terms, a job that is in line with your values and beliefs will be the best and most fulfilling job you have ever had!

3. Reflect, Reflect, Reflect

The more time you pro-actively think about how you are feeling and why, the more proficient you will become in bringing more positivity into your life.

If you feel bad… reflect and try to understand why that is. The same with feeling good. Once you have a clear understanding of the factors that generate specific emotions within you, then you can develop strategies on how to connect and attract the positive influencers and remove the negative factors.

This knowledge will then allow you to make more educated career choices, as you will know in advance what type of work will be the right type of work for you.

Putting it all together

We all desire fulfilling work. In fact we deserve it.

The best ways to reach this utopia is to take action and learn. Take time to understand who you are, explore the purpose of your life and reflect consciously on your feelings.

Fulfilment starts and ends with you… decide to become the best version of yourself.

How to stay positive all the time

Have you ever been making good progress towards your goals and all of a sudden something happens that stops you in your tracks?

Or has it ever seemed like everything is going against you?

Yeah? Me too… More often than I would care to admit.

If you are anything like me, you will know that, once it takes hold, negativity likes to linger and grow. If it is not dealt with efficiently it can consume you completely.

The truth is, everybody feels low and negative at some point in their lives. In fact, when you are pushing yourself to be successful, when you are trying to improve yourself… then by definition you will encounter many set-backs and rejections, which will in turn, make you feel negative… if you let it.

Luckily, I have discovered and learnt some great strategies, from personal development experts such as, Tony Robbins, Dr.Wayne Dyre and Brendon Burchard, that have enabled me to bounce back in the quickest and most effective way possible.

I would like to share the strategies that work the best for me, maybe they can work for you?

Acknowledge, understand and forgive.

What I tend to do, when I feel low, is beat myself up for feeling negative! What I can promise you is that two negatives do not make a positive!

Rather than being annoyed with yourself for being negative, try acknowledging that you feel low. Then forgive yourself… after all you are only human.

Being able to say “Yes I feel down. I forgive myself for this and I will now decide to move towards positivity,” is a powerful tool. Give yourself permission to move on.

Focus on your blessings.

When I feel down, it is so easy to just focus continually on the negative feeling.

This only makes things worse! Pro-actively decide to spend some time thinking about what you are grateful for in your life.

I find it particularly powerful to acknowledge the simple things in life. My surroundings, nature, friends, family, health… anything and everything!

Completing this process breaks the flow of negative feelings. It stops them growing. Once you have broken the momentum and growth of negativity, then it is much easier to go back, face it and beat it.

Write down your life goals and what they mean to you.

This is my absolute favourite strategy!

I write down my life goals and the feelings I will get from making progress towards these goals. When I have finished, I feel amazing and any negativity has disappeared. 

Most people don’t write down their goals… even less people write down the feelings they will have and what those goals mean to them. Yet it has been scientifically proven, time and time again, that this process triples the likelihood in achieving them. 

It’s invigorating, it creates laser sharp focus and you instantly feel positive and energised towards making your life goals a reality. 

Take some action… any action

"When you fall off the horse, you have to get back on"

This saying is true when it comes to being positive… when you fall off you have to dust yourself off and get back on it.

Momentum is a huge player in how we live our lives. Taking one step forward, will start to turn the tide in how you feel… No matter how small that step is, take it and take it quickly.

Every single success story has the history of more set-backs than you can imagine. The main contributing factor of success is the ability to keep taking action no matter what.

The most successful people in the world continue to take action towards their goals… No matter how many times they are told “you can’t”… No matter how many times they fail… They take action until they succeed.

Taking action will instantly make you feel better and it will get you one step closer to where you want to be.

Putting it all together

It is impossible to be positive all the time… Everybody falls off the wagon at some point. The difference between ultimate success and everyone else, is the ability to bounce back quickly.

When you feel low, acknowledge and forgive yourself. Be thankful for what is good in the world and on how far you have come. Re-focus on the feelings achieving your goals will give you in the long-run and finally… take action! A small step is better than no step at all.

The Three Most Important Lessons In Life That My Children Taught Me.

When you first commence parenthood, you will probably expect to learn a lot, just like I did. 

What I didn’t realise when I became a father was that my children would teach me about how to live a fulfilled and successful life.

My children, who are now 6 and 4 years old, have taught me the most fundamental and critical factors that determine the quality of life.

These factors will absolutely have a dramatic effect on your life, if you choose to follow what I have learnt. This has nothing to do with parenthood and everything to do with how to live a fulfilled life. 

Here is what I have learnt from my children:

1. Don’t care about trying to fit in.

In our society, the idea of not fitting in and being different can be quite terrifying! We are taught throughout our lives that fitting in and compliance are positive attributes. On the most basic level, look a school uniforms, we make unique and special individuals look identical.

 

We do this in our society consistently, slowly removing our individuality and building the concept that being different is bad or negative. After all we know what happens to those that are different… they are laughed at and made fun of.

Young children on the other hand simply do not care – they are absolutely true to themselves in every way possible. They are not bothered if other people see them differently, in fact it doesn’t even enter their minds! They live and embody the person they are with pride and passion.

Here is the kicker: It is IMPOSSIBLE to be truly happy when you compromise who you are. Spending your life trying to ‘fit in’ means that you will never give the world your full potential. We are ALL different, none of us ‘fit in’ to the stereotypes we have created.

You can stand out. You can be exceptional. You are amazing and full of huge potential. Be like a child and let the real you shine like the sun – The world deserves the very best you, You deserve the very best you… Be brave, stand out!

2. Live in the present moment.

“Learning to live in the present moment is part of the path to joy”

Sarah Ban Breathnatch

Children enjoy the magic of now. They see the world with wonder, savouring everything around them.

As adults we tend to spend so much time either worrying and thinking about the past or planning and worrying about the future. So much so that we neglect the beauty and magnificence of right now!

The feeling of being absorbed in the present is wonderful. Children do it all of the time and remembering we have this skill is a fundamental building block of happiness. Read any book on how to be happy and one of the key factors will be about enjoying and being grateful for the present moment.

Here are the facts: You can’t change the past, it has gone. You can’t control the future either, as you will never have complete control of all factors involved.

What you can do is control yourself and the actions you take right now – If you think about it, the present moment is the only real moment you ever have – use it, enjoy it, live it and love it!

This doesn’t mean you should completely ignore the past or the future. Respect and learn from the past and have goals for the future. Just don’t spend all your time there. 

3. Don’t worry about failing.

Children keep on taking action, they keep on trying until they win. It is as simple as that – Learn to walk? Keep on taking action until they win. Learn to stack building blocks? Keep on taking action until they win.

The concept of failure isn’t even in their minds – they don’t worry about looking silly, they don’t quit or concern themselves with what other people might think. They don’t care if they fall, it is just a part of the process. So they fall, they learn, they take more action…until they win!

Yet in our adult lives the fear of getting something wrong can be terrifying – So rather than take a risk, we will play it safe. We won’t take the action we need to take… instead we will take the action that is easiest to do!

That will, of course, limit us.

It will affect the quality of our lives dramatically. Take your current life as an example – Once upon a time you had a dream (maybe you still do). To achieve that dream you will have to take risks, you will have to fail lots of times and you will have to show real grit and determination to keep on pressing forward until you win.

If you are fearful of failing, then you simply won’t take the action required to win.

However, if you do take the action required everyday… Then you will experience hardship, BUT over time, you will become significantly closer to your dream. 

This is true with ANY goal… Take the required action… everyday… no matter what… and one day you will win!

Children know this. Maybe we should all be more like them?

Are You In Control Of Your Development?

I believe that life is about reaching for your full potential and becoming the best version of you.

You have the power to achieve whatever you must have in life. You cannot give that power to someone else… Only you should be in the driving seat of your personal development.

This is a short video that shares why: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Be Phenomenal

I believe that life is about reaching for your full potential and becoming the best version of you. You have the power to achieve amazing things, however your choices  determine what you achieve. Choose to be phenomenal!

This is a short video that shares why I know you can reach greatness:

Ego is The Mortal Wound in Your Leadership

We have all, at some point in our lives, had the unfortunate experience of working with a boss who has a big ego. About five years ago I worked on a project with a chief operating officer of a global company and she was totally in love with her ego.

She consistently told me how great she was. I remember the stories now, ranging from her exceptional performance at school, to becoming a ‘big player’ in the business world. According to her, she had done it all… perfectly… every time.

The thing is, she is not the only one… If we are honest, finding a manager or leader with a big ego is not a rare occurrence. In fact you can probably think of a leader in your life who has a massive ego. Or even worse… maybe, just maybe, someone reading this would think of you?

“Our ego hinders our ability to influence more than anything else under our control. Ego is the biggest reason leaders fail.”

Michael McKinney

When a leader’s ego grows to the point were they believe they always have the right answer… a leader will fail.

When a leader’s opinion matters more than their follower’s opinions… a leader will fail.

When a leader stops listening and stop learning… a leader will fail.

When a leader surrounds themselves with people who continually confirm and conform to their will and pander to their self-worth… a leader will fail.

Ego is the mortal wound of leadership. It distracts you from the foundational truth of leadership… The best leaders in the world, bring out the best in other people.

How can we ensure our ego doesn’t get in the way of being a great leader?

Ego isn’t a real thing. It is just an idea. An idea of who we think we are and who we believe we are.

This idea tells us:

“Who I am is what I have.”
“Who I am is what I have done.”
“Who I am is what other people think of me.”
“Who I am is how much stuff I own and how much that stuff is worth.”

An ego, in the simplest of terms, believes that it is separate from everything else and in competition with everything else.

As leaders we need to be aware of our own ego and evolve it, so we become great leaders that serve our followers.

The three levels of ego evolution

Dr. Wayne Dyre, explained that there are three stages of ego evolution in adulthood and I think these have clear links to leadership.

The Athletic.

This is based on “What you look like, is what you are”. It is simply a narcissistic view on life. It is about looking good, rather than doing good.

You will see this in leaders that will attempt to take the credit for other peoples’ ideas and work, in order for them to be seen in a positive light. You will hear these type of leaders continually discredit other people too. This is to make others look bad, in order to elevate their own status.

It is clear that possessing this type of ego will detrimentally effect your leadership. It will erode trust, loyalty, respect and authenticity. All of which, I hope you agree, are critical to leadership.

The Warrior

In my experience, this is the most common version of ego you will find in leaders. This is all about being the best. It is about competing, fighting and being the number one.

In moderation, this can be beneficial to leadership. But when it grows into a self-fulfilling, ever growing and unstoppable ego, then it becomes disastrous.

Believing you are always right and surrounding yourself with only people who say you are right, is frighteningly bad leadership.

Logically, how can any one person be smarter, better and more intelligent than a whole team of people? The simple answer is they can’t. Yet with a warrior ego, a leader won’t listen to others’ opinions. They will lose engagement, value and commitment from their teams.

The Statesman

This evolves from ‘What can I get’ that you find in the first two stages, to a ‘How can I serve?’ focus.

At this stage a leader understands that they are connected to their teams and followers. Their success is the growth and development of their people.

As a servant, a leader will gain: Trust, loyalty, respect, authenticity, engagement, value and commitment from their followers.

They will also instantly tap into the collective mind-power and ideas of the whole team, which the Statesman leader, understands is far greater than their own individual intelligence.

Why does leadership fail?

An Athletic or Warrior ego is the most common reason why leaders fail.

What level of ego evolution do you live and work at?

Are you in it to look good? Are you in it to be the number one, have lots of power and make all the decisions?

Or are you in it to serve those around you? To create the environment for people to flourish and grow?

6 Life-hacks to Revolutionise Your Productivity!

“Focus on being productive, instead of busy”

Tim Ferriss

It is a great quote, from the author of the ‘4 hour work week’ and productivity expert, Tim Ferris. The problem is, it is easier said than done! We all live busy lives and the world constantly applies more demands on us than ever before.

How can we possibly become more productive?

This question has saturated my life. I am dedicated to becoming the best and most productive version of myself and if you want more out of yourself and your life, you will know exactly what I mean. We all have the same 24 hours in a day, yet some people appear to achieve so much… How do they do that?

I spent years studying this. Studying the highest performers in the world… business leaders, sports coaches, olympic athletes and political leaders and I have found that there are trends and strategies that anyone can follow, which will improve productivity 10 fold.

Focus on just one thing at a time.

Put simply, focus solely on a singular objective until it is completed or you reach a specific milestone, then move onto another task.

What I am saying is that multi-tasking is for losers –  don’t even try! If you do it will make you less proficient and less productive.  

Lots of you won’t believe me, so let’s test it – Get a stopwatch and time how long it takes to do the following: Firstly, multitasking – Do both of these activities at the same time – Count out loud to 100 while writing down the alphabet twice. Secondly, tackle both exercises separately, counting to 100 first, then completing the writing task… Which test produced the better work in the quickest time? 

If you try to multitask you will progress slower and less effectively. Focus on just one thing at a time and you will move quicker and perform better.

Get more done, to a higher standard by focusing on one task at a time.

Scrap to-do lists

There have been many studies on this and overall the resulting statistics tell us that 41% of the average to-do list doesn’t get done. The facts tell us a story, to-do lists are not an effective tool for productivity!

The highest performing people utilise calendars instead. They attribute all of the days objectives into time blocks. What this does is allow you to stay true to focusing on one objective at a time. You know that you will spend time on everything you need to, so it frees up your mind to the task in hand, rather than worrying about all the different tasks for the day.

 

I have to be honest, when you first start, putting everything into your calendar takes time and it is difficult to maintain the discipline. However I can honestly say that this is the single most effective productivity strategy I have ever used. When it is blocked into your calendar it gets done… it really is amazing!

Never ever sacrifice quality time

This is so important. To be ultra productive you need to be at your very best. This means the quality time in your life is vital because it will re-charge your energy levels and freshen your perspective.

When returning to your tasks after quality time, you will be more energised, quicker-thinking and at you most productive.

Unfortunately most of us will sacrifice quality time because we don’t think we have enough time to deliver on our objectives. So the strategy is: More work and less play.

The problem with this strategy is obvious – The more you deny yourself the quality time you need, the less productive, less energetic and less creative you will be!

Give yourself quality time… You will deliver more, deliver it quicker and at a higher quality.

Only deal with email/social media once per day

Here is a fascinating statistic: People who access their email or social media within the first 40 minutes from waking up, are over 25% less productive that those that don’t.

“Email is nothing but a convenient organising system for other peoples agenda’s.”

Brendon Burchard

Don’t let it! It will be ridiculously rare, impossible even, for an email or social media post to be dealt with instantaneously! If it’s an emergency people don’t normally contact you via email or social media!

Instead of continually spending the day checking your inbox or you phone, block out time on your calendar for email and social media. By doing this, you will literally save hours on your average day!

Have a positive morning routine

The highest performing people in the world… petty much all of them… have a morning routine that pro-actively and consciously sets them up for an ultra productive day.

You already have a morning routine. The question is, does yours set up up for a great day? If not, why not?

Morning routines of high performers vary. Some people meditate, others do exercise, many write positive affirmations for the day or a journal.

The routines are different, the desire is the same: create a positive and conscious intention for the day ahead.

When you prepare to have a great day and set positive intentions, the more opportunity you will have of delivering a great day. 

I have tried a number of morning routines and have developed one that works well for me. This has been another powerful addition to my life and I recommend you experiment with this yourself.

Maintain peak physiology

The last strategy I can offer is the most basic and simple advice ever. Everyone knows it… but not everyone follows it.

The more energy you have the more productive you are!

Therefore the highest performers in the world focus on how they treat their bodies. Ensuring they eat healthy, drink lots of water, sleep at least 7 hours per night and take breaks to relax.

It is really simple advice, but it is often ignored. If you are tired, dehydrated, undernourished then you will not be in peak condition… If you want to be at peak productivity then you need to be in peak condition.

High performers know this and utilise this to their advantage.

Putting it Together

These strategies are utilised by some of the most productive people in the world and they have worked for me too! If you want to improve your productivity, try one or two of these tactics… it could revolutionise your life!