Tag Archive for 'focus'

Do your best - The only way to learn is to stretch yourself

Published
by
Warwick
on August 15, 2009
in Health and Skills
. 0 Comments

Do your best to stretch yourselfThe best way to learn is to stretch yourself. When I competed in my first triathlon race about 3 years ago, I just wanted to finish the race. At the time, that was a significant achievement as I had no history with endurance sports.

Three years on that goal no longer works for me (except in very early season races when I am not in shape).  I need a higher goal. While I will still keep finishing healthy as my number one priority, I need higher standards to stay motivated. The way I have done this is my setting stretch goals and by picking focus areas to work on. I set overall time goals for myself. First it was 3 hours, now its 2hrs 45 mins. This keeps me increasing my standards and motivates me to stay with the training which can be tedious at times.

Think about an area of your life that you wish to improve, can you set yourself a higher goal? An income goal, a fitness one, how about the amount of quality time you spend with your family?  Put a number to it and track your progress. I take detailed notes of all my training sessions now, and the value comes in my monthly reviews. I can see how my day-to-day activities build up to my overall success (or failure).  If you achieve a target, set another one.  Keep the stretch going. Look around at your peers and see who can be your role model. Choosing someone who is more successful than you, can help you focus on how you can bridge the gap.  My new triathlon role models run 2 hours 30 mins and when I break it down I feel that I could achieve that time. But it’s going to be a stretch.

The way to achieve a stretch target is to choose a focus area. In triathlon, this can be choosing a discipline (swim, bike, run). I started with my run. In April this year I was running around 7 km/hr on average. My target was 10km/hr which I reached in July.  Now I am working on bringing that up to 12km/hr.  I select specific workouts that help me achieve this. Intervals where I run at a moderate pace for 250m and then sprint at high pace for 250m over 3 to 4 km helps with my speed.  Hill and steep gradient training also improved my running form (technique) and this translates into faster paces.

In the area you wish to improve, what can you focus on?  Is it your marketing material, your telephone manner, your attention spent with your children, your sales pitch?  Narrow down your goals and build up a few set piece exercises. Famous motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar, when he was a sales man used to have a sprint day every month when he would pack in the sales calls and go flat out to bring in the deals.  Find your own “sprints” that improve your technique. It could be as simple as smiling and saying “please” and “thank you” more often to your colleagues.

Self-improvement needs you to stretch yourself. Make it tangible and focused and you will surprise yourself by how quickly and by how much you can improve.

How a reality TV show will get you more focused on your goals

Published
by
Warwick
on April 8, 2009
in Skills
. 1 Comment

I seem to be attracting more media attention recently. After my appearance on Culture Matters to discuss all things funny, I have been profiled to appear in Shanghai Quest - although in Chinese the name means “Home in Shanghai”.

According to their web site : Shanghai Quest is a weekly 30-minute reality-style TV program, featuring expats who live in Shanghai - their gains, losses and culture shock insights. The show is fun, vivid and practical. Each episode is comprised of a ten-minute documentary depicting the difficulties and achievements encountered during their Shanghai quest; a studio discussion, who professionally provides insight and suggestions on getting by in Shanghai; and an informative section, where the host gives detailed information on the related topic, such as official websites, addresses and contacts. Audience participation is also included, with answers to e-mails about life in Shanghai - from business procedures to dining.

It’s been an interesting week in terms of adapting to having a video camera popping up in places they don’t normally! During our improv rehearsal, while setting up and delivering my book launch, in the studio, in the buildup to my key note at the 10 year anniversary of Toastmasters China and for our improv show performance.

I have a new found sense of admiration for reality-show participants. It can be really difficult not to play-up to the camera (impossible perhaps), and to get on while ignoring it’s presence. On the whole, I enjoyed it. As a performer, I tend to up my game when the deadline is coming or the spotlights are on. Having a camera and interviewer in your face is certainly a way to get focused, realising that your personal brand image depends on how you look on the final cut.

What gets your focused?

Besides having a camera following you around all the time, what else could get your attention for your most important tasks at hand? What raises your game?  If you had to play-back your day, what would you see? An action movie, a horror film or a (mundane) Truman show documentary?  Think about tomorrow as though you will be recorded the whole day. How does that make you feel?  Think about today, what would you want to add, change or subtract if you did have a camera recording your every move?

With 25% of the year behind you, now is the time to re-focus. Take out your goals and targets and pick one area to focus on for the next week. Have a wonderful week!

How focused are you?

Published
by
Warwick
on January 9, 2009
in Skills
. 0 Comments

Get focusedIt’s been raining for about 36 hours here in Shanghai and the weather outside prompted me to think more about my holiday to Bali next month. For a minute I even felt bored. Are you ever bored with life? Boredom is defined as “an emotional state experienced during periods lacking activity or when individuals are uninterested in the activities surrounding them.”

But if you are one of the lucky people in the world to have access to a computer and the internet, you can change your surroundings immediately.  I pulled out my goals list for 2009, downloaded a few podcasts, updated my Twitter feed, checked in to see what my friends were up to on Facebook and started writing a few articles. With access to technology there is really no reason to be bored.  But perhaps a greater problem is focus - or rather the lack of focus.

You may be unfocused if:

  • You are flipping through all 222 photos of one of your friends on Facebook.
  • You are “following” 20 people on Twitter and reply to all of their messages.
  • You read an online newspaper “cover-to-cover”.
  • You are chatting with friends on SKYPE, MSN and G-Talk simultaneously.

You get the picture. With so much activitiy and access to media and friends how do you stay focused on the important goals you want to acheive this year?  Let’s go low-tech:

1. Print out your schedule

I use an A4 page to map out my weekly calendar and another A4 page to plan monthly. I post them up on my wall, so I have a four week ahead look at my schedule (4 sheets) plus I have the entire year (12 sheets) on the wall so I have a year-at-a-glance. Yes, it does tend to fill up an entire wall but I am lucky as my wife is understanding! I find this really powerful and more effective than my PDA / phone calendar. I can quickly skim through the whole year to see my holiday times (I plan on taking 6 weeks off this year), my client work is also blocked out, and travel plans. It’s quick to respond to people who call asking about my available schedule, I just turn around and it’s there. Plus I have a good visual grasp of how my schedule is looking over the year. When I am traveling its easy to take the weekly calendars with me in a folder. Low-tech but very p

2. Less goals, more results

The fewer the goals you focus on this year, the more productive and successful you will be. In 2008, I focused the latter half of the year on writing my book The One Minute Presenter .  By being laser-focused on this one goal, I completed the whole project in less than 6 months with most of the writing done in 3 months.  Now if I open my document for “Goals 2008″ there are many more targets and dreams that I want to achieve. I just decided to put all my energy into a big, important one. What are your essential, must-have, breakthrough goals that you would like to achieve this year?  Focus on no more than 2 or 3 major goals. The other goals (like learning how to surf in Bali!) can wait. You will enjoy them a lot more once you have achieved your major targets.

If you need help with staying focused this year, contact The Change Catalyst. I can help you identify the most essential goals for you and accelerate your progress to reaching them. May 2009 be your best year yet!