For Love of Bike

I’ve been riding a mountain bike on some of the most amazing Colorado single track for the last seventeen years.  Last year, both my husband, Mike, and I bought brand new carbon-framed racing mountain bikes. <gulp>

Mine even has the word “expert” in the name of the bike.  <double gulp>

In order to feel like I belonged on such a fancy (with-”expert”-in-the-name) bike, I had to step up my game.  I threw down the gauntlet by signing up for several endurance mountain bike races and… lo and behold!….  I started riding with more power and skill than I knew I was capable of on a bike.

Photo Credit: Mountain bike and life
partner extraordinaire, Mike Keffeler.

Biking and Business

So, while it’s probably true that mountain biking alone has not been the cause of my business growth in the past year (if that were the case, I think I’d find a way to ride even more), it – like all sports – provides a brilliant microcosm in which I’ve gotten to experiment with:

• How we self-sabotage through distraction and inaction
• The self-limiting beliefs we tolerate that keep us small
• How setting “stretch goals” make us… umm… stretch

In the many, many hours a week I’ve been in the saddle this last year, I’ve had plenty of time to ponder all the ways mountain biking (and sport in general) have given me the skills to be a better – and more successful – business person.

Top Three Business Skills Learned on the Bike

1) Decide and Take Action. Hesitation and double-thinking will only result in you being a scraped and bruised on the side of the trail… or, hiking your bike while everyone passes you.

The only way to prove that your Big Idea doesn’t have the umph to go the distance is to remain undecided and inactive on it.  C’mon!  What’s stopping you from taking that first small step to bring your Big Idea to life?

2) Look Where You Want to Go. This past weekend Mike and I were riding a trail with a technical decent.  At the top of that section of trail Mike said to me, “For this whole section, just keep your eye on where you want to go – focus all of your attention on where you want to go – and you’ll be fine.”  Turns out I rode some stuff I had no idea I was capable of… just by holding a single-minded focus on where I wanted to go.

Sure it’s scary to take risks and try something new in your business, I get that.  But every ounce of energy you spend focusing on what’s not working or what could go wrong is diverting your momentum from where you want to go.

3) Momentum Makes It Easier. It never fails to surprise me what crazy set of obstacles my bike will roll over… if I have momentum.  Conversely, without momentum it doesn’t take much to knock you off course and feel like a five-year-old who just had her training wheels taken off (does anyone have a band-aid??)

You’ve been there… it feels different to have a prospective client tell you “no thanks” when you just had three tell you “YES, where do I sign up?”, then to have someone tell you “no” when you’ve heard a succession of “no’s”.  Take heart, momentum is built through the habitual practice of #1 and #2, pretty soon the natural blips and dips of business won’t even catch your attention.

I’ll be doing the Breck32 Cross-country mountain bike race in mid-July.  So, when you see me taking some risks and trying something new in August (keep your eyes open – you’re going to love what I’m rolling out), you’ll know that I’m putting into practice some of the skills I built while out racing on the dirt….

Where are you stretching this year?

Share your comments and ideas at Biking and Business… a Love Affair

Revolutions Start with One

Revolutions don’t start as revolutions, they start with one person deciding they want a change and having the courage to act on it.  The decision to take action becomes magnetic and the momentum of a revolution begins.

What would change in a year if you started a revolution in your life… 1% at a time?

What if you decided….

To be 1% more focused on high-impact actions each day (pssst… that’s only 4.8 minutes in each 8 hour day… it’ll take you longer to go buy a cup of coffee…).

• What’s a ‘High Impact’ action? Check out the Get ‘er Done method.

To be 1% more courageous each day?

• Would you directly ask a client for their business?
• Would you give voice to your ideas instead of waiting for others to be the thought-leaders?
• Would you start laying the groundwork to do something different than you’re doing today?

To tolerate 1% less each day?

• Would you de-obligate from boards, committees, and projects that take more inspiration from you than they give to you?
• Would you disengage from relationships that no longer serve you?
• Would you find the courage to have a difficult conversation that’s been siphoning your energy and ability to move powerfully forward?

To invest in yourself 1% more each day?

• Would you make more time to sleep (…1% of 24 hours is only 14.4 minutes).
• Be vigilant about blocking the time in your schedule to workout, meditate, or truly create?  (Want to be bold and take on more than just 1%?  Try my Vision, Innovation and Implementation Day Challenge)
• Hire a coach or seek out a mentor who will help you clarify — and then hold you accountable to create — the more vibrant version of your life?

To be 1% more compassionate with others (and with yourself)?

• Would you be more willing to hold others as powerful, even when they can’t do it themselves?
• Would you find more reasons to celebrate than complain?
• Would you be willing to try for a 1% improvement again tomorrow, even if you only were able to make a ½% improvement today?

Pretend it’s March 8, 2012.  What has become possible in your business and your life, because you decided to make a 1% change each day for the last 365 days?

Share your comments and ideas at The 1% Revolution

That new client engagement program you want launch in 2011?  That book you’ve been aching to write?  That new business idea you know has legs… but you can’t see how to bridge the gap between the business you have now and the one you want to build?

Those are all Big Ideas.  Brilliant Big Ideas. And if you’re dreaming about it, its time has come.  So, why do so many industry-thought-leaders-and-could-be-(should-be!)-innovators flounder in the face of transforming their Big Idea into their soul-satisfying Big Reality?

Here’s the secret…most Big Ideas only see a crack of the light of day because of the Cauldron of Chaos.

It’s Not About Your Idea

Most industry-thought-leaders-and-could-be-(should-be!)-innovators that I know flounder in implementing their Big Ideas not because….

… Their idea can’t go the distance…

… They’re not smart enough…

… They don’t work hard enough…

… They don’t think big enough….

Most would-be innovators flounder in the face of transforming their Big Idea into their soul-satisfying Big Reality because they have not yet  mastered the art of gracefully traversing the Cauldron of Chaos.

The Cauldron of Chaos?

Sounds like witches brew, doesn’t it?  Whether you recognize it or not, we’ve all been in it… multiple times.  It’s the place into which we tumble anytime we choose (or life circumstance chooses for us) to change our status quo – like when we decide to go big and take action on a new idea, or move to another city, or take on a leadership position, or have a baby, or get divorced… or married… you get it.  It’s the messy, tumultuous place that bridges the gap between where we are today and where we have the potential to be tomorrow.

And the brave few who learn to embrace it and gracefully tumble through it — all the while keeping their eye on the vision that shimmers on the other side — are the ones who transform their Big Ideas into their soul-satisfying Big Reality.

Traversing the Cauldron

Sometimes we jump, and sometimes we get pushed, but regardless of how we end up there, there are some key elements of this “cauldron journey” that remain consistent.  In knowing and expecting them, you turn your ventures in the Cauldron from a terrifying, paralyzing experience that keeps you clinging to your current status quo thinking and acting small, into an inspiring, cleansing, out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new experience.

Here are the key elements:

1. Status Quo – ‘Nuff said.  This is what you’re doing today, and, if you have visions of a new reality dancing in your head, your current status quo is probably not working for you.
2. Destabilizing Event – This could be an internal decision you make to do something differently, or an external circumstance that forces you to.  Either way, this is when your fall into the Cauldron begins…
3. The Cauldron of Chaos – Feels crazy, scary, and there are lots of ups (“Right on!  I knew this was the right idea!”) and downs (“Holy crap… it’s never going to work.”), but it is in this soup that the most transformational ideas emerge and we are ‘scrubbed up’ and prepared to expand into our New Status Quo…. the reality of our new vision in action.
4. New Status Quo – This is what you risked for… this is why you allowed yourself to fall into the Cauldron.  Truth be told, both your inside experience and your outside reality have changed so much, that you may not even recognize the person who tolerated that Old Status Quo for so long.

The Cauldron of Chaos is all about change.  Big Thinking and Big Action are all about change.  As an industry-thought-leader-and-innovator, your goal is to learn to build adaptive change as a core competency.  Embrace it, roll with it, and use it to fuel a higher level of thinking, being, and acting.

Now you know the secret.  You have the power to use change – and the transformational ideas that result from it — to fuel your Big Idea.

*[Note: The Cauldron of Chaos is part of the Adaptive Change Model is much more complex and powerful for both individuals and organizations than can be described here.  To learn more, check out the thought-leader behind the model, Carol Mase of Cairn Consultants.  The Adaptive Organization, listed on her site, is a great "primer" of the model].

Share your comments and ideas at Grace In The Cauldron of Chaos

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• “Big Ideas Aren’t For Commoners…”

There are practitioners who give advice, and those who ask the questions that encourage their clients to think differently.

Those who try to stay relevant to their clients by meticulously maintaining their image of expertise, and those who become deeply valued by their clients because they courageously invite them into a thinking space of collaborative problem-solving.

Those who view their clients as the means to meet an annual revenue goal, and those who can walk the edge between setting and achieving goals that grow their practices, while still maintaining the ability to be fully present to their clients, their colleagues, and the art of their practice.

The former are a dime a dozen and viewed that way by their clients.  The latter are masters of their craft and become indispensable to their clients.

The Edge

In George Leonard’s seminal book, Mastery, he describes the fifth and final key to mastery of any pursuit as The Edge.

The Edge is a paradoxical place.  It’s the space between an endless/goalless practice, and the goals and structure that guide us to push the envelope of own potential and the boundaries of our craft.

For the advisor on the path of mastery, the question of goals vs. practice for the sake of practice it is not an “either/or,” it is a “both/and.”

• Monthly, quarterly, and annual revenue goals are smart.  But have you also assessed how much you enjoy working with the clients who are providing that revenue?
• Greater Assets Under Management/Advisement is a sign that your business is likely thriving financially.  But are you continuing to chase bigger accounts or clients who will do deeper and more authentic work with you?

The trick to balancing on The Edge is in being able to differentiate the goals that support and deepen your journey from those that are merely check-offs on a list of accomplishments.

And while that may feel like a muddy distinction to make, my guess is that you already know which is which.  Both may lead you to success, but only one will lead you to fulfillment.

Share your comments and ideas at The Edge

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• The Freedom To Be Foolish

Surrendering to Your Fool

Masters of all disciplines willingly embrace what George Leonard describes in his book Mastery as, the spirit of the fool. As a professional serving advisor, you are willingly celebrating this spirit each time you:

• Courageously deviate from the established agenda in order to explore what is most alive for your client(s) in the moment.
• Willingly challenge and re-tool your own business model and systems in order to build a practice that supports your evolving life.
• Allow a client meeting to be a real-life laboratory for doing the client’s deep work, rather than a chance to demonstrate your expertise.

(Noteworthy point:  This is different than the spirit of being foolish. Showing up uninformed, unprepared, or providing advice in disciplines outside your purview are several foolish behaviors of the professional advisor).

The spirit of the fool is the willingness to be clumsy and awkward as you relinquish a hard-won competence in favor of a higher skill.  It is the willingness to tread into unknown waters to courageously implement innovative ideas.

The Four Steps to Finding Your Fool

We resist embracing the spirit of the fool because it’s uncomfortable – it makes us feel silly and vulnerable as we flounder between competencies.  Yet, just as building the strength of a muscle takes time, tenacity and practice, so does becoming comfortable in this liminal – and essential – space.

Here are four steps to finding and celebrating your inner fool:

Step 1: Come from Curiosity

The journey of the master is never complete nor should it ever be stagnant.   Curiosity is the hallmark of one’s joyful desire to be a continual learner, always questioning if there is a better, more precise, more refined or more profound way.

Step 2: Create Emptiness

Like a full vessel with no room for more water, a full mind has no room for new ideas.  Creating emptiness is an essential practice on the path of mastery.  Implement a regular practice during which you to turn down the noise, clear the debris, and find the calm, fertile, still-point within yourself from which all creativity and innovation spring.

Step 3: Cultivate the Beginner’s Mind

The ‘beginner’s mind’ frees you from expecting an outcome based on what you have experienced in the past, and allows you to continually see possibilities in the current circumstances.  It allows you to be innovative and dynamic in support of your clients, instead of studied and rote.

Step 4: Take Courageous Action

It is one thing to think about being bold, innovative, and reaching for the next level of skill on your path to mastery.  It is another to bare your vulnerable and inspired self to your colleagues and clients through action.  THIS is where the spirit of the fool is most alive.

In an old parable, you have a cup in your hand and a quart on the table.  In order to grab the quart, you must be willing to let go of the cup.

Are you willing to let go of the cup?

Share your comments and ideas at The Freedom To Be Foolish

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• The Edge
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“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
-Albert Einstein

Gordian knot
: an intricate problem; especially: a problem insoluble in its own terms.

How often have you felt that trying to make lasting change in your life is like trying to untie a Gordian knot?  The voice in your head admonishes, “You’ve tried to [pick one: lose weight, exercise regularly, eat better, drink less, sleep more] a dozen times before and it never sticks.  It’s a waste of time to try again.”  But the tenacious warrior in you refuses to give up… good for you!

“I am going to do it this time,” you tell yourself, “I just need information and a plan.  How many minutes a day of exercise?  At what heart rate?  How many calories?  What food is admissible and what’s off-limits?  Give me the detailed plan!” you beckon. “On Monday I’ll start The Plan and THIS time it’ll stick.”

What if the missing piece to untying the knot is not so tactical?  What if it’s not in gathering more information and creating the perfect plan around which you’ll morph your schedule, habits, and life (has that worked in the past?)?  When changes lack staying-power it’s not because we’re “weak” or uninformed, but because we lack clarity as to why we really want the change.  Without having determined what really inspires us to embrace new habits, once the excitement of having “The Plan that will certainly change my life” wears off, the motivation to follow The Plan does too.

“The process of getting there is the quality of being there.”

Choose one change you want to make in your life right now.  What is the quality that  making that change will give you?  Will losing weight make you more comfortable in your own skin and give you more confidence in client meetings?  Will making sleep a priority give you the benefit of more clarity and focus?  Will exercising regularly give you the stamina to produce more at work and have energy to be with your family?

The first step to making transformational changes with staying-power is to dig a little deeper and understand the why.  Once you’re clear on why you want to change and what meaning that change has for you, the what and the how are not only easy to embrace, but the process of embracing them becomes a joyful celebration of the synergy between goals and values… and that’s the kind of change that has staying-power.

Share your comments and ideas at Warriors of Change

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• Find Your ‘Why’ Not Your ‘Willpower’