Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Best, Stop Trying to be the
Another Patton Associates S-M-A-R-TBriefing™
"Striving to Be 'The Best' is Overrated & Not Smart"
Many so-called gurus argue that you need to be substantially better than everyone else in your field to be successful and make money. As a people development specialist, I say that's nonsense.
You really only need to be about 1% better than most others to be superior. Consider these winning approaches as my proof!
"Sports remain a great metaphor for life's more difficult lessons. It was through athletics that many of us first came to understand that fear can be tamed; that on a team the whole is more than the sum of its parts; and that the ability to be heroic lies, to a surprising degree, within!" ~ Susan Casey U.S. author of "The Wave and Devil's Teeth"
The #2 golfers in the most recent Masters and U.S Open Golf Tournaments were less than 1% behind the first place finisher in stokes at the end. And the spread between the purse of them and the top golfers in the competitions was phenomenal. (Check it out if you wish.)
Likewise, the winner of the downhill ski race in the last Olympics beat the second place finisher by a margin measured in only thousands of a second. And gold is so much shinier and so much more valuable than silver.
And how about these numbers? Twitter at the beginning of 2010 is on track to very soon hit 200,000,000 users. The top followed celebrity on Twitter, the person with the greatest audience, is Lady Gaga, with 7.086 million 'Followers'.
Think about that! Gaga, for all of her appeal and star power, merits only 3.5% of Twitter’s userbase as a following. That means 96.5% of the Tweepeoples don’t care about what she has to say enough to follow her.2
So, when you have only 1% more Followers than the average on Twitter, you're doing great. You don't need to be the best!
"Forget about being the best at what you do because you don't really have to. Strive only to be 1% better than most to win the prize you want!" ~ gfp '42™
When you do, then, you can really flow!
Give up trying to be the best at anything ...right now... please! You'll believe in the wisdom of my recommendation when you sense how it makes you feel.
And you've got nothing to lose. And everything to gain!
But, using this life-skill is a choice! And remember, quality customer/people service is a moment-to-moment choice. Plus, a full life is an unending series of wise decisions.
With my compliments and permission to reproduce, without change or profiteering, including the following:
Copyright © 2011 Gary F. Patton
PattonAssociates.ca, People Development Coaches
Tags: attraction principles, business development, challenges, choices, clarity, creativity, client service, customer service, distress, distress controller, fear, heart, heart-felt, health, healthy, liabilities, organization development, money-making tips, patient service, patron service, perspective, personal growth, planning, problems, problem solving, project management, procrastination, relax, relaxation response, self-help, self-help advice, strengths, stress, stress management, struggling, swearing, Tai Chi, thinking, time, time management, Type A behavior, enhanced wellness, overcoming worry, weaknesses
notes
1 By allowing your cursor to rest for a moment on any of my hyper-links, a Pop-up Window will share additional information about the Web Site you can choose to visit by left-clicking it. You will discover this is helpful. e.g. gfp '42™ = "Gary's copyright & trademark designation + his Web site for FREE S-M-A-R-TTips™"
2 You can discover these data and others in the interesting & helpful article, "How to build a Twitter audience in 8 steps" at http://is.gd/cpPJ3E .
3 You'll discover a helpful, short article on the benefits of having a mentor to get to that sometimes tricky 1% better at http://is.gd/idcgM .
Stress Management Made Easy
"Dis-Stress Control Made Easy"
by: Gary F. Patton (gfp '42™)1
"Any thought that contains love has a calming effect." ~ Hugh Prather (1938- ) U.S. author & counselor
"'Dis-stress' is deadly for professionals and the level of your 'stress' requires constant optimization!" ~ gfp '42™
- Sitting or lying down and closing your eyes, if possible. (It still works when you can't!)
- Check all the major muscle groups in your body and allow them to relax.
- Focusing on your heart (Touching your chest near there, when appropriate, is subtle. It is doable even with others around. You'll focus easier on your heart by doing this.)
- Taking a deep breath and hold it for about 3 seconds.
- Exhaling slowly.
- Reflecting on a personal, heart-regulating issue. (How do I do that, you ask? While doing #3 and 4 a few times, ask yourself what would be a more effective and efficient emotion or attitude than you're currently experiencing ...one that will not only be better for you but also for those around you. Try appreciation. Or compassion. Or love! If the feeling doesn't come, just hold your heart-focus5 and stay neutral. When the feeling does arrive, reflect on the encouragement that floods you at your centre, quietly for a few more seconds, while continuing to breathe deeply as above.)
- Do not worry about whether you're doing the above 'right' or try to force things. Remain neutral and let relaxation occur naturally ...as it will when you regularly practise the Distress Controller™.
"Di
When you smooth your heart-brain interaction, you also become a better decision-maker and problem-solver. (Hopefully, increased wisdom would be a benefit for you!)
You've got nothing to lose. And everything to gain.
OK, scroll back up and work through the steps ...now!
Please also drop me a line using the link immediately below this paragraph. I'd love to hear what you think and how you feel about the above.
With my compliments and permission to reproduce, without change or profiteering, including the following:
© Copyright 1987-2010 Gary F. Patton
PattonAssociates.ca, People Development Coaches
Tags: anger, angry people, alcoholics, anxiety, appreciation, attraction principles, brain, breathing, caring, challenges, choices, clarity, creativity, client service, customer service, depressed, depressives, difficult people, distress, distress control, drunks, emotions, emotional response, fear, fight or flight, fight or flight mechanism, fret, fretting, gifts, heart, heart-felt, health, healthy, liabilities, love, organization, patient service, patron service, perspective, personal growth, personal problems, planning, problems, problem solving, project management, procrastination, relax, relaxation, relaxation response, self-help, spiritual gifts, strengths, stress, stress management, struggling, swearing, Tai Chi, thinking, time, time management, worry, worrying,
notes
1 By allowing your cursor to rest for a moment on any of my hyper-links, a Pop-up Window will share additional information about the Web Site you can choose to visit by left-clicking it. You will discover this is helpful. e.g. gfp'42™ = "Gary's copyright & trademark designation + his Web site for more FREE S-M-A-R-TTips™"
2 In a typical stress response, certain glands in your head increases the production of high-powered chemicals to engage the "flight-or-fight" response.
This internal mechanism is a complex of bodily interactions. It triggers automatically in you because its purpose is to maximize the changes of your survival via an increased heart rate & blood flow, cooling sweating & many other dis-stress reactions that we all have daily.
By doing so, the dis-stress response enhances our body's ability to react to a real, or perceived, threat that you are experiencing.
And it's the perceived or virtual dis-stressors that are the really dangerous ones for our health & performance i.e. an angry co-worker, friend or spouse, a financial problem, a sick child.
This is because these stressors can remain at a high level for a long time without our bodies having a chance to relax.
This results in all kinds of diseases including "Chronic Fatigue & Immune Deficiency Syndrome (CFIDS)". The latter kept me unable to work for about five years. You can read here & at
http://is.gd/g1N9r about how I was healed by an easy change & very quickly ...once I learned how.
3 For example, if you’re being chased by an angry dog and you knock your knee, the "fight or flight response" temporarily will prevent your knee from becoming inflamed. This way, you'll not be slowed down and you'll not be bitten by the dog.
At the same time your body is shutting down a lot of other systems because its main priority is survival.
In our modern, high stress lifestyles, the "flight or fight" mechanism can become almost permanently engaged in some of us. This creates all kinds of problems like headaches, sore shoulder muscles and worse ailments depending on how long you ignore your body's cry for relief.
4 "The relaxation response is a physical state of deep rest that changes the physical and emotional responses to [dis-]stress... and the opposite of the fight or flight response." ~ Dr. Herbert Benson, M.D., U.S. author & Associate Professor of Medicine Harvard Medical School (Discover his classic book, "The Relaxation Response" at http://goo.gl/46ZQ )
5 You'll discover the benefits of heart focus and appreciation plus their positive impact on your body, emotions, mind, spirit & will in this short video here at http://is.gd/MydpWX .
6 You'll discover the benefits of hear-brain interaction and its positive impact on your body, emotions, mind, spirit & will in this short video here at http://is.gd/MydpWX .
7 You'll discover a helpful, short article on the benefits of having a mentor to help you deal with the powerful emotions that often drive our dis-stress at http://is.gd/idcgM .
