I'm reading You Inc. (How to attract amazing success into your life and business) by John McGrath, one of Australia's top selling real estate agents.
I love this section of the book where he tells of how he once randomly said to the facilitator of a conference he was attending, "I'm so glad to be here and to be listening to all you guys. I wish my team back home could listen to them straight from the source."
The facilitator said, "Well, why don't we ask them?"
At this point, John panicked and started trying to back out. He hadn't really intended to go anywhere with his idea. It was just something he felt at that moment.
So he tried to get out of his idea by saying, oh, these guys are too busy and too important to come.
But the facilitator wouldn't let him get away with it.
His point was: The delegates might be too busy, but John must give them the opportunity to say yes.
After tea break, the facilitator announced to the conference, "John has a request."
John was very embarrassed, but he stood up anyway.
The result was the first real estate training conference of its kind in Australia. Since then, John's company has gone on to organize similar conferences every year, and his company is now the largest real estate trainer in Australia, with a dozen top real estate experts from all over the world presenting.
Action Challenge:
What things are you holding back from saying or doing because of fear that the other person might say no?
Give him a chance to say yes.
Ask the question.
You never know what might happen.
The outcome could change your life or business in an amazing way.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
How Fred Got His New Job
Here's a great story to inspire you in your career.
By Stanley Bing, writer for Fortune Magazine.
This is a story of a guy named Fred who dared to see himself as something bigger. And because he did - because he was able to take that leap of faith - he made a good thing happen. Those who dare to imagine sometimes get what they want. Those who don't never do.
We had been interviewing people for a mid-level management job for, say, five months. If that seems odd to you, then you haven't run a department where every position represents the cumulative function of six that existed before.
Choose the wrong person, and you enter a zone of dysfunction not all that different from having a debilitating disease. Ever have the flu but still have to go to the office? A bad hire is like that.
You see a lot of talented people when you're in this process, but within six seconds - not seven or eight- you know whether the person in front of you is going to be somebody with whom you can sustain a ten-minute conversation.
The only thing I look for is whether the prospect of doing so makes me feel like falling asleep. I am not being metaphorical. Since I was a child, whenever I feel anxious and trapped, my eyelids get heavy. You can see how much I like the whole enterprise, then. And yet it must be done.
One day, deep in the darkest part of this tedium, Fred knocked at my door.
Fred has worked for us for a long time, as long as I've been here, in fact. He's a good guy and a reliable, creative player. Never saw him as a manager, though. There are many like that, actually. Put them on a horse in the middle of the phalanx and they fight with gusto and brilliance. Put that horse at the front of the column and they lead the squad by a circuitous route into the swamp.
Fred stood in my doorway and said, "You found anybody for that manager slot yet?" And I thought, "Oh, no." I like Fred. I don't want to hurt Fred's feelings. "May I come in?" said Fred.
"Sure, Fred," I said.
"I've been thinking a lot about this job you're trying to fill, and I think I could be pretty good at it," said Fred. He had a file on his lap, and he opened it. "I think there's an organizational issue at the center of the problem this job would address," he continued.
I noticed he wasn't nervous. Usually Fred seems a little nervous to me, and this was sort of interesting.
"We have a good team here," he continued, "but we don't communicate enough. We're each in our own silo. I think I know everybody here very well. I think I have their respect." He did. And he had put his finger on the reason we had created this new post. People working in silos seldom produce as much Excellence as those who pull together, or Quality even.
"I've been here for a long time," Fred said. "And I'm finding that thinking about even the possibility of getting this assignment has energized me in a whole new way."
He stopped and looked at me with very big eyes, eyes gleaming with ambition and hope. And I saw the fire in his belly.
In cartoons a hungry wolf will look at a sheep in the meadow, and for a moment the cute, woolly creature itself will disappear and in its place will stand a juicy lamb chop. This is pretty much what happened when I looked at Fred. He himself vaporized, and in his place I saw a solution, and an end to interviewing.
"Okay, Fred," I said. "We have a couple more people to see, but I assure you that I'm going to think very seriously about what you've said."
"That's all?" said Fred, and I realized another thing: Thanks to his length of service, Fred and I knew each other well enough already to have attained a certain informality. "I have a lot more to tell you about if you want to hear it," he added, staring down at his file. "No, Fred," I said. "I like what you've shown me today. Let me just think about things a little."
For about a week I thought. I told a couple of people what had happened.
"For goodness' sake," they said, "give Fred a shot."
So you'll have to excuse me. This job I do is not always fun, but occasionally I get to do something that makes somebody happy. Sometimes the answer to your prayers is right under your nose.
By Stanley Bing, writer for Fortune Magazine.
This is a story of a guy named Fred who dared to see himself as something bigger. And because he did - because he was able to take that leap of faith - he made a good thing happen. Those who dare to imagine sometimes get what they want. Those who don't never do.
We had been interviewing people for a mid-level management job for, say, five months. If that seems odd to you, then you haven't run a department where every position represents the cumulative function of six that existed before.
Choose the wrong person, and you enter a zone of dysfunction not all that different from having a debilitating disease. Ever have the flu but still have to go to the office? A bad hire is like that.
You see a lot of talented people when you're in this process, but within six seconds - not seven or eight- you know whether the person in front of you is going to be somebody with whom you can sustain a ten-minute conversation.
The only thing I look for is whether the prospect of doing so makes me feel like falling asleep. I am not being metaphorical. Since I was a child, whenever I feel anxious and trapped, my eyelids get heavy. You can see how much I like the whole enterprise, then. And yet it must be done.
One day, deep in the darkest part of this tedium, Fred knocked at my door.
Fred has worked for us for a long time, as long as I've been here, in fact. He's a good guy and a reliable, creative player. Never saw him as a manager, though. There are many like that, actually. Put them on a horse in the middle of the phalanx and they fight with gusto and brilliance. Put that horse at the front of the column and they lead the squad by a circuitous route into the swamp.
Fred stood in my doorway and said, "You found anybody for that manager slot yet?" And I thought, "Oh, no." I like Fred. I don't want to hurt Fred's feelings. "May I come in?" said Fred.
"Sure, Fred," I said.
"I've been thinking a lot about this job you're trying to fill, and I think I could be pretty good at it," said Fred. He had a file on his lap, and he opened it. "I think there's an organizational issue at the center of the problem this job would address," he continued.
I noticed he wasn't nervous. Usually Fred seems a little nervous to me, and this was sort of interesting.
"We have a good team here," he continued, "but we don't communicate enough. We're each in our own silo. I think I know everybody here very well. I think I have their respect." He did. And he had put his finger on the reason we had created this new post. People working in silos seldom produce as much Excellence as those who pull together, or Quality even.
"I've been here for a long time," Fred said. "And I'm finding that thinking about even the possibility of getting this assignment has energized me in a whole new way."
He stopped and looked at me with very big eyes, eyes gleaming with ambition and hope. And I saw the fire in his belly.
In cartoons a hungry wolf will look at a sheep in the meadow, and for a moment the cute, woolly creature itself will disappear and in its place will stand a juicy lamb chop. This is pretty much what happened when I looked at Fred. He himself vaporized, and in his place I saw a solution, and an end to interviewing.
"Okay, Fred," I said. "We have a couple more people to see, but I assure you that I'm going to think very seriously about what you've said."
"That's all?" said Fred, and I realized another thing: Thanks to his length of service, Fred and I knew each other well enough already to have attained a certain informality. "I have a lot more to tell you about if you want to hear it," he added, staring down at his file. "No, Fred," I said. "I like what you've shown me today. Let me just think about things a little."
For about a week I thought. I told a couple of people what had happened.
"For goodness' sake," they said, "give Fred a shot."
So you'll have to excuse me. This job I do is not always fun, but occasionally I get to do something that makes somebody happy. Sometimes the answer to your prayers is right under your nose.
Hitting The Books Again
The lifelong learner is at it again. :-)
I have just enrolled in a Diploma of Professional Book Editing, Proofreading and Publishing with the Australian College of Queensland.
It's a home study course, which means I can achieve my objectives without having to attend classes outside the home.
To enable me to really study and get the most out of this opportunity, we plan to put J in childcare twice a week.
This is subject to us qualifying for Family Tax Benefits in the new FY, because childcare is costly here (at least $1k pm!) and we couldn't afford it on one income.
I've had people ask why I'm doing this course when I'm already a working editor/proofreader. My point is that what I've learnt from doing is probably just the tip of the iceberg.
To be able to pitch for bigger projects, I must position myself with confidence, and I can only be confident about what I know well. I can't be hazarding guesses or I won't inspire confidence in future clients.
So it's about skills upgrading, which is something I passionately believe in anyway.
The bonus in all this is that the VIC government and the school I'm enrolled in are actually sponsoring my course (otherwise I couldn't afford the commitment at this time of my life). I'm doing the course with a government grant called the Parents Return To Work initiative, and an additional subsidy from school.
I don't have to put in a cent of my own, just the hard yards.
And that's not a hard thing to do when you're doing something you love. :-)
I had a quick look at my course materials and was really excited to see they've included a copy of the Macquarie Pocket Dictionary of Australian English.
My course tutor is a lady who runs her own editing and proofreading business from her farm in country NSW, in between watching the lambs, calves and grass grow.
How inspiring's that?
I have just enrolled in a Diploma of Professional Book Editing, Proofreading and Publishing with the Australian College of Queensland.
It's a home study course, which means I can achieve my objectives without having to attend classes outside the home.
To enable me to really study and get the most out of this opportunity, we plan to put J in childcare twice a week.
This is subject to us qualifying for Family Tax Benefits in the new FY, because childcare is costly here (at least $1k pm!) and we couldn't afford it on one income.
I've had people ask why I'm doing this course when I'm already a working editor/proofreader. My point is that what I've learnt from doing is probably just the tip of the iceberg.
To be able to pitch for bigger projects, I must position myself with confidence, and I can only be confident about what I know well. I can't be hazarding guesses or I won't inspire confidence in future clients.
So it's about skills upgrading, which is something I passionately believe in anyway.
The bonus in all this is that the VIC government and the school I'm enrolled in are actually sponsoring my course (otherwise I couldn't afford the commitment at this time of my life). I'm doing the course with a government grant called the Parents Return To Work initiative, and an additional subsidy from school.
I don't have to put in a cent of my own, just the hard yards.
And that's not a hard thing to do when you're doing something you love. :-)
I had a quick look at my course materials and was really excited to see they've included a copy of the Macquarie Pocket Dictionary of Australian English.
My course tutor is a lady who runs her own editing and proofreading business from her farm in country NSW, in between watching the lambs, calves and grass grow.
How inspiring's that?
Friday, June 27, 2008
Busting 2 Barriers In A Day
Have you ever felt afraid to try something new and just kept finding excellent excuses to put it off?
Two of my biggest challenges as a fairly new P-plater are: one, driving on the freeway by myself; two, tanking up at the petrol station by myself.
This past Monday, I accomplished both.
My friend Annie likes to remind me that I need to be pushed into a corner before I'll respond positively to a new challenge.
She's right.
The only reason I busted out of my two Fear Zones was because of a serendipitous conversation.
Chatting with a fellow mum at school, I casually said perhaps we could arrange a play date over the coming hols.
She said sure, why not, and then remembered that she was hosting a tea party for another little girl who is her daughter's best friend and also a classmate of Beth.
She said would Beth like to come to the tea party? It would be after school on Monday.
I thought, why not, and said "Sure!".
Then I found out this lady lives in Point Cook, 10 km and several suburbs away.
I've never driven out of the Werribee/Hoppers area on my own, and I tell you I was terrified.
Not only that, it being Monday (day before fill-up-the-petrol-tank-cheaply day), the needle on our fuel tank was running dangerously close to 'E'...
That meant I'd have to take the car to the petrol station by myself.
I seriously contemplated backing out of the party, but then thought, that would make me such a loser. I mean, who pulls out of a party just because they don't know how to fill up the car?
So I summoned up my courage and drove to the Safeway petrol station after playgroup and queued up behind another car.
I tried to recall all the steps CA normally takes (which just float over me when I'm the passenger) and - surprise! - no one stared or honked or did anything to make me feel conspicuous. I managed to put in $20 worth of petrol, which CA assured me was plenty for the journey to Point Cook.
At school, I bumped into the mum of the little girl who was to be the main star of the tea party. At the risk of sounding like an idiot, I confessed that I wasn't sure I could find my way to Point Cook on my own, or find my way back if the party ended late (cos I have poor night vision).
She kindly offered to direct the way by driving ahead of me slowly.
Which she did, so getting to Point Cook was a breeze.
We all had a lovely time at the party.
There were pink helium balloons, pink Cinderella plates and napkins, and HEAPS of food.
I later found out it was a surprise birthday tea party for Maddison, whose birthday was two days after!
Anywayz, as the evening got on and it started getting dark, hubby called and asked, "Where are you?"
He knew I was going to be in Point Cook and was worried I wouldn't be able to see my way home in time. (It's winter so it gets dark around 5 pm.)
I promised to go home right away, and hung up.
Maddie's mum noticed my increasing anxiety, and suggested kindly that perhaps we should get going.
How grateful I felt!
Driving home was again as easy as keeping an eye on the car in front, because again Maddie's mum was there to lead the way.
I was so pleased to find myself in familiar territory sooner than I expected.
Now I know Point Cook is really only just beyond the Old Geelong Rd/C701, which makes it fairly straightforward getting from here to there.
The next time I have to drive into Point Cook, I won't be as nervous.
Thanks Margaret!! You're an angel!
And thank you Lord, for once again stretching me and making me grow.
Two of my biggest challenges as a fairly new P-plater are: one, driving on the freeway by myself; two, tanking up at the petrol station by myself.
This past Monday, I accomplished both.
My friend Annie likes to remind me that I need to be pushed into a corner before I'll respond positively to a new challenge.
She's right.
The only reason I busted out of my two Fear Zones was because of a serendipitous conversation.
Chatting with a fellow mum at school, I casually said perhaps we could arrange a play date over the coming hols.
She said sure, why not, and then remembered that she was hosting a tea party for another little girl who is her daughter's best friend and also a classmate of Beth.
She said would Beth like to come to the tea party? It would be after school on Monday.
I thought, why not, and said "Sure!".
Then I found out this lady lives in Point Cook, 10 km and several suburbs away.
I've never driven out of the Werribee/Hoppers area on my own, and I tell you I was terrified.
Not only that, it being Monday (day before fill-up-the-petrol-tank-cheaply day), the needle on our fuel tank was running dangerously close to 'E'...
That meant I'd have to take the car to the petrol station by myself.
I seriously contemplated backing out of the party, but then thought, that would make me such a loser. I mean, who pulls out of a party just because they don't know how to fill up the car?
So I summoned up my courage and drove to the Safeway petrol station after playgroup and queued up behind another car.
I tried to recall all the steps CA normally takes (which just float over me when I'm the passenger) and - surprise! - no one stared or honked or did anything to make me feel conspicuous. I managed to put in $20 worth of petrol, which CA assured me was plenty for the journey to Point Cook.
At school, I bumped into the mum of the little girl who was to be the main star of the tea party. At the risk of sounding like an idiot, I confessed that I wasn't sure I could find my way to Point Cook on my own, or find my way back if the party ended late (cos I have poor night vision).
She kindly offered to direct the way by driving ahead of me slowly.
Which she did, so getting to Point Cook was a breeze.
We all had a lovely time at the party.
There were pink helium balloons, pink Cinderella plates and napkins, and HEAPS of food.
I later found out it was a surprise birthday tea party for Maddison, whose birthday was two days after!
Anywayz, as the evening got on and it started getting dark, hubby called and asked, "Where are you?"
He knew I was going to be in Point Cook and was worried I wouldn't be able to see my way home in time. (It's winter so it gets dark around 5 pm.)
I promised to go home right away, and hung up.
Maddie's mum noticed my increasing anxiety, and suggested kindly that perhaps we should get going.
How grateful I felt!
Driving home was again as easy as keeping an eye on the car in front, because again Maddie's mum was there to lead the way.
I was so pleased to find myself in familiar territory sooner than I expected.
Now I know Point Cook is really only just beyond the Old Geelong Rd/C701, which makes it fairly straightforward getting from here to there.
The next time I have to drive into Point Cook, I won't be as nervous.
Thanks Margaret!! You're an angel!
And thank you Lord, for once again stretching me and making me grow.
Monday, June 09, 2008
The Circle of Life and Faith
This past week, as CA was preparing to deliver his first-ever sermon, he reflected on how zealous he used to be when he was a new believer.
I think all believers face the same struggle.
Our life journey seems to mirror our faith journey.
We start off full of passion and zeal, spending hours studying the Bible and evangelizing to our peers. This is also usually when we are single and still schooling.
In midlife, we get caught up in career, family and finances. For some of us, our faith becomes more a matter of keeping up with routine rather than engaging in anything that might rock the boat.
Then at the tail end of life, when the kids have grown and left the nest and we have a bit more time - and when perhaps we encounter illness or some other major life event - we turn our attention to our own mortality and once again renew our allegiance to the One who made us and to whom we must return.
I think all believers face the same struggle.
Our life journey seems to mirror our faith journey.
We start off full of passion and zeal, spending hours studying the Bible and evangelizing to our peers. This is also usually when we are single and still schooling.
In midlife, we get caught up in career, family and finances. For some of us, our faith becomes more a matter of keeping up with routine rather than engaging in anything that might rock the boat.
Then at the tail end of life, when the kids have grown and left the nest and we have a bit more time - and when perhaps we encounter illness or some other major life event - we turn our attention to our own mortality and once again renew our allegiance to the One who made us and to whom we must return.
"Not Religious, Just Righteous"
I love this little slogan that was printed on the funeral bulletin of N, who passed away a week ago.
It summed up his attitude towards church, God, and what it meant to him to be part of the community of believers.
The slogan also gave me cause to pause and ask myself:
What is my faith really about?
Is God still in my weekly rituals of Sunday worship, Thursday night band practice and the various church-related things I get involved in?
How real is my faith?
Dare I call myself a practising Christian, or have I become like the Pharisees that Jesus condemned, more concerned with the appearance of religion and shunning the revolutionary, life-changing effects that being in a relationship with Jesus entails?
In Bryan Patterson's FaithWorks blog, he writes that Bruxy Cavey (author of The End of Religion) suggests the teachings of Jesus were actually anti-religious. What Jesus came to establish was a subversive spirituality outside the boundary markers of traditional religion and in the process He made religion itself obsolete.
It is a reminder to us that God is more than church, more than the comfortable routines and practices we blithely participate in in His name, more than committee meetings and choir practices and fundraising for new church premises.
True religion is about doing and being.
It summed up his attitude towards church, God, and what it meant to him to be part of the community of believers.
The slogan also gave me cause to pause and ask myself:
What is my faith really about?
Is God still in my weekly rituals of Sunday worship, Thursday night band practice and the various church-related things I get involved in?
How real is my faith?
Dare I call myself a practising Christian, or have I become like the Pharisees that Jesus condemned, more concerned with the appearance of religion and shunning the revolutionary, life-changing effects that being in a relationship with Jesus entails?
In Bryan Patterson's FaithWorks blog, he writes that Bruxy Cavey (author of The End of Religion) suggests the teachings of Jesus were actually anti-religious. What Jesus came to establish was a subversive spirituality outside the boundary markers of traditional religion and in the process He made religion itself obsolete.
It is a reminder to us that God is more than church, more than the comfortable routines and practices we blithely participate in in His name, more than committee meetings and choir practices and fundraising for new church premises.
True religion is about doing and being.
Monday, June 02, 2008
Which is better, to give or to receive?
The Scriptures say, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."
And indeed, giving is the more comfortable thing for most of us to do. It is consistent with our family upbringing and with cultural norms. We feel good when we are the givers. Perhaps we even secretly congratulate ourselves on how noble and altruistic we are.
In this week's message, Pastor Paul Blacker points out that there is another side to the question of giving and receiving.
How do you respond, he asks, when someone - for whatever reason - wants to bless you or help you in some way in a spirit of generosity?
Are you embarrassed?
Do you make a polite protest that you should not receive the gift (as those of us who are Asians are wont to do!)?
Do you try to give it back, or refuse to accept a shout (i.e. a treat) when out for a meal?
This is a very real issue, and one we ourselves faced this week. A dear friend went home after a month's stay with our family, and surprised us with an amazing love gift.
Pastor Paul explains that just as we are sometimes challenged to give for the sake of others, so too, we may be challenged to receive a blessing from another.
There is a profound lesson to be learnt here.
It's about the circle of life, about how so much of life functions in pairs of opposites.
Yin and Yang. Black and white. The tide ebbs and flows. The moon waxes and wanes. The sun rises and sets. Death and life. Good and evil.
So too with giving and receiving.
The LORD may inspire you to bless this person at this time through an act of giving.
At another time, the LORD may inspire someone else to be the channel through which His grace and generosity can touch you.
So is it better to give or to receive?
Does it even matter?
I remember some years ago our home church PLCMC had this motto: Blessed To Be A Blessing.
It is God who blesses, in order that we might be a blessing to others.
If today we are called to receive, let us do so with glad and thankful hearts, recognizing the true Source of the blessing, and rejoicing with the giver in this opportunity to partake of His grace.
If we are called to give, let us do so with glad and thankful hearts, knowing that it is God from whom all blessings flow.
And indeed, giving is the more comfortable thing for most of us to do. It is consistent with our family upbringing and with cultural norms. We feel good when we are the givers. Perhaps we even secretly congratulate ourselves on how noble and altruistic we are.
In this week's message, Pastor Paul Blacker points out that there is another side to the question of giving and receiving.
How do you respond, he asks, when someone - for whatever reason - wants to bless you or help you in some way in a spirit of generosity?
Are you embarrassed?
Do you make a polite protest that you should not receive the gift (as those of us who are Asians are wont to do!)?
Do you try to give it back, or refuse to accept a shout (i.e. a treat) when out for a meal?
This is a very real issue, and one we ourselves faced this week. A dear friend went home after a month's stay with our family, and surprised us with an amazing love gift.
Pastor Paul explains that just as we are sometimes challenged to give for the sake of others, so too, we may be challenged to receive a blessing from another.
There is a profound lesson to be learnt here.
It's about the circle of life, about how so much of life functions in pairs of opposites.
Yin and Yang. Black and white. The tide ebbs and flows. The moon waxes and wanes. The sun rises and sets. Death and life. Good and evil.
So too with giving and receiving.
The LORD may inspire you to bless this person at this time through an act of giving.
At another time, the LORD may inspire someone else to be the channel through which His grace and generosity can touch you.
So is it better to give or to receive?
Does it even matter?
I remember some years ago our home church PLCMC had this motto: Blessed To Be A Blessing.
It is God who blesses, in order that we might be a blessing to others.
If today we are called to receive, let us do so with glad and thankful hearts, recognizing the true Source of the blessing, and rejoicing with the giver in this opportunity to partake of His grace.
If we are called to give, let us do so with glad and thankful hearts, knowing that it is God from whom all blessings flow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)