The First Step

The First StepWanting to change careers? Thinking about doing something out of your ordinary? Looking to start building your retirement career*?

Do it.

If you want to be a writer, write.

If you want to be a painter, paint.

If you want to be a leader, lead.

If you want to run a marathon, run.

Many passions you can do while still holding down a day job. I’m not saying that it will be easy. Strict time management, missed engagements, and sacrificed sleep will replace aimless Internet surfing, meals with friends, and warm blankets on a cold Saturday morning.

Are you willing to do the work? Are you willing to valet cars at night while you write your book during the day? Are you willing to skip your kid’s soccer practice and use the quiet time to paint? Are you willing to run your miles after dark in the cold weather to train for your marathon?

I wanted to write a book, so I did. I wanted to learn how to fly an airplane, so I did. I wanted to be a chef in a restaurant, so I did. I was bored and decided to jump out of an airplane, so I did.

Some might call it your “Bucket List.” I call it my “Things to Do Before I Die” list – it’s a little more obvious and blunt for someone with my personality type. Regardless of what it is, it starts with a first step.

You might say, “Oh, but I wish I had a little more time.” Or, “Oh, but if I only had some more money.” Or, “Oh, but this isn’t the right place.”

Stop with the “Oh, buts”! There is never enough time, rarely enough money, and probably not a good place.

I have quote on my wall that says, “How did you work on your dream today?” Each day, every day, I do at least a little something toward my dream.

Show up. Do the work. Get it done.

Take that first step.

Here’s my challenge to you. You have one week to take that first step, whatever you think it is. If you do it, it’s your passion. If you don’t, that’s ok. It’s not your real passion. Move on to something else.

There is no substitute for doing. There is no replacement for action. There is no surrogate for movement.

Every action begins with a first step. If you want to change your lot in life, take that step.

Now, go do it.

 

*Retirement career – your dream career that you put off doing until retirement that brings you pleasure and keeps you active.

 

QUESTION FOR YOU –

How did you work on your dream today?

SOMETHING FOR YOU –

For the awesome first chapter of the forthcoming book Better than Average: Excelling in a Mediocre World, send an email to me and you score it for free!

_____

Todd Brockdorf
Better than Average Guy
Author, Speaker, Consultant
[email protected]

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Thinking – The Other White Meat

Forget certifications. Forget technical skills. Forget high-priced degrees. The three skills that are needed most in the new world of work are initiative, creativity, and the ability to think. Demonstrate those skills and employers will come running.

It’s the later, thinking, that we investigate today.

Thinking – it’s the new white meat. It’s actually a yellowish gelatinous meat as you look at the brain, but that’s not important now.

We are no longer cogs in a wheel. We are no longer told to rinse and repeat. We are expected to initiate, perform, and accomplish.

Systems may be established, frameworks may be outlined, structures may be defined, but there is flexibility within those confines to get the job done.

And you are expected to find a way to make it happen.

Thinkers corroborate diverse data to get an overall design.

Thinkers search for deeper meaning in the swampy sea of statistics.

Thinkers take the silver platter that is handed to them, melt it down, and create an elaborate candelabrum.

As more transformational leadership practices enter the workplace, more thinking will be expected. If you examine the four factors that compose transformational leadership, one is “intellectual stimulation.” It is the idea that leaders allow their followers to think independently and they encourage creativity. In other words, transformational leaders believe humans are thinking beings.

Are you ready to think in this new world of work?

 

QUESTION FOR YOU –

What’s on your mind?

SOMETHING FOR YOU –

For the awesome first chapter of the forthcoming book Better than Average: Excelling in a Mediocre World, send an email to me and you score it for free!

_____

Todd Brockdorf
Better than Average Guy
Author, Speaker, Consultant
[email protected]

 

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Stimulate Creativity by Changing the Scene

Stimulate creativty through new sceneryIs your creativity crummy? Are you snoozing through life? Do you do the same things day in and day out?

It’s not your fault. You get stuck in a routine. You drive the same roads to work. You see the same people every day. You rehash the already hashed. We are all creatures of habit.

Standard is stifling. Average is adequate. Mediocre is mundane.

To wrangle us awake, to shake us from our slumber, to drive us from our dormancy, change the scenery.

Add a new plant to your office. It will give it a new dynamic.

Work from a Starbucks for a day. All of your senses will be stimulated.

Change the meeting location to the golf course. The endorphins will help generate ideas (as long as you minimize the beer intake).

Kick yourself from the common to build brilliance.

To stimulate creativity, to stir new ideas, to discover new insights, change the scenery.

 

QUESTION FOR YOU –

How to you stimulate your creativity?

SOMETHING FOR YOU –

For the awesome first chapter of the forthcoming book Better than Average: Excelling in a Mediocre World, send an email to me and you score it for free!

_____

Todd Brockdorf
Better than Average Guy
Author, Speaker, Consultant
[email protected]

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Can there be love at the office?

HeartIs there love in your work? I’m not talking about spousal relations or the office love triangle. I’m talking about love between yourself and your work. Do you care enough about your work that your output is given with love?

Every time you send an email, it has your signature on it. Every time you produce a report, it has your name on it. Every time you chair a meeting, it has your guidance. Do you offer it out of love?

What you send out to the world is you – your raw talents and abilities. Do you simply ship it out the door with a carefree “good enough?” Or is it elegant, clean, and simple to understand? Do you take the time to make it shine?  Is it an accurate mirror of who you are?

Every interaction. Every connection. Every output is your mark. Are you offering it with love?

 

QUESTION FOR YOU –

Does your work reflect who you are?

SOMETHING FOR YOU –

For the awesome first chapter of the forthcoming book Better than Average: Excelling in a Mediocre World, send an email to me and you score it for free!

_____

Todd Brockdorf
Better than Average Guy
Author, Speaker, Consultant
[email protected]

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5 Better than Average Ways to Get Out of a Meeting

5 Better than Average Ways to Get Out of a MeetingYou need a way to get out of a meeting. You got sucked into it, but now it’s time to go.  It happens. We all get stuck in meetings of which we would rather get out. You’re all sitting around a conference table. Your coworker is blabbing on about metrics that are not met. Your boss is bemoaning the back office.  And the only place you would rather be is Somewhere Else. What is your exit strategy?

Here are 5 Better than Average Ways to Get Out of a Meeting

  1. Sickness – There’s nothing like the threat of a little vomit on the table to get you your freedom. No one wants to deal with the mess if you do hurl, so any time you put your hand over your mouth, grab your belongings, and hustle out of the room will give you an instant hall pass. Just remember to actually go into the bathroom and into a stall in case you have a concerned coworker. Chances are, no one will actually follow you, but if they do, they’ll usually stop at the door.
  2. Phone call – It’s really important. REALLY important. Like more important than your meeting. It’s a customer. Or the school. Those two will usually get you out of most situations. To make it look even better, grab a friend’s phone, call your number, announce quietly that it is a customer/school, grab your belongings and dash.
  3. Take charge – If the meeting is really going nowhere and (almost) everyone can see the obvious, recap quickly what was already discussed, ask if there is any further input for the good of the group, then announce adjournment. You’ll earn high-fives from coworkers and get your time back.
  4. Leave – This works particularly well at the half-hour and hour marks on the clock. You have another meeting that just “happens” to be scheduled at that time. As a courtesy, ask if there is anything else required of you before your take off.  Remember to kindly announce that you can be reached after the meeting via email or phone if any additional items might arise.
  5. “Forget” Something – Conveniently “forget” something at your desk. Announce that you “forgot” a critical item for the meeting, excuse yourself, and “forget” to come back. When questioned later, explain that an urgent “something” (phone call/email/jammed copy machine) came up and had to be handled immediately. By the time you finished that task, the meeting had ended. Politely ask if any business for you arose during the meeting and if so, complete those items.

 

QUESTION FOR YOU –

Why are you still sitting there?

SOMETHING FOR YOU –

For the awesome first chapter of the forthcoming book Better than Average: Excelling in a Mediocre World, send an email to me and you score it for free!

_____

Todd Brockdorf
Better than Average Guy
Author, Speaker, Consultant
[email protected]

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