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Attitude/Motivation
Last Updated: Feb 2nd, 2005 - 11:04:31
Think for a moment about the most significant accomplishments you've attained professionally or personally, your own personal best. Perhaps it was the record month, the heroic turnaround of a failing business, winning a major contest, spearheading a successful fundraiser, coaching a winning team, climbing a mountain or running a marathon. Don't go any farther until you've determined what you consider as your personal best accomplishment, or even your top 2-3 top accomplishments.
I don't know you or your circumstances, but my bet is that you did not attain your personal best while you kept things the same. My guess is you achieved your personal best when you changed something, challenged something; when you attacked the status quo, not when you nurtured it. The most significant accomplishments we rack up in our lives are when we step out and step up, not when we sit still. Yet, oftentimes we forget what got us there: that it was the changes, the challenges, the walking into the unknown that brings our greatest accomplishments. And as a result we become more immersed in routine than risk, more comfortable with inertia than initiative. Before you know it we're in our 'maintenance mode', keeping things humming along, hoping nothing comes along to rock the boat or thaw out the frozen status quo. After some time in this mode we're not as excited about what we're doing any more, grow bored easily, lack passion and energy and we're not even sure why.
The status quo never holds its own; it's just one step removed from sliding backward. "Coasting" is a dangerous state to be in since the only direction you can coast is downhill. You can tell you're making progress and pushing hard enough when it feels like it's a struggle, when it's hard, when it's an uphill climb because the next level is always higher than where you are.
Don't forget what brought you your most significant moments of personal or organizational greatness. It wasn't when you played it safe and tried to just 'get by.' It was when you stepped up and stepped out. Remember how alert and alive you felt when you were climbing, risking, changing and making an impact. You had a cause, not a job and it made all the difference. You'll never recapture that feeling or have that impact while you're watching what happens or wondering 'what happened?' You've got to make it happen and keep making it happen. And all the while you're on the journey, if things ever seem too calm and under control then you're just not going fast enough.
About The Author:
Peak performance author, columnist, trainer, speaker and radio show host for sales, management and leadership, Dave Anderson walks the talk as a leader. He has led some of the most successful retail automotive dealership in the country—the most recent dealer group he led had over $300,000,000 in annual sales—and now gives 150 presentations, workshops and speeches annually on sales and leadership development around the globe.
Dave is author of over 50 training programs on sales, management and leadership including the books, Selling Above The Crowd: 365 Strategies For Sales Excellence and No Nonsense Leadership: Real World Strategies To Maximize Personal & Corporate Potential. Dave authors a monthly leadership column for Dealer magazine, publishes a monthly leadership newsletter and hosts the weekly radio talk show, Dave Anderson’s Learn To Lead Hour. His books, cassettes, videos, newsletter, column, web articles and live presentations pull no punches and provide real world strategies for peak performance in business and in life.
Dave is a member of the National Speaker's Association and is a featured speaker at conventions worldwide.
Dave is president of the Dave Anderson's Learn To Lead and LearnToLead.com, a cutting edge web site providing hundreds of free training resources to thousands of subscribers in over 30 countries.
Contact Information:
The Dave Anderson Corporation
P.O. Box 1119
Los Altos CA 94024
Phone: 800-519-8224
www.learntolead.com
dave@learntolead.com
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