jungle jeff

Yesterday I eloquently droned on about thinking like a failure, whatever that means, right?

Well guess what else?  I’d like to drone on about what does yesterday’s post mean to you today?  Because if it meant nothing to you, guess what?

Seriously, if I have to explain this (again) to you, you may not get it.

Hey, you do know I’m only talking to myself and none of this is meant to make you feel uncomfortable (yes it is).  Having tough conversations with myself is the most effective way to push the limits of my abilities.

What do you do to push the limits of your abilities?  You do push yourself, right?

Masters World Championships, Finland

jungle jeff is absolutely a wellness fanatic.  Most don’t realize this.  Why would they realize it?  Why should they?

I started with one push-up per day for a week and then each new week, add one more push-up per day.  After six weeks, that’s six push-ups per day.

Also started running one mailbox per day for a week and then each new week added another mailbox.  After six weeks, I was running past six mailboxes.  Then walked back.

Through continuous improvement techniques learned at work (fortune 100 company), managed my boredom, injuries, motivation and goals – and after a decade, guess what happened this past Summer?

From one push-up per day ten years ago, to representing the USA at the WMA Master’s Track & Field World Championships in Lahti, Finland.  Men’s 400 meters, 50 – 54 age group.

So, excellence can be attained in virtually anything, but you have to be willing to set an impossible goal, work incredibly hard and never give up.  Ya with me?

Seth Godin is like a new BFF.  Why?  Because if I…..

If I have to explain it to you, you may not get it.  Click here to go to his blog.  Highly recommend you read Seth Godin’s blog every day. It’s simple to subscribe to it and you can have it waiting in your in box each morning.

But maybe you’d rather just stick with a plan that’s certain to be safe.

Anyone here remember how Napster destroyed the Music Industry’s decade-old business model?  The Internet is changing all the rules.

Next on deck, 37signals.

Here’s my prediction, if you don’t know what I’m talking about, you’ll most likely become a victim of a Napster-like competitor.

Or, you could just stick your head in the sand.

Tribes, by Seth Godin.  Heard of it?  Read it?

The tag line, “We need you to lead us”, really hits home for me.  Why?

Because, in today’s world, if you haven’t noticed, there’s a lot of chaos and uncertainty.  “Duh”, right?

What I’d like to challenge is our predisposition to look to others to be better leaders.  When in reality, the real work, where the biggest need is, is right in front of you as you look in the mirror.

Quite complaining about others needing to do this or do that – and presumably thinking that your life will get better as soon as “they” change.

Let the change begin and end with you.  Period.  Because until that happens, you are in no place to expect it from someone else.

Walking through an airport this week, a book title caught my eye, “Exploiting Chaos“.

Why?  If I have to explain this to you, you most likely won’t understand. But, because I’m a sucker for people who want to understand and continuously improve, I’ll give it a brief try here.

Chaos is a paradox.  We can (and probably do) hate chaos.  Or, we can (and probably don’t) love chaos.

Hate it for all of the societal norm reasons most hate chaos.

Love it for all the opportunity it brings.  Yes, opportunity.  So once again, if I have to explain this to you, you won’t understand.  But if I were you, I’d quickly try to figure it out, or get left behind.

Last night I watched ABC Evening News.  This is something that only happens when family visits.  Family arrived two days ago from “up north”.  As we were eating some take out pizza, my attention was captured when the “Person of The Week” feature announced the University of Connecticut Women’s Basketball coach, Geno Auriemma, as the person of the week.

Why did this interest me?

Because I love basketball?  No.

Because I’m heading back to New England in a few weeks.

Part of my personal brand is exceeding expectations.  Not meeting them.  Exceeding them!  This is really hard to do, day in and day out.  So what’s one of my secret tactics?

Paying attention.  Paying attention?  Yes.  Paying attention.

To what?

On a good day, everything.

Very simply, I’ve been trained from day one, to always be looking for small “wows” - things important to people, but people aren’t consciously aware they are important.  This is why it’s a surprise and why it exceeds their expectations.  They never saw it coming.  But once it arrived, WOW!

Well, where I’m headed, UConn Basketball is important.  For some it’s “religion”.  For others, not so much.  But overall, it’s very important to the fabric, the culture, of this community.

If I have an opportunity to get real time, emotional data from the TV, why not take it?

Yogi Berra, a baseball player I think, used to say, “You can observe a lot by watching“.

Words to live by.  Seriously, words to live by.

Pay attention and carpe diem, jungle jeff

PS.  I’d like to post again about the coach, Geno Auriemma.  He used a phrase, “the Stone-cold truth” to describe how he coaches.  The truth hurts, yet the truth can set you free, and lead you to three consecutive National Championships, and five National Championships since 2000.  WOW!

Think you know Disney’s best kept secret? Guess again. I think it’s Disney Institute. Their offices are in Celebration, but their classroom is “the World”. Literally.

They deliver keynotes, workshops, team-builders, and tours, to their Guests around the world.

Almost daily, people are amazed and even mesmerized by Disney’s ability to maintain a spotless, 40-square mile property.  Disney’s super secret way to keep everything spotless?   “When they see a piece of trash…….they pick it up!” Wow, right?

Actually, we all know trash has to be picked up – that it doesn’t jump in the trash can by itself. What everyone really wants to know is how do they get their 60,000 Cast Members to want to pick it up? Now that is magic!

Carpe diem, jungle jeff

First of all, it’s amazing this is the first post here since November 17, 2008.  Can you believe that?

I can’t.  It boggles the mind how time flies.

Anyway, wanted to ask you this.  ”Does Tiger Woods have a coach”?

Is his coach a better golfer? Then why on earth does Tiger have a coach? Seriously. Have you ever thought about that?

I’d like to recommend Disney Institute.  Walt Disney was a creative genius.

This is the very reason why Disney Institute makes sense for individuals and organizations desiring to become world-class.

Why?

If I have to explain it, you won’t understand.   Disney Institute doesn’t know more about your business than you do, but they serve businesses like Tiger’s coach serves him.

If you don’t make benchmarking a priority, who will?

Go to www.disneyinstitute.com to learn how you can become, or stay, world-class.