The ball out guide to success – Part1 -Introduction
Right, let’s start by putting some facts straight – just so some of you ‘Filthy minded’ individuals (you know who you are;) can get those wrong images out of your head.
The origin of the term “Balls out” – from the Urban guide – it’s on the internet so it must be true;)
This refers to the governor on a steam engine. Two heavy balls are attached to the engine so that as engine speed increases, the centrifugal force of the flywheel causes the balls to rise. As the balls top out, they govern (limit) the engine, thereby controlling maximum engine speed. “Balls out,” then, refers to running the engine at maximum speed.The engineer was running the train at a “balls out” pace while trying to make up time.
Generally, when it comes to juggling, people fall into one of three categories;-
- Those that know they can already juggle
- Those that think they could juggle – with a bit of help and practice
- Those that think they couldn’t possibly juggle with a zillion years of practice!
Which category do you fall under? The first of these is the only provable fact – If I gave you three juggling balls you could ably demonstrate a three ball cascade juggling pattern. The other two well, they are simply beliefs you either believe that you can’t juggle or you believe that with the right help, support, time and practice you of course could juggle!
“If you think you can or you think you can’t, you are probably right” – Henry Ford
or put on your best Yoda voice and say
“Do or do not – there is no try” – Yoda
What else do you believe to be true, without any evidence, that is holding you back from living the life you want to lead?
It is my firm belief that anyone with two arms, with hands on the end of them, and two eyes can juggle. Actually one eye is sufficient – I just tried it and have busted that belief already. Oh blimey, just found this video of a one armed juggler – and he’s better than most two armed jugglers! another belief of mine busted!!
Juggling is one of those activities that takes a short while to learn, but a lifetime to master. It’s a great metaphor to use for learning or succeeding at anything you choose to do. It’s also totally brilliant at improving the following – and more ;-
- fitness
- suppleness
- alertness
- boredom
- de-stressing
- balance – mind and body
- hand to eye co-ordination
- learning to love your mishtakes
- creativity
- stamina
- impressing your children
- Impressing your parents(maybe;)
- impressing friends
- your chances of working in a circus;)
- many other things too, use your imagination
- oh – imagination
So, if you are interested, sign up to the blog, find some juggling balls and watch out for the next set of posts where I will go through some of the success principles that you need to go through to learn to juggle or indeed learn how to be successful at anything you want to be successful at!
Posting to my blog using email – now that’s handy
Now there’s no excuse to blog! No need to sign in or be anywhere near a computer (with email on the moby). Blogging bliss!
Cheers
Motivation – the real reason so many big companies are in trouble!
I stumbled across this video today the message so rings true and it is put in such a great way that I was motivated to share it here! If your business or job relates to anything remotely creative, innovative or involves any amount of thinking then you need to watch this video!
http://www.youtube.com/v/u6XAPnuFjJc?fs=1&hl=en_GB&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0×999999
This lively RSA Animate, adapted from Dan Pink’s talk at the RSA, illustrates the hidden truths behind what really motivates us at home and in the workplace.
www.theRSA.org
The pre-amble for my Juggling gig tomorr
The pre-amble for my Juggling gig tomorrow http://ow.ly/2c11r
Balls out guide
Some promo photos for my ‘Balls out guide to success’ presentation / workshop – enjoy
Dang – I wanted to test out embedding a picasa slideshow, but wordpress won’t let me use xhtml, doh! Here’s a direct link to the album instead
 |
| balls out |
Practice makes perfect….. or does it?
Practice, to me, means doing stuff over and over again to ingrain the fundamental mechanical techniques such that they become automatic. Once the technique is automatic it allows us to grow, build on solid foundations and develop our abilities way beyond what we thought possible. There is a catch to this though and that is practicing the wrong thing – repeating the same, incorrect, pattern over and over will not only be a waste of time but will build automatic errors into your developing skill. In order to perfect a skill we need to practice at ‘perfect’ practice or in other words ‘perfect practice makes perfect’!
I’m a bass player and have just started to teach the ‘black art’ so I’ll illustrate my point with a story about me. I had been playing for years, originally taught by the guitarist in the band I played in as a teenager and later re-trained myself when I got back into bass playing. I was playing regularly on the local scene sometimes two or three nights a week. Eventually I got to the point where I felt ‘stuck in a rut’ so I sought out a tutor to improve my skills. Guess what? The reason I was stuck in a rut was because I’d developed a technique that was limiting what I could do. I’d practiced so much using this technique the only answer was to go right back to square one and re-learn from the beginning. Bugger! This was hard, really hard, really really hard. For me all the practicing that I had done had only made me average! To go beyond that needed a whole lot more perfect practicing! Even now many years later I still find myself occasionally slipping into the ‘old’ ways in the heat of a gig where automation of the fundamental techniques comes into play.
Here are some suggestions to help your practice sessions become more productive and help you to perfect your skills
- Have well formed outcomes for you practice session – goals to you and me. This will help you to focus rather than just ‘muck about’
- Do some research – find out how it should be done. Study the masters!
- Raise your awareness of what you are experiencing. Make sure you have feedback of some kind; video, a friend/colleague, your tutor, self analysis etc. Know when you are going wrong and correct it before it becomes a habit.
- Make lots of mistakes just don’t keep repeating them- learn from them!
- Start slowly – go for accuracy rather than speed.
- Aim to stretch yourself at some point during the session, expand your comfort zone!
- Jump for joy, punch the sky or shout yeeeesss! when you hit you goal celebrate you victory
- Do allow for some fun and free play. Allow the creative ‘you’ to take over without hindrance.
There are probably more so feel free to chip in with comments to add to the list.
Can you imagine?
On the face of it a bit of a closed question with only one answer – yes! especially if you are human as imagination is the one thing we are extremely good at. In fact it is because of imagination that we are what we are today, it’s not just the thumbs that make us different from other primates. Without imagination there would be no computers, no internet, no cars, houses, social structures, wheels, tools, clothes or Star Trek. We would be out amongst the trees and caves eating berries and growing hair to keep warm.
The point is that imagination is the key to our achievements. If we can imagine something that will bring us benefits then we will go about making it happen. The power comes to this question when we add something to it, such as, Can you imagine living in your dream house? Can you imagine driving that Porche? Can you imagine living in a clutter free house?
It is still a closed question but in order to give an answer the person you are asking the question of has to imagine it! Following up with some open questions such as what does it feel like? or what can you see? or what can you hear? or if they are thinking of a new fragrance – what does it smell like?:) To answer these questions the scene must be imagined in greater detail. The more plausible and desirable the scene the more likely that the subconcious will start to dig and find the answers and actions to make it a reality.
What the mind can conceive the mind can achieve! – Napoleon Hill / W Clement Stone
If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it, I know I can achieve it. – Jesse Jackson
If you think you can or you think you can’t you are right! – Henry Ford
Goal setting
Goal setting is high on the list of essential habits of successful people. Having goals for the important aspects of our life or business creates focus, motivation, direction and a sense of purpose. If you know where you are going but don’t know where you are now, you are lost. If you know where you are now but don’t know where you are going, you are hopelessly lost. You need to know both to know you are on the right track. Setting goals defines the where you are going bit. A good goal at least enables you to take the first step.
- A goal will define specifically what it is you want to achieve. Make sure that it is something that you really want to do or your unconscious mind will find a way to derail your progress with a trumped-up excuse.
- A goal will show you how to measure your success and allow you to answer the question “How will I know when I have got what I wanted?”
- Setting a goal will make you think about the possibilities and practicalities of what you are setting out to do. Is it achievable? is it challenging enough to motivate you to make progress towards it?
- When you write a goal down you will be able to assess its relevance to you higher level ‘dreams, vision or mission’. If it’s not relevant in some form or other, should you be doing it?
- You goal should include an indication of ‘time’ which will motivate you to monitor your progress! Without a Time limit your goal will be ‘open ended’ and as a result constantly ‘put off’ because of other pressing things.
Make it positive, something you want to move towards not away from. Make it personal, it’s something you want to achieve for yourself. Make it present, state you goal as if you are already achieving it!
Once the goal is set it is important to start thinking about the steps you should take in order to move towards your target. Make the first one something that can be done straight away. The first step is always the hardest but the rest will follow.
As an example here is my goal for this blog;-
I am writing a blog entry three times a week on the subject of personal development and success. The blog has 100 subscribers by the end of April 2010.
- The goal is specific – personal development blog
- The goal is measurable – 3 blogs a week, 100 subscribers
- The goal is achievable – but challenging at the same time – I know I can write 3 short articles a week but getting 100 people to subscribe to it?
- The goal is relevant to my coaching aspirations
- The goal is Time specific – 3 blogs per week, by the end of April
My first task is to write the first blog entry – Done;)
