From US education to Average |SPiD-UP®

I spent most of yesterday interacting with a group of students preparing for the SAT. They want to study in American universities so they can have a "better future". The story is always the same. Their parents want to ensure that they can get “good jobs”. These days when you have foreign education, you are ahead of your peers. I am personally aware of a multinational company that recruits young graduates from UK universities even before they are graduates. So these young people and their parents have a point. It is good security if you want “the job”. Unfortunately they don’t appear to have any idea what “the job” is.

Young Fred caught my attention because he asked a lot of questions. The conversation appeared very new to him. His goal is to become a civil engineer so I probed further. The whys, the Who, the What and Where- you know the drill. It turned out that an uncle he loves a great deal is an engineer except he didn't realize he is not a civil engineer but rather a mechanical engineer. Fred doesn't appear to understand the difference but claims he has passion for civil engineering.

He had said that he likes to spend time with his uncle (who I should mention lives in the USA). “He used to fix cars before he left for the greener pastures of the US. Now he works or airplanes” Fred added. From my own experience, uncles and Aunties who live abroad are the coolest people in the family until you are old enough to understand what is going on around you. Taking a path that is influenced by them could be a very dangerous venture.

As far as his parents go, they just want him to get a good education and get a good job. For this they are ready to spend the almost 50,000 USD. I did not get the impression that they were interested in any talents or interest he may have at all.  In fact I do not believe there has been any real discussion about his future beyond the fact that he is going to need a job. When I asked about his natural gifts he said he could rap quite well when he was in primary school but he stopped because his parents complained and asked him to focus on his books. So he did.

When I asked him if his parent knew a millionaire called JZ he just giggled. He wasn’t evens sure if they knew a guy called Reggie Rockstone. When I threw the famous what will you do if I gave you a million dollars now at him; the usual house and car and provide for my family came almost instantly. This is the reason he wants a good job and why he needs an American education. There has been no real discussion with his parents or teachers as to what he wants to do with his future and how he can be the best he can be. There is no definition of what it will mean to reach his best. As a Christians you would think the idea of serving the purpose for which God created Fred will be an automatic. Not the case. If he had any talents at all, his parents don’t know about it and if they did, they don’t consider it valuable.

He wants to live what he called a good life although he is not sure what that is. He believes money will make him happy because everything revolves around money. The concept that money is only a medium of exchange and that what he seeks could actually be something else sounded like the strangest thing in the world. He is familiar with the word passion and why it is needed so he uses the word to justify his unclear choices but doesn't appear to have any passion beyond fidgeting with his mobile phone. He is about to add to our already overloaded average bracket even with his expensive US education. Nothing unusual there; It is the norm. The rest of the groups were pretty much the same.

After Fred I did a short session with some Swiss and Congolese friends who understood what I do more than my own people. We were soon discussing how Ghana can be better so I brought up Fred’s story. Then I was asked the one question we always ask ourselves as Ghanaian.  A question I have attempted to answer so many times I have even developed several theories to explain it. Why do we have so many Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Stanford, LSE etc graduates running things in this nation and yet we never make any progress? As I broke into another lecture of theories and hypothesis’ (hey that’s what I do…lol) I couldn't help wondering what good all this really is? My Swiss friends were nodding their heads… obviously interested with my blabbing- at least I was making some sense of the situation theoretically.

I had probably left young Fred more confused than he was when he sat in that chair to talk to me. If I could press a button to fix his problem, I would. But it takes a lot more than that. I learnt a lot from Fred yesterday. You will be amazed where your lessons will come from. I think I may have learnt more than I taught yesterday. Our high schools are not doing enough by way of career counseling. The kids are really confused like I was when I was their age. Not surprising we have wrong people in the wrong places. I myself have been a square peg in a round hole for a long time. I had to learn the hard way.

The issues are simple; if we continue to churn out more averagers, who just want a position that provides them with the opportunity to rob the rest of us, we will remain on the underdevelopment treadmill for a long time. We will be continuing the average cycle which may not in itself be such a bad thing unless you know that our average is below average per world standards. Using the wrong tools for the job never brought the best results anywhere and leakages have the habit of wasting power. Yet I am no pessimist. |SPiD-UP®

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Perform for money: YES you can! Part 1

I almost got into trouble recently arguing as usual about what is ethical when it comes to money. In the last few days I have had to ask myself a few questions in order not end up with an incredibly biased article. What I believe should be irrelevant at this point- indeed I am myself involved in a few money making ventures of my own. I  cannot deny its importance.

The debate about the importance of money is getting old and boring in fact. Since a majority of us are now arguing in favor of money maybe it is not a bad thing to be money conscious. Maybe we should accept it and look into how performance can play a role in our attempt at making money. 

They say that you can’t do anything without money these days. In church, money answereth all things and some even put forward very interesting paradoxical arguments justifying why pastors must be rich. What is the real reason why people spend their last pennies in church?  I believe it is because they are hoping the lord will bless them with more money. And is there anything wrong with the church asking for money given that they are providing a valuable service to the congregation. I mean if the congregation didn’t think the service valuable and worth it then why are they there in the first place. They must be getting something they are happy with right? I d like to think; Yes! So out with that argument: if you like it pay for it and pay what you believe it is worth. After all, not all pastors earn the same figures. It is one market and every player gets their share according to their input- i.e. performance. Even pastors and churches must be concerned with performance.

The idea is simple: money is but a reward for service rendered in one way or another. Secondly it is a medium of exchange- meaning that you only need it because it enables you to do other things that you believe will bring you happiness. In fact it is the happiness factor that you are after when you set out to make money. So here is a question: how much money will you make before you decide you have enough? I mean the likes of Donald Trump are still trying to make money. Research says that it is an endless journey for those who worry about money. Who doesn't worry about money? You will be amazed!

In performance theory the happiness you seek can come from performing a certain activity. The trouble is that most people haven’t figured out what this activity. I should add that it is different for everyone. Those who have found the right activity to engage in; experience a feeling that that last longer than sexual orgasm yet has a similar effect. Those who experience this phenomenon performing this activity also make money performing this activity because they are usually the best at it. And because the feeling they derive from performing this activity they do it more often than others. That also means they get more practice than others making them the best at it. These are the high performers of society.

It should be clear at this point that those who say they seek money and are not interested in my kind of rhetoric must first seek to improve their performance. When performance improves, everything else improves. If you want to earn six figures, then give six figure performances. It doesn’t get any simpler than that. There is more of course to this matter. Look out for the part two. |REV-UP®

Some questions you can use to check your levels. Email the answers to  csd.ghana@gmail.com to join our no-obligation,  one month free performance coaching program.

What is your current occupation and are you earning enough?

Which comes first; is it the money or the means by which you earn it?

How much money will be enough and what will you do after you have enough?

If you receive a billion today, will you continue in your current occupation and why?

How would you compare your performance to those who have a similar occupation but are earning more than you?

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Undo the limiting effects of goals

In a recent workshop a young lady asked me a very simple question that turned out not to be so simple to answer if I was going to make sense.

What if I don’t want to perform at my peak? All I want is a very simple life that’s all”.

Husband, house, care and some children is all she wants. She doesn’t want to change the world or go to Mars or any of those things people dream about.  Have I taken this peak performance thing a little too far? We don’t all want to change the world. On Facebook, a discussion started when a young lady posted on her wall:

“my goal in life is just to become a wife”.

She had met a young man she is so in love with; the most important thing for her now is to be his wife—that’s it. Now a comment like that is bound to attract some attention in the very Jean-Paul Sartre/ Simone de Beauvoir world we live in. And it did.  Well everyone is reading Napoleon Hill and listening to Brian Tracy these days aren’t they? So it is almost standard for us to call that kind of thinking limiting. After all we are the “the sky is your limit” generation. Ok, in case you haven’t heard, we have gone beyond that actually. Now it is more like“the sky is not your limit”.

Recently a pastor friend of mine also made a comment in a radio discussion about, not needing goals as it might be best to leave it all to God. We just have to do his will and everything should be fine- we become like Moses (a performing personality of course). Moses didn’t really start life knowing he was going to be leading some Israelites to a new land did he? After all God is our biggest fan and is probably the only one who truly has your best interest at heart so why don’t we just leave the goal thing to him.

If you have been reading my work, you probably already know that I am the guy behind the dead-end goals idea. Lately I have been exploring the question of whether goals (whether dead-end, smart or intelligent) in themselves can be limiting. The answer is a scary one indeed. In my line of work, we place a lot of importance on setting goals and rightfully so- we need the structure it brings to things. No one hits a target that doesn’t exist. BUT the plain truth is; some people have hit targets they did not really predetermine. But for those who set goals there is a question regarding whether they could have picked a better target or not. Really how are we to know? I am going to avoid discussing what the experts’ theories say about setting goals for a minute and deal with the issue on a more practical level.

How can we determine with some precision what the exact possible ability of a person is? Could Michael Jackson have given us more? How do we know that he really did reach his peak and that there wasn’t any more room for improvement? Did Bob Marley reach his peak? Could he have done more in his thirty six years he lived? The answer is YES! But that is easy to decide for someone who passed in their prime. Can we say the same for a person who passed at 80?

I have been toying with the idea that the term peak performance itself could be limiting. For example, I have no way of knowing what a client is ultimately capable of in my work as a performance coach although I might be able to understand  to some degree what is achievable as per what they have. It cannot be pre-determined. Perhaps it will be wiser not to place a ceiling on where we can reach or what we can be. Setting a life goal as most are doing these days can have this limiting effect.

This is where my pastor friend might have a point although it will need exploring further. For those for us who believe in a God who has a plan and purpose for us, our goals can be limiting but only if they are out of sync with his purpose for us. This is why having a God is useful because it gives you an all knowing personality to turn to for answers. And while you might set goals, it will be based on his will and hence you will benefit from his guidance and direction. None one creates a thing and wants it to under-perform. Having a God also brings some structure to our lives giving it a direction that we must travel in. This is extremely important because in that direction we can set goals with a high degree of certainty. And when we reach it, we can always set another one as long as it is in the same direction.

For my lady friend who just wants to be a wife, there is such a thing as a good wife and a bad wife. Both are indeed wives. When we say the goals is just to become a wife we haven’t really said much. But if it is to be the best wife there has ever been, or perhaps even the best wife in your family, then we can immediately see a threshold that makes your goal S.M.A.R.T in more than one way but yet still limiting in a sense. Wife is a position that is meaningless until we use it to accomplish something.

We might be able to find the best wife there has ever been but why would we assume that there cannot be a better wife in the future and that in fact that could not be our lady friend. We don’t stop living when we reach something and since the sky is not the limit, where does it end. A person must then keep performing till he passes on, it is then that we can look at what they did with what was available to them. We must also remember that as we grow older, capabilities may change and that will influence the context of performance.

In search of a solution however, I believe that my idea of intelligoals may be the practical way to go without necessarily stepping too far from God’s will. Well I am still performing so I am likely to bring clarity to the matter before I pass on and when that happens, you will be the first to know J. 

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Confuse thou not the branding

So the branding thing has really caught on. Almost everyone is talking about branding yourself especially motivational speakers. The idea is to make yourself unique enough to be spotted from the crowd. It also helps narrow yourself down to a target group that identifies with what you represent. This then makes it easy for you to sell because you will have the right product, with the right customer- that’s a good mix.   Unfortunately like everything else the whole idea has been perverted. Whiles the branding idea is part of the marketing philosophy; it predates any subject of study but that’s another story for another day.

For the safety of the neophyte not to shoot themselves in the head before they have started out, I shall present two ways to look at the branding thing. Inside-out (positive) and outside-in (negative). As the terms implies one is when you start with the looks and attempt to work your way to the substance. It will take effort you probably cannot afford and promises nothing but a struggle to match an image you have created. This is outside-in branding. Inside out on the other hand follows a natural flow of things and requires very little effort. You paint yourself according to what you already are. You are magnifying and polish what you are so people can identify the substance by the looks.

Mention the word branding and you will hear a lot about labels and images. Well labels give you an image don’t they? So a seemingly good advice often given is to make sure you label yourself the “right” way. Present yourself the right way so you can attract the needed attention. While, this is true, you might also want to stop and ask; if you get it wrong and that happens a lot more than you might think. And it starts when you brand outside-in: i.e deciding to make yourself what people want or want to see. Saying what they want to hear and such.  This is negative branding and its results are short-lived. Ever bought a product because of the way it looks only to be disappointed with what’s inside? Don’t judge a book by its cover apparently still holds and that’s made real using the outside-in method.

A brand is something you already have whether you accept it or not. People know you for one thing or another whether good or bad is irrelevant here at this point. This is because that’s what you are. No matter how you color yourself, they will soon see through to what you really are. You are what you are and what you are then is the best place to start your branding. Your effort must go towards the best way to present what you are and not a change. If you are a terrible dresser, you will never out dress the person who is naturally a good dresser. Maybe once or twice but you will soon relapse into green shirts and red shoes. You just do not have it unless of course you hire someone to take care of your wardrobe. I am not implying that you don’t make an attempt at looking good. I am saying that it is best not to be known for your dressing as you cannot back it up all the time. It’s just not you. If fashion is your thing however, you must certainly be known for your dressing and let the no-sense-of-fashion people like myself come to you for advice.

From the bright side of things however, there is something about you that some people will find useful. Notice I said some people. It just means not everyone wants what you have. They may actually prefer the nice dressing guy and that’s fine. People must get what they want not something that looks like what they want. You want to be what they want and when you show up you must look like what they want- so yes color yourself but to match what you really are inside. Inside-out branding is then the more useful one as it’s allows what is inside to reflect outside. So that those who want you will find it easy to identify you knowing that what they see is what they will get.

Having the wrong spouse and fighting to keep them has never helped anybody. Yet very often we present ourselves in a way that others might find attractive so we can win them over. That takes a short period to accomplish and but takes a life time of struggle to maintain. This happens in all relationships either work or love. r you.

What does this have to do with performance? Everything! I suggest you also read the blurred line between walk and talk.

The following questions help you make a valuable assessment.

Is there a gap between how you present yourself and what you really are? Describe the difference.

Recall a specific situation where you have said you could do something that you knew you couldn't?

What was the motive behind your action?

Have you ever been disappointed when you came near someone you admired from far?

What was different about them compared to the image you had about them from far?

Email the answers to  spidup@csdafrica.com to join our no-obligation,  one month free performance coaching program.

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Take the pain out of the job

Most people start a new job with great enthusiasm but change within a few months when they have settled in. They become familiar with the environment and get used to the culture. They have left the primary need zone and now they want more than being able to feed, clothe and shelter themselves. A new set of eyes open and they soon start seeing the negatives of the job and the environment. All of a sudden the attitude and management style of the boss is so bad they will take the next opportunity to leave. At this point, performance stagnates or begins to drop. You know you have been there.

Well this is not exactly surprising at all as most people choose jobs simply because they want to meet an immediate need. The need for survival means they will work in any environment and even accept a low salary ignoring all the warning signs that kept screaming; “you will be unhappy in this job”. They literally walk into “trapportunistic” jobs. This is the downside of working for money only. I am not about to reecho the ever popular “do what you love”. In fact I think it is getting boring; although it is the single most useful advice anyone can give you. Also, many people set dead-end goals. An example of which is simply to get a certain job or join a certain profession. Jobs and professions are vehicles (means) to be used to achieve something specific(end). It is this something specific that must drive the choices we make regarding occupation. This kind of motivation is of the intrinsic kind. When you are motivated from inside, the bad boss, low salary, and time spent commuting to work, your unfriendly colleagues all fade into the background and the most important thing really is what you do and how it makes you feel. In fact if you can get what you do right, it will fix all the so- called problems you have that affect your performance as you will engage wholeheartedly ignoring everything else. Nobody ever did a good job half-heartedly.

So what can one do when they are already in a job they hate? Reverse the do what you love idea. Well you already skipped the opportunity to do what you love. love what you do is the only way out. No; I won’t tell you to quit because that can be a problem in itself. You do that by finding all the possible good things about your job no matter how small and believe me they exist. Since you function by your lower needs, allow your mind to start seeing how this job feeds, clothes and shelters you. Balance that against how your life will be if you didn't have the job. Think about how it helps you to indulge in something you really like doing-- now that’s a healthy bridge to build. Your performance should be influenced positively.

Why this works is simple: your thoughts create feeling which triggers behavior. This exercise will help improve your feeling and that will improve your attitude towards your work.  You will soon see; that your boss may be bad but really not the worst one in the world. In fact you might learn that you two actually have something in common and that his wife probably went to the same high school as yours. Whiles this may improve your performance, it is only a temporary measure as you will never be happy and fulfilled in any job unless you are made for each other. What you need is a job that doesn’t require effort just to engage and you need to do it for a reason that is more inspiring that feeding and clothing yourself.

So now you know what to do if you are trapped in a job you chose without thinking: build a bridge between where you are and a place you want to get to. Create a transition plan. You cannot be your best when you are unhappy with what you do or people you do it with or for. You can’t change the people or the environment but you can change how you think about them. Of course there are many other factors that come to play if you want to be your best. In the meantime read “try true love” . Have a high performing day.

Answering the following questions is a great way to start.

How does your current job make you feel?

What could be different if you actually loved your job?

What needs to happen to improve your affection for your job?

What do you dislike about your job the most and why?

Is this a solvable problem and who’s responsibility is it?

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Funny Face vs. David Oscar |Performance

Who is doing and who is being?

In a Skype conversation with a lady friend, she made a remark about how funny I was. She thought I belong on stage. That was good news because I had been deliberately trying hard to make her laugh. Well… I have heard somewhere that if you can make a woman laugh you can get her to do anything. Forget it! I am not going to tell you what I wanted to get her to do once I had succeeded in making her laugh enough to do anything I want.

The truth is that maybe when she has done what it is I want her to do; she might find out later that I am not a funny guy after all. It will be literally impossible to continue what I had started because I am simply not a funny guy. I am in fact one of those serious guys who sits behind a computer with either a blank face or a weird frown all day. Sexy- I know. Unless I have succeeded in making the woman on the other side of Skype laugh of course- that always brings a smile to my face. Anybody can tell a joke if their life depended on it. And we all try the funny guy thing with the ladies although not all of us are lucky. Nowadays you can pick up a great joke from the internet and Ghananise it for your personal use. No big deal. After all you paid for the internet… or did you?

But when my lady friend literally begged me to replace David Oscar on the VIASAT1 comedy show; laugh a minute, it suddenly dawned on me that I was not the only one who is not digging the guy and his work. I mean this guy won a national comedy competition didn't he? A feat that will make anyone with enough grey matter expect more from him than he is giving. He is after all the best we have. Or is he? Seriously if there was an international comedy competition, are we going to choose David Oscar to represent Ghana? I knew your answer before you said it.

I honestly do not recollect laughing at anything he has said or done.  More often than no I think he and his jokes have been involved in place swapping or maybe that’s just me. The company that gave us David Oscar has the biggest comedy and entertainment stages in the country and they have never featured David. They also have an entertainment channel that doesn’t feature David Oscar. How about that for the regular dose of irony needed to make an article complete. It makes it hard to explain why is on VIASAT 1.

I ran a little survey on my facebook wall. Not that the sampling was great but at least it confirmed my suspicion. Funny face is almost everyone agrees is doing a wonderful job by our not good enough comedy’ standards. Whiles he makes a lousy actor on his TV3 chorkor trotro and frankly I do not watch the show, he had done marvelously well at hosting events and stand-up comedy. Most people agree he is light years ahead of David Oscar who seems to be struggling with the whole comedy thing. Hey I have nothing against the guy… actually he seems like a really nice chap.

David Oscar graduated from the school of performing arts, a highly respected faculty in our nation’s premier university where the great Martin Owusu is in charge. Whiles I am not sure what Oscar’s major was, he is certainly in the wrong job unless he’s got some surprises coming. Somehow I doubt that. Funny face however (judging from his limited English vocabulary- an ailment I can claim I also suffer from) is a high school graduate. So what’s making all the difference? Talent! Pure natural talent!  

 

I have had the opportunity of hosting a wedding with funny face. I didn't know who he was then but the suit he wore on the day had struggling artist written all over it. That wedding would have been a complete disaster if funny face hadn't showed up. I told you before; I am just not that guy. He had everybody laughing and there was no script. I gave him a lift after the wedding and he barely said a word till he got off. The guy seemed very disciplined and incredibly focused. The next time I saw him, he was on the biggest comedy stage in the country with the best from Nigeria and he was the only one wearing a suit made by Gucci featuring Louis Vuitton and he did not disappoint. So let’s face it the guys got talent or he won’t be hanging with KSM.

These days Funny face is everywhere. Is he the new face of Ghana Comedy, I think so. Nobody seems to be paying David Oscar any attention. Oscar however seems to be doing well in an acting role in the TV3 series peeps. Of the two, Funny face is performing better in terms of the stand-up comedy but I will hand the acting over to Oscar. I mean… I have to give the guy something.

When funny face peaks, great things will happen but he has to continue in an upward trend. My little research on YouTube was showing the same jokes all the time. The Sampson and Delilah/Adam and Eve thing must go. Funny face may be the best thing since Waterproof, Fritz Baffour and the super versatile trend setting KSM but he has not hit is peak yet. If he is not lucky he will be stuck where when he has a lot of space above him is. Most people who get to this level don’t realize that this is where the work really begins. They chill and fade out.

We are a nation of pretenders- Fact! That is why so many people are in places they shouldn’t- Fact! Hey I have nothing against anybody. I am just the guy who is interested in a better performing nation. If you are going to do something, do it right. So I guess my point is made. There is a lot of hope of David Oscar. All he needs to do is find his true calling- It may involve some comedy but it is certainly not standup.

As a performance coach and advocate, I know how easy it is to believe you are gifted for something when in fact you belong somewhere else. Believe me; I have been there myself. David can be fixed and funny face can be upgraded. I am the guy who knows how. That’s another fact.

_____________
The last time I wrote something with names in it. I got a “danduruwa shege” in return for my good intentions. It was about people with talent dropping their skirts on national television. But that’s ok. Even Jesus was crucified… lol. For a guy who writes terrible grammar with a myriad of typos, how can I complain? Feel free to have a go at me and my work. Frankly I will be honored. J Keep laughing.

 For some great ideas on how to take your performance to the next level, read my blog. http://revupblog.blogspot.com/

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The blurred line between walk and talk

Any kind of mismatch is discord- the absence of harmony and the result is always negative. After the talk, there must be a walk and the two must match each other or output will suffer. Between the two however, the line can be very blurred for some. An alignment of the two makes full power performance possible. It is the presence of integrity which is the manifestation of a powerful structure.

You may be familiar with the phrase “talk is cheap”. Perhaps it should be followed by “walk is expensive”. Not everyone who talks the talk, walks the talk and there is a reason why. It appears though that everyone understands the importance of the talk. But a misapplication of the talk is to seek to create an image that cannot be backed by the walk that must follow. Read through a few resumes and you will see that everyone is highly efficient and willing to learn. They are all adoptive and have great interpersonal skills.  They are all great achievers and have done something wonderful for their last employers. They all have the wonderful intention of making a mark in the new job. They are all interested in helping the company achieve its goals. Of course this is what employers want to hear but does it happen when they get the job?

The case is not different when you read through corporate profiles and websites. The promises companies make hoping to entice the new client are interesting. Whether they keep these promises when given the opportunity is another story altogether. Somehow we all know what the right language is. These days you can even copy it from the big firms who have the cash to employ top experts to do their communication. It is not that hard to get the language right. The brief case businessman can sound as good as the multinational but that’s just the talk. When they get the chance to walk the talk, then there is a misalignment. The consequence for this is extremely damaging. But of course the reason behind this is the lack of understanding of the self and its capabilities. Those who hire us for a job whether we are staff or contractors want one thing-- high performance.  And since we know this we promise them that only to deliver average and less than average most of the times.

A person who wants to maximize their existence must deliver what they say and even exceed it. The reason is that to maximize our lives we need to maximize the opportunities it presents to us. To do this the integration between what we say we are and what we really are must be seamless. The line must begin to blur into nonexistence. Walk and talk are not love and hate. The talk must come from the walk. And when the two match, you deliver on promises and you have enough room for going the extra mile. Get that right and you won’t need a resume for your next job. The job will find you. When the internal you is aligned with the external you, an extremely potent force emerges- that’s what you need for full performance.

It is possible for everyone to walk the talk but the talk must start with a careful assessment of what we are truly capable of. We must build the talk around that and find exactly who it is that has a need for our true capability.

The following questions help check your levels.

Are there any gaps between your talk and your walk and how can it be addressed?

What do you think can be done to align the internal you and the external you into one powerful force?

Explain what you understand about the internal and external you?

How does it relate with the external you?

What will others who have experienced your performance say to others about you and how does that match what you say about you?

Do you really believe what you say about you?

Email the answers to  info@csdafrica.com to join our no-obligation,  one month free performance coaching program.

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Beat expectation in 15 minutes

Output is the result of your engagement in activity- performance. But Duty, usefulness and Standards are the means by which we can determine if we are performing well enough. Without them we are in a vacuum  It is a question of what we are giving out and how useful it is- especially to others. It is also the maximization of the opportunity of the larger spectrum of life itself through the maximization of the micro-opportunities that are made available to us everyday.It is not only what we expect of ourselves but also what others expect of us- and YES that counts a great deal. What others expect of us is a very complicated issue that is addressed in more detail in my work people dynamics in the SPiD-UP®  book series.

It starts with first understanding what is possible for us to be and taking the right steps in order to reach it. Peak performance is concerned with being of use- not to only  ourselves but to others as the means by which we can be happy. Indeed we can be our happiest when we are at our best but it is our duty to others that gives us the opportunity to be our best. Hence our happiness has everything to do with others. A man who goes through thick and thin and succeeds in providing the needs of his family sleeps well with satisfaction  He has fulfilled his obligations to others. It is the same when he is at work. When he leaves work at the end of the day knowing that he has done a great job, and his superiors, colleagues and customers are happy, he goes home with a good feeling. He might even attempt to meet that same standard the next day.

The feeling will be almost opposite if he knew he didn't meet the standards. People are involved in different task and outputs are not the same for everyone. However each task has a purpose and an objective: there is a reason why a specific person is chosen to do it. When one performs a task for themselves it still has a purpose and in most cases it will be a question of duty and responsibility. I get a good feeling when I am able to clean my house. Frankly it is not something I like doing but I do occasionally manage to create the right mindset to get it done because it needs to be done.

It is an obligation to myself and to others. But does it meet the standards? If I was paying someone to do my cleaning, how would I feel if they gave me the same standard I was giving myself. The answer to that and is not positive. In fact I had a lady friend walk in and ask me when I was going to clean up barely an hour after I had been cleaning. It takes an emotional intelligence guru not to take offence at such comments.  

It is important to find ways to measure what is coming out of the activity in terms of  quality and quantity but that is another story for another day. Our performance will be a waste of time if it was only about ourselves. Our scope of usefulness will be limited to ourselves and so will our influence. When others feel we are not meeting the accepted standards or not fulfilling our obligation, there is negative feedback. This negative feed back affects us whether we want to admit it or not but it is only an indicator of the effect of what we are or not doing. It affords us the opportunity to make the changes that are needed.  

Generally speaking however, positive feedback fuels performance  Being told you have done a good job generates the feeling you need to do more. To get that however, you have to ensure that you meet the standard making your output useful to others. Your objective as a peak performer however is to beat the standards and the exceed the expectation. Your own expectation and that of others. Something referred to as going the extra mile.

Expectations are driven by duty, responsibility  and usefulness and when output is alienated from these, we get the feedback we don‘t want. However, we can process the feedback we don't want into performing better so we can get the feedback we want and then use it to accelerate performance. For those who are in the right occupation this must happen without difficulty. It is the same with those who are with the right spouse. #spidup

Some questions you can use to check your levels. Email the answers to  csd.ghana@gmail.com to join our no-obligation,  one month free performance coaching program.

How can your performance today be better than that of yesterday?

How would you rate your performance at work and home with regards to duty and standards?

Are there shortfalls and how in your opinion can things be improved?

Describe the quality of your output in relation to the expectations of your colleagues and superiors?

How does the feedback you get from them affect your performance and how can things be improved?

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The inconsistency of inconsistence |REV-UP®

Consistency ensures that you are powering at full capacity. Every cycle adds to the power being generated by your activities. Whiles one cycle may not seem like much compared to the power you are looking for, it is the fundamental building block needed to reach your full capacity. When one cycle is missed therefore, you are one cycle short – that’s not your full power.

Take the engine of a car for the example. The pistons move up and down in the cylinders in order to generate the power the vehicle needs to move. The more cycles completed the more power generated. When one cycle is missed, the vehicles power is reduced. The more cycles missed the less power the vehicle will generate. Eventually the vehicle will stop and not reach the intended destination.

Your life is not that different. The cycles of your life are the crucial blocks that make up your entire life. Seconds becomes years through cycles. When a minute is one seconds short, it is not a minute. You may not consider some cycles very important yet they have a say in your final output. At work you are expected to come to work every day and spend an agreed number of hours doing something in particular.  Your work adds to the overall output of your team and organization. A single day or hour missed will affect the performance of the organization but not before it has taken away from your own performance- You are one cycle short.

Every single cycle no matter how small is important. They are the micro components of the macro life that you live and if you are to maximize your life, you must first maximize the small cycles that make it up. Imagine having a computer that decides for itself when it will work and when it won’t. My guess is you will get rid of it as soon as you can- for a more reliable one. That explains why you get fired when you don’t show up for work regularly. What about spouses and colleagues.  

My favorite fried yam seller is not there half of the time. I don’t particularly like walking all the way down there just to find out she didn't show today. That has happened one too many times so I gave up on her.  Yet she complains about not making enough money in her business. She doesn't seem to consider it important to be consistent in her work.  One customer short can hardly be described as being her best and the number of days she didn't fry any yams has everything to do with the poverty she complains about. A close friend of mine is contemplating dumping his girlfriend. As he put it…”Well she is never there when I need her”.

I don’t think I have said anything new here. Everyone knows what it means to be consistent and how it can be beneficial for one’s performance. But why then are many people so inconsistent even when they really want to be consistent. INTEREST and MOTIVATION and their effects on choice!  When interest and motivation are weak you find one of the waiting millions of reasons not to be there. To get the most out of yourself, you have to be there all the time. Not some of the time. You have to be at full power all the time not some of the time. One cycle short is not full power. |REV-UP®  

Some questions you can use to check your levels. Email the answers to  csd.ghana@gmail.com to join our no-obligation,  one month free performance coaching program.

When the last time you missed work was and what reason did you give?

Did your reason match the truth?

What is the real reason why you do what you do where you do it?

Do you find it hard to be consistent at anything at all in your life?

Give an example

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