doug smith training

If working on your goal doesn't bring you joy, how will achieving it ever make you happy? The work may be tough but if the nature of the work allows you to feel happiness, joy, or pride, you'll more likely stick with it. If it disconnects you from your authentic self, wherever it leads is probably the wrong place for you. Choose goals that bring you joy, even when the work is hard. You've got to work hard anyway, right? -- doug smith  

Have you ever had a problem that seemed to be propelled by people's personalities? When it's hard to get along our problems can linger on. Here's what I do: take a breath, take nothing personally, and take charge of taking the next step. What would you do? It's possible to be wrong about the personalities involved in a problem AND it's also possible to be wrong about the problem, and when we're wrong about both we only complicate the problem. Take a breath -- maybe we're jumping to conclusions or distorting what we see. Take nothing personally -- even if it's your problem taking it personally will only complicate the issue. Take charge -- that problem won't go away on its own and that personality won't be any more friendly unless you build the rapport.  A centered problem solver detaches the problem from the personalities. -- doug smith 

Leaders do need a vision, a focus on where to go next, and they also need the pragmatic determination to get the work done now. Look ahead, but live right here. Your goal may loom ahead, while the work is right in front of you. -- doug smith  

Discipline gives us the power to do what we want to do -- and that comes from developing discipline by doing work we don't want to do... That might sound like a paradox but it's more like a matched pair. I'm not saying that we should do a lot of work that we don't like, but rather that sometimes within the work that we choose are tasks that we would not have chosen. Those necessary but unappealing tasks give us the opportunity to persist -- to stick to our goals because of and sometimes in spite of the details. Discipline. You can live without it, but you probably won't achieve your goals that way. -- doug smith

My late friend and fraternity brother, Jim Aker, a man of serious intellect and even more serious opinions, was an avid fisher. One time in Colorado, he was fishing with a mutual friend and confounded her with the concept of "catch and release." "If you catch it after all this work, shouldn't you keep it?" she asked. Jim just smiled. Nah, he probably had a lot to say about it. Achieving your goals is not fishing, and it certainly is not "catch and release" fishing but let's face it, sometimes you have to let go of a goal that's getting you nowhere. Pretending a goal matters is ending any chance that you'll achieve it. Make the goal important enough that you will apply the discipline you'll need to achieve it -- or let it go. -- doug smith  

How important is commitment to you? When someone tells you that they will do something, are you fine with a casual "maybe they will, maybe they won't" or are you looking for a true commitment? It's not always easy to find these days and yet it is more valuable than ever: commitment. If you want high performance results it takes commitment. If you want quality service for your customers it takes commitment. When there is an easy way out, people will find it unless they are committed to excellence. Everything is optional until you commit. -- doug smith  

  Have you ever found yourself in a light-hearted conversation and realized that it was becoming profound? Maybe you came up with new ideas. Maybe you collaborated on solving a problem. Talking can lead to great things. Casual conversations create connections that lead to better results. We simply work better when we get along. We don't need to agree - but we do need to connect. -- doug smith

  Quality of thinking is the core of control. Control your thoughts and you can control your words. Control your words and you can control your actions. Control your actions and you can control your results. It all starts with the quality of your thinking. -- doug smith

Get started and keep going.  Patience paired with persistency provides great power. -- doug smith  

We do have time for mistakes. We don't have time to ignore them. -- doug smith  

Great coaches check the score for cheating -- not to accuse but to develop discipline.  Remember, if you're willing to win at any costs the cost is too high. Great coaches develop more than performance because character is even more important than results. -- doug smith

Leaders need courage. They also need compassion. We can use our compassion to balance our courage, and use our courage to increase our compassion. Compassion is so vital we must never give up on it. No matter how angry we are, no matter how disappointed we feel, no matter how high the stakes -- stay with compassion. If it cannot be done with compassion, it should not be done. -- doug smith 

How do you feel about rules that are imposed on you? A new procedure, a different process, some change that feels awkward and unwelcome? Most people hate that sort of thing. That means that when we as leaders seek to make a change it's worth considering how many voices we've allowed into the conversation. Do people feel included? Are they likely to approve of some new restriction? It's harder to follow rules that you didn't approve. The best way to influence that challenge is to give people a voice, and, then listen. -- doug smith 

You don't need excuses as much as you do courage. In those moments when you're not sure if you should do what you're about to do because it just doesn't feel right -- maybe it seems to collide with one of your values -- what if you used that pause, that hesitation, to think it thru? There's always a catch if your values don't match. Something will always give. If it's one of your values that has to give, how will you feel about that later? -- doug smith  

Whatever the reason is for telling a lie, it's not a good reason. A noble purpose never justifies telling lies. For now, and forever, tell the truth. -- doug smith  

There are two sides to every challenge: the challenge itself, and the fear of missing. What if you fail? What if the challenge overcomes you? What if you're not enough? The challenge is enough! We don't need to add the fear of that challenge, too. Maybe it will propel you forward, or maybe it will slow you down -- either way the fear is a choice. Stay with the challenge. Stay with the effort and the work and the focus. Persistence pays off when fear is your foe. Your persistence will win. -- doug smith  

It hurts to feel that you're not good enough. Doubts creep in and sting with a discouraging pain. But what if there's another way to process it? Not good enough, as bad as it feels, is always true, isn't it? We can always be better. We should constantly improve. And sometimes, in that process, we can realize that good enough -- for now -- may be good enough. Until we make it better. Let's enjoy the moment, and breathe, and then focus on making it better. -- doug smith  

If it feels like you need magic or miracles to achieve your goals, forget about magic and miracles and double down on work and discipline. If you're not there yet, keep going! -- doug smith  

Your best chance for success is to do what you do best. -- doug smith  

Sometimes a normally great performers gets in a slump, like an athlete who can't find their flow. Whatever the job, it's possible to get in your flow and it's possible to fall out of your flow. The flow is the place where you do your best work, where the conditions that create your own personal space for success propel your performance forward. When our team members fall out of their flow (maybe they've got an emotional challenge, maybe their favorite piece of equipment is malfunctioning, maybe more problems than usual are bombarding them...) we can help.  By coaching constantly we can recognize each team member's flow AND recognize when they are out of their strength and into trouble.  Coaches don't fix people but they can help them find their flow. Who needs your help at finding their flow? What feedback can you share that will help them get it back? -- doug smith  More On Flow Distinctive to each person, although you may observe similarities Requires the righ

Find your flow -- the conditions and mood when you are at your absolute best, and you've found ultimate control.  Your flow could change. You will continue to learn and to grow. Why not accelerate that learning? Start where you already flow, and go! -- doug smith

How much coaching do you do? Coaching others comes with many benefits, including one that is easily forgotten and yet oh so helpful. Do you know what that is? In addition to helping someone improve their performance, building a better relationship with them, and gaining more understanding of that person, here's another spectacular benefit from coaching: The more you coach others the ore you learn about yourself. You might not LIKE everything that you learn about yourself (in fact, if you DO I'd say you might not be paying attention!) but you will continue to learn.  Open up the possibilities, for others AND for yourself. Coach. -- doug smith

A great coach helps you discover how much better you can perform. -- doug smith