Welcome to Focus Forward and module three of showing up as your best self.  This lesson is going to really give you the opportunity to change up how your entire day and week look.  I know how frustrating it can be to start off your day thinking that you have a clear picture of what you need to get done and even have it in your head exactly how the day is going to play out, just to walk into the office and be ambushed by everyone else’s needs.

This happens constantly and there does not seem to be an easy solution.  After all the people on our team or in our division have their projects that they are trying to move forward as well.  So, what can we do about it?  We have to set boundaries and put a time management system into place that unless the building is burning, or someone is bleeding…badly that the boundaries are immovable.  

Now I get it…people do need a piece of you and your time.  Yet, we cannot let them control the...

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Welcome to Focus Forward Business Design and module two of showing up as your best self.  As we learned in the last module, that can have a lot of different meanings but the one first step is to show up for ourselves. Now that you know what that looks like it is time to get a bit more tactical. I am Leigh and this is Focus Forward Business Design.

To-Do lists are something that come with a ton of controversy between influencers, business leaders and university business instructors as well as anyone that has ever used one. Everyone has their own opinion of how to best use a to-do list or if it is even productive to use one at all, or if you are better off to lose the to-do list and focus on priority items that only accelerate your successes, goal completion as well as joy and personal advancement goals.

I truly don’t believe there is a right or wrong answer and that it is an entirely individualized decision based on...

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Summary

• "The first person you must show up for is yourself."
• Evaluate yourself on these 5 areas: Where you are at right now, Self-Talk, Affirmations, Expressing Gratitude, Being Kind to Yourself.
• By evaluating how you are showing up for yourself, you will be more cognizant of how you treat yourself. This allows you to see the areas you can improve on, thus greatly improving how you treat yourself and show up for others.
• Showing up for others does not happen by accident. It takes practice and intentional effort, but most of all, it requires you to show up for yourself first!
• Show up for others better by actively listening, being vulnerable and expressing empathy.

Full Transcript

Welcome to Focus Forward Business Design…I am Leigh Wilson, your Certified High-Performance Coach.  We have all heard about “showing up” and it is becoming kind of a cliché phrase.  What does it exactly mean and where are we...

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Holiday Stress is a real thing and learning what you can do to make this time of year not only manageable, but enjoyable is key to truly believing it can be the most wonderful time of the year and living in the Tis the season to be jolly moments.

I am Leigh Wilson and this is Focus Forward Business Design.

We all know that the holidays in the best of times bring stress, but the past couple of years have had their own unique stressors with COVID adding travel restrictions, masking, group limits and event cancellations.  As we move into the 2021 holiday season it does seem that we have progressed past last year and a bit more normalcy may be present for this year, but that does not eliminate all the holiday stress that has been around since Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Holidays added the expectation of joyous gatherings, large meals, gifts and extended family.

I am going to wrap up an early Christmas gift for you and give you 5 reminders to reduce...

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 Summary

Listen when people speak. Really teach yourself to listen at a level that you never have before. Many people can claim to be listening and it may even appear that they are. But are they mentally engaged with the conversation or are they thinking of the next thing that they should say, or worse yet thinking about something or someone entirely separate from what is happening in front of them or on the other end of the phone? Being an influencer means caring and caring means listening and interacting. A challenge for you would be to replay a conversation that took place during your day and put yourself in the other person's shoes…how do you think that they felt when that conversation ended? Did they feel that you were an advocate for them, that you helped them or were you just a warm body that stood there and nodded? We have all been on both sides of those “courtesy” conversations and know that you walk away with...

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Summary

Leadership is a big piece of a successful business and a bazillion books have been written on what makes a great leader. Leadership has changed drastically throughout the years.  As different generations have learned through the practice of different leadership styles, what was successful and acceptable 30 years ago doesn’t fly today. 

The days of the dictatorship are just not as well received as they once were.  You may remember your parents or your grandparents if they worked a job where they were the “employee”.  They likely went to work, were told what to do, were told what the expected outcome was and they were paid for doing that job.  If the result was not as expected they may have been demoted or worse yet fired. If they did perform as expected they never heard a word about it. You typically had one leader or maybe management teams that were in charge of leading the troops and the...

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You mention the word influence and many things come to mind to different people.  I have heard people say, “role model” or “mentor”.  On the opposite end, I have heard, “manipulate” or “force”. Those are quite different feelings that one word can generate depending on the life lessons that someone has experienced. How you choose to use influence can be a major factor in the results that it produces.  Let’s jump in.

I am Leigh Wilson and this is Focus Forward Business Design

I really was amazed at how many people look at influence as a negative thing.  It made me step back with fresh eyes and take a look at what people were perceiving influence to be.  What I found out is that a large majority of the population truly felt that the definition of influence was parallel with manipulation.

What we do know and what I have always believed is that high performers have the ability and the gift to...

Summary

How can succeeding at a high level be a bad or fearful thing?  However, what we know is that there are many amazing people, maybe even you that fear success at some level.  People that have so much to offer but very likely stand in the shadows and do not contribute when their opinions or ideas could revolutionize a company or take them or their peers to a new level of accomplishment.

If this is you or someone that you know, then you may be able to understand.  If you are one that thinks that this is not a real thing, then listen and open up your mind to the possibility that not all people embrace success and strive for more of it.  All of us probably know at least one or two people that struggle with this and we don’t even know it.  We have possibly just looked at them as great support or as not being as driven as others, when in fact they are bursting with more knowledge and dreams than we can imagine. They give the impression that being a...

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Summary

1. Acknowledge your Emotions. .Understanding what you are feeling is the first step to being able to take the necessary steps to learn from it and put into play the actions needed to come out ahead.

2. See rejection as proof that you are excelling and pushing the limits.  When people reject others for who they are or what they believe in, it is often from being ignorant or because they have been made uncomfortable.  This is a good sign that you are thinking at a higher level or venturing outside the norms.  This is good, this leads to growth and new discoveries.

3. Feel compassion for yourself. Understand that this is a process and rejection is part of it.  Do not be overly critical of yourself or your hurdles.  Giving permission to learn and fail along the way.

4. Rejection does not become who you are.  Believe in yourself and your dreams and goals.  Your vision is what defines you, not the...

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Summary

Here are 4 types of fear that often stop people from taking that next step.

Number 1 - Is the Fear of ruin -   If I don’t get this correct it is going to ruin my life forever.  Or I could make a fool of myself. I could ruin my reputation or ruin this relationship.   Many times, those are onetime events that we move on from.  By pushing through these fears, we learn how to deal with it and process it.  This allows us to grow and to deal with the next challenge differently, don’t focus on what you have allowed to be a huge disaster in your mind.

Number 2 is Rejection - She won’t love me, they will laugh at me, they will think I’m stupid, that’s ok. You don’t need their permission to grow and succeed. We have all been rejected but eventually it won’t matter.  We move on and look back and it has no effect on what you do today when you choose...