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“Resourceful people are happier, more successful, and have more satisfying relationships.”

~ Chandell Labbozzetta

Yes, You CAN Become Resourceful… if You Want To!

Before you waste your time reading this article, let me ask you a question:

Do you actually WANT to become resourceful?

Not too long ago… In fact, not much more than 12 months ago, most people who read this article would have said, “Yes!”

These days, I’m finding that people like the ‘idea’ but not the reality.

It’s amazing what uncertainty, a global pandemic, and government interventions can do!

Here are three quick questions to test your mettle:

Are you willing to own your current results… Or do you blame others for them?
Do you take action… Or do you wait for direction, permission, or circumstances?
Are you ready to change your behaviour… Or do you hope that you can keep doing the same things and yet achieve different results?

If your answers were weighted to the right hand side, and you are happy with those behaviours then you’re probably not ready to make the shift from reactive to resourceful. On the other hand, if you still think that you’d like a little more control over your life, then maybe you should rethink your willingness to change.

What Does This Change Demand of You?

Resourcefulness is really about control and ownership.

One of my favourite sayings is, “You can’t control the wind, but you can control the sails.” In today’s terms that means that you can’t control what governments, authorities, and germs will do to your circumstances, but you can control your actions.

So, creating change demands VISION, COMMITMENT, and ACTION.

The surprising thing for many people is that you can become more resourceful just by practicing a few tiny (but transformational) habits.

Step #1: VISION

What was the first thing you did when you arrived at work this morning?

If you opened emails or other communication channels to decide what you would tackle first, then you’re becoming the victim of other people’s priorities and the chances are you are not completing your own high value activities.

This usually happens because you don’t have a clear vision or goal for your role, or at least for your day.

The first step to becoming more resourceful is to clarify your vision and then make sure that you set your task for the first hour of the next day according to your goals before you leave (or stop) work each evening.
When you do this, you are telling yourself that you have something important to do… And you are also triggering a resourceful response to interruptions, distractions, and derailments.

Step #2: COMMITMENT

Start by taking control of your day in small steps. You can commit to one hour of self-determination for a month (your first hour) even if you aren’t yet ready to take control of a larger chunk.

Once you see how effective that mental decision is and how it helps you discover resourceful ways of deferring interruptions, you’ll be motivated to take bigger steps, but it’s important to start with a “No matter what” commitment… And I really do mean, “No matter what!” Unless you are dead or dying, don’t let anything derail that commitment!

Step #3: ACTION

Just do it!

Don’t think about it. Don’t write about it. Don’t talk about it. DO IT!

… Now notice what you accomplished.

Was it enough?
Was it more than you expected?
Was it less than you expected?
What will you change about the way you set your goal tonight?
Will you do something different tomorrow?

Spend a few minutes journaling about your experience, then feel free to go back to your usual schedule – until tomorrow morning.

You’ll be surprised at how your entries change over the course of the next 30 days… And you’ll be ready to decide whether resourcefulness and control is something you want to pursue, or whether you’re happy reacting to whatever the universe sends your way.

“Either you own your work, your time, and your results, or you delegate ownership to other people. When you take ownership, you become resourceful because success or failure are in your own hands.”

~ Chandell Labbozzetta

Your Actions Tell the Story

If you wanted to predict the long term success of an employee, colleague, family member… or even yourself, you might be surprised to learn that there’s an easy way to do it.

Find out if they’re reactive or resourceful.

Resourceful people are generally happier, more productive, and more likely to achieve their goals than those who spend their days reacting to people, news, and circumstances.

Let’s start by defining our terms:

A reactive person:

Keeps an eye on their email or message system to discover what they need to work on each day;
Is easily interruptible and highly distracted because they make other people’s problems their priorities;
Often fails to complete their tasks and meet deadlines causing problems for colleagues;
Has a long list of excuses (or reasons) why things didn’t work out.

A resourceful person:

Starts each day with a plan (often formulated the night before) – which might involve troubleshooting an issue or responding to someone else;
Focuses on the most important things and responds to emergencies appropriately and decisively because they have clarity;
Meets deadlines consistently and makes their colleagues lives’ easier;
Takes responsibility for failures and mistakes and makes a plan to avoid future occurrences;
Celebrates successes.

Which group did you fall into?

Attitude Underlies Action

Your actions show your resourcefulness. Your attitudes determine your resourcefulness.

IF you believe…

That other people should pay the price for your mistakes
That you should follow instructions blindly even when there is no urgency about the situation
That it’s not your place to make suggestions or point out potential pitfalls
That you should wait for direction and not proactively look for tasks that need to be completed…

THEN… you will always have a long list of reasons why things do or do not work out.

That may shield you comfortably from any blame, but it will also erode your self-esteem and make long-term success unlikely. It may be a sliding scale, rather than a binary choice, but most people are consistent through all areas of their life.

Reactivity and the Erosion of Self-Esteem

When Adrian came to see me, he was worried about all the work that needed to get finished so that he could support his family and spend more time with them. He felt as though he was struggling to perform at work and at home and every day he felt more of a failure. It was clear that he was so busy reacting to the world around him that he felt totally unresourceful and it was also clear that his diminishing self-respect was going to catch up with him even though he presented a confident and decisive face to the world.

As we talked about what was going on at work, it was clear that Adrian was showing up each day and checking email to decide what his first task would be. By the time he got around to the tasks that would create momentum (when he was able to do so) it was already late in the day, time was short and his energy was at a low level. He knew that he was not making the contribution he wanted to and day by day his self-esteem was slipping away. Toward the end of our first session, he finally shared the incident that was the tipping point for him – the evidence that he needed outside help:

“You know the old joke about ‘the dog ate my homework’? I’ve found myself tempted to make excuses and blame other people whenever there’s a stuff-up.

Once upon a time (not very long ago), my attitude was, ‘If I worked on it, then I own it.’ Now I’ve slipped into the habit of ‘shared work, shared responsibility’. The problem with that is that if no-one honestly owns the work, then you can’t fix it.

I don’t want to be that person because:

1. It really does affect the way I see myself and flow over into all my relationships; and

2. I get mad when I hear other people shifting blame.”

Can you help me go back to where I used to be?

Adrian’s Intervention

I was impressed by Adrian’s openness and self-awareness.

He had seen the erosion of his self-esteem and decided to ask for help because, although he had identified his unwanted behaviour correctly, he wasn’t sure about the cure. In addition, he was worried because the behaviours he hated in himself were evident in those around him as well: blame shifting, making excuses, wasted effort…

I shared with Adrian a simple, yet powerful technique that I teach in my coaching and online programs that helped him become more resourceful… And the results were fast and fantastic!

Within a month his:

Depression vanished;
Interest and engagement with his wife and kids was renewed – along with an increased awareness of their respect for him;
Productivity skyrocketed;
Sense of self-esteem, purpose and clarity increased;
Work offered him a promotion and pay rise.

And do you know what… When his inner landscape changed, so did his income and;

Internal Accountability

All the talk of the Pandemic and the many ways that governments have intervened to overturn previously autonomous businesses has eroded people’s sense of resourcefulness and personal power at an alarming rate. I’m concerned about the impact on businesses and even more concerned about the effect on people’s mental and emotional health that is evident in the way people are responding to challenges.

At the end of the day, the only person whom you can really be accountable for is yourself. Internal accountability is hard work, which is why most people turn to coaches and mentors for external accountability. The problem is that sometimes a coach or mentor will take your excuses and the stories you tell yourself on board because they don’t want to be the bad guy. That’s why my programs provide accountability, but are designed to help you become your own accountability partner: aware, determined, and resourceful rather than dependent on an external source.

Next week we’re going to talk about how you can change those unresourceful attitudes and actions so that you can create the success you want, and build your self-esteem quickly, without expensive therapy.

Discover what’s next – https://lifepuzzle.com.au/3-steps-to-becoming-resourceful/

“Do not let yourself be a slave to chance, but let your dauntless mind shape the triumphant future you choose.”

~ Chandell Labbozzetta (paraphrase of William Shakespeare)

You: A Walled Fortress

In one of her essays, Simone Weil, Jewish-French philosopher and holocaust survivor reflects on the role of walls in our lives. When I read her thought-provoking reflection, I was reminded of many clients I’ve worked with over the years. Some used walls as an excuse to hide, others used them to communicate, still others smashed the walls wide open.

This is a paraphrase of Weil’s thoughts applied to people I know and clients I’ve worked with – including the ones who choose NOT to CHANGE.

When you are shut up in a row of cells, there is a wall that separates you from the prisoner in the next cell. Sometimes prisoners develop codes for communicating with other prisoners, creating a sense of community in their suffering, Sometimes ,prisoners are able to tunnel under the walls and communicate secretly, but more extensively. Sometimes, a miracle happens, the walls disintegrate, sunlight enters, and the prisoner is freed.

When that happens, the question is: how will the prisoner respond to freedom?

My goal (and the purpose for which I built LifePuzzle) isn’t to ‘influence’ people.

It’s to create change!

I’ve seen too many people who had all the resources, gifts, talents, and time they needed, choose to stay inside the walls of their self-confessed prison to think that ‘influence’ will be enough.

The Cost of Security and Self-Protection

For a prisoner, a wall can be frustrating as it stops them from building relationships and achieving their dreams.

So… Maybe you have built walls around you like a fortress, for protection from your fears. Unfortunately, the walls that shut others out, also shut you inside and stop you from achieving your dreams – or even setting your feet on the path toward them.

I’m not suggesting that you ignore precautions and recklessly go out in search of danger. Fear is an appropriate response to danger. The challenge lies in learning to trust yourself enough to distinguish between the fear that tells you to run from danger, and that which you need to over face and conquer.

The Call of Freedom

The history-makers of this world – those dauntless men and women who refused to be tamed by fear, bullied into silence or suppression of their gifts are the ones who are free. Free to serve others, free to share with others, and free to change and grow.

There is a price to be paid for that tantalising prospect of freedom. That price is CHANGE.

Do YOU want to be free?

Like anything else that is worthwhile, the price is high.

I train people to speak in public as well as providing sales training. In the context of developing both of those skills, I frequently share the statistic that over 70% of the population fear public speaking more than they fear death.

It’s an interesting contrast… because both of those dreaded outcomes involved a willingness to change, to grow, and to face the unknown. Neither of them ignore the reality of fear, but they both involve applying dauntless courage to that fear and moving forward in the face of it.

That is the cost of freedom.

Dauntless: Overcoming Fear

What is stopping you, from being, doing, and having everything you want?

It’s usually fear. That might be fear of:

failure,
others’ mockery or criticism,
yourself,
hunger, misery, poverty…

BUT… Imagine what YOU could accomplish if you were dauntless – experiencing fear, but not letting it tame you.

What goals would you set?
What risks would you take?
What tasks would you accomplish?
What would change?

And finally…

What is stopping you from being that person and doing those things?

All it takes is a willingness to step out and be yourself with dauntless determination.

“Momentum is what makes an avalanche so dangerous, a galloping horse so unstoppable, and social movements so powerful.”

~ Chandell Labbozzetta

Your Three Minds… the Key to Your Success and Achievement

In Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) we illustrate the concept of your three minds with three intersecting circles shown below:

The 3 Minds

As shown these three minds are the critical faculty, the conscious mind, and the unconscious mind and at the intersection of these is our true self which grows and develops in accordance with our decisions to trust and honour ourselves (which leads to growth) or to distrust ourselves (which leads to diminishment).

Any time you successfully harness the power of all three minds in your efforts, you create a degree of momentum that virtually ensures successful completion. So, the question becomes…

How does each of these three minds contribute to my success, and what steps do I need to take to shift from striving to achieving?

Your Conscious Mind: Goals, Plans and Actions

Setting goals has to do with vision and it’s helpful if your goals have a sense of inevitability. An avalanche heads downhill, following the line of least resistance until its momentum is exhausted. A galloping horse runs for the horizon until it can run no further. A social movement grows in noise and power until it achieves its object. In the same way, your goals, plans, and actions provide you with a destination and a path to follow.

The biggest reason why people don’t make progress toward their goals is that they lack a clear picture of their destination and path.

This leaves their conscious mind without direction and makes them easy to distract.

Your Unconscious Mind: Motivation and Emotional Connection

Have you noticed how much harder you are to distract when you are intent on getting an answer or achieving something you really care about?

One of my colleagues is always jumping around and never seems to get anything done when you ask her to submit reports and complete administrative tasks. However, put her in front of a room of c-suite executives to sell her ideas, or ask her to prepare a sales presentation and she is focused, insightful, and 100% engaged.

What’s the difference?

The difference is the emotional connection between her actions, goals, and effort. When she is preparing a presentation or delivering a sales pitch she is totally invested in engaging the audience and delivering a result. Admin is just a chore.

With her permission, we decided to run a test and create an emotional motivational connection between submitting those reports (which are tied to her presentations and sales results). The difference was phenomenal!

Your Critical Faculty: Formed and Filtered by You!

Psychologists tell us that until the age of seven our minds uncritically accept whatever ideas they are fed. After that we develop the ability to filter ideas and decide what to accept and what to reject. However, we are still dependent on the outside world to present ideas to us.

You’ve probably heard people talk about the echo-chamber effect – which can be exacerbated by AI on the internet. Facebook uses this extensively and it is the reason why you see more of certain people and related ideas and less of others. Every time you respond to a post, you increase the probability that you will see more posts and products along those lines. The problem with living in an echo-chamber is that your critical faculty is being conditioned to only accept certain lines of thinking.

This also presents an exciting opportunity for you to determine where your thinking will take you. The more you present yourself with material that affirms your goals, supports your belief that they are both possible and desirable, and directs your course of action towards them, the more probable (even inevitable) it is that you will achieve them easily and effortlessly.

Your True Self: Integration of Desire and Reality

Fantasies are fun to indulge… But Fairy Tales are even better because they could actually come true.

When you harness the power of your three minds, deliberately set out to design your success and create a path that leads to that success, you are creating your own fairy tale and making yourself deliberately lucky.

You have more control over your future… and even your present… circumstances than you imagine.

What will you make of them?

“The formula for disaster is: Could + Should + Won’t.”

~ Jim Rohn

… When Life Throws Curve Balls!

Do you like it when everything runs smoothly and you can pat yourself on the back and tell yourself what a great job you did and celebrate your achievement?

I do… But that doesn’t always play out for me.

Frequently, just as I’m gearing up for a challenge something happens that makes me wonder what I should do. I could give you lots of examples (some of them are funny in hindsight) like the time where:

My computer crashed just before an important presentation and I had to present without any slides or visuals. I thought about rescheduling, but my colleague told me to go ahead any way and I closed the deal. In fact, the client said that is was my determination and readiness to innovate that was the clincher.

Or when:

I was on a plane headed up to Sydney for the day to speak at a conference without a change of clothes and my seat mate spilled her meal tray over me. I was able to hide clean most of it up and borrow a shawl to hide the rest and I learned to always pack something to change into for emergencies.

Or when:

My internet cut out part way through a webinar – everything just died and the platform I was using wouldn’t let me restart using the same link so I knew that even if I got back online with my phone I wouldn’t able to restart it in the same room. That was the time that I received a flood of emails telling me how valuable my teaching had been and asking how they could work with me.

Last year threw most of us a number of curve balls… and I’m willing to bet that this year will probably be eventful, too.

Are you prepared for that?

The Formula for Success is…

Could + Should + Will!

In the examples above, something went wrong that I couldn’t control so I asked myself three questions:

How could I approach this situation?
What should I do in response to this situation?
What will I do now to resolve the situation, make things right, or get things moving?

This formula for success, achievement, and happiness is available to everyone. Many people are good at finding answers to the first two questions, but a lot of them stumble when they’re asked if they’re willing to do what it takes next.

Why?

Well, it’s like people’s answer to the question: “Do you want to be rich?” Around 90% of people will say yes, but there is only a small percentage of those who will do what it takes to achieve their desire ethically.

How could I approach this situation?

This is about exploring options and it is deliberately a ‘how’ question.

There is rarely only one way to solve a problem, so as you consider this question be prepared for objections and energetic discussion. In fact, if you can only find one viable solution then you are almost certainly kidding yourself.

If you have the opportunity to discuss your situation with other people, you should be looking for several possibilities and taking as much time as you need to pick holes and find advantages of each different path.

Whether you’re thinking about business problem or a personal one, it’s wise to remember that if you can only think of one solution, then you need to ask others for help because when you broaden your thinking you increase the chance of finding a solution that you are willing to implement. Many Victorians faced this last year during the lockdown – most came up with innovative solutions with potential to kept them afloat.

What should I do in response to this situation?

This is the time to come up with your preferred approach and to think about your strategy… the steps and actions you’ll take, people to talk to, and so on.

Your goal here is plan a ‘best approach’ that will take you from your current position to your desired goal. You don’t want to over-complicate your approach, but neither do you want to over-simplify things to the point where you can’t actually arrive at your destination, or to the point where you create massive headaches for your colleagues.

Once you get to this stage, you really need to commit to a single approach – you will get in trouble if you keep zigging and zagging around. Of course, if new information comes to light and you realise that you need to change course that is one thing, but that is all the more reason to consider a variety of possibilities at the start.

What will I do now to resolve the situation, make things right, or get things moving?

This is the step that divides failure from success.

You thought about your options.

You chose your path and developed a plan.

Now it’s time to execute: will you? Or won’t you?

There’s a catchy saying: “If you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail.” It has a certain amount of truth in it, but and even more potent saying would be: “If you fail to act, then failure is certain!” It doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, but it is 100% true.

Plans without action aren’t worth anything at all and decisive action simply doesn’t happen unless you choose to say, “Yes, I will execute this plan.”

Are You Ready to Create Your Own Success?

If I asked you whether you had the support and information you need to make this year incredible no matter what curve balls are thrown, would your response be, “ABSOLUTELY!”

If not, I’d like to invite you to make this the year you stick your neck out and ‘go for gold’?

If you’d like some help on the business side of things, you may be interested in my new online Confident Conversion program. Discover the details here:

“It’s easier to turn a moving ship, but if you’re heading for an iceberg that may be the wrong response.”

~ Chandell Labbozzetta

Don’t ‘Just Do It’!

Speculation about the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 is unending. One recent documentary hypothesized that if the helmsman had not turned the ship, but had hit the iceberg head on the ship would not have sunk.

I don’t claim to be an expert on that particular strategy, but I do have personal experience coaching people who have taken a firm stand on Nike’s ‘Just do it!’ slogan and then sought my help to get them out of the personal or business mess they’ve ended up in.

My advice to you is: Think and plan before you take any action!

Here’s why…

Before You Deepen the Rut Any Further...

Habitual actions are like well worn pathways for the brain. It’s usually easier to walk along a pathway than over untracked wastelands where you can trip and fall so before you start a new course it’s important to ask some questions like:

Will this take me where I want to go?
What are the unintended consequences of this course of action?
Is there a better way?

This is not the same as analysis paralysis, it’s simply setting aside some time to examine your strategy and roadmap before you set out on a course you may regret.

You probably know someone who habitually reaches for M&Ms or other sugary treats to beat the 3pm energy slump and stay productive… And maybe that person has a weight problem as result of that habit. Many smokers gain weight because they swapped the habit of smoking for the habit of snacking or nicotine for drugs – partly because they didn’t think far enough down the track.

Even if you are starting a positive habit or stopping a negative one, it’s worth asking yourself the questions above so that you can strategically develop your plan for substitution.

An equally important question is:

What is stopping me (or has previously stopped me) from doing this?

If you’ve ever tried or watched sports like acrobatic snowboarding or BMX, you’ll know that heading for an obstacle can be dangerous – the faster you are going and the more momentum there is driving you, the greater the risk of a nasty accident.

This is just as true with personal and business growth as it is in sports.

That’s why it’s important to…

Review the Past

Look back at your previous attempts to change or grow in this area and see what you encountered.

In my business and sales coaching, I’ve noticed that people who don’t take a look at their results and outcomes over the past quarter and year before they plan the next one, frequently keep making the same mistakes.

The same is true when it comes to reaching personal goals like exercise, flexibility, weight, career development, skills improvement and so on… When you look back and determine what derailed your efforts in the past, you can often find different strategies or ways to remove the barriers, so you don’t hit them at speed next time.

Every quarter, Alison set herself a sales goal and every quarter she failed to meet that goal. As a result, she was disappointed in her performance and embarrassed when she had to say to her manager, “My goal was $x and I only managed to close $y.” As a result, she was constantly beating herself up mentally and emotionally. When Alison and I sat down to talk about what was going on, it was immediately clear that she never asked herself the critical questions about why this kept happening, she just kept right on following the ‘Just do it!’ method.

We were able to identify the barriers that had derailed her performance and discover ways to remove or work around them, but that wouldn’t have happened without our review.

Review the Past

Look back at your previous attempts to change or grow in this area and see what you encountered.

In my business and sales coaching, I’ve noticed that people who don’t take a look at their results and outcomes over the past quarter and year before they plan the next one, frequently keep making the same mistakes.

The same is true when it comes to reaching personal goals like exercise, flexibility, weight, career development, skills improvement and so on… When you look back and determine what derailed your efforts in the past, you can often find different strategies or ways to remove the barriers, so you don’t hit them at speed next time.

We were able to identify the barriers that had derailed her performance and discover ways to remove or work around them, but that wouldn’t have happened without our review.

Reset and Remove

Every time you do something you create pathways in your brain and muscles that make it easier to follow the same path again. This means that if you want to change your habitual patterns of thought or action it gets harder the longer you’ve been following your current path.

Your mind is like a piece of paper that has been written on and erased so many times that there are little pathways going in every direction. That’s why a reset is so important: it’s like taking a fresh sheet of paper and starting again.

After you’ve done your review and identified what barriers might be in your way I use a variety of NLP, Time Line Therapy®, and other techniques to release emotional, mental, and physical hindrances and barriers so that you can set out on a fresh journey that is less likely to be derailed by your past actions and experiences. I help my clients do this as well and it’s often the difference that makes the difference.

Without this reset and removal process it can be hard to envision a different outcome, let alone plan and sustain your journey to the goal.

Quest for Your Best

Every day I work with people just like you who are sick of mediocrity and are on a quest for their best. I don’t believe that January 1st is a magical date, but I do believe that having time-based intervals for achievement is a proven and powerful tool.

Actually, I break my year up into intervals and I schedule time each day and week for mini-review and reset breaks because that enables me to catch myself up quickly and stay on track. I also include bigger reviews and planning sessions on a quarterly and annual basis to set the direction against which I can measure my progress and make sure that my sights are set on the appropriate target – sometimes targets change based on life-circumstances and opportunities that arise.

If you’d like to experience my Quest for Your Best process in person you can join me for a 4-hour journey in which we…

Reflect on where we have come from and what needs to be learned, strengthened, or changed;
Revisit our personal wins and integrate them into who we are and who we are becoming;
Regroup and Reset by releasing our past failures, disappointments, and disasters and giving ourselves a fresh start;
Refocus on our goals and ensure that they are still sufficient for where we are today;
Refresh our plan and design the actions and habits that will unerringly take us toward our goal.

I will lead you through my own proven process and share the tools I use including the activities and exercises I use to eliminate friction and give me a fresh canvas that keeps momentum and enthusiasm high.

If that sounds interesting… Go to https://lifepuzzle.com.au/business-development/quest-4-your-best/
for more information and to reserve your spot or take advantage of our special Christmas offer.

“If your habits don’t line up with your dream, then you need to either change your habits or change your dream.”

~ John Maxwell

Too Big, Too Small, or Just Right - Why Size Matters.

Recently, I was reflecting on a comment that Brittany Smith, a cognitive scientist with ADHD, made about habits that reinforced something I had already realised.

If your ‘habit chunks’ are too small, you don’t see any change and give up.

If your ‘habit chunks’ are too big, you get overwhelmed and discouraged.

BUT…

If your ‘habit chunks’ are just right… you get results that keep your motivation high and find yourself kicking goals week after week!

I see this frequently with my coaching and training clients:

Right habit chunk size = SUCCESS

Wrong habit chunk size = FAILURE

So, how can you know if you’ve picked the appropriate chunk size for each of your habits?

Signs that Your Habits Chunks are Too Small:

Habit chunks that are too small are usually related to pre-existing habits in any area of our life. We all have habits that drive how we act and react in every area of life and these are so much a part of us that we are hardly even aware of their existence.

The beauty of these tiny habit chunks is that when we decide we want to change something we can simply expand the habit we already have in place no matter what it is.

***

Sandra was extremely frustrated because she was trying to grow her referral program and couldn’t get the traction, she wanted so she started looking around for yet another tool or strategy to help her.

When we looked closely at what she was doing to generate referrals it was clear that she didn’t need to start over, she simply needed to amplify her existing referral strategy with one additional step. Once that was in place, the referrals started to flow.

***

It happens in every area of life:

Exercise programs;
Diet & nutrition;
Learning and retention;
Budgeting and saving;
Productivity…

If you feel frustrated with the results you are seeing and know that your strategy has worked for other people, then you can often see the transformation you want simply by amplifying the habits surrounding it.

If Your Habits Chunks are Too Big, Then...

…You’ll probably quit before you see results!

Oversized habit chunks are usually part of a new habit that you’re trying to establish to reach an important goal. Many habit-tracking apps will alert you if you consistently miss your goals and suggest that you edit the habit in order to succeed and you should pay attention to these alerts.

***

Al read the book Shorter and decided that he wanted to restructure his workday and test the hypothesis because the idea of accomplishing more important work in 30 hours than he was currently doing in 60 hours appealed to him.

He plugged the habits he wanted to establish in order to accomplish this into his habit tracker and got down to business… only to discover that day after day he was failing to check off half of the components he’d identified.

When we pruned those habits back to a smaller milestone goal and he was accomplishing them all, Al’s sense of accomplishment and confidence grew and he was soon ready to add another chunk to his habit, and then another.

The habit of success motivated him far more than his failures had and now he does have all the components of that original habit chunk in place.

***

When Your Habits Chunks are Just Right, Then…

Like Sandra and Al, you experience success – not just in achieving the outcome, but in the personal satisfaction of accomplishing a goal. This gives you the same kind of dopamine hit that some people get from checking Facebook, the news, or drugs.

Skipping your habit one day isn’t a disaster, but looking at your week and realizing that you’ve skipped more days than you’ve executed creates a negative neuro-feedback loop that actually saps your motivation to stick to your habit. That’s why you want a habit tracking mechanism that allows you skip days that you choose to without giving you a sense of guilt.

Contrary to popular practice, guilt is a terrible motivator. It’s when you feel good about your accomplishments that confidence grows – and with that confidence the ability to achieve even more.

Habit Transformation Challenge

Habits are such an important aspect of building lives and businesses that serve our goals. Habit-creation tools are one of the most powerful aspects of NLP because once established, habits run on auto-pilot and enable us to progress towards our goals faster and with less friction.

At LifePuzzle, we consider habit transformation so important that it is a part of many of our courses and trainings (both paid and free) including:

Periodic 5-Day Habit Transformation Challenges
NLP Mastery Academy Group program
NLP Certification courses
Confident Conversion Sales Academy
Outsourced Sales Manager and In-House Sales Trainings

If you are interested in our habit transformation resources, fill in the form below and we’ll let you know when we are running our next course.

I’m Interested in Habit Transformation

“Whenever the goal is to improve the quality of life, the flow theory can point the way… By stretching skills, by reaching toward higher challenges, such a person becomes an increasingly extraordinary individual.”

~ Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Coping with Uninvited Change

When Anna’s boss told her that she wouldn’t be getting JobKeeper because in the face of circumstances he was closing the business she was devastated. How would she support herself now?

Like many business owners, Mark had done the math and decided that it simply wasn’t worth the risk of relying on government to sustain the business. He gave her some sound advice along with the bad news:

“Anna, you’re a fantastic worker and you have more potential than you’ve ever let yourself realise. I’m stepping back to re-evaluate my life and work and determine what I could learn to make my next venture shock proof. I think you should do the same. Take the time that your redundancy pay gives you to think and study before you search for the next opportunity.”

Anna listened.

She carefully calculated what she needed to live on, cut back some expenses to stretch out her window, and invested her time in her own learning. We did one session together to explore her talents, interests, and potential and then she immersed herself in learning and developing the skills we had identified.

Each week she set aside some money to invest in her development and certification, but she waited to spend it until she had clear direction based on her research.

Within six weeks she landed a role that is providing her with experience in her chosen field as well as growth opportunities. Her new employer said that he selected her because she had demonstrated her willingness to invest her own resources in developing in that area and that success leaves clues… In her case a willingness to challenge herself rather than wait for opportunity to arrive on a platter.

#1 The Habit of Investing in Yourself

“Success leaves clues.”

One of those clues is your personal investment in your own professional or skill development. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in an industry, or whether you are a business owner or an employee, it’s easy to get absorbed in your daily work and forget to look outside your own business, industry, and current competency.

Developing the habit of setting aside time and money to invest in enhancing existing skills or developing new ones will ensure that you never become the ‘dinosaur in the office’ – the person who isn’t even aware of new trends, possibilities or technologies. You may not adopt them all, but you will have good reasons for your decisions and be able to explain the benefits of your choice.

When you have the mindset of growth and development, you will be prepared to meet new challenges and find new ways to add value.

#2 The Habit of Stretching Higher

Ordinary people coast along and rely on past achievements.

Extraordinary people reach for the stars.

Not only does an unending openness to ‘the next thing’ serve you well by keeping your idea bank fresh and full during stable times, it also prepares you to meet change and to act constructively in the face of challenge.

There are always more things to learn and do, new ways of meeting old challenges, and different avenues to explore. Developing the habit of growth will deliver you from mental and emotional boredom and sclerosis and help you maintain a youthful energy and enthusiasm.

#2 The Habit of Stretching Higher

In his famous book on Flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi talks about increasing the value of the time you invest in learning or acting by removing distractions and other sources of friction. He also reminds us that flow is a habit that we need to cultivate, one that improves with training.

Here are four essential disciplines that will enable you to define and develop new habits and make them last – even when your world is falling apart:

Definition: you know what it’s like to start a new habit – you set out bubbling with enthusiasm and certain that this is going to transform your life then reality sets in and you wonder if it will make a difference after all. If you define the habit and your expected outcome in advance, and refer to this definition regularly it will bolster your motivation and action.
Commitment: set yourself a minimum timeframe to practice the new habit (66 days is apparently ideal) and don’t let anything come between you and your habit during that time. At the end of the 66 days you may want to re-evaluate the benefits and measure your results against your definition.
Chaining: In the book Atomic Habits, James Clear talks about the power of linking a new habit to an existing engrained one eg. Get out of bed -> go for a run; stand up -> drink water -> deep breathing. This sets you up for success because you are already doing step one, and step two will quickly become a logical successor.
Linguistics: The language you use to describe your habits and your relationship with them matters a great deal. When you are constantly using words that reflect compulsion or necessity (should, must, have to, ought to), you are programming your unconscious mind to find these things distasteful and difficult.
That’s why 1. Definition is such an important part of creating and maintaining productive habits. Your definition will help you focus on why you are implementing this habit, and the outcome you expect and create a positive attitude towards your new habit.

Transforming Your Habits, Transform Your Life!

That’s not actually an overstatement.

Making and executing decisions takes an enormous amount of energy, will power, and brain power so it makes sense to conserve that power for key decisions and not fritter it away on everyday matters. Your habits become the path of least resistance and take over when you are busy, tired, or stressed… Why not create habits that support your life goals, rather than ones that undermine them?

Habit development is such an important topic that it figures in many of my business development and sales programs as well as my coaching and NLP training. I also run habit transformation programs a couple of times each year.

If you’re interested in how to build constructive habits and eliminate ones that no longer serve you, use the link below to join my email list and you’ll be notified when my next Habit Transformation challenge is scheduled.

Join My Email List

“Today you have the chance to ask: What’s next? And to answer that in a way that creatively plays to your strengths. Of course, you can also stay in your comfort zone…

And pay the price of complacency.”

~ Chandell Labbozzetta

The Speed of Change

This has been an extraordinary year, but don’t let the drama of 2020 blind you to the radical changes that have been taking place all around us for several years and the possibilities they hold for the future.

A few months ago Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler published their latest book, “The Future is Faster Than You Think” in which they talk about the converging technologies that are transforming our world at an unimaginable speed. The book is worth reading if you are feeling complacent about where you are today and what you have already achieved.

Here are a few interesting facts to reflect on when it comes to the future:

Almost all the companies profiled in the business school bible “In Search of Excellence” of the 1980s and 90s are no longer in existence.
Since 2000, 52% of the Fortune 500 have either gone bankrupt, been acquired, or ceased to exist.
Today, the world’s largest media company does not create any content; the world’s largest taxi company owns no cars; and the world’s most valuable retailer has no inventory.

If those facts don’t make you stop and wonder what’s possible for you, then they should.

Business, Career and Future Proofing in a World of Change

One of my Confident Conversion graduates has taken the idea of playing to her strengths and making her own rules to double her income in the past 6 months by focusing on the things she does well and delegating or dropping tasks she doesn’t enjoy.

Like Uber, Facebook, and Alibaba she stopped looking at what everyone else in her industry was doing and asked what was possible for her to accomplish and then shaped her own reality around those goals.

You may not want to be the ‘biggest’ anything and that’s fine… But if there’s one thing we’ve learned this year, it’s that addiction to comfort may be our biggest threat to survival so we need to rethink our approach to business and career and focus on:

Learning new skills,
Evaluating existing skills and modes of thought,
Searching for new technologies and opportunities that are revolutionising your industry.

Complacency is always dangerous. Now it’s a death sentence

Selling Yourself

If you were brutally honest with yourself, why would anyone (employer or client) hire you?

If you don’t have a persuasive answer for that question, then you have some work to do.

It’s increasingly clear that most people are far less interested in your qualifications than in your network, motivation, experience, and skill-development potential. This is a completely appropriate response to the rapid pace of change.

The good news is that, in many fields, you can create opportunities for yourself through self-directed learning and by demonstrating your openness to new technologies and methodologies. A growth mindset (as described by Carol Dweck) is one of the biggest selling points because it demonstrates that you are open to evaluate (rather than mindlessly adopt) something new. When this is balanced by passion, proven diligence, deep thinking, and perseverance, then you become worthy of consideration.

So,…

Can YOU demonstrate those qualities?

And if not, what do you need to do and learn to be able to showcase your credibility so that you open doors to the future.

In my book, Confident Closing: Sales secrets that grew a business by 400% in six months and how they can work for you! I made the comment “We’re all in sales now whether we like it or not.” That sentence attracted a lot of negative feedback from people who think of sales as sleazy or pushy, but it’s really not a question of “Will you sell yourself?” But of “How will you sell yourself?”

Once you come to terms with that reality, you discover how important it is to work on your selling skills for the new era.

Making a Plan for the Next Stage

What is next for you both personally and professionally?

If you threw out all your existing blueprints, what would you love to do that would have value to others?

How could you do it in a way that was insanely profitable?

The end of the year is always a good time to re-evaluate your goals and dreams, and a disruptive year like we’ve just had is a particularly important time to do so.

“Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”
~ Nelson Mandela

“Now is the only time you have to get back on track and work towards success.”
~ Teresa Labbozzetta

Why Do People Wait Until New Year to Create Change?

A few weeks ago, Andrew was panicking about his cash flow and sales. His team just weren’t closing the deals, all their most promising prospects had muttered excuses about ‘waiting until January’ to move forward, and he didn’t feel as though he could count on the outcome.

“I can’t afford to just sit around and wait and hope that things improve in January, Chandell. You taught me that. But I don’t know what else to do! If you think you can help me, I’d like you to start working with my team ASAP.”

If you’re in business, I’m sure you’ve heard this kind of response before and wondered what is going through people’s heads when they make that comment. After all, a successful business demands a proactive approach.

When I hear these words, I have a series of questions that help me discover what’s behind the delay and identify the real reasons. After all, if you’re seriously considering a key business purchase that will increase your profits or effectiveness in November, why would you wait until January to do so?

On the surface that suggests that either:

You aren’t sure about the value; or
You aren’t sure if you can afford it.
Neither of those issues are timing issues.

Here’s the question I worked on with Andrew’s team in our first sales team training.

Why Do People Wait Until New Year to Create Change?

We spent some time together working through scenarios and asked some hard questions about the clients, about the product they were selling, about outcomes and values, about handling objections, and about attitudes and beliefs. After that, Andrew’s team went back to those promising prospects again using an approach that we worked out together and closed 5 new clients – an even higher percentage than he had hoped for – and then moved onto some of the ‘not so hot’ prospects and got some results.

Suddenly, the end of the year looks extremely profitable and he’s looking forward to celebrating rather than worrying over whether his cash buffer will last until business picks up in February.

I teach this same method of building value and presenting your sales proposition in my Confident Conversion course and clients are astonished at how it increases their conversion rates even though they haven’t changed anything about the product’s price or elements, they’ve simply helped prospects see what not making a decision is doing to their business.

Why Not Now?

As I write this, we’re half way through November and many business owners and sales teams have already given up for the year. To be honest, that says more about them than about their prospects. Some of my clients do have highly seasonal businesses, but they don’t just sit around waiting for the next season to roll around. They are taking action in season and out of season… and it shows in their balance sheet!

Honestly, it’s mentally refreshing to start again on January 1st and I’m a big proponent of monthly check-ins to measure where you are against your goals and reset whenever necessary, but every week is a new week, every day is a new day.

So… If you need to dig in and finish a project, or you need to accelerate your sales to meet targets…

Why not now? Today?

What Are You Going to Do to Create What You Want?

“What do I need to do to make the next 2 months the most profitable and encouraging ones I’ve had this year?”

Last week I was talking to Jenni who was overwhelmed by the work she still needed to accomplish on a project. It felt impossible and, as a result, she was procrastinating and making things worse.

We sat down together virtually, discussed the project and problem, and did some Time Line Therapy® to clear away some of the mental blocks. She still needed to do the work (and because of her procrastination that involved some late nights), but once the miasma of inertia was swept away she was shocked at how smoothly it went.

When I talked to her after the weekend the project was completed to her exacting standards and she was on track with the next milestone as well.

Just like Andrew’s sales team, all it took was a mental reset, some hard thinking, and strategic work to get results that were way better than Jenni expected.

That’s true of almost any goal you set, or milestone you need to reach and the longer you delay taking action, the worse your problem becomes.

What are you putting off?

What investment, project, or goal are you delaying as you wait for a better time?

Just STOP IT! Now.

Confident Conversion: 90 days to More Cash, More Clients, More Impact

You may already know what you need to do, but lack the confidence and skills to move forward… Or perhaps you are confused by all the possibilities and not sure of the next steps. Confident Conversion is designed to address both the practical and mindset issues that are standing between you and the income and profits you would like to see.

If you’d like to take action today and reach your goals faster, then check out my online program. Like Andrew and Jenni, the answer may be simpler and results faster than you ever dreamed was possible.

Learn more about Confident Conversion Online

Yes, You CAN Become Resourceful… if You Want To!

What Does This Change Demand of You?

Step #1: VISION

Step #2: COMMITMENT

Step #3: ACTION

Your Actions Tell the Story

Attitude Underlies Action

Reactivity and the Erosion of Self-Esteem

Adrian’s Intervention

Internal Accountability

You: A Walled Fortress

The Cost of Security and Self-Protection

The Call of Freedom

Dauntless: Overcoming Fear

Your Three Minds… the Key to Your Success and Achievement

Your Conscious Mind: Goals, Plans and Actions

Your Unconscious Mind: Motivation and Emotional Connection

Your Critical Faculty: Formed and Filtered by You!

Your True Self: Integration of Desire and Reality

… When Life Throws Curve Balls!

The Formula for Success is…

How could I approach this situation?

What should I do in response to this situation?

What will I do now to resolve the situation, make things right, or get things moving?

Are You Ready to Create Your Own Success?

Don’t ‘Just Do It’!

Before You Deepen the Rut Any Further...

Review the Past

Reset and Remove

Quest for Your Best

Too Big, Too Small, or Just Right - Why Size Matters.

Signs that Your Habits Chunks are Too Small:

If Your Habits Chunks are Too Big, Then...

When Your Habits Chunks are Just Right, Then…

Habit Transformation Challenge

Coping with Uninvited Change

#1 The Habit of Investing in Yourself

#2 The Habit of Stretching Higher

#2 The Habit of Stretching Higher

Transforming Your Habits, Transform Your Life!

The Speed of Change

Business, Career and Future Proofing in a World of Change

Selling Yourself

Making a Plan for the Next Stage

Why Do People Wait Until New Year to Create Change?

Why Do People Wait Until New Year to Create Change?

Why Not Now?

What Are You Going to Do to Create What You Want?

Confident Conversion: 90 days to More Cash, More Clients, More Impact

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