“Energy flows where attention goes. If you focus on your problems they will grow and absorb more and more energy. Is that really what you want?”

~ Chandell Labbozzetta

Are You Growing Your Problems or Shrinking them?

There’s a lot of anxiety around the world and the business community at present. I work with executives, business owners, and sales professionals and in my general sessions I’m noticing increasing preoccupation even amongst star performers about their targets, obstacles to achievement, and potential failure.

Here’s what else I’m noticing… The more people focus on these things, the more they become self-fulfilling prophecies!

We’re not talking about non-starters here, we’re talking about people who are achieving above average results, but who are buried under a mound of anxiety…

  • What about my future health, cancer, etc?
  • What about my income, employment, promotion?
  • What about my next performance review?
    What about the broader economy?
  • What about… etc.

Some of these people have already seen their results and performance decline… But what is really fascinating and encouraging is watching the impact that this simple transformation can make on outcomes.

In my sales trainings I talk a lot about the importance of mindset and how you can derail a sale unconsciously because sometimes your unconscious mind is talking so loudly that prospects don’t hear the words you speak. Actually, this isn’t just a problem for business and sales conversations it’s also an issue for your personal relationships, health, wealth and happiness.

What if Your Problems Vanished… Without Your Attention?

This mindset / focus issue doesn’t just apply to sales. Your unconscious mind affects your results in every aspect of your life because what you pay attention to receives energy and grows. It’s not even just personal… If the world is preaching doom and gloom and that’s what most people are listening to then that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and it will affect anyone who isn’t consciously programming their mind towards solutions.

In Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) we acknowledge the power of our unconscious mind to shape our happiness, prosperity, relationships, and income and we then harness its power to contribute to the outcomes and solutions we want, rather than creating problems to struggle against. What this means is that what we say to ourselves about the world, others, and our self shapes our experiences and perceptions.

Simply put: Change your thoughts. Change your world!

Nurturing Growth & Abundance

If you look honestly at your thoughts, what do you see?

Are you focused on growth, abundance, and solutions… Or do you focus on your hurt, misery, and failure (real or imagined)? If you pour your energy, focus, and attention into the things you don’t want, they are the things that will grow.

I’m not suggesting that you ignore your problems and simply hope they’ll go away. I’m asking you to identify them and then focus on solutions and constructive thinking patterns that help you build positive habits and support those habits with right thinking. Many clients come to me with years of baggage cluttering their unconscious mind. In just one session (if they also follow my suggestions for follow through) they notice that circumstances and people change around them as well as within them.

How to Fire Your Itty-Bitty-Shitty Committee

Some of you have heard me talk about my passion for inter-generational mental health and how the itty-bitty-shitty committee in your unconscious mind is at the root of many problems… And how firing that can bring healing. I take that seriously because I’ve seen what happens when you try to ignore it.

The fastest way to fire your itty-bitty-shitty committee is to work with a coach who can help you deal with the root problems. That’s what a H.O.W.T.O. Session is designed to help you accomplish. Ongoing accountability and coaching sessions while you establish new thinking patterns can also be helpful. If you’re already certified in NLP and Time Line Therapy® you probably learned many of the techniques that will support you in this journey.

A H.O.W.T.O. Session helps you discover how you’re exacerbating your problems, and what you can do instead that will increase your health, wealth, and happiness.

 

 

 

“Most of the time, the solution to sluggish sales isn’t more time, it’s more productive time so you start with analysis and move onto strategy and action.”

~ Chandell Labbozzetta

What’s Working in Your Sales and Marketing?

As a sales trainer and coach I spend a lot of time working with individuals, teams, and groups and the same questions come up quite regularly even from high performing business owners, sales professionals, and others.

As you know if you’ve been following me for any period of time, I’m not a fan of pushy sales techniques or forcing people to buy things they don’t need just so that you can meet your sales targets. My strategy is to help you get in front of people who do need what you are offering and showing them why it’s a good decision to buy… Or not to buy after all, if that’s what you see.

The problem is that if you can’t answer the question, “What’s working in your sales and marketing?” then you don’t know where to start.

How Do You Know That?

If you didn’t answer the question above with some cold, hard numbers about your sales then you don’t have the information you need to make strategic sales and marketing decisions.

Let’s take an example from one of my clients for last year:

  • 23 appointments, 17 clients and $294,600 from referrals
  • 31 appointments, 8 clients and $187,000 from networking
  • 11 appointments, 5 clients and $201,000 from public speaking
  • 28 appointments, 3 clients and $93,000 from book and course sales
  • 40 appointments, 7 clients and $59,000 from articles, social media, and podcasts
  • … etc.

Most of the time, when you run the numbers, you’ll discover that you’re getting about 80% of your sales from 20% of your activity… But often it’s not the 20% you were expecting.

The client I referenced above had assumed that articles, social media, and podcasts were a great investment of time because they created a lot of activity, but when we ran these numbers he realised that it wasn’t delivering the results he had expected.

What Are You Focusing On?

The reality is that we’re all busy people, faced with competing demands on our time and energy. Since I don’t know anyone who has managed to add more than 24 hours to their day, we need to look at how to use what we have more effectively because there’s only so many hours of sleep and recreation you can cut back on.

The fastest and easiest way to get more done in less time is to focus on two things:

  • Determine which activities deliver the greatest return on time and energy invested and do more of those; and
  • Decide what you can do to streamline qualification processes so you can get more sales from less time and energy intense processes.

What Will You Change Now?

My client from the example identified several ways to leverage his time and energy including:

  • Identifying low-profit buyers and funneling them into a more automated qualifying process;
  • Refining his elevator pitch so that he elicited greater interest from qualified buyers;
  • Improving his sales conversation skills and rapport-building so that his appointment close rate for qualified prospects was over 86%;
  • Developing his prospect qualification process so that he rarely met with prospects who couldn’t or wouldn’t buy;
  • Refining his “New Client Welcome Kit” so that he spent less time answering generic questions.

Some of these initiatives are still in the making, but overall his profits increased dramatically and he was able to spend more time with his family and training his staff.

“The foundation of everything you go after (and you should have ridiculously large goals at all times) is simply… being a good animal.”

~ John Carlton

What’s Working in Your Sales and Marketing?

As a sales trainer and coach I spend a lot of time working with individuals, teams, and groups and the same questions come up quite regularly even from high performing business owners, sales professionals, and others.

As you know if you’ve been following me for any period of time, I’m not a fan of pushy sales techniques or forcing people to buy things they don’t need just so that you can meet your sales targets. My strategy is to help you get in front of people who do need what you are offering and showing them why it’s a good decision to buy… Or not to buy after all, if that’s what you see.

The problem is that if you can’t answer the question, “What’s working in your sales and marketing?” then you don’t know where to start.

 

Using Everything You Have to Achieve Your Goals and Meet Targets

You want to reach your goals, don’t you?

Of course you do, or else you wouldn’t be reading this page. There’s a lot of advice out there about setting goals (I’ve shared some of my favourite goal-setting and goal-getting techniques in other posts on this sites). But many goal-setters skip a key element even if it’s included in the technique and that’s like trying to cook a meal with one hand tied behind your back.

Here’s what you may be missing in both your goal setting and sales…

Your senses… all five of them!

  • Sight
  • Hearing
  • Touch
  • Smell
  • Taste

As anyone who has impaired (or abnormally heightened) function in any of these senses knows, the malfunction of our sensory inputs can make life very difficult and increase our stress and anxiety levels… And putting all of them to use can dramatically improve our communication and goals setting outcomes.

Are You Ignoring Obvious Cues?

Lets look at two important business applications of this reality:

  1. Motivation: If motivation is a problem ask yourself how well you’re engaging all 5 of your senses in both your goal-setting and your daily action plan. With some quick sensory engagement you can transform your results and reduce the quantity of will-power and energy required to keep the wheels turning.
  2. Conversations & Sales: Sensory awareness is crucial for the successful communication that is at the heart of long-term sales relationships. When you also engage with others on a multi-sense level you can seriously increase your close rate and decrease the anxiety prospects and new clients may otherwise experience.

There’s a reason why successful sales professionals like to visit prospects’ premises: they pick up a lot of sensory clues. And there’s a reason why many of them also like to bring prospects into their own professional environment if they’re on the fence about their investment (and why coffee shops and serviced offices are not the best choice for this interaction) that has everything to do with professionalism, reinforcement, and plain sensory control.

You see, at the end of the day, no matter how objective we pride ourselves on being, as humans we’re also animals who are susceptible to sensory inputs.

A Simple Practice

Here’s a simple goal setting and motivation practice for you to test (And don’t worry you can do it at your desk or when you take a bathroom break without anyone noticing.)

Here’s what to do:

  1. Shut your eyes and take three deep breaths (In-2-3-4-Out-2-3-4);
  2. Keeping your eyes shut listen carefully and notice any sounds that are around you starting very close and gradually letting your awareness extend to a greater distance;
  3. With your eyes shut notice any sensations within your body – then notice the feeling of your body as it touches your chair and your feet on the floor etc;
  4. Still with your eyes shut breath in deeply through your nose and notice any smells that are around you. You don’t need to identify them, just become aware of their existence;
  5. Now, with your eyes shut open your mouth and taste the air as you breathe in and simply focus on your sense of taste (something we rarely do unless we are consciously eating or tasting wine);
  6. If you’re setting a goal or seeking motivation for a task… Create a multi-sensory experience of the achievement you’ll feel when it’s finally completed (or when the next part of it is done);
  7. Finally, just before you open your eyes notice the quality of light falling on your eyelids and then open your eyes and notice afresh the visual details of your surroundings. Really look at them with attention.

Now start your next task or continue what you were doing and notice how your approach has shifted. If you add some movement and a few quick stretches this quick reset will be nearly as effective as a nap or a workout and see you ready to leap into action.

Human Beings Have Sensory Triggers…

There’s a reason why real estate agents encourage owners to bake bread or cookies before an Open House inspection. There’s also a reason why truly successful professional practices choreograph their offices carefully and select decor, fragrance, reading material, and even snacks for waiting prospects. It’s not just because they have highly developed aesthetic preferences, it’s purely and simply to reinforce their message and help qualified prospects buy.

You can use sensory triggers to improve your own productivity and you can also use your sensory triggers to engage more effectively with your ideal prospects and clients by watching and listening to them carefully and by creating a multi-sensory sales process.

Sense, Cents, and Sales

Ready to Confidently Close more sales without discounting or eroding your margins? Yes, it does involve increasing sensory awareness.

The PBA Live Sales Masterclass is included in the 13-week Profitable Business Accelerator enrolment, but there are also a limited number of ‘Live Day Only’ seats available for individuals or teams who want to take their selling skills to the next level.

Interested in the 13-week Profitable Business Accelerator program?

“Doing the same thing and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.”

~ Albert Einstein

Identifying the Problem: What Isn’t Working?

The quotation above is often used to justify frequent changes of direction and it certainly fuels ‘shiny-object syndrome’ because after all, if what I’m doing doesn’t deliver the results I’m hoping for, then Einstein tells me I should do something else and, of course, he’s one of the smartest people who ever lived!

Let’s just step back for a moment… We’re talking about business and life, not science.

If I’m trying to solve a scientific or engineering problem this advice holds true. It’s also the rationale behind marketing split tests… But there is an important factor that it doesn’t address: trust and relationship-building and many business owners, sales professionals, and even teachers give up on the cusp of breakthrough.

You need to start by identifying the real problem: what isn’t working?

Do I Need to Change My Strategy or Tactics?

I was talking to Sam, a sales manager, a few weeks ago and he was ready to admit failure. “My team just can’t hit their targets and my manager is saying that it’s my fault. I don’t know what else to tell them that will change the results,” he told me.

As we analysed the situation it became clear that his focus on building up his team and the activities he had invested time and energy in were delivering results and a change of track would set him back. If he wanted to accelerate his results he needed to do more of the things that were already working. This was not the situation that Einstein was talking about.

The thing that he needed to do was to determine whether he could do more of what was working rather than change track. Because of my extensive experience with sales teams we were able to identify two needle-moving activities that could leverage the foundations he had already put in place and deliver quick results and Sam was up for the challenge. Rather than admitting failure or changing his strategy, he simply decided to implement these acceleration tactics.

Don’t Quit! You’re on the Verge of Success.

Sam was feeling as though nothing he did was working and he thought about changing direction, but when he analysed the situation he realised that his best course was to amp up the things he was already doing.

What about you?

Are you taking the much quoted advice out of context?

I’m the first person to tell clients when they need to change their approach, but not before we’ve analysed their goals, actions, and results in the light of business best practices. Sometimes clients don’t have the data they need to make a wise decision about how to move forward. In most cases, the best strategy is to wait and collect the information you need but that is not always good enough. The challenge is deciding what to do when your resources are already stretched thin anyway because you can’t keep doing what you are already doing, and instigate a new direction simultaneously.

How Can I Tell the Difference?

Metrics are key. Lack of information creates confusion because your ‘thoughts’ about what is working and what is not working are often wrong.

In our 13-week Profitable Business Accelerator we spent some time with each student determining what are the most appropriate metrics for their business (different businesses need to measure some different things) and deciding how to make those metrics visible to yourself and your team. Assuming that you have a solid basis for your activity selection and core strategy, it’s not until you have data to back it up that you can decide whether it’s time to persevere and ramp up your efforts, or change direction and try something new.

Need Some Help?

Need some help with determining what you need to change if you hope to experience the satisfaction and success you deserve this year? A HOWTO Session provides you with the clarity you need to uncover your own blind spots and move forward with confidence and determination knowing whether you should persevere or change direction.

Book Your H.O.W.T.O. Session Today! 

“We all know that we need to reset our devices regularly so that they perform their best, but how can we reset our hearts and minds?”

What You Don’t Know CAN Hurt You!

In fact, it can be dramatically reducing your productivity, happiness, and creativity.

A few weeks ago, I delivered the Keynote Address to over 300 people at the Annual National Conference of an international organisation. Afterwards, I was pleased by the number of people who came up to congratulate me and wanted to work with me further because it means that I did a great job… BUT I was disturbed by the realization of how business and performance stress is impacting people’s health and happiness and preventing them from relaxing and getting the sleep they need.

We all need sleep to function effectively and we know that, but the proportion of people who are using medications or natural remedies to help them sleep is rising each year and the data suggests that it is now over 61%… And that doesn’t include the people who simply put up with insomnia.

The problem is that when you are deprived of sleep (especially if that deprivation is ongoing) your health suffers, your concentration suffers, and your productivity nosedives. Yes, you’ve heard of people like Thomas Jefferson and the Duke of Wellington who slept only 3-5 hours per night, but what we don’t know is how much more they might have accomplished if they had had more sleep. In any case, for the rest of us, lack of sleep is one of the biggest productivity vampires.

Possibly you think that there is nothing you can do about it. Here are some common actions that people take to help them deal with sleep difficulties and deprivation:

  • Sleeping tablets;
  • Melatonin;
  • Herbal teas and sleeping concoctions;
  • Yoga or meditation before bed;
  • Hot showers or baths;
  • Turning off devices and screens and avoiding conflict 30 minutes before bed;
  • CPAP machines;

… and many other similar strategies. These help some people, but not others and they rarely resolve the underlying problem which is directly responsible for lack of productivity.

The Best Therapist in the World (and they don’t charge by the hour)!

If you ever struggle to fall asleep, I have great news for you. This solution may even help to resolve jet lag.

Don’t let the simplicity of this solution stop you from trying it… Although, like all effective solutions it does demand that you take action rather than simply swallowing a tablet.

Here are the tools that you need:

  • Pen
  • Paper or notebook
  • 30 minutes (shortly before bedtime or at least after you have finished working)

All you need to do is set aside at least 30 minutes to write down anything on your mind. This might include:

  • Frustrations;
  • Worries;
  • Situations or people that make you angry;
  • Problems;
  • People or situations that bring you joy;
  • Emotions;
  • Tasks etc.

Spelling, grammar, expression are not important for this exercise. You don’t even need fully formed thoughts. It’s a full-scale, uncensored, brain dump. No need to organise it and it’s best if you don’t re-read it either. In fact, I suggest you have a second sheet of paper to note down any important tasks or actions that come to mind so that you don’t have to re-read what you’ve written. Just dump it down out of your head and heart and let it go forever.

Striking at the Heart of Your Productivity Vampires

You know how sometimes your computer, phone, or other device gets slower and slower and stops functioning effectively until you decide to reset it? Most of the time, turning the device off, waiting a minute or so, and then turning it on again solves all your problems because your device’s memory had just got clogged up with unfinished tasks.

Well, sleep is like a reset for our brain (and also for our body). It’s only when we sleep that certain hormones are released that clean out our neurosystems and restore the full function of the brain. This means that occasional sleep-deprivation isn’t a problem, but if you struggle to get to sleep night after night and wake up feeling exhausted then lack of sleep is affecting your productivity levels.

The simple tactic above is almost magical. Here’s what one of my clients experienced…

I Had the BEST Sleep I Can Remember in Years!

One of my clients was suffering from chronic insomnia and I tasked her to do this every night before she went to bed… Just take out a notebook and pen and write down everything that was in her head without worrying about whether it was biased, politically correct, accurate, well-expressed or anything else.

“You mean the uncensored version?” she confirmed.

I nodded.

Two days later she called me in great excitement: “Chandell, it’s like magic! I’ve had two nights of unbroken sleep for the first time in I don’t know how long! I’m falling asleep almost immediately, waking up refreshed, and getting more done each day. I’ve even had time to just sit and talk with my husband and play games with the kids as well as finding I’m doing my best work with less effort!

“I felt very uncomfortable the first night putting some of the things I think, but carefully never say down on paper, but I reminded myself that no-one would ever read them. I really like the idea of using loose paper and shredding or maybe even burning it every so often.

“Who would have believed that such a simple prescription could make such a dramatic change.”

And the Moral of the Story is…

If you want to be more productive, then you may not need to invest in a new system, tool, app, or other item that is directly related to productivity. Maybe you just need to take care of your sleep cycle by scheduling in a 30-minute brain dump before bed.

By the way, writing on your computer or electronic journal doesn’t seem to be as effective.

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results.”

~ Seth Godin

Are You Achieving Your Goals

I was talking to a client last week and he said, “I know the thing that would really make a difference to my outcomes, but I just don’t have enough time to do it well!”

We went through his calendar, his list of activities, and so on, and sure enough there was no space for anything else… So I looked him in the eye and asked, “Do you really think this new thing would make the difference you need?”

“Absolutely!” was his response.

“So, what are you willing you do to make it happen?” I asked.

“Whatever it takes.”

So we started looking at all the things that were taking up his time, attention, and energy. We started with his calendar because if you have meetings and travel back-to-back then you don’t have time to do the deep thinking, writing, and other strategic activities that really move the needle on results.

It wasn’t until after we had cleared his calendar and dropped some activities that weren’t important that we talked about how much time this project would need. That was deliberate. If you tell yourself that you need 4 more hours then you may find those 4 hours, but you won’t uncover all the extra debris in your life.

At the end of the exercise, he realized that not only could he lay the foundations for that project in 4-5 weeks, he had capacity to create some other important opportunities as well, so we brainstormed some follow-on projects. He Voxered me the following day to tell me how encouraged and motivated he now felt.

… All from a simple awareness that something needed to change.

What is Holding You Back?

OK, we all have 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week, so what makes the difference between those people who accomplish the needle moving activities and the majority who don’t?

It’s not a question of family or work responsibilities and it’s rarely a question of health or finances. I know people with major chronic health problems who have managed to achieve their goals, and people with massive responsibilities in multiple arenas (large teams, large families, parents who need care etc.) who have made things work.

It’s not family connections, luck, talent, or the size of your bank balance that’s an obstacle, either. Most of the people who have turned their lives around or simply set out on a trajectory to achieve their goals from the start would say it’s a question of choices and decisions.

Depending on how you look at it, that’s either good news or bad news. If you want to make excuses, then this won’t make you feel any better about your outcomes. On the other hand, if you are ready to change, then you’ll be glad to know that the results are in your hands.

Choices and Decisions

“If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got.”

It’s easy to look at your calendar, to-do list, responsibilities, relationships, bank statements etc and throw up your hands in despair thinking there’s nothing you could change, but that is rarely a true perception of reality.

If you knew that you had a sure-fire solution to your problems, then you would almost certainly find the time and resources you needed. So why do you let the days and weeks slide past as you wearily put one foot in front of the other like an ox team plodding in circles as they draw water out of a well?

There are two main reasons why people do this:

  1. They can’t see any alternatives.
  2. They aren’t really sure that their solution will work.

Often the solution is to talk to someone who understands both business and personal change. In the course of my NLP training and business coaching I’ve worked with people whose doubts about their ‘sure-fire solutions’ were extremely well-founded, and others whose fears were engendered by self-doubt. Both of these types of people found long-term solutions that lead to their success and satisfaction, and I’m glad I had a part in that. Left to themselves they would either have wallowed in inaction, or taken a path that lead to failure.

Do You Need Some Help?

Whatever time of year you’re reading this, today is a fantastic opportunity to reflect on where you are today, and what you would like to change by this time next year. Sometimes you just need to talk to someone who has the knowledge and experience to help so that you can get the clarity you need to move forward.

A HOWTO Session brings clarity and helps you focus on what you really want so that you can make the decisions you need to make. Book your session soon!

Book Your H.O.W.T.O. Session 

“Motivation is something that you can largely control through the choices you make. Yes, it does take some effort on your part, but so does forcing yourself to push through without feeling motivated.”

You Feel What You See

Your world is translated in your brain as a series of pictures. These pictures filter your experience and the meaning it holds for you. When they are vividly coloured, have lots of detail and are close to you they have a direct influence on how you feel. When you dial down the sensory details, blur out some details, fade the colours and move the picture further away from you the urgency and emotion fades.

This means that you can control the intensity of your feelings by the way you allow these pictures to present themselves to you. It works just about every emotion and state both positive and negative, but here I want to focus on it’s influence on your motivation.

Dialing up Your Motivation: An Exercise

Imagine what would change if you could switch your motivation on at will in any area of life…

  • Your health and fitness – yes, you want to take care of your health and improve your fitness, but every time it comes to action your willpower fades
  • Your nutrition plans – of course you plan to eat healthy food and fuel your body, but how often do you make poor choices because your motivation has slipped away
  • That challenging project at work or home that demands all your skill and includes elements you actively dislike doing
  • Boring and routine tasks that you want to do well, but keep putting off or half-completing;
  • Unpleasant tasks that still need to be completed
  • Important projects that need to be worked on whether you are motivated or not…

I’m sure you get the picture. Some days motivation is right there bubbling away, other days it just doesn’t seem to be around at all but you still need to do things for pleasure, profit, or simply because they’re your responsibility.

EXERCISE:

  1. Visualise one of those tasks and bring a picture of the activity and its outcome on your mental screen (start with something you usually enjoy, but just can’t be bothered with right now – just for fun!);
  2. How do you feel about it?
  3. Now make that picture, brighter, clearer, and more excitingly vivid;
  4. Check in on your feelings again. Have they changed? Do you feel more motivated and energised about that thing?
  5. Bring the picture closer still, so it’s right there in front of you and check how you feel;
  6. Now zoom the picture far away across the room, let the colours and details fade out of the picture;
  7. Notice how your feelings about the activity changed;
  8. And then bring the picture back close to you and turn up the brightness and detail again.

Your Focus Transforms Your Feelings

The exercise above is not merely academic. It is a rapid and powerful way of transforming your motivational feelings. It takes less than a minute to generate a surge of emotion that will carry you through your day and duties with productive energy. All that is needed is for you to choose to make the change.

In reality, there are a lot of things in life that you can’t change. You can’t change other people. You can’t change your family members and you can’t always change the quality of your relationship with them either. You can’t easily change your work situation and the daily tasks that need to be completed, either. BUT…

You can change the meaning you give those things and the way you approach them!

The Marriage of Motivation and Engagement

In Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) we often say “Energy flows where attention goes.” Imagine if you could focus your mind on a desired outcome and experience a surge of energy and motivation that overcame your resistance to starting and sustained you through your work day. Actually you can. I use this technique repeatedly almost every day to generate the momentum that is carrying my closer to my destination.

Not only does this simple technique provide me with motivation, it also helps me to engage more radically with my tasks. I usually find that engagement leads to better outcomes and my clients have made the same observation in their attempts because when we are disengaged from the task at hand we’re not the only people who put in less effort, those around us tend to care less as well.

Like anything else in life creating more motivation and engagement stems from a choice that only you can make: a choice to do what it takes to break through your own fog of indifference and apathy and summon the vision of your desired outcome… But why wouldn’t you choose to take such a simple and transformative step?

So, What Will You Choose?

You always have a choice, don’t you?

You can choose a response that gives more meaning to situations and people that make you happy, and less meaning to those that cause you stress and unhappiness… Or you can choose to let misery and inaction control your life.

A HOWTO Session brings clarity and helps you focus on what you really want so that you can make the decisions you need to make…. Like choosing to create motivation and engagement even when you don’t initially feel like it! Book your session now!

Book Your H.O.W.T.O. Session

“What you focus on changes your behaviour – for better or worse.”

~Chandell Labbozzetta

The Angle Changes the Meaning

I love drawing and sketching. It’s fun looking at ‘ordinary items’ from different perspectives because the angle you are viewing from affects how you see them and changing your perspective can complete change their meaning.

It’s the same in our lives. When you take a different angle on a familiar situation or behaviour you often discover something completely new. This is particularly powerful when it’s a question of addressing situations or people which cause you frustration because an apparently minor shift can create totally new possibilities.

Shift Behaviour by Changing Your View

In Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) there is a simple technique that helps you shift your focus. Traditionally, it is used to help resolve inter-personal conflicts but it is also helpful in problem solving because it helps you look at your problem through new eyes which then opens up the possibility of new solutions.

Recently, I was at a personal development course and we were exploring our attitudes and reactions through a series of games that challenged us to shift our focus. The exercise forced me to look at my behaviour from different angles, and that simple shift caused it to change… in an empowering way.

What fascinated me most is that the change was brought about not by focusing on changing the behaviour itself, but simply by shifting my point of view.

A New Perspective Creates Unimagined Possibilities

Think about what this could mean for you (and for the world).

It’s a common aphorism that the thinking used to create a problem cannot also be used to solve it, therefore…

If you would like to find innovative solutions that may not require as much compromise, you need to step away from your current approaches and look for something new.

So, here’s a question for you: are there situations or behaviours you would like to change (or need to change), or so that in twelve months’ time you can look back and say, “Wow! I can’t believe how far I have come!”?

If so…

What Would It Take to Create a Completely Different Solution?

Here at LifePuzzle we believe that when a problem is created, a solution that is within your control is also created. Over the years we’ve worked with companies, teams, and individuals and helped them transform their outcomes… Even when change seemed impossible.

One of the characteristics of human beings is our ability to adapt and grow. When you realise that the reality you experience today isn’t something that has to be true tomorrow you are ready to take personal responsibility for change.

In our Corporate and Team programs we don’t just work with the group as a whole, we also work with individuals because each person has the potential to be the difference that makes the difference.

It all starts with a HOWTO Session that brings clarity and helps you focus on what you really want so that you can make the decisions you need to make. Book your session soon!

Book Your H.O.W.T.O. Session

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“We’re either winning or we’re learning = two good outcomes!”

Perfectionism is the Enemy of Success

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’s rarely how it plays out for me.

Most of the time, I finish a task and think about what I could improve and really dig into the details and beat myself up for every little “umm”, elongated pause, or stumble. On the plus side, that’s because I don’t want anything to get between my message and my hearers because I want to serve my audience, on the minus side, it means that I’m more focused on what I do wrong, than what I’m doing right.

Here’s the problem: that mindset is a recipe for failure and depression, not success and happiness!

I know I’m not alone in this response, it’s at the root of many people’s unwillingness to speak in public, to share their ideas and suggestions, and to take risks. Many of my clients are holding back from pursuing their dreams because they have forgotten that before you can do a thing really well, you need to start by doing it badly.

Let Me Illustrate…

At the end of November, I presented a live webinar: “How to Add 2 Extra Months to Your Year and Overcome the February Cash Crunch”.

I had everything set up and prepared well in advance, but part way through the webinar my internet cut out and I was cut off right in the middle of a sentence about how sometimes things don’t go the way you want them to…

The old Chandell would have got the webinar back online as quickly as possible and continued to present, all the while knowing that it was total disaster and that, like everything else she touched, would turn to ashes…

Today’s Chandell considered that line of thought… but remembered the group of people watching, and the questions and comments that had already come in from viewers. I knew that even if I didn’t get back online my viewers had got a heap of value and I took a moment to celebrate that while I was taking the steps needed to reconnect to the internet and continue.

One of the things that I celebrated was my own growth.

If You Don’t Like Who You Are Today… or Where You Are: Change!

Once upon a time in my life obstacles were just road blocks. They got in the way of what I wanted to accomplish. The frustration and tension had built up so far that I thought about ending my life, because I knew I would never be perfect.

Thankfully, I didn’t take that route. I discovered NLP and other resources that empowered me to celebrate who I was, and change the things that held me back so that I could empower others and facilitate their search for achievement and meaning.

Today I see obstacles as opportunities: opportunities for self-examination, growth, and service. You see, we all have the ability to change.

  • Who we are…
  • How we react…
  • What we do…
  • What comes next…

They’re all choices we make… choices we can change.

It’s one of the reasons why I enjoy conducting breakthrough sessions with individuals and group business coaching: both of these are paths to transformation of both yourself and your business. For all the talk around empowerment in the media and in education, they really don’t do a great job at modelling a growth mindset… it’s really all about process not achievement and that’s what many of my clients find so refreshing and freeing.

Of course, we use processes but they are a means to an end, not an end in themselves. For example, the reason that the 13-week Profitable Business Accelerator Program is so successful, is that the processes are a means to an end. Some of my clients may already have one or more of the processes in place, but they’re not getting results yet for one of two reasons:

  1. They’re so focused on the process that they forget about the outcome; and
  2. They haven’t yet implemented the process because they are afraid of failure;

Other clients are missing processes, but once the key elements of process + outcome + action are in place, the results are surprisingly quick and dramatic.

What Are YOU Waiting For?

Do you really believe that the person you are today and the business you have is the result you deserve and will have to live with for the rest of your life?

I’d like to respectfully challenge that belief. Now. Today.

No matter how good or bad your circumstances are, there is always more so why not make 2020 the year you stick your neck out and ‘go for gold’?

If you’d like some help on the business side of things, I have a new 13-week Profitable Business Accelerator program starting in February. Discover the details here: https://lifepuzzle.com.au/13-week-profitable-business-accelerator-program/

… OR Perception is Projection

Have you ever found life confusing and wished that you understood yourself better?

I find this NLP principle very helpful when it comes to untangling my emotions and responses to life and discovering a more empowering perspective. It’s very powerful in both your personal and professional life, especially if you are feeling threatened by unfolding circumstances or challenged by your performance targets.

So, what is it about and how can I apply it?

Perception is Projection: The NLP Principle

Essentially, this NLP principle describes the fact that what we see in others (especially the things that provoke our emotional responses) are inside ourselves. That is, we see and respond to the faults and failings of others with judgement and criticism based on their existence within ourselves. If we had no inner leaning towards that behaviour we would not see it in others.

This explains why parents are so quick to see and get upset about their children’s failures and flaws… a dispassionate observer would probably say, “Like mother, like daughter;” or “Like father, like son;” on most of them.

When I teach this principle someone in the group will invariably say, “But I can judge a murderer and I would never kill anyone myself.”

Really? When we explore possible scenarios eventually everyone acknowledges that while that would never be their preferred solution they could envisage a situation in which murder could be a justifiable response. In any case, that’s an extreme case, so let’s look at how you can apply this principle every day.

Where are Those Three Fingers Pointing?

When you physically point out a fault in someone else, there are still three fingers pointing back at yourself. This is not a reason to lower the standards of behaviour you expect from others, but it is a reason to examine your own behaviour and allow that sometimes people disappoint themselves as well as others.

In pursuit of quick solutions to self-esteem modern education and society encourages us to blame others for our failings (as if we need much encouragement to do this anyway). It may be comforting to think that we are ‘under-appreciated’, victimised, overlooked, etc. but that is an extremely disempowering way to live.

Perception is projection allows me to ‘feel’ that inferiority, insignificance, anger, resentment, and then look inside and ask, “Is there something inside myself that I need to deal with so that I can be happier, more productive, and more fun?” It’s not about feeling guilty, it’s about acknowledging my need to grow.

Using ‘Perception is Projection’

So, what can I do with this new way of looking at my responses?

Let’s look at a couple of scenarios to start you thinking:

  • Criticism/Feedback: Many people respond to feedback by getting angry or rejecting it completely. They simply have not mechanism for learning and growing from it. Next time someone criticises you or a job you have done, look at the emotions that well up. Are you defensive? Angry? Or…? Ask yourself where that emotion comes from and why you react that way. It is rarely an appropriate level of response to what actually was said or done. It may take a few tries to get a genuine answer, but the insight will help you grow and move forward.
  • Failure: Which takes you longer to move past: the realisation that you have not met your own standards, or the awareness that you didn’t meet someone else’s standards? The degree to which you hold on to your own failures is often a measure of how severely you judge others for their failures. A client who was almost viciously judgemental of others unpunctuality realised that this sprang from insecurity and a desire to control others. Once he recognised that, he was able to let go of intense anger in many areas and find physical and emotional healing.

A negative, defensive response to unwanted criticism or unpleasant circumstances and people is both natural and healthy. The question is what we do with that response and how we let it shape our future. When a bear is chasing you, running away is an appropriate response. Once you’ve outrun the bear, it’s a good time to stop and evaluate where you are before you run into something worse.

Use the ‘perception is projection’ principle to help you gain empowering insight into what you need to do.

Do You Need Some Help

We all get caught up in our heads. Sometimes we need some help from an objective ‘unreasonable friend’ to help us find a more empowering way of seeing our life and relationships. A H.O.W.T.O. Session help you do this, and much more. If you can invest 90 minutes and a small fee I can work with you to set your free from negative viewing patterns and set you on the path to the success that you deserve.

Book Your H.O.W.T.O. Session – Link to https://lifepuzzle.com.au/book-your-h-o-w-t-o-session/

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