If you've ever been in a situation where you loved or hated your boss, it's probably because of how they made you feel when you talked with them. I'd also bet the boss you loved had much more influence with you than the boss who yelled or put you down.

One experience I had in corporate America was when a team-mate came into my office, screaming profanities at me.  I was able to keep my cool, and we moved past it.  But I never really trusted him to have a civil conversation again, and the team suffered from not being able to have candid discussions about the work.  

On the other hand, I've had team members that always had helpful insight on how to make things better.  These folk's tended to have a ton of influence with me at work, because I felt like my work was better because we worked together.  Even if they were a bit too candid and direct with my approach. 

There are also people like my buddy Jim who always inspires me to...

Our confidence is linked to our productivity.

When we are taking active action toward our goals, dreams, we feel confident things will change for us.  

Productivity can me many things.  It could be learning how to code or practice law even better. It can be setting the proper strategy and vision for the team, so everyone is on the same page.  Or it could be finding our next best job or career.  In each situation, we need to focus on things that will create the transformation, and stop things that get us off track.

Focus on the main thing, decrease distraction.

If you are looking to be more productive in an area of your life, here are five ideas to help you focus more and get distracted less.

1. Create a focus practice - With our attention spans shortening, do an activity each day where you focus for an hour.  Just like a muscle, your focus needs to be practiced.
2. Block-time -  Set aside blocks of 50 minutes to focus on a task, then take a 10 min...

Courage is a word we don't discuss anymore as a society.  And it's something we should talk about because it's directly related to our well-being.

My definition of courage is the ability to express yourself and speak up despite feeling anxious, scared, overwhelmed, or uncertain.  Classic examples of courage come from the military (facing down bullets and such).  More modern times shows of non-life threatening courage are speaking up online, reading the comments section, putting your foot down with your child, leaving a bad relationship, among many other situations.  

If you can't speak up in business meetings, have a tough conversation with a loved one or co-worker, express yourself online without feeling assaulted, or jump into a new health routine because you're are anxious about new things, then you can't really live your life.

Not being able to work through the anxiety, fear, or the unexpected causes us to lose momentum.  To feel unconfident and...

Hey everyone!  Last week we talked about, briefly, on how clarity helps you gain more confidence.  If you haven't seen it yet, go back to last week and check it out!  People have been loving the post, even if I was a little under the weather.

This week is all about how your energy impacts your confidence.  

Have you ever felt "out of it" when you needed to be on your "A" game?  Ever felt unmotivated when you knew you needed to finish something important?

We all have.  Some of the things the highest performers have in common are their ability to control their physical and mental energy.  

It's tough to get motivated when all you want to do is watch some Netflix, or get to bed ASAP.  If you are not motivated for long enough, then you start to lose momentum and feel less confident.

When you feel mentally and physically vibrant, you can't help but feel confident.  There is a sense of flow and connectedness - an ease about going about life...

Our confidence comes with how clear we think, feel, and believe what our future holds.

When we are clear about who we are and what we need to do, we can take bold action towards our goals because we do not waste energy "trying to figure it out".  When we know how we want to feel in our lives, we can make better choices to realize those feelings.  When our future is clear, we can persevere through tough moments and situations because we know how things will turn out after hardship.

When we are not clear about who we are and what we need to do, we constantly battle ourselves in our mind.  We see ourselves as strong, while we give our power away at work like a timid person.  Are we strong, or timid?  A strong person would walk into that office and try to make a sale.  A timid person would walk by that office.  Which person am I?

When we are not connected to how we want to feel, we are at the whims of our current emotions.  Need to deliver on...

Part of the magic of a high performer is the ability to know how to navigate different types of people.  Some people are a joy to work with - they are the helpful, positive, inspiring, all boats rise when we all succeed kind of people.  After working with them, you usually feel inspired, energized, and better.

Others are the "Tough to Love" folks.  Irritable, hostile, sabotaging, demotivating, stab you in the back kind of folks.  You might feel emotionally drained, unmotivated, frustrated, angry, or in full despair when after interacting with these kind of people.

So as a high performer, what do you do?  Do you get pissed and fight with these types of folks?  Do you give up and let them do their thing?  Do you just avoid them altogether?  

The simple answer is:  it depends.

It depends on your relationship with them.  A family member is harder to completely avoid, where that one person at your coffee shop is easier.  You...

It's tough out there, and the struggle is real.  And there you are, doing the work, making progress, facing setbacks, and enduring.  That's why you inspire me!

As a high performance coach, I'm often asked "I want to make a career change, what do I do?".  A high performer knows a few things:  

• We sometimes need to look for new ideas and perspectives to progress
• There is never a magic bullet or "one true answer" on how to move forward
• Play the long game to succeed

So how does this translate into change?  Well, it comes down to understanding fear and it's opposite, inspiration!

• Fear is feeling worry something bad, painful, or unpleasant will happen.
• Inspiration is feeling something good, positive, or pleasurable will happen.

Maybe you are afraid of changing jobs.  Or moving to a new place.  Maybe you have been putting off asking out that cute person at the coffee shop you get along with so well.  Maybe you're afraid that getting in shape will...

Hey all!

It's been a busy few months, and are you feeling like you have been going strong this month? 

Have you been really trying to get into gear in the new year?  Me too.

Between some new business things in the pipeline, visiting venues for our wedding this year, visiting friends and family in the new year - Ashley and I have been super busy.

With all this activity, it's easy to feel overwhelmed.  It's easy to get grumpy about being pulled in tons of different directions.  It's easy to forget WHY we are all working so hard.

This week I needed a reminder to SLOW DOWN.

Celebrate what's good, take in the moment, and feel GOOD about all the effort.

That's why I'm talking about three things to make sure you slow down and take a breath this week.  Check it out in the video above.

And if you are struggling with your New Years resolutions, goals, or what you need to do to win this year, then let's work together.  My students and coaching clients always tell...

Hey everyone!

This is the first update for 2019!  I've been out with family for a while, and getting settled back into the swing of things.

First off, stay tuned for info on a mid January webinar I am going to do.  So many people (including myself) have their New Years "Revolutions" start to fall apart about now.  So the webinar is planned to help you keep motivated towards whatever health or personal goals you may have for the year.

This weeks quick video is about some things I have been digging this year.  Check it out above, and see you all next week!

Shawn

PS.  I am also doing a monthly training program, and this month we are talking about commitment.  If you have ever fallen short of a goal you set out to complete, this is for you.  Don't have it happen again by making sure you have some extra support by checking it out here.

I often get asked questions about what technology I use for my coaching business, so I thought I would do a quick video on that today.

Most people, when they ask this question, it's because they do not feel confident working with tech.  The feel they need to be a software engineer, someone younger, or someone super tech savvy in order to get it right.

The great news is there are tons of easy platforms you can use to get an internet presence, and they are way cheaper than they were in the 90's.

A little about my experience.  I started my adult career in 2007 as a web developer for Wal-Mart.  It was super clunky, took a good amount of time to develop, and tons of resources to manage.

in 2010, I started working on a startup business and used a ton of systems like Wordpress, 1shoppingcart, a Tumblr blog, and a not cheap email marketing provider.  There were monthly costs involved to process payment, and keep the email marketing functionality.  And if you ever...