Click Here to Stop Whining and Start Winning
Here’s the book that inspired the last 21 Days.
You can find “How to Stay When you Want to Quit; re-scripting your life from whiner to winner”, here or here. Now there’s a chance for you to win a FREE Copy.
Simply become a fan of Karl Bimshas Consulting on Facebook (Join Here) and make a comment on the Whiner to Winner series. A random fan will be selected to get an autographed copy of the book.
So share your thoughts, insight or other ideas with other fans.
Here we are at Day 21!
For the last three weeks I posed a series of questions, exercises and thought starters aimed at helping you get over yourself and get working on something productive.
I’m sure you found concepts that can apply to virtually any job and any position in any organization. Maybe it gave you some thought starters to begin moving your mind in a more positive direction.
My intention of these last 21 days was to help inspire others to maximize their strengths and continuously improve themselves and their organization or society, by bringing the powers of vision, passion and action. I believe in some way doing so can help positively energize our nation and contribute to greater peace, prosperity, fun, understanding, responsibility and liberty in the world.
Now it’s up to you. It’s time to put yourself back in the driver’s seat of your career and your life and begin pursuing the dreams, hopes, and aspirations that you’ve been moaning about all this time. People believe in you. I believe in you. Now, believe in yourself and get to work.
Make the time to share your comments, progress or tips on the blog, on the Karl Bimshas Consulting page on Facebook or on Twitter using the #whiner21 tag.
Want to learn more about Karl Bimshas Consulting and finding the a-ha within?
Email - Karl@karlbimshas.com Call - 619.717.6204 Visit - www.karlbimshas.com Write - Karl Bimshas Consulting P.O. Box 83983 San Diego, CA 92138
There must be a regular diet of meaningful recognition.
Positive reinforcement, thanks and praise are the nutritional components of a healthy workforce, the helium that lifts the organizational balloon to new heights. It is a currency that many organizations are afraid of spending; yet its value can be limitless. Without it, or withholding it until the perfect moment, can result in at worst, a bankruptcy of human potential, and at best, leave people with a feeling of emotional deficiency.
All people want to do a good job, regardless of which motivations they declare to be driven by; the rewards of learning new experiences, enhancing important relationships or legacy building, people will respond to those who notice what they have already contributed with even greater performance.
It’s amazing. Many times people think about thanking people for a job well done – but thinking is not the same as doing it. The best of intentions are still only intentions. To make an impact you must actually do something.
Make a plan and recognize people for the good things they’re doing.
Next up: “Final Thoughts”
Share your comments, progress or tips on the blog, on the Karl Bimshas Consulting page on Facebook or on Twitter using the #whiner21 tag.
There must be a sense of overwhelming optimism.
The compelling vision is not only the day to day, here’s what we need to do and why, but the over arching, here is our place on earth, here’s our legacy, here’s the good that we wish to do.
Living that is what creates a legacy. Knowing that is what helps create positivism.
That positive approach has to be all-encompassing. Tolerance of rampant apathy or negativism is a weakness. If optimism is not visible in practice, alarms should sound and priority given to overcoming whatever the obstruction may be.
This does not forego the crucial role of devil’s advocate and challenging viewpoints — but to leave negative feelings or remarks unchecked, even in the simplest day to day transactions, is to enable the contagion. Counter the virus with positive encouragement and recognition. You don’t want to be Pollyanna with everything – that can be just as dangerous. But negativity is an acid that corrodes everything. It must be neutralized.
Are you more or less optimistic now than before you started this program?
How do you handle apathy or negativism when you encounter it?
(What more could you do?)
How do you recognize those who are positive?
Next up: “Meaningful Recognition”
Share your comments, progress or tips on the blog, on the Karl Bimshas Consulting page on Facebook or on Twitter using the #whiner21 tag.
The organization must have a repeatable compelling vision and sense of purpose.
If possible it should be a clear and concise singular vision. Every activity that the organization tackles must be able to foster a closer linkage to that compelling vision. It must be memorable and repeatable so that every message, action and strategy supports the purpose with their obvious connections.
The clarity of the vision should be worded and promoted in a way that others can understand, support, be excited by, grow some passion around, and be inventive in discovering numerous ways to achieve that purpose. Too often people spend too much time and energy trying to create a literary masterpiece instead of a clear, easy to follow and understand vision. It’s a terrible waste of resources.
Leadership is about inspiring people – not tiring people and putting them to sleep.
Does your organization have a repeatable compelling vision and sense of purpose? (If it does, what is it?)
Does it excite you or anyone else?
Next up: “Overwhelming Optimism”
Share your comments, progress or tips on the blog, on the Karl Bimshas Consulting page on Facebook or on Twitter using the #whiner21 tag.
The Four Musts are the things every organization, family or team need for optimal performance. Now that you’re a winner your role is to act as curator for each of the “musts”. The first must is about a leadership.
There must be a strong leader and strong, pervasive leadership.
Charisma is not leadership, although it can act as a helpful tool to quickly gain the acceptance of an audience. Effective leaders share a passion for and a record of accomplishments. Strong leadership is demonstrated daily by a person or a group of people who are honest, forthright, markedly visible and approachable. Leaders fulfill their insatiable need to be out in front regularly. When not actually walking on the frontlines then they talk with people who work there, both in “town hall” meetings and in one to one settings. They remember that just as the shepherd is there for the benefit of the flock, leadership is there to serve the people and they take that responsibility seriously.
Do you have a passion for a record of accomplishment? What are your top three accomplishments right now?
How often do you talk to people who are on the front lines of your organization?
It’s one thing to talk like a leader – quite another to act like one.
Next up: “The Vision Thing”
Share your comments, progress or tips on the blog, on the Karl Bimshas Consulting page on Facebook or on Twitter using the #whiner21 tag.
Let’s take a moment to review where we’ve been so far, and notice how far you’ve already progressed. The first thing you needed to do was to acknowledge and honor the change that was occurring around you. You had to figure out how you were going to deal with it and learn how to get happy. Once you identified that, you had to be prepared to defend and protect the things that made you happy.
Next, you needed to beware of the three-donkey day. You learned that it was foolish to blame what you were going through on burnout when you were acting like an arsonist. You had a choice. You could change, ignore things for a little while, or move on, but you had to do something. You rediscovered what motivates you and remembered the way you felt when you first got your job and why you wanted it in the first place. And that it was up to you to choose your attitude and approach.
You needed to become less selfish so you began asking people, “What one thing can I do for you that will most help you make a positive difference?” If you found people were being negative you started to challenge them, asking them why they were still doing what they were doing. You figured out your learning style and began to identify in yourself, and others the places where you could begin to make the most positive impact; in customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and profitable revenue growth. You knew that talking about it was a good start, but not enough, so you built weekly action plans around each goal.
It’s crucial to set goals with measurements and timelines, accomplishing them without that is more luck than effort.
You learned that you needed to protect your people at all costs. To improve their jobs, their outlook and in fact, their lives was one of your key roles. You’ve learned to begin to run to things – not away from things. You now understand that it’s better to operate from a position of strength – not weakness as you continue to identify your vision. It makes sense that people like to follow people who are passionate and competent and because of that you continuously refine your strengths.
It wasn’t easy. You had to consciously get optimistic and turn everything into an upside. You trained yourself to find the pony in nearly every situation. It helped a lot to list your ten best excuses for not doing something to see how foolish you were truly acting.
Now you’re ready to learn about The Four Musts.
Next up: “The 1st of the Four Musts”
Share your comments, progress or tips on the blog, on the Karl Bimshas Consulting page on Facebook or on Twitter using the #whiner21 tag.
Take an inventory of what it is you want. It is readily available or do you have to go someplace else for it? Would you?
Maybe you’ve gotten comfortable with all your complaining. People seem to be giving you pity – and you’ve been playing a great victim. Keep it up and you could keep doing what you’ve been doing until you retire or die, whichever comes first.
But that’s no way to live, so how about spending some time working on you. What do you want to do with yourself? You’ve got to have a clue. Reach back into your childhood if you need to.
What did you want to be when you grew up? Why?
Examine that in today’s context. Is it still appealing? If not, why not? If yes, then why the heck aren’t you doing it now?
Go ahead; list your ten best excuses for not pursuing your dreams. Write them down. Prioritize them just like you would your goals. Next, problem-solve them. Get rid of the barriers. Those SOB’s are keeping you from your dream.
Think of yourself as an actor on a television show. You want to contribute toward getting high ratings each week so the show avoids cancellation; you want to get renewed each season. So, you act and perform in a way that leads to the show’s success and you eventually earn awards. Remember, you want to be a Highly Valued Star, not a Greatness Inhibitor.
Next up: “Review Where We’ve Been”
Share your comments, progress or tips on the blog, on the Karl Bimshas Consulting page on Facebook or on Twitter using the #whiner21 tag.
It may be time to start looking for something new – tap the network. Ask for help. People like helping people reach their goals. Know your goal.
Goals are easy to find. What things do you do at work that you enjoy? Working with people? Creating presentations? Analyzing data? Every time you find that passion, pay attention to yourself and see what you respond to. Spend more time doing that. Describe how it feels. Probably pretty darn good. Enjoy it. Relish it. And do everything you can to repeat it. Ignore, delegate or trade the rest if you can because it’s the passion-inducing moments that are going to give you your happiness and personal success. People like to follow leaders who are passionate and competent so keep working on your skills and your strengths.
Don’t get lazy. Just know your strengths. Dig up any number of personal assessments or ask five people who you interact with daily what they think your strengths are. Look for themes that are repeated and begin to focus on those things. Refine your strengths. Let the others atrophy – you weren’t built to do them anyway so don’t worry about them.
Next up: “Find the Upside”
Share your comments, progress or tips on the blog, on the Karl Bimshas Consulting page on Facebook or on Twitter using the #whiner21 tag.
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