I was talking to a prospective coaching client the other day. As I was explaining the emphasis we place on balance and personal success in our coaching programs he interjected and made an interesting comment. He said to me, “Kip, I know I have some things I need to improve on personally, but for right now I really need to just focus on improving my business.”

What a revelation! In one sentence he revealed a paradigm that more than anything else was holding him back from being as successful as he could be. There is one principle, one natural law, one fundamental truth that he was not recognizing and applying, and that is this:

No Success, including Business Success, can precede Personal Success.

You see this is the deal, the crux of it all really. The fastest car in the world doesn’t win the race without a highly skilled driver; the finest paint and brushes have no meaningful impact on the canvas without the hand of a talented artist; and successful, highly effective businesses are run by people who are successful and highly effective as human beings. It is a PRErequisite. Being an effective, successful person does not come after first building a successful business or career. IT COMES FIRST!!! If Business Success is the chicken, and Personal Success is the egg, then the answer to the age-old question is most definitely and emphatically “The Egg!”, and if you will take the time to nurture the egg (your personal effectiveness) you will find it results in a more robust and healthy chicken (in other words, a great business/career).

Deep down you know this is true, we all do. Yet so many would try to convince themselves they can take the shortcut that no one else has been able to take, that somehow they can have the business success they desire without doing the work on themselves first. Why do so many try it? Why do they skip the part where they work on themselves and work on other things first? The answer is fear.

Think of it this way, if I try my hand at creating a successful business and fail I can reason that it was due to any number of reasons and circumstances outside my control. However, if I work on being an effective person and fail… well, you can see how this pill might prove a little harder to swallow if we let such fears get the best of us. As a result, most of us focus our efforts in either the wrong place, or in the right place but prematurely (in other words, without working on personal effectiveness first).

My Challenge to You:

1. Focus your efforts on becoming a highly effective person, one who makes and keeps commitments to yourself and has a high degree of personal integrity and follow through, even when no one else knows of your commitment.

2. Be an excellent manager of your time. It’s not about scheduling every minute of your time, but rather doing the right thing at the right time.

3. Establish habits that will serve you throughout the rest of your life, habits that will lead you to succeed regardless of your chosen business or career endeavors.

If you will do these things I am confident you will enjoy tremendous success in all aspects of your life, including business and career.

To get a Free Coaching Session to discuss your Business and Personal Success and Effectiveness just click the link below:

To Your Success!

Kip Kint
Success Coach & President
Mission Ignition, Inc.

There are plenty of planning methods out there. There are a lot of different ways to organize your schedule. Which one is best? Well, of course the answer can be highly subjective. However, based on my experience in coaching thousands of clients, to be more effective in getting the results they want out of business and life I have found a method that works best for most. It is Roles-based Planning and it can make all the difference in the success you achieve in the significant roles in your life. Here’s how it works:

1st:
Clearly define your vision for each of your significant roles in your life. Are you a Business Leader, a Husband, a Mother, a Friend? What is your vision for fulfilling those roles in your life? The more clear and well-articulated the vision the greater the likelihood you will achieve it.

2nd:
Plan goals for each role each week. These are not necessarily big, long-term goals, but rather goals that can be fulfilled and accomplished within the coming week. List these goals right under your roles. The most common way to do this is called a Weekly Compass (right).

3rd:
Time-activate your goals into your schedule. I suggest you color-coordinate them with a different color for each role. I use blue for my role as a Business Leader and pink for my role as a Husband, purple for my role as a Father and yellow for my role as a Coach. The colors you choose are up to you. Of course this will add a few minutes to the planning process. However, the increased effectiveness in the execution of your plan will make it more than worth it. Here is a sample calendar that has been color-coordinated to match the Weekly Compass and Roles it is associated with (click calendar to enlarge):

This life, and the success we enjoy in it, is all tied to relationships, and every relationship we have is tied to a role the we play in that relationship. The more successful you are in your roles, the more successful you are in life.

To your Success!

Kip Kint
Success Coach & President
Mission Ignition, Inc.

One of the important “spokes” on the Wheel of Life, that I have blogged about in the past, is Fun & Recreation. In working with over 3,000 clients I have found that when time gets tight this is one of the first things to be sacrificed by most people. I have come to the conclusion that this is not the wisest path to take.

Fun & Recreation are important, even critical, to one’s self-renewal. Even break down the word “recreation” and what do you have? Re-Creation! We need to constantly re-create and renew ourselves. Human Beings are so-wired that we need to have fun and laugh and smile. In fact, we are hard-wired for this. It is a proven fact that just smiling, even when you don’t feel like doing so, will release a very small amount of endorphins in the brain, the very chemical that causes us to feel good. Keep smiling long enough, and eventually you really do feel like smiling. Add laughter to that equation and look out, you’re feeling pretty great before you know it. Engage in activities you personally find to be fun and recreational and you are getting some much-needed renewal.

One of the exercises I assign to my Coaching Clients is called, “20 Things I Love To Do”. Basically, it’s like this:

Take out a piece of paper, or turn on you computer and begin brainstorming things that you love to do. Never mind how long it’s been since you last did it. Maybe it was yesterday for some, or 20 years ago for others. The point is that it’s a brainstorm, so no “editing” while you’re writing. Come up with at least 20 things and put them on your list.

Next, ask the following questions for each of the items you brainstormed:

1. How long since I last did this?
2. Do I prefer to do it alone, or with someone?
3. Is it Job Related?
4. Is it generally done spontaneously, or does it require some planning?
5. Is it more fast-paced, or slow-paced?
6. Is it Mental, Physical, Social, or Spiritual (or any combination of the four)?
7. Does it cost money, or is it free?

The answers to these questions are merely to shed a little insight into the things you love to do, and help you choose what you might do next, and then do it.

So, don’t delay. Having Fun and Re-Creating are critical to your success and happiness. I suggest you start right away.

If you would like to see what your Balance Score is for Fun & Recreation in your life, just click the link below to take a Free Personal Assessment of your balance.

To Your Success!

Kip Kint
Success Coach & President
Mission Ignition, Inc.