Vision: How to Break Out of Burnout

I recently was privileged to provide an opening day keynote for the 2017 Convenience Retailing University. What a dynamic group of leaders of business professionals committed to excellence and success! I delivered my keynote presentation, Full Potential: How to Perform Best Under Pressure. 

According to a Harvard Medical School study, an astounding 96% of leaders in business today said they experience feelings of burnout.

How clear is your personal and professional vision?

  • Do you have absolute clarity about what you want to accomplish in the next 12-24 months?
  • Is it a black and white vision (vague) or is your vision blu-ray (absolute clarity)?

If you are experiencing career fatigue or burnout, re-ignite your vision. Take time to get clear, specific, and vivid focus. 

I’ve found when I assist my coaching clients and organizations, vision is the critical key that unlocks renewed success and results: 

  • Clarity
  • Focus
  • Energy
  • Discipline
  • Details
  • Resiliency
  • Optimism

My favorite exercise:
Part 1: Take an 8.5″ x 11″ piece of paper and divide it in half. On the top half write “My Personal Vision” and document seven things you will passionately accomplish in the next 12-24 months:
1. Family
2. Career
3. Health/Fitness
4. Personal Development
5. Financial
6. Fun Factor
7. Spiritual Peace

Part 2: On the bottom half, write “My Big Five Professional Must-Haves” for the next 12-24 months. Also note how you plan to accomplish your “big five.”

I go to Barnes and Noble Cafe once a month to review and often revise my personal and professional vision. It’s amazing the focus and energy you gain when your vision is clear.

I encourage you to take time this week to refocus on your blu-ray vision.

Have a vision-filled month ahead!
– Steve

3 Ways to Guard and Build Your Self-Talk

Whether you realize it or not, you have an inner dialogue… a running conversation with yourself all the time. I call it your big voice or small voice. 

Have you ever taken the time to listen? Do you criticize yourself? Do you encourage yourself?

Remember, people are never able to outperform their self-image, or their self-talk. 

I’ve learned, in my Executive Leadership and Performance Coaching, to help clients in their intended self-talk. If your inner dialogue is negative, it will drain your energy and sabotage your performance. If its positive, it will help build a positive self-image and in turn, create positive daily actions.

I read recently that by the time you’re seventeen years old, you’ve heard, “No you can’t!” an average of 150,000 times. On the contrary, you’ve heard “Yes, you can!” about 5,000 times. WOW! That’s 30 no’s for every yes.

Let me say it again, you can never outperform your self-image and your self-talk. 

I’ve learned to be my own encourager and even build personal leadership affirmations to feed my mind and positive inner dialogue.

  • I am the most positive person I know
  • I am resilient and optimistic
  • I attract great people and success
  • I am self-disciplined
  • I am a solution-finder
  • I lead others to greatness every day
  • I model the way for my family
  • I am healthier today than yesterday
  • I live by faith and refuse to embrace fear
  • I push through quitting points

Here are my 3 ways to guard and build your self-talk:
1. Start by documenting your leadership affirmations.
Create your own “I am list.” Remember, your subconscious mind drives your conscious decisions. You’ll be amazed by your own self-determination and positive energy. 

2. Take choice out of it
I heard Oprah Winfrey once say, “When it comes to exercise, you have to take choice out of it.” In other words, it’s pre-determined on your schedule and a highly held value.

When it comes to self-talk, take choice out of it. Pre-determine you ARE positive. No more negative self-talk! And guess what? Your vocabulary will change almost instantly and you will see more positive results.

3. Practice the one-word strategy
Often when I coach a team or a leader, I ask them to pick just one word that best describes them. A person’s attention and intention are focused immediately on that single word, that single gift.

What word would you pick? 
I hope it’s positive! If it is, it will help you attract great people, great results, and great success.

Here’s to your positive self-talk!
Steve