Ep 21 – New Year’s Challenge

First of all, I want to wish a sincere “Happy Birthday” to my Dad.  For all the years he has offered me advice, each year brings the time between him dishing it out to me actually taking action on it shortens.  If only I could have HIM create a podcast and record it just for you…but, alas, he claims to be retired.

This coming year (or really ANYTIME you are up to the challenge), I want you to upgrade the people with whom you spend the most time.   I know, you are required to be at work and interact daily with Ashley from Accounts Payable, Michael from Marketing & Stanley from Shipping…but that’s not who I am talking about.  No, not your loved ones, either.  The unfortunate truth about your family is that most of your waking hours aren’t spend with them, either. It’s the people you CHOOSE to spend your discretionary time with each week.

“We become the average of the five people with whom we spend the most time.”

– Attributed to so many different people on the internet, let’s just accept this as FACT, shall we?

A couple of years ago, I committed to meet with a group of colleagues who are all speakers, facilitators, and experts of various topics on a monthly basis.  While our businesses were, by trade, quite similar, how we each go about running them varies somewhat.  Each of us is at a different stage of maturity with our business (some might argue in general as well)…but committing to get together regularly and hold each other accountable for progress has proven a worthwhile exercise. Over these last two years, we have seen the ups and downs of one another’s practices, and been there to lend support, friendship, ideas and sometimes just a listening ear.

One of the members of my group is a sales leadership consultant, speaker and fellow podcaster, Jim Jacobus.  In fact, it was Jim who challenged the members of our group to each launch a podcast of our own….so I owe him a THANK YOU on behalf of each of the listeners of the Success Charger Podcast for his encouragement for me to even launch the show in the first place.

I am a listener of Jim’s Podcast, and in a 4-part series he started on November 19th, 2015, he has again encouraged me to raise the bar.

Sometimes it is just better to send you to the source, than try to explain what I learned for myself.  My challenge to you this week is to download and listen to the four-episode series Jim produced on the “Four Questions You Should Ask Yourself Each Year”.

My wife and I have taken these four questions and are carving out a few hours this week to sit down and discuss what they mean to us in the context of our marriage/family as well as both of our careers.

Here are the links to the episodes on Jim’s Podcast, and I hope you’ll find them as helpful as I did.  (HINT:  If you are short on time and just want to cut to the chase, he does a nice, albeit brief, recap on the fourth episode….but I’d recommend listening to all four.  They are about 20 or so minutes each.)

You can also find these on iTunes Podcasts: Search for “In The Sales Arena” or via this link (Epsiodes 64-67)

1. Four Questions to Ask Yourself
2. What is Not Working for You and How Can You Make It Start Working?
3. What New Thing Do You Want To Do In 2016?
4. What Are You Going to do in 2016 That is BIG?

Listen with the links above, download them for that trip to the in-laws, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!