"Transplant" yourself

“It looked so pretty at the nursery. Ever since I brought it home it just looks horrible”, Mrs. Smith says.

“Mrs. Smith, your plant can look just as pretty as it did in the nursery, we just need to move it where it will get more sun”

This conversation is typical of many conversations I had over the years with clients. In my previous life, before I became a coach, I owned a landscape design/consulting business. In respect to the environment they can thrive in, plants and people are not all that different. For example, if you put me behind a desk and had me put things in the debit column and things in the credit column I would soon whither and die. However, there are people who thrive in that environment, they are called accountants.

Unfortunately for plants they don’t have much a choice as to where we decide to plant them. People, on the other hand, have a choice. “I keep giving it water and fertilizer, but it just doesn’t seem to be doing well.” If a plant or a person is in the wrong environment, no amount of fertilizer, water, education, workshops, coaching is going to help. It’s like trying to hammer a nail into a brick with a sledge hammer. You are just going to bend the nail, smash the rock and probably your thumb. Maybe it would be better to move the nail to a piece of wood and try using a hammer instead.

Once a plant is in the proper environment it needs, “what” in order to survive? It needs food and water. With correct amount of food and water your plant is going to grow, and grow quickly. Of course it is important to keep in mind that the leading cause of death of house plants is watering too much (I have killed many myself). What about food? Generally, most plants in the plant kingdom only consume as much food as they require and discard the rest. This is an example of the saturation point. People are very similar in this regard, give us too much information and we just quit absorbing it. In fact, one could say, we do not have a shortage of information, but much of the information we absorb is useless. So we can often end up reaching our saturation point with a whole lot of mental “junk” food. I know I am not one to talk, for some reason I have developed a TMZ habit. How is TMZ going to make me a better coach, person, husband, or a professional? Well I guess if I ever become famous I will now have some knowledge of how to “properly” interact with the paparazzi. Ok enough of this tangent; let’s get back to people and plants.

Assuming we have put our plant (ourselves), into the proper environment, gave adequate water and food what next? Our plant is going to grow and eventually will need to be transplanted. This is essentially the reason why I entered into this profession. In order for me to thrive I needed to move myself into another profession. When is the best time to transplant, in the middle of summer? No! In the middle of winter? No! The best time to transplant most plants is early in spring. People are no different. Summer represents the last 5 years or so, and winter was last September. We are right now, in early spring.

When is the best time to transplant yourself? Right Now!! Transplant yourself into an environment where you can thrive. Give yourself adequate water (sleep, exercise, nutrition, meditation), and really good food (great books, coaching, workshops, etc…). I also recommend organic fertilizer (more about that in another article). And for those of you who also have a TMZ habit, when is Lindsey Lohan going stop smashing up cars?

Cribbage: Count your Points

This past weekend my wife and I went out to our family cabin for the weekend. The best thing about the cabin is: No TV, No Cell Phone. Saturday night we looked at each other not sure what to do with ourselves and decided to play some cards. I suggested Cribbage. Only because, between the two of us, that was the only card game I could remember how to play.

Cribbage is a card game that goes way back where you get points for certain card combinations, especially any card combinations that add up to fifteen these are worth two points each. You also get points for pairs, straights etc… Like many games Cribbage has a particular set of rules and a certain game etiquette. One etiquette is how you count the points in your hand. As I was explaining how to count, Fifteen two, fifteen four, a pair for six and a run for 9, my wife started laughing and asked where the camera was. She really thought I was pulling a fast one on her. I explained that how you count your cards is a part of the game. And then I got to thinking “why is it you count the cards this particular way?”

It is a system, although this may seem obvious from the readers standpoint, how often are their things you do in your life that are a system that you don’t even realize. This begs the questions;

Is it a good system?

How do you know?

Did you come up with it on your own?

Did you learn it from someone else who has played the game before?

In respect to Cribbage it is a good system because people have been counting their cards in this order for probably hundreds of years. My grandfather taught me and he was taught by someone else. The people who have taught others how to play the game are mentors. Although at first the counting etiquette seemed ridiculous to my wife she soon found it is a very efficient system. Without this particular system you will invariably screw up your count.

In the game of crib if you don’t count all your points the other player gets to take any of the points you don’t take. In business your competitors take your points. Imagine that every point equals a thousand dollars. Without systems you might as well write your competitors a check every month.

The best systems for networking, marketing, sales, management and leadership have already been built for you. Yes, you may have to tweak these systems to fit your particular business. The hardest part about systems (speaking from my own experience here), is maintaining the discipline to follow them.