Andy Christiansen » Professional Growth

Start FAST in 2012!

andy.christiansen — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:20:09 +0000

5 TIPS FOR A FAST START!

Have you ever gone without something for an extended period of time? Like going without food or beverages? A radical idea huh?

Fasting is primarily the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food, drink, or both, for a short period of time in order to gain a long-term benefit.

Like the old statement, “no pain, no gain.” I admittedly dislike the pain involved in pushing through old barriers to gain new milestones. But, I love the feeling of arriving at the new goal or accomplishment, don’t you?

Like the pain involved in abstaining from simple carbohydrates, but the gain of looking great due to losing 40 LB’s, or the pain of diverting $500 a month into a 401k, but the gain of seeing the end of the year compound interest statement.

Starting January 1st after dinner, my wife and I will be doing the 21-day Daniel Fast (which consist of any and all vegetables, fruits and water*). Why don’t you join us for this radical adventure? A few of the benefits are increased energy, better sleep, focus, internal cleansing, direction and a sharper mind. Not to mention, spiritual benefits for those of faith!

If you are interested, read below and start getting ready for a crazy ride.

Five helpful tips:

Make your decision. In or out? If you need more info see below.
Chart your course. Plan your meals and go shopping. Below are some helpful links, books and blogs. Begin after dinner 1/1/12 and break before dinner on 1/22/12.
Get some good plant based unsweetened protein powder for energy smoothies – you can live off these if you have to. Get a good blender. Check out target stores or Amazon for the Bullet (I have used mine everyday now for 5 years). http://tinyurl.com/buht5ko
Keep your attitude positive and remember the long-term benefits you will receive. You are gaining momentum each day and will be so proud of yourself once you complete your 21-days.
Use a good resource as your partner or guide. My favorite is, Jentzen Franklin’s book called Fasting http://tinyurl.com/855gz2z. A good guide book is The Daniel Fast http://tinyurl.com/86eu67y and a good blog http://danielfast.wordpress.com/

See you at the finish line!

Hit the link Andy’s Blog and sign in, to post any comments or questions.

* Daniel was an Old Testament Prophet who went 21 days eating only fruits and vegetables – no celebratory foods and while it was designed to make him weak it actually made him stronger. Daniel 1:8-14

Set Goals for 2012!

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Set Goals for 2012!

andy.christiansen — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 21:20:18 +0000

As we look at a new year, consider designing your top ten goals!

Review the suggested goals list below as a primer to get you thinking and create a top ten list. Then create a #1 personal goal and a #1 professional goal to work on over the course of the year. If the word “goal” intimidates you, change the wording, call them passionately hoped for outcomes!

Financial

Buy a home

Start saving – investing

Set up/follow a budget

Pay off debts/credit cards

Create lifetime money plan

Earn more/make more money

Design financial independence plan

Review and create healthy insurance plan

Career

Go back to school

Start own business

Find a new career

Reduce stress at work

Create a business plan

Upgrade career – get a raise/promotion

Relationships

Be more practical

Be more spontaneous

Find Mr. or Mrs. right

Resolve past experiences

Design a family life plan

Get closer to spouse Feel more loved

Spend more time with children, build significant memories

Transition

Be mentored – mentor another

Discover or increase spirituality

Gain – loss of large monies

Divorce care – recovery

Recovery from trauma

Make big life changes

Discover core values

Big loss/failure

Big opportunity

Physical, Spiritual and Emotional Balance

Sleep better Take responsibility

Increase your spiritual relationship

Reduce alcohol/nicotine intake

Reduce sugar/fat intake

Run a marathon

Begin exercising

Lose weight

Goals or (passionately hoped for outcomes) should have four S.M.A.C. characteristics

Specific

Measurable

Attainable (challenging but realistic)

Compatible with your values (compatible with who you are)

TOP TEN GOALS:

Sample: Increase annual income 15% by December 31st this year, or Take my spouse on a meaningful date each Thursday night

1. _______________________________________

2. _______________________________________

3. _______________________________________

4. _______________________________________

5. _______________________________________

6. _______________________________________

7. _______________________________________

8. _______________________________________

9. _______________________________________

10. _____________________________________

Your #1 Personal Goal _______________________________________________

Your #1 Professional Goal _____________________________________________

Wisdom: getting another person or group to provide encouragement and accountability around your goals would increase your success exponentially.

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Do you Play BIG or Small?

andy.christiansen — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:51:13 +0000

What’s the Big Idea?

Doane Robinson (1856-1946) had a big idea. It involved the natural beauty of the Black Hills, a master artist, and a vision for the future of the state of South Dakota. Robinson dreamed of Mount Rushmore.

So, how did his dream, one so daunting, turn into reality?

He considered the future. Robinson knew his state would benefit from tourism and set into motion a plan to ensure his state’s viability when competing for tourism dollars. And he was right. Seventy years later, Mount Rushmore hosts more than 3 million visitors each year.
He created a team. Robinson knew that his idea was bigger than just one man. He teamed with others to create, design, promote and support the project.
He listened to constructive feedback. Originally, Robinson wanted figures from the West carved into the Black Hills. But sculptor Gutzon Borglum wanted a monument that would honor the meaning found in America’s history. Robinson recognized the good in Borglum’s idea and went with it.
He never gave up. Once his idea got rolling, Robinson devoted himself tirelessly to raising funding for it, no easy proposition. The fourteen year project was riddled with financial complications and strife, with costs coming in close to one million dollars. Still, Robinson’s persistence paid off and gave us a place where today we can take pride in our rich American history and the possibilities of the American dream.

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars. Les Brown

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2012 Goal Setting – Now!

andy.christiansen — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 20:30:22 +0000

If you’re a high capacity leader, you know that October is the best time to plan out your 2012 goals. If not now or in very early November you will find yourself just like other years juggling Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years only to find yourself in mid January thinking, wasn’t it just October? So, create them now and adjust as necessary. Use whatever tool you’re used to or source my link below for a standard top ten GOALS worksheet.

The best move you can make is to just get them on paper NOW! GOALS TOP 10 WORKSHEET

Go BIG or go Home!

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3 Benefits of Persevering

andy.christiansen — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 19:42:55 +0000

Never, Never Give Up

Mary appeared to have all odds against her. Underprivileged and unaccepted, a struggle with dyslexia ensured poor performance in school. A stubborn nature landed her in reform school. Bad decision making found her pregnant, twice, before she was twenty. A fragile physical body guaranteed a stroke. Bad fortune insisted upon a lifetime of medical challenges.

Mary’s life was on a fast track toward a destructive ending. Until she started wondering if she could be a doctor. Until she started about dreaming of the kind of doctor she would be…if she could be one, that is. Until she decided to take a chance, risk it all, and just go for it.

Going for it sounds risky, doesn’t it? It’s thoughtless and foolhardy, right? It can be. It can be our last gasp before we hit a dead end. It can be what we do when we run out of ideas. It can be our most treasured cliché. Or, it can be

A new way of doing things when we’re bold enough to kick old habits out of the way and experiment with fresh, unexpected ideas
The fulfillment of a dream that, to date, has gone unrealized
Our biggest success borne out of our biggest challenge

Mary battled financial struggles and marital challenges on the road to her medical degree. She suffered the sting of fifteen rejection letters to medical school before a compassionate teacher assisted with a medical college acceptance. She endured the humiliation of low grades, extensive tutoring, and personal hardship…but Mary relinquished her old way of doing things. She doggedly pursued an unfulfilled dream. She fought through the challenges and achieved her success. Mary went for it. And at age thirty-five, Mary, known to others as poor, troubled, slow, good-for-nothing Mary, overcame it all and became Dr. Mary Groda-Lewis.

What is it you need to fight for today…go for it!

Doctor, Mary Groda-Lewis\’ Real-Life Triumph Unreels in a TV Film

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4 Steps to 4 Weeks off

andy.christiansen — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 01:55:56 +0000

Can you take off a month? Below are four steps to make it a reality! This might sound crazy, but if you want to experience a quality vacation next summer (2012), you need to start planning for it now! Do you want one of those photo album memories that lasts a lifetime? If so, keep reading.

I want to challenge you to take an entire month off to enjoy the benefits of extended physical rest, improved family relationships and personal free time to detox and revive your creative juices and motivations. Most people say, they can’t afford it, I want to suggest, you can’t afford not to! Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

One of our family’s best memories was a month long vacation to Greece. I especially remember a few days we spent on the island of Santorini, where we were fortunate enough to stay in a hotel positioned on beautiful cliffs overlooking the Aegean Sea. During our first morning there, I struck up a conversation with another of the hotel’s guests, a young, Swedish mother of three. When she asked me how long we had been on holiday, I smugly replied, “We are two weeks into a four week vacation!” The tables turned on me when I found out that she and her family had been traveling for six weeks; and my pride in my fantasy that I was the lead dog in vacationing well quickly transformed into a harsh reality check. To most people I met on our trip, our four week vacation was a short one.

For a vacation to be significant, your time off does not have to necessarily number thirty days. But planning for and executing a restful, meaningful holiday must be an intentional exercise. To maximize time off from work, there are some things you need to consider.

1. Vacation is a calendar item. Make it a priority.

2. Plan financially for your vacation.

3. Go where you’re energized. Whether it’s the mountains or the beach, a resort or a cabin, a play-cation or a stay-cation, choose to spend your time in a way that will rejuvenate your body and spirit.

4. Define your vacation obstacles, and work in a strategic way to overcome them. Pre-planning for your absence is a tactical move that will keep your time away from the office from spiraling into chaos.

Every man who possibly can, should force himself to a holiday of a full month in a year, whether he feels like taking it or not. - William James

You can do this, you must do this!

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5 Steps to Doing Good

andy.christiansen — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:05:13 +0000

“As to my calling, I belong to the world…” These words uttered by Mother Teresa gave us a glimpse into her motivation and passion for meeting the needs of others. Giving was a call Mother Teresa took seriously. In 1948, she left the life of a school principal, tending to the needs of students, and humbly entered the world of the poor. She became nurse and washed the wounds of children. She became cook and fed the bellies of the starving. She became hope and nourished the souls of the dying. She became an example to the world.

Now I am not implying at all that you shed your belongings, leave your homeland and radically tend to the needy. However, it would be to your betterment if you graciously give (at least some!) of what you get.

So how do you do that?

Give thanks. Stop working for a minute, take a look around, and give thanks for your health, your work, your family, and all your other good gifts.
Start small, looking in your immediate vicinity for ways to help your fellow man. Can you provide a meal to someone who needs it? A ride? Can you meet someone’s financial need? Can you give a hefty bonus? Can you speak a word of gratitude to a person who goes the extra mile? Better yet, to a person who just looks as if he needs it?
Become an intentional giver. Don’t wait for an opportunity to simply fall into your lap for you to be generous. Set aside time to be so. Set aside money to be so. Research. Watch. Pay attention. Make a plan to help.
Involve your organization. Make giving part of your company’s culture. Model for your team and your family active participation in charitable work. Remember that you can lead by example (you do what you encourage others to do) and by advocacy (you sponsor what you encourage others to do).
Think globally. Be open to the idea that you can reach across continents and oceans to improve the well-being of others. Geography can’t limit the creativity found in the mind of man.

“From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.” Arthur Ashe

So, how about you? Are you making a living? Making a life? Or both?

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Listen up – 4 Types of People!

andy.christiansen — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 12:05:11 +0000

Being a leader doesn’t automatically make you a great listener. It doesn’t make you great at reading people. But listening skills are critical to successful leadership, as communicated by Peter Drucker, author of The Effective Executive.

If you need insight into your team members, hang out at your closest coffee machine. Inevitably, you’ll catch a glimpse of at least one of these characters.

Straight-shootin’ Stan: He’s in and out of the break room before you can say ‘time management’ and has no time for coffee additives. His eyes straight forward, he never wavers from his target nor is sidelined by the friendly and well-meaning opposition.
Harried Harry: He’s in a hurry, he’s distracted, and he needs the java to refocus. He doesn’t have a standard coffee. He’ll try the new creamer on the counter just because it feels like an adventure.
Precise Priscilla: She’s methodical, steady, and routine. She counts her sugars, measures her cream, and fills coffee in her cup to the same invisible line on the inside of her mug each and every time.
Supportive Sarah: She’s steady and supportive, more concerned with your coffee experience than her own.

See, you can’t be a good leader without careful listening. You can hear the words of your team members, but if you’re not watching their body language too, you could be missing an important piece of the puzzle.

So that you gauge your team and its perspective accurately, try these tips.

1. Use eye contact. When you communicate interest, you will increase your chances of receiving honest and direct feedback.

2. Question your team member respectfully. Don’t require them to defend their opinion; expect them to explain it.

3. Study your team member’s body language and habits. They explain an employee’s perspective and work ethic as much or more as his words do. When you carefully observe, you will be able to mesh what you’ve witnessed with what she shares. When you have a complete picture of an employee (what you’ve noticed and what they’ve expressed), you equip yourself to make decisions that are fully informed, thoughtful, and in the best interests of your company/team.

Walter Kissinger was once asked why he did not share the same distinctive accent as his very famous brother, Henry kissinger. His response? “Because I am the Kissinger who listens.”

Take the time to hear your employees. Study them. Scrutinize their body language and habits. Give yourself a frame of reference for making wise and informed decisions on behalf of your team. Invest the time it takes to practice these tips so that you may be “the leader who listens.”

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4 Steps to Fulfilling a Vision

andy.christiansen — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 12:05:42 +0000

Sam Walton left a $25 billion dollar fortune to his family at the time of his death.

But money wasn’t, and isn’t, his lasting legacy. Instead, we can learn from his life the importance of having, pursuing, and never giving up on a vision.

Sam Walton believed early on in the value of discount retailing. He wanted to be the best store and the first store to do everything. He had a unique skill of identifying future needs for his company. When he was twenty stores strong, he attended an IBM school in New York for the sole purpose of hiring the brightest star there to computerize his business operations. He understood, long before his competitors, that he would not be able to grow at the pace he desired without this type of system in place. It was just one more intelligent step in his business pursuits that allowed him to outdistance and outperform his competition. Walton’s business savvy was demonstrated again when, in 1991, he did the improbable and surpassed Sears and Kmart to become the number one retailer in the country.

Leaders with vision can be highly successful. But vision is not just an innate talent. It is a skill that can be refined using the following steps.

Research all you can. When you read and study the history and trends in your business, you arm yourself for the future.
Network. Talk and learn from people who have done and are doing what you are doing. Let them be a go-to resource in your life as you are creating and refining your vision.
Learn from your mistakes. Don’t let your past define you. If you have made a mistake in implementing your vision, be humble enough to admit it and smart enough not to defend it. Learn from your past then move beyond it.
Be all in. Once you have refined your vision for your business, pursue it with all the resources you have available to you. That is to say, go for it! Your team will be more likely to follow a person sold out to his principles than one who is apathetic about them.

Remember, we are limited, not by our abilities, but by our vision (Author unknown).

What do you think?

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Take 4 Steps to R.E.S.T.

andy.christiansen — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 14:20:10 +0000

The ability to work is a fabulous gift. It provides an outlet for ideas, imagination, energy, implementation, visioneering, influence, and world change. Work affords the opportunity to relate and collaborate. Work helps define and measure your life. The problem becomes when work is the only standard by which you define and measure your life. Work is only good when balanced by rest.

A recent study on the work habits of Americans show that the average work week is 70 hours, and that at least fifty percent of executives are leaving their jobs because of the demand and pace. Over eighty percent surveyed say that the difficulties of work are affecting their health in an adverse way.

So what can you do to avoid being a stressed out, maxed out, frazzled statistic? Consider these four steps: R.E.S.T.

Continually reflect on your mission and vision. Make sure that your time is spent directly impacting your organization’s mission and your personal vision. Be discriminating with your time and resources. Don’t waste it on the small stuff.
Engage in relationships with positive people. One of the biggest drains on your emotional well-being is a pessimistic person. Surround yourself with problem-solvers, creative thinkers, resourceful workers, and constructive people.
Support an organization or charity that aids a cause you believe in. One of the greatest energizers for your soul is the knowledge that you are a significant part of making the world a better place.
Tackle obstacles in life in a pragmatic, methodical way. You simply cannot improve your life, or others’, with a chaotic, frenzied approach. Be practical. Be thoughtful. Be calm. Keep your eye on the end game, and see the problem through with patience and fortitude.

We find in the book of Proverbs that where people lack vision, they perish. But a lack of vision might not be the sum total of your problem. You may have vision; but if you have surrendered to it in an unhealthy, unbalanced way, then the vision no longer benefits you. Make sure you are evenhanded in your approach to work and to life.

Are you getting enough R.E.S.T.?

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