Success Tweet 2
Apr 21st
This is the second in a series of posts further explaining the ideas in my new book Success Tweets: 140 Bits of Common Sense Career Success Advice All in 140 Characters or Less. The book is at the printer right now. I’m told that I will have the printed copies in my hand by the end of the week. Next week I’ll give away a few copies on this blog.
Here is Tweet 2…
The more clear you are about what success means to you personally, the easier it will be to create the life and career you want.
In the first post in this series, I told how I decided that I wanted to be an independent career success coach early in my career. I was fortunate in that I had several good role models – people with whom I was working who had the career to which I aspired. It was reasonably easy for me to be very clear on what I wanted out of my life and career.
I always advise my career success coach clients to develop a clear mental image of themselves as a success. I tell them that this image should be as vivid as they can you make it.
When I was 25, I conjured up an image of myself as a career success coach, motivational speaker, and management consultant. I worked in my home office – where I wrote and developed the programs I delivered at client locations. This office had a floor to ceiling wall of books that I could use for easy reference. It also had a state of the art IBM selectric typewriter and a big, clunky telephone. PCs and the internet were science fiction in 1975.
I also saw myself having one to one coaching discussions with senior leaders in a variety of organizations, conducting training and team building sessions in conference rooms at their locations. Amazingly, many of the people in the sessions were smoking. I had very vivid images of standing in front of large audiences at sales meetings doing talks. I saw myself at a book store signing a book I had written. I also saw myself on airplanes, traveling to my coaching, speaking and consulting gigs.
All of these vivid images came true. My office is much as I had imagined it – except it has a two PCs and cell phone, not a selectric typewriter and clunky phone. The wall of books is there – overflowing. I’ve written 11 of the books on the shelf. People don’t smoke in my coaching, training and team building sessions anymore; and I use PowerPoint instead of handwritten flip charts, but the big stuff is the same as I’ve imagined it. I’ve coached people and spoken to audiences all over North America, in Latin America, Europe and Asia. I am a million mile flyer with Continental Air Lines.
I’m living my dream – in large part because I dared to dream it all those years ago.
You can begin creating your vivid mental image of yourself as a career success with affirmations. Affirmations are positive self talk. The idea behind affirmations is that when you think of the things to which you aspire, like becoming a career success, and then tell yourself that you are a career success, you will believe that you can become a career success. More importantly, you will be more likely to do the work it takes to make that aspiration come true.
A couple of years ago, I wrote a book called Star Power, Common Sense ideas for Career and Life Success. I used a star to depict the ideas in the book. I urged readers to think of themselves as a star and to aspire to becoming a career and life star. I like the star metaphor. Daily, I repeat the following affirmation to myself: “Bud Bilanich is a star.”
I’ve done a lot of working in making this affirmation a reality – redoing my website, developing better promotional materials, speaking, writing books, blogging and podcasting.
I’ve also done something a little unusual. A few years ago, right after Star Power was published, I went to the “Name a Star” website and named a star after myself. Now I can say “Bud Bilanich is a star” and really believe it, because Bud Bilanich really is a star. It’s easy for me to visualize myself as a star, because I am a star.
Bud Bilanich the star, is Catalog Number TYC 868-1011-1 in the constellation Leo. Bud Bilanich has a Visual Magnitude indicator of 11.2. Right Ascension is 11h 58m 21s. Declination is 11degrees, 43,’18.” I don’t have a clue what all of these things mean, except the constellation Leo, which I chose because my birthday is August 14. But I do know one thing. Bud Bilanich is a star!
How’s that for an affirmation?
Affirmations work. I have become a minor star in the career success coach world. You don’t need to go to the lengths I did to make them work either. Just decide what you want, visualize yourself as having it, and tell yourself you have it. Then do whatever it takes to make your affirmation come true.
Affirmations alone, however, are not enough to guarantee your career success. You have to do the work. Spend the time necessary to accomplish your goals. Volunteer for projects that will get you noticed. Become an expert on your company, its competitors, and your industry. In other words, bust your butt, and you will succeed.
To develop a clear picture of you as a career success, you need to carefully think through your priorities – and then align your behavior to ensure that you are living according to them. To do so, ask yourself two very important questions:
- What do I want to do in this life?
- What is the result I want to achieve?
The answers to these two questions will not only guide the big decisions you make, they will serve as a guide for living your life on a day to day basis.
Here’s another way to look at it. Imagine that you’re nearing the end of your life. You feel happy, content and satisfied. You don’t fear death because you’ve had a happy and prosperous life. You’ve lived and loved and feel that you’ve been blessed.
Once you get yourself into this frame of mind, look back at your life and what you’ve accomplished. Of all these accomplishments, what matters the most to you? What challenges did you overcome along the way to these accomplishments? How did you do it? What messages did you send to others by the way you lived your life?
This visualization exercise will help you in clarifying your purpose and direction in this life. It’s important because it helps you create a vivid mental image of what success looks like for you personally. This is not day dreaming. It is real work. You are designing your future in your mind.
When I was younger, I realized that my purpose in life is simple – to help others grow and succeed. I am a teacher and a helper. I enjoy helping others succeed. I’m good at it. It’s very fulfilling. When I’m at the end of my life, I expect that I’ll look back with great joy at the number of people I helped succeed.
I keep this mental picture in mind as I go about my day to day business. I ask myself a simple question almost every day. “Bud, did the things you did today support your life’s purpose of helping others learn, grow and succeed?”
If I answer, “yes,” I consider it a successful day. If I answer “no,” I think about what I can do the next day to get back to living my purpose.
Successful people have a clear and vivid mental image of what success means to them. They live their life’s purpose every day. If you haven’t clarified your purpose in life, this is a good time to start. Once you get clear on your purpose, live it every day in all your actions.
What’s your dream? Have you created a vivid mental image of it?
I suggest that you take some time for yourself. Ask and answer these three questions:
- Where do I want to be 10, 20 and 30 years from now?
- What will it look like and feel like when I’m there?
- What will my life be like?
Ask and answer these and any other questions that will help you develop a clear, vivid mental image of your career success. This is not day dreaming. It is real work. You are designing your future in your mind.
The common sense point here is simple. Successful people define what success means to them. Then they develop a compelling and clear mental image of their success. They use this mental image to help keep their dreams alive and to keep moving forward to what they want in their lives and careers. Remember Tweet 2 in Success Tweets, “The more clear you are about what success means to you personally, the easier it will be to create the life and career you want.” Get clear on what you career success looks like, and then create it. Keep this mental picture with you as you go about your day to day business. Every once in a while, ask yourself if what you did that day brought you any closer to your mental image of you as a career success. In this way, you’ll be keeping your dream alive – and moving toward your career success goals.
That’s my take on clarifying exactly what career success means to you. What’s yours? Please take a few minutes to leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us. As always, thanks for reading.
Bud
Success Tweet 1
Apr 19th
My new book Success Tweets: 140 Bits of Common Sense Career Success Advice All in 140 Characters or Less, is at the printer right now. I’m told that I will have the printed copies in my hand by the end of the week. Next week I’ll give away a few copies on this blog. I’ve decided that I am going to devote my next 140 career success coach blog posts explaining each of the tweets in the book in detail.
Today is Tweet 1…
Define exactly what life and career success mean to you. It’s easier to hit a clear, unambiguous target.
Career success begins with clarity of purpose and direction. As the tweet says, it’s easier to hit a clear, unambiguous target. Successful people know what they want in life. However, career success means different things to different people.
When I graduated from Penn State in 1972, I chose to do a year of service. I became a VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America) Volunteer. I worked for a grass roots community group in North Philadelphia. I had a successful year. I wrote a proposal that was funded by the US Department of Health, Education and Welfare. We received a grant to do Sickle Cell Anemia awareness and screening in the community. The grant provided some much needed jobs in the community. More important, we were able to identify local people who carried the Sickle Cell gene and make them aware of its consequences.
I enjoyed the experience tremendously; so much so that I took a job as a VISTA trainer, training new volunteers. I was a full time, but we used several independent training consultants and coaches to help us with our work. These folks worked out of their homes, traveling to the assignments. I liked their lifestyle. They were able to do work they loved helping people learn new skills — and they had the freedom and flexibility that came with being self employed. Of course, they had to generate enough income to fund their lifestyle, but that appealed to the entrepreneur in me.
By the time I was 25, I knew that I wanted to become an independent career success coach and consultant. I knew that I needed some additional education and experience to be able to do this successfully. So I went back to school and received an MA and PhD. I worked in the Training and Development Departments of three Fortune 500 companies, moving up the ladder, taking increasingly more responsible positions. All this was in preparation for that day in March 1988 when I resigned my job and struck out on my own as a career success coach.
22 years later, I’m doing what I decided I wanted to do when I was 24 or 25 years old. I’m also doing some things that I didn’t imagine way back then – blogging and writing books. However, my life today is much as I imagined it in 1975. My clarity of purpose was very instrumental in helping me become the career success – and career success coach – I am today.
I have a friend who is a serial entrepreneur. He started a software business when he was 27. He built it up and sold it to a major computer manufacturer by the time he was 35. He has since started and sold four other companies. His clarity of purpose lies in the challenge of creating something new, building it into a viable sustainable business and then moving on.
I have another friend who recently retired as the Executive VP of Human Resources for a Fortune 50 company. We were chatting a few days ago. She told me that when she was in college, she decided that she was going to join a good company and work her way up the ladder. She took an entry level HR job with a company she liked. It took her over 25 years, but she eventually became the most senior HR person in that company. Her clarity of purpose and definition of success was different from mine and the serial entrepreneur’s, but she reached her goal.
My second friend told me that her son has yet a different definition of success. He is not interested in climbing the corporate ladder, or in being an entrepreneur. He wants an interesting job where he can contribute, but he doesn’t want to spend inordinate amounts of time at work. He wants to spend as much time with his family as he can. His definition of success is different from his mother.
I’ve just told you four stories about four different people. All four of us are professional successes – according to our clarity of purpose.
As a career success coach, I often tell my clients that there is no one correct definition of career success. There are as many definitions as there are people in this world. Your definition of career success is what’s right for you – not anyone else. I would not have been happy building and selling a number of businesses in succession, climbing a corporate ladder or working for a large company in an individual contributor position. However, as you can tell from the stories of the three people above, they were. They knew what they wanted and they went after it.
That’s why defining your clarity of purpose is so important. Your clarity of purpose provides both a foundation and launching pad for your career success. The old saying, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you won’t know when you get there” is a cliché, but true. Getting clear on your personal definition of career success is the first step to becoming a career success.
The common sense career success coach point here is simple. Career success begins with a clear idea of how you define success for you personally. Tweet 1 in Success Tweets says, “Define exactly what life and career success mean to you. It’s easier to hit a clear, unambiguous target.” If you haven’t already done so, I suggest you take some time and think about your clarity of purpose. How do you define life and career success for yourself? Keep that purpose and definition of career success in mind as you move forward in your life and career.
That’s my take on the importance of defining what success means to you personally. What’s yours? Please take a few minutes to comment on this post, sharing your thoughts with us. As always, thanks for reading.
Bud
Successful Personal Brands Are Built on Integrity
Apr 16th
Successful people create positive personal impact. It is one of the career success competencies that is part of my Career Success GPS System. You create positive personal impact by developing and nurturing your personal brand, dressing for success and knowing and following the basic rules of etiquette.
As a career success coach, I believe that a strong personal brand is the starting place for creating positive personal impact. Do you have a personal brand? How did you develop it? What do you do to nurture it?
Personal branding is simple in concept. Figure out how you want to be known. What two or three words do you want people to associate with you? Once you determine how you want to be known, consistently and constantly do the things that will get people to think of you that way.
Visibility enhances your personal brand. Volunteer for projects inside your company, church and community. Write a column or opinion piece for your company magazine or an industry publication. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper.
That’s the essence of personal branding – knowing how you want to be perceived; consistent and constant action, and visibility. However, all strong personal brands are built on integrity. Tweet 62 in my new book Success Tweets: 140 Bits of Common Sense Career Success Advice All in 140 Characters or Less, says…
Your personal brand should be unique to you, but built on integrity. Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is looking.
Here are my best career success coach tips on how to become known as a person of high integrity.
People with integrity succeed. Be true to yourself. Your reputation is all you’ve got. Know your values and stick to them. If you haven’t already articulated your personal values, take a few minutes, think about them and write them down. Review them every week to make sure you’re staying true to yourself.
Be direct and truthful. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Nothing so astonishes men as common sense and plain dealing.” Astonish the people around you with common sense and straightforward communication.
Admit your mistakes. We all make mistakes. Own up to yours. You’ll gain a reputation as a straight shooter who as honest with himself or herself as he or she is with others.
Become widely trusted. Deliver on what you say you’ll do. If you can’t meet a commitment, let the other person know as soon as you can. Agree on another deadline – and meet it. Keep confidences. Avoid gossip. Never embarrass your friends and coworkers by repeating what they share with you – even if it isn’t in confidence.
The common sense point here is simple. If you want to succeed in your life and career, do everything you can to promote and nurture your personal brand at all times. Remember this important career success coach point; everything you do – and everything you choose to not do – communicates your brand. Dress, handle phone calls, e mails and face to face conversations in a manner that enhances your personal brand. If you do this, you’ll stand out from the crowd and be well on your way to creating positive personal impact.
That’s my take on nurturing your personal brand. What’s yours? Thanks for reading. As always, I encourage and value your comments. Please take the time to share your thoughts and ask your questions on personal branding.
Bud
Successful People Do What They Must, Not What They Want
Apr 15th
Today is tax day in the USA. I hope you got your taxes in on time. Taxes are one of my least favorite things to do. In this post, I want to discuss, least favorite things to do, as well as hard work and effort.
Outstanding performance is one of the key competencies to life and career success that make up my Career Success GPS System. Outstanding performers are lifelong learners. They manage their time and life well. They are organized for success. They live a healthy lifestyle.
In this post, I’d like to discuss the importance of hard work and effort in becoming an outstanding performer. When I was a kid, I used to listen to Earl Nightingale on the radio. I loved his stories and his deep resonant voice. The other day, I came across one of his quotes. “Successful people form the habit of doing what failures don’t like to do. They like the results they get by doing what they don’t necessarily enjoy.”
I know that this sounds like the Protestant work ethic in overdrive – doing what you don’t enjoy. However, I think this is great common sense advice.
Here’s an example. I’ve run a career success coach business over 20 years. Early on, I learned the importance of managing receivables. I don’t like to generate invoices and follow up on them, but I do it because it’s necessary. If I don’t generate and mail the invoices, I don’t get paid. And, while I love what I do, I still need to get paid for doing it.
I have developed a system for helping me manage my receivables. I send invoices twice a month – on the 15th and the last day of the month. I keep a tickler file to remind me when to follow up – at 30, 45 and 60 days. In this way, I am able to manage my cash flow. I have forced myself to get into the habit of doing something I don’t enjoy — managing receivables; and I like the results – money in my checking account.
What parts of your job do you not like? What do you do to make sure you excel at them?
The common sense point here is simple. Outstanding performance is an important career success competency. Outstanding performers do all parts of their job well – not just those parts they enjoy doing. As a career success coach, I urge you do all parts of your job well. This takes discipline and effort. However, this discipline and effort will pay off in the long run. You will become known as an outstanding performer – one who gets things done. And outstanding performance is one of the five keys to a successful life and career.
Those are my thoughts on doing what is necessary, not just what you like to do. What are yours? I’m interested in your perspective on these thoughts. Please take a minute to leave a comment. I welcome and appreciate your comments. As always, thanks for reading.
Bud
Failure, Criticism and Rejection are the Price You Pay for Success
Apr 14th
Self confidence is one of the keys to career success in my Career Success GPS System. If you want to become self confident you need to do three things. 1) Become an optimist. 2) Face your fears and act. 3) Surround yourself with positive people.
Fear is the enemy of self confidence – and success. Most people fear failure, criticism and rejection. It’s only normal. We all want to feel good about ourselves. Failure, criticism and rejection are not pleasant experiences. They lower our self esteem and make us feel bad about ourselves, so we often avoid doing things that we think might lead to failure, criticism or rejection. As a career success coach, I advise my clients to have to have the courage to do things that might result in failure, criticism or rejection.
Failure, criticism and rejection provide you with the opportunity to grow and develop – to become a career success. You can’t take failure, criticism and rejection personally. Failure, criticism and rejection are outcomes. They are a result of things you have done. They are not who you are. Remember that. We all make mistakes and fail on occasion. We all do things that cause others to criticize or reject us. This doesn’t mean that we are failures. It means that we have made some poor choices and done some dumb things.
Failure, criticism and rejection provide the opportunity to start over – hopefully a little smarter. Buckminster Fuller once said, “Whatever humans have learned had to be learned as a consequence of trial and error experience. Humans have learned only through mistakes.” As a career success coach I agree with him.
That’s why fear is the enemy of self confidence and career success. If your fear of failure and criticism, and rejection paralyzes you to the point where you aren’t willing to take calculated risks, you’ll never learn anything or accomplish any of your goals.
Don’t be too hard on yourself when you fail, or when others criticize or reject you. Instead, put your energy into figuring out why you failed and then do something different. Here are my four career success coach questions to ask yourself the next time you fail, or get criticized or rejected.
- Why did I fail? Why did I get criticized or rejected? What did I do to cause the failure, criticism or rejection?
- What could I have done to prevent the failure, criticism or rejection?
- What have I learned from this situation?
- What will I do differently the next time?
If you do this, you’ll be using failure, criticism and rejection to your advantage. In Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill says, “Every adversity, every failure and every heartache carries with it the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit.”
I know it’s hard to see the benefit or opportunity in failure, criticism and rejection. But it’s there – you just have to look hard enough. But it all begins by facing your fear and acting.
A year ago, my niece Brett and her move from Florida to San Diego. She left a good job in Florida. She had no job lined up in San Diego when she moved. Several people criticized her for making such an audacious move. I thought that she demonstrated amazing optimism in making such a long move in such a difficult economy. I’m happy to report that 17 days after she arrived in San Diego Brett landed a job as an account manager for an athletic apparel manufacturer. She has received two promotions since. I’m proud of her. She didn’t let her fear of failure, criticism or rejection stop her from pursuing her dreams.
The common sense point here is simple. Successful people are self confident. Self confident people face their fears and act. Our most common fears are failure, criticism and rejection. However, if you choose to find and use the learning opportunity in failure, criticism and rejection you will not only become more self confident, you will become more successful. It’s sad but true – failure, criticism and rejection are the price you pay for becoming a personal and professional success. Facing your fear of failure, criticism and rejection and acting will pay big dividends in your life and career.
That’s my take on the importance of facing your fears and acting. What’s yours? What have you learned from facing your fears? How has it helped you become more self confident? Please leave a comment sharing your story with us. As always, thanks for reading.
Bud
An Abundance Mentality Leads to Success
Apr 13th
As a career success coach, I am a big believer in having an abundance mentality. Put simply, an abundance mentality holds that there is enough of everything for everybody. People who have an abundance mentality are good at building relationships. They focus on what they can do for others, knowing that good things will come back to them.
The sixth point of The Optimist Creed is a good example of an abundance mentality in action. It says: “Promise yourself to be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.”
Tweet 123 in Success Tweets, my newest book says, “Use every social interaction to build and strengthen relationships. Strong relationships are your ticket to success.”
Tweet 128 in Success Tweets says, “When meeting someone new ask yourself, “What can I do for this person?” You’ll build stronger relationships by thinking this way.”
One of the rules I contributed to 42 Rules for Creating WE is entitled, “There is No Quid Pro Quo in WE.” In part, here is what I have to say…
WE is built on relationships; the idea that we are all connected, and that through a WE-centric, rather than a traditional I-centric approach, our collective wisdom grows and evolves. This kind of thinking creates stronger organizations and societies. It fosters mutual shared respect for the unique contribution every person is capable of making. Solid, lasting, mutually beneficial relationships are at the core of WE. Giving with no expectation of return is a great way to create these types of relationships.
This is a quid pro quo world: you do for me and I’ll do for you. While there is nothing wrong in reciprocating a good deed or a favor, there is a fundamental problem with quid pro quo. It is reactive not proactive. Too many people wait for others to go first. They adopt the attitude, “When and if you do for me, I’ll do for you.” This scarcity mentality is not conducive to creating WE. When you come from a scarcity mentality, you focus on holding on to what you already have. This can prevent you from receiving what you might possibly get.
On the other hand, giving with no expectation of return comes from a proactive abundance mentality. When you give with no expectation of return, you are acknowledging the abundance of the universe. You are demonstrating faith that the good you do will benefit others close to you and the world at large – and that good things will come back to you.
Giving with no expectation of return is ironic. I have found that the more I give, the more I receive; often from unlikely sources. But that’s not my reason for giving — and I hope it is not yours. The best reason for giving is the basic joy of making a difference in other people’s lives and in creating a WE-centric world.
Giving with no expectation of return comes down to your mentality – scarcity or abundance. If you come from a scarcity mentality, you will live by quid pro quo, and perpetuate the I-centric status quo. If you come from an abundance mentality, you will give with no expectation of return and begin to create a WE-centric world. I choose abundance and to take an active part in creating a WE-centric paradigm in my circle of influence.
I bring up the idea of an abundance mentality because of an email I received yesterday. It appears that this person (who will remain nameless) received one of my success quotes. At the bottom of the page, there is an offer to get my free DVD on career and life success. People are directed to go to http://www.commonsensesuccesssystem.com/freedvdoffer.
He sent me an email that said…
“It’s been said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
“I’ve been running a website and an ezine (I’m not sharing the url here, but suffice it to say it has something to do with common sense and careers) since 2004.
“I added a blog at a later date. I’m gearing up for Twitter and Facebook now.
“I suppose I should be glad you like the name, but, frankly, it irks me.”
My jaw dropped when I read this email. It was the best example of a scarcity mentality in action that I have seen in a long time. If I had come across his website, and seen that he focused on common sense and career advice, I would have fired off an email saying something like…
“I just found your website. I like it. I think it’s great that we share some ideas in common. Let’s look for ways to collaborate to get both of our messages out to as many people as possible.”
But then, I come from an abundance mentality.
I sent a return email telling this guy that I had never even seen his website until he sent me the url, and that I had branded myself as The Common Sense Guy in 1997. That’s seven years before he created his website.
This is a regrettable situation. Because I feel that this person was impugning my integrity, I am less likely to want to collaborate with him. That might mean missed opportunities for us both. Maybe I’ll get in contact in a week or two to see if there are any possibilities of us working together, but for now I’ll pass. I know this isn’t demonstrative of an abundance mentality, but hey, I’m human you know.
The common sense point here is simple. Successful people are good at building relationships. Effective relationship builders come from an abundance mentality, not a scarcity mentality. If you come from a scarcity mentality, you live by quid pro quo, and worry that someone is out to get what’s rightfully yours. You perpetuate the I-centric status quo. If you come from an abundance mentality, you give with no expectation of return. You are happy for the success of others and enjoy meeting like minded people. You see them as collaborators and not competitors. You do your part to create a WE-centric world. Take it from this career success coach, an abundance mentality will allow you to get what you want in your life and career. It will put you on the road to career success.
That’s my take on the importance of having an abundance mentality. What’s yours? Please take a minute to leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us. As always, thanks for reading. If you want a .pdf of The Optimist Creed that you can frame and hang in your office, please go to http://BudBilanich.com/optimist.
Bud
Get Around To It for Success
Apr 12th
I think it’s finally spring time in the Rockies; and that’s not just because the Colorado Rockies had their home opener last Friday. Yesterday was a beautiful day. I went for a bike ride. I enjoyed having the opportunity to exercise outdoors
As a career success coach, I advise my clients to live a healthy lifestyle. This means eating right and exercising. You don’t have to become a tri-athlete; every little bit of exercise helps.
Dan Robey is a friend of mine. He is the author of The Power of Positive Habits. I am one of his subscribers. Yesterday, I received a great e mail from Dan on brisk walking as a positive habit. Dan is a generous guy and he always lets me repost his posts here.
Check out what he has to say about the power of brisk walking…
Make “Brisk Walking” A Positive Habit
“Not running, not jogging, but walking is your most efficient exercise and the only one you can safely follow all the years of your life.”
- Executive Health Organization
Walking as a daily exercise habit can truly be a life-changing positive habit and is one of the most powerful habits for reaching your goal of a healthy trim and fit body. Over the past 20 years, there have been dozens of studies that have proven the benefits of brisk walking.
Thousands upon thousands of people have improved their health and lost weight by the diligent habit of walking. If you think that walking does not provide the same benefits as other more vigorous exercises, think again.
A study published by the New England Journal Of Medicine showed that postmenopausal women who walked regularly lowered their risk for heart disease just as much as women who did more vigorous
exercise, such as playing sports or running.
This study suggests that walking is just as good for your heart as heavy exercise. I spoke with study author Dr. JoAnn E. Manson, Chief of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Womens Hospital,
Professor of Medicine, at Harvard Medical School. She said, “The study provides compelling evidence that walking and vigorous exercise provide similar heart benefits, about a 30% to 40% reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease with 30 minutes per day of either activity.”
I also asked her about the benefits of making brisk walking a positive habit, and she responded, “They could surely walk away from heart disease and several other chronic diseases. We have also found that brisk walking for at least 3 hours a week can lower the risk of stroke, type 2 diabetes, and breast cancer.
No pain, no gain, is an outdated notion; exercise doesn’t need to be strenuous or uncomfortable. It can be easy and enjoyable. Even though the study consisted solely of women, it is likely that men
would experience similar benefits from the positive habit of brisk walking.
Here are additional benefits you will receive from your habit of brisk walking:
Walking burns calories and helps you lose weight and burn excess body fat.
Walking can help to improve your posture.
Walking requires no special equipment or gyms.
Walking can help lower blood pressure and help prevent circulatory and heart disorders.
Brisk, aerobic walking will give you the benefits of other exercises, such as jogging and cycling, but without the risk of injuries.
Walking at night can help promote better sleep.
Dan makes some great points about the benefits of developing a positive habit of brisk walking. Personally, I prefer to bicycle in the summer, and walk in the winter.
A lot of the people who I coach say that they know they should exercise, but often can’t seem to “get around to it.” I have come up with the answer this problem. I have printed several thousand stickers that are round and say “TUIT” in big capital letters. Whenever someone tells me that they know they should do something but can’t seem to get around to it, I give them one of these stickers. It is a round TUIT. I tell them that now they can never say that they can’t get a around to it anymore, because they have a round TUIT. I have a round TUIT sticker on my computer. I have another one on my bike. They are constant reminders to me to keep up good work and exercise habits.
Would you like a round TUIT? If so, please send me your snail mail address, and I’ll put up to five round TUITs in the mail to you – free of charge. Use them for yourself, or give them to your friends who are procrastinators. Just make sure that you get around to living a healthy lifestyle. Brisk walking is a great way to start.
The common sense point here is simple. Successful people are outstanding performers. Outstanding performers are lifelong learners; they manage their time and life well; and they live a healthy lifestyle. My friend Dan Robey, author of The Power of Positive Habits says that brisk walking is one of the most healthy habits you can adopt. I agree, almost everybody can walk. The more you walk, the healthier you’ll be. Dan points out that “No pain, no gain, is an outdated notion; exercise doesn’t need to be strenuous or uncomfortable. It can be easy and enjoyable. So, like the Nike ads say, Just Do It! Or as this career success coach says, “Get around to it.”
That’s my take on developing positive habits that will keep you healthy and on top of your game. What’s yours? Please take a minute to leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us. As always, thanks for reading.
Bud
