You, Me & Bill Gates

I attended a leadership event earlier this week where Stedman Graham and Steve Farber spoke on love and believing in yourself and others. It was truly powerful and I met some amazing people, including this former NFL player, Kassim Osgood 🙂 He stood up and told us how he had a hard time believing in himself when he made the practice squad for the Chargers and not the full team. This is evidence that these doubts sneak in at ALL levels right??! He went on to share that after scoring a touch down in practice, he kept running and the coach loved so much that he didn’t stop! So many great tidbits in this story right? So the coach said he believed in him and was going to give him a chance, but that he also needed to believe in himself. And so he held on tight to the belief the coach had in him and went on to play not only for the Chargers, but also for the Jaguars, Lions and the 49ers! WOW!!!! And I might add he is such a nice person and is doing tons to give back to youth!

 

 

So what do you, me and Bill Gates have to do with all of this??!! Well we are focusing on healthy habits this month in Global Circle and I think you will find it interesting to learn the one habit Bill Gates had to give up, that I can guarantee we all do! Read on to learn more and I hope to see you in Global Circle this month too (details are in the Chris Recommends section below).

 

Have a beautiful weekend and Easter if you are celebrating 🙂 I am looking forward to our tradition of an Easter Egg hunt with the kids followed by brunch!

 

So what is this habit Bill Gates had to give up???

 

Procrastination.

 

Yep. He was known in university to be the guy that never studied until the last second, loving to defy the system and conforming to traditional ways. As he moved on to Harvard he decided to take it to the next level and not go to any classes he signed-up for and to only those he didn’t. He would cram before exams and watch the video of classes, and end up getting mostly A’s.

 

As he entered the business community he realized quickly no one was praising him for cramming down to the wire and barely getting things done on time.

 

He then vowed to change his habit and his thinking to one of always being prepared.

 

It was a game changer but and he continues to work on it to this day.

 

I find this interesting because I always thought this was a bad habit of mine as well. I hated being told what to do and wanted to do things on my own terms. I also didn’t love studying. I remember one year in university deciding I was going to do things differently and it ended up being my best year ever!

 

But old patterns die hard and I brought with me this “last minuteness” to my work ethic. I always seemed to be cramming before self-imposed deadlines in my business.

 

But then I took the Kolbe assessment – a personality type of test on work ethics. It gives great insight into work habits and enjoyment, and I now have everyone I hire do it so that I can hire for my weaknesses (aka implementing!!).

 

I discovered I was a “quick start” meaning I get bored easily and need to keep things fresh. This can be not so great for my team, as I come up with new ideas and want them implemented immediately, like yesterday! I’m a quick mover and it’s part of what creates this last minuteness approach.

 

Well what I have learned, is when I am more prepared and give myself the space to implement, I am way less stressed, which benefits not only me but everyone in my life.

 

So even though I am a quick start, and want to honour that side of me – which honestly it has helped immensely knowing my style and therefore cutting myself a break, I still value being prepared and organized.

 

There are many other reasons for procrastinating and I see it all of the time in my coaching. When business owners don’t feel good about themselves deep down, they literally see through that lens and make decisions from that place accordingly. They talk themselves into doing a bunch of busy work instead. Because what we put out we get back. They don’t feel good about themselves and put out that energy, their subconscious mind has them seeing the world through that belief and thus talks them into doing busy work instead of what they need to do to move their business forward, they then don’t get the results they want, which affirms that they’re not good enough.

 

A vicious cycle.

 

Time to break the cycle, and cerate new habits and beliefs to go along with them. What habits do you need to create and the beliefs to carry them out??

 

I hope you will join us in April (we start tomorrow) for Global Circle and start actively changing your habits and choices, to bring them into alignment with living your dreams! It’s the beginning of the second quarter already! Let’s get going xoxo