You may think you're the exception. BUT... everyone has Blind Spot Bias.

We each have a tendency to see other people being more biased than we are. In fact, in one study - over 85% of Americans reported they are less biased in their thinking.

People are motivated to see themselves in a positive light while biases are generally seen as undesirable.

Everyone has unconscious patterns and personal ‘factory defects’ if you will. There are things about each of us, we don’t know we have.

Let’s say elbow skin for example.

Roll your sleeve up and give your elbow skin a pinch. There, see that, you have no feeling in your elbow skin. A factory defect you weren’t likely aware of.

Another 'factory defect'... you have a Blind Spot.

Take this quick test. Cover your left eye. Keep your right eye on the + sign while you slowly bring your face closer to the screen. At some point the black spot will disappear then reappear. THAT is your blind spot.

When it comes to topics you’re passionate about, you also have a combination of blind spots. Blind Spot biases are enhanced by confirmation bias and repetition bias. You recognize data as aligning with your way of seeing the world, and bingo you have reinforced or confirmed your bias. Or, you hear a certain bit of information repeatedly and you are in the sights of repetition bias. 

If you hold your gaze from a fixed position, there is nothing you can do about your optical bias. It is by seeing something from a different angle or position will you then see what you couldn’t see before. The same can be said in life.

If you are posting your bias on social media or arguing your point with a significant other, know, you may have an unconscious bias, A BLIND SPOT that’s a factory defect somewhat like the unfeeling elbow skin of objectivity. 

For leaders and sales folks who are driving forward without an awareness of your blind spot biases... give us a call. The value of an outside perspective can be priceless. 

#Goals #selfawareness #biases #BusinessLeadership #setbacktobreakthrough

Aspirational vision needs a kinetic nudge from intolerable exasperation. In other words, we’re motivated by discomfort over ambition. What follows is magic.

For 22 years, tucked in the corner of our property, a dilapidated greenhouse waited to be restored.

Trivia: We live where Steve Miller grew up. The land’s musical past included Dr. George Miller’s fatherly green thumb. It once bloomed with geraniums and begonias. For 60 years, 🎶 time kept on slipping, slipping, slipping into 🎶 a rundown eyesore.

Why did it years to begin repair? A combination of exasperation and aspiration was needed.

Some will quote Walt Disney, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” What if the “dream” is overwhelming? What if there are other “To Do’s” that are less daunting? Then, as our human condition is wont to do, “Not Now” rules over months and years.

Far-away goals are realized when we combine a well-defined feeling of discomfort with compelling ambition. The discomfort was A Broken Glass Monstrosity. The aspirational objective was A Sustainability Redo (prioritizing salvaged materials).

Stages included:

• Months of cleanout. Stuff had to go somewhere
• A reclaimed shed – disassembled, moved, and rebuilt
• White Rock Tree Wizards removed a 40’ dying tree hanging over the greenhouse
• Replace the roof (a tall order given a sustainability project)
• Covered a 1,000 sqft cracked-concrete floor with 2,500 bricks sourced from the Nextdoor app
• Resurfaced a double door plus a chandelier from ReStore
• Piles of nail-filled wood from a White Rock Boat Club renovation
• Flagstone and 5” posts from local demolitions
• Timeworn, corrugated tin from farmers
• Cedar fence slats repurposed for stub walls
• Make three 26" citrus tree planter cubes and planter boxes made out of leftover salvaged wood
• Soil from compost.

It all took relentless effort.

Help from family and friends appeared when most needed. Today it’s a vegetable-producing gem plus a work in progress. It’s a reminder of frustration and ambition intersecting.

Magic happens when we combine exasperation with aspiration.

PS Glass Doctor Dallas, expect a call.

#projects #greenhouse #frustration #ambition #setbacktobreakthrough

So, you like to have your way. Here’s a shortcut. Be the architect of your dominant thought and your truth. But we normally live with our truth and dominant thought that occurs to us. Here’s how to align your thoughts to get the outcomes you seek.

Step One: Align Your Ant and Elephant. 

Think of your conscious mind and subconscious mind as an ant and an elephant. The ant is on the back of the elephant. The conscious decisions you make are equivalent to the ant making decisions as to which direction to walk on the elephant hide. Meanwhile, the elephant is also making decisions on where to go. They (those scientists in white lab coats and thick glasses) call it SUBconscious because those thoughts are BELOW consciousness. 

Let’s say you got a birthday invite a couple of miles west of your home. You reply “Yes.” The day arrives. Your ant made a decision to go west. But your elephant walks east. You intended to be at a party on the west side but ended up at a closed-down gas station on the eastern side of town. 

Imagine this: What if your elephant goes in the same direction as you consciously decided? You aren’t just at the party. You are THE party!

Step Two: Define a Truth with an Elephant Buzz

Emotions drive thoughts. Thoughts drive behavior. Instead of trying to behave differently… Instead of trying to think differently… Focus on the Emotional Quotient. The Emotional Quotient is thought that:

• Lights you up.
• Gives you energy.
• Makes joy course through your veins. 

That is called your Elephant Buzz. A thought that literally has a physical reaction attached to it. It’s the difference between saying to a kid “Let’s go for ice cream” vs “Go clean your room.” 

If your dominant thought is exciting, your elephant will be inspired to run, not walk in the direction of your desired outcome. 

Step Three: Trigger your Dominant Thought to Create a New Truth

Personally, I like to use a Gold Dot as a reminder for my Elephant Buzz. I see a Gold Dot and I silently repeat my Elephant Buzz. For example:

• When I started ski racing, my Gold Dot statement reminded me of marching in the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games.
• When I started speaking professionally, my Gold Dot reminded me of accepting the Speaker Hall of Fame Award.
• When I started writing books my Gold Dot statement reminded me of receiving a phone call that I would be on the New York Times bestsellers list.

What would your Gold Dot represent? Are you ready to tell the world?

If you’d like to know more about how the Ant and Elephant can work wonders in your life, check out the book, The Ant and the Elephant, Leadership for the Self. Order it from www.AntAndElephant.com and I’ll sign it for you personally. Let’s get your ant and elephant going in the direction that you decide.

Chaos can make it feel like we’re losing control. Lean too far into the chaos - turmoil wins. Lean away - it feels like flailing. Here’s where staying over your skis will help you win personally and professionally.

This is what we can learn from actual skiing. First, understand that you must remain perpendicular to the contour of the terrain. When you're standing, you're neither leaning forward nor backward. You are perpendicular to the land. As a rule, you won't fall. If you lean too far forward, you'll tumble. If you lean back too far, you'll fall as well.
 
When you learn to ski. It is one of the first things you’re taught. Stay perpendicular to the slope. The steeper the slope gets. The rule stays the same. Stay perpendicular to the slope. But that's not our instinct, is it? If the slope starts to get too steep. We lean back because we're a little nervous about falling into the imaginary abyss. Just the sight of that ski resort a mile down the mountain and the imagination runs wild. “Don’t fall. Don’t fall. Don’t fall,” and the brain tells the body, “Lean away from that danger.” Then, you fall.
 
On an increasingly steeper decline, it's against human instinct to lean over your skis. Today’s popular, if not overused aphorism is, “Stay over your skis.” We hear it regarding our personal or professional lives. Extend yourself too much and that’s literally like leaning too far forward over your skis.
 
·      Saying “yes” to everything.
·      Volunteering too much of your time.
·      Trying to do everything for your kids, family, coworkers, clients, prospects, and complainers.
 
Boom. Chaos wins and you don’t.
 
What about sitting back?  Again, we will have issues.
 
·      Sit back and wait for progress to just appear. Boom.
·      Lean away from the fear. It gets bigger.
·      Retreat from the chaos, it rages even stronger.
·      Lean too far back and we're ultimately in for a rocky ride.
 
There is that sweet spot, that zone of control, even if it is Controlled Chaos.
 
Stay over those skis. Stay perpendicular to the slope and it’s going to serve you well. If things seem to be a little bit too chaotic, check in with where you spend your time and focus.
 
Are you leaning too far forward or back?
 
If so, then find that sweet spot dynamic and enjoy the ride.
 
#chaos #TheEarthquake #overwhelmed #overcomeobstacles #setbacktobreakthrough

A group of metaphorical creatures presents lessons about perseverance and mental strength in this guide.

There are times when values get tested (or ignored) by personal earthquakes. In particular, the pursuit of excellence can impinge when a massive or painful setback is front-of-mind.

We are all led by certain values that are inherently a filter for how we each interpret our world. Organizations have values that help them and the world they interact with interpret their position and how people see them.

The International Olympic Committee has three guiding values of Olympism. Excellence - Friendship - Respect. “They constitute the foundation on which the Olympic Movement builds its activities to promote sport, culture, and education with a view to building a better world.”

As an Olympian in the crosshairs of a financial setback around 2008, my deeply held value of “The Pursuit of Excellence” took a back seat to basic survival. (Yeah, Maslow, I get it.) This experience led me to write The Earthquake as a formula for getting back to ‘thrival’ over survival. The three things we can each do when enmeshed in a personal or interpersonal setback is:

1. Give Yourself a Break
2. Give Others a Break
3. Give it Time

As you may know, the opening line in the book, The Earthquake is, “There’s no linear way out of chaos.” Given that fact, a path of self-discovery awaits.

Read the book.

Take care.

You’ve got this.

#wegotthis #TheEarthquake #mindset #setbacks #breakthroughs 

Biography Insights:

Vince Poscente is one of the most in-demand motivational keynote and virtual presenters on the planet. His expertise in resiliency and how to overcome obstacles thrills audiences worldwide. When you bounce back stronger than ever confidence and fun goes up. Vince's client list includes world-class organizations dedicated to being bigger and better. When employees and entrepreneurs handle setbacks, supersede obstacles, and are more focused - record-setting results happen faster than expected. Vince knows first-hand how innovation, persistence fearlessness plays in your future success. He speaks from experience. His foundation is with proven tools. Where does Vince Poscente's “From Setback to Breakthrough” expertise come from? 

• Recreational skier, Vince to Olympic athlete in just four short years.
• Award-winning sales and marketing executive with the world's largest real estate investment service.
• Earned a Masters in Organizational Management while being an award-winning business owner.
• One of only four people on the planet to be inducted into the USA and Canadian Speaker Halls of Fame.
• New York Times bestselling author of eight books.
• Leader and participant on seven Himalayan Expeditions 

What are your teams’ challenges? An uncertain economy? Negative attitudes? Competition? Lower productivity? 

Vince is the #1 go-to guy for taking a team and teaching them how to sell more, lead better, and produce more. Vince will help you move past obstacles and create the success you, and your team, want and deserve. 

Vince Poscente has practical tools to change how your team handles crisis. Problems. Competition. And change. Without understanding resiliency and the absolute importance it plays on everything and everyone—your team will not have the skills they need to overcome the things that will inevitably stand in their way.  #mindset #setbacks #breakthroughs

For most athletes retiring and their Olympic sport, these next few months can be a time of feeling lost and alone. Until the closing ceremonies in Tokyo, medalists and qualifiers previously knew what their job was. Now - "What's my purpose?" bounces around in their brain (and body) like a balloon on a windy day.

From personal experience, my post-Olympic experience was a long, insidious slide into feeling lost. Heck, it was only this year, I finally wrote a book to summarize that feeling. While the rest of us carry on with our lives, retiring athletes generally feel some form of being untethered.

In addition, the I.O.C. just upgraded their motto to “Swifter, Higher, Stronger - Together." Ah yes, together. Does this ring true for you too?

Athletes either have individual pursuits (skiing, gymnastics, pole vault, wrestling) or team pursuits (hockey, water polo, volleyball). In both cases, you're still one athlete trying to get better in your sport. But, when the lady of a larger persuasion sings, there's not team, no organization, no nothing. It's a void of "meh." 

If you know an athlete who competed in the Olympics, or a newly minted army veteran, or a person who retired from their job, reach out and check in with them. Include them in your plans. Co-create a project. Find out what the athlete's passion is and introduce them to that special someone in your network who shares the same values.

Let's remember the pursuit of swifter, higher, stronger excellence is best achieved together!

You may think you're the exception. BUT... Everyone has Blind Spot Bias. We each have a tendency to see other people being more biased than we are. In fact, in one study over 85% of Americans reported they are less biased in their thinking. People are motivated to seen themselves in a positive light while biases are generally seen as undesirable.

Everyone has unconscious patterns and personal ‘factory defects’ if you will. There are things about you, you don’t know you have. Let’s say elbow skin for example. Roll your sleeve up and give your elbow skin a pinch. There, see that, you have no feeling in your elbow skin. A factory defect you weren’t aware of. Another 'factory defect'... you have a Blind Spot.

Take this quick test. Cover your left eye. Keep your right eye on the + sign while you slowly bring your face closer to the screen. At some point you the black spot will disappear then reappear. THAT is your blind spot.

When it comes to topics you’re passionate about, you also have any combination of blind spots. Blind Spot biases are enhanced by confirmation bias and repetition bias. You recognize data as aligning with your way of seeing the world, and bingo you have reinforced, or confirmed your bias. Or, you hear a certain bit of information repeatedly and you are in the sights of repetition bias. 

If you hold your gaze from a fixed position, there is nothing you can do about your optical bias. It is by seeing something from a different angle or position will you then see what you couldn’t see before. The same can be said in life.

If you are posting your bias on social media, or arguing your point with a significant other, know, you may have an unconscious bias, A BLIND SPOT that’s a factory defect somewhat like the unfeeling elbow skin of objectivity. 

3 Ways to Protect Your Business

If you're facing a veritable rodent in your midst; be it a hacker trying to disrupt your business, a knock-off competitor who wants to steal your clients/prospects, a rip-off copycat who can't come up with their own ideas... you have to think like them. Using a metaphor of raccoons that set-up residence in our attic, here are a few ideas to fend off the business rodents who can infest your space.

1. Don't Blindly Trust the Professionals. 

   Without going into details about how the roofing pros didn't ensure raccoons got into our attic, suffice to say they fell short of keeping the sound of raccoons ballroom dancing on our upstairs ceiling. Thousands of dollars later, the "pros" were never invited back while the raccoons never needed an invitation.

2. Overestimate the Tenacity of Your Competitors.

   It turns out that raccoons are pretty tenacious creatures. I custom built a layer of hardwood and stapled chicken wire all along the point where the raccoons were getting in. I even hired a small man to squirm into the space between the roof and soffits to ensure the barrier was screwed in. Months later, the sound of raccoons doing a remake of Saving Private Ryan echoed through our entire attic space. Again, I humanly relocated our furry guests. 
   
3. Overcompensate Your Barrier(s) to Entry. With the roofing company and skinny helpers permanently in my rear-view mirror I decided to take matters into my own hands. With the barrier of wood and chicken wire torn back and tossed aside by raccoons determined to exercise their squatter's rights, I squeezed into the tiny space. I sprayed Coyote Urine in and around the opening. I tripled the number of screws in the wood/wire barrier. I caulked the entire perimeter. I cut out sheet metal to cover the space with extra-flaps to surround the top, sides and bottoms. Screwed another dozen screws into any available opening. Then caulked the entire length and breadth of the metal edges. 

By thinking like a raccoon (not lazy roofers or uninvested skinny guys) did I conquer this first world problem. May your business be fortified by your attention to not blindly trusting professionals, overestimating the tenacity of your competitors, and overcompensating any barriers to entry into your business space.