Sunday, June 28, 2009

Performance & Success Advice Blog Post # 8 - Health & Fitness

Health and fitness are unquestionably a part of achieving high levels of performance and success.  Start today...we all want a healthy mind, body, and soul!

Having good health and fitness habits will:
  • Ensure good cardiovascular (heart) health
  • Allow yourself to like the way you look
  • Strengthen your Self-Discipline
  • Enable you to practice setting and achieving goals
  • Give you the confidence to take on anything
The most important part about eating healthy and being fit is that you feel good about yourself.  

I recently took on a healthy diet and became a student of fitness and nutrition.  Here is my weekly routine:
  • I lift weights everyday for muscle tone (different muscles of course)
  • I go spinning for cardiovascular exercise every other day

*TIP* - Pushing yourself in the gym and seeing improvement will give you the confidence to take on the world.

Onto health and nutrition.  When consulting some trainers about my goal of getting a six-pack, aside from consistent exercise, the most important factor they all listed was a healthy diet.  

Here is my current diet:
  • Only 100% Whole Wheat Breads
  • No fastfoods or junkfoods
  • HIGH protein, LOW fat foods
  • Lots of fruit!
  • Daily vitamins
  • Oatmeal with a glass of milk for breakfast
  • Bora Bora bars as snacks
  • LOTS of water
I am no fitness or health expert, but I am planning on reading more and becoming a spin instructor (I highly recommend you trying a spin class!).  Below you can find some books you can get to learn more!

Questions? Comments? Blog with me!


Friday, June 26, 2009

Performance & Success Advice Blog Post # 7 - Self-Discipline

As a graduating senior with 6 weeks left of school, critical change is imminent in my life. As an entrepreneur, it is my duty and job to create wealth and abundance from scratch. With this realization, I decided to take it upon my self to live a life of Self-Discipline.

One definition of Self-Discipline is the ability to pursue what one thinks is right despite temptations to abandon it. Taking a look at this definition in depth, there are three distinctive parts to Self-Discipline.
1. Identify something you want strong enough (Ex. I recently decided it's time I have six-pack abs)
2. Make a commitment to doing the things that will get you what you want (To get six-pack abs, I will work out everyday & take on a healthy diet)
3. Be unwilling to compromise on what you want (I stick to my healthy diet and work out everyday at all costs!)

Self-Discipline is the bridge between wanting something and attaining something you want. It is what gets me out of bed in the morning, gets me into the gym everyday, gives me the ability to stay on my healthy diet, allows me to work long hours, etc. The reason it works for me is because the goals that I have set for myself (what I want) are a motivation for me to dictate a strategy (a commitment to doing what will get me there) and since I have such a strong commitment to my goals, I am unwilling to compromise them.

Word of Caution: In order for successful implementation of your goals using Self-Discipline, it is crucial to adhere to the Law of Congruence. The Law of Congruence enables people to identify goals that are congruent with their true desires with the understanding that in doing so, the individual is making a commitment to taking all of the necessary actions to reach that goal. The bottom line is be true to yourself, your internal drivers, and your personal intentions when setting goals and deciding where you need more Self-Discipline.

*TIP* - By matching good practice of Self-Discipline with well defined, congruent goals you will find Self-Discipline will allow you to form positive daily habits to reach your goals.

Currently, I am reading a book by Michael Janke, a former Navy SEAL, called "Take Control: Master the art of Self-Discipline and Change Your LIfe Forever." As I mentioned at the beginning, I am also a student of Self-Discipline so I have been reading up on the subject to integrate it into my life. This book is one great source to jump start Self-Discipline in your life that I know of. There is a wealth of others out there too!

Questions? Comments? Blog with me!


Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Performance & Success Advice Blog Post # 6 - The Power of Positivity

Positivity is essential to high levels of Performance & Success.

Here are some quotes from highly successful individuals on positivity:

  • "If you learn from defeat, you haven't really lost." - Zig Ziglar
  • "Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently." - Henry Ford
  • "Failure is impossile." - Susan B. Anthony
  • "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." Albert Einstein
  • "Remember happiness doesn't depend on who you are or what you have; it depends solely upon what you think." - Dale Carnegie
A positive attitude is what will keep you through the ups and downs, highs and lows, and challenges of both life and business.

We all know of the concept of a "silver lining." This concept is a great way to look at life, and every situation for that matter. Look for the "silver lining," or the good in every situation. This will help you stay positive and recover from adversity.

One of the most important things you can do every day is waking up with a positive attitude. Work on doing this, and your days will be more productive, more fulfilled, and happier!

Positivity is something you can be born with. It is also something though that you can learn. I would recommend reading up on positivity and listening to motivation and positive audiobooks/programs.

Below are some links to some great books and audiobooks on positivity. I like the audiobooks particularly because it may sometimes be hard to take 30 minutes to read a book, but most of us drive at least 30 minutes a day - why not use that time to learn?



Thursday, June 18, 2009

Performance & Success Advice Blog Post # 5 - The Power of Doing A Little Everyday

Have you ever set a goal like running a mile?  How do you reach that mile goal?  We know that there are 5,280 feet in a mile and that it takes X paces to get there...so the simple answer is one pace at a time.

Everyone has goals that they want to reach.  Here is a little tip to help you reach them - do a little every day.

When you wake up everyday, are your goals in front of your face?  Do you visualize them?  The first step to reaching any goal is to first put that goal in front of your face everyday.  A good place to start is first thing in the morning, when you wake up.  Make a conscious effort to think about your goal(s) every day.

Step two is about deciding what to do everyday.  What can you do TODAY, and ever other day, to reach your goal(s)?

Step three is the most difficult part - the implementation of it.  This is where you have to remind yourself everyday to make time to take those actions that will progress you closer to your goal(s).  This is where you will see how strongly you desire your goal(s).

Step four makes the process easier - formulation into daily habits.  Here you reinforce those actions progressing you towards your goals DAILY, thus solidifying these actions into daily habits.

Step five now is the simple part - following through.  These daily habits WILL progress you closer and closer to your goal(s), until you finally reach them.  KEEP WITH IT!  These are YOUR goals.  Commit to those actions that will propel you to reaching them.  WARNING: As you get closer to reaching them, you will experience feelings of excitement and fulfillment. Welcome those feelings, they will only help to motivate you along the way.

Quick Take-Away:
1.  Put your GOALS in front of your face EVERY DAY!
2.  Decide what ACTIONS you can do EVERY DAY to progress towards your goals
3.  IMPLEMENT these actions DAILY
4.  REINFORCE these daily actions until they become DAILY HABITS
5.  FOLLOW THROUGH with your daily habits and you WILL reach your GOALS!

Don't take it from me...doing a little every day WORKS!

For more information on Goal Settling, check back soon as it will likely be my next blog post. 

In the meantime, please check out my friend Jeb Blount's book called Power Principles where I learned a lot about goal setting and DOING A LITTLE EVERY DAY!

Did I miss anything?  Questions?  Comments?  Blog with me!


Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Performance & Success Advice Blog Post # 4 - Marketing YOU

At the University of Central Florida, I studied Marketing.  One of the most important lessons I learned in business was in a Professional Selling class.

This lesson was a simple one...the science of marketing yourself.

As good as you are in your field, you need to be able to clearly and effectively communicate your valuable skills and qualities to others.  You literally need to be selling yourself!  Haha not on the street corner, but in your ability to share your success and experience with others in a way they can understand.

In order to adequately be able to sell anything, you need the appropriate marketing tools! Marketing yourself is no different.  Here are some marketing tools to effectively sell yourself:

1.  A Resume - This one is a must!  
Templates can be found for free easily on Google.  For CareerBuilder's Resume Center's Top 10 Resume Advice" visitThe Collegiate Performance Magazine Website

2.  A Career Portfolio
I have one of these that contains my mission statement, my resume, undergraduate work samples, samples of my business work, samples of my presentation, recommendations, references, an about me section (including favorite quotes, favorite business books, interests, etc.), accomplishments and honors, and more.  *This looks really impressive when you take the time to put it together

3.  At least one nice suit

For Professional Image advice from the senior VP of Tom James, a fine custom clothing company, please visit - Ash Deshmukh on the Professional Image

4.  A Personal Brand
For professional advice on marketing yourself and building a brand image, check out the PERFORMANCE article by speaker and author Scott Ginsberg, a.k.a. The Nametag Guy - Scott Ginberg's "Ten Brand-Building Lessons Learned from Wearing a Nametag 24/7

5.  A way for others to see your personal brand and what you stand for!
Examples are a Twitter account and a LinkedIn account.  Definitely a professional e-mail!
Follow me on Twitter - Jeff Greenstein
Follow my blog on Twitter - SuccessAdvice
Follow my magazine on Twitter - 4CollegeSuccess
I have a personal & professional e-mail: JeffGreenstein@ymail.com & JeffG@thePerformanceMagazine.com

Did I miss anything?  Questions?  Comments?  Blog with me!

Monday, June 8, 2009

Performance & Success Advice Blog Post # 3 - Becoming an Entrepreneur

I would like to speak about something that hits close to home for me today, becoming an entrepreneur.

The first thing to realize is that it is a journey.  You will be forced to learn and adapt to many challenging circumstances as you exercise problem solving as you make strategic decisions.

As you prepare for entrepreneurship, begin focusing on the WHAT question.  WHAT is it that you want to pursue?  That is the first question you must answer.  As you are formulating the answer to this question, it is also important to be open and attune to opportunity and be willing to take a risk and run with any that you think are valuable.

The next question that you need to ask yourself is WHY.  WHY do you want to pursue it, and WHY do you think it is valuable?  This is one thing that SCORE (a resource partner with the Small Business Administration of the U.S.) taught me to question.  I sought SCORE's FREE business counseling on a transportation venture years ago where I wanted to provide a service to safely transport students from the University area to the Downtown night club district.  This type of question allowed me to consider if the potential business had a large enough market, was financially feasible, and realistic [which in the case of that venture it was not].

The third question to ask yourself is the HOW.  HOW is determining how you are going to physically convert this idea from an idea into reality, the manifestation of your idea.  The process of manifesting your idea requires you to seek the people that you need to surround yourself with, find the capital to finance it, and the logistics of making it happen.  I would like to make a personal note here and quote myself, "I believe that if you commit to any idea that you are passionate about, think is valuable,  and believe to be realistic, the HOW should not even be a question."
*TIP* One of the best sources of angel funding is from people in your network, like your family, friends, and family and friend's network.

I would like to end this post with a story to reinforce the idea of VALUE.  My first business venture was a commercial carpet cleaning business at age 19.  To begin and try to get my foot in the door at hotels and resorts, I would offer the lowest price in town.  I learned quickly that this is no way to do business.  The value to customers competing on price was nothing more than the lowest price, having little regard for you or your company.  By competing on quality, I was dealing with a much better crowd of people.  The VALUE to them was having a job well done, and for that, they were willing to be loyal and pay a premium for.

Don't take it from me.  Take it from the CEO of Zappos, Tony Hsieh in his PERFORMANCE Interview on Value Innovation - http://www.collegiateperformancemagazine.com/tonyhsieh/entrepreneurial-advice/value-innovation

Friday, June 5, 2009

Performance & Success Advice - Blog Post # 2 the Handshake

In post # 1 on Professional Image, I forgot to mention the handshake.  Thanks Demolishes for reminding me of its importance!

The handshake is one of the aspects of making a first impression.  Believe it or not, a handshake can either give someone a good impression, a neutral impression, or even a BAD impression!

There is a science to the handshake and how firm or loose it should be, how many pumps you should use, etc.  This science can be found in the Definitive Book of Body Language.  I lent my copy out so I will update this post soon with the proper amount of pumps, the description of a good handshake, and the world's worst handshakes so check back soon!


Here is a YouTube video on the proper way to shake hands - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k6FaKXSdlY&feature=fvw

A word of caution:  When you go in for a handshake, you have entered into the other person's intimate zone (within 1.5 feet).  This is where good hygiene comes in because the other person will notice if you smell bad, good or if you smell too strongly of cologne/perfume.  It seems like common sense but always exercise good hygiene!  Find a good smelling body wash/soap and the appropriate threshold for the amount of cologne/perfume to use.


Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Performance & Success Advice Blog Post # 1 - Professional Image

One of my favorite quotes about one's Professional Image is "Appearance is Reality."  This is true on so many levels.  It is a fact that first impressions are such a huge part of building relationships and your appearance and image is what gives this first impression.  I live my life with the idea that at any given moment, on any given day, you never know who you may run into.  This keeps me motivated to ALWAYS have a sharp, pristine Professional Appearance.  There are many factors that go into a one's Professional Image.  

Let's delve into a few (in no particular order) - 

1)  Your clothes, 

2)  Your shoes,  

3)  Your hygiene (smell is important too, don't overdo it with cologne/perfume though!), 

4)  The overall appearance of your clothes, shoes, and your person in general, 

5) The way you carry yourself, etc.  

These are only a few of the factors that create your Professional Image.  Did I miss anything?  Any questions?  Please comment!

Monday, June 1, 2009

BRAND NEW Performance & Success Advice Blog!

It’s time that we have a place to talk about the many aspects of success!  I will be blogging about different aspects that I think are important.  Please comment on these aspects or if there is something that you do not see, feel free to raise those questions and I will seek answers from credible professionals!  Thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing from you!