The kick-off, Simplify from the Inside Out, workshop is tomorrow, and I awoke this morning with the conviction that today’s theme is staying present and in control of my mind. Prevent my strength from leaking away all day in worrying about getting this or that ‘just right’. It’ll be fine. The important thing for me is to come to it in the right headspace. An open, flexible, responsive headspace. I can do this by staying calm and focused on the task at hand.

So what did I do first thing this morning? Spend half an hour in mental/emotional la-la land. Doh! I was totally wrapped up in an imaginary scenario involving someone from my past and someone from my present. I could feel any remnant of sleep quickly chased out of me as my shoulders and stomach clenched in response to the situation. Staying calm? Yeah, right.

A couple of hours later, I’m having second thoughts about my response to this mental role playing scenario. It could be akin to wrapping up a chapter of my life that has been wanting closure. It felt rather self-indulgent at the time. Now I can perceive value in seeing myself (visualization) rejecting an unhealthy situation by replaying it in my mind until my response was to refuse to get drawn into the drama.

Life. It happens whether we allow ourselves to go along with it or not. It’s so easy to get caught up in the forwarding the business—to think that it’s the only thing that matters. That plus I’ve been reading recent issues of Business 2.0 and Inc. magazine. Companies and technology are moving so incredibly fast. When I read about what’s going on in Silicon Valley I have to remind myself to go at my own pace. I don’t want to be swept away in the race. Which means cutting myself some slack to allow for some internal shifting, even if it is the day before the kick-off. Especially when one subscribes to the thought that there are no coincidences…. :)

So much to do, so little time… Understanding the underlying triggers of your mountain of ToDos can guide you in creating the systems to deal with them more easily.

Broadly, clutter tends to be the result of unfinished projects or situations:

• conflicting priorities (”Everything is important so I’ll do several things at once.”),
• unidentified actions (”I don’t know what I need to do next for that project.”),
• unscheduled-yet necessary-actions (”I’ll get to preparation for tax returns someday.” or “I’ll deal with that person later.”),
• confusion about how to proceed (”I just don’t know where to put this stuff.”)

The next workshop is right around the corner (or next week as the case may be)! Though it will be right around the corner as well–here in Nevada County. I’m making connections for events in other areas… I’m looking forward to working with people from all over who have that urge to simplify. Say goodbye to the murky stuff, say hello to the sweet stuff.

While next week’s workshop, Simplify from the Inside Out, is filled, there will be another, and another, coming soon.

Our Toastmaster Club’s International contest was this morning. I came in 3rd of 5. Right in the middle. Would I have done better had my speech have been of wider appeal? What was I thinking? a speech on meditation.

A subject more for my purposes that spoke well to about half the audience, of little appeal to those who have never been called to mediation. I knew that. I rely heavily on my speeches just flowing onto the page. Why didn’t the right speech for winning come out? Timing. Not the right time to be focusing on contests. With the first Simplify from the Inside Out workshop coming up, my time will be better spent preparing the curriculum than expending energy for the next contest round at the Area level. Focus. The theme of the season.

So what was the use of the commitment to myself to win this year? I’ve been thinking about it for months! I think that believing I would win helped my belief in myself that I could do it. Go with what it takes to stretch up to full vision.

I’ve noticed that kind of thing lately, i.e. the round-about way to achieve a goal. As I prepare to launch the workshop that will put me on the road to different cities & new audiences, shifting my self-image from consultant to professional speaker, I found support in the vision of myself winning the contest. It helped me make the internal adjustments necessary to carry myself as a Speaker. If that’s what it took to make those internal adjustments, than OK!

Self-critique of delivery this morning: I feel I did a good job. (I’m glad for this on a contest day because there is no wondering if I lost because of some delivery glitches.) Voice projection strong, good word enunciation, I remembered the words easily, and had smooth delivery. Eyes a little jumpy, hold eye contact longer, move more slowly. Not pacing exactly, but movement without purpose. This would be the next skill to work on. Movement with Purpose. Every gesture, every step supports or detracts from my message.

All in all, good fun. It was a fun adventure worth waking up at 1am, then 3am, then at 4:30am (got out of bed this time) last night for.

Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing comes up with some pretty creative ideas. Kudos! This one is on goal setting. Interestingly, I did a short post on SMART goals (Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely) in the not too distant past and have since noticed that it’s a popular post (according to key word searches). Well, all you SMART goal fans, get ready for a whole new acronym. It’s not pretty, but it’s catchy in its own special way.

Since I’m all for visualization, I dig his encouragement to tap in and think big. Why not? What kind of life do you want to live? Making the most of it? or making it day by day for the duration?

Granted you could look at these as two techniques for two different goal types. One being the big picture compass setter that points you to the land of Oz, and the other one to define the steps to get you there. I’ll let you sort out which I think would be SMART and which would be ITOCA.

And now, Robert’s not-so-famous (yet) I.T.O.C.A. Formula:

1. IMAGINE you’re on your death bed looking back. And you say to your loved ones gathered around, “You know I’ve had a pretty good life, but I really wish I’d done X.” What is X? That’s your unreasonable goal.

2. THINK about it all the time. Don’t push it out of your mind. Obsess about it; brainstorm and draw mind maps. Get the idea out of the abstract and into the concrete. Form a mastermind group and kick around ideas. Make it real.

3. Be aware of OPPORTUNITIES and coincidences that present themselves. You couldn’t see them before, but now, with increased focus on your goal, you’ll start seeing, reading, hearing about things that are connected to your goal. Explore these things. They’re there to help you.

4. When the time is right, make a COMMITMENT. On the TV poker shows they talk about going “ALL IN.” Don’t hold back. Make a promise, not based on knowing how to achieve your goal, but on your desire to make it real. If you have to know how ahead of time, you’ll never take the leap.

5. ACTION. Now it’s time for the real work, and that consists of putting one foot in front of the other every single day. Keep things alive by creating action plans, researching, asking for assistance, and networking with like-minded people. In other words, create an environment in which the goal can be realized.

Imagine, Think, Opportunities, Commitment, Action: I.T.O.C.A. Now that’s a pretty bad acronym compared to S.M.A.R.T., but I promise you it’s a better formula for getting what you truly desire.

By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit Robert’s web site at www.actionplan.com for additional marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional service businesses.