Tag Archives for " thezone "
#1 Mental Performance & Life Tool (Your Memory & Concentration)
How much better would your performance in business at work, your sports, and in your life be by using my #1 mental performance and life tool (your memory & concentration)?
I’ve been using my performance, life, innovation and entrepreneurial leadership tools in my speaking programs, private performance and life consulting, and coaching. This tool among other concepts and tools appear in my Entrepreneurial Thinking Tools manual, Your Raise The Bar: Mental Performance Tools workbooks for business/education, sports, and Winning At Entrepreneurship. There are more resources to help you at http://www.MotivateResults.com.
For programs and services, contact Raj Gavurla at 864.569.2315, raj@rajgavurla.com.
Innovation and Entrepreneurial Leadership Tool
“Use your wisdom. It won’t mislead you.” – Raj Gavurla
Download the .pdf here: innovation and entrepreneurial leadership tool
As you develop, build, and grow your business and your client projects, use this decision making tool to help you develop, build, and grow your talents and skills and discover new gifts, talents, and skills.
You need innovation and entrepreneurial leadership to forward your business and client projects from left to right and proceed to have more projects in the blue (your core business) and continually move your business and client projects towards the black innovative and entrepreneurial leadership business and client projects.
Gray Red Yellow Blue Black
- ___________ ____________ ______________ ___________ ____________
- ___________ ____________ ______________ ___________ ____________
- ___________ ____________ ______________ ___________ ____________
- ___________ ____________ ______________ ___________ ____________
- ___________ ____________ ______________ ___________ ____________
I’ve been using my innovation and entrepreneurial leadership tools in my speaking programs, private performance and life consulting, and coaching. This tool among other concepts and tools appear in my Entrepreneurial Thinking Tools manual, Your Raise The Bar: Mental Performance Tools workbooks for business/education, sports, and Winning At Entrepreneurship. There are more resources to help you at http://www.MotivateResults.com.
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
For programs and services, contact Raj Gavurla at 864.569.2315, raj@rajgavurla.com.
Forward Economic Mobility In Your Organization and Team(s)
“Innovation and entrepreneurial leadership takes pressure off of management and
creates new leaders, services, or products.” – Raj Gavurla
Performance Breakthrough(s):
What performance breakthrough are you working towards? Ask yourself why you need it and how to get it. Are you making it harder than it should be?
Innovation and Entrepreneurial Leadership:
In an entrepreneurial job a seasoned entrepreneurial employee knows it takes a combination of skills, time, and a performance mindset to create breakthroughs in less time and that makes it worth doing.
In a non-entrepreneurial job you know what to do and it is a production mindset.
A job needs both to be sustainable. That’s the innovation and entrepreneurial leadership needed to evolve democracy and capitalism so we forward economic mobility to take pressure off of management and create new leaders, services, and products.
My book, Winning At Entrepreneurship, has nine common-sense strategies for business owners within an organization (intrapreneurship) or for those who are nascent, emerging, or extremely successful entrepreneurs.
Here are the nine common-sense strategies:
1. Find Your Entrepreneurial Spirit
2. Use Your Common Sense
3. Know That Positive Change Is Good
4. Use Teamwork As Your Foundation
5. Implement the Client Modular Approach
6. Build Trustworthy Relationships
7. Withdraw from Your Stimulation Bank
8. Compete for Results
9. Keep Growing To Another New Best Level
“The Zone” Effect:
By many “the zone” effect is described as everything is in slow motion, time stands still (isn’t a deterring factor), and your performance feels effortless.
My tennis coach verbally recognized me by saying, “Raj you can hit every shot.” I thought wow! I’ve played tennis since high school and now decades later I’ve been rewarded. What were the key factors?
1. I learned technique and mental performance skills at the same time to accelerate my progress.
2. I made it fun to play better tennis without rushing it.
3. Consistently (mental performance skills daily, actual matches/practice once or twice a week)
4. I have an exercise physiology functional trainer that strengthens me and keeps me from being injured
My most recent “The Zone” Effect:
For the first time, I felt like I was hitting new balls when we started a new game. However, they weren’t new balls. That’s “The Zone” Effect. Are you experiencing your “The Zone” Effect?
“How many success stories do you need to hear before you make your own?” – Unknown
For programs and services, contact Raj Gavurla at 864.569.2315, raj@rajgavurla.com.
My Tennis Coach Manuel Was At The Tennis Court
“Take care of your mind. It’s the only place you have to live.” – Raj Gavurla
My teammates said, “there’s Manuel. He’s coming.” My tennis coach, Manuel, walked by the fence and I asked him “Coach, did you bring your workbook?” He left it at home. Then we played and coach was encouraging.
He asked what have you been doing to play so well? I said, completing my Your Raise The Bar Primer: Mental Performance Tools workbook. He said yes, but how the rapid increase in skill. I said, in addition to the workbook I’ve been using my private advanced mental performance breakthroughs skills coaching sessions. People pay for that.
Then, he evaluated me instead of giving me feedback. He said, I like this (the proportionally increasing line) using his finger, then he leveled it, and then it went downward. He said the increasing and level is better. You lost focus on the downward part. Then, he said, “be careful”.
While using my workbook to evaluate my performance and to write what I am working on for more “win fun tennis”, I reflected on how I could “be careful”. On the downward part, I wasn’t using my new focus technique before serving the ball and my mind’s eye. I’m looking forward to my deliberate practice session to practically apply what I learned and to my next match.
If sports doesn’t produce income for you, how about using my workbook, private mental performance breakthroughs learning sessions (workshops), and highly customized individualized coaching for business and education in your workplace. Yes, coaching use to be paid only for executives, however, you’ll create mental performance breakthroughs to listen to learn good to win fun, better earning, and experience greater when you use it throughout your workplace.
“Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don’t need to escape from.” – Seth Godin
For programs and services, contact Raj at 864.569.2315, raj@rajgavurla.com, LiiiVEN.
Independence: She Is Four Hundred And Four Years of Age (Age: 404)
“Win fun teams first.” – Affectionately Called “Endless”
My advisor and mentor, affectionately called “Endless”, says there are others like him. While walking and deliberately practicing my storytelling for a program, I saw Louise in her yard. I said, hi and we had a conversation. Never met her before. During our conversation, I asked her the name of her children. Being defensive she asked, “are you testing my memory”. I said, “I might know them.”
Her children were friends with people I was friends with. As we shared authentic honest dialogue we talked about many fun and high value aspects of living. Then she shared with me she was four hundred and four years of age. Wow, “Endless” said there are others like him! He’s six hundred years of age.
I said, “Louise there’s a lot more.” We went for a walk and I was challenged keeping up with her speed.
As we walked we shared amazing interaction and conversation, which is really the essence of living. It excited my being and soul and I’m excited about the “endless” possibilities of a better living and better future.
“The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.”
– Oliver Wendell Holmes
For programs and services, contact Raj at 864.569.2315, raj@rajgavurla.com, LiiiVEN.
Prevent and Cure Clients, Employees, and Athletes Burnout
“Transform your business with meaningful performance and innovation/entrepreneurial leadership.” – Raj Gavurla
Meaningful Forward Performance Motivation and Inspiration
Win your personal best records and as one constantly does their best consistently they will continue to learn to perform better at what they are doing. On a given day it might be you won a meaningful award and money. It’s this essential aspiration to learn how to win personal best records to perform better at what you are doing that makes what you do meaningful, fun, rewarding, and enjoyable. One will never maximize this if they only work on performance technique. They also need to work on their mental performance skills to transform their performance and innovation/entrepreneurial leadership in business/education, work, sports, and life.
Creative Innovation Tools
You are doing the above and there is still burnout. Why? Because you aren’t innovating to win personal best records since the innovation(s) you have need to continue to develop, build, grow, and/or become what makes you unique and different. There are creative innovation tools to help your neuroplasticity mind. Some say we use one percent to ten percent of our mind’s ability. So that means there’s ninety percent not being used. I posit there is an “endless amount not being used” since you have a neuroplasticity brain.
Entrepreneurial Leadership
So now that you understand this concept and are using creative innovation tools why still the burnout? Because entrepreneurial leadership isn’t being exhibited in a meaningful financial (monetize) way because the financial mechanisms (funding and resources), reward mechanisms, incentive mechanisms, and partnering mechanisms were at one time the best, however, now they also need creative innovation(s).
Three questions to transform your business:
1. Are you using your current strategies and innovations to win personal best records?
2. Does your team have an innovation process to create innovation(s)? This isn’t just for individuals in management.
3. Why don’t you work on innovating your business with unique and different entrepreneurial leadership for meaningful better outcomes creating financial mechanisms (funding and resources), reward mechanisms, incentive mechanisms, and partnering mechanisms for forward performance?
Learn how to learn and apply the learning to continue going through living a robust life. It’s meaningful, fun, rewarding, and enjoyable. It’s important to include fun business outings and activities/sports/games on company time for social/networking with each other to get to know each other. Why? Because it makes it easier to transform your business with performance and innovation/entrepreneurial leadership.
This prevents and cures clients, employees, and athletes burnout for meaningful better outcomes. You have gifts, talents, and skills. Develop, build, grow them and discover new gifts, talents, and skills to develop, build, and grow making you unique and different. It’s Friday. What are you looking forward to experiencing this weekend with your family and friends?
“Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.” – Les Brown
For programs and services, contact Raj at 864.569.2315, raj@rajgavurla.com, LiiiVEN.
How To Win Playing Better Tennis?
“Win playing better tennis.” – Raj Gavurla
I really understood you had a tennis match after watching the NBA Playoffs last night. How did it go? My job is to performance consult and performance coach at the professional, college, academy, high school, and recreational levels. The main difference between them is better mental performance skills. Most of the pros know how to hit the ball. It’s bettering their mental performance skills to play better tennis they need to win more.
Yes, I also play tennis and I like playing with all levels because I approach each with a different frame of mind. All levels of players pose a different challenge to me. Recently, I’ve been playing with a group of recreational players. They see me warm up beforehand, bring my water, and my chair and watch me as I warm up and say “that’s what we need to do”. Yet, week after week they come out and just start playing. They warm up without practicing their volleys and overheads. It’s as if they are enthralled with the baseline although they are playing doubles. There is no serve and volley except me.
The wild thing is it is just as competitive as a Grand Slam Final with lesser mental performance skills and tennis skills. Since I can help their mental performance skills, I do and they’ve wised up and some take lessons on tennis technique (how to hit the ball better). They haven’t wised up yet to take mental performance coaching lessons.
While playing “my coach” (I call one of them that). He tells me to “play with better players” and is very hard to please. I can hit ten “nice” or “good” shots and he’ll point out the three I didn’t hit well. He compares me to professional players like Federer and Nadal. I’m honored by the comparison as he does know what he’s talking about when I’m not consistent or don’t move into the right position. He says, “I watch them on T.V. and at live tournaments”. Obviously, I’m not as robust of a tennis player as the pros.
Recently, we were closing out a match and he was telling me not to do this and that. I called a mental performance skills coaching timeout. I said, “all this negativity isn’t helping us”. How about saying, “finish the match” or “see the ball”. A week later we were in a similar situation, and he was encouraging and motivating and for a long period silent. After we won, he actually complimented me with “good”. Wow! Then he said “you need to win a Grand Slam”. I wish he was around sooner in my tennis life.
I gave him an autographed copy of my Your Raise The Bar Primer: Mental Performance Skills workbook. He looked at it and said “that takes commitment”. My response, you can stay at status quo and go through the motions week after week or have fun and win more. Which do you want? My coach has been working on it. I already see a difference in his ability on the court. If you need cabinets installed that’s my coach’s real job.
Yes, I do need to play with better players but I enjoy playing with all levels and at the recreational level I’m able to work on shots that I’m not able to do so against better-skilled players without first honing it. Some of the guys played in high school and one in college so it’s not as if they are beginners.
For those who still are working on technique, here are six videos to watch showing the legendary, Andre Agassi. I myself am hitting better volleys, overheads, and serves after watching. Remember, you also need to work on bettering your mental performance skills. The combination helps you win playing better tennis.
“Children are wonderfully confident in their own imaginations.
Most of us lose this confidence as we grow up.” – Sir Ken Robinson
For programs and services, contact Raj at 864.569.2315 or raj@rajgavurla.com, LiiiVEN.
You Don’t Need To Live A Double Life In Your Workplace
“You Don’t Need To Live A Double Life In Your Workplace.” – Raj Gavurla
Do you come to your job or the playing field leading a double life? You don’t need to. How is this possible? I’m there to work (complete tasks, etc.). That’s what they pay me to do. Years ago there was a job I inquired about with someone who worked for the company. He proceeded to tell me “you have to set up equipment”. I waited to see if he had more to say. He didn’t. I wasn’t interested in the job. Why? Because work is more to me than completing tasks (it’s part of the job) and receiving benefits. I understand you have family and friends outside of work you have fun, rewarding, and enjoyable camaraderie with. How about having fun, rewarding, and enjoyable camaraderie with your colleagues or teammates?
Camaraderie is one of the keys that keeps employees performing, retains, and recruits. It also plays a major role in wellness (well-being), motivation, inspiration, engagement, a positive attitude, leadership, and execution.
What’s a solution to nurture camaraderie in the workplace? By using a small group personal team matters approach. Do you have thousands, hundreds, less than fifty, ten to twenty, five or fewer employees or teammates? The larger the business, organization, or team the harder it is to have camaraderie with everyone. Regardless of size test the following:
Break up into “small personal teams”. A “small personal team” is a group that discusses (has dialogue) about personal matters not directly related to your job. For example, your family, what you’re doing this weekend, what you did this past weekend, your health, nutrition, fitness, your parents, kids aspirations, your non-work challenges, crisis, someone passing, accident, hobbies, movie, best place to get something, book you’re reading, mountains, sports, festivals, etc. Apply the learning.
A Customized Structure Might Look Like:
1. Ask people to participate sharing why. Do not require them to participate.
2. For those who join a personal matters team, make what’s discussed confidential. That doesn’t mean you can’t share your situation with someone outside of your group. Use your discretion.
3. Meet once a week for 45 minutes to an hour in a quiet place (conference room, courtyard, etc.)
4. Talk about and share personal matters important to each group member
5. Close the meeting
Use Metrics and Collect Data On The Outcomes:
Are employees mentally performing better?
Is employee retention increasing?
Is it easier to recruit?
What effect does it have on wellness (well-being), motivation, and inspiration?
What effect does it have on engagement, a positive attitude, leadership, and execution?
Small Personal Matters Team Examples:
Look at an amazing family
Look at a business team. One of the things employees, athletes, investors, donors, and philanthropists look at is the teamwork exhibited.
Look at our military. They have tremendous camaraderie protecting each other, to survive, and protect us. They know each other and have nicknames for each other making it easier to accomplish their mission.
Look at a sports team and you hear athletes talk about the camaraderie or if retired the camaraderie is what they miss.
I remember from reading Oscar Robertson’s biography he worked with people of a different skin color and they never had time for camaraderie. Just do the work because in those times that’s how it was. People didn’t know each other at work and never met outside of work with people of a different skin color. He said, “that hurt”. I’m sure some people of the other skin color had the same thought and feeling, “that hurt”. Thankfully, we the people have made tremendous cultural and societal progress.
Another example, I went to college to graduate/get an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering. That was the main goal. It’s the camaraderie with a few friends I remember and miss most. Although we don’t talk often or see each other as often I know, feel, sense, and believe we are connected forever.
My final example are my friends from Leadership Greenville. I shared with a small personal matters group my mom had a stroke. One told me his dad passed away from a stroke and another told me they had a family member who had a stroke and it’s a slow process. People get better. Until the emergency personnel told me your mom had a stroke, I’ve heard of the word stroke but knew nothing about it. Learning about a stroke and talking with my small personal matters team gave me lived experience insights I couldn’t get from a textbook that helped me to mentally perform to be a caregiver for my mom to make her well. She is talking better and she needs and wants to walk better and drive a car.
Implementing small personal matters teams in your businesses, organizations, and teams might transform the narratives, conversations, and outcomes. It should be helpful too and take pressure off and inhibit the performance anxiety your employees, team leaders, supervisors, managers, bosses, management, executives, and owners are experiencing. Yes, conventions, conferences, and special events are still needed and wanted for all your employees or sports team to participate in.
“A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.”
– Bruce Lee
For programs and services, contact Raj at 864.569.2315, raj@rajgavurla.com
Win: A Sense of Respect Should Be Automatic, Not Earned
“A sense of respect should be automatic, not earned.” – Raj Gavurla
“If you set your goals ridiculously high and it’s a failure, you will fail above everyone else’s success.” – James Cameron
For programs and services, contact Raj at 864.569.2315, raj@rajgavurla.com
Preview Video: Transform Your Performance & Leadership
“Transform your performance and entrepreneurial leadership in business, work, sports, and life.”
– Raj Gavurla
“The way you tell your story to yourself matters.” Amy Cuddy
For programs and services, contact Raj at 864.569.2315, raj@rajgavurla.com