All posts filed under: Motivation

Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.

Published by Colin Nanka

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” Arthur Ashe, Tennis hall of fame player, and presidential medal of freedom recipient I heard this quote today and it made me think of many different stages of my life. If I could go back to my younger self and give me this advice I would have said. Start where you can Focus on learning everyday Realize momentum builds over time and taking the first step is the key Use what you have Use your stubbornness and discipline and commit to one big thing to improve  every year Keep it simple, life gets complex over time Do what you can Pay it forward to others and reap the benefits over the next 10 years Help one person every week Put your oxygen mask on first every day Defeating Average.   Colin

My Stressful thoughts overtake my ability to focus

Published by Colin Nanka

I was listening to a podcast last weekend as the guest was answering a passage stuck out. When I am overloaded, “my stressful thoughts overtake my ability to focus” and I thought yes, that is how I feel some days! The good news is those days are infrequent and I find it’s helpful to watch for the queues and have a plan Queues: When I feel like I have so much to do and don’t know where to start When the same single keeps playing in my head about things I can’t control Negative thoughts in general Antidote: Go for a walk outside and get fresh air Take a breathing or meditative pause and break Write down all the things I have to do, get them out of my head. Circle the Top 3 and work on the first one first.   Defeating Average through stress.   Colin

Are you missing out on opportunity?

Published by Colin Nanka

Pull your toes on the way up, push through your quads on the way down and widen the circle.   Good advice from Peloton instructor Sam Yo last week on one of my regular spin classes. He was focusing on potential range of motion, power, and output. It made me think about how that applies to life.   You can look at it like 7 pieces of a pie in the wheel of life.  Spirituality Career Finance Family Learning Health and Wellness Friend and Community   If you are not getting your full range of motion, power and output in each area, you are missing out on opportunities.   None of us will be hitting 10/10 in all areas and not even close.   When we think about how much of the pie and landscape we are covering we can put a spotlight on the areas we would like to focus on…and perhaps pull our toes up a little more.   Where are you doing well? Where can you expand that circle?   Defeating Average. …

Upskilling and the war for talent

Published by Colin Nanka

We used to call education the four and 40. Go to school for four years, work for 40. What’s now is you are going to have to learn some sort of new skill every four years. I was listening to a great episode of Masters of Scale (Rapid Response) this week with guest Rachel Carlson,  co-founder and CEO of Guild Education. She shared “100 million Americans, over two-thirds of the workforce today in America, need re-skilling or upskilling in the next decade in order to be relevant, employable, and be able to survive in the economy of the next decade. The problem is those folks don’t know how to find what school or program they ought to go back to, let alone what they ought to study.” “So the half-life of a skill is now about four years. So if you’re learning anything skills-based, you are probably getting about four years worth. And so the future of work, the skills are going to evolve, right? “We call that the four and 40, right? Go to …

Are you an imposter?

Published by Colin Nanka

I think we all are at some point. This discussion has been coming up more and more recently. Are you handling the pandemic ok? Yes, I mean nooo! How are you handling the scope of your new role? Great, I mean, ugg flailing! You seem to be onboarding your new team well and meeting customer expectations. Yes, I am! Noooo, I am struggling to keep up! Does this sound like you at all? We all have a lot on our plate right now and may feel like an imposter balancing our job, our pandemic life, and our family. It’s ok to say, woe, it’s a lot right now and sometimes I am on the struggle bus. People appreciate honesty. Personally, some days I feel like I have it nailed and the next day, I don’t at all! What is important during these times? Be gentle with yourself, it’s ok to admit…even to others. Partner with other people who can help you get over the hump. Remember each day is a new day and with good …

Are you anticipating where the puck is going?

Published by Colin Nanka

“Skate to where the puck is going, not to where it has been.” I was watching Master Class last week and they have a new series with Wayne Gretzky. I was fortunate, I grew up where he played the first decade of his career in Edmonton. He is one of hockey’s greatest players, if not the greatest, depending on your view. When asked why he was so good at the game of hockey, he famously said: “I skated to where the puck was going, not to where it had been.” He was talking about anticipation. Perhaps his greatest asset. People used to say he had eyes in the back of his head.  In an episode in Master Class which I highly recommend (for hockey fans this series is worth the cost alone!), he talks about how his father Walter was ahead of his time in thinking about the game. “I remember I was watching hockey on Saturday nights and my dad would say, I want you to watch the play, and draw where the puck …

Are you languishing AND flailing?

Published by Colin Nanka

I was listening to a great podcast from Dr Michael Gervais on Finding Mastery and he had a great guest Dr. Katie Milkman, who’s a behavioral scientist, and wrote a book recently with her focus “that optimism comes when you have a fresh start”.  Maybe it’s from a life event, or for something you’re striving for. Maybe it comes from pain, or you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired. It can come at any time, it can be from different chapters in your life.  It can be after a rough quarter, a challenging month, a surprising week, and or sometimes daily focus.  I like to think I have fresh starts of some sort on a daily basis.  Optimism, even if you’re not always optimistic, we all have that ability to find it.  It can be that pivot point or that first timely start. I encourage you to think about that, think about the science, and be on the lookout for the opportunity.  Sometimes when you’re looking for it you find it or when …

Does your boat size fit the task at hand?

Published by Colin Nanka

I was sitting up on the patio of our building in New York City looking at the boats going by. We are down in Battery Park which is just next to Tribeca. You can see the Statue of Liberty off in the distance and it’s amazing how many different types of boats go through the Hudson.  In our new program at Salesforce, building out a Sales leader coaching practice, one of the things we have been talking about is you to best utilize your resources when working with a customer. I see similarities between the size of the boat you move in and how you bring value to a customer. Sometimes you are paddling in a two-person kayak. Other times you may need a little bit more horsepower and have 4-6 people in a speedboat. Sometimes and a little more rarely you see these pretty big yachts that are coming in from the islands and they are parked down by this little harbor and we walk down and check them out. Kayak is like your …

Are you outnumbered against fear?

Published by Colin Nanka

“If you face just one opponent, and you doubt yourself, you’re out-numbered.” – Dan Millman We all have fear. Fear of failure, fear of not being enough, fear of other people’s opinions, fear of covid. In his book Way of the Peaceful Warrior, Dan Millman talks about doubt and fear, it’s an awesome read. After recently reading more on the fear of fear itself, I found myself preparing for a recent presentation realizing I was not being fearful of not presenting well…I was fearful of fear itself. Trippy right. Once we realize that fear is a part of being able to perform and it will always be there, you can notice it, like a cloud passing, name it and move on. We can all face one opponent. If we can harness and leverage fear, we will be less likely to be outnumbered. In fact, if you can talk openly about your fear with others, you can outnumber fear. Defeating Average. Colin.

My Nutrition was out of wack

Published by Colin Nanka

I have been trying to get back into shape. I am getting in a good amount of outside time, riding the peloton a couple of times and a week, and slowly easing back into running. It really hit me after a run 6 weeks ago and I felt completely out of shape when I was done.  Is this it, I was thinking? Maybe the good running days are done. I called a friend who has been accelerating in his 50+ year age for some advice. He said: Stretching and a lot of it Nutrition – Are you being honest with yourself? East back into it   I have been on a stretching binge, my wife can attest to it. Lying on the floor all over the apartment. What has really helped is focusing on it with my trainer. Instead of stretching for time, stretching for deep breaths (that are a similar amount of time). I can report making big strides in my standing stretch and things are progressing. Nutrition. I started following a program with …