I often get to hear that people do not like to make a decision:  there is the comfort zone which “feels” so well, there is the future – so far away and unclear to see, there is the change waiting around this new corner….. so people go on with their life as they did before. 

Some maybe wait for their fate to show up and make a decision?

I don´t think it´s the way which it´s supposed to be.  Do you?

My tip for you:  be open for the new and THINK IT THROUGH. Make yourself comfortable with the (potential) results of this next decision of yours. Be quicker than fate! Take direction on your own, at least: TRY to!

Not everybody always gets what they decided to get but suddenly things start moving. Think it through to make sure you would like the result! Do you? Start with an easy decision – what about a vacation trip in a Metropolitan, land or island where you have never been before?

THINK IT THROUGH:  what would you like most of it?  Make a list! Then next check your budget – what´s most realistic for you to book? Now choose pictures from those places from the internet and check out your mimic while watching them: watching which picture makes you smile? The photos which make you smile most will show the city, landscape or beach of your next trip – you take the decision! ….and it is pretty risk free.

Be outstanding – Be a decision maker

Decisions are everywhere and we mostly pay attention to only those which seem to be “big” or life changing! Do you agree? My advice: do not be scared when taking decisions, small or big, there is no reason to worry! We all learn in life to gain more life experience.

My indirect colleague as a trainer, my passive coach and as a huge fan, I recommend to watch the video from Brendon Burchard who talks about his life changing decisions, here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYjTr6s6DaY

Yesterday I gave you the hint to “think it through”, when you are facing a bigger decision with more change than you wish to face. Think it through: sit down and imagine it all happens soon, then check yourself how you feel about it. A smile on your face is always a great, positive indicator! Do you frown or do you smile while thinking it through?

Use your outlook ability: when was the last time you were disciplined enough to get to a big goal? How long did it take? Was it back in school? Or when facing your marriage, looking forward to the wedding day? Did you had to save money before you were able to buy something big? If you remember that you worked hard on something which took some time, you are already 1 step ahead towards the next decision goal! One success leads to the next. That´s called awareness.

How resilient are you? Can you stand a lot? Or are you easily in tears? Make sure you know yourself very well when taking bigger decisions. Mainly, the short rough way to get somewhere fast is only reserved for people who can stand a lot. Those people are often very life experienced. If you are more emotional than others, you may take the longer path which consumes more time but it offers enough space to get used to the change. That´s the secret!

All we can do in life is adding up our decisions, one after the other. Be aware that life plays its own cards towards us and those are sometimes different from what we need in our hands. Never have expectations when rushing into something. You can only expect things when you work hard on something and that sure takes time. Fact.

Be a decision maker – Be outstanding

In my last three video-clips and in the next three clips from this summer, I explain why it is so important to say “NO” when taking decisions in life. You may check it out on my Youtube Chanel.

Saying “NO” is becoming very important when you will have to say “YES”, to one option! If you choose a new goal, a new offer or a new chance for change in life which will make you say “YES”, on the other hand you will have to say “NO” to the other options. Saying YES once, makes you turn away from everything else.

Sometimes it is hard to say “NO”, probably to yourself, which is part of self-discipline. If you have trouble saying “NO” strictly, to others or to yourself, you may need a good method to learn it.

I´ve been through several bad situations in life which were pain driven. Some felt so bad when I had to say “NO” simply, ´cuz I couldn´t run away from those situations. I had to stay and fight for myself to keep the pain low, or to even convince the opponent to stop offering this new “painful” situation. I struggled to find a STOP button!

Unfortunately I had no strong arguments back then for this “no” so I had to find a way to be persuasive …. in front of M.D.´s….. no easy thing! Looking back, I realize today that I was acting in various roles, which helped me becoming strong after passing those situations (tests?).

What roles am I talking of? Okay, this is what I had to “be” (not play) when arguing for me and for the better:

1. I was acting like a professional defender ( in court ), with and without arguments. I had to stay cool, communicate kind, come up with arguments or with comparisons to my past just to be convincing.
2. I was acting like a professional prosecutor, putting my own values in front of me like setting hurdles for the opponent to keep him on distance. I had to be aware what was important to me, like arguing with my own law.
3. I was acting like a great journalist, always researching and travelling to be armed with information or matching comparisons.

To learn what it takes to be a great journalist, a great defender and a great prosecutor, I was watching Hollywood movies of those topics preferably. Actually, I liked those topics most – in the beginning – honestly not knowing “why” I was so fond of it.

Here is the path to my Youtube chanel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkU9LODbGbd2XBsoqdLjX6w?disable_polymer=true

Be a decision maker, be outstanding!

riTA

In my latest video-clips, I explain that it takes a couple of strong “No´s” to argue the chosen option of your decision, either in front of an opponent or if you lack some self-discipline, with yourself.

In any case of a decision, you said “Yes” to one option and now you prioritzed it. You did that to get along in life, right? I bet you said YES to reach a goal, or to change a wrong path or to solve a big problem.

When prioritizing your actions, you said NO to all other options. Sometimes, saying “No” is not an easy task in life. Watching many Hollywood block busters over decades helped me understanding this life, our actions, what to say (next time!), what to do, how others function and I figured out what I liked most and what made me smile in life.

Priceless.

Even Hollywood Producers say “Yes” to their best options, discussing: “will this topic work for the current market?” And many times they have to say “no” to the rest we won´t see on the big screen. Just a few scripts/topics are worth it. Every movie is a product, an investment with the aim to make money with it, after selling/showing.

In my latest video clips on Youtube, I recommend a couple of older movies which bravely handle the legal topic! “A Few Good Men (1992), “A Time To Kill (1996) and “The Lincoln Law (2011). Let me I add “Boston Legal” and the latest big hit “Suits” to this short list –

The 3 movies especially, explain clearly what great research means, what arguing in front of others means, what defending takes, which role the prosecutor plays and that we, as a decider, can learn from all 3 roles for our decision taking. The secret is their communication style. Facts only.

If you come near to those mindsets of all 3 professions, you get closer to what decision taking “takes and means”. But this blog-post is about something else!

Hey Hollywood, you have to say Yes to a new legal-topic movie!

There is a gap within the past years when producing super heros, again and again. Okay, heros are the Jackpot, we all get it, and: congratulations (!) As a BIG THANKS, let me give you my ideas, as a free gift:

— you may choose a topic with lawyers who have to handle “moving trouble” in Space, above earth! No murder, no – an incident in space which has to be handled at court, concerning more than 1 Nation on earth, make it bigger, get out of the USA and involve another country. 1.) Space law is the future!

— you may choose another Space Law topic starting with a professor at a University (Yale?) who teaches Space Law while an earth threatening incident happens in space, the TV-News come up with it, weapons are stored in space (how? by whom?) Somebody on earth figures it out, a few students then gather on social media to exchange ideas/info, combine it with the weak weapon´s law which is a current topic in the USA, involve a fictitious President. 2.) Space Law with (stored) weapons!

Both HOT topics, and if you choose one of it, you have to say “No” to the other idea. Or store it. Or combine it.

Be a decision maker, Be outstanding!

riTA

In my last blog-posts and video-clips I explain how and why to argue a strong “No” during the Decision Process.

You may wonder why I point at it so directly – let me explain why:

The strong “No” protects your Yes.

During the Decision Process, once you made the choice, you decided for 1 option and that includes letting go of everything else. You demonstrate and argue the letting go with a strong “no” of everything else.

A “no” is not a decision, it´s part of the decision process. It belongs to the long-run of your decision to reach the goal most efficiently.

Every “No” you say is a protection for your goal, for your Yes for something new in life. It´s pure responsibility you show when saying Yes once, and No to everthing else.

Let me tell you a true story from my past, an experience I made in Barcelona at the International Airport, being on a business trip (Automotive Business), when I had to say “No” to protect myself and my private budget.

It was the kindest “no” I ever said to a stranger, when life was testing me.

I entered the Airport hall to wait for my colleagues who came in later from Stuttgart that day. I was on my own, looking for a friend who said who would come to share a coffee with me. We met in fall 2006 in France when we both took the same French class in Vichy.

I stood there among hundreds of people trying to find her face. Instead, I spotted a guy within the crowd who suddenly was staring at me, actually staring right into my eyes, like I was his target. I looked away immediately and moved somewhere else. A few minutes later I met my friend from Barcelona.

We went upstairs into the Café and chose a table at the balcony. In about 1 hour I would meet my co-workers from Stuttgart so we had time to talk. After a while, I suddenly saw this stranger from the crowd come up the staircase, checking all tables, finally seeing me and walking straight up to our table.

I knew it meant trouble – potentially. I looked at him when he looked at me, again, awaiting what he wanted. I don´t recall his exact words but he wrapped it in 1 sentence when he directly asked me for some money. He officially tried to rob me in front of my girlfriend!

I knew I didn´t like it at all and I knew I wouldn´t allow him to rob me, officially. No! I work hard for my monthly pay-check and I decide what I do with my budget. Not this way! He was dressed quite nice and looked OK to me, so why let go of something I already had better plans for?

Within a second I smiled at him, thanked him for this kind question and told him that this topic is not of my interest at all. He stood there, listened, looked irritated for 1 second, turned around and – left.

He didn´t go to any other table! There was no other target person but me – and he left the scenery of my decision making play. My girlfriend almost slid off the chair, landing under the table – just to demonstrate what she was going through, thou´ she was sitting in the audience!

It´s You who decides what´s OK to take in life and what´s not acceptable. If you do not agree to what is happening to you, you´re allowed to say “no”. Fact. The decision was not the “no” I said, the decision was to keep my budget. I didn´t agree to give away any of my Euros. Not this way.

BTW: a strong-minded “no” is not a loud “no”.

Be a Decision Maker, Be outstanding!

riTA

This week I thought about the issue of the Quality of Decision Taking!

This aspect sure needs some attention, especially for the time AFTER the decision was made. It´s the exact time when it comes to realise the new path with your daily habits and actions, aimed to reach the result. There are 4 parts to look at:

Discipline: daily repeating the new action without any distraction is what discipline is about. It simply means you stay on track towards your goal.

Target-oriented: that means you think of and work on reaching the new result on a daily basis. You consider the new necessary actions within the available time frame of yours or of the team.

Focussed: being focussed means you don´t lose sight of the new goal and it goes hand-in-hand with acting target-oriented on a daily basis.

Stability: is the same as rigidity – you slowly build and then walk on a new path of actions and when repeatingly acting towards the chosen goal, without any distraction during a certain time, your actions will be firm. That´s called stability and it´s a big part of quality.

Here´s an example: lately you chose further education which will take 2 years in total. The exams take place after certain blocks. Your aim is to increase your competency/authority.

To reach this goal you chose, you invest $$ from your budget, you invest extra time on a daily basis, you train your idea-Mgmt. and your learning aptitude. You start with a plan when to learn (what time suits you best?) and how long you´ll learn on a daily basis (2-3 hrs.). That´s the new action! Now you have to implement this new plan into your life. My advice: learn 4 x per week.

You work on not being distracted during this time to reach your goal without changing this plan. If you have to increase the time for extra learning when the exams get closer – Yes, that´s another good decision!

For those of you who rather love to watch and listen to some advice, you may check out the video of this topic here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOStps_c1No

Goal reaching is a huge part of decision taking! The moment you decide, you start with change. The moment change starts, it´s up to you how disciplined you are going to reach it! Keep the stability in mind – and GO!

Be a Decision Maker – be outstanding!

riTA

It´s only the big life decision which makes you toss and turn at night, forcing you to leave the nice, warm, familiar comfort zone…. right?

Normally, you decide about many things within your comfort zone, which mean no big change, no big loss, no big win – no big deal! Do you think about such decisions in particular? No – because, you know what´s important for your life, what you need to keep within and what you don´t want any closer.

Your daily orientation keeps an eye on the budget, it includes your friends and biz partners, it considers your new ideas or ideas from friends and it´s about the time you have available. You don´t lack the important overview of all 4 factors, do you?

But when a new life decision is suddenly waiting for you around the corner – there is no strong overview coming with you…. oh well.

Did you face such situation lately? Then you know you have to sit down quickly to prepare the next move to not lack a negative surprise.

If you became active as a decider, write down your 3 best options in particular following the decision tree, which I explained in 2013 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8eWP6ahmuI&t=24s

Between your options A, B and C you might notice that for you too, TIME and the BUDGET ($$) both are the main relevant factors to reach an outstanding new goal. In my video clip i.e., both factors were relevant for me. I was the active decider.

In this short video clip about the “important and unimportant” things I explain the 4 factors you need to consider for a bigger life decision: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jPK_d-cOXc

Both tools are great for preparing for a new big life decision! It´s a bit different when you are passive in this scenario, when you have to react to a decision from an active decider, like from a company or a biz partner. Write down your best options A, B and C to react in detail to the big decision somebody else took.

Hope this helps you with your current insecurity…..

Be a decision taker – be outstanding

riTA

Soon, you enter the New Year with all of us! Excited?

Don´t worry, this blog-post is not about your new goals and major decisions for 2020, no. This blog-post is about pointing to the consequences only, which actually “drive” your decisions: the past decisions, pending decision results and new decisions.

Did you ever notice in the past that it is mainly up to how you handle the consequences of your decisions, because running the consequences is running and controlling the actual speed towards the end-goal.

All in all, this speaks officially about the quality of your decisions! It´s what others will notice.

Okay, here´s what you will do from now on when it comes to handle the decision-consequences: let´s look at two different consequences which both always will appear in front of you – it is either TIME or $$ €€ !! !! !!

TIME factor:

remember, when you make a decision like (A) quitting your current apartment to move into a new one, or (B) starting an education to improve your job-situation aside to your fulltime job, or (C) you need to buy something which will cost quite a lot so you need to cut other expenses for a longer time than just 3 months….

Make the new consequences visible to yourself! This is how you do it:

A) you decided to quit your current apartment to move on: check your lease agreement (contract law) about how long you have to wait before you can take active action, find the new option and then write the dismissal. Make sure the dates of moving out and -in do match. NOW you figured out the relevant TIME factor! The running time is a consequence which needs to be obeyed to stay within the available fix budget. Make a plan how long it will take to pack and to un-pack it all. What date do you have to start packing? On a daily basis, plan each step in time. Maybe choose 1 hr. per day from the 1. day on or all week-ends fulltime. Make a test: how long does it take, packing 1 box? Count the boxes you need now! Do the maths.

B) You signed-up for an education which lasts, say: 1 year! It starts next month. From next month on, you need to have extra time for this which means, cut off time of other current interests and use it for the new education. Of which current interests will you cut the necessary time off? It is a 1 year lasting, permanent consequence which you need to follow on a daily basis. Make a plan to follow! Use the calendar.

C) You decided to buy something which will cost quite a lot! It doesn´t really matter whether you will safe the relevant bucks ($$ €€) before you get to buy it later or whether you decide for a loan which means monthly payments for a certain time. Again, TIME is a relevant factor, somehow or other. Let´s say you decide to safe the money first and buy later, just to safe the extra payment for the loan and because it can wait. The consequence now is, on a monthly basis, to strictly safe a fix amount of $$ and do the maths: which month in which year will you be able to buy it? Make a plan of how much you plan to safe, use the calendar to follow it strictly. A permanent consequence like this will excort you to your goal!

I am sure these 3 different examples explain quite clear how you deal with consequences which are linked to the relevant TIME factor. Always make a plan and use a calendar unless you are very disciplined.

Now go ahead and decide about your consequences of the next decisions…… And, all the best for 2020 to you, your family and friends. Thanks for being here once in a while and if you have questions, leave a note –

Be a decider – Be outstanding

riTA

Punctual for the new year, Brendon Burchard offers a new video clip about how to enter into 2020 for the better, watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVpEuDyhxr4

Brendon explains and gives advices, of what might have gone wrong in the past and how you regain the agenda, on a daily basis. Important topic!

In my own words let me add the part of the mindset you can use to get there, in case you´re stuck to take over the advice in the video clip. Here´s the mindset which helps when other people try to lead your activities or try to command you doing things for them, and not for yourself.

Imagine your life is your movie, your personal Blockbuster, and you want to write most of this incredible story/script yourself – just to perform what you want to achieve. Every year you start a new script! You write your lines.

Apart from what life is going to add to it, like: fate, the 4 elements interfering, decisions of others which will affect your life, an extra win, an invitation you will take, a friend who needs your support, apart of all that – you write your script because you are the main character plus: you are the director of your daily performances!

If you work actively with this mindset, you will have a chance to have well working lines available, you turn to be friendly instead of stressed, and the performance will get better and better. Your life´s movie will become a good movie which will make you proud.

If this mindset helps following Brendon´s advice, I am happy to support!

Be a decision maker, Be outstanding

riTA

In current times of disclaiming, the abstinence of the regular life, we can train ourselves to prioritize! That´s the good news. In “stay at home” times, which everyone who was badly injured in the past can remember, we need to make plans for the future!

The future will be there and sooner or later we´re outside again and running towards the old, regular life. Maybe, it won´t be the same world or life anymore. Different perspective! To coordinate your plans, you should make a list to visibly prioritize the next results you want to achieve.

This is a selection of topics for your prioritization training:

Which food and how much you´ll eat per day/week

WHERE to travel next once this situation is over (Covid-19 rules)

Which education is most important for your career?

Why did I choose those 3 topics? Here´s the answer: in case you bought way more food than you did in the past and you stay home now, it might happen that you will eat more. The offer is bigger! Plus, sleeping-in and not moving a lot means “gaining weight” because you burn less calories. To lose weight or to avoid gaining, better watch your food selection on a daily basis. Make a list what you´ll eat and what you´ll shop next, list it to prioritize….

Travelling will be a hot topic for your future plans! Never ever we were forced to stay at home for many weeks, without having 2 broken legs…. Make a list and write down to which places you would love to travel! Hang it up, watch it on a daily basis! Do the destinations switch? Do you re-write the list more often suddenly? Do you change your prioritization from the day before? Find out how you tick, what drives you most? Get to know yourself better!

Is it time for another education to work on your career? List the possible options you have and figure out how you prioritize them on a list! You might change the list after a brief research or calling an expert.

With discipline and abstinence we will have to deal a few more weeks, be a bit busy at home, learn how you tick, train yourself, make plans for future results. Yes, it is part of self-leadership! It will help you to make better decisions in a faster way than you might do it today – until then, please stay healthy, in a good mood and leave a comment! Thanks –

riTA