Tag Archives: Al Secunda

Defrosting Frozen Fantasies With Al Secunda’s 15 Second Principle

Posted on by

Yesterday’s post referenced my all time favorite book on slipping past the (sometimes well intentioned) procrastination giant. It’s subtitled: “Short, Simple Steps To Achieving Long-Term Goals” and is available on Amazon.com.

frozen-fantasy-dream

I’ve read and lent Al Secunda’s book out so many times that the pages are coming apart! And he’s such a great storyteller that you may find his messages strolling the corridors of your mind and even taking up residence, if you’ll but open the door.

QUIZ:

Here are 5 key concepts I got just from the first 3 chapters of the book.

To make it a wee bit more of a challenge please fill in the blanks (my suggested answers will be included with tomorrow’s post.

1- For many people their biggest —- remain —- —-.

2- Al’s purpose is to help people —- with their goal and keep —- to —- it.

3- Unexplored —— can leave a —– in your ——.

4- The premise of the 15 second principle is that either you don’t really —- about your dream goal or you are —- to death of it!

5- If it’s not —- stop —- it.

What’s any of this got to do with successful career change?

Perhaps everything!

You see, our biggest dreams can remain frozen fantasies throughout life – mere blocks of unsculpted (n)ice thoughts. Or, with attention and effort, they can start to take on form and meaning.

Either way, the ice will melt.

I want to discuss this further in tomorrow’s post.

- Mark McClure

QUIZ CLUES:

dreams hole soul

care scared

fun doing

dreams frozen fantasies

engage returning complete

Be Sociable, Share!

Start Taking Mini Actions

Posted on by

My career coaching and mentoring work is guided by what I wrote about in just five rules.

But isn’t it ironic that Rule #1, “Take Action”, is the one which often causes people to hesitate! Maybe because they’ve been conditioned over many years by the advice of such popular wisdom as:

  • “Fools rush in where angels fail to tread.”
  • “Look before you leap.”

Of course, there’s certainly an element of truth in both statements. Reckless and poorly thought out choices and actions can and do have serious consequences.

And there’s no absolute guarantee that taking even well planned actions will lead to a desired result. There’s always a risk that things will screw up – though with planning and care (hello goal setting!) some of those risks can be identified and their probability of occuring reduced. (Notice I didn’t say “eliminated”. Stuff happens and none of us are immune to the outcomes.)

But “taking action” is still key to most successful outcomes and experiences in life – as Woody Allen apparently said: “80% of success is showing up”.

A method I often recommend is the habit of taking “mini-actions” around a big goal – such as a successful career change.

Mini-actions relieve the pressure because you’re no longer fixated on the stress and tribulations of achieving a major result in a short time. In fact, you’re not specifically focused on any result. Just on showing up.

Yes, if you have a big dream, keep it in mind from time to time. But focus on taking the very smallest of actions.

Exactly how small?
Oh, how about 15 seconds or so.

I shall return to Al Secunda’s wonderful book (“The 15-Second Principle”) in tomorrow’s post.

- Mark McClure

Be Sociable, Share!