Principles learnt about passion, propulsion & performance in business

Below are 7 critical principles that can teach you how to transform your business journey and destination …beyond what you thought possible.

PRINCIPLE 1: MAGIC happens in the experience, not the outcome. Last week, I went to a seminar by Robert Dilts, top NLP (NeuroLinguistic Programming) trainer, called “Demystifying the Wealth Factor.” Using the NLP tool of modeling with hundreds of entrepreneurs, he identified the top 7 critical factors of business success. Passion was one of those factors. Although passion being a critical success factor is not new, what was new was Dilt’s view on passion. He said “true passion happens when the destination and the journey become one and the same.” A big “AHA”! I now had words to describe my own experience with dancing. Being goal-oriented by nature, dancing has taught me to suspend my need to be at a specific place at a specific time. To experience the magic of dancing, you cannot be anywhere other than where you are at in the moment. Dancing teaches me to stay focused on the experience of the moment; that each moment is a destination in itself and that only in the moment can passion and magic happen. What’s your experience of the moment … right now … in your business?

PRINCIPLE 2: Ensure that you have the right structure. It allows maximum movement and helps you achieve goals easier and faster. From day 1, a dancer learns the importance of the right frame, whether as a leader or follower. You will often hear a dance instructor say in class “No noodle arms or hand squeezing.” For a leader to lead and a follower to follow, there must be enough (not too little or too much) tension in the arms. Too little tension and the leader must make effort for the follower to do her steps. Too much tension constricts movement, can injure the body and make the dance anything but an enjoyable experience. The same is true in business. Too little structure and you have to work harder to achieve your goal. Too much structure constrains the ability of an individual or organization from moving with ease, speed and momentum. Make sure you have the right amount of structure. To what extent do you have “noodle arms or squeezing” in your business?

PRINCIPLE 3: True mastery happens when you shift your focus from “doing” to “becoming.” Only then can you experience optimal performance. One of my favorite classic books is George Leonard’s “Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment”. George Leonard was a master black belt martial arts instructor who applied the principles of aikido to leadership and success in business. As a runner, he used the example in his book that true mastery comes when you transcend from “doing” the run,” to “becoming the run.” Great musicians and artists know this state. I have experienced this state in dancing. When you move from “doing” to “becoming,” you experience an amazing sense of effortlessness and “flow,” as Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi described in his classic book, “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.”

In the business world, there is a big difference between “doing the right thing” and “becoming the right person.” Great achievers know that when you focus on “becoming” more, you will do more. On what side of the equation is you focus on?

To Be Continued Next Week.