“Be More & Achieve More!”

Hi,

Every bit of planning, prioritizing, and organizing comes down to this simple concept.

Every great achievement of humankind has usually been preceded by a long period of hard, concentrated work until the job was complete.  Your ability to select your most important task, to begin it, and then to concentrate on it until it is finished is the key to high levels of performance and personal productivity.

By concentrating on your most important task, you can reduce the time required to complete it by 50% or more.

It has been estimated that the tendency to start and stop a task - to pick it up, put it down, and come back to it - can increase the time necessary to complete the task by as much as 500%.  This is not productive!

But when you prepare thoroughly and then begin, refusing to stop or turn aside until the job is done, you develop energy, enthusiasm, and motivation.  You get better and better and more productive.  You work faster and more effectively.

The starting point of great success and achievement has always been the same. It is for you to dream big dreams. There is nothing more important, and nothing that works faster than for you to cast off your own limitations than for you to begin dreaming and fantasizing about the wonderful things that you can become, have, and do.

As a wise man once said, “You must dream big dreams, for only big dreams have the power to move the minds of men.” When you begin to dream big dreams, your levels of self-esteem and self-confidence will go up immediately. You will feel more powerful about yourself and your ability to deal with what happens to you. The reason so many people accomplish so little is because they never allow themselves to lean back and imagine the kind of life that is possible for them.

Theory of Constraints

A powerful principle that you can use to dream big dreams and live without limits is contained in what Elihu Goldratt calls the “Theory of Constraints.” This is one of the greatest breakthroughs in modern thinking. What Goldratt has found is that in every process, in accomplishing any goal, there is a bottleneck or choke cord that serves as a constraint on the process. This constraint then sets the speed at which you achieve any particular goal.

What Goldratt found is that if you concentrate all of your creative energies and attention on alleviating the constraint, you can speed up the process faster than by doing any other single thing.

Let me give you an example. Let us say that you want to double your income. What is the critical constraint or the limiting factor that holds you back? Well, you know that your income is a direct reward for the quality and quantity of the services you render to your world. Whatever field you are in, if you want to double your income, you simply have to double the quality and quantity of what you do for that income. Or you have to change activities and occupations so that what you are doing is worth twice as much. But you must always ask yourself, “What is the critical constraint that holds me back or sets the speed on how fast I double my income?”

The 80/20 Rule in Action

A famous author and speaker tell me that: “A friend of mine is one of the highest-paid commission professionals in the United States. One of his goals was to double his income over the next three to five years. He applied the 80/20 rule to his client base. He found that 20 percent of his clients contributed 80 percent of his profits, and that the amount of time spent on a high-profit client was pretty much the same amount of time spent on a low-profit client. In other words, he was dividing his time equally over the number of tasks that he does while only 20 percent of those items contributes 80 percent of his results.

So he drew a line on his list of clients under those who represented the top 20 percent and then called in other professionals in his industry and very carefully, politely, and strategically handed off the 80 percent of his clients that only represented 20 percent of his business. He then put together a profile of his top clients and began looking in the marketplace exclusively for the type of client who fit the profile; in other words, one who could become a major profit contributor to his organization, and whom he in turn could serve with the level of excellence that his clients were accustomed to. And instead of doubling his income in three to five years, he doubled it in the first year!”

What Are Your Constraints?

So what is holding you back? Is it your level of education or skill? Is it your current occupation or job? Is it your current environment or level of health? Is it the situations that you are in today? What is setting the speed for you achieving your goal?

Remember, whatever you have learned, you can unlearn. Whatever situation you have gotten yourself into, you can probably get yourself out of. If your real goal is to dream big dreams and to live without limits, you can set this as your standard and compare everything that you do against it.

Three Keys

The three keys to living without limits have always been the same. They are clarity, competence, and concentration.

#1: Clarity

Clarity means that you are absolutely clear about who you are, what you want, and where you’re going. You write down your goals and you make plans to accomplish them. You set very careful priorities and you do something every day to move you toward your goals. And the more progress you make toward accomplishing things that are important to you, the greater self-confidence and self-belief you have, and the more convinced you become that there are no limits on what you can achieve.

# 2: Competence

Competence means that you begin to become very, very good in the key result areas of your chosen field. You apply the 80/20 rule to everything you do and you focus on becoming outstanding in the 20 percent of tasks that contribute to 80 percent of your results. You dedicate yourself to continuous learning. You never stop growing. You realize that excellence is a moving target. And you commit yourself to doing something every day that enables you to become better and better at doing the most important things in your field.

# 3: Concentration

Concentration is having the self-discipline to force yourself to concentrate in a single-minded way on one thing, the most important thing, and stay with it until it’s complete.

The two key words for success have always been focus and concentration.

Focus is knowing exactly what you want to be, have, and do. Concentration is persevering, without diversion or distraction, in a straight line toward accomplishing the things that can make a real difference in your life.

When you allow yourself to begin to dream big dreams, creatively abandon the activities that are taking up too much of your time, and focus your inward energies on alleviating your main constraints, you start to feel an incredible sense of power and confidence. As you focus on doing what you love to do and becoming excellent in those few areas that can make a real difference in your life, you begin to think in terms of possibilities rather than impossibilities, and you move ever closer toward the realisation of your full potential.

For Success & Contentment,
Asad Khan

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Hi,

What is time? The question has baffled many a thinker throughout the ages and continues to serve as one of the greatest mysteries. You realise that time ‘flies’ when you’re having fun, or when immersed in a series of long thoughts that has taken you into dream mode. Conversely, when you are waiting for something to happen and keen to see an outcome it seems like its taking forever!

Yet time, and its measurement, remains the same. The only difference is the state of mind that you have whilst experiencing its relativity. Now lets say that there is something that you have to do, its important and much depends on it. But you don’t feel like doing it, before long all the symptoms of procrastination set-in and the whole idea of that important task feels more like a chore, a burden. And if you actually get round to making a start, you tend to be sluggish, out of sync and phased by the whole process.

Consider the alternative: you are feeling fresh, responsive and ready to tackle any challenge coming your way, which may not only be critical, but difficult. And now you are not put off by the size of the job but welcome the opportunity to pour out your creativity and perform at greater levels. In doing so, you do not necessarily realise the amount of time consumed when working on it, which may be much more than what your originally envisaged!

So, enjoying what you do is more important than the act of the doing alone. This enjoyment comes from the inside, from your natural state, which is why you should choose, whenever you can, to work on those things in work and life that suit your inherent interests and abilities.

The test of time is to pick-out the most interesting and rewarding from the trivial, mundane and the un-captivating. Once this is done, you can ‘fly’ through time more often rather than twist and fret on the spot.

The Space-Time Factor

Now, If the Sun is able to warp the space-time factor, and it being only one of the many suns in this lower universe, then you shall deduce that other bigger suns and entities will ‘affect’ time in similarly extraordinary ways. And in the proximity of God, the Ultimate Power, Absolute Force and The Infinite Source of Energy, who sits on His vast throne above the seven heavens, time definitely is not as we perceive it here on earth. Recapping on an earlier Chapter (The Ways of Ascent, 70):

70:4 The angels and the Spirit ascend unto Him in a Day the measure whereof is (as) fifty thousand years:

70:5 Therefore, do hold patience, a patience of beautiful (contentment).

70:6 They see the (Day) indeed as a far-off (event):

70:7 But we see it (quite) near.

So ultimately, in the grandest scheme of things, life and the universe, the only aspects that really matter are the deeds that we send forwards which we all will be accounted for on the Great Day of Reckoning. If we utilise our God-given talents and strengths for the benefit of others, within the guidelines provided for us by our Creator, then we will not only find success but contentment also. This is the test of time, particularly when our ‘goals’ are not reached and the outcome we desire is not in sight, then the magnificence of patience must be exercised and witnessed.

And remember, no-one really manages time, you can only manage the activities that you do through choice and self-discipline.

There is much more that can be stated on this topic including the eastern view of kairos versus the more western chronos interpretation of time. However, if one day can equal 50,000 of our human years, be sure that there is a massive unfathomable world out there waiting to receive us in our onwards journey.

For success and contentment,

Asad.

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Hi,

I just wanted to share with you some further information on the Areas, Types and Benefits of Ark2Ark Coaching. Here are just a few of them, particularly Corporate and Business Coaching.

Corporate Coaching

Does coaching really work in the corporate environment? A recent study in the Journal of Public Personnel Management found that training improved managerial productivity 22.4% while training plus coaching improved productivity 88%.

A corporate coach takes into consideration the vision, mission and culture of an organization and the values and professional goals of an individual. The goal is to make sure that both are in alignment.

When the vision, mission and culture of an organization are in alignment with an individual’s values and professional goals, the employee is committed to the organization, more productive, effective and happier at their job. This handles the retention and productivity issues that many organizations face.

The Goals of the Corporate Coaching Culture:

• Articulate the organization’s vision, purpose, direction, strategies, major goals and actions.
• Involve/include members to acquire understanding, connection, commitment, passion and ownership.
• Align member goals, actions and expectations with those of the organization.
• Remove barriers and provide resources.
• Follow up and hold people accountable.
• Promote feedback, input and idea-sharing from members.
• Challenge and inspire the organization and its individual members to stretch for greatness.
• Develop and grow people through meaningful work.
• Increase work/career satisfaction and personal fulfilment.
• Create a positive, productive community of members who volunteer their best and fulfill their potential.

Why is the word member used instead of employee? Think about it…the word member implies a person is a part of an organization because they want to be; they understand what the organization stands for and are totally on board! This creates a win-win environment. “Win-Win” is a belief in the third alternative. It’s not your way or my way; it’s about creating a better way!

There are certain qualities a Strategic Executive Coach exemplifies:

• Desire - a true desire to help others succeed.
• Awareness - a trust in ones’ intuitiveness.
• Focus - on the individual and their challenges, in contrast to a need to ‘solve’ things for others.
• Listening - a sincere desire to truly hear what others are saying.
• People-Centricity - a deep belief that human capital is the most important asset that an organisation possesses.
• Ability to Integrate - great Strategic Executive Coaches can help ‘weave’ all of the new and improved pieces of human capital into the fabric of the organization.
• Vision - a great Strategic Executive Coach can visualise what the ‘new’ organization will look like and help others drive toward that vision.
• Confidence - the ability to perform in the ‘boardroom’ regularly.

Business Coaching

In contrast to business consultants, business coaches are relatively new. The two professions take very different approaches.

Business consultants are problem solvers. Their underlying message is, “I’m smarter than you are. I’ll tell you what’s wrong with your business and how to fix it.”

Business coaches are people developers. They don’t tell their clients what to do; they ask questions. Their message is, “You’re smart. I’ll be a mirror to help you look inside yourself, so you can not only solve this problem, but increase

• your capacity to successfully manage all areas of your life
• Business consultants typically focus on maximising profitability
• Business coaches typically focus on maximising potential
• Business consultants help their clients succeed in their jobs
• Business coaches help their clients succeed in their lives
• Business consultants help their clients catch fish, so they can eat a meal
• Business coaches help their clients learn how to fish, so they will always get meals

People come to business coaches for two reasons: inspiration and times of desperation.

Inspired people want a coach to help them do better.

Desperate people want a coach to help get them out of a jam.

The entry point in business coaching is usually a business issue. The client may want to increase sales, promote better teamwork, enhance productivity, reduce employee turnover, or improve quality. But the coaching relationship, once initiated, invariably moves beyond the initial perceived need. ‘Fix my business’ gradually and naturally evolves into ‘Help fix my thinking’.

A client facing business bankruptcy, for example, may discover through coaching that he has a problem with procrastination, or with interpersonal skills, or with fear of failure. Sometimes clients realize their interests and skills don’t match the requirements of their current positions, and they decide to make a career change. Coaching identifies inhibiting issues such as these and helps remove them, allowing buried potential to spring forth and bloom.

Why do business leaders use coaches at all? Don’t they have friends and professional colleagues to talk to? Yes, and good coaches encourage their clients to deepen these relationships and build a reliable support system. But all alternative support systems have weaknesses.

• In business, it’s lonely at the top. Managers can’t be vulnerable with their bosses or with their subordinates about the most sensitive issues.
• Friends will listen and give help when they can, but they’re not trained to identify the most significant issues. And when they have needs of their own, they want to receive help, not give it.
• Spouses can be good listeners, but it’s problematic to bring in-depth business discussions into the middle of a marriage.

As business coaching fills a real need, the profession is rapidly growing and gaining recognition and because it produces outstanding results, successful business coaches build their practices almost entirely through referrals. Ultimately, coaches want their clients to fulfil their potential and be the best they can be.

Benefits & Outcomes

We don’t just like to be paid for our time, we like to be paid for the results produced. Further, we wouldn’t just want to produce one-off results that give a good sensation and leave you, but rather to impart with knowledge and skills that will be of continued use, with enhanced awareness and sustainable change. We would like you to learn how to repeat the results consistently and peak-perform any time you wish. Having said this, new perspectives are always available and this is the reason we have repeat clients who wish to maintain their competitive, personal and social edge by coming back to us with increased willingness to learn and grow.

Executive Coaching

Simply, it’s about tangible personal and business results

Executive Coaching can help you

• Set realistic goals and achieve them
• Regain balance, control and influence
• Maximise personal potential and power
• Take more time off with family & friends
• Simplify life and get more out of choices
• Develop creative thinking and purposeful habits
• Identify major opportunities in life / business - & how to take advantage of them.

It is not un-common in companies to think that they ‘can’t measure the impact of soft/people’ related initiatives, like Executive Coaching. A company can track any initiative that they invest in and should do so with a coaching initiative. A firm can conduct a pre-coaching assessment and circle back every 6-12 months to test for progress. Looking at everything from employee retention to personal production numbers, it will be clear what effect the initiative is having.

With Ark2Ark Business Coaching you will aim higher, and with Asad Khan as your personal development coach, you can learn how to:

Double Productivity, Simplify Life and Have Time Out!

For Success & Contentment,

Asad Khan, PhD, MAC

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