Debra Kasowski, Author at Debra Kasowski

EPISODE 125 – Silence the Voice of Mediocrity

August 24, 2017 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

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“Every day, people settle for less than they deserve. They are only partially living or at best living a partial life. Every human being has the potential for greatness.” Bo Bennett

The other day I was watching the movie, Concussion, with Will Smith playing the lead role. He plays a physician named Bennett (who works in the coroner’s office) who is determined to make a difference and become the American he dreamed of being from childhood. He faced his biggest obstacle – the NFL organization. They want to silence him and cover up his findings about concussions in football. He does not understand why they cannot work together toward a solution. His director, Cyril, informs him that not everyone is as committed to their work as he is and not everyone wants to change the world. This statement struck a cord with me. Why are people settling for less that their potential? Imagine what the world would be like if everyone was committed to making positive change in the world. What would that look like to you?

Settling for less or mediocrity means you are accepting less than you believe you deserve or what is possible. You may be settling to work at a job you dislike because of the pay you receive. You may be in a relationship where you are not valued or get the attention that you want or need – you are settling. You avoid making phone calls to prospects for the fear of rejection even though they mentioned they need your services. You prepare a celebration or go to the gym and put in half the effort you normally do – that is settling. The voice of mediocrity whispers “that’s good enough, no extra effort required.” When you have a cut that needs suturing, do you want them to suture up the whole cut or part of it and say, “that’s good enough.” You may have someone painting your house and they only do one coat instead of two – “that’s good enough.” Is it?

There are many reasons why people listen to the voice of mediocrity:

Everyone does not wake up to change the world.
You believe your past circumstance dictates your future.
You do not believe in yourself.
You forget you have a choice to create a different life – one you love!
You have not discovered your purpose. You do not have a vision to drive you.
You do not hold yourself accountable to take the actions necessary to get the results you want.
You are afraid of how your life will change when you become successful.
You avoid doing new things unless you are guaranteed to be successful.

Mediocrity, literally, suffocates the soul. You have the power to change and others have the power to change and they do. Do not accept mediocrity. Raise the bar and set expectations for the life, career, and business that you want.

Think of soap suds or bubbles in your bath or sink – S.U.D.S. Washing up your regular routine to become a better version of yourself. One of higher expectation! Mediocrity begone!

Surround yourself with people who you admire. You are the average of the five people you associate with the most. You become like those you surround yourself with. Do they lift you and encourage you to become a better version of yourself? Hire a coach to hold you accountable. Find a mentor who is willing to have you learn from them.

Use you free time to accomplish great things and produce results. Limit your television viewing time, social media scrolling time, or escapism reading. Decrease the amount of time you spend partying or shopping without intention. Be productive with your time and do things will help you in the future such as taking a course, keeping up-to-date on your industry, or intentional networking. Don’t be afraid to try new things. Get out of your comfort zone.

Do what others are not willing to do. This key will open the door to success. Not everyone will go above and beyond to serve their clients. Not everyone will work long hours. Not everyone is as committed as they say they are – they are interested in the idea of success but they are not willing to put in the effort to get it. You must do what you need to do to get ahead. There may be times you need to take risks and take a leap of faith. Of course, you can educate yourself, plan and prepare for it but you must trust yourself to come out successful on the other side. Believe in who you are and what you have to offer the world.

Sacrifice short term for long term gain. There are times when you may need to sacrifice your time, money, or resources to get ahead. You may need to work late the odd evening, you may need to skip the coffee stop and make coffee from home, or you may need to put off purchasing clothes and shoes so you can put your money elsewhere. They are small sacrifices in the big picture although at the time it may seem difficult. It only seems difficult because you are stepping out of your comfort zone. You had been accustomed to doing things a certain way or buying things because you want them. Make a list of some of the sacrifices you need to make to get closer to achieving your vision. How long do you need to do this – 3 months. 6 months, or 9 months?

People often settle for mediocrity when they people believe they cannot achieve their goals or they do not what to put in the effort required to get what they want. They tell themselves, “Why desire more? I should be happy with what I have and who I am. I am not capable of being more than I am. This is it.” Years pass and a seed of regret and wonder begins to grow. What might have been possible if I did not settle for second best? What might have been possible if I only put in more effort or did not skip practices? What might have been possible if I stayed home and studied for my exam instead of procrastinating? What might have been…is now your opportunity to…

“If you don’t know what you want, you’ll never find it.
If you don’t know what you deserve, you’ll always settle for less.
You will wander aimlessly, uncomfortably numb in your comfort zone, wondering how life has ended up here.

Life starts now, live, love, laugh and let your light shine!”
― Rob Liano

Are you settling? What do you need to do to raise your bar and silence the voice of mediocrity?

We would love to have you subscribe to the Success Secrets newsletter on my website at www.debrakasowski.com where you’re going to get us free MP3 download 10 Surefire Strategies to Power Up Your Productivity and Performance. Book your complimentary Discovery Session by going to the Coach with Debra page on my website and send me your interest and we will set up a time and date to learn about how coaching can benefit you. Thank you for listening to The Millionaire Woman Show where we talk about leadership, business, and human potential to help you live rich from the inside out. Subscribe to The Millionaire Woman Show. Share it with Your Friends. Give us a 5-star rating!

DEBRA KASOWSKI, BScN CEC is an award-winning best-selling author, transformational speaker, blogger, and Certified Executive Coach. She has a heart of a teacher and is certified in Appreciative Inquiry and Emotional Intelligence. Her writing has been published in a variety of print and online magazines. Debra Kasowski International helps executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations boost their productivity, performance, and profits. It all starts with people and passion. Sign up the Success Secrets Newsletter and get your free mp3 download today! www.debrakasowski.com

Episode 124 – Struggles to Success with Pam Wasley

August 22, 2017 by Debra Kasowski 2 Comments

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Meet our Guest

Co-founder & CEO of Cerius Executives and Cerius Advisors, Pam Wasley is a serial entrepreneur with multiple decades of knowledge and experience. She has personally sold companies, led a management buyout, and advised hundreds of companies on strategies for growth and higher shareholder value. Pam has served on several private boards and is a highly sought after speaker. She’s been featured in prestigious publications such as Forbes, Entrepreneur, Fortune, and Bloomberg Businessweek on the topics of mergers and acquisitions, the workforce of the future, and global contingent workforces.

EPISODE 123 – The Simplicity of Success with Milana Leshinsky

August 17, 2017 by Debra Kasowski 2 Comments

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Meet our Guest

Simplicity Circle Founder Milana Leshinsky is creating a simplicity revolution for coaches, authors, speakers and entrepreneurs who want to grow their businesses with ease. Creator of Recurring Revenue Revolution, author of Coaching Millions, co-founder of JV Insider Circle, and an inventor of telesummits, Milana is known as a serial entrepreneur and paradigm shifter by many luminaries. She came from Soviet Ukraine 25 years ago as a classical musician with zero knowledge of the business world, and has built multiple six and seven-figure businesses since. Today sheʼs passionate about showing entrepreneurs how to use simplicity as a growth strategy and say goodbye complexity and overwhelm. Hello simplicity, profits, and ease.

Stop Letting Your Troubles Keep You Awake at Night

August 16, 2017 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

Do you dread getting up in the morning and going to work? Are you having trouble sleeping? Are you tossing and turning trying to get to sleep but nothing seems to work? Are you having trouble concentrating on simple tasks? You have many thoughts running through your head – all going in different directions. Some thoughts may be about how you are going to make ends meet or meet payroll, some thoughts may be about an interaction you have had or that you have yet to have with someone, and some thoughts may be that you no longer have passion or meaning in the work that you do. There can be many different thoughts troubling you. Don’t let them steal your joy, your happiness, or your sleep. You do have the power to change “what-is” to what you want it to be.

Identify What is Troubling You. You need to assess where you are at. What is troubling you? Is it one specific thing? Has your work become repetitive and routine? Do you look around and wonder if anyone else is feeling the same? Maybe you are wondering why you do not enjoy what you are doing anymore or you long to start your own business or jump into your side business full-time. Whatever is it, you do not have to face it alone. If you feel you need to brainstorm ideas or create a strategy, you can hire a coach to help you build an exit strategy or a plan. If you feel how you are feeling is related to anxiety or depression, a counselor or psychologist is the best person to support you.

Reflect on What Brought You Joy that You Stopped Doing. Everyone has things that they have built into their lives that bring them joy outside of work and business that creates anticipation and harmony (which some refer to as balance). Family vacations, listening to music, going for the morning run or partaking in sunrise yoga, or entertaining or long leisurely lunch with friends tend to be put on the backburner when we get consumed with work and family obligations. It is important to bring the things made you come alive back into your life. When you are happy and fulfilled, you not only share that happiness with others, you give them permission to do the same.

Decide What You Really Want. What are you passionate about? What makes you come alive because you have the burning desire to pursue it? The clearer you are, the clearer the path is before you to reach your destination. If you want to be a full-time entrepreneur, what does that look like? How will you spend your days? What is your product or service? How will you expose your product or service to the marketplace? If you want to change careers, what are you changing to? Do you need to go back to school?

“If you have a strong purpose in life, you don’t have to be pushed. Your passion will drive you there.” – Roy T. Bennett

Set a Date for Your Transition or Exit. Write down a specific date in which you plan to resign from your current role. Start planning backward from that date. What do you need to do to prepare for the transition? Do you need to save up a certain amount of money? Do you need to put together a training manual so you do not leave your replacement high and dry without some knowledge or history of your role?

Brainstorm What Barriers, Obstacles, or Roadblocks May Show Up. It is important to have these challenges in your awareness but do not focus on them. Know that there are internal and external roadblocks that may appear and brainstorm ways you may tend to them should they arise. You will be mentally prepared. They do should up.

Design Your Plan and Work the Plan. Write out your plan and create small milestones along the way. Breakdown each part of your plan into smaller tangible pieces; otherwise, you may get overwhelmed by all the things you feel you need to do. The daily actions will start creating momentum and propel you forward.

Celebrate Your Success. When you achieve your goal or reach your milestone, it is important that you take some time to acknowledge how far you have come from where you were. You took matters into your own hands and made decisions for YOU. You do not want to live with regret wondering what would have happened if you only made the leap.

Inject what you love doing into your life. If it does not make you say, “Hell yes!” or “Absolutely”; it means, “Hell No!” or “Not a Chance!” Life is too short to not do what you love and leave your signature out in the world.

What goal have you set that will make you jump out of bed in the morning and go after it?

EPISODE 122 – Accountability with Purpose

August 15, 2017 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

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“Maybe you’re not perfect, but you’re willing to actually look at yourself and take some kind of accountability. That’s a change. It might not mean that you can turn everything around, but I think there’s something incredibly hopeful about that.” Brie Larson

Let’s start by exploring what accountability means to you and why it is important. Accountability is about standing behind (or beside) the actions and decisions you make. Accountability is like a checklist to see if expectations have been met and who is responsible for what they said they were going to do. When people must claim responsibility for their actions, this is where you may see people start finger pointing, blaming or complaining about why they did not meet expectations. Funny thing is for the finger point outward, there are three fingers pointing back. Each person in a relationship or interaction can take 100% responsibility for their actions. It builds trust because you have faith that the other person is going to put in their 100% effort like you are. This type of commitment gets results. You will want to go back and listen to our first episode on Taking 100% Responsibility.

To be accountable, you must have a clear purpose or WHY for doing what you do, driven by a vision, mission, and core values. Your core values act like a compass directing you and keeping you on track to meet your goals.

Accountability serves a purpose. By being accountable for your actions, you will tend to pay more attention to whether you are taking the actions necessary to meet expectations. You will notice that your performance increases because you need to be accountable for your actions through reporting your outcomes or explaining the consequences of the results you achieved. You will start valuing your work more because it is your heart and soul or sweat and tears invested in the results. Goal setting and setting clear expectations are important in laying out a plan to be accountable with a purpose. When you have a goal in mind, you can set up accountability check points to ensure you are on the right track. Without a clear set goal, you lack direction of what you are working towards. Therefore, it is so important to ink your goals.

Let’s look at finances. If you do not have a financial goal of what you are aiming for, how will you know when you have met it? What are your expectations? What will you sacrifice short-term for long term success? When you are accountable for your finances, you give every dollar a job. You know what money coming in and what money is going out. You may call you credit card or internet company every 3-6 months to see if you can get a better rate. You can look at what is costing you the most money and learn where you can find cost savings. You can make better decisions knowing what your money can do for you.

Let’s take a look at professional development goals. What are areas you want to strengthen? Is there a book you want to read or a course you want to take? Consider working with a coach to keep you accountable and help you uncover where you may be sabotaging your efforts. Again, what gets measured gets managed so you will want to ink the goal.

Being accountable is NOT about pointing fingers or picking sides. It is about OWNING what you have control over and FINDING solutions to get the desired results. It is NOT about pretending to know everything or pretending to be something you are not. You need to be willing to admit when you do not know something BUT you can ask someone or put in the effort to figure it out. You need to drop the excuses and stop getting defensive when someone asks you to take responsibility for your actions.

Have you ever noticed that people get angry or defensive when they do not want to take responsibility for their actions? These people try to deflect responsibility and do not realize that they could be sabotaging their own success because of their lack of commitment. If you make a mistake, own it right away! People are more forgiving if you OWN your mistakes versus deny them. Everyone makes a mistake at one time or another.

Be accountable with purpose. Find an accountability partner – this can be a family member, colleague, or friend or hire a coach to hold you accountable. They can support you as being a cheerleader when things are going well and hold you accountable for when things are not going as planned or you fail to take the actions you said you would. When you start running your business, organization, and daily life with intention and deliberate purpose, you will get the results that you are seeking or something better!

What are you going to do to be accountable with purpose?