SigmaU Blog

Have you ever finished a workday and thought “I got nothing done!”? There’s nothing more frustrating than going through the motions, completing tasks, and feeling unfulfilled. Why does this happen? It could be that you’re working on tasks versus high value activities.

To be a high performer, we need to focus on high value activities. What exactly are those? Activities that move the needle, that make a difference, that have a meaningful impact.

How do we determine what those are? An assessment of your current reality is in order. Let me explain. I was working with a coach, and I was complaining that I felt I was busy but not impactful. He challenged me to do an exercise that opened my eyes to where my time was being spent. He encouraged me to take a full week, and as tedious as it was, make a note of everything I was doing in time blocks. I was astonished at the work I was doing that I could have paid someone else to be doing. It also brought light to a...

If you’ve ever worked in sales, you know that you must be able to bounce back quickly and move on to be successful. Over the years I’ve had amazing conversations with prospective clients and others didn’t go so well. I’ve been hung up on, yelled at and definitely had some ice-cold responses. Any salesperson knows that they can’t stay in that negative space, nor can they throw in the towel for the day. They must keep going! I have a little routine when that happens. I say “NEXT” out loud and move on.

N- Negative Looping Fix

I recently heard a mentor of mine interviewing someone on a podcast about moving forward after failure. The guest made an amazing point that hit home for me. If you take a wrong turn in the car, your GPS doesn’t belittle you. There’s zero judgement because what you did two turns ago is irrelevant to correcting your course and getting you back on track. Too often though, we tend to punish ourselves for our past...

A determined person pursues their goals and dreams regardless of life’s setbacks. You may have someone in your life who you admire for this very reason. They seem unshakable in their resolve to press on no matter what. Failure is not an option and success for them is a non-negotiable, therefore inevitable.

When I consider someone who is relentlessly pursuing with grit and determination, I often wonder what it is that they do differently. Or more importantly, how they think differently.

Considering this: I’ve thought about times in my own life where I’ve stayed determined in challenging times. Upon reflecting it came down to a definite “WHY”, an acceptance that life is hard, and a brighter vision for the future.

WHY?

Friedrich Nietzsche — 'He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.'

Finding our “why” has been an overused statement over the past few years. Mentioning it can cue a few eye rolls, especially from our...

Fuel is damn expensive these days and keeping our tanks full is costly, but it's necessary to get around.

Consider for a moment, another type of fuel tank and that's your mind.

Our minds are beautiful, malleable, intricate, and powerful tools we can use to reach enormous heights.

The challenge is, we often shrink back from trying to chase our goals and dreams because we don't control our thinking.

Here's where the power lies! Consider your mind to have two separate fuel tanks side by side to form one large tank that keeps us motoring.

One side, will feed us negative thoughts. We will see the bad in all things. The weather is too cold, the relationship is meh, the business opportunities mediocre. And when we add fuel to this tank it works very efficiently to keep pumping us with evidence to support all the negativity we see.  A full negativity tank will tell us every reason why we are selfish for wanting more, don't have the time or we're unworthy of investing in our personal...

Accountability starts with you! That can be harsh to hear, but it’s true, and a lesson that I’ve learned over the past couple of years.

No one is coming to hold your hand, or mine, to make sure we get stuff done.  The person who cares the most is standing in the mirror.

We may have friends that support us, accountability partners we check in with and coaches who champion us along; at the end of the day, its up to us to get the work done.

I’ve found that friends and even accountability partners can let us off the hook too easily.  We make a big claim about our fitness, and we falter. Often, we’re met with niceties such as “don’t be so hard on yourself”, “you needed a day off”. While this feels good in the moment it’s not what we need and it won’t challenge or change us.

We make the change every time we decide to make a promise, set a goal, and then do it no matter what. Coincidently, every time we keep that...

There will be times in life when our backs are against the wall or we’re working towards a huge goal that requires next level grit and determination.  We will need to PUSH!

How do you muster up the energy and momentum to push when required?

P- Personal Development

Originally, I was going to write positivity as the first P.  However, in order to generate positivity, we need to fuel our bodies and minds with the right things.  Working on our body, focusing on our health, regaining a sense of accomplishment by moving our bodies in a way that nourishes and builds self confidence will be key for staying on track during a big challenge.  The second is feeding our minds! Don’t overlook this. Listening to positive podcasts, reading inspirational books and ditching mindless social media scrolling is critical to build a solid foundation and stay motivated as you press on. Zig Ziglar famously said “People say motivation doesn’t last.  Well,...

Clarity is incredibly powerful. Why?

When we have complete clarity about what it is we want in life, what we stand for and what our big North Star is, it gives us a sense of peace. It provides assurance that our efforts are counting towards something. Often, when we don't have clarity, we can bumble through each day, get a multitude of tasks completed, are very busy and may even feel some sense of productivity and accomplishment.  However, we can be left wondering if we’re making a significant difference at all.

When we have complete clarity, we know where we're headed, and what we want to achieve.  We have vision.  More importantly, that big North Star gets us excited and fired up and helps us build momentum. We’re more optimistic because we're working towards something that really matters to us.

Clarity also provides us with total focus so that we can determine what our distractions are. Meaning, what are the activities, people,...

Life can be challenging and throw curveballs to the best of us.  We have big dreams, goals and plans and then something outside of our control derails those plans, and we get stuck in the struggle.  Today I want to encourage you to honour the process and struggle so that you don’t miss the hidden gifts along the way.

This isn’t about being a Pollyanna, this is about accepting the struggle, seeing it as a process and learning and celebrating what the process is developing in you. 

Let me explain…

Having a driving WHY, knowing the importance of remaining consistent in our pursuit towards our goals will keep us focused.  Reflecting on the benefits of sticking with it, the sense of pride you will feel on the other side and picturing yourself in that moment of victory is key to staying the course.

When we lose sight of the end game, we can get trapped in the victim mentality. I did this recently.  There’s a situation that is physically...

Over the last couple of months, I’ve become increasingly aware of my consumption.  When I am more disciplined about my physical, emotional, and spiritual consumption I’m peaceful and productive.  When I lose sight of this awareness, I can easily spiral into negative thinking and experience anxiety.

Outlets are an important part of healthy and balance living.  We have some outlets like exercise which support our growth in a positive way. Working out can also provide a way for us to feel a small sense of control in an unstable world. Other outlets include binge watching Netflix, alcohol, or drugs. Our outlets are ways for us to feel a little calmer, a little happier and perhaps numb our anxiousness. What...

I was hiking in a picturesque snow fall this past weekend and it got me thinking…

As I was making tracks, I noticed that there were similar sized boot prints in front of me.  I got thinking about who may have walked those tracks before me.  For a moment, I walked in her boot prints and quickly noticed that they were at a much smaller stride than mine. It felt uncomfortable and slow.

I stepped out of those prints and went back to my own pace which seems to measure a full footprint ahead of the existing set.  Not going to lie, for a brief second I though “WOW she’s a slow walker. I’d beat her if we were walking together.”

Upon reflection I realized that life is like those prints. Was I getting distracted from the stunningly beautiful winter wonderland I was relishing in just moments before to compete with a ghost? And so what if she walked slower, maybe she was meditating or ill or just knew how to be more present than this typical...