Each year Cambridge and Oxford rowing teams go head-to-head in an 4-mile race along the Thames. This year, there was an important team work lesson for us to take in.

In the Cambridge team, one member Dan O’Shaughnessy is said not to be one of the best in their team which consisted of Olympic champions and other race winners, however, the team members wanted him because of his good nature, popularity with the team and his communication.

He was a great team player. He was able to synchronise players together. He was able to make the team gel. Things were not so serious when he was around and the team could get out and perform their best, even though one player was not the best they had.

Teamwork is an important lesson here. And that’s what Mark de Rond, an expert on teamwork, uses as an example in his forthcoming business book, ‘The Subjectivity of Performance’ out in 2008.

Business and rowing is different - there are different goals, different ideals and different targets. But the teamwork concept is always the same.

How can you employ further teamwork in your work? 

I like Larry Winget. He said, “If your life sucks it’s because you suck!”

Larry is known as the pitbull of personal development. He’s an extremely in-demand speaker and his books and writing are some of the best around.

Here are Larry’s Ten Rules for Business Success:-

1. A deal is a deal.

2. Do what you said you would do, when you said you would do it, the way you said you would do it.

3. Do the right thing every time. Not the cheap thing or the easy thing - the right thing.

4. Be the person others can count on to get things done.

5. Work hard on your job and work harder on yourself.

6. Never tolerate poor performance in yourself or others.

7. Focus on accomplishment - not activity.

8. Work faster, smarter and harder.

9. You are paid to work. You aren’t paid to play, socialise, be happy or like your job.

10. Manage priorities, not time.

How many are you living in your life and business?

I was going through my journal from the first page last night, and came across a page on which I wrote down my top five intentions at that particular point. One was about how I wanted a white Macbook as my next new laptop. I wrote this about 3 months ago.

2 weeks ago,  I accidently spilled hot water, honey and lemon onto my existing Dell laptop. It’s 3 years old and too expensive to fix. Fortunately, I had an online backup account with Mozy so I didn’t loose my files. That was the end of that laptop.

It was time for something new - and of course, through the intention that was initially set, my Macbook is now on it’s way. It should be with me in 3 days time.

Being specific and setting intentions is a powerful tool to have and use. It’s not just my Macbook that has come this way. Amongst other things, in the last few years, I have manifested new books, a holiday in Thailand and Bali, amazing date nights, cooking skills, money, business ideas, more money, shoes, shirts, clothes, socks, dance lessons, tabla students, workshop participants. The list could go on.

In any moment, you’re always intending something. Whether it’s something you want or not is something you can control. Be clear and specific. What are you intending?

Most of the world doesn’t understand what you do. They don’t understand what the President or Prime Minister does. They don’t understand how common things work, let along complex things.

The majority of businesses are poorly defined. Can you say in one sentence what your business does without umm-ing and ahh-ing? If you can’t, it’s because of unclear definition.

The same with your health - your body is confused as to what’s going in and how incorrect things are mixed. The same with terrorism - we’re confused when something happens in our country - is it a natural fire? Was it a terrorist attack? Was it arson? Who shot who?

(Global) confusion takes up too much brain space and drains energy. How do you get over such (global) confusion?

The answer is usually in the language you use. Don’t use jargon that alienates the public. Don’t give them a reason NOT to investigate you and your work further.

Are you using real, simple language?

There is power in being uncomfortable.

The power to learn more, be more, have more and do more comes from being able to stick through the uncomfortable times, unpleasant moments and come through stronger and powerful in your mind, body and spirit.

People don’t care about what you know or what you’ve done - they want to know HOW you think and what you’re thinking about… The only way to be different in your results is to improve the strength of your thinking and to cross the boundary, take the leap and move ahead, you’ve got to stick through the uncomfortable moments.

Not surprisingly, most people don’t.

They give up too easily.
They run away from the situation.
They can’t handle the pressure.

There is danger in being too comfortable and too complacent.

When you stick out the tough road and uncomfortable moments, you have greater thoughts, better ideas and more profitable.

It’s also the same with leadership. A great leader works on his passion. A great leader sticks through the ups and the downs, staying true to his or her passion. A great leader doesn’t work on being a leader, he/she works on his passion, and through his ability to stick through all good and bad times, easy and tough moments, he becomes a leader.

What uncomfortable moments can you commit to see out right to the end?

The new book by Joe Vitale and Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len titled Zero Limits is all about the ancient Hawaiian technique of Ho’oponopono, which I have written about before. Ho’oponopono is used for problem solving and removing the subconscious blocks, internal barriers, and mental obstacles preventing happiness, peace, health, wealth, etc. from flowing easily into our lives.

The four key phrases are “Thank you, I’m sorry, I forgive you, I love you.” It can be used as an affirmation, as the basis for meditation and even for japa (chanting). The following forms my understanding and wisdom from the tecnique.

We all have a choice to be clean. When we are clear, inspiration will flow more easily and we have the ability to act on it. Acting on our inspiration without thinking is the purest form of being. If we begin to think on the inspiration that has flowed, we begin to draw comparisons with our inspiration and something else.

I remember talking with Sol over a lovely Chinese dinner a few months ago and he asked me the question, “How do you get clear? How do you clear your mind?”

Although I gave him a couple of answers then, I want to share here the answer of Ho’oponopono. And in essence, it is very simple.

“Keep saying ‘I love you.’ ”

The power of ‘I love you’ is perhaps bigger than anything else in our world. Dr Len says it has three components to it - gratitude, reverence and transmutation.

“The phrases I say are like the magic words that open the combination lock to the universe. When I recite the phrases, which come out like a poem, I am opening myself to the Divine cleaning me and erasing all the programs preventing me from being here now.”

The power of living with zero limits is to free yourself from the constraints of mental clutter so you don’t confine yourself within a certain amount of space. The point is not to resist your role.

I’m currently reading James Watson’s new book, “Avoid Boring People” and one of the lesson’s that he writes about is… “College is for learning how to think!”

Indeed, it is true. Having to pay your way through college itself is a good lesson for students and if you come out of it having been spoon-fed and told what to do all the time, without being able to think for yourself, put forward your own views, ask questions and make decisions faster, you’ve not been through successfully - regardless of your class.

Watson says, “Whether on a scholarship or paying full fare, college costs to much time and money if you don’t use it to learn how to think.”

“It is better to be first than it is to be better.” - Al Ries and Jack Trout

The principle of “Speed of Implementation” is all about getting out there and implementing what you’ve learnt right away. It’s how fast you can go from learning about something to actually implementing it and putting into practice.

Those who have a quick speed of implementation do much better than those who don’t. They’re usually the first to do what they’ve done and achieve more than those who wait around, take time to do something, striving to be better, but only to realise it’s too late or not effective anymore.

What have you learnt today or yesterday that you could implement right away?

Sparking a traditional fire in which you have to put the chippings and logs in with a match is quite extraordinary. The power of one small match can start fires right from your living room fireplace to massive forest fires. In all cases it’s usually the same process but just on a bigger scale.

When you spark a fire in your fireplace, you’ve got to keep it going. If you don’t keep an eye on it every so often, fuel it a bit with more chippings or logs and ensure it’s blazing away, then it will go out. If you don’t babysit it, so to speak, it will go out.

When you think about it, it’s the same as anything else in life really, isn’t it?

For example, if you start a peace march in your town, you’ve got to ensure you keep it going and follow through right through the end. You’ve got to put a bit more wood in it and get more people to join as you go along. If you don’t, the march will probably die down and lose its potential impact.

The same for starting a website like this blog, for example. If I don’t fuel it regularly with my thoughts, ideas and stories, then it’ll burn out. It’ll be gone. Nobody will ever read it. But if I keep at it, enjoy and improve my writing each day, more and more people will come across it and I’ll get to form more links.

Every fire you spark must have enough wood or passion to keep it going. If it doesn’t, the ultimate will happen sooner than you expect.

And guess what… it takes much more energy to start a cold fire than it does to sustain a current one. Many people make that mistake. They start something and have to re-start it because they forget about the sustaining bit.

Think about the top five things you’re really juiced about right now. Are you fueling it regularly or are you going to let it die down? What about things you’re doing but not passionate about - what are you going to do with them? I say you either you rekindle the passion or you let it go.

The bottom line: whenever you spark a fire, it’s easier to sustain it than to restart it so choose the right option for where you are.

My friend Michael Neill of Genius Catalyst had an interesting subheading that caught me in his latest newsletter which came out Monday 1st October. It read, “Never do anything for the first time” and is all about the art of Mental Rehearsal (or visualisation, mental practice, etc), a concept that I also talk a lot about in my work.

It’s just the way he so beautifully worded it that made my read the rest of the passage - Michael has a gift for easily being able to teach ideas and concepts of self-improvement to people and that’s why his work is well received.

Joe Batten said that you should “always act as if you have already accomplished what it is you are setting out to accomplish.”

That is where the art of Mental Rehearsal comes through. For musicians, artists, directors, leaders, sculptors and all other creative individuals, this is one of the most important techniques taught in all institutions, books and seminars.

In his newsletter, Michael offers three steps to practicing Mental Rehearsal:

1. Think about something you want to do but are uncomfortable when you think about doing it
2. Relax! Imagine yourself in the most comfortable chair or sofa in your home, about to watch some home movies of yourself succeeding.
3. Watch movie after movie of you successfully doing whatever it is you are wanting to do. If you have difficulty at first, imagine someone who you know could do it easily doing it, and then put yourself in their shoes until you can do it effortlessly as well.

Try it for your next project and let me know how it goes.