By John Shufeldt

Unlocking the key to making a real difference

Extraordinary Performance

During my life, I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to walk multiple career paths, including emergency medicine physician, lawyer, researcher, business owner, and mentor. My journey has in-troduced me to incredible, high-achieving individuals whom I refer to as outliers – people whose personal endeavors propel them far beyond our normal definition of achievement.

But what does it take to be an outlier and make a real differ-ence? After years of analyzing outliers, their common traits began to emerge. In my book, Ingredients of Outliers: A Recipe for Personal Achievement, I share these traits, these characteristics that are like magical, mysterious, extra somethings able to unleash the maximum potential in all of us. And these traits, held by those who produce the most remarkable and noteworthy achievements, may surprise you.

What separates outliers from others is more about humility, perseverance and attitude than intellect and what the world obliges you. Everyone has the capacity for greatness. You have the capacity to become an outlier by pursuing your passion and achiev-ing your dreams.  Every person who achieved greatness at some point in life had the same feelings of apprehension, nervousness, paralysis that you may be experiencing.  The only thing that sepa-rated them was taking the first step—and then many more, as they persevered to achieve their goal. They did it, and so can you.

This philosophy is captured and exemplified in the phrase Gear Up!, which refers to an airplane’s take-off. When pilots take off and leave the runway, they say “gear up.” In a retractable gear airplane this means you are accelerating through the transition phase of flight and leaving behind the security and certainty of the runway. 

I am also a doctor on the Phoenix PD SWAT team. After brief-ing the target, the scene commander says “gear up,” which is when we all disperse to get ready for the fight.  Basically, putting on all the gear (vest, knee pads and helmet) and all the weapons. I only carry a Glock 45, but the actual SWAT team members carry AR’s shotguns, teargas, etc. They put on their game face, focus, and get the job done.

For me Gear Up has special meaning.  It means: 1) get ready to move forward, toward your destination; and 2) prepare for the journey ahead.  It captures the moment you have taken the next step—that critical and necessary point of action from which there is no return. It has a special transcendental sort of ring to it. Blast off! 

Here are the 10 critical elements for extraordinary performance.1. Take the first step.  As Theodore Roosevelt said, “The best thing

you can do is do the right thing, the next best is to do the wrong thing, the worst thing is to do nothing.”  Every process, project or new idea starts with the first step. You need not know all the steps when you start. Pilots are always rerouted on their flight. Weather changes, controllers change, winds change, runways change—stuff happens, yet they always end up at their destination—maybe travel-ing further than expected, maybe with some excitement along their path, but they end up arriving at the appointed place   

2.  Build the wings as you are flying with rapid cycle changes/improvements.  You need a plan; however, the plan has to be alter-able.

3.  Education comes in all forms and from all directions. The key is having your eyes and ears open in order to realize the gift you are receiving.

4.  Sometimes education presents in the negative. The lesson may be to do the opposite of what you just learned. Whether posi-tive or negative, the lessons are valuable.

 5. Education is like a new pair of glasses or contact lens. They both allow you to see things, issues, challenges and opportunities in a new way or new light.

6.   Changing perspective changes everything. Even the knowl-edge of a near fatal illness seems less daunting with the right per-spective. Like education, a new perspective opens your mind up to a new approach.

7.   The fun is the journey. Walking across the stage to receive a diploma, selling a business, publishing a book, etc. comes with the bitter-sweet knowledge that the fun is over – at least for the moment until you choose a new goal/path/journey/challenge.

8.   Kindness solves all problems. Kindness through mentoring, giving, and gratitude always offers us more than the person receiv-ing whatever small token you can bestow. 

9.   Kindness is like heroin. Once you start and realize the great feeling you get from kindness, it is impossible to act any other way.

10.  Perseverance moves mountains.  Nothing worth accom-plishing comes without perseverance.

 People look at high-achievers and think that it must have been easy for them. What they don’t see are the numbers of failures, the hours of practice, and the level of humility it takes to eventually become an outlier. 

We all have the potential to become an outlier if we emulate some traits which have worked so well for others. You can go from average to extraordinary. Each tactic offered is designed to motivate you step outside your comfort zone to join the ranks of the outli-ers—to find your edge and break through to high performance. PE

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John Shufeldt was the founder/CEO of NextCare and MeMD, and Urgent Care Integrated Network and is the co-author of several books and the author of Ingredients of Outliers: A Recipe for Personal Achievement.visit www.IngredientsofOutliers.com.

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Book

Read an excerpt from John’s book “Ingredients of Outliers”

Read John’s blog article “The Next Steve Jobs”

25 personal excellence essentials presented by HR.com | 12.2013

By Marianne Williamson

Make your holidays more holy.

Christmas for Mystics

Holidays are only holy if we make them so. Otherwise, the assault of modernity—from crass consumerism to a 24-hour news cycle to the compulsivity of the wired world—wrecks whatever we have left of our nervous systems, making the true spiritual meaning of Christmas seem as distant as the furthest star. It’s only when we consciously carve out a space for the holy—in our heads, our hearts and our lifestyles—that the deeper mysteries of the season can reveal themselves.

The holidays are a time of spiritual preparation, if we allow them to be. We’re preparing for the birth of our possible selves, the event with which we have been psychologically pregnant all our lives. And the labor doesn’t happen in our fancy places; there is never “room in the Inn,” or room in the intellect, for the birth of our authentic selves. That happens in the manger of our most humble places, with lots of angels, i.e., Thoughts of God, all around.

Something happens in that quiet place, where we’re simply alone and listening to nothing but our hearts. It’s not loneliness, that alone-ness. It’s rather the solitude of the soul, where we are grounded more deeply in our own internal depths. Then, having connected more deeply to God, we’re able to connect more deeply with each other.

Our connection to the divine unlocks our connection to the universe.

According to the mystical tradition, Christ is born into the world through each of us. As we open our hearts, he is born into the world. As we choose to forgive, he is born into the world. As we rise to the occasion, he is born into the world. As we make our hearts true conduits for love, and our minds true conduits for higher thoughts, then absolutely a divine birth takes place. Who we’re capable of being emerges into the world, and weaknesses of the former self begin to fade. Thus are the spiritual mysteries of the universe, the constant process of dying to who we used to be as we actualize our divine potential.

We make moment-by-moment decisions what kind of people to be—whether to be someone who blesses, or who blames; someone who obsesses about past and future, or who dwells fully in the present; someone who whines about problems, or who creates solutions. It’s always our choice what attitudinal ground to stand on: the emotional quicksand of negative thinking, or the airstrip of spiritual flight.

Such choices are made in every moment, consciously or uncon-sciously, during the year. But this is the season when we consider the possibility that we could achieve a higher state of consciousness, not just sometimes but all the time. We consider that there has been one - and the mystical tradition says there have also been others—who so embodied his own divine spark that he is now as an elder brother to us, assigned the task of helping the rest of us do the same. According to A Course in Miracles, he doesn’t have anything we don’t have; he simply doesn’t have anything else. He is in a state that is still potential in the rest of us. The image of Jesus has been so perverted, so twisted by institutions claiming to represent him.

As it’s stated in the Course, “Some bitter idols have been made of him who came only to be brother to the world.” But beyond the mythmaking, doctrine and dogma, he is a magnificent spiritual force. And one doesn’t have to be Christian to appreciate that fact, or to fall on our knees with praise and thanks at the realization of its meaning. Jesus gives to Christmas its spiritual intensity, hidden behind the ego’s lure into all the wild and cacophonous sounds of the season. Beyond the nativity scenes, beyond the doctrinal hoopla, lies one important thing: the hope that we might yet become, while still on this earth, who we truly are. Then we, and the entire world, will know peace. PE

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Marianne Williamson is the best-selling author of many books and creator of A Return to Love Workshop: The Basics of A Course in Miracles.visit www.marianne.com.

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Read an excerpt from Mari-anne’s book “A Return to Love”

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Read an excerpt from Mari-anne’s book “The Law of Divine Compensation”

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“we make moment-by-moment decisions what kind of people to be - whether to be someone who blesses, or who blames; someone who obsesses about past and future, or who dwells fully in the present; some-one who whines about problems, or who creates solutions.

26personal excellence essentials presented by HR.com | 12.2013

By Dick Daniels

Assess your own ability to lead.

Leadership Capacity

Leadership capacity determines your ability to lead in more complex areas of responsibility. Capacity is influenced by individual initiative that often accompanies an organizational investment.Here are six factors of Leadership Capacity:

1. Unique wiring. Review your profile on a variety of personal assessments: StrengthsFinder, DISC, MBTI, and EI. The unique combination of your results tells a personal story. Your profile repre-sents a package of skills and tendencies that may be applied to greater leadership responsibilities. Does that limit leadership to those with a certain profile? Maybe not. People of varying skills, training, and experience find themselves in positions of leadership. Every leader must review the points at which their personal profile will enhance or inhibit what is required in existing or new opportunities. The leadership development challenge is to leverage the enhancements and manage the inhibitors. Do you know your profile?

2. Season of life. Work-life balance provides a healthy goal for anyone. Certain seasons allow the choice of committing to greater leadership responsibility. It is a question of time and energy. Every choice includes a tradeoff? What are you giving up or choosing not to do in the place of greater professional responsibilities? Does the personal return on investment justify the tradeoff? In some seasons it will; in other seasons of life, it may not. What season are you in?

3. Personal drive. Some personality types are more driven, more competitive, and more committed to new and growing professional aspirations. Greater capacity is the result of a drive to grow in ways that allow you to stretch the application of your leadership skill set. How driven are you?

4. Professional opportunity. The 70-20-10 Rule suggests that 70% of your professional development is the result of a challenging work assignment. The work assignment challenge can accelerate your commitment to grow professionally and extend your leadership

capacity. How challenged are you in your current role?5. Intentional learning. Only 10% of this same rule is the result of

continued learning. Invest in 360 degree feedback through research-based leadership development assessments to gain insight into specific areas of leadership competency gaps that continue to inhibit your capacity. Peer feedback is a source of information useful in design-ing a professional development growth plan. That plan addresses leadership competency gaps identified as non-negotiable in your professional development. Q5 - Will you objectively assess your current level of competency?

6. Accountable coaching. A leadership development coach provides a voice of accountability to monitor, measure, and manage your profes-sional development growth plan. Coaching focuses your efforts and also accelerates the development of your leadership capacity! Whom do you know with the coaching skills to invest in your development? 

Capacity is always defined by one’s context. Leaders may have greater capacity for one leadership role than another. Answer the six questions to shape an understanding of your capacity for a specific leadership opportunity. PE

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Dick Daniels is CEO of The Leadership Development Group.visit www.theLDG.orgEmail d@theLDG.org

Download the “Why Leadership Development Matters in Difficult Times”

Download the “360 By Design® Competencies”

Read Dick’s blog article “How Critical is Team Chemistry?”

27 personal excellence essentials presented by HR.com | 12.2013