Do you polish, or do you poke?

Poking means doing something risky. Trying something new. Poking comes with inventing, starting, doing. It's difficult to poke, because there is risk of failing. If you cannot fail, it's polishing. Because when it's not dangerous or risky, it's usually boring. The world now gives prizes to people willing to poke. People willing to ask difficult questions and willing to start. People willing to take the risk. Poking can be as complex as starting a new venture, but it could be as ordinary as facing a crucial conversation with your coworker, boss or partner.

Polishing means sustaining the status quo. Polishing comes in many forms. It might be sending endless text messages to a friend, Facebook chatting, twittering, starting a blog. Polishing usually doesn't have any real goals, no progress and no deadlines. These three signs are typical for polishing. Polishers don't start anything of value. Easier to stay in the crowd.

No matter how hard you polish, there will be little results (if any). Instead, poke. Try something new, face something difficult. If there is something to loose, then it's interesting.

What a bad golfer am I.

I'm truly bad at golf. When I was doing my golf exam to be able to play at the golf course many times I told myself : "Jakub, go home. This doesn't make any sense."  I spent lot of time searching for the golf ball in high grass and harsh bush. How true I was at that time. It all made sense.

If I had gone home that day, I wouldn't have been going to the golf course tomorrow. I wouldn't embarrass myself in front of my friend tomorrow that I'm so much worse than he is. I would have stayed at home, secured.

I didn't give up that day. I continued and passed my exams. I am truly a bad golfer. But tomorrow, I'm going to the golf course again. And I will come again later too. All golfers started as I did. I'm a golfer. I just need to practice more. You also might be a professional speaker, businessman or entrepreneur lacking experience. I know that you will become what you are. So let's show up, that's what our true calling is about.

Let's show up and see what's going to happen.

What does correlate with success?

Experts are always made, not born. 

When I saw Petra Kvitova in television won the Wimbledon. I felt miserable. She is 21, a world class professional. I'm 22 and what am I?  That was a hard dose of reality and a single question kicked me out of my comfort zone. How can you become a world class professional?

Dear friends and welcome guests,

Have you ever asked a similar question?

In the year 2007 in Harvard Business Review an extraordinary article “The Making of an Expert“ was published. A team of scientists made a thorough analysis of whole life of more than a hundred professionals. Something that stuck my mind came out of that survey. That persistence trumps talent.

Imagine all the people you have met a few years ago and from that time they haven't made any significant progress. They work hard, they sit and do their job and even walk an extra mile, but somehow (pause) there is no progress what so ever.  (Say it slowly, word by word).

In Taiwan at a Toastmaster district conference I met a double a Chinese speech contest champion in that area and a triple English speech contest champion. I attended his workshop. Let me describe you the most inspiring part of his presentation. I was amazed by the way he practiced.

First of all, he would write the script of his speech. Then he would cut out each paragraph. He would pick one paragraph after another and say aloud the paragraph before and the paragraph after. After doing this for a few days he would cut out every single sentence of his whole speech. Then he would randomly pick one sentence after another and say aloud the sentence before and after. Cut out every single sentence. How much time do you invest in your speech? You see, he understands there is a significant difference between practice and deliberate practice. Deliberate practice is repeating the same activity you are not good at, extending the reach and range of your skill. Not only repeating something you already know, it has to be challenging.

Not every practice makes perfect. To make a really visible progress you need to engage in deliberate practice. Practicing something you already know won't help you. You need to stretch you skills. Hard work and deliberate practice.  Take for example Dana Zátopková, a Czech gold medal Olympic javelin thrower practiced her arm by putting a log on her shoulder and she would continually chop the log with an axe in her other hand until splitting the log. Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work, as Edison said.

You might ask yourself that they are skills that can't be learned such as charisma or persuasions. To break this myth scientists have developed a set of acting exercises that help executives develop their charisma and persuasion skills, traits that many people think are innate. It's easy to fall into the habit of doing the same practice every day. If you want to become even better at what we do, better at speaking, better at leadership or your work, you need to practice deliberately what you can't do well or can’t do at all. Don't believe that were not born with the trait you want to have so much.

Remember that. It’s deliberate practice, not your IQ or whatever, that leads to expertise. It's sitting down and giving your time in it. Who are you and what you do? The world is littered with people with great talent. Focus on yourself, focus on deliberate practice. If you are a speaker, speak. If you are an entrepreneur, start a venture. If you are a teacher, teach. It’s so simple. It's human nature to practice what we are good at. But dear friends, do you really believe that you are going to make any progress by repeating something you already know?

Is mediocrity enough for you? Life is too short to be satisfied with what you have when you can have much more.

What will you do?

*script for my 9th speech at Prague Speakers Toastmasters club, http://www.praguespeakers.org/

The only person you compete with is you.

There is competition at your school, at your work, at dinner party. Probably you had the feeling of fighting with everybody, probably you wanted to be better than <insert the person> . Please, when you get up tomorrow, look into the mirror. Make up your mind that today, for the next 24 hours you will compete with yourself, you will try your best. Make fun of learning, but sooner or later you will fail. And then get up on your feet again. You are the only one responsible for living your life. 

What is the next step you are going to take? Here I post a video you might find interesting. I watch it almost every day. I used to be a perfectionist and if I was not capable of doing a great work, I didn't even try. I have changed my mindset, I believe that sitting down and doing our work is the best what we can do. To follow our heart, to do what we have always wanted. Sit down and do your work and don't be nervous about the outcome, it will come itself. Remind yourself of a single line from Lord's Prayer,"..Give us today our daily bread.". It the bread today, not yesterday or tomorrow.It your work today, not yesterday or tomorrow.

Three things I have decided to do in next 18 980 days.

I have always wanted to become a star. To be rich. To have an expensive car. To live in a splendid mansion. To have a big swimming pool in my garden.  And of course to have the garden. To be famous, to be smart, to be sexy.   I thought I was doing fine. I had pretty good grades. I wasn't the best student in the class, I wasn't the worst. I always thought my big dreams would guide me, show me how to fulfill my dreams. To use imagination, to dream was easy, but to work was hard .I felt wrong.  I wasn't excited about my work.  I assumed that successful people do their work with passion, with love and that it must be easy for them. It’s not easy for them and it’s not easy for anybody 

I realized that professional doesn’t focus on being a star. Albert Einstein said: "Don’t try to become a man of success, but try rather to become a man of value.". Mark Zuckerberg, the found of Facebook said: “I spend time making small things and then when the time comes I put them together.” . It's much more profitable to focus on your work than becoming a star. Success, like happiness, comes as a byproduct of you work.  People focus on making a lot of money. But Money is the result. If you focus on the result, you won't achieve your goal. Instead, successful people focus on service. They don’t think inward, they think outward. They think how they could improve their service. They think how they can be more productive, how to deliver more for less. Then, money and fame will come. But doing what you love will bring you happiness; it’s not the money or the BMW.

Even though I was doing quite well at school, I didn’t feel quite well. I always had trouble enjoying my free time. I love work and I thought fun is for losers. But that’s only the image that comes from movies and culture, that's not reality. In reality, you don’t have to work 14 hours a day.

Here comes passion in my life.  Passion is your inner voice telling you what to do. But the repellent force is Resistance. It's the voice telling you that you C3 speech is not good enough. That people are not interested and that they won't listen. And also fear comes into action. Successful person is the one who despite all circumstances will sit down and do his job. . He overcomes resistance, the force leading him out of doing what he loves the most. He accepts that you can't overcome fear, but you can fight and have fear.

So, you have passion, do you have the time? People love to complain about not having enough time and I was one of them too. Until that day I came to the conclusion that everyone has 24 hours a day. Nothing more, nothing less. So it's not about having time, that's only an excuse. Everyone has time. But what's really important is how we spend it.

I believe the easiest way how to follow your passion is to do what you love one hour a day. You come home; you kiss you wife or girlfriend and start working on the most important thing in your life, passion.

To conclude, not having time is only an excuse, everyone has time, and the problem is how we spend it. Spend at least one hour a day following your passion. And don't try to be a star, focus on your work and becoming a man of value. Then the fame and success will come.

Everyone has 24 hours, that's 86 400 seconds a day. And because the average men in the Czech Republic dies at age 74  it means I have 18 980 days left to make a difference. I believe that not only me, but everyone in this room can make a difference.

 *This is a script of my C3 speech in Toastmasters club in Prague - Prague Speakers

Fix in your mind who you want to become.

When you were a child you probably had your personal hero, someone you did admire, someone you wanted to become. Do you know who you want to become now? We don't need personal heroes, we don't need to be superstars or firemen, but having a clear vision of what kind of person I want to become will help you to make the right decision and to choose the attitude you wish to have. If you act as if you were the person you wish to become, it will keep you on the right way, it will guide you through life as lighthouse helps ships to find their harbour. 

People listen to what is interesting for them, not you.

I am sorry to tell you, but people spent 90% of time thinking about themselves. Their toothache is way more important then global warming or famine in middle Africa. If you accept this fact, you will become a better speaker, a better friend and a better person.

If you want to become a good speaker, become a better listener first. What do you ask yourself before saying anything? Or you just come, open your meeting by asking the other person "How are you?" only to survive the time he or she is speaking thinking about your story, what you have experienced, but to look good, you at least remember how to be a good pretender. Looking into someone's eyes, smiling and nodding might look like listening, but do you really do it?

If you really want others to be interested in you, first find out what are the interests of the other person. Have you experienced when someone was talking to you and you were not interested at all? If yes, try to get to know interests of your friend, loved one, spouse.

Today I was surprised how many people started talking to me without asking me a word. I think it's natural. We love to talk about ourselves. I don't mind. But if you want real attention of people around you find out what they are interested in. 

Do what you love and focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses.

I know what you have told yourself after failing something you are not really good at. "I will a tutor! I will spend more time doing it, even though I don't like it!". I appreciate your enthusiasm, but the way to be really great is to admit you are great only at something, so do more of what you are good at, do what you love.

I can hear you now telling yourself that you might need more time, more practise and you will master that skill. Follow your heart, if it's your true calling, you will know it. If it's not your true calling, let it be. You can improve at many skills, but being average is no advantage, being expert at one skill and be able to connect it with some others can become your competitive advantage. You probably know the saying, 

"Jack of all trades, master of none." .

If you choose a restaurant, do you prefer the average one, or the best one? Be choosy in your hobbies. Having many hobbies could be exciting, giving you energy, but true masters focus on what's essential. So think about your time, about all the activities you have and ask yourself "Which one is really important to me?". Throw away all those you think are you good, and start focusing you energy on what you love. 

Doing a great job means work of love. Then nothing can stop you, you will be put your wholehearted effort.Focusing on your weaknesses drains your energy. And also play, remind yourself of what you wanted to do for a long time, but you thought you are too old. Do you like walking in the rain, sitting on the ground and putting Lego blocks together in various shapes? Do it, do it because our brain is wired for play. If you take life too seriously, joy and passion will vanish.

For a long time I was trying to be serious, play less, work more, focus on my goals every second of my life. It's good to know you goals, it's good to work hard, but don't take it too seriously. Laugh if you make mistake, try again and remind yourself of when you were a child learning how to ride a bike. You fell numerous times, it was painful and many times you thought you can't make it. It was serious for you, but also a play, it didn't drain your energy, it was cool and you after falling you wanted to sit on the strange unstable kind of transport again and try again. Don't loose that creativity and passion while trying to be matured. Keep the child inside you.

Use comparison to let your message stand out.

It's a common sense, we all see it every day while shopping, while having a shower, but we don't use it. Our brain compares all the time, so use it for your own advantage as marketers do all the time. Here is a picture of Big Mac I had few days ago. If you embrace every day as a opportunity to learn, you might notice the wonderful design of the box. I don't talk about the "content". First of all,in the front you see your burger, but where exactly? Right in the golden ratio. (  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio ).

Secondly, you can notice the text. It's all upper case and sits right on the burger, which gives makes the burger look bigger. The glass bottle in the back gives the picture depth. 

If you prepare your slides, deciding on prices for your new product or you there is a girl interested in you, remember, our brain compares. Simple principle that makes profit.

Sales assistants know it. Professional sales force always first recommend the more expensive product, because from that time any other product price will be compared to the expensive one. Marketers know it, if they want something look big, they put it next to small. 

You know it too, pour icy water on your hands and then warm one, it will feel warmer if you didn't cool down your hands first. So remember,

Use comparison to let your message stand out.

Let your message be clear and simple as this picture.

This is a picture which I took while shopping today in Letnany shopping mall. Nothing can be so simplistic and easy to understand such as these two figures, but that's what we usually forget to keep in mind: With less time, people don't want to think if they don't need to. Let your message be clear as this picture.