Walt Hampton, J.D.

Creating the Work & Life You LOVE

The MOST Important Question

by Walt | Nov 13, 2014 | Success | 0 Comments

“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” -Stephen Covey

There are lots of important questions that we might ask ourselves in business and in life. But the most important one is this one: “What do I want the outcome to be?”

What is my destination? Where do I want to end up?

If you stopped by at the airport today and asked for a ticket, the agent would be pleased to sell you one. But the first question that the agent would ask you would be, “Where do you want to go?

If you said, “Barcelona, Paris or Rome,” the agent would likely say, “Okay, which one?”

We’re all capable of great things. But the challenge is that we live in a culture of overwhelm; we dwell in perpetual distraction. And we lose our direction; we lose sight of the main thing.

Getting clarity on exactly where it is we want to go, on exactly what it is we want to accomplish, is the key to achieving any goal, the key to achieving magnificent results.

So where do you want to go? What exactly do you want your outcome to be?

Ask this question at every juncture:

• Before a business meeting
• Before a sales call
• Before you launch a new venture
• In a disagreement with a partner or spouse
• Before you get lost in an argument with a teenager
• At the start of your day

The GPS in your car gets you to within 30’ of your destination… because you’ve locked in the coordinates.

When you know your destination, you’re much more likely to get there!

What Successful Dogs Need To Know About New Tricks

by Walt | Nov 6, 2014 | Leadership, Success | 1 Comment

If you’re an accomplished professional; if you’ve succeeded at a high level in business and in life, then learning something new should be a breeze, shouldn’t it?

Well, it turns out that that’s not the case at all.

The more successful we are, the more comfortable we become in our areas of expertise; and the more comfortable we are in those existing areas of expertise, the less likely we are to want to risk failure by venturing outside that place of comfort and ease.

I’m just beginning to learn how to do studio lighting to enhance our video recording studio. I decided that I should write a bit about the process instead of indulging my urge to take my brand new studio lighting kit and toss it into a dumpster.

You see, when my new kit arrived, I was pretty convinced that the single You Tube video I had watched a week ago was all that I needed to be an instant expert. I gleefully unpacked the box, assembled the lights and stands; and immediately set out to record my first video. To my horror, my first clip looked like a really bad outtake from a poorly planned remake of the Exorcist.

The next 90 minutes of repositioning lights and stands and reflectors failed to yield any significantly different result. I’m now fairly convinced that my future is not so much in producing uplifting motivational videos, but rather in ‘B’ tier horror film trailers. (Except that I’ll have to learn how to mix in scary music; and frankly that just way overwhelms me.)

So before going back to the studio, here’s what I’m telling myself about learning new things. I think I’ll call them The Five Ps of Learning (because “experts” need to have 5 or 7 of something in their cleverly named systems):

Permission. We need to give ourselves permission to try new things; to not know; to be beginners again; to seem foolish; and to feel dumb. We need to give ourselves permission to venture out beyond the edges of our comfort zones because all of our growth, all of the wonder, all of the greatest expression of who we are is out there. Just beyond that familiar edge. We need to give ourselves permission to fail, permission to falter, permission not to excel, permission not to be good (or great) at something. Because all of our success (once) started in that place, that place of beginning.

Practice. Everything we’ve become great at has required practice. Disciplined repetition. Not everything requires Gladwell’s 10,000 hours (although I think that that daunting figure sometimes dissuades successful folks from taking on new things). I ‘practiced’ law for nearly 30 years… and, as a result, became ‘practiced’ at it. I write every day in order to hone my craft. The Amazon bestseller didn’t happen on the first try. I speak often because I love it, and the larger the audience the better. But I remember a time when I felt like hurling every time I’d walk on stage. It is practice that brings grace and ease.

Persistence. Staying at it. Not giving up. Even when you want to; even when you’re frustrated; even when you hit a roadblock; even when you fail; even when you despair. Staying at it; showing up; doing the work. Nowhere have I learned this more than in my running. It takes months and months to prepare for an ultra-distance race. Running day in and day out, even in the heat, and freezing cold; even in the rain and in the snow. Even when you don’t feel like it; especially when you don’t feel like it. And on race day, it is no different: 50 miles is run just one step after another, never relenting, never giving up. For the finish line is the reward only for those who persist.

Purpose. You need to be driven. You need to hunger for your outcome. We’re only motivated to move beyond our comfort zones by either intense pain or a vision of extreme pleasure. A vision of pleasure is what sustains. The vision is what fuels the effort; it’s what keeps us going. For me, I write and speak and coach because I am driven by effecting positive change in the world. I run ridiculous distances because I am driven by that feeling of vitality and sense of well-being that extreme fitness brings. Having a vision, having a deep sense of purpose is what sustains us on the path when the going gets tough.

Playfulness. We tend to take our expertise rather seriously; in fact, as we grow, we tend to take everything way too seriously. When we lighten up, when we become more playful, we can go easier on ourselves (and others). We can become curious again, and indulge the unknown. We can open up our innate creativity. We can become explorers again and venture out into the vast unknown… and just enjoy the journey. In a spirit of play, the new becomes fun. And when we’re having fun, everything is possible.

So I’m going back to it now. Right after I run out to the dumpster to retrieve my kit. Keep your eyes peeled for some new video extravaganzas. Coming to a theater near you.

What’s Your Costume?

by Walt | Oct 30, 2014 | Success | 0 Comments

What are you gonna be for Halloween? Who are you going to dress up as?

Masks and costumes. Parties and planning. Fervor, festivities and fever pitch.

Bigger than Christmas is seems.

What is it about Halloween that so excites, that so sparks the imagination?

Yes, fun for sure. The chance to let loose, hide out, switch it up. The possibility of being someone new, something new, someone different from who we are in the hum-drum of each day.

And the truth is that a lot of folks are worn down by the hum-drum of each they. The want new, better, different. Just not the same. For god’s sake, not the same.

So, who do you want to be?

More important: Who are you already… really?

Are you your job? Your role in a relationship? Your hobby, pursuit, passion?

I am a an executive coach, high altitude mountaineer, blue-water sailor, adventure photographer, husband, father, business owner… .

But is that who I am… really?

If you have a job and lose that job… who are you?

If you have a marriage and the marriage unravels, who are you?

If you have kids and they grow up and move away, who are you?

If you’re an athlete and you’re injured, who are you?

Who are you when your friend betrays you? When your parent dies? When your business fails?

Who are you in the face of success, failure and change?

Who are you… really?

Our identity. The very core of who we are. What a struggle that can be. Especially for success and achievement junkies… I know a few… They’re the folks who come to coaching… (As for myself, on advice of counsel, I can neither admit nor deny any of the heretofore!)

When we’re not doing, achieving, accomplishing… who are we?

Ann and I have been at our home in Ireland for the past month… a completely different culture… a completely different pace… Some have characterized Ireland as the “Jamaica of the UK.” If stress and adrenaline are your fuel, you won’t find much here. And without that fuel, we ask, … who are we?

The Buddhists teach: Nothing to do, nothing to be, nothing to have.

Really. WTF? What then?

One of my very favorite stories from the Torah is when Moses comes upon the burning bush. God speaks to Moses from the bush, telling Moses what he needs to be about. Moses, looking for a bit of borrowed cred, asks God for God’s name. God says, “I am who I am.” Tell those Israelites that “I am” sent you.

Maybe there’s a clue here. Maybe when we define ourselves with a title, give ourselves a label, tie an object to who we think we are, we make ourselves small, we limit our (divine) potential.

Maybe, at the end of it all, one more billable hour booked, one more product sold, one more article published, one more email sent, one more race run, one more mountain climbed, won’t really matter.

Maybe it’s ok just to be.

And damn, what an interesting (and unusual) costume that is!

Happy Halloween.

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This is an encore of a post first published on October 31, 2013.

Love It or Leave It

by Walt | Oct 23, 2014 | Success | 1 Comment

You have to be burning with an idea, or a problem, or a wrong that you want to right. If you’re not passionate enough from the start, you’ll never stick it out. –Steve Jobs

I have a client – articulate, driven, highly educated and talented – whose business is failing.

Because she doesn’t love it.

I have a friend who is having a devil of a time landing a job in a field in which he has worked for years – and excelled.

Because he doesn’t love it.

Love for what you do is the only thing that sets you apart.

Love for what you do is the only thing that will sustain you.

Benjamin Bloom (of Head Start fame), while he was a professor at the University of Chicago, did a study of 120 outstanding scholars, artists, and athletes. He was trying to figure out what made them tick; and even more important, what common factors contributed to their greatness.

He controlled for intelligence; he controlled for family background. He discovered that geography didn’t matter; that race didn’t matter; that socio-economic advantage didn’t matter; and that it didn’t matter whether these folks were ‘naturally smart.’ The only thing – the one common denominator – that distinguished these folks was extraordinary drive.

And the only thing that fuels extraordinary drive… is passion.

A love for the ‘game.’

A love so keen that it propels you out of bed in the morning and sets the day on fire.

A love so strong that you can take the heat, endure the pain, keep the faith, go the distance.

There are lots and lots of sales people, countless Internet marketers, a bazillion coaches, more lawyers than real people, doctors out the ying yang. A nearly inexhaustible selection of authors and artists and plumbers and HR managers and executives and electricians.

Your ‘job,’ your position, is not unique.

But you are.

Over the long haul, you can never compete on price, credentials, ‘novelty,’ flashy ads or noise.

Because at that level, everyone looks the same. Your voice disappears in the landscape. All noise; and no signal.

But when you’re on fire, you stand out.

When you’re filled with passion, there is no one else who looks like you. No one else who can possibly compete.

When you claim your own authentic voice, there is no competition.

None at all. Your success is guaranteed.

Your energy signature is yours alone. It carries the day.

Here’s the truth: Just because you’re good at something, or have done something for a long time, doesn’t mean you should keep on doing it.

Dale Carnegie once said, “People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.”

And you can’t possibly have fun unless you’re really feelin’ the love.

Steve Jobs said, “[T]he only way to do great work is to love what you do…. Don’t settle”

Each of us is called to do great work.

Find that love.

Don’t ever settle.

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This is an encore of a post first published on October 10, 2013.

Where Are You?

by Walt | Oct 16, 2014 | Success | 0 Comments

Are you thinking about what just happened a moment ago… or yesterday? Are you pondering what’s next… the next call, the next email, the next meeting, the next…?

Doubtful you are here. Right here. Right now. In this present moment. Because it’s so hard to be right here.

Not because we don’t have enough in this present moment; but because we have too much: too much information; too much noise; too much stimulation; too much to do.

We’ve become addicted to the stimulation and outside input, checking and re-checking our smartphones and our tablets and our emails; responding incessantly to the phone calls and messages and notifications and alerts. Overwhelmed and inundated by the expectations and the deadlines and the demands, endeavoring to pay attention to everything and succeeding only at a continuous partial attention.

We’ve become addicted, as Jim Collins, author of that wonderful business book, Good to Great, says,… we’ve become addicted to “the undisciplined pursuit of more.”

Perpetually distracted.

Untethered, unfocused, unproductive.

And despite our hyper-connectivity… isolated and disconnected.

I love the power of still photography; and yet I am aware that every time I put my eye to the viewfinder, I pull myself away from the moment as it is right in front of me; from the intimacy of the experience as it is.

I love the power of social media; and yet I am aware that when I am thinking about how much fun or interesting it will be share my experience, in that instant I have left the experience itself.

I love the power of technology; and yet I am aware that the very technology that allows me the freedom to live and work anywhere in the world also can enslave me.

Our distractions dishonor; and disempower.

So here are some simple things that have worked for me that you might do to reclaim the power of the present moment:

Avoid your email inbox first thing in the morning.

Turn off all of those annoying alerts on your smartphone and desk top

Don’t multi-task; it can’t be done

Work in block time; do just one thing

Let your calls go to voicemail

Don’t flit in and out of social media

Have a smartphone free dinner (or evening)

Carve out some (dedicated) time to read, write and reflect

Make (real) dates with yourself; and your loved ones; and honor them

Go off the grid entirely from time to time

Life unfolds only in this moment. Our power to impact, to influence, to make a difference, to touch a life, to do an act of kindness, to smile, to hold, to love, to leave a mark, exists only in this moment.