Walt Hampton, J.D.

Creating the Work & Life You LOVE

Use It or Lose It

by Walt | Jun 13, 2013 | Success | 0 Comments

Yeah, I’m talkin’ to you… and I’m talkin’ about your summer vacay.

Use it!

Did you know that the average American worker leaves 9.2 days of vacation “on the table” every year?

I used 13 weeks of vacation last year… and if you’ve got nine or ten more days that you’re not going to use, I’ll take them! I’m not bashful… and when it comes to vacay, I’m damn greedy.

I remember vividly my very first day at the “big firm.” Fresh out of law school, I was about to launch the career I had been working toward for so long. My mentor-to-be was reviewing the “expectations” of the firm with me. When he came to the vacation policy, he said, “You get three weeks of vacation every year… but nobody really takes them.”

That seemed pretty screwed up to me. I immediately booked three weeks of vacation.

Taking time away is a fundamental tool for success.

I know this sounds paradoxical, but it’s not.

And it’s a difficult lesson to learn.

Here’s the scoop: Computers are built to keep running all-day and all-night; 24/7, 365 days a year. Humans: not so much.

We need to rest; we need to recover; we need to stop.

Of course, culturally we’re told otherwise… We’re told that in order to succeed, that in order to thrive in business, we need to put in more time; that we need to work harder and longer; that something’s wrong with us if we can’t keep the pace; that time off is for sissies.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

I learned this the hard way when I started training for marathons and ultras. Being a goal-oriented, success-driven, Type-A, trial lawyer kinda guy, I presumed that the secret for optimal training was to run more miles every day.

What I discovered was that the training actually had a much different rhythm to it:

there was a mix of short and long runs;
the long runs got progressively longer;
after pushing out the miles, we’d dial back the distance;
then the big surprise: there were days that we didn’t run at all!

Rest days! Imagine that!

And not only that, but I learned that the rest days were integral parts of the training; that you’d get injured if you didn’t rest; that rest and recovery actually helped to build the strength and endurance! That you could run further and faster after you had rested!

That in order to go the distance, you actually needed to stop.

The same is true in business.

Tony Schwartz in his ground-breaking book Be Excellent At Anything, says: “We’re guided by a fatal assumption that the best way to get more done is to work longer and more continuously. But the more hours we work and the longer we go without real renewal, the more we begin to default, reflexively, into behaviors that reduce our own effectiveness – impatience, frustration, distraction, and disengagement.”

We’re designed to “pulse” Schwartz says. “We’re hardwired to make waves – to be alert during the day and to sleep at night, but also to work at high intensity for limited periods of time and then rest and refuel.”

And there’s hard science to back this up! Rest and recovery are as essential for productivity and achievement in business as they are for athletic success.

So if you really want to be a super-achiever: Schedule your vacation this summer… and take it!

(p.s. Oh, by the way: Vacations are away from snail mail, email, voicemail, texts, tweets, links in and other social media updates… otherwise they don’t really count.)

You’ve Been Framed

by Walt | Jun 6, 2013 | Journeys, Success | 2 Comments

“I cursed the fact I had no shoes until I saw the man who had no feet.”
— Persian proverb

Our frames of reference can so distort our vision.

“I have to go to the gym,” my buddy kvetched. This after finding out about a medical condition that will weaken his bones over time.

“No, Sam,” I said, “You get to go to the gym.”

We teach what we most need to learn, of course. I’m as good as a kvetcher as the next guy.

Especially on these hot summer days going out for a run… or “having” to work in the yard.

It’s especially irritating when I “have” to vacuum the pool again.

It’s so easy to forget how very blessed we are.

We get to:

➢ Go grocery shopping;
➢ Work on our health and fitness;
➢ Take care of our homes;
➢ Sit through another elementary school band concert;
➢ Care for our relationships;
➢ Go off to school or work.

There are a billion and a half people in the world who subsist on less than two bucks a day.

A quarter of the world’s population is without access to electricity… so if you’re feeling irritated about last month’s electric bill, take a breath.

I’d like very much to rant about this week’s car repair bill… until I remember that, of the 6.76 billion folks in the world, I can count myself among the lucky 9% who even have a car.

If you’ve had to shell out a few bucks for a plumber lately, you’re actually pretty lucky. Sixty percent of the world’s population has no toilet!

The young daughter of a colleague was hit and killed by a careless driver a few weeks ago. If you’re having an argument with a teenager today, say a silent prayer of thanks.

Joan Didion writes, “Life changes in an instant; in an ordinary instant.”

Don’t miss this instant.

Yes, step up; think bigger, play bigger.

Want more; envision more; strive for more; be more. Don’t settle.

But never lose sight of how you frame the world.

In living for the next moment, a better moment, don’t miss the magic of this moment. This very moment.

The sands slip quickly through the glass.

“Somebody is in the hospital begging God for the opportunity you have right now. Step into your moment,” said Bishop T.D. Jakes.

Yes, step into your moment… and hold it dear.

And next time you find yourself kvetching, as I most surely will before this day is out, why not try on a new frame?

What is this thing that you get to do?

And how wonderful it is that you get to do it!

Who Are You? And What Do You Want?

by Walt | May 30, 2013 | Finding The Way, Success | 1 Comment

What’s one of the very first questions we ask when we meet a child for the first time?

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

And kids know the answer to this question. They want to be doctors or firefighters or police officers or secret agents or astronauts.

When we’re growing up, most of us have a grand vision for our lives: We know what we want to do, who we want to be, where we want to live; we have exciting ideas about where we want to travel and adventure, and how our lives will unfold.

Our imaginations run wild. There are no limits to what might be possible.

Everything is possible.

Until we become ‘domesticated.”

We come out of school and we’re told that we need to settle down… and get a ‘real’ job… you know the one I’m talking about… the one with ‘benefits.’

We start accumulating some debt, we find a partner, a spouse; we buy a house (in a ‘good’ neighborhood… with ‘good’ schools), we get a good, ‘safe’ car like a mini-van or a Volvo; we have 2.2 children; we join the ‘right’ clubs and organizations; and try our damnedest to live that ‘perfect’ life….

We work hard climbing the ladder. (Only we’re never really sure if the ladder is against the wall we really want to climb.)

One day starts looking like the next, the same bloody thing, day after day after day. And pretty soon we start feeling like we’re a “B” character in that old Bill Murray movie Ground Hog Day; or like the guy in that old Dunkin’ Donuts’ commercial who gets up every morning at 2:00 a.m…. you know the one I’m talking about: “Time to make the donuts.”

And eventually there comes that moment when we ask ourselves: Is that all there is?

For many, sadly, that is all there is. Because it requires boldness, courage, tenacity, and an audacious spirit to reclaim the grand vision for our lives that we once held; to answer anew those questions so fundamental to our full humanity:

Who am I? And what do I really want?

I shared some thoughts on this all-important mission recently with a group of business professionals.

Pour yourself a cup of coffee or a glass of wine. Then follow this link to listen in: Who Are You?

I would love to hear your thoughts and would be grateful if you’d leave a comment when you’re done!

Why You Want The Why

by Walt | May 23, 2013 | Leadership, Success | 0 Comments

“I’ve hit a plateau with my sales.”

“Organizing the office space is just too overwhelming.”

“I can’t seem to get the grant proposal done.”

“I just don’t have enough time to finish the book.”

“The weight just won’t come off.”

All of us have places where we seem to hit a wall; where we get stymied; where it seems that we just can’t bust through.

It’s usually because we’re not clear about our “why.”

Angelo was frustrated. Try as he did to bring in more mortgage loan originations, none of his warm leads panned out. It was as if the midas touch he once had had turned to coal.

Angelo was one of my high performance clients. He knew all the success tools; all the strategies. And he knew how to execute; he was someone who took action.

But when I asked him ‘why’ it was that he wanted to boost his numbers, he faltered. He already made a fair amount of money; so it wasn’t just about the comp. He already had a lot of freedom and flexibility; so it wasn’t about the time. He already was pretty senior in the company; so it wasn’t about position or prestige.

So I dug a bit…. It turned out that Angelo had never been able to take his wife on a honeymoon; and despite the passage of nearly a dozen years of marriage and much success, Angelo still wanted to surprise his wife with a trip to Italy. As soon as he focused on this ‘why,’ his numbers soared.

Without the ‘why,’ a task is just a task… yet another item on an endless list of interminable “to dos.”

Take the recyclables to the curb… Check.

Make the cold call… Check.

Stop for milk on the way home… Check.

One no more important than the next.

The list will wear us down. It is the ‘why’ that lights us up.

Our vision, our ‘why,’ is the North Star. It shines in the darkness; it guides us through our desert wastelands.

It is what excites us and sustains us; it is the fuel that drives us forward.

Author and coach Dan Sullivan writes, “Having a purpose that is greater than yourself will give you a constant impetus to strive.”

Simon Sinek says, “Start with why.” “Those who know their why are the ones who lead,” he says. “They are the ones who inspire.”

The most successful people on the planet have a vision of where they’re going… and why they want to get there. Even in the littlest of things.

So dig until you find your ‘why.”

Because when you know your ‘why,’ you will find the how.

And then you are unstoppable.

Book ‘Em, Danno

by Walt | May 16, 2013 | Leadership, Success | 0 Comments

“Book it,” I said, like McGarrett on Hawaii Five-0.

I was working with a young woman who wanted to start speaking in order to promote her business. We had talked about her core message, about the structure of her talk, about her target audiences, and about the offer she would make from the stage.

I told her to email me her outline; that on our next call we would start to flesh out the substance of the talk.

But before she did any of that, I told her: Book the first gig; get it on the calendar.

“Say what?” she said.

You see, folks can learn to become pretty good at goal setting. If you’ve been down the personal and professional development road at all, you’ve probably done some vision boarding and mind-mapping. And most folks, when they stop long enough, can get clear on their outcomes.

So why are so many dreams left undone?

Because so many of us fail to ever start out toward them.

Getting going is the challenge.

You may not have reflected on this too deeply: But inertia is a horrible law. Immutable. Kinda like gravity. And like gravity, it can serve up some pretty harsh lessons.

If you don’t start, nothing happens.

One surefire strategy for overcoming inertia is this: Make it inevitable.

• If you want to start to speak, book a talk.

• If you want to go to Florence, buy the ticket.

• If you want to get in shape, hire the trainer.

• If you want to learn a language, sign up for the course.

Make an announcement. Send out the press release.

Pull the trigger. Get it on the calendar. Set it in concrete.

When I first got the idea of running an ultra-marathon, I found a race and registered for it. Then I told everyone I met on the street that I was running this way cool race. Then I bought a training manual. And then I started to train. (Wow, you’re thinking, that’s pretty upsetting…definitely want to avoid this dude as a coach.)

I remember thinking about the process of planning the outline for developing the overview in preparation for the drafting of the structure for my first public talk… yeah kinda like that… until my own coach made me make the call and book the gig. It scared me shitless. But there was nothing quite like that glaring, looming, ever approaching date to drive momentum.

Inertia no more.

So whatever it is you’ve been thinking about doing, wanting to do: Make it inevitable.

There is magic in the starting.