Working Lunch with Jack Bergstrom

Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind. ~Seneca

It was time to move from Colorado. I had felt it in my bones that it was time to leave for nearly a year. We had originally moved back to Colorado to support my older daughter Erika while she was in college and she had graduated with honors and moved on herself in May 2007. So it was time. Nothing wrong with Colorado; I had just lived there too long.

I had gone to college in Colorado and when I left I had no intention of returning. My daughter’s decision to attend college in Colorado combined with her homesickness had brought me back and I was glad to do that. Now it was time, past time really, to leave. Still I had to make sure that it made sense when I moved and it had taken me nearly a year to do that.

My wife and younger daughter and I have many many possessions and we got the opportunity to review them all in great detail while packing them up. My book collection alone numbers in the many thousands of volumes and they all made the trip with me. Read the rest of this entry »

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. ~Albert Schweitzer

I was invited to speak recently at the University of Colorado on career issues - really the speech was about career mastery.  It was a fun opportunity for me to speak here as I had graduated from CU Boulder and it felt somehow appropriate that my final speech in Colorado before I left the state for good be a speech at CU.

I generally check out the venues where I will be speaking ahead of of time, when possible, and I had that opportunity this time.  I was speaking in one of the large classrooms in the Duane Physics building and I took these photos there before the seminar began.  It was a really poignant moment for me.  I took some time and wandered the campus and remembered lots of great things about my time there.  It felt somehow like another graduation and commencement to me.  Thanks for the memories CU!

Till next time…Jack

Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can. ~Richard Bach

Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see. ~John W. Whitehead

We had a farewell party for my 5 year old daughter last Saturday. It was a hoot! So why the party? My wife, myself and our 5 year old daughter are moving from Colorado to parts currently unknown. It’s exciting!

As part of getting ready to go we had this party for Mary Esther. She will not be in Colorado for her 6th birthday, she will actually be in the Philippines at that time, and we wanted her to have a celebration with her friends from kindergarten and daycare. We were fortunate to be able to hire Tim Murray from A Simple Twist to perform and entertain the kids. He was wonderful. He does much more than entertain at parties! If you are looking for a great corporate training or a unique and memorable event for your employees, consider Tim. You can find out more about him at www.asimpletwist.com. And now for some fun photos!

Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man. ~Rabindranath Tagore

“The secret of joy in work is contained in one word - excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.” ~Pearl Buck

How many books did you read last year in your area of expertise? If you are a male reading this, odds are that you read between zero and one. If you are a woman reading this entry, odds are that you read between one and two books last year directly relating to your field of expertise. So what does this mean? (Other than the fact that women generally know more than men and I don’t think that is any real revelation!)

It means you need to start to read! I don’t remember the exact statistics anymore, but this will be very close: Read the rest of this entry »

“Life is like a dog sled team.  If you ain’t the lead dog, the scenery never changes.”  ~Lewis Grizzard

How would it improve your business and your life if you were considered to be one of absolute “experts” in your field?  Let me ask that another way: If you were a known and acknowledged expert in some field, what would be the positive results of achieving that status?  I expect you can think of lots of great results.  I know I have experienced lots of magic in my life, business and otherwise, from my expertise in coaching and consulting.  So what would it be like to be a known and acknowledged expert?  There are 3 components to my question and the results that are waiting for you.

1) Becoming and expert    2) being acknowledged as an expert by others    3) being “known” as an expert

Today I am going to talk about becoming that expert.  Read the rest of this entry »

“God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it’s me.”  ~Author Unknown

I was thinking today about change.  My work mostly involves helping people to change some, or sometimes many, aspects of their lives.  It is often easier for me to help someone else to change than it is for me to help myself to change.  That may not be completely accurate - let me say this instead: “It is always easier to help someone else to change than it is to help myself to change.  Even with all that I know, and the many thousands of successful coaching sessions that I have conducted, I consistently have difficulty in making major changes for myself and by myself.  That is why I am such a big believer in coaching.  I think virtually all the people that I know have the same issue - it is usually far easier to help someone else than it is to help yourself.

I was also thinking about the easiest way to change and I believe that the answer there is focus.  If you focus your energy on just one thing, changing for the better just one thing at a time, I think you are virtually assured of success (as long as you have a coach to help you).  What should that one thing be?  I know for me there are many things that it would serve me to change about myself.  Here is how I choose: What is the one thing that I could change it, about myself or my emotional responses, or my habits, or my income, or anything else, that would make the biggest difference in my life?

For me, for 2008, the answer is my health.  I needed to change my health more than anything else and I knew that this would make the biggest difference.  So I have focused on it.  I have a coach working with me on it and I am not investing significant energy in changing other aspects of myself until this is complete.  The results?  So far this year, in just under 2 months I have lost 4o lbs. of bodyfat.  For me, that is exciting.  I can see and feel the difference and it has happened because I have focused my energy, my intention around this change and I have a coach working with me to make sure that I stay on track.

So, what is the change that would make the biggest difference for you?

Till next time…Jack

“It is not necessary to change.  Survival is not mandatory.”  ~W. Edwards Deming 

“The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at a time.” ~Sydney Smiles

I am going to assume that you have read the other 6 entries in this series.  If you haven’t then go back and read them.  So, you have your folders.  Your desktops, virtual and real, are cleaned and ready for just one thing at a time.  People, you, me, anybody, has power when they focus on just one thing at a time.

Now, how to begin.  You begin a project with a capture.  You write down all of the steps, as you currently understand them, to get the project done.  You do not worry about how you will accomplish those steps.  That comes later.  You do not worry about flowcharting and critical paths and resource allocation.  All of those things come later as well.  You just write down…capture…all of the ideas that come to you about this project.  Assume that you will find all of the answers and just capture the pieces that will someday and someway need to be handled.

Additionally, Read the rest of this entry »

“I may not be there yet, but I’m closer than I was yesterday.”  ~Author Unknown

I was thinking about motivation today. I was thinking about why I do the things that I do and what keeps me going; I was especially thinking about what keeps me going when things get tough. I do have many very useful beliefs about what things mean and these beliefs certainly help me, but there is quite a bit more going on than that. Many years ago I was introduced to the idea of keeping a dreams book. Basically this is book where you put pictures and ideas about the life you are going to build; pictures and ideas about the things that you want to create and the things that you want to experience. I have been keeping my dreams book now, stuffed full of pictures and ideas, for nearly 30 years and it has made a difference; it has made a big difference.

I will talk in detail about how to create a dreams book in another entry and I will also talk about why a dreams book works and how to use it. For tonight though, I was trying to think about what single image, what single picture that I could find, gave me the greatest motivation. And here it is: Read the rest of this entry »

“I have learned, that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” ~Henry David Thoreau

I am finally launching my newsletter and I am very excited about it! I needed to wait until I had a number of other pieces in place and now that they are, or will be within just a few more days, I can proceed. I can’t wait! I have been studying email newsletters for over a year now, part time of course, and having a newsletter is such a great tool for so many things. After I get mine launched, then I will start to go over in detail what I am doing with my newsletter and why you might want to do the same.

Within a day or so I will have a signup button on my blog for joining my email newsletter distribution list. If you are serious about making your dreams become your everyday reality, subscribe. You have my promise that I will help you to do that very thing. Question: “Haven’t Your Dreams Waited Long Enough?”

Till next time…Jack

“Most of us serve our ideals by fits and starts. The person who makes a success of living is one who sees his goal steadily and aims for it unswervingly. That’s dedication.” ~Cecil B. DeMille

“All my best thoughts were stolen by the ancients.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Everyone performs better, achieves more, with less stress, when they focus on one thing at a time. You can quote me on that!

I thought I would show some pictures of my desktop and my computer desktop and the top five folders on my computer desktop and the top 5 folders and holder on my side desk. I am not showing these to impress you with how clean I can keep my desk. I am showing you these to inspire you to make some changes, if you need to.

I have never seen a messy desk and a messy computer desktop without there also being a price paid by the person that keeps it that way. Never. Let me say that again…Never! If your desk and desktop are cluttered and full of stuff, Read the rest of this entry »