Freedom Personal Development Blog » peak performance

Working Smarter AND Harder (plus words of wisdom from Will Smith)

Eric Plantenberg — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 11:00:38 +0000

Understanding the role that your talents and skills play in your career is foundational for your personal improvement.

In the realm of personal development, there is an incredible focus on working smarter not harder. While that is a concept that I have found incredibly valuable in countless scenarios in the past 20 years, I believe that it is only half of the equation.

What many people who are �selling� the work smarter not harder ideology omit is that the AND principle can be found at the core of almost every Elite performance. What I mean by that Read More...

Finding the Path of Success

Tom Weber — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 11:00:06 +0000

For a moment, I�d like you to imagine that you are in a deep dark tropical jungle and you are completely lost. You are not quite sure which way is North, South, East or West. You can�t see the sun because the tree canopy above is so thick, which also means that you can�t see any of the mountains that you have been trying to find.

Suddenly, in the distance you hear a small group of friendly voices and the sounds of machetes chopping through the thick undergrowth. Like any smart adventurer you head towards the sounds of those voices, hoping that they will be able to point you in the right direction or let you join them.

Unfortunately, as you don�t have a machete it is slow going for you get to where those voices Read More...

What is Excellence?

Leah Simpson — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:09:06 +0000

What does excellence mean to you? Before you continue reading, jot your definition down.

A lot of times I ask that question in the interview process and I am amazed with the answers I get. Many times people think excellence is trying hard, but we can all think of examples where people have tried hard and have fallen far short of excellence. People also mention being the best.

Excellence is one of our Core Values at Freedom Personal Development. We define it as raising the level of what is considered to be as success. It is a high standard to strive for because, when you become successful, it is no Read More...

Performance Check Up (and a crazy guy movie)

Tom Weber — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 11:00:55 +0000

So, I was amusing myself�yesterday on my drive home from�a sales call�(I was up at 5:00 to get there on time which will explain the following�wackiness) and I was contemplating what would be the components of the ultimate “guy” movie. (Trust me, I will tie this all together in the end.)�

I found the components easy to list: Ninjas,�a bank heist, monkeys, Clint Eastwood, the cast of Monty Python, Eddie Murphy (Beverly Hills Cop Eddie, not Dr. Doolittle Eddie), KIT from Nightrider, Teen Wolf, the cast of Oceans 11, a motorcycle gang with mullets, pirates, Mickey Rooney, Alec Baldwin, and Spuds McKenzie, with the Soundtrack written and performed by Metallica and 2PAC Read More...

Performing Confidently and Getting Results

Leah Simpson — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 11:00:51 +0000

There seems to be a polarization of emotions these days about the results�people are getting.��Some people are feeling awesome with how the year is going, and others are feeling…well, crappy. There isn’t much in between.�

Let’s learn from those who are feeling great. And if you’re on of those people, please keep reading because:

1. you can post great comments for everyone, and

2. if you don’t keep doing these things, you won’t be feeling great for very long!

People that are achieving the results they wanted to see, and are on track to hit their goals, are doing four things very well and doing them consistently.� They are:

1.� Read More...

Inspriring Story of Excellence – #1 Hawkeyes Striving to Do Better

Tom Weber — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 11:00:10 +0000

This is a news article that I read about the current Number 1 Ranked Wrestling Team in the U.S. It happens to be the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, but the story and quotes aren’t really about wrestling, they are about winning and excellence.

I thought it was a great story about uping your game even when things are going well. I found it inspiring. Just imagine when they talk about beating their opponent that they are talking about mediocrity or complacency or about your comfort zone.

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Hawkeyes glad to be winning, but … They know they can do better
Read More...