The Working Ant

What comes through habit, seems completely natural. If we tell ourselves something over and over again, it probably may start sounding more true even if at first we called it into question. So why rationalize instead of accept a reality, even if temporary? It's hard to see the truth of our situations, but harder to accept it.  Our quest to grow and progress is marred with temporary appeals an...

"He who is self absorbed may temporarily protect himself in his mental castle of preserved self image, letting no one near his sphere to penetrate influence - but when exposed to the ocean of abundant possibilities and alternative thought, the barriers of the mental castle become nothing more than sand washed away by water." The Working Ant. The mental barriers of your fortified mind may appear to...

Our "Undisturbed Inner Voice" (UIV) exists in each and everyone of us.  It may surface, but only when called on, only when asked to deliberately be activated.  Like any mental muscle that is rarely ever flexed, it is difficult to really understand and utilize our UIV when in reality, the progression of our career is so dependent on it.  That's in this week's episode of the Working A...

"If you are irritated by every rub, how will you be polished?" Rumi.  In this bonus episode of the Working Ant, let's combine what we know and do not know (and choose to ignore) in order to achieve our goals.  When we're in this mindset, this aloofness and innocence breeds the mental bridge between what are just mere retained facts to true learning. We'll do this through self-revelation...

You have just one boss, but your boss has many direct reports.  You have infrequent scheduled 1-1's with your boss, but your boss has several 1-1's with his directs each day.  Such limited interactions on our side, and such an abundance of interactions on our leader's side means we must be more deliberate and intentional about these very infrequent conversations - our career progression...

“ Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself .” Marcus Aurelius.  When we think about building relationships at work, we often don't think about the future, we think about the now.  How can this person accelerate my career today vs. how can I grow with this person to partner with for an unknown opportunity tomorrow. Will this person remember me more for the quality of my work, or t...

"Constant misfortune brings this one blessing:  to whom it always assails, it eventually fortifies." Seneca As we progress in our careers, many of us find ourselves inevitably in leadership positions commensurate with our hard earned experience.  Naturally, we become better at solutioning while directing others from our team to solve.   Yet when we've reached the precise level...

“You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can't control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone.” Marcus Aurelius.  Give an opinion swiftly and you turn out to be right, you'll be praised.  Give an opinion too fast and you're wrong, you'll be thought of unfavorably, the "pe...

Understand that people's deepest desires are not only to be appreciated, but to be understood. The faster you can get past the formalities of the fortifications of the facade in front of you, the more opportunities you'll have for reaching the outcome you're often yearning for.   Use your ears, eyes, and focus much more than just what comes out of someone's mouth.  That's in this week's...

"In your actions, don’t procrastinate. In your conversations, don’t confuse. In your thoughts, don’t wander. In your soul, don’t be passive or aggressive. In your life, don’t be all about business.” – Marcus Aurelius In one of my most compelling coaching sessions yet, learn how to become a supply and demand epicenter connector.  Making this a priority for yourself will elevate you to professi...

What are you focusing on today? What will the goal you have your mind fixated on, mean to you once you've achieved it?  These two questions seem quite obvious, but a third more critical question is where we spend most of our time: What are you going to be doing about achieving your goals?  This of course means your actions! If you choose to measure something as a metric of success, won't...

Your words shape your reality. Your reality is shaped by your words. To succeed in elevating yourself to new heights, you must understand the significance of the words you choose, the analogies you use to avoid misspeaking and losing out on opportunity in your journey. Acquiring knowledge and experience over the course of your career is not enough. Language is the key - that's in this week's episo...

Make no mistake about it, you are an emotion in human form - an idea, a thought, a truth. Take the ultimate perception you want others to have of yourself and create it from within! Let me coach you on how to manage the perception you want others to have of you in your next meeting, formal conversation, and interview. That's in this week's episode of The Working Ant.

Want to appear as if you were naturally gifted at your craft? Did you ever consider not sharing how long it took you to complete an assignment instead of communicate how hard you worked to achieve your goals? In this week's episode of "The Working Ant," I'll coach you on rethinking your strategy when it comes to your perception, impression, and association both in the workplace and in your next pi...

Perhaps it's your language, the sound of your tone, your personability, or your approach altogether that needs some fine-tuning. In this week's episode of "The Working Ant," I'm going to coach you on how to become more accessible to those you'd like to target and hear back from. Become more accessible, by appearing more approachable!

In every transaction, persuasion of some form is the primary driver. No action is ever possible without it. Let me, your Host and Coach show you how to master your next interview or pitch by focusing on the elements, not the outcome - The Alchemy of Persuasion. Get to a YES faster than you thought possible. That's in this week's episode of The Working Ant.

Imagine you could view Time purely as an emotion. What would that do for you? Would you generate it more often if you needed it? Time can feel fixed or infinite. It can also feel limited or managed. As we get the wheels moving in 2021, let's use time as an ally in pursuit of our goals.  In this week's episode of The Working Ant, I'll talk through how time, if accepted as an emotion, will imme...

You push. You sacrifice. You strive to get ahead. "The only way up is by taking action," they say.  Ah, your rigorous and noble pursuit for better days ahead! All this action can be your biggest distraction - apply here, reach out there, create a use-case here and try to get on someone's schedule there. Don't take a spray and pray approach - take a deliberate and intentional approach! I'll co...

Endless possibilities await at the gates of your mind, ready to flood it with fantasies and alternate realities of yourself.  It seems so crystal clear - what you need to do, how things must be different this time around, and the actions you will partake in to make it so.  Soon, with interruptions of obligations you'll find yourself against an uphill battle again.  In this episode o...

Thank you for making The Working Ant such a resounding (and early) success in 2020.   Just a short message of love and support from your Host and Coach.

Just like you only see one side of the moon at night, you too only show one side of yourself at work. And so, it's no surprise that others only show their deliberate (or best) versions of themselves to you as well.   Your ability to influence others must then be somewhat equivalent to your ability to  understand others.  In this episode of The Working Ant, I'm going to coach yo...

Certainty breeds an ego that appears strong and enduring, but at its core, is fragile and often false.  While it may appear that certainty is rewarded, in the long term, it falls flat when called out or questioned - it breeds ignorance, quells debate and innovation, but most importantly, it'll probably keep you an individual contributor for life. Let me coach you on how to transition from a "...

Like a Honeybee that lost its sting, a lizard who lost its tale, as we mature in our professional careers, our emotion expressions are more prone to tone down, even become stale. Most of us confuse this with emotional maturity, but the reality is that our inability to experience emotions (and express them) prevents us from capitalizing on professional opportunity, when ironically its precisely tha...

More than your skill set and your expertise, your Social Capital is the truest and surest gateway to your success. If you don't have it, let me teach you how to create. If you think you have it, let me coach you exactly how to expertly (and authentically) utilize it in today's digital world. That's in this week's episode of The Working Ant!

“He shows a greater mind who does not restrain his laughter, than he who does not deny his tears.” Seneca.  Rarely would you get a statement more powerful than that. Why so serious? Don't take for granted the power of associating yourself with positivity and humor.  In this ever so serious world, it's not the smartest person that wins but the person who associates himself favorably with...