Hello, I’m Coach Tony… Welcome to Operation Melt!
My name is Coach Tony, and I am a coach, author and project manager on a mission. I am working to build a world where no goal ever dies of loneliness.
I almost allowed one of my biggest life goals to die without ever being attempted for forty years. My goal almost died, not of failure but of loneliness. But, I took a risk and leveraged a simple, logical process that helped me wildly exceed my goal.
I transformed my life, and you can do the same with the help of Operation Melt.
Operation Melt provides engaging, practical content and hands-on coaching to inspire, motivate and equip project managers and other left-brained high-achievers to pursue and accomplish their biggest goals.
Got Goals?
Do you have dreams that you are trying to make come true? Do you have a goal that you are trying to crush? Success doesn’t happen by chance. Success is a series of choices that can make you unstoppable. Goal Success by Choice helps you make these choices to move you closer to your goals.
This blog is my gift to you. I hope that it helps you choose to be successful and bring your goal to life. Are you ready to help build a world where no goal dies of loneliness?
Amuse Bouche
Before we get to today’s post, I offer you this light “amuse-bouche” to entertain your mind before we get down to business. Like any other amuse-bouche, you may hate my “dad joke,” but it is worth every penny that you paid for it, right?
Have you ever tried blindfolded archery? You don’t know what you’re missing!
Wanna Feel Better? Take a Minute to Celebrate Success!
The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude.
Oprah Winfrey
Have you ever had one of those days? The days when you seem to wake up on the wrong side of the bed. You seem to face setbacks at every turn and can’t even buy a win?
Of course, we all have days that just feel off. It is part of being a person.
You aren’t helpless when you are in a funk, and everything seems to be going wrong. Yes, you could just accept it and go with your natural autopilot tendency to wallow in your problems. Or, you can conquer those default behaviors and take a disciplined approach to reset your attitude (see Discipline Not Default).
If you are ready to take control, it is time to unlock the Mind Control Powers I have written about in the past. Yes, you have the power to change your brain; with a bit of trial and error, you can find the approaches that work best for you. What are the things that help you pivot your focus?
When trying to reset your brain to escape those days, a helpful technique is to spend some time celebrating success.
Celebrate Good Times, Come On!
Ok, I know what you might be saying, “Wait, what?! Celebrate success?! I am struggling to make anything successful today. How can I possibly celebrate?!”
I get it, but let’s look beyond today’s situation. Instead, let’s look at how far you have come and the successes that have led you to today.
As I previously quoted, The Gap And The Gain explains that high-achievers tend to look more at what they haven’t done yet instead of their progress. I’ll hand the explanation over to Dan Sullivan.
Most people, especially highly ambitious people, are unhappy because of what they measure themselves against. We all have an ideal, which is like a moving target always out of reach. When we measure ourselves against our ideal, we’re in “The Gap.” However, when we measure ourselves against our previous selves — the person we were when we set our goals and ideals — we will be in “The Gain.” In “The Gain” we can more clearly see the progress we’ve made, and therefore will experience the happiness, confidence, and satisfaction that come from achieving—positive, powerful emotions that will motivate us to pursue new goals and ultimately become increasingly successful.
If you are in the midst of one of those days where you aren’t feeling successful, you are likely evaluating your day based on the gap, not the gain. By shifting your focus to the gain and looking at all that you have already accomplished, you can put today’s challenges in perspective.
Your Highlight Reel
To insulate yourself from feeling the funk of those days, spend some time creating your personal highlight reel.
For athletes, a highlight reel is a curation of video clips presenting their game footage that best highlights their talent and skill. These videos are used as a resume of sorts to demonstrate what that athlete is capable of and has already achieved.
While you may not be an athlete in the traditional sports sense, you are an athlete in your own life. While your highlight reel may be a little different, it is just as important of a tool. By creating a personal highlight reel that summarizes your previous successes, you’ll have a reference to look back upon when you need to pivot yourself back to the gain.
You can start your highlight reel right now… grab a notebook and a pen (or your favorite digital notetaking app) and start writing.
What are your proudest accomplishments in your life?
What are your big wins?
What are those things that you have achieved that best show your capabilities?
What are your entries on the “I can do hard things” resume?
Start writing things on your highlight reel today and keep adding as you remember additional personal highlights. Then, as you create new highlights, make sure you add them to the list. Once you get started, I bet you’ll find more than you expect.
Anytime you start to feel one of those days coming on, read a few items from your highlight reel. You are really a badass, right?
Not All About You
While the highlight reel and celebrating my own past successes is rewarding, it isn’t always my favorite tool to chase away those days. When I want to refocus my brain on celebrating wins, I much prefer making the celebration not about me at all. The more rewarding approach is to spend time celebrating someone else’s achievement with them.
When a friend, colleague, or even a stranger has a win, let them know they are seen. Try to connect with them in person for a high-five or celebratory drink or coffee. If meeting in person isn’t feasible, at least send them a note (email, text, social media) to congratulate them on their big accomplishment.
Helping someone else feel seen and celebrate their wins is a surefire way to turn around a difficult day.
Great Job!
I have the added benefit of having a blog at my disposal, so I get to celebrate other people’s wins in a more visible forum. I plan to maintain confidentiality, so names have been removed, and details have been kept intentionally vague. Still, I want to congratulate a few people who I couldn’t be prouder of for their recent accomplishments.
- A friend and client who rediscovered her self-confidence and is using it to grow her business, whose brand embodies her own inspirational story.
- A client who made a brave and uncomfortable decision to fix something holding her back is now feeling better than she has in years.
- A client who decided to deliberately approach defining new goals for a new chapter of his life and is making amazing progress with creating his updated life plan.
- A friend who took a risk and started a new job and now feels welcome, valued and respected in a way she hasn’t in years.
- A client/mentee who worked hard to figure out what she wanted for the next step in her career and just started a new position at her company. Now she can cross two major goals off her list in just a few months.
- A friend/client who is taking her passion and hobby to the next level and has just launched her own business.
- A friend/client/mentee who is learning to set the boundaries that are key to her growth and happiness.
- A friend who always works so hard to deliver the most value to her clients and recently started a new role working on something she believes in.
- My wife who works hard to do work that makes the world a better place!
To all of these people, you know who you are; I am so proud of you for your hard work and dedication to get where you are. You are killing it, and I hope you are writing these things down for your highlight reel.
So What?
We all face those occasional crappy days when it feels like nothing is going right, and we can’t even buy a win. Being prepared for these days can make all of the difference. One strategy that can help you overcome the funk of these bad days is celebrating past wins, which doesn’t just mean you own!
Need a partner to help you pivot from a string of bad days into a life focused on a plan? It sounds like it’s time to call Coach Tony! Click Here to learn more about my Operation Melt coaching services.
Before you go… please consider purchasing one of my books to help you achieve your goals.
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