Ron Alford, Executive Coach, Certified Trainer, Keynote Speaker, and Senior Partner with Southwestern Consulting, dives into a few of the principles found in his newly revised edition of "Redefining Possible", including creating impact, forming your vision, breaking belief barriers, identifying truth vs. lies, and organizing your time.Hear Ron's full interview in Episode 463 of The Action Catalyst.
More recently through COVID and in these last few years, what are some lessons that you've taken back and thought about the work that you wrote in Redefining Possible and new applications, new inspirations that you've had?
Yeah, man, I love the question. I think for every listener, for each of us, like I really am more and more convicted on the seasons of life. You know, it's crazy how I could have spoken with you six months ago on some of these concepts and today be in a totally different frame of mind. For listeners that are familiar with the book, the overriding theme is impact. And you cannot grow older.
You can't go through things and not think about what is my legacy? What does significance really mean? We all know the dollars don't equal the joy. And yet it's still so easy to fall into that trap of whether it's more money, a new title at work, a better race time in my running or whatever the carrot is, is going to bring that joy.
Yet you and I both know, man, it just, the thing that's really going to fill that cup is the difference I believe I'm making in the lives of others. I think I could have known that maybe a few years ago, but I feel like I'm in a season now where it's like that is it. That is the metal. That is the thing that we're going after. And so if I believe that, then what am I doing in my life?
What are my morning routines? What are my habits? Who's holding me accountable to where I can get the best out of what I've been given?
Of some of the principles that you bring up, redefining possible, what's another one, I guess, that you're really have been focused on here over the last year or two?
I'm really into focus because I think when you're juggling things, think of the wheel, the spokes of the wheel, right? I've got my spiritual goals. Like for me... My faith is the beginning and the end, right? It's the center. Obviously my role as a husband, my role as a dad, my role, my business role, you know, with internal clients, all of our coaches and company, external clients.
So you have all these things on your plate that I've chosen. So that's the ownership piece. This isn't a, oh my gosh, look at all this is like, thank goodness I made these choices. So I'm fully owning it. But the focus piece is big. And just even as I talk to you, looking down, making sure my phone is upside down. There's no lighting. There's no notifications.
Y'all, my computer screen, man, no way would there be a notification pop up that would somehow take a little bit of my momentum or my inertia or my focus away from our conversation. Just the blinders. I'm more and more and more fascinated with that concept. And I love studying it with people.
I always get in a place where I question whether I'll still think what I'm putting down is important. You now have this perspective, I guess, coming back and adding some highlights to the book. When you wrote it, I guess, how did you know that this was going to be something that you'd read again five years later and go, oh, yes, I still believe these things. It's still important to me.
Yeah, I think just anything that's principles, like to me, trends come and go, right? Fads come and go. 30-day diets and clothing styles. I have a lot of old pictures of clothes that sure are not in style, right? But principles are just, they're the rock.
I really believe the character traits that I want to be known for, the character traits that I wanted this book to be about and the principles I wanted to be centered on and really the principles that represent Southwestern. This isn't my book. I worked hard to put a lot into it, but this is stuff that thankfully Southwestern has given me over 30 years.
And so that was really important as well, is that making sure anything we really dove into was things that were going to last. Things like vision, right? Having a purpose for one's life is not a come and go topic. It's been since the beginning of time and will always be, right? Things like belief systems and really rewiring thoughts and being hyper aware of the thoughts running through my head.
And how do I reframe beliefs and not let my story go into a negative way? Those are principles that are going to be truths, right? I call them truths versus lies. I unfortunately, like any human, pick up on a lie frequently and my mind starts doubting and doubting.
feeling blame and feeling worry and anxiety and but these are truths that bring my mind back to center i love that yeah then and then we just wanted a fun mix of you know some personal stories of course and examples and but then a lot of his history right we learn from history so a lot of historical whether it's data and studies and and actual case studies but but history that kind of backs up a lot of these principles of how important they are to our lives
A hundred percent. Yeah. I love that. Who did you write this book for? Who are the people that are going to pick this up, read it and go, gosh, that's exactly what I needed.
Well, clients were top of mind through a lot of this. And a lot of them are in sales. A lot of them are in leadership. Some of them lead small teams. Some of them lead companies. But at the end of the day, there are people that struggle with time. How do I plan my time more effectively? How do I manage my time more effectively? How do I have boundaries?
And there are people that struggle with the emotional side of being people pleasers or being control freaks. Just because you've got a brilliant resume and all these accolades and all these certifications doesn't mean you don't get humbled daily. We'll put it that way.
And again, stuff that people can use, not just in the boardroom, but things they could use when they go home with their own children or when they have their own routines or their own quiet time where they're wrestling with their thoughts. So that was who it was written for.