One Saturday, back in March, Jeff Herring, Felicia Slattery and I were Tweeting back and forth about writing 100 articles in 100 days. Very quickly others started joining us on our challenge, and I mean a lot of other people. Within a short period of time it seemed like we had struck a cord with people and the challenge was on.

At this point I have to give credit to original 100 articles in 100 days challenger – Connie Ragen Green. Back in 2007 Connie decided to challenge herself, and kick started her article writing on Ezine Articles. So, she set out to write 100 articles in 100 days and submit them to EzineArticles. Unfortunately, Connie didn’t write 100 articles in 100 days… she only took 78 days to get it done.

It was her story that inspired me to challenge myself to start writing. I used Connie’s story as motivation to keep me on track as it helped to give me the confidence to see this through to the finish.

However I knew to get all the way to the end I would need to do more than sitting down and busting out articles everyday. I realized I would need to take 5 steps if I expected to complete this goal.

Here are the 5 steps you can use to help reach your own goal of writing 100 articles in 100 days:

1. Write down your goal, with a deadline – This was simple: my goal was to write 100 articles in 100 days. It is critical to put your goal in writing with a deadline. The deadline is a great motivator against procrastination.

2. Make your goal public – This is the key to accountability. You need to let others know about what you plan to do. And the more people you tell the better. Go out and find the highest rooftop, and shout it at the top of your lungs.

3. Set up milestones – How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. OK, that’s an old joke. However, it holds true for any large goal. You need to break it down to small manageable parts.

4. Reward yourself – When you reach your milestones and final goal give yourself a reward. Don’t just have a reward for reaching your goal, give yourself a reward for reaching each milestone. This will serve as extra motivation along the way.

5. Get support – One of the best ways to maintain your motivation is with a support network. Get others around you who understand and support your goal.  The best support any one could find to help is to join others who are also trying to reach the same goal.

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After completing the 100 Articles In 100 Days Marathon Challenge, I realized there were a few lessons I had learned along the way. These lessons were in fact some of the primary reasons I was successful. Below are they are listed and why I think they worked in helping me reach my article writing goals:

1. Just Do It – I was afraid to start this challenge because I didn’t think I could write 100 articles… let alone do it in 100 days. I mean who was I fooling, I had only 13 live articles.

But, then I figured… what the H E double tooth picks – What was the worst that could happen? I could join and do nothing, and would be no further along than if I didn’t join… Nothing lost, noting gained. I could join and write 15, 20 or 25 articles. Basically I would double or even triple the amount of live articles… Imagine, doubling or tripling your results in 100 days. Or, I could join and actually finish the the marathon challenge. It had occurred to me there was no downside to this challenge.

2. Stay on Target – Over the course of 100 days it was so easy to get distracted by other opportunities. There are a lot of shiny new things out there to draw your attention away from your goals. In fact, it happened to me a couple of times.

3. Push through obstacles – Any goal worth achieving will be littered with obstacles. And the bigger the goal, the more obstacles you will run into. Also you will find each person’s obstacles are going to be unique to them.

For me, my biggest obstacles was waiting for account upgrades. It would take several days to a week or more to get upgraded to the next level. Now, during this time I couldn’t publish any new articles. I just had to wait. I realized I was falling behind as each day passed while waiting.

So, instead of sitting on my hands and doing nothing I just kept writing articles and saving them in the draft folder at EzineArticles. This way when I was approved and upgraded to the next level, I would have be ready to submit the saved articles. This allowed me to keep writing on a daily basis, and kept me on track.

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In 2011 I will be running 365 Half Marathons in 52 different Cities, in the hope to raise my target of £100,000 for ‘The MS Society’, which is the UK’s largest charity for people affected by multiple sclerosis (MS).

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common disabling neurological condition affecting young adults. Around 100,000 people in the UK alone have MS.

Please support me in anyway you can in the biggest challenge of my life !

I am not a famous athlete or a movie star ! I don’t own a big fancy house and I definitely do not drive a flash car. I am an average guy who has become another victim of this down economy, and decided not to go back to the Corporate world of Sales and Marketing.

I lost my job due to cut backs and have decided to combine my education, career experience and personality to promote local businesses online and through Social Media.

Not only do I want to do something that I enjoy, and that I am good at, I wanted to achieve something that makes a difference and has an impact on peoples lives.

Throughout my whole life I have seen what impact Multiple Sclerosis has on peoples lives, both to the person who suffers with the disorder, and to the loved ones of that person. My Dad suffers withMultiple Sclerosis (MS for short), and the ‘MS Society’ is very close to my heart.

My aim in 2011 is to run 365 Half Marathons in 52 Cities and raise as much money for ‘The MS Society’ as possible.

Along the way, through Social Media, I will be connecting amazing brands and businesses with people who are following my progress every day; using innovative, unique and cost effective campaigns, contests and giveaways to bring new traffic to their websites and increase profits.

If you or your company would like to get involved, please feel free to contact me, to find out what advertising is available for your very generous donations.

Running Half Marathons For Charity Challenge – 2011 – UK

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I’m sure you either saw or heard about the Men’s Marathon just prior to the close of the Olympics that took place in Athens. Like many, I watched the Brazilian runner, Vanderlei de Lima, in awe as he lead the group toward the end of the race, prior to being approached/ attacked/ interrupted by the disgruntled spectator attempting to make a political statement. Perhaps you’ve completed a marathon or two or may consider it in the future. I have undertaken the challenge a couple of times, and have always enjoyed training for it. Achieving your Leadership and Organizational objectives is like training for a marathon.

Below are 10 tips to stimulate your leadership thinking and the thinking of those that you coach.

1) Desire/ Passion needed!! I was asked to complete a marathon several years ago but didn’t have the desire. Desire to grow, change or develop is essential.
For Your Leadership: Have you been planning and working on developmental areas that are most desirable for you (and your leadership)?
For Coaching your team members: Do you know and tap into their desire/ passion areas within the job?
Tip: Ask coaching questions to understand and stimulate.– i.e. What areas of stretch/ development would you like to focus on? What would you want to achieve on the job that would result in huge personal satisfaction (and contribute to organizational performance)?

2) Keep Goal Focused. When training for a marathon, you need to know your desired finish time and milestone times along the way.
For Your Leadership: On a scale of 1-10 how have you been in setting and working on your own managerial and developmental goals? Are you satisfied with your progress? What can you do this week to enhance that ?
For Coaching your team members: Are your team members clear on objectives (departmental and individual)?
Tip: Building on questions asked in #1, ask “What would you need to do to achieve that?”

3) Strategize to Overcome Obstacles. While running, many obstacles are encountered – rain, heat, bugs, extended hills, etc… Learn from them and grow from them.
Find ways to combat obstacles or minimize their impact – and persevere. I have learned that taking Advil before my long run helps me to overcome muscle fatigue. As my friend Brian Tracy says, “obstacles come to instruct, not to obstruct.”
For Your Leadership: When was the last time you did a personal (not organizational) SWOT analysis (listing your Leadership Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats, then actions) in light of your goals? What is your biggest leadership obstacle now? What are 3 possible obstacles you need to overcome or minimize?
For Coaching your team members: Once there is clarity of a goal(s), help them to identify and overcome obstacles. Do not allow them to grow their focus on obstacles. Ensure that you assist them to become solution focused.
Tip: When they raise obstacles, ask: “What do you think you do about that? How would you suggest we resolve that? In meetings, take common challenges/ obstacles and have small groups (4-7) brainstorm possible solutions to a problem. Focus on quantity of ideas first (i.e. list 15-20), then select the top 3 to implement.

4) Patience to Take it a Step at a Time. In order to train to run 42 Km, one must have a plan to work up to it gradually. Too quickly and you’re likely to run into injury.
For Your Leadership: How is your implementation pace? Are you balancing the need for immediate results with realistic implementation pace? What could you do to ensure your team is achieving results while maintaining a sustainable pace?
For Coaching your team members: Do any of your team members have a crisis habit that impacts on results (theirs or others)? Develop coaching questions to stimulate their awareness of this before coaching for solutions.

5) Nobody Achieves Alone. Did you know top marathoners need to train with others? Nobody achieves alone. Organizations don’t achieve – their people do.
I have been very fortunate to have a number of friends to run with. They challenge you and hold you accountable when you really don’t want to get out of bed at 5am on Sundays to run those long runs through Sunnybrook.
For Your Leadership: Who’s cooperation/help do you need to achieve your objectives ?
For Coaching your team members: How well does your team work together? Are you sure? Take time to check in and coach team members by asking good feedback questions and listen carefully for potential barriers to teamwork. Are you familiar with the book 5 Dysfunctions of a Team? It’s a great read. (If you want details and a free overview, just email us.)
Tip: Encourage and invest time in regular and open group feedback. Align some outside help in team communications if budgets allow.

6) Creating New Habits Requires Consistent Effort. Consistent Regular Runs – If you have trained for half or full marathons you know the importance of consistency.
For Your Leadership: What do you need to prioritize consistently for your long term growth and development? Stephen Covey calls this Quadrant II behaviour.
For Coaching your team members: What do you want or need them to do consistently, as a habit in order to achieve objectives?

7) Increased Energy – Regular Running will bring your energy level up I’ve found tremendous energy from my marathon training. Running is not for everyone, but some regular activity does produce great benefits for you.
For Your Leadership: For your health – on a scale of 1 to 10, how much attention have you been paying to your health? What do you need to do more or less of?
For Coaching your team members: They say that “only the lead dog gets a different view.” How are you at encouraging a healthy lifestyle for your team? Do you lead by example? What could you do to encourage them? Energy on the job is the benefit.

8) Commitment. Commitment often requires one to forgo other options. I don’t drink much alcohol, however the odd beer on a hot summer night is so refreshing. I learned, however, that a few beers at a Saturday night BBQ made the long run at 6am on Sunday very tough. I haven’t had an alcoholic drink on a Saturday night for 2 months now. Management is all about deciding with consideration of opportunity costs.
For Your Leadership: What changes could you make to enhance your productivity? Recently I’ve found that taking time off and working from home have enhanced my work life.
For Coaching your team members: What do you think your team members need to change or forgo?

9) Prepare to Run Your Race. In training for the marathon, many runners experience blisters, injuries etc. I’ve learned it’s not enough to have the desire and ability to run. One also needs the right equipment – Shoes, CoolMax Socks/Clothing, Water, Energy Gels, etc. Similarly, in leading a team to accomplish objectives we need to equip them with the right tools in order to be effective.
For Your Leadership: Do you have a major organizational goal (race) ahead? What tools do you need to have in place? What are you currently missing?
For Coaching your team members: Are your team members adequately prepared? Are they missing anything that you could assist with?
Tip: ASK them. Whenever new and major initiatives are underway, practice open dialogue to understand their barriers and needed support.

10) Have FUN… In preparing for my first Marathon, I’ve read in a few books and a recent Runners World that it is important to enjoy the race. Likewise, in working with various organizations and leaders we’ve found that “enjoyment of the journey” is critical to sustainable organizational growth.
For Your Leadership: Are you enjoying the Journey? Does it show?

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