I am human - just like you. I make my share of personal and professional mistakes - sometimes it feels like I make several each day. Like many people, I beat myself up afterwards. I made a substantial professional mistake last week and am still replaying it in my mind. It distracts me. It clouds my focus. It affects my productivity. More importantly, rehashing this mistake consumes my thoughts and tarnishes the precious time that I get to spend with my family at night or on the weekend.

Have you made a recent personal or professional decision that you regret? Are you beating yourself up about it? Has it been more than a few hours since you did it?

As a Peak Performance coach to the elite, I teach the importance of holding people accountable (see Principle #8 in 8 Ways to Great: Peak Performance On the Job and In Your Life) so I decided, I need to practice what I preach and hold myself accountable as well. This blog is my testimonial and game plan to get myself out of my funk. Hopefully, you'll find something here to help you if you find yourself in that place as well.

Dr. Doug's Self-Coaching Process

I am thinking back through the details of the situation to figure out what activated the proverbial trigger inside me. My mistake was to react and speak before I reflected objectively about the situation. Why did I jump the gun and explode? The easy answer is that I am human and my buttons got pushed. But that still doesn't resolve the situation. Yes, it is the truth but greatness is about learning, maintaining focus and high levels of self-awareness. Just having this knowledge will alert me next time when I'm about to do something I'll later regret. Because I've felt like this before, I clearly know what this trigger is like and here are the symptoms I need to pay attention to:

I devoted an entire chapter in my new book, 8 Ways to Great: Peak Performance on the Job and In Your Life to the concept of being uncomfortable. The idea is that in my Peak Performance coaching practice, I have discovered that almost everyone is faced with uncertainty in many aspects of our lives, whether in business, at home or in relationships. If you have ever taken wedding vows, signed a business contract or taken out a mortgage, then you have first-hand experience with what it feels like to face uncertain situations meaning that you are asked to make a decision or commitment now about something that is going to be taking place or continuing on into the future (and in some cases, like marriage, possibly the rest of your life).

So how can you or anyone be expected to make that kind of a decision?

What I have discovered as Peak Performance coach to the elite is that they are faced with the same decisions that you and I face. The difference is they learn how to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Yes, it is a conscious choice they make, which means, since they are human like the rest of us, then we can make that same choice.

Having the freedom to choose is an incredible gift.

Those who achieve greatness are not necessarily special; they just think different. But thinking is only part of the formula to greatness, you also have to take action.

(View entire post here)

Are you Wanting or Willing?

Everyone wants to be great. My elite Wall Street clients, who are already great, want to be even greater. I have built up a substantial consulting practice, media presence and just released my second book 8 Ways to Great  - and I now want to take my brand to the next level. I am talking about the global level on par with Tony Robbins, Wayne Dyer, Joel Osteen and even Oprah.

What about you? What do you want? Maybe you want to be a better parent? A better spouse? A better friend? Or you want to do better in your fitness or diet? Or maybe just want to do better this time around on sticking to your new years' resolutions?

I have been thinking, struggling, and at times, sleepless and tormented with how to crack and leverage the online social network so that Dr. Doug - the Coach to the Elite - can become a household name.

My greatest critic, supporter, and wife of 10 years, sees the look in my eyes and reads my body language when we talk about what it is going to take to try to make it happen. The contacts I have to pursue, the relationships I need to explore, the tremendous effort - all while continuing to grow and maintain my peak performance consulting practices. Oh, and did I mention, I have three incredible young children whose smiles make me realize what is really important in life?

(View entire post here)

Dr. Doug Hirschhorn is one of our guest bloggers during the week of March 8th. If you have any questions for Dr. Doug Hirschhorn, add a comment to any of his posts. Here is some more information about 8 Ways to Great:

Discover the success secrets of top performers who thrive in today's toughest frontline corporate jobs

Hard-hitting and pragmatic, Hirschhorn's no-nonsense advice has inspired thousands via his lectures, one-on-one coaching, and media appearances. But 8 Ways to Great goes beyond inspiration to provide the practical tools that anyone can use-no matter what their profession or personal goals-to break through self-defeating behaviors and deluded thinking to truly excel.

1. Let your true passion be your core motivation.
2. Develop self-awareness and use what you know about both your strengths and weaknesses.
3. Set goals and game plans-and learn to love this process, because it is all about the process.
4. Identify your competitive advantage-what sets you apart and what will turn the odds in your favor.
5. Develop inner confidence that keeps you from judging yourself based on other's standards and expectations.
6. Keep your cool-and don't let emotions dictate your decisions.
7. Take risks yet act intelligently with imperfect information.
8. Be accountable.

(View entire post here)

You know what Greatness is?

It is watching Canada's Joannie Rochette, win the Bronze medal in women's skating in the 2010 Winter Olympics. Actually, it wasn't just that she won the Bronze, it was that she did this less than a week after her mother's sudden death. Joannie was an only child. Her mom was her biggest fan and her closest friend. She could have crumbled.  She should have fallen apart. Most people would have. Even elite athletes lose focus and self-destruct from time to time like Dan Jansen did in the 1988 Olympics in Calgary when he was heavily favored to win Gold and tripped during the 500m speed skating race; earlier that day his sister Jane Beres had died from leukemia. No one blamed Dan for his failure to deliver his best when it mattered most. How could he have? The Olympics are just a game and his sister's death was the tragic loss of someone he dearly loved. In a recent interview, Dan acknowledged that it was not until years later that he realized how much his sister's death had impacted his ability to focus that day. A focus he regained eight years later when he won the Gold medal in the 1000M men's speed skating at the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.