Monday Morning Choices: 12 Powerful Ways to Go from Everyday to Extraordinary by David Cottrell

From the Publisher

Learn to make the right decisions to achieve greater success

Each of us has a different idea of success. Whether you strive for money, power, happiness, or love, your personal choices, the actions you take, and the relationships you choose to invest time and energy in, will determine whether you reach your goals. Internationally recognized leadership coach David Cottrell will show you how to make the right choices, even when they’re hard.

There are character choices that define the person you will be on the road to success. Cottrell shows you how to make The No-Victim Choice to overcome roadblocks, and The Integrity Choice, to listen to your gut and do the right thing, even when it’s not the easiest thing to do.

There are action choices you make to continue on your path to success. The Persistence Choice encourages you to bounce back from failure and learn lessons that will lead to your future success. The Do-Something Choice lets you to stop dreaming and start doing the things that will make you happy and successful.

Finally, you make investment choices about the people you spend time with and develop relationships with. The Relationship Choice teaches you to invest your time in other successful people in order to contribute to your own future success.

Learn to make all these choices and many more in Monday Morning Choices, and find yourself on the fast track to success!

Publishers Weekly

Leadership consultant Cottrell's latest packs a positive punch in surprisingly few pages. Though Cottrell (Monday Morning Mentoring), president and CEO of CornerStone Leadership Institute, focuses on states of mind that most people should logically be aiming to attain, each chapter feels like a life lesson learned anew. On reading that one should not remain in a victim mindset, it becomes clear how easy it is to descend into that "why me?" state of mind and readers are motivated to start thinking differently. This first choice sets the stage for a string of positive choices that Cottrell divides into character choices, action choices and investment choices, which include commitment to your goals and taking action instead of saying someday. Presented in short sections with lots of bullet points, Cottrell's advice sometimes reads like a gallery of motivational posters (choose commitment! don't beat yourself up for falling short!), sensible if not original. According to Cottrell, the way one experiences life can easily be controlled by mind power alone. Hopefully, the reader won't be inclined to put off following his advice. (Jan.)

What People Are Saying

Noel M. Tichy
"Monday Morning Choices is a terrific handbook for improving your game as a leader. The book teaches 12 building blocks for becoming a more effective leader, ranging from "the no victim choice" to the "commitment choice." The advice and stories are simple and profound."--(Noel M. Tichy, coauthor of Judgment: How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls with Warren Bennis, Penguin Group, 2007 and professor at the University of Michigan)

Seth Godin
"All David wants you to do is make a choice. Once a week. It only takes a few minutes. The first choice you can make is in reading this book. I hope you do."--(Seth Godin, Author, The Dip)

Kevin Sabin
"This is one of a few books that I'd recommend using a pen to read because it's worth going back to time and again. It is my belief that one of the biggest challenges companies face today is preparing people to be good leaders. David has become a national resource whose work is filled with simple, but important leadership lessons. Monday Morning Choices is a great reference for anybody who is committed to taking their game to the next level. And it reminds us that no matter what the situation, we're all in a position to lead and have a positive impact on others. I particularly appreciate David's emphasis on relationships and trust, as no measure of success can be achieved without either."--(Kevin Sabin, President and Chief Operating Officer, Arvest Bank Group)

Vince Poscente
"Monday Morning Choices will certainly help those of us who struggle with the daily grind to create exceptional outcomes! I particularly enjoyed the inspiring stories."--(Vince Poscente, Author of The Age of Speed, Learning to Thrive in a More-Faster-Now World)

James H. Amos
"David Cottrell has reminded us that choices determine destiny. The wind and the rain or storms of life do not determine our destiny. Neither do other people and their opinions determine our future. What does affect our lives is our power to choose. Choose to read this fine work."--(James H. Amos Jr., Chairman Emeritus, Mail Boxes Etc./ UPS Store, Chairman and CEO, Tasti D' Lite)

Stephen Krempl
"We all make many choices in life - Monday Morning Choices ensures you don't miss very many of the important ones. OR Everybody makes these choices in the book - Monday Morning Choices organizes, explains and puts them all in one place."--(Stephen Krempl, VP Global Learning, Starbucks Coffee Company)

Product Details

• Table of Contents
• Read an Excerpt

Table of Contents

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One

The No-Victim Choice . . . Don't Let Your Past Eat Your Future

Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim.
Accept no one's definition of your life, but define yourself.
Harvey S. Firestone

Poor Gary.

That's what they call him: "Poor Gary." He labors all day in that tiny rear cubicle. His co-workers feel sorry for Gary because he seems to have all the bad luck. He works with the worst territories, the poorest accounts, and the most impossible schedules. Just when he thinks he's closed the deal that will put him over quota, the bottom drops out, and at the end of the month his numbers fall short of the standard.

As the next month begins, Poor Gary's shoulders are more stooped, his head more bowed, and his expression more defeated. His performance lags further behind expectation, and his sales calls are lackluster. Think Poor Gary's results will improve this month? Not likely.

A victim is a person to whom life happens. Without question, Poor Gary falls into the victim category. However, Gary's woes could be caused by his choice to be a victim. He complains about bad management, bad luck, being in a bad situation. Gary is a victim of all the bad things that happen to him.

At the other end of the hall in the same organization is Colin Myers. Colin began in the same small cubicle and worked the territory Gary now occupies. The difference between Colin and Gary is that Gary chooses to be a victim, while Colinmade the no-victim choice.

Whenever the unexpected, bad luck, and bad situations occurred, Colin chose to dig deeper to make good things happen. When an order didn't come through, Colin spent time evaluating why he did not get the order, and he made adjustments to help his next call be successful.

In other words, Colin didn't wait for life to happen to him. He made choices to make things happen that would move him forward.

Colin's performance resulted in several promotions, which moved him from the tiny rear cubicle where he had started into the manager's office. From his point of view, the sky remains the limit. Colin had the ability to deal with whatever came his way, and good things kept coming his way.

Meanwhile, Gary was the perpetual victim of bad luck. Coincidence? Probably not.

Drivers or Passengers

On any of life's journeys, we have to make a choice before we begin the trip. Our options are these: we can be a passenger, or we can be the driver. It's our choice.

People who choose to be passengers are subject to going where other drivers are going. Passengers have no control over the speed with which they move ahead, nor do they have any say about whether or not rules are observed.

Then again, being a passenger is appealing. Passengers merely sit in the car, relaxed and oblivious to their final destination. They may put on headphones and listen to music, or they may nap. They may talk on the cell phone or do crossword puzzles. However, they rarely pay attention to where they are, who is in front of them or behind them, or whether progress is being made. Their journey may be pleasant enough, but those choosing to be passengers are just going along for the ride.

Those who choose to be drivers accept responsibility for moving forward toward their goals. They pay attention and focus on getting to their final destination. They make decisions about how quickly they move ahead. They avoid obstacles, like bumps or dips in the road. They may choose to take a detour. They decide when to stop and refuel. During the journey they make the choices to control their safety and success.

The distance between a passenger and a driver in a car is less than three feet, but the difference is huge. The driver has the choice to head toward success. The passenger just goes where he is driven.

In the previous example, Colin was a driver. Gary was a passenger.

Which would you rather be: driver or passenger? The choice is yours.

Responding to the Unexpected

Many people choose to be a victim because something unexpected happens—something completely out of their control. Others have an uncanny ability to deal successfully with the unexpected, the unusual, and the extraordinary. Positively dealing with the unexpected by looking for solutions, not excuses, is the choice you need to make.

If you know someone who is masterful at dealing with the unexpected, take a closer look at that individual, because you've truly met a special person.

Jim Lawton was like that—he was a driver. Whatever came his way, Jim could handle. His dad died while Jim was a freshman in college, and as tuition money dwindled Jim found enough work to support himself and pay his tuition so he could continue his college education.

After graduating, Jim went to work for a company that eventually had to downsize. When that happened, Jim networked his way into a new company and a new job. Notice I didn't say "a better job." No, Jim found an ordinary job and mined each opportunity to move ahead. Jim hasn't allowed anything to keep him from being successful, no matter what life has tossed his way.

Jim chooses to avoid becoming a victim of life's circumstances. He made up his mind to deal with the unexpected. Jim knew that there was no "grand conspiracy" preventing life from being easy for him. Jim also knew it was not what happened to him but rather his response to what happened that would make the difference. Today, Jim is successfully accomplishing his personal and professional goals.

Let me repeat Jim's lesson—it's not what happens to us but how we choose to respond to what happens that determines our next move, next path, next relationship, and next risk.