2019 Allison Tabor
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Storyzon LLC.
www.storyzon.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-947480-66-7
eISBN: 978-1-9474807-9-7
FOREWORD
by Marshall Goldsmith
Peter Drucker taught me our mission in life is to make a positive difference, not to prove were smart, not to prove were right. Certainly not to prove how hard we can outwork people.
I agree with Allison Tabor when she points out that the first big lie in business is this: to get anywhere in life, you have to work hard.
We get so lost in proving were smart and hardworking that we forget thats not why were here on earth. Were here to make a positive difference, not to prove how smart we are, not to prove we can work harder than everybody else.
Instead, align your natural talents and your interests. Then you will experience success with greater ease.
My advice to achieve success with ease is to begin today to act like a businessperson but think like an artist. The most successful leaders know that building a masterpiece of a business and a life needs to start now. Not next week, not next year, and not when you decide on an encore retirement career, but right now.
Perhaps another word for masterpiece is legacy, which is often thought of as something left behind or handed down by a predecessor. While that may be true and common, whats not so commonly understood is that legacies do not appear upon retirement, departure, or death. Legacies are created daily.
There was a time when people thought new technology would lead to a life of ease. Instead, new technology has created a 24-7 mindset. Professionals everywhere can be seen using smartphones to communicate with their coworkers. New technology has gone hand in hand with globalization to create a world where work never stops. It has also begun to blur the distinction between home and work.
Is this the case for you? I suggest you use this book as a wake-up call. In which areas might you need a little help? Make a checklist of behaviors and actions that you want to improve on and then ask someone to help you by listening to you gauge how youre doing every day.
Leveraging your assets is simple but still hard to do because we have to look at ourselves every single day. Work Your ASSets Off can be a great tool on this path. I wish you easeful success in business and in life.
Life is good!
Marshall Goldsmith is the New York Times #1 best-selling author of Triggers, Mojo, and What Got You Here Wont Get You There.
Work Your ASSets Off is filled with powerful insights and practical ideas about how to enjoy your business and life without having to work so hard.
Marci Shimoff, New York Times #1 best-selling author of Happy for No Reason and Chicken Soup for the Womans Soul
Work Your ASSets Off takes you to the deepest truth about your work life. Its not about how hard you work, its about how much heart you work! Allison Tabor shows us how to enJOY both business and personal life and succeed!
Dr. Brenda Wade, Dr. Oz Show relationship expert, best-selling author, and creator of the Modern Love Training
Through countless interactions with organizational leaders, Allison captures the singular essence of what the best leaders do differently to achieve stellar results. She then distills these lessons down into digestible, easily implementable action steps anyone can put to work in their company tomorrow! This book helps you understand that the old paradigm of blind hard work and killing yourself to succeed just isnt true period. Allison pulls the curtain back to show you how the top-performing leaders really perform, and its not how you think.
Jay Niblick, founder/CEO of Innermetrix Inc. and best-selling author of The Profitable Consultant (foreword by Marshall Goldsmith) and Whats Your Genius? (foreword by Tony Robbins)
Allisons strengths-based approach to work really works. Follow her principles and watch your business soar!
MJ Ryan, author of Attitudes of Gratitude and This Year I Will
There are no straight lines in life or business! There are unexpected bumps and potholes offset by moments of unexpected joy. Wherever you are on your journey, Allison Tabor is going to help you rediscover who you are now and whats really important to you. Work Your Assets Off is an incredible handbook for how to move forward with all of who you are!
Jim Horan, entrepreneur, Amazon best-selling author, CEO advisor, and president of the One Page Business Plan Company
CONTENTS/TRUTHS
For Gladys (Mom),
who serves in the self-assigned role
as the president of my fan club in perpetuity.
Love you more and forever.
Everything is hard before it is easy.
Goethe
INTRODUCTION
PUSH YOURSELF, just work harder and harder, and get others to work harder too. Eventually, you will become successful and feel happier. Right?
No, not at all true.
Bookshelves are filled with countless self-improvement and business management books that promise a better life or business, if only you can learn how to work harder. Well, this book isnt one of them. In fact, I call BS on the idea that working harder translates into becoming more successful or happier.
So many of us go from college to cubicle to casket working hard and yet failing to find satisfaction. When we start to notice its not working, we think we need to double down on our effort and work even harder. No pain, no gain, right? But rather than freeing ourselves from this vicious cycle, we get mired in it even deeper.
How many of us can honestly say that we feel energized, fulfilled, and in the flow? That we are living our best life?
The good news is that there is a way to break free from the cycle. We need to realize the difference between working our ***es off and working our ASSets off. Understanding this distinction will change your life.
This book was written for business owners, executives, and other individuals who are simply ready to stop working harder and harder. Join me on a journey to leverage your natural talents and start living your best life with ease. Lets get started with working our ASSets off!
truth #1
Truth #1: Working Your ASSets OffNot Working HardLeads to Success
Lie #1: To get anywhere in life, you have to work hard.
Working hard is important. But what matters even more is to understand, align, inspire, and apply yourself.
Allison Tabor
DO YOU EVER BRAG about how hard you work? Has anybody ever told you about how they pulled an all-nighter at work, as if it were a badge of honor?
Growing up, I was taught that a good work ethic was synonymous with long, hard work. And how hard we worked was tied not only to what good would come our way but also to how good a person we would become. The prediction was simple and straightforward. If something comes too easily, it is highly suspicious and probably nothing but a fleeting bubble of success. Lasting progress, by contrast, is forged from an iron will and must be earned with blood and sweat.
Because of this misconceived philosophy, we have today an epidemic of a not good enough mind-set afflicting countless people. Even those considered successful by most standards often suffer from frustration or depression due to a feeling of insufficiency and a sense that they need to do more.
As an executive coach, Ive had the honor and privilege of working closely with some very accomplished business owners and executives. It took me by surprise to learn how many of them experience what I refer to as imposter syndrome. Some feel insecure and question themselves when things seem to come too easily. They wonder if they were simply lucky and if their success was undeservedin short, they often feel like imposters rather than truly successful people.
