Author Bill Blalock: Getting An Upgrade; How Anyone Can Build Habits For Optimal Wellness, Performance, & Focus
Avoid Distractions — Turn off / minimize social media, smart phone texting and surfing the internet. During the day when I am focused on a project/task, I turn off my phone ringer, and set the phone aside. This is what I have found to be effective in every instance when I need to focus on a project.
As a part of our series about “How Anyone Can Build Habits For Optimal Wellness, Performance, & Focus”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Bill Blalock.
Bill Blalock holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Methodist University, Fayetteville, NC, and a master’s in counseling from Amberton University, Dallas, TX. During his corporate career, he held many successful management positions at Frito Lay, Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc, Ernst & Young, and Cadbury Schweppes, to mention a few.
After leaving corporate America, he focused on his passion for the development and enhancement of individuals’ lives through his professional coaching practice. His aim has always been to provide solutions for success in his clients’ personal and professional lives. LIVING YOUR LEGACY NOW! is the product of over fifteen years of working with men and women, enriching, and inspiring them to new levels of achievement and self-worth.
Mr. Blalock has helped individuals and businesses create and maximize opportunities by showing them how to stay focused, break barriers, and enjoy a greater quality of life!
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
My father was in the Air Force, so I was raised in a military family and lived in many parts of the country and overseas. I found myself always adjusting to new cities and countries, making new friends, and learning about many cultures.
What or who inspired you to pursue your career? We’d love to hear the story.
Through my success in corporate work, I always sought to excel personally as well as develop others to maximize their potential in their roles within the company. I wanted to know more about human personality and organizational dynamics. As a result of that desire, I obtained a master’s in counseling psychology. I did some therapy but realized my effectiveness with my corporate background was more in line with life and executive coaching.
None of us can achieve success without some help along the way. Was there a particular person who you feel gave you the most help or encouragement to be who you are today?
I have been fortunate that many people, from family, friends and colleagues have encouraged me throughout my life. When I went to graduate school, I was greatly impressed with one of my professors, who I enlisted to review my manuscript and, in the end, he provided a review of the book. He is highly respected in his field and as a result was a great influence on what I do today in professional coaching.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting mistake that occurred to you in the course of your career? What lesson or take away did you learn from that?
The road to success is hard and requires tremendous dedication. First and foremost, people seeking success must understand that it is a journey filled with education, life experiences and aligning yourself with persons that are gifted that you can learn from their challenges and victories. Make sure you have the personality style to connect with people, be a good listener and learn to memorialize your thoughts and experiences that you can draw from as you go through your career.
Can you share your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Why does that resonate with you so much?
“I’d rather be inspired to do or say something great in my life than be motivated to just do something.” That is my direct quote at the front of my book. You see, when you are inspired, your heart is in it! You show it and you live it. This mindset generates positive energy that draws people up to a greater level of achievement. If I just do something for the sake of doing it, without inspiration, I will not get the desired result I seek in my life. We should all be inspired to excellence and not settle for the norm.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?
Working on moving my videos to a YouTube Channel, Planning for “Legacy Week-ends” — a weekend with me on focus, mindfulness, and success principals for living, and Zoom Group Sessions. More social media blog posts and new videos! I need to reach people and connect with people. People desire connection today more than ever!
OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the core focus of our interview. This will be intuitive to you but it will be helpful to spell this out directly. Can you help explain a few reasons why it is so important to create good habits? Can you share a story or give some examples?
Great question. I look at it this way, good habits create routines that result in new behaviors that you benefit from. New positive behaviors create a healthy self-image and sustains a positive energy force around you that others will be attracted to and benefit from. The Key: They must be GOOD HABITS!
How have habits played a role in your success? Can you share some success habits that have helped you in your journey?
Sure, the habit of being organized has helped me on my journey. Everything has a place. Disorganization and clutter are just noise and distracting. Secondly, allocating and prioritizing time to achieve the best outcome. Value your time — we all have the same amount of time in our timebank. Use it wisely. Third, listen and talk less! The more you listen the more you learn. Knowledge is power, so get all the power you can to make a difference. Lastly, love what you do and do what you love. It will show and others will follow!
Speaking in general, what is the best way to develop good habits? Conversely, how can one stop bad habits? First, what is the result you want?
The best example is the desire to be healthy and not be overweight/obese. This is a universal problem in our country — adults and children. A person would need to change their eating habits and the food choices they make, exercise on a regular basis, and get adequate sleep. From the beginning, set your goal with a realistic timeframe and celebrate your success — then sustain the accomplished goal. How to stop? Willpower and engage your best friend or partner to hold you accountable. Ultimately, you are the decision maker. When you don’t change your destructive habits, you will continue to lead an unhealthy life and your self-esteem will diminish!
Let’s talk about creating good habits in three areas, Wellness, Performance, and Focus. Can you share three good habits that can lead to optimum wellness. Please share a story or example for each.
Mindful Eating — Adequate Rest — Active Lifestyle
Can you help explain some practices that can be used to develop those habits?
Mindful Eating: Avoid food with preservatives, processed food, drink a lot of water, be aware of portion size, and practice intermittent fasting.
Adequate Rest: The body needs time to refresh, and it is important to get 7–8 hours of sleep each night. Mental alertness is one of the strong by products. Maintain a good circadian rhythm — going to bed at the same time each day and awake at the same time each day. On occasions you may stay out later, but you will usually recycle back. Sometimes a short nap in the afternoon helps significantly.
Active Lifestyle: Have a regular exercise program and walk a lot. Drink lots of water. That’s my routine. Weigh in often if you are overweight or obese and have a plan to get healthy, lose the weight and have more energy. Engage a personal trainer to jump start you or have one on a regular basis.
Can you share three good habits that can lead to optimal performance at work or sport? Please share a story or example for each.
Prioritization- Set a deadline for each project, like my book, set realistic milestones and stay on task.
Consistency — Do what you do, love what you do and do it consistently. The results will show and you will be a leader. That’s the way I approach my life.
Owning Your Decisions– Whether I have success or fail occasionally, I do not make excuses! I seek new knowledge, skills or processes that will result in the desired outcome. I make it a practice to own my decisions in every situation.
Can you help explain some practices that can be used to develop those habits?
Prioritization: Always list in priority order when the due date for a task is. Tackle the most difficult tasks first which frees you up for strategic thinking.
Consistency: Once you begin, do not stop. Utilize the skills and processes that have worked for you in the past and draw from new knowledge to increase this capacity.
Own Your Decisions: What your decision is, the results you own, whether they are good or bad. There is no room for excuses. You gain more respect when you admit missing the mark but address a solution for the ultimate desired outcome. Even if you lead a team, you are the leader and you take responsibility.
Can you share three good habits that can lead to optimal focus? Please share a story or example for each.
- Avoid Distractions — Turn off / minimize social media, smart phone texting and surfing the internet. During the day when I am focused on a project/task, I turn off my phone ringer, and set the phone aside. This is what I have found to be effective in every instance when I need to focus on a project.
- Get Out and Connect with Your Surroundings — I often take walks around a lake area, sit, and just have free flow thought. Clearing the mind and connecting with nature helps me focus when I get back to the task.
- A Quiet Time — I call this a time of reflection, as I begin my day. Some refer to this as a mindful practice, meditation. I do this early when I wake up to set the pace for my day. As a result, I have a clear slate to start the day.
Can you help explain some practices that can be used to develop those habits?
The simple answer — and it is not a series of steps, that can be tiring. The answer/key is TO BEGIN! By practicing these habits, they will eventually become routines and bring meaningful results.
As a leader, you likely experience times when you are in a state of Flow. Flow has been described as a pleasurable mental state that occurs when you do something that you are skilled at, that is challenging, and that is meaningful. Can you share some ideas from your experience about how we can achieve a state of Flow more often in our lives?
To get into FLOW, or “the zone of effectiveness”, there must be a realistic plan in place that arrives at a solution. Once the plan has begun, follow through on each designated task, and when you get to THE ZONE — like the 10-yard line in football, you execute your best strategy to achieve the task/goal and you score. The FLOW is when you have reached that point and you are in YOUR ZONE where you feel great and can make a difference! As careers change, the content of your FLOW becomes more intense because you have more skills, experience and you can create the most value!
Ok, we are nearly done. You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
HOW TO LIVE YOUR LEGACY NOW! Realize that every decision is a road map of your life legacy. Every decision should be mindfully made.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we both tag them :-)
Dr. Phil McGraw. We think alike in many ways and approach each situation with an open and yet inquisitive mind and are always seeking the best interest of our clients. Plus, I have learned a lot from him through his books and on occasion on television, especially when he utilizes Life Coach Mike Bayer.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
My website: www.billblalock.com, LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/bill-blalock-4285913, Facebook: www.facebook.com/billblalockauthor. At these locations you will see my videos, blogs, and a way to connect with me.
Thank you for these really excellent insights, and we greatly appreciate the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success.
