Eric Allenbaugh, author of Wake-Up Calls talks about how you can change your life and improve your work and personal relationships.

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Eric Allenbaugh

L.S.: This is Liz Shaw of MotivationalQuotes.Com and I am speaking today with Dr. Eric Allenbaugh, author of Wake-Up Calls: You Don't Have to Sleepwalk through Your Life, Love, or Career! I was interested to read in your biography that your education and work has primarily been focused on management and organization development, especially in the healthcare arena. How did you go from such an organizational mindset to writing a book that's as personal as Wake-Up Calls?

E. A.: That's a good question. When I was new in consulting I was taught that you're supposed to separate what happens at home from what happens at work. I attempted to do that, and frankly it was sort of stilted, and it didn't really accomplish what I was looking for. Even though the seminars worked well and we got nice results, there was just something that was missing in that. I made a conscious decision: rather than keeping those two separated, why not integrate them? We're whole human beings, why not put those two together? It was amazing what happened when I did that, because the seminars went from, I'm going to say, from good to great. And the experiences or results that we achieved within organizations made a significant jump forward. And what I began discovering was that since we are really whole human beings, putting those two together just makes a profound difference. So the consulting practice took on a different dimension. And what I found is that over and over people were saying, "This really applies at home." I mean, the same things that enable an organization to hum are the things that enable families to hum, to really work well together. So as I continued along those lines, I got more and more feedback from my clients saying, "This is really helpful" and "Why don't you put it in a book form?" So I ultimately ended up doing that.

L.S.: That's great! Your book touches on a lot of issues. It talks about communication, relationships, growth… it really covers the gamut. I want to focus a little bit on what you call "getting stuck in your stuff." You characterize events in life that become like a wake-up call, an alarm going off saying, "you need to change something in your life." You talk about two kinds. The kind of "aha moment" -- where something minor brings to your attention a change that you need to make -- to what you call the "cosmic 2 x 4." I talk to a lot of people who have been hit by one of those cosmic 2 x 4s, and I have been myself. It's very hard to pick yourself back up and get moving again. If you could give a person a quick starting point after you get hit by the cosmic 2 x 4, what's the first thing that a person should do?

E. A.: Well, I encourage people to practice what I call pausing. Pausing is not necessarily a time pause. Pausing is what I call a head-heart connection. We have incredible internal resources in our head and in our heart. The intention of a pause is to tap into those internal resources and to use those at a higher level. For example, I am a strong believer that most of the time we already have the answers. The answers are within. What a pause does is tap into that which we already know and use that at a higher level.
      So I encourage people when they are confronted with a major life issue, instead of getting noisy inside, instead of trying to take quick action, what I encourage people to do instead is to pause, get quiet, tap into what they already know and apply that to the current situation. It's amazing. Some of the feedback that I most frequently get when I'm coaching executives or doing team development is the power of pause is a tool that people continued to use, not only in their leadership environment but in their personal lives with their families as well. So pausing, tapping into that which we know, and using it most of the time can produce far better results.

L.S.: I talk to people who are grieving because they lost someone close to them or they became disabled. So, if they get stuck on the same thought, every time that they sense themselves having that negative self-talk, they should pause and re-affirm what they know.

E. A.: Yes, pause and break out of that. Say, for example, when I'm working with groups of executives or giving a keynote talk, I'll oftentimes ask people "How many of your already know more about effective communications than you actually practice?" Almost everybody raises their hand. "How many of you know more about win-win conflict than you actually practice? How many of you know more about building quality teams than you actually practice?" Or, finally, "How many of you know more about building quality families and relationships at home than you actually practice?" In almost all cases every hand goes up. Well, once again, we know we need to do. We know what works best, but sometimes we get stuck in patterns of behavior that don't serve us. So, by pausing and breaking out of those patterns that don't work well for us and moving into new territory, we can produce a far better result. We're funny critters as human beings. If something doesn't work very well, we tend to do it again.

L.S.: Which leads me to my next question. There are a lot of people whose lives seem to be going along just fine. They think they're happy, but they have a vague sense that things could be better. What would you say to that person?

E. A.: Well, I think that probably describes life in general. Perhaps none of us are at a point that we want to be in our lives on most things. What I encourage us to do is to be really clear about where are we now, where we want to be, and how do we get there. Even in relationships it's important, I think, for couples to identify what they want to co-create. In other words, create their own mission statement. I know that sounds kind of hokey, but Kay, my wife, and I did that some years ago, and it's one of the best things that we have done. (See sidebar.) Likewise an organization, if they're not where they want to be, they have a feeling that, "We could be a higher place, we could be doing better," once again pause, take a look at what it is that you want to create, where are you now, and then examine how can I make it from where I am to where I want to be. What strategies can I pursue that would assist me in producing a better result. So most of the time we have that information inside of ourselves, and were not using it as effectively as we can. So pausing helps to tap into that and I just found it to be a very, very effective tool.
      Another tool that can be very helpful is to pay attention to your own internal states and ask yourself, "Is what I am doing right now giving energy or taking energy away from me?" And I found it to be somewhat, I think it's universal in the sense that if people pay attention to their own internal energy, the body doesn't lie. It gives you information that it is really critical to pay attention to. So in a relationship, if there's a kind of a funny feeling that's hard to describe, but it tends to de-energize you, that's usually a sign that you need to pay attention to that. If you don't, you'll get a wake-up call. Does that make sense?

L.S.: Yes! That's great. What do you personally do when you need to recharge?

E. A.: I think several things. One of them is just paying attention to my own the internal body signals. So that if I'm energized that says one thing. But if I working on a project where it doesn't feed me, it doesn't give me energy, I really need to pause to take a look at if I'm going in the right direction on that, or if I need to modify or maybe I need to move on to something else. So paying attention to my own internal energy is one of the ways.
      Another is that I'm in a constant process of reinventing myself, so to speak. I'm taking a look at, from a professional perspective in particular, what can I do differently that would provide an even higher value to my clients and the people that I work with. So I'm going through a process of reinventing myself. That to me is energizing, it's fun to participate in that.

L.S.: in reading through your book, you cite a lot of my favorite authors. You obviously read Stephen Covey and M. Scott Peck. What are your other favorite authors?

E. A.: Oh, I think Wayne Dyer is one that has influenced me to a considerable extent. Tony Robbins is yet another. Most of the people that I cited in Wake-Up Calls are people who have done a lot of work on themselves and have had the courage to look inwardly and explore what they can do differently. And then they've been passing that on to other people. So that's been a real key part of my growth and development as well.

L.S.: Do you have any other books planned for the future?

E. A.: Yes, I'm working at one called Five Star Leadership and the subtitle to that one is called Sharpening Your Competitive Edge. On the continuum, Wake-Up Calls is a self-help book that has application in the corporate environment. This next book, Five Star Leadership, is a corporate book that has application in the self-help arena. So I'm going from one end of the continuum to the other, but that continuum is a very important one where it bridges the personal and the professional growth.

L.S.: When can we look for the new book?

E. A.: Well, I've committed to myself to get this puppy done by the end of the summer. As busy as I am with my travels, consulting, and speaking, it's been a little tough. I'm confident I'll be able to have that book done by the end of the year, so that would mean that it would be roughly a year away in terms of publication.

L.S.: I'll really look forward to seeing that.

E. A.: Me, too! It's been a long one in transition.

K. W: It sounds like fun, though.

E. A.: Yes, I'm taking a lot of peak performance principles that work really well in a variety of organizations and I'm including that in this next book. But paying attention to the intangible "human element" factors which are largely responsible for the results of organizations.

L.S.: Sounds great.

E. A.: It'll be fun one.

L.S.: How can organizations reach you if they'd like to use your consulting services?

E. A.: The telephone number is (503) 635-3963 and also e-mail Eric@Allenbaugh.com. Telephone is the best; e-mail, well, I'm gone so much that those things stack up on me.

L.S.: Do you have any plans to put your own Web site up?

E. A.: Yes, that's part of my reinvention process. I just haven't put that one together yet.

L.S.: We'll look forward to seeing that when it's up. I'd like to thank you for taking time to talk with me today.

E. A.: You're very welcome.