Nat Crawford - Executive Coach, Speaker, Leader

In my recent blog, What To Do When Life Throws You a Curveball , I talked about a major life event. It was and is major…and manageable.  We all experience events and experiences that are unexpected. I have recently and chances are so have you.  This reminded me one of the most powerful equations in business (and life). I first came across Jack Canfield’s famous equation E + R = O seven years ago, when my chiropractor Dr. Leif Olson gave me The Success Principles . At that time I didn’t appreciate it like I do now. As far as I’m concerned, it is one of the most powerful and correct equation in business and life. Why? Let me break down the equation for you. E = Event -- We all have events or experiences. Each day we have big events, small events, good experiences, bad experiences, normal experiences, and unpredicted experiences. Each day, each moment we are having them In 12 short years of marriage, my wife and I have had many experiences and events. We’ve had job lo...

Each night when my boys go to bed, we engage in our bedtime ritual. At the Crawford household we are committed to our traditions! This ritual is special to us not only because it’s quality time together, but also it lays the foundation for a better day tomorrow. There’s no doubt some nights I’m exhausted. I’ll try to back out of one the bedtime activities. But then… “Dad…” Simon says with that “you’re not getting out of this” look. “Please, Dad! Please” Landon adds with his cute wink. “We can’t skip, Dad. It’s tradition!” Simon reminds me. “You’re right, Si” I smile and get back to the routine. Even when I’m tired, I won’t deviate; because I know my days of being an active participant in their bedtime activities will be gone. When that transition happens, I will continue these five bedtime activities because I know it creates a better tomorrow. I’m aware you may not want to do all five. That’s fine. I simply wanted to share our process because it has been so powerful. We read...

I don’t know about you, but there have been different stages of my life where I asked myself “why am I not getting the results I want.” I then go into a process of analysis and asking question after question. It is can be almost maddening as I go round and round. I recently entered that circle. Thankfully I had a conversation with one of my biggest cheerleaders: my mom. As a former successful entrepreneur and business owner, she knows what it takes to be a standout in any career. Our conversation went like this: “How are you doing, Nat?” “Frustrated, Mom.” “Why’s that?" “Because I am stuck! I cannot figure out how to take our business from good to great.” She paused and then said these revelatory words: “You’ll be great when you stand out.” Wow. She was right. She then provided me with 4 powerful traits of standout entrepreneurs: They destroy the box. Stepping out of your box is not easy. To be a standout entrepreneur, you need to be different. You need to be yourself. You ...

Depressed. I couldn’t even get off the couch. It was the 29 th birthday and I was down and out. “What’s wrong?” my wife asked. “I’m a loser,” I said.   “What are you talking about? “She said. “I’m 29 and I’ve accomplished nothing” I replied. Of course that wasn’t true, but as far as my career I had not achieved what I had wanted. I had spent a few years in my early 20’s owning and operating a small marketing company. That was fun and a good school of hard knocks. I had pursued opening up a salon to no avail. So there I was laying on the couch hitting bottom. I knew I was made for more. I had an idea of what God wanted for me. And thankfully, He allowed me to hit “career-life” bottom to get me to pursue my passion and goals. Many people ask, “Okay, so what’s the secret formula to getting life back on track and doing what you really want to do? It’s not that complicated – just hard. Even so, I believe everyone can accomplish their career life goals ...