How are you choosing to steer the ship today?

“We are each other’s harvest; we are each other’s business; we are each other’s magnitude and bond.”

 Gwendolyn Brooks

I was listening to a guided meditation this morning, and the instructor asked that we think back on the people that brought us to this particular moment in time. I flashed back on people and experiences that have positively influenced my life in meaningful ways. Some of these touchpoints were so minute at the moment, but over time have had an impact beyond measure. It reminded me of this verse from the book of James. ‘And consider ships: Though very large and driven by fierce winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. ‘James 3:4 

We all have the opportunity to help direct the course of others, to serve and influence direction, just like the rudder on a ship. Perhaps taking a moment to reflect on how we are the harvest based on the investments others have made into us can guide the energy we seek to bring into the world today. Twenty years from now, someone will be reflecting on the difference you made in their life…

Failure is an opportunity for success…

“Focus on the possibilities for success, not on the potential for failure.”

Napoleon Hill

I believe it is essential to understand that failure WILL happen. Once you are comfortable with this fact, you can embrace the opportunities in front of you with full gusto. It doesn’t mean you ignore the potential for failure; quite the opposite. Instead, you focus on the future possibilities and seek to SOLVE for the potential failure points. The opportunity is why you keep moving; the possible failure is merely a problem to be solved.  

Are you the hero, or the guide?

“What I have learned is that people become motivated when you guide them to the source of their own power and when you make heroes out of employees who personify what you want to see in the organization.”

Anita Roddick

As leaders, there is nothing more powerful than enabling others to be their best selves and bringing all that power and influence to bear in a way that surprises even them.  

The leader is never the hero; they are merely the guide…

How are you going to use this new day?

“With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.”

Eleanor Roosevelt

There is nothing more powerful than a new day, a blank sheet of paper, a fresh start. But, unfortunately, it is so easy to get wrapped up in the grind of the day that we can create blinders that narrow our thinking in a very limiting way. 

Take today, start fresh, set aside ten minutes with an open notebook, and frame out how you want to use this precious time of your life to impact and serve.  

What new thoughts come from creating this space? What new energy can you bring to bear on the world?

What are you afraid of?

“Courage is the greatest of all the virtues. Because if you haven’t courage, you may not have an opportunity to use any of the others.”

Samuel Johnson

What are you most afraid of? Failure? Danger? Something else? 

What scares me most is not living up to my potential and using all of the gifts and talents that God has blessed me to have.  This is what fuels me and gives me courage. What enables you?

‘ “For it is just like a man about to go on a journey. He called his own servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent, depending on each one’s ability. Then he went on a journey. Immediately the man who had received five talents went, put them to work, and earned five more. In the same way the man with two earned two more. But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money. “After a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five talents approached, presented five more talents, and said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. See, I’ve earned five more talents.’ “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy.’ “The man with two talents also approached. He said, ‘Master, you gave me two talents. See, I’ve earned two more talents.’ “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy.’ “The man who had received one talent also approached and said, ‘Master, I know you. You’re a harsh man, reaping where you haven’t sown and gathering where you haven’t scattered seed. So I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’ “His master replied to him, ‘You evil, lazy servant! If you knew that I reap where I haven’t sown and gather where I haven’t scattered, then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and I would have received my money back with interest when I returned. “‘So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have more than enough. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. ‘ Matthew 25:14-29 

Are you ready and willing to grow?

“If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.”

Fred DeVito

I have never become a better person, player, contributor, or servant by choosing the easier path. Growth only occurs when you are willing to be pushed out of your comfort zone. How are you going to push yourself today?

Are you working in your garden?

“To experience growth, you must become a conscious and committed gardener of the self. That means you must pull out all the roots of the past and plant new seeds of thought and behavior.”

Peg Streep

It can be easy to fall into the trap of pruning others and ignoring the most crucial work, improving oneself. Over time we all develop bad habits and behaviors that we wouldn’t choose for ourselves if we were picking our “best self” off a menu of desired traits.  

So, the only way to change is to prune intentionally. Where are you going to start gardening?

Is your attitude the right one for growth?

“The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude.”

Oprah Winfrey

Have you made this discovery? How do you want your future to change? Is your attitude enabling your growth or limiting you?

Seek defeat in order to learn…

“When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound. Rebuild those plans and set sail once more toward your coveted goal.”

Napoleon Hill

Defeat will come. It is inevitable. If you aren’t risking failure, you aren’t trying hard enough and the best learning one can ever have will likely come from loss. Perhaps that should be the goal? Push so hard that you exceed your capacities, and therefore set the stage for growth.  

These are the building blocks of sustainable success…

“Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.”

Lou Holtz

Success is an outcome, and if you define being successful as doing something exceptionally well, then I would argue that it only comes when you score well on all three of these areas. The key is that you can’t be lacking in ANY area if you want to create success.  

Write down a particular goal that you want to achieve. Then look at this list and score yourself from a zero to a ten in each area. Do you have the score necessary to create the outcome you desire?  

Ability – Talent, Skill, Capability

Motivation – Desire, Passion, Inspiration

Attitude – Willingingness to learn, Ability to be wrong, Positivity in the face of adversity, Service to others, Capacity for growth, Ability to persevere through failure

It seems to me that Attitude is the great enabler of future growth. Without a good score in this area, you will always be limited.

Are you looking for the opportunity to celebrate others?

“You need to be aware of what others are doing, applaud their efforts, acknowledge their successes, and encourage them in their pursuits. When we all help one another, everybody wins.”

Jim Stovall

Do you have an inward view or an external view? If you aren’t focused outwards on the efforts of others, “we” can’t win…

Are you intensely excellent?

“Intensity is the price of excellence.”

Warren Buffett

I’ve never known anyone to be excellent at something who didn’t also have an almost supernatural intensity about themselves in that particular aspect of life.  

Perhaps excellence is the result of intensity? What are you passionately intense about?

What are you waiting for? Get after it!

“What keeps me going is goals.”

Muhammad Ali

What is your big goal for 2021? We are now at the halfway point of the year. How are you doing on that goal?  

Wait, did you even set a goal? If not, why wait until January to start? Set one now. It doesn’t have to be something that will change the world; just put one out there that you can measure and manage.  

The beauty of goals is that they get you out of bed in the morning with fervor and ready to tackle the day.  

Even if the goal is wrong, you won’t regret having set one and built a disciplined life centered on achieving your intentions. Get after it!

Where’s your time going?

“Time is the scarcest resource and unless it is managed nothing else can be managed.”

Peter Drucker

How much effort do you put into managing your time? Does it get the same effort and intensity that you use to manage money? If the answer is “no,” why not?  Unlike money, you can’t make more of it.

Time is finite. Spend it wisely, or you’ll get to the end of life and realize you gave up everything for nothing.

Is it your voice or your words which have the most impact?

“We cannot learn from one another until we stop shouting at one another – until we speak quietly enough so that our words can be heard as well as our voices.”

Richard M. Nixon

If you are honest with yourself, do you spend more time ensuring your voice is heard or your words?

Which one will matter more in a year? Focus on that one.

If you want to win, you have to slay the tigers first…

“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.”

Amelia Earhart

It always amazes me how many fears and challenges we can create in our minds. First, the paper tigers create anxiety, paralyzing our bodies, and then the fears that were only in our minds become a reality.  

Action is the antidote. Even if the action isn’t perfect, it is an antidote to the paralytic effects we build out in our minds. Decide to act. Act with enthusiasm. Build momentum, and most of the fears we create will cease to be.

Are you investing?

“I believe that we all have a responsibility to give back. No one becomes successful without lots of hard work, support from others, and a little luck. Giving back creates a virtuous cycle that makes everyone more successful.”

Ron Conway

If you look back at the entirety of your life, were there any inflection points where a person poured into you in some way?  

Where would you be if someone had never made that particular investment?  

How many times has the interest from the investment grown and compounded? 

The great thing is that we all have the opportunity to serve others by giving back. If we do it well, the impact could be exponential.  

Plan for fun…

“Never underestimate the importance of having fun.”

Randy Pausch

How much time do you spend intentionally planning fun into your life. If you aren’t smiling and laughing and seeking out ways to find joy, why exactly are you here?  

Life is way too short to spend any of it miserable, so be intentional with your play. No one ever said, “I wish I hadn’t had so much fun…”

Learning is a lifetime endeavor…

“You are always a student, never a master. You have to keep moving forward.”

Conrad Hall 

A sage friend and colleague shared this with me yesterday, and I thought it was exceptionally profound as it captures the essence of a continual learning mindset. This captures the essence of “iron sharpening iron…”

“I want to work with people who I can learn from, and who are open to learning from me. People with whom I can exchange the student/teacher hats at a moment’s notice. People who sit in the uniquely blessed and fulfilling seat of Plato – a student of Socrates and then a teacher to Aristotle.”

Activity or achievement?

“There are so many people working so hard and achieving so little.”

Andy Grove

Did you work hard today? If so, what did you achieve? Was it what you set out to achieve, or did you have a goal at all? Sometimes “hard work” is merely a result of a focus on activities at the expense of the much more meaningful goals…

Where are you going to start?

“Start where you are. Distant fields always look greener, but opportunity lies right where you are. Take advantage of every opportunity of service.”

Robert J. Collier

It is incredible how distracting the view over the horizon can be when there is lots of work to be done right now. The opportunity to serve exists every single day. Don’t worry about the big bright lights of the future; start precisely where you are. That’s how you get to those green fields…

Are you relentless?

“Be relentless in pursuit of those goals, especially in the face of obstacles. Along the way, make no excuses and place no blame.”

Ray Bourque

Perhaps another way to think about this is to use the quote’s last sentence to frame out two knock-out questions.  

Are you making excuses?

Are you placing blame?

If the answer to either of these is “yes,” you aren’t genuinely relentless.  

Over. Under. Around. Through. That’s what it sometimes takes to accomplish our goals. No excuses. No finger-pointing. That’s relentless.

So, are you relentless?

Permission to make mistakes…

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.”

Elbert Hubbard

What is the worst thing that can happen as an outcome of the choice you are about to make? Is your decision reversible if things go wrong? If the answer is no, take some time to think it through, understand the risks, and make a well-informed and reasoned determination.  

If the decision is reversible, set a time and date to review the course you plotted against your desired outcomes and be prepared to change direction if necessary. Someone once told me, “always have an exit strategy. You never get on a submarine without knowing where the exit hatches are.”  

If you plan to review and make any necessary changes, you permit yourself to make the mistakes that will inevitably happen.  

Are you energized or filled with dread?

“Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress: Working hard for something we love is called passion.”

Simon Sinek

While hard work for something you love might be tiring, you go to bed at night ready to tackle the next day and do it all again. When you are doing something you don’t like and are stressed, you go to bed with dread over what is to come.  

How did you wake up this morning, energized or filled with dread?

Urgency is everything…

“Without a sense of urgency, desire loses its value.”

Jim Rohn

What do you deeply desire? Will it make you get up out of bed an hour earlier? Move a little faster? Work a little harder? If the answer is no, do you even desire it? If you can’t muster the energy to do the work, does desire even matter?

Perhaps if you can bring a sense of urgency to all you do, you will find more of what you desire…

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dusty