Be responsible for yourself

People that do not take responsibility for their life, give it away to other people.

And guess what they have planned for you?

Not much.

Take responsibility for your ambitions, goals, actions and results.

Give people exactly what you say you will – or…

Give people exactly what you say you will, or better.

When they need someone they can rely on to help them, they will turn to you and you will get opportunities.

A red flag is a red flag

When someone shows you who they are, believe them.

Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.

Envision your future

Human beings are the only animals that can envision a future, and this ability is responsible for hope, optimism and most great advances in civilization.

Are you using this ability well?

Wisdom

“Wisdom consists in the anticipation of consequences – and I remind you that consequences can be both good and bad.” – Norman Cousins

“The anticipation of consequences”….hmmmm…

Think – What will be the consequences of your actions, short and long term?

Create value first

We aren’t entitled to anything.

Nothing is going to come to us unless we create value for someone else first.

For the most part and at most times, the world will give us what we deserve.

Do you matter?

Then prove it.

Today.

The "Greats" are not great at everything

Great people have focused their time and energies at being great at one thing.  

They don’t try to be great at everything.

What one thing are you trying to be great at?

Good to Great

Good to Great is a business book I read many years ago.  In it, the idea that “good is the enemy of great” is presented.

The idea is that if something is bad in your life, it’s easy to get rid of it, replace it, redo it, etc.

The problem comes when something is “ok”, or “good”.  We live with it because it’s not bad – but it’s not really great either. 

How can you have an excellent life when you put up with “good”.

What are you after – good, or great?

So are you willing to throw out, destroy, reinvent, and/or fix things in your life that are “good”?

You need this to succeed

Recently I messed up.  I had a week where I overdid it.  Working, speaking/training events (I call them “uptime”), workouts.  Not enough sleep or rest and catch-up time.  One big day after another.

After a week I felt sick.  I knew this feeling.  I wasn’t sick, but my body was saying “Ok buster, if you aren’t going to listen, then you’re going down.”  Flu-like symptoms.  I had no energy for four days. 

One night’s rest wasn’t enough to catch up.  I struggled through what should have been a great weekend. I lost productive time.  

To succeed we need our health and energy.  Energy to get through a high-performance day.  

We can mess up by not getting enough exercise, not taking care of problems in our life that bother us, not eating right, or by going hard too long and not getting enough rest.

I’ve learned this lesson before.  I need to remember longer this time!