- Direct yourself with purpose; Build the habits that create success. Small accomplishments, every day, are the lynchpin of large-scale achievement. The mastery of the few will enable the dominance of the many. Study, apply, learn, and grow. Always work with a clear sense of personal purpose. Form the habits that become your “way”. Master those things which make you distinctive and dominate your field of endeavor.
The mastery of the few will enable the dominance of the many.
- Beyond motivation; Let’s define motivation. Motivation can be viewed as the separation you achieve from a pain or fear while moving toward an external reward or condition. Motivation has a goal line to it, it has an end, the end is comfort or the attainment of those things that can be purchased or experienced as status or validation. By contrast, inspiration is the fire, the passion.
- The dangerous, the most effective, are the inspired; They have that glint in their eye, the edge – there is no goal line, no end, there is just the insatiable need to do, to create. Inspiration is where the invisible essence becomes the intangible way that makes the difference – it’s where a person’s “why” engulfs everything in its way. When we are inspired, we become the work and the work becomes us; it is beyond chasing dollars, or achievement, it is about the love of the act for the act itself.
- Be consistent; Consistency creates expectation of experience. Consistent experience can establish a baseline of earned trust. Trust is the essential element which forges and enhances all relationships. Remember your Shakespeare: “To thine own self be true.” The great Bard of Avon may have been informed through the teachings of Socrates, “Know thyself.” Learn and act in concert with the knowledge of self. Be yourself and act consistent with what and who you are.
- Honesty is disarming; authenticity is a force multiplier in a relationship. Alignment of action with belief and word is a key to happiness. Extend your efforts beyond the dictates, mandates, boundaries and constructs of your job, profession or career. Embody vibrancy and passion from the pursuit of an obligation that nourishes your purpose. Spark, ember, flame, conflagration!
- Maximize your strengths; Exercise caution not to inhabit a prison of your own design. Believe in yourself, be willing to learn, build habits from discipline and find your direction from purpose. Becoming a victim is a choice. Becoming a champion is a choice as well. Champions live the life they create. It is a life by choice and design. Choose freedom and earn the right to find happiness in both the pursuit and the goal. As the character, William Wallace declared in the movie Braveheart, “Every man dies, not every man truly lives!”
- Work for your freedom; Make the time to break away from the madness, the deadlines, the rush to achieve, and the anarchy of unscripted uncertainty and just exhale. Do whatever it is you “do” that creates a state of relaxation. When you bounce back, you’ll find the “zone of flow” will respond to the refreshed and ready mind.
- Put yourself in play; Immerse yourself in this game of life. I remain that kid on the playgrounds of Pennsylvania. To me, the game of business is a game worth playing – each day, I make a diligent attempt to play it well. I seek to improve my game at a stage when the “old way” – the way that created previous success – could be used as a default mode for today’s choices. How many times have you heard, “It’s the way we’ve always done it!” Sound the alarm, heed the loud buzzer and the flashing lights, this is a mindset that is a recipe for failure. Choose not to focus on the competition and react to their moves. If the competition’s offer is better than yours on any particular day or maybe you’re just out-maneuvered, out-fought or out-thought – tip your hat to them and appreciate the lesson. Bounce back wiser, tougher and better – always take the initiative and play the game your way.
- Become your toughest competitor; Do your own pull-ups and push-ups – manage the effort to realize your expected result. Bring your best game every day. Don’t leave anything on the field. Take bold steps; chance, change and choice favors the bold. What you do today will influence what happens tomorrow.
