YOU HAVE A VOICE

I realized that I only have something to say at the end of each week because I am willing to listen to others throughout the week. The humorous expression that God gave us one mouth and two ears isn’t lost on me. At times I need to remind myself that my input and output should probably match that proportionately. Not always easy - as we all want to have a voice. We all need a voice. We all need to listen as well. 

OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR

When things seem far away we lose focus. We are less strategic. Yet, relatively speaking, they were very close. When we don’t have that warning inscribed on our “side view mirror”, we can begin to feel that what we are doing today isn’t having an impact on our immediate future. Discouragement can set in when our preferred future feels further away than it really is.

RYAN HOLIDAY: I LOVE YOU, BUT…

Many of us experience a constant drive to accomplish things. We like to use any time we have to knock stuff out, get things done, add a brick to what we are building. If there seems to be a block of time that is unfilled or unscheduled we like to fill it or schedule something. We are raised to believe that inactivity is a sign of laziness. If we aren’t moving the ball down the court or moving the needle on our goal, then we are wasting time. Research shows that the downtime or the whitespace leads to higher effectiveness in the workplace and in life.

PLAY YOUR SCALES

It’s a good reminder to ask ourselves if we are willing to put in the practice.  Do we want the outcome so badly that we are willing to sit in front of the keys of our piano and practice - practice the right questions to ask, the right responses to deliver, the right data points to pull from, the right scripts to use. Are we willing to do it every day?  Are we willing to do that in the morning, and the afternoon, and the evening. If we wait until the performance to play, we won’t ever want to be on stage.

GIVE ME SOME ENTHUSIASM

Achieving anything great is based on the enthusiasm we have. We can be brilliant and pedigreed and put in the hours and add in drive. But without enthusiasm none of those things matter. Conversely we could identify as average in all of those things, yet bring enthusiasm to any mission or challenge and still win. The secret to accomplishing anything is the level of enthusiasm the team has around the mission.

I ALREADY WON

The real awards in life are not when other people acknowledge you. The real awards in life are not given out on stage in front of an audience. The real awards in life are when you get to spend time with your loved ones, acknowledging how much they mean to you, and feeling that returned. The real awards are earned on random hikes through Park City or late night hotel room conversations or unexpected flights where you end up at random dinners.

CHOOSE POSITIVE

In any given week, there are many positive things that happen to each of us.  In most cases we notice them, might even acknowledge them, but we don’t often dwell on them, share them, have conversations about them, or stop and really feel them. They are forgotten almost as quickly as they arrive.

Oddly, the opposite is true of the negative things that happen to us in any given week.  For many, the negative things cause anxiousness, stress, and mood swings. They are what we remember at the end of the day, the following morning, at the end of the week. 

MORE ISN’T ALWAYS BETTER

Instead of doing more, we may need to do better. We may need to do different.

So why is it so much easier to just choose to work harder and do more? Put simply, it’s our programming.

HUMANS ARE NOT AVERAGE

We are all incredible. Every human is brilliant. Every human is creative. Every human is wildly resilient. Every human is beautiful. 

CONSISTENCY IS KEY

I can tie almost every win or success back to something done consistently, to a consistent thought process and mindset, or even a consistent schedule.

I can also tie almost every loss or failure back to something done inconsistently, an inconsistent way of thinking and mindset, or an inconsistent schedule.  

PERHAPS MY GREATEST LESSON

For those that have been part of my life for decades, thank you for being on this arc with me. For those that were part of my life in the past, thank you for being part of this arc, and I look forward to a future walk on this arc with you. For those that just joined this arc with me, thank you. I promise this will be an amazing arc.

MONKEY IN THE MIDDLE

There is no doubt that the world has a lack of leadership. People are starved for a source of good advice. They are looking to be led down the right path. The danger is when we find one source. We double and triple down on everything that one person says. Thats the monkey in the middle.

SURROUND YOURSELF WITH ASTONISHING PEOPLE

It’s that simple.  I have worked hard at pro-typing a life where I am surrounded by astonishing people.  I have architected and then engineered a life where I am surrounded by astonishing people. Those astonishing people are in Oregon and Washington and New York and Texas. They are in Utah and California and Florida. They are in Canada and Costa Rica and the Philippines. They are in almost every state and in almost every city in the country. And those astonishing people are doing extraordinary things. 

A NIGHT IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM

There are events in our life and our business that we can’t control. There will be moments of guilt and self-convincing that we could have prevented those events. In those instances we show up, we manage our emotions, we move forward with agency in anything possible, and we make the next best decision. 

STAY CONNECTED

We all want to build incredible companies, doing incredible things, working with incredible people, and serving incredible customers.

The only way to do this over the long term is to stay connected.  Stay connected to your customer.  Stay connected to your service. Stay connected to the work. And always, stay connected to your expectations.

PRUNE YOUR VINEYARD

The work of pruning the vines has become not just therapeutic for me.  Preparing the vineyard has become wildly symbolic.  The purpose of cutting out most of last years “growth” is really for the purpose of promoting growth this year in the new season. Cutting out last years growth allows for great, stronger, new growth for the coming fruit season.  It promotes growth of more fruit, healthier fruit, and even sweeter fruit.  

As I hack back vines from the previous year, I can’t help but think about the correlations between my vineyard and my business.

A HAPPIER ANNIVERSARY

My belief is that no relationship is a wasted relationship. Just like no conversation is a wasted conversation. I believe any time spent with another human being is worth the time passed, spent, or invested. We all learn valuable lessons from each other. Too often we end up focusing on the incredible beginning  and then the difficult end, and forget about the countless moments in the very middle that change us day by day. For that, every relationship is a gift.

BACK STAGE IS THE STAGE

There is no front of stage and back of stage. Those chosen to be back stage to manage the sound and audio and lights may not be seen. But they are felt. They are equally important as those taking center stage for the biggest keynote. Without them, there would be no stage. Backstage is the stage.

DIAMONDS ARE NOT FOREVER

A diamond will last a lifetime. A relationship should be able to as well. But unfortunately, it won’t last with two out of four, or even three out of four. We need a four out of four here. We need to build trust, communicate consistently, work hard, and be mission driven. 

PRICE ARE GOING UP

As you make your choices, be ok with asking yourself if you are willingly, knowingly, and purposefully exchanging a unit of time, or a unit of life, for that thing. That thing could be a goal. That thing could be a relationship. That thing could be an event. Is it worth it? Does it line up with the life you pre-designed for yourself? Does it contribute to one of the core pillars of your life - career, relationships, personal development, wealth, health, or spirituality?