The Power of Words
Starting Each Day With A Little Thinking...Support
Culturally we are programmed to value the “rugged independence” mentality. The view that if you work hard enough, you can accomplish anything on your own. And I certainly believe in the importance of hard work and the ability to influence your own future. However, it is naive, in my opinion, to suggest that you alone are going to accomplish anything. The “rugged independence” view paints a picture that it is only about you. The reality is, you are part of a much bigger ecosystem.
In every endeavor we pursue, there will be others involved. Only by working with, by supporting, these others, are we able to accomplish our goals. The real irony here is that when we offer our support, we often get back much more than we give. We often learn, grow, and enjoy life more fully. Perhaps there is some truth to that old adage that “It is better to give than receive”.
With that in mind:
Who are you going to support today?
As always, thanks for the time.
Standards
The experience of dining at a fine restaurant versus McDonald’s is dramatically different. Yet remarkably similar….
The differences jump out at you almost immediately: the location of the restaurant, the greeting (or non-greeting) when you arrive, the dress of the staff, the sounds that you notice, the smells that surround you, and the list goes on/you get it.
The similarities have to do with standards. In fact, in many cases McDonald’s is often superior to the finest restaurants in this manner!!! Now I’m not saying that I’d prefer to dine there or making any statement about the quality of the service or food. What I am saying is that both McDonald’s and almost all fine restaurants have established a set of standards that they constantly measure against. Further, in many cases, they have built systems and processes that make these standards “routine”. So much so that when you don’t get the normal experience, when they don’t perform up to their standards, it’s obvious.
Like McDonald’s we each have our own set of standards. And our proverbial “gut” tells us very clearly if we are or are not performing up to these standards. While our personal standards exist, they’re normally embedded in our sub-conscious and behaviors; and, accordingly, they are often easier for others to observe than us. Think about it: “He’s got a great work ethic”, “He’s lazy”, “You can count on her”, “He takes such nice care of his yard”. We see others standards all the time. However, rarely do we take the time to step back and reflect on what we have established as our personal standards.
With that in mind:
What are your standards?
As always, thanks for the time.
Noise
Most of us wake up to the blaring of an alarm — the first of many noises that will assail our senses during our day. But noise is more than the sounds that we hear. Noise, in my mind, is all of those external and internal stimuli that distract us from focusing fully on the task on which we are working. Notice I did not say “the important” tasks. I specifically chose “task on which we are working”.
To accomplish all that we can, we need to be able to drown out the noise and focus on the current task. That’s not easy as the internal and external voices we hear can be very loud. While we do not want to “live in a vacuum”, we are more effective when we silence the voices and immerse ourselves in the task at hand.
As with all things, extremes are never good. Drowning out the noise to be able to focus is invaluable. Drowning out the noise all of the time is a form of sensory deprivation that leads to insanity — we are part of a larger environment and to not interact with that environment would be pure madness.
Our challenge is to decide when the noise is a motivation and when it is a distraction.
With that in mind:
Do you know when it’s time to hear the noise and when it is time to ignore it?
As always, thanks for the time.
(Credit to Ankit Agarwal for motivating this post.)
Leverage
Give me a place to stand and with a lever I will move the whole world. — Archimedes
I’d offer that in today’s connected world, the “place to stand” is an individual’s web or virtual presence and the “lever” is his or her personal set of e-connections. Think about it for a minute. Each of us likely has an e-mail account, a Facebook account, perhaps a LinkedIn account, maybe a twitter account, and some even a Pinterest account. In each of these ways we are connected to multiple individuals who in turn are connected to multiple other individuals. These “social levers” allows us to move (think about an emotional, moving event in someone’s life) a portion of the world (those that we are connected to) with ease. If you have any doubt about this, simply wait a day or two and watch for the next viral video to emerge. That happened because of this tremendous “e-lever”.
The larger our lever (read social network), the larger our ability to influence the broader world with our ideas. In fact, I would argue that the size of the lever (read connectivity) outweighs the power of our ideas. At the very least, it is a multiplier whose value should not be discounted. Aside here, that’s a tough pill to swallow personally as I’ve always placed more importance on my ability to come up with new ideas versus my ability to connect with others.
With that in mind:
What will you do today to build a larger lever?
As always, thanks for the time.
(Credit to Bob Lowry for motivating this post)
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