The Power of Words
Starting Each Day With A Little Thinking...Less IS More
As a “Type A” personality I have always wanted to know what the objective is, how it will be measured, when it’s due, and how I can get it done as quickly as possible. It’s black and white. The world is GOOD! I’m in control! HAH!
Sometimes lessons come from strange places. This one I learned as I struggled to reduce my golf handicap. I spent hours working on my swing learning how to position each of my limbs and control the club head. I worked hard. I got callouses. I improved. A little.
Then I came across two resources in a short period of time. The first was Bob Rotella’s book “Golf is Not a Game of Perfect”. The second is the “Golf Made Simple” golf school. Both highlighted a couple of key things. First, the tension that comes with always trying your hardest is NOT conducive to success. Rather, you need to make sure you have clear great focus at the key moment and clear your mind the rest of the time. Second, and this one’s key, you need to accept that sometimes even if you do everything right, things won’t turn out as you would like. That’s OK, you can only control what you do and have to accept the result.
Now I don’t practice, I’m not as stressed on the course, and my handicap continues to trend down — I actually achieved the elusive single digit handicap last year (yeah, there’s still a little bit of metrics driven, type A hiding in there). It’s taken five years for me to really understand this lesson, embrace it, and begin to apply it in other areas of my life. In December I stepped away from the traditional career path. I took a lot less compensation in exchange for a lot more time. I’m not trying as hard, and things are going a lot better. My kids are happier, my wife’s happier, and I’m happier. I’m really curious as to what will happen next if I can continue to apply this lesson.
As you go through the next week, take a look at what you’re trying to control. Can you really exert the influence that you perceive you have? Or, are you better off, stepping back, putting faith in the processes you have built, and trusting those around you to deliver the goods?
As always, thanks for the time.
Optimism
When you were watching Winnie the Pooh with your kids, what word came to mind when A.A. Milne introduced you to Eeyore the stuffed donkey? I’m guessing it wasn’t “optimism”.
There’s a presentation from Colin Powell outlining his keys to success that often makes the rounds in business circles. The one that always sticks with me is: “Perpetual Optimism is Force Multiplier”. No truer words were ever spoken.
Each day, we come in contact with a number of people. The optimists we encounter provide us with hope and energy that make our lives a bit brighter and a bit easier. When ever I think of optimism, I think of one particular friend. This guy’s ALWAYS in a good mood. No matter what situation he is faced with, he finds the positive. There have only been a couple of times that I have heard him speak ill regarding any person or anything. In those situations, he always states “I just don’t understand” and closes the conversation in some positive way and you can just tell that he’s made a commitment to find the positive in the situation and make something good out of it. Even at his “worst” he’s more of an optimist than 99.9% of the population!
Now the above would be a great story if I left it there. But, it REALLY becomes powerful when I tell you that this person NEVER waivers in spite of the situation. The past few years have presented him, his spouse, and his family with some huge health challenges. In spite of these he continues to always be optimistic, always look for ways to help, and always finds a way to get things done — see Colin Powell’s principle above. He has a gift that makes the world a better place and has helped me — and many others — grow as individuals.
As you go through today, you’ll be faced with many choices on how to respond to things that just didn’t go right. Will you listen to Eeyore or Colin Powell as you face today’s challenges?
As always, thanks for the time.
And So It Begins…
Every journey begins with a single step — or so the saying goes. Today my journey begins. Today I make the transition from THINKING about sharing what’s on my mind with everyone on the internet, to actually DOING it. It’s a bit like the story of “Five Frogs on a Log”:
Five frogs are sitting on a log an four decide to jump off. How many are left on the log?
The answer’s five as thinking about something and doing something are NOT the same thing. Houston, we have frog in the water, do you copy?
This effort IS going to evolve (hint, hint it’s not going to be static / it WILL change) as time progresses. However, my vision is that it will always be a vehicle where I’ll put forward ideas that are actionable and will make a difference in people’s lives. It’s going to support my personal purpose: to help others learn, grow and live a more fulfilling life. Yeah, it is a bit altruistic. But that’s OK. It’s my purpose, I believe in it, and it will be something that will provide me satisfaction as the gray hairs on my head multiply.
To those of you that have given a few moments of your time to consider my perspective by reading this, a big “thanks”. Hopefully over time you’ll be rewarded with a few ideas that will help you to learn, to grow, and to live a more fulfilling life.
Along those lines, today’s question: what log are you going to jump off of in the next day, week, month or year?
As always, thanks for the time.
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