Who holds you accountable? If you’re like most people, the answer is nobody. Correct that, most people hold themselves accountable, which is just another way of saying nobody.
After seven years of leadership coaching, and 41 years of living, I’ve learned that human beings are very bad at holding themselves accountable to accomplishing long-term goals.
Here’s why: (more…)
Just about everything in life is a matter of perspective. You tend to see what you are looking for. So, if you expect the worst, you tend to get the worst. If you expect the best, you get the best. This is a short story I tell when someone is looking at things from a place of scarcity. (more…)
I used to be really bad at remembering names. Now I’m not.
I used to hate being in cold water and being cold in general. Now I don’t.
I used to be physically inflexible, I couldn’t even sit cross-legged. Now I can.
I used to be unable to have faith in a God I couldn’t see. Now I do.
If you had asked me about any of these problems back then, I would have told you “that’s just the way I am” or “that’s just how I am wired.” I thought these things were out of my control; that there was nothing I could do to change them. Then, a few years ago, I learned that I was wrong. (more…)
I hate to break it to you, but your big idea is worthless.
You know, that idea you’ve had for a book, or business, or product. The one you’ve talked about for years. The one your family/friends/coworkers are sick of hearing about. Yeah, that one.
Now, it’s not worthless because it’s a bad idea. It’s actually pretty cool.
And it’s not worthless because you are incapable of pulling it off. You actually have a decent chance.
It’s worthless because it’s just an idea. (more…)
Failure comes in all shapes and sizes.
There are small failures, like the time in college when I had my new girlfriend over for dinner and served her a homemade strawberry milkshake that included chopped up bits of wooden spoon that I accidently blended in. I told her those bits were just strawberry seeds.
And there are big failures, like when I was the President of a mortgage company and lead it into bankruptcy, letting a lot of people down along the way.
But no matter the specifics or scope, all failures are the result of three root causes: lack of strategy, lack of effort, and lack of courage.