Challenging and Supporting People to do the Most Important Work of their Lives
This video is about Sequoia Capital and their 3 rules for success in leading a business. They make leadership feel very simple.. but it works. They have 30 years of track record of successfully taking on and turning around businesses.
Their rules are:
“The people in the market for boring are spoiled for choice” Rich Mulholland
“All the good shit is reserved for those who put their hands up.” Rich Mulholland
All the good stuff is just beyond the rejection, the looking like a fool, the bad first impression, the being laughed at… if you censor yourself, you close off access to the good stuff.
I am a fan of Rich Mulholland. He shares passion, some f**-bombs and some great personal stories as he tells you to take the risk that you know you need to take but are waiting for a better moment. The lesson: that moment will never come.
Let’s celebrate fall-forward risks, let’s celebrate epic fails and people who test the limits. A little bit of self-delusion and self-belief might just lead you to create your dream.
You should follow Rich on his YouTube Channel the Get Rich Quick show.
Here’s a video of me hanging out with Rich at the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation Global Leadership Conference:
This week’s video is about Steven Covey’s 7th Habit of Highly Effective People: Sharpen the Saw.
Burning yourself out is no service to anyone. Running your car without changing the oil will destroy the engine. Running at 100% all day and all night will destroy your own personal engine.
Living a life in balance means taking the necessary time to renew yourself. You know what to do, but do you make the time for renewal?
Sharpen the Saw means taking care of the greatest asset you have: you. Here are some examples of activities:
As you renew yourself in each of the four areas, you create growth and change in your life. Without this renewal, the body becomes weak, the mind mechanical, the emotions raw, the spirit insensitive, and the person selfish. Not a good life.
If you are reading this post via email, you can watch the video here: The 5 States of Human Performance (From the Coaches Perspective)
The 9 minute video shares a tip for how to move forward from each of these 5 states. I share my story of 2009, of coming back from bankruptcy and loss of family and how I moved out of stage 5 (starting at minute 5:24 in the video).
PS if you can’t decide which state you are it, you in state 4.
Let me know a) which place you are at and b) the goal you choose in the comments below 😉
Genetically we differ 2% from chimpanzees and 3% from worms. Our big difference is the cortex, the upper layer of the brain. The cortex is the home of imagination.
Imagination gives us the choice to live intentionally. We can make a choice: lead a life that is not just response to stimuli, but building towards a vision: an imagined future.
A leader sees a future that is not yet here. This requires imagination. The clearer you can see and touch and feel this potential future the more compellingly you can communicate it to others.
Imagination is what makes us human. 2,300 years ago in the Greek city-state of Athens, Aristotle asked himself “what is the purpose of human life?” Aristotle defined the purpose of an object as being that which it can uniquely do. A human is alive – but plants are also alive – so that cannot be human purpose. A human feels – but animals also feel – so that cannot be human purpose. The unique gift of humanity is reason, the ability to solve problems in the mind, to imagine.
How can you develop your imagination? The video below shares a tool that Jim Collins uses to develop his power of Imagination.
If you are reading this via email, the video is on the blog here: Start with the End in Mind
Chris Brogan’s recent post had a section that said “you are at one of these 5 places in your life”…
If in state 1)
Enjoy it. (Find someone you can help.)
If in state 2)
Find a Mentor. Ask someone who has already had success about how they overcame this obstacle.
If in state 3)
Use the Pomodoro Method.
If in state 4)
Ask a few friends (not the cynical ones) what they think you are good at and what they think you should work on
If in state 5)
Move your body: Go for a walk.
PS if you can’t decide which state you are it, you in state 4.
Let me know a) which place you are at and b) the goal you choose in the comments below 😉
I’m committed to sharing 1 new youtube video each week for the whole of 2017. This is week 4 and my video today is “How to Improve your Sales Process (4 Personal Habits to Develop)”
PS As of last night… I’ve updated my channel graphical look. I’d welcome your thoughts on the new look Rhetorical Journey Channel page. If you’re not already a subscriber to the youtube channel… What are you waiting for? Seriously… people pay me good money to talk and here you get me for free and in your comfy home.
If you are reading this via email, watch the video on the blog here: How to Improve your Sales Process (4 Personal Habits to Develop)
If you are reading this via email, watch the video on the blog: Setting Goals for 2017
Each year I decide on a few words that set the theme for the year. Last year was Connect, Create, Complete. This year I have set Unconditional Peace of Mind as the theme.
I will explain more on what these words mean over the course of the year. Meanwhile there are two specific areas that I will be working to master in 2017. I explain in the video above.
Scroll down, leave a comment, and tell me what you think.
PS The idea of setting 3 words as your theme for the year came from Chris Brogan.
There are two fundamental drives to human action:
This is how we work.
There are no other external causes of action.
We take action when we truly believe:
If I am not taking action, it is often because I do not truly believe that the action will achieve the end goal of pain avoidance, or deliver the gain.
There are a set of things we do because we “have” to. These tend to be actions driven by pain avoidance.
I don’t need any boss or discipline to do these tasks because the environment will just ramp up the pain steadily until I have no choice but to take action.
An entirely pain-avoidance driven life will inevitably leave a growing feeling of overwhelm.
“The things that will bring you the greatest results in your life don’t have a deadline.” Steve McClatchy
Perhaps the greatest positive of gain driven action is that it is entirely discretionary. It is driven by choice. It is the tool by which I change my fate. It is the set of actions that define what type of human being I have chosen to be.
There is no need to take these actions.
In many cases, I live an internal fantasy life based on “I could do this, I could do that” that allows me to feel like I am the type of person I intend to be… but only in my own inner life. Not to the world. Not in any meaningful way.
Anybody could write a blog post.
Anybody could go for a walk.
Anybody could eat 10% less calories for lunch today.
…and the fact that I know that I could is often my own barrier to actually doing. I can maintain my inner image of myself as the highest potential version of me… without seeing that my daily actions are not reaching this potential.
http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2014/07/steve-mcclatchy-gain-and-preventing-pain/
Idris: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
“Haha… what? me… I think I’m a little too old for that”
Idris: “You do realise that you are still growing?”
“Hmmm… you mean… The Dream?”
Idris: “Yes, The Dream?”
“I don’t think people have enough time to dream. Real life gets in the way of dreams.”
Idris: “What if I said to you that I can make it happen… would you be up for that?”
Idris: “When we are kids we play, we think, we dream… but as an adult we slow down very quickly. No matter what stage they are in life, people shouldn’t stop dreaming. They should thrive on.”
Read more on purpose, dreams and living fully:
“What if I said to you that I can make it happen… would you be up for that?” Idris Elba
What do you need to start? What is the first step? What can you do now without needing permission from anybody?
