10 Percent To Getting Ahead

Birds Of A Feather Flock Together

Instead of jumping to the new platform, the new shiny object, the new service, consider putting an extra 10 percent into what you’re doing now.

While everyone else spreads themselves thin to explore all the “new” you get to excel at what already works.

Leap forward in your direction while everyone takes baby steps on a different path.

 

Stay Positive & It’s Easier To Catch Up Than Your Lizard Brain Is Telling You

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Being First

Being First

Being first to market doesn’t mean you’ll profit.

Being first to revamp your website doesn’t mean you’ll generate more leads.

Being first to pitch your startup doesn’t mean you’ll get the investment you want.

While I’m very fond of being first, showing up first, volunteering first there’s something special to the kind of firsts that matter.

Being first matters when you’re the first to tell a story. It matters when you’re the first to connect to someone on an emotional level. It matters when you’re the first to give someone something they can’t help but talk to all their friends about.

First has a lot of shapes, forms and circumstances.

 

Stay Positive & Focus On The Firsts That Matter

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Trying Differently

Trying Differently

It takes an entirely different mindset to work on a team than it does alone.

It takes a different way of thinking to work on something short-term as opposed to being in it for the long run.

Trying A and trying B will leave you feeling wildly different.

There is yin. And there is yang. You gain knowledge from choosing either.

The successful don’t become so by always being right, always working on a team, always being in it for the long run. You don’t make money from alway choosing A. And life definitely isn’t perfect when it’s all yin and no yang.

On that note, people put emphasis on the wrong side of yin and yang. More yin isn’t a good thing. More yang isn’t a good thing. Yin and yang works when the emphasis is on AND.

Try it this way and that way.

You get smart faster when you not just try new things, but try new things differently.

 

Stay Positive & There’s More Than Just The Highway And My Way

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Morning Mantras And 5 Other Ways To Improve Your Life

Reflection Life

There are six actions, that, if you take, you’ll no doubt be happy, feel balanced, and notice how incredible circumstances begin surrounding you. These are daily activities.

  1. Write – I suggest freewriting for 5 minutes straight
  2. Meditate – I suggest headspace 15 minutes
  3. Exercise – I suggest a combination of jogging, weightlifting, and walking (each on a different day)
  4. Connect – I suggest reaching out to someone new, but someone from your past works too. Just say hi
  5. Gratitude – I suggest writing three things you’re grateful for (or would be if you had, but you need to write it as if you have it already) Evernote is great for this
  6. Mantra – I suggest making your own and reading it allowed in front of the mirror each morning

Here’s my mantra. I hope you’re inspired by it. I haven’t shared it with anyone before.

I am healthy, strong, and in control of my body and willpower. In all I do I am positive and hardworking. In all that I create I ask what is in it for them? I put myself in their position. I am a giver, I am generous. I care about others.

I keep an open mind and observe all the wonder of the world. I see the little things and their big meanings. I remain curious as I look at things and ask why?

Each day, each task, each conversation, each goal, I will show up, I will be present. I will own the moment. Throughout the day I will do things my own way, but will have studied and learned from the paths others have taken.

Confidence is my key to remarkable work, to creating value for others, to pushing through setbacks. I am resilient. I persevere beyond the line of others. I set an example for those wishing to succeed in life.

I will remain agile and flexible while maintaining my determination to succeed. I will keep my hopes up high and my head down low. I will not take anything personally. Today I will embrace the culture of continuous improvement.

For my future kids. For my current and future friends dancing with their own fears. I will stay positive.

 

Stay Positive & You’ll Notice Change Even Doing A Few A Day

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Desire For Recognition

Recognition

The results of a personality test I took showed that I have a very low desire for recognition. I don’t get motivated when I think of being the center of attention. I don’t work for awards, badges or other accolades.

According to the test, having a desire for recognition is a strong and smart quality to have.

As most tests go, it’s missing something important.

I don’t care about being named number one, but I care that people recognize they can count on me for anything. I don’t care for the spotlight, but I care that people think of me first when they are in need of help. I don’t care if I get a trophy, but I care that people know that their gratitude is trophy enough.

Recognition isn’t a status-only concept. It’s something broader.

I strive to be recognized as someone who is dependable, loyal, caring, and, above all, human.

That kind of recognition is more powerful than the desire for an award or praise. Don’t let anyone tell you that if you don’t strive for a higher status, for recognition, that you’re unmotivated.

 

Stay Positive & Care On

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What You Say When You Deliver

My SO, before giving anything to me, likes to preface it with a lot of cautionary notes.

You may not like it, it’s something really small, I couldn’t decide between this or that and I got this and I hope it’s okay, and so on.

I catch myself doing the same when I’m delivering message strategies to clients or when I share great work.

I want to tell a client of mine that the message strategy could change, that it’s a movable strategy, one that’s guaranteed to change with new data.

What does that say about my confidence in the work?

We try last second to lower expectations, to share or shake off the responsibility, the ownership, and, in doing so, we forfeit the credit too.

 

Stay Positive & Stop Letting Yourself Off The Hook