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Tag: success

Are you near or far sighted?

10 questions to help you decide:

1. Can you describe the life you want?

2. What does a perfect day look like, from the moment you wake until the moment you sleep?

3. Do you have an end goal in mind?

4. Is there a problem you want to solve?

5. Do you want a thriving business that lasts after you’re gone?

6. Are you wanting to make someone’s life easier?

7. Are you putting work into the world that is fulfilling?

8. Do you regularly experience love, prosperity, joy?

9. Are you creating a legend you’re proud of?

10. Have you found time to honestly ask: what makes my heart soar?

I don’t know about you, but I’m over titles, degrees, labels, accolades.

I want to know about the work you’re proud of, the art you shipped, the dreams that light your face with promise.

I see “hope” as wishful thinking. I believe there are concrete steps you can take — today — to make your wildest dreams come true.

Focus your vision on what really matters to you.

What skill/tool/lesson do you wish you would have learned earlier? Read responses from yesterday’s #cxchat here.

Success + generosity = no accident

Observation #1: The most successful people I know are also the most generous.

  • Leaders who give their time and of themselves endear those around them, building trust and respect among teams.
  • “Scarcity mentality” repels and detracts from passion, energy, and fulfillment.
  • Altruism and great financial success are not mutually exclusive.

Observation #2: Some of the best connections arise from places of abundance and giving.

  • When you are focused on “the other,” conversations are more meaningful, authentic energy is exchanged, better solutions can be brainstormed.
  • Folks can sense greed and selfishness; it is not attractive.

Observation #3: By giving to others, you can more clearly identify what brings you joy.

Thanks to Pictomins for The Generosity Spiral!

  • True growth comes from helping others, encouraging someone’s dreams, furthering their project.
  • Helping may be learned as a practiced skill but can emerge as a core element of your being.
  • Most artists, creators, and makers are givers — they share physically, mentally, and emotionally of themselves. Dedicated to their craft, they put their art into the world expecting little (if anything) in return. The emphasis is on the work, the sharing, and not necessarily the outcome.
  • Meaningful dreams evolve from a special sauce of individual enthusiasm, passion, sweat — and the generosity of others.

Tweet at me. I’d love to hear your thoughts on generosity and success.

This post was inspired by this week’s #cxchat Q3: How has generosity helped build your network? You can read a summary of responses here or join our next #cxchat Monday (6/17) at 2pm ET.

Do you have what you want?

True or false:

  1. Fairy tales are real.
  2. Adventure isn’t just for vacation.
  3. Your work can be meaningful.
  4. You have the ability to create more stability and security than with any employer.

Throughout my work with industry leaders, entrepreneurs, small business owners, and 1:1 clients, I’ve pinpointed three key areas that prevent belief in the above:

  • Resentment
  • Lack of focus
  • Stagnation (disguised fear)

As a result, I’ve developed a methodology to help people push beyond perceived limits and get what they really desire. It’s based on the following principles:

Get honest

Easier for some people than others… make the time and find someplace quiet to sit down and get real with yourself. You’ll need to make a commitment to be honest about what it is you want, how you spend your time, who your closest relationships are, what kind of environments nourish your soul. Being able to identify crucial aspects of your personality, character, likes, dislikes, and leadership preferences (do you listen, lead, or follow?) can help you with the next step.

Set goals

The goals you set for yourself provide the framework for your energy and efforts. Without specific goals, you won’t be as effective; your intentions and actions less efficient. The trick is to identify goals that are meaningful and relevant for you (sometimes folks confuse another person’s expectations and preferences with their own).

Once you’ve labeled what you want and have set both long and short-term goals accordingly, you’ll be able to do your best work. Get what you want by working backwards is a post that can help you create a plan that will crush obstacles and conquer blocks (both internal and external) that might stop you in your tracks. Your fears have a more difficult time hiding when you have concrete goals in mind and on paper.

Ship

The final stage, and perhaps the most important. Perfectionism, commitment issues, laziness, self hatred — these kinds of things show up here. Guess what? They’re mostly about fear. By forcing yourself to put your work into the world, you’ll learn that products don’t need to be perfect to be finished. You may even realize that your biggest obstacle in getting things done is…you. Ship, and show fear who is boss.

I’ve been using a tailored version of this formula with a number of clients and have watched incredible transformations take place. If you’re interested in learning more and seeing whether our work together might help you, feel free to drop me a note. I’d love to hear what’s working (and what isn’t) for you.

Are you afraid to fail (and talk about it)?

At a recent curated dinner, I asked leaders from a variety of industries to discuss a topic that doesn’t often enter first conversations: failure.

The most successful among us have failed, yet it is a subject riddled with anxiety and fear. We are afraid to be called out as a fraud, so we avoid talking about moments of doubt and insecurity. It is, in fact, the ability to screw up and fail that drives innovation, creativity, clarity, success, and more…

Brené Brown says moments of struggle and failure help us realize who we are.

Seth Godin received hundreds of rejection letters before finding that crack in the system.

Jason Russell and the Invisible Children team hosted countless school assemblies, rallying crowds and spreading their message long before the Kony 2012 video went viral.

Imagine if companies gave “Employee of the Month” awards to those who tried new initiatives and failed. The rule-followers and safe-players? They get pink slips.

Questions to consider:

1. How have failures contributed to the person you are today?
2. How are you encouraging those around you to fail more often?

The anti-resume

I hope one day you realize you don’t need a resume.

The kind of people you want to work with don’t want to see your list of interests and accolades. They don’t care about your work history, what schools you’ve attended, what awards you’ve won.

They want to know what work you’ve put into the world, what you’ve left behind, where you’re going.

The best work stands for itself.

Your resume is the communities that miss you after you’ve left, the imprint you leave behind. The relationships you’ve forged, the lives you’ve touched, and the work that sparkles with your finesse — this is your resume.

When you realize this, you’ll be filled with freedom and independence: titles no longer matter, job descriptions are irrelevant, length of employment fails to indicate your loyalty and value.

Your success doesn’t rest in the hands of another.

Why spend another moment waiting for the phone to ring? You’re worth more than that.

What if you created your own tribe, shipped your own art, designed a viable solution? Don’t wait for opportunities that may never find you. Create them. For yourself.

And change lives along the way.

10 questions to the best version of yourself

  1. Are you surrounded by people who encourage you to step up your game?
  2. Does your work excite you?
  3. Do your daily priorities align with your grander visions and dreams?
  4. What do you gravitate towards during unscheduled time?
  5. Have you set subgoals that tee you up for greater success?
  6. Do you schedule time each day to recharge and create?
  7. Have you written your dream list?
  8. Do you actively step outside of your comfort zone and seek adventure?
  9. Do you scare yourself regularly?
  10. Are you proud of the story you tell? (Is it positive or discouraging?)