1. Lock Down Your Why

To be effective you must be motivated, enthused, and on a mission every day. This requires that your life be aligned with your purpose and passion. This in turn requires that you do the work (journaling, reflecting, gaining perspective by going to the mountain top regularly; observing yourself, your thoughts, reactions, feelings, and moods) necessary to grow in self-awareness. It is powerful to write down what you want from every major goal/task/achievement, how you expect to feel and what you expect to be different/better. When a milestone is reached, it is incredibly insightful to go back and compare your future expectations with your current reality. Most of the time, it is a matter of “Everywhere I go, there I am.” for it’s in the journey, not the destination, where the true joy can be found.

2. Run With Your Strengths, Backstop Your Weaknesses

To do this effectively, you must acknowledge and accept your weaknesses. Backstopping does not mean ignoring or not working on your flaws; rather it means you put in the 20% that gets you the 80% and then you find a way to work around them, cover them.

3. Embrace the Lessons of Failure

Take the time to break failure down into its component parts, conduct a positive, future/learning solution-oriented “Post Action Review”. Make sure you learn ONLY the lessons therein. Avoid “Cold Stove” overlearning: A cat which sits on a hot stove often never sits on a cold stove again either.

Closing Quotes:

“Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement.” – W. Clement Stone

“Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” – George Addair

“Believe in yourself. You are braver than you think, more talented than you know, and capable of more than you imagine.” – Roy T. Bennett

As always, I share what I most want and need to learn. – Nathan S. Collier