image from Unsplash by Jeffery Hamilton
The Fourth of July marks the day America declared its independence.
What will you do today to celebrate your personal freedoms?
With the advent of email and texting, my use of regular or snail mail has declined by over 90%. How about you?
For selective or special mail such as birthday cards, I’m still an old-fashioned guy who sends cards with hand-written notes.
Despite my reduced use, I cannot recall stamps every falling off, and perhaps only a few times when my special message failed to arrive. The speed with which these message got there is another story.
What current project or top priority in your professional or personal life requires even greater focus and “stick-to-it-ness” for you to get to the result or outcome you desire?
Image from Unsplash by Pawel Janiak
Today’s quote, and the related statement, “Just Do It,” helped make Phil Knight (CEO of Nike) one of the wealthiest people in the world, with an estimated net worth of 34.7 billion.
I am sure you are thinking there were many, many steps on his and Nike’s journey to success, but it all started with that first step. From there, it was on to the second and third… and the wonders of momentum.
It is a fact that something in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by an external force.
How often do you stop yourself before you even begin?
On what priority project are you procrastinating, or stopped in your tracks?
What one step will you take to begin the journey to realize what you desire?
Consider sharing this goal or objective with a friend, family member, mentor, or even reply to this post to let me know what you intend, and for added social support.
Image from Unsplash by Henning Witzel
Did you know that the United States population of 328,748,284 represents just 4.27% of the world population?
Despite our modest population footprint, the U.S. consumes 24% of the world’s energy, one third of the paper, and 27% of the aluminum.
If you do the math and all people around the world consumed resources as we do, we would need about six planet earths. Given the increasing global population and the fact that all nations are on a journey towards greater prosperity and quality of life, how can this continue?
Mahatma Gandhi once said that the world has enough for everyone’s needs, but not everyone’s greed. What actions can and will you take – starting today – to live a more gentle, human-sized life?
How do you respond to opportunity? What opportunities have you passed up, or grabbed onto? Here are a few opportunity-related posts you may have missed.
“Your big opportunity may be right where you are now.”
If you say something positive about yourself, it is referred to as bragging. If others say similar things about you, it is considered the truth.
What do the people at work and in your career efforts have to say about you? How are you perceived and how do these perceptions compare and contrast from your own?
What would you like others to say and how do your words and deeds warrant such acknowledgment and praise?
Seek feedback from a small group of trusted colleagues. Let them reveal the unique abilities, superpowers, and best qualities they see in you. Ask them also about your weaknesses, and the limiting blind spots that may be holding you back from the professional levels you desire.
Thank them for their candid and generous perspective, and promise to act on their wise council.
For extra credit, consider a similar exercise with family and friends.
Feel free to reply to this post to let me know what you discover and how it impacts your life.
Image of Marissa Mayer from Twitter
How innovative and creative are you compared to those around you? How do you stack up against your colleagues, your competitors, and to the global pioneers that are transforming our world with new exponential technologies?
If your ego has gotten a bit bruised by pondering those questions, there is coaching for you in today’s quote.
Take a few minutes to examine one or two top priorities in your personal or professional worlds. What is your vision for each area, and what limitations or constraints exist?
Consider expanding your vision in these areas to the point where the constraints become greater, requiring you to be even more innovative.
Even if you shoot for the moon and miss, your innovative efforts will land you among the stars.
Image from Unsplash by Amauri Acosta Montiel
My daughter Rachel’s favorite animal is the turtle. She has many stuffed animals and other tchotchkes to prove it.
It happens that she has lived a life in which she has stuck her neck out many times to move forward on various personal and professional priorities. In college, she did door-to-door sales for an educational products company. She worked 80-85 hours a week, with plenty of rejections along the way. Nevertheless, she pulled in about $25k each summer, as opposed to the 12-week, minimum wage jobs some of her classmates took on.
To what degree are you playing it safe in your personal and professional worlds? What top priority issue is calling you to courageously stick your neck out even if you were to progress at a turtle’s pace?
Gary Chapman’s book, The Five Love Languages, has sold over 12 million copies and has been a #1 New York Times best seller for over 8 years. It has received over 14,000 reviews on Amazon, with 94% being 5 or 4 stars. And given its universal appeal to people around the world, it has been translated into 50 languages. The five languages are:
Please note that only one out of the five languages is about gifts, and a subset are hand-made rather than bought.
How and in what additional ways can you more fully give of yourself to demonstrate your love of family, friends and others you care about?
Please consider taking the Five Love Languages test and share this expertise with those closest to you to discover their love preferences.
On what criteria do you base your opinions? How do you react to the opinions of others? Here are a few opinion-related posts you may have missed.
“Be careful how you interpret the world: it is like that.”
“The only way some of us exercise our minds is by jumping to conclusions.”