I had an idea to write about today and, like all forgotten ideas, it was awesome. I didn’t jot it down when it popped into my mind.
That leads to my brain dump notepad. I used to keep a notebook in my pocket to jot down names, ideas, thoughts, important moments, etc… these days, it’s just a note pad on my iPhone and the notes app on my computer.
Despite the ease of access, I still leave stuff out. I’m a slacker. That’s why I forgot my idea for today’s blog post. Don’t be a slacker.
Make more than everyone else and give it all away for free.
This attitude of helping others and making everyone around you look better is the attitude that will make you the indispensable cog who gains real influence and power to make their future while making a healthy living.
We all get caught up in the excitement of the “F*ck you, pay me” model where everything is tit for tat. It feels good, it's emotional, it's full of passion!
We all demand our credit, we want our pound of flesh, or a moment in the sun.
Greatness comes from the shadows where it’s been diligently and humbly working on getting better while sacrificing his efforts to help those around him.
Make the change that’s hard to make. Give up the vice or distraction you love the most if it stands in the way. Allow no excuse to block your path forward.
Just because it’s never been done by anyone in your family or anyone you know doesn’t mean you can’t do it.
You have to genuinely believe that, though. Once you believe it, you act on it.
Do the hard thing that you’re scared to do and believe that you can achieve that unbelievable thing. Go! Do!
The funny thing about standing on the shoulders of other people is that you don’t need to be standing on the shoulders of giants to lift yourself up.
Even a little guy can make you rise above.
Stand on all the shoulders, small or large, and build onward and upward with everything you find in the world.
When the deadline gets close and press feels harder. The compression in your chest suddenly becomes physical and your body is not making it easy to get the job done on time.
This is the Chinese finger trap idea again. If you allow the press to suffocate you, you will certainly not get the job done on time.
If you rush and press hard, but you relax and let it happen, not only are you a happier person, but you will get more done faster than you expected.
So rush, but rush smoothly.
You’ve been baking for months and you finally figure out a good doughnut recipe.
You could make it once and then start looking for the next great doughnut recipe.
That would be pretty dumb, though.
You could use that great recipe and change the filling and have a dozen flavors of awesome doughnuts.
We don’t always have to re-invent the wheel. We can make the same thing and change it and it’s even been than starting from scratch and it takes a third of the time and energy as well.
We think of the massive corporation as a big, lumbering ship that is difficult to move and not very agile.
We think of the individual as very agile. Quick and sudden jumps, turns, and changes are easy for us, right?
I’m not so sure of that. How often do people change? Real change. Not often.
It feels like it’s easier to move an individual because we know how to move ourselves, but a massive corporation seems like an immovable object.
But how often do people change? People would choose to believe a lie rather than accept that they could be wrong about something. People prefer to ignore the important thing that could facilitate change because change is hard and can be scary.
Are people really that much more agile than corporations? I’m not so sure.
The harder you pull your fingers out of a Chinese finger trap, the more tightly they are trapped.
Creativity is the same. The harder to press, the more difficult it is.
The best way to be creative is to relax.
In between times when you need to be creative, work on becoming more interesting by reading books, traveling places, and honing skills (especially outside of your craft!)
Then, when it’s time to be creative, relax, and let your mind’s intuition and instinct take over.
If it doesn’t serve a purpose, cut it away.
Tidy your workspace, your desk, your to-do list. Everything.
Anything that isn’t helping is distracting or sucking energy. Dump it and make that thing you’re working on more simple.
I’ve missed enough days of writing this week. It’s been busy. Frankly, I’ve also allowed myself to get distracted and suck away precious hours as well. That hasn’t helped lighten the workload.
But I don’t think about a lighter workload at the moment. Only later.
Distractions only hurt after they’re finished distracting you, but then they’ve vanished and you get no revenge.
So I’m here to write because I don’t feel like writing. I feel like being distracted, but I’m slamming the door and saying “no.”
Give it everything you've got. That’s it. That’s the secret to doing great stuff and lasting a long time. Don’t worry about the noise, the roar, or the jeers of the audience. That doesn’t matter nearly as much as doing the work.
That’s what you control. That’s what matters. Everything else is a distraction.
I’m told that it’s good for your mental health to own your wins, but I believe that it is the antitheses of the humble man.
Very often, the fastest and most effective way to get something done is to be absolutely willing to NOT take credit for what is done.
Everybody wants to take credit so when you give all the credit you’ll be more fun to work with.
You’ll get more done because your team is more effective and happier.
The question is simple: are you willing to sacrifice the praise to be more effective?
It sure is difficult. Admit that you messed it up or you could have done better.
Some people might respect you less for it. It will reveal your weaknesses and make you more vulnerable.
But it also rips away the mask you’ve been using to portray a version of yourself that will keep you submerged in a deluge of stress and bring you to an early grave.
It feels great in your twenties, but I bet by about 45, you’re ready to keel over.
When you own it, you also know you need to get better and you want to get better so you don’t have to keep admitting you screwed up again.
Make yourself really that more reliable person and is almost as awesome as your fake self while being 100% authentic is much more fun, sustainable, and peaceful. Own it. Hurts a little now, but gets awesome pretty quick.
You have to break the pattern. The pattern is comfortable and is momentarily easy. But the pattern is the spell and it’s holding you back.
Break to spell, break the pattern.
So what if you don’t think the change will do any good. Stop doing the same thing over and over again and expecting something different to happen.
The pain of self-discipline now, or the pain of regret later. Break the spell. Do it differently.
That little bit of extra. A little something more.
When you give that, you’re remembered. You float to the top of mind when people need to hire somebody. People remember how you make them feel.
Doing a little extra, buying a gift, showing up early, focusing on the task and not using your phone when you’re working (especially when the client or boss is around!), or never showing how tired or sick of a project/task you are, etc…
These things will help make you indispensable whether to your clients or your boss.
Give them free sprinkles and they’ll come back for more.
The Dunning Kruger Effect, or cognitive bias, or why stupid people think they’re smart afflicts us all.
What are we doing about getting down off of the peak of “Mount Stupidity?”
In an era where we’ve been raised to think we’re special and deserving of everything we want, it’s the bitter pill of humility that we need to swallow.
Even the master should desire to become a student again. In a funny twist, that humility ensures he will become a greater master himself.
You can’t learn if you think you already know. You think you’re smart. That will prevent you from getting smart.
Can you avoid that dangerous trap and believe that you can still get better, stronger, or more skilled? Can you put in the work and still humbly entreat those who suffer under the “stupid people who think they’re smart” all around you?
It’s hard, but vital if you want to be great and make the most of the life you have.
Some people have confidence within themselves that will not be denied. It runs them and they make clear to all just how confident they are. What is this confidence based upon? Nothing. Just a feeling that they are special and/or should be confident because it feels better.
There is confidence as well that is not born in a man, but it bubbles up through his life as he achieves and builds. Quiet confidence. He can’t believe he’s had success. To him, it’s hard work that, apparently, has paid off in some way.
Quiet, humble confidence is what he has. It is based on something real, not pride or entitlement.
What confidence have you fostered in yourself? Do you have real accomplishments on which you can hang your hat?
I haven’t uploaded a new video on my YouTube channel in over a year. That’s particularly concerning because I’ve been trying to make a video for the past four months and haven’t been able to stomach it.
I feel the confidence slipping away and I don’t know why. I’m not at a stage where I’m panicking, but I am rather annoyed with myself.
I’m studying my actions and mental attitude through all of this because I don’t just want to fix this system that isn’t working, I want to ensure I never take a “break” of this magnitude ever again.
The dam will break and new content will flow. My confidence will be restored and it’ll be like the past 13 months never were difficult.
I am hopeful and I am confident that my confidence and freeness will return.
I’m wondering how? How can you write a thousand pages and not run out of words? I’m writing a daily blog and I run into days where the words are like syrup oozing through a block of wood. I’m not sure if I’m lazy or out of ideas, but today is one of those days when I’m squeezing out words.
I have to create some bad content to keep the train moving so bad content it will be today.
The hardest part of going to the gym is putting on your shoes. If you walk in the doors of the gym, you’ll almost certainly workout. But getting those shoes on in the first place is the hardest part.
Eliminate distractions and make it easy to get started with your work and you’ll get a whole lot more done.