Napoleon Hill, American author (”Think and Grow Rich”)
The trivial reason why…
- you can only achieve what you can imagine.
- you will only get what you desire.
If you’re not thinking about getting that promotion - you never will receive it.
If you never wondered what it must be like to lose that extra weight - you will never experience it.
If you have never made plans on owning a house - you will most likely never have one.
If you don’t want it - you won’t get it, as simple as that.
So that is why every success starts with the following 4 lines:
- What do think about a lot? What scenarios are you imagining?
- Are you desiring the right things?
- Are the things you desire what you really want?
- What does it take to get you there?
One more thing…
I would slightly change the quote though:
“The starting point of all great achievement is DESIRE.”
Your m - going for IT.
the voice in my head, loud and clear
What I know I should be doing:
Focus on the 80% version first. Only if this one works out you start perfecting things.
What I do way too often:
Getting lost in details and doubts…
Resolutions of the day:
- Only raw results count!
- All pillars, no painting!
Your m
The Bosses We Remember
An old quote says that you can tell the true nature of a person’s character by the way she/he treats subordinates. according to my experience, this is quite true - in good and bad cases.
Knowing that is hard to be a good leader and that there is a ton of things you can screw up, here are some thoughts about what counts in the long run - because as a leader or a boss you don’t run a business/department/team/… but influence people and their lives…
The bosses and managers you will remember for the rest of your life are the ones who…
- provided safe space to grow.
- showed us how.
- opened career doors.
- defended us when we needed it.
- developed us as professionals and persons.
- saw something in us we couldn’t see.
- inspired us to stretch even higher.
- lead by example.
- explained when asked and listened when needed.
- emphasized our future over the company’s present.
- ensured us that our work mattered.
- forgave us when we made mistakes.
Try your best to work for someone like this now and to become someone like this later…
Your m
Dwayne Johnson - aka. The Rock, former pro wrestler, Hollywood action hero and fitness icon
Perfect advice to all of us who focus on becoming important - in our companies and departments, to our social media followers, or just among our peer group or in the team we play in.
Being nice to people has no big lobby these days. We all try to make our way UP but sometimes forget to treat our companions right.
But here’s the trick about it:
It is not you who decides if you are important!
As you can only be relevant (or irrelevant) to other human beings it is on them (your colleagues and team mates, your coach, co-workers, your boss, and your family) to gratify you with a certain amount of attention and attentiveness!
And no matter what many managment books tell you being nice (supportive/helpful/caring/…) to them will most likely not hurt your chances of becoming important…
Your m
Lesson By A Blizzard
Back in January 2016, a snowstorm covered the northeast of the USA. A huge area received at least 20 inches of snow from central Virginia to New York City. This blizzard broke several long-standing records and made the entire life stop for a moment. Example: New York City’s JFK and LaGuardia airports recorded 30.5 and 27.9 inches of snow, which ranks as their heaviest amounts on record.
Due to its sheer intensity, the storm was soon named “Snowzilla” by the media and public.
What has all that to do with this blog?
The stories around this weather phenomenon taught me some truly interesting things:
90% of the people simply accepted the storm, whined a bit and tried their best to keep normality alive. Researches tried to find out where the weather came from and why it happened. Journalists wrote about it and spread how people deal with it. Exept of kids most inhabitants stayed home and turned on the tv…
But a few people saw more than snow.
Even within all those masses of frozen water, they saw opportunities.
Patrick Horton, 28, came up with the idea of building an igloo in his Brooklyn backyard (by hand with a couple of shovels), and listing it on Airbnb - for $200 a night!
Although it was taken down by the platform before first customers could book a night this is to me as entrepreneurial as it gets! Making the best of the circumstances - creating solutions and products where others only see problems.
Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-26/mates-build-igloo-during-us-blizzard-list-it-on-airbnb/7114868
Same storm, different guy, another example for entrepreneurial creativity:
… later when the storm got really bad and the roads where closed down the rebell, creator and Youtuber Casey Neistat took the chance to make his most iconic, most recognized movie to this day - snowboarding through the Manhatten! Almost 18 million people wathced the clip after he had received world wide press coverage…
What I took away from that incidence:
People find amazing solutions in the cruelest envirnments - a snow storm is just a tangible example…
But if it is possible to create opportunities and relevant conent in the middst of the worst blizzard the east-coast has ever experiened - it is most likely feasable right now, in this very moment, whatever your personal situation is…
Those guys could not even the leave the house without a shovel. Compared to this, most of my excuses look like jokes.
Stop whining, start creating.
Your m
Your Problems
80% of the people you talk to actually don’t care about YOUR problems.
20% are glad you have them.
Fact.
Don’t complain publically.
Never post, blog or brag about your problems.
Instead: directly approach those few who can and may help.
Don’t get me wrong:
Think of who might be supportive and ask for help if needed! Asking is a sign of strength, not of weakness!
But: Remain silent or vague towards everyone else!
What you want is a solution and/or help - not pity, condolences, consent or blame!
Keep in mind that the vast majority of your high school friends, neighbors, colleagues, followers, etc. will not solve or support!
Therefore, you better keep things to yourself.
Your m
The Lower End of Your To Do List
“The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.”
John F. Kennedy
Your roof is perfect?
Good for you!
But what about …
- your passwords?
- your LinkedIn profile?
- the friends you wanted to call for a decade?
- giving back to your parents?
- taking your girl out?
- learning something new?
- taking care of your network?
- working on your next career move?
Note: When life is good - that is when you need to work and prepare for tougher times. NEVER allow yourself to be bored!
End of story.
(My mantra for the upcoming weeks - hopefully making me who I dream to be.)
Your m
The Power Of Silence
Being an input junkie I consume a lot of information. Actually, almost my entire day is filled with collecting and digesting news, ideas, reports, and thoughts.
- I read (mainly articles, tweets, and blogs)
- I listen (to talks and podcasts)
- I study (businesses and the people building them)
- and most of all I watch (TED Talks, tutorials, documentaries, etc.)
I think to collect and analyze relevant information, always looking for useful data and learning - this is a great way to learn (= to get better) and probably among the smartest things to spend your time on.
But I have noticed one thing:
We, the generation that cannot leave the apartment without a device and headphones have forgotten how silence feels and how useful it is.
Here is my theory on this one:
Your mind appears to work in one of two modes: it is either all about receiving and analyzing or about creating and sending. You are either learning about the thoughts of others or making up your own ones - never both at the same time.
As you can only speak OR listen - you can only consume OR create. Focus outside OR inside.
As long as you are reading this post you will not be able to come up with an answer to your current main problem. That is not a problem in general - just something to be aware of.
Here is my recommendation:
- Get as much interesting stuff in your head as you can manage.
- But keep moments of silence - to create, think, and to develop/invent ideas and solutions.
- Give yourself some time in silence (that means to distraction, not even background music), and wait for thoughts to come. Every thought is fine.
You will learn what really bothers you and what you are capable of - if only the stream of information stops for a bit…
Get a notebook or a sheet of paper and some silence… everything else follows.
Pro hack: headphone with no music on it work great to put the world on mute no matter where you are.
Your m
Advice To My Younger Self
If I had the chance to meet my high school me - I would tell him the following… in no distinct order:
- always be in the moment, be present
- think, travel and write as much as you can
- practice public speaking
- value friendships and family over everything else
- memorizing is not learning
- winning is not that important - playing is
- learn how to listen, to eat and to invest
- seize every single day but don’t take life too seriously
- understand when to shut up and to leave
- find a mentor for everything that matters to you
- trust your gut / have faith
- Never lose your course
- solve the hardest problems you can find
- never brag or pretend - a waste of time
- whatever you do, always go “all in”
Your old m
you have to finish first.”
Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss, British former Formula One racing driver
Unpleasant but undeniable truth:
Starting is relatively easy. Finishing is though. Most of the times the last part of the way is the actual boss challenge.
All aspiration creates the necessity to get things done.
Nobody EVER won without reaching the finish line at some point.
Your m - constantly fighting to get to the end.
to everyone with a big idea and little confidence
The 25th Hour Between 11 & 7
- The meeting had to be postponed…
- The break you intended to spend with your colleagues happened to be a lot shorter than expected…
- That free evening got erased by a 1min call from your boss…
- That planned dinner with your spouse got canceled just like your flight back home…
- …
Seems familiar? It is to me!
Here is a strange but certain truth…
The only time that you are really in control of, is the time between 11pm and 7am.
Why:
Everybody else might be asleep and assumes you to be as well.
Therefore, this is the only chance you can catch up with whatever is important to you personally.
- You want to run or work out more - run late at night or before sunrise!
- You want to work on yourself (reading, writing, listening to an audio book, etc.) - don’t count on the lunch break!
- You want to build a side business or study - if you are anything like me business #1 will certainly prevent you from doing so.
- You want to meditate, plan, structure, organize - avoid the trouble of the day.
In a nutshell:
If you want to go the personal extra mile - become a night shifter or early bird!
Not convinced yet?
Maybe you need a few role models…
A former colleague of mine has the following daily routine:
getting up at 5 am, going on a 15- to 17-kilometer run. Coming back, waking up his daughter, bringing her to school, heading to the office, executing a demanding 80 hour plus job, heading home, family time, bed, … alarm clock.
He is a proud father, the fittest guy on the floor and among the highest paid ones…
A mentor of mine has 4 daughters between 3 and 13 years old… and about a hundred people working for him: he made his Ph.D. while working full time and handling his family. How? Coming home from work, spending time with wife and daughters, being back at the desk (home office) after they all went to bed (around 11.30 pm) for some mails and presentations, switching subject about an hour later and working on his Ph. D. until exactly 4 am. Then going to bed and being back in the office at around 10.30 am. Though for sure, yet possible.
Or ask this guy: Dwayne The Rock Johnson - 4.am, some coffee then cardio, followed by his first meal of the day, then hitting the weights (clangin’ and bangin’ in Rock-speak) before heading for shootings, meetings and press conferences - no matter where he is on the globe… Reference example: https://www.instagram.com/p/BRtx17iFvfJ/?taken-by=therock
All of them could reorganize their routines, trying to fit in all relevant parts into the day using a much more relaxed schedule - but they don’t. For a reason.
They seem to know that the day gets longer as soon as you shift things into that 11 - 7 window.
Join them and try to get YOUR time in - somewhere in between dusk and dawn.
May your alarm ring loud and clear,
may your nights be bright,
and your mornings as productive as early!
Your m