“Don’t rejoice when your enemies fall; don’t be happy when they stumble.” – Proverbs 24:17
Life is not a zero sum game – at least not always. For you to win, it doesn’t mean that somebody has to lose. It’s ok that the competition is doing well – it will force you to improve, make better decisions, and provide a better result for your customers. It’s great that your friend is “living the dream.” Instead of being jealous, why don’t you work at improving your situation so that you could live the dream too?
Life is better when you’re trying to find win-win situations.
Well, it’s that time of year again – a time to look back on what you’ve accomplished this past year and to look forward to what you’d like to accomplish next year. It’s an exciting time, a time to get a fresh start.
While I don’t like the terminology of a “New Year’s Resolution,” I am a huge fan of setting goals. It’s basically the same thing, but the goals should be specific and not limited to only setting them up at the beginning of the year, whereas many resolutions are vague and only happen once per year.
There are several categories which you should have goals for. They are goals with your family, your spiritual connection/community involvement, your physical health, intellectual health, career-oriented goals, financial goals, and social goals.
Make sure that you have one goal per spoke on the wheel of life.
So, if we are setting goals in the seven key areas of our lives, the question now becomes, how do we know what goals to set? And how do we set ourselves up to actually achieve these goals?
1) Start with the end in mind. If you haven’t decided on what you’re working towards or why you’re working towards that goal, you’re going to end up with mediocre results. You have to know what you want and have a strong enough “why” to persevere through the tough times to achieve your goal.
The end goal is like the destination on a map. If you know where you want to go, you can look at the map to see the quickest route to get there, and then take that route. Without knowing where you want to go, the map is useless.
Using another analogy, the end goal is the picture on the box of the 1000 piece puzzle you have to put together. Without seeing what final picture looks like, it’s going to be near impossible to get that desired result.
2) After you’ve determined what your goal is, you’ll probably need to fine-tune it. The next thing that you’ll need to do is make sure that it is specific. If you have a vague goal, you will not be clear on what it takes to achieve your goals.
3) Make sure that your goal is measurable. You should be able to track your progress…if you can’t quantify your goal, it’s probably not a well-written goal.
4) Set up “check-ins” to see how you are progressing towards your goals at least once per quarter (ideally you’ll have weekly or monthly check-ins, while keeping your goals front of mind daily).
If you’re like me, you might be a procrastinator. But if you’ve set the correct yearly goals, it will be too late to hit those goals if you start working towards them in November. If you are able to hit those goals in a month, then you know two things: a) that you’re capable of anything if you set your mind to it; and b) that you didn’t set lofty enough yearly goals if you can achieve them within one month of focused attention.
5) Have an accountability partner. Tell someone your goals. Or split it up where you tell a different person a goal from one of your spokes on the wheel of life and ask them if they are willing to hold you accountable to reaching those goals. Let them know how important it is for you to reach those goals, why it is important, and give them permission to call you out if you’re off track from hitting those goals.
That’s basic goal-setting in a nutshell. Now go out there, set up some goals, and figure out how you’re going to achieve them to make 2020 your best year yet!
“Great teams are made when they are forged in the fire of conflict, and through confrontation they come out stronger.” – Michael Gervais
In order to be a great team, there needs to be challenge. Overcoming obstacles is the best way to build a strong team. It will (ultimately) bring the team together and give them confidence the next time that they are facing a difficult situation.
One important barrier that teams must constantly face and overcome is having difficult conversations with the team. Whether this is disagreeing with each other when it comes to taking the next action step, or calling team members out/holding them accountable for something that they said they would take care of but didn’t, facing this conflict head on can be very difficult.
In going from a good team to a great team, team members cannot be afraid to bring up difficult discussions and they must be willing to be uncomfortable for the greater good of the team.
This is easier said than done because most people (myself included) don’t like conflict, so we try everything we can to avoid it. But if you do this, it will lead to mediocrity. As long as you’re not name-calling and as long as the person you’re questioning knows that you’re disagreeing with them for the greater good of the team, then it will help the team move forward. Healthy conflict with team members you love and trust is necessary to become great.
Arrogance is the one of the ugliest character traits that anyone can have. If you are arrogant, you exaggerate your own worth and have a sense of superiority compared to those around you.
Don’t let “your” success go to your head. It was a team effort that got you the results, not just your own.
How can you overcome arrogance? Practice humility regularly.
C.S. Lewis said that “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.” Stop only thinking about yourself – there are always other people that will be affected by your decisions.
Once you become self-aware enough to realize that you’re not as important as you think you are, you have a chance to learn from others. Understand that you don’t know all of the answers. Take ownership when things don’t go according to plan instead of pointing fingers. Try hard things that push you out of your comfort zone and allow you to “fail” regularly. Stop saying “I” and start saying “we” when you or your team are having success. And realize that nobody is completely self-made. Everyone has at least one person in their corner who has been a positive influence in their life.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “every man I meet is my superior in some way, and in that I learn from him.” Take this same mindset and apply it to your life. You can learn something from anyone. They have more knowledge or experience than you in something. Stop being arrogant and start being more open-minded. LISTEN to others. You will go further in life (and be better liked) if you can add a little humility and remove arrogance from it.
Listen and ask questions. “We have two ears and one mouth so we can listen twice as much as we speak.” – Epictetus
If you’re ignorant about a subject, learn about it. If you’re arrogant, humble yourself.
“Kind words do not cost much, yet they accomplish much.” – Blaise Pascal
The more joy that you can spread, the better the world will be. Don’t choose to be mad, sad, or grumpy. Don’t choose to be indifferent or standoffish. Choose to brighten someone else’s day. Hopefully they can do the same for someone else and begin a chain reaction. If you everyone started being nicer to each other, the world would be a better place.
