Work on being resilient in all situations. No matter what happens, no matter the outcome, you can and will overcome it. When you fall down, you can choose to stay down and wallow in sorrow, or you can choose to get back up. Be a riser. Others can’t keep you down, only you get to make that choice.
Don’t overdramatize things. Something didn’t go your way…What is complaining going to do? Nothing. Learn from your mistakes. And if you feel you did everything “right” but it still didn’t work out, that doesn’t mean you need to make a bad decision next time because the good decision didn’t pay off this time/last time.
“Consistent, hard work gains success.” – Dwayne Johnson
There is a quote attributed to Aristotle that says, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.”
Excellence, success, greatness…these are things to strive for, but you don’t achieve any of them with a single action. They come with consistent action towards your goals. Set goals, review them daily, and decide what are the most important actions you need to take today to bring you a little (or a lot) closer to your goals. What habits do you need to have in place?
A lot of us (myself included) get caught up with wanting to learn more. Learning is great. Gaining more knowledge is great. But it won’t get you anywhere near success if you don’t apply that knowledge and turn it into action. Don’t confuse reading with taking action towards your goals…yes, it could give you a good foundation. It can help you avoid making the same mistakes that others have made, but often we lie to ourselves saying that we are preparing to take action, when really we’re procrastinating.
Take consistent action everyday. Live purposely. Act intentionally. Success, excellence, and greatness will come if you are consistent with your actions, but if you’re not, you’ll miss the opportunity when it’s here.
“One of the most difficult lessons many leaders learn (or fail to learn) is the necessity to welcome and tolerate disagreement.”
There are two ends of the agreement spectrum that we should try to avoid…
The first is to be 💯% agreeable on everything, aka a “yes man.” This is conflict avoidance at its worst.
The other end of the spectrum is to always shut others’ ideas down right away because they don’t align with your thoughts. Nobody can tell you anything if it doesn’t support your opinion. This is someone who craves confrontation and seeks it out.
I’m working on improving in this area (on both ends of the spectrum) – trying to learn the best ways to tactfully disagree. You should have original thoughts and feel comfortable voicing your opinion. But there are things that matter more and things that matter less which should/shouldn’t be argued about or debated. You don’t have to “win” every argument, and by always “needing” to be right, you will eventually discourage others from voicing their opinions around you.
“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” Friedrich Nietzsche
“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” Friedrich Nietzsche
This is true for overcoming physical challenges, but also for overcoming mental challenges.
The biggest mental challenge sometimes isn’t even real. It’s the fear of “what might happen” if you do something. A lot of times, it’s that fear that holds us back from achieving our full potential. We fear that we’ll fail, that others will judge us, that we will be rejected or look dumb. Those fears might be realized. Nobody is immune from failing. BUT, what we need to focus on is not the failure itself, but rather that we mustered the courage to take action.
It’s just like Teddy Roosevelt’s “Man in the arena” speech. In it, TR says:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
When you face your fear, you feel like it’s going to kill you at first, but it doesn’t and you are stronger for it.
When you’re hiring, look to hire someone who is teachable, has a good work ethic, is trustworthy, and has a good attitude. They need all four of those qualities.
If they have a poor work ethic, the work won’t get done.
If they aren’t smart enough to actually learn (or they aren’t willing to listen/be teachable), the quality of the work will suffer.
If they aren’t trustworthy, you will never be able to fully concentrate on what you need to do, because you’ll constantly be wondering if that person is doing what they’re supposed to do.
And if they have a bad attitude, it will make your workday worse, it will give your company a bad reputation with customers, and it will slowly erode your company culture.
This is why your employees need all four of these characteristics. Don’t necessarily look to hire for someone who already has the specific skill sets you need. As long as you have the time to train them and they possess the four qualities listed above, they will do well and your team will grow.
