On mentoring

You should always strive to have a mentor and be a mentor. Doing this will allow you to understand that a) you don’t know everything and b) you have a lot of knowledge to pass along to ease the path of someone else. Having a mentor should keep you humble, yet being a mentor can help to boost your confidence. It should put you in a mindset to learn and a mindset to teach. It should let you give in addition to receiving.

Why reading 5 pages per day will change your life

5 pages per day x 365 days per year = 1,825 pages per year.

If a book averages 300 pages (which seems high), you would finish 6+ books per year.

What you read daily changes the way you think. If you can change your thoughts, you can change your life.

We all need constant, little reminders of how we should be acting. By going too long without thinking about something (leadership, business, marketing, sales, relationships, finance, etc), we often forget what we should be applying in everyday circumstances.

Five things to always work on for self-improvement

Things to always work on…

1) Do not get defensive. If someone is critical of you, listen to them. There is probably at least a grain of truth that you are blind to.

2) Do not make excuses. If something didn’t go your way or there was an accident, sincerely apologize. Don’t diminish your apology by then giving an excuse for why it wasn’t your fault. Some things will always be outside of your control, so focus only on what you can influence.

3) Eliminate can’t from your vocabulary. Sure, there are some things we literally can’t do (I can’t teleport, read minds, or fly). But, for the most part, when we say we “can’t” do something, it’s because we’re not willing to make the necessary sacrifices to do that thing. It’s more like we won’t do that or we haven’t prioritized that.

4) Be nicer. Treat others how they would like to be treated. Find ways to help others get what they want.

5) Do not avoid difficult situations/conversations. Life is full of tough decisions. The best way to live without regret is to have the courage to face your fears. Always act in alignment with your core values.

Everything is difficult. Choose your path.

Everything in life is difficult in its own way.

If you’re broke and hate your job, that’s difficult. But it’s also difficult to be successful professionally. It will take a lot of hard work, long hours, and sacrifices to get what you want. And along the way, you have to choose how hard you want to work at the other areas of your life.

If you put all of your energy into your work, but no energy into eating right or working out, your health will suffer.

If you don’t pay attention to your dating life, family time, or hanging out with friends, your relationships will suffer.

Sure, it’s easier to be mediocre at everything or to “not care” and be bad at certain things, but those choices bring different kinds of hardship with them.

You get to choose your actions. And by doing that, you get to choose which difficulties you’re going to experience. Choose wisely.