Category: Uncategorized

3 yards at a time

I was listening to a podcast the other day when I heard the host make a football analogy for business success. He said, “if you just focus on getting 3 yards at a time, and you keep doing that every single play, you’re going to win the game. But if you keep dropping back to throw a Hail Mary every play, you might get it sometimes, but you’re going to fail a lot more often than not. That is how you’re going to lose the game.” And it got me thinking about how this applies to business, health, and every area of life.

We’ve all seen the people who swing for the fences because of some get rich quick scheme but lose their shirts. Or the people who are very intense with a fad diet, but yo-yo and go from being very strict to not adhering to their diet at all.

Focus on winning just a little bit each day. Start out with your mornings. Try to win your morning today. After that, try to win the afternoon. With your momentum being built, next thing you know, you’ll find that you’ve won the day. And once you string together enough days where you’ve won, you will set yourself up for enormous success.

Greatness and inner peace

“Nothing is great unless it’s also at peace.” – Seneca

Outward greatness can be deceiving. Someone can be the best at what they do but have inner demons that none of us would want. We wouldn’t trade our life for theirs.

Think of Antonio Brown…possibly the best WR in the NFL just over a year ago, probably even a top 5 or top 10 WR of all-time. But within the past 12-18 months, despite being an elite NFL receiver, he has been cut or traded from three teams. In a league that has a short season (16 games compared to 82 for basketball or 162 for baseball), that prioritizes winning above all else, three teams have moved on from a tremendous talent because of his inner demons. This goes to show that no matter how great you are (or think you are), there’s more to it than just being good at what you’re paid to do.

Do not be envious of others who only know how to excel at their job. You have to look at the whole picture. Are they still a good family member, friend, teammate/co-worker, and citizen? Do they have peace in their life? If so, that person might be a great role model or mentor. If not, don’t mistake their performance at work as overall greatness.

Seeking enjoyment, not total optimization

Sit down. Close your eyes. Turn off the tv, music, or podcast.

Take a moment to discover what you actually get enjoyment out of doing and find a way to do more of whatever that happens to be.

Look into what you’re mindlessly paying for but don’t get enjoyment from anymore and remove as much of that from your life as possible.

Understand that while everything can be optimized, trying to optimize every aspect of your life can cause you stress or anxiety. Maximizing efficiency is just like everything else in life. It needs to be done in some sort of moderation.

Remember the 80/20 rule applies to life. Remember to seek progress, not perfection. Remember to be kind and forgiving to yourself and others. Remember, in the end, we are only on this earth for a short period of time – try to enjoy it and focus on the positive instead of the negative. Life is good.

Quick wins are different than big wins

Make sure you balance between getting quick, easy wins and working to overcome a difficult challenge. Getting those quick wins can provide a boost to your energy, but if you only focus on the little wins, you won’t ever achieve the unrelated big wins, which are often going to take much longer and require more consistent effort.

The best way to win in each scenario is to tie the little wins to the big wins. What small project can you conquer that will act as a stepping stone to winning the bigger projects? If they are related, you can directly work on one project goal while indirectly bringing you closer to your other project goal(s). If the two projects are unrelated, you will have to make time to complete both projects.

Controllables and uncontrollables

Don’t try to change others. Don’t try to control their actions or reactions. You can’t do it, only they can and they will only choose to change when they are ready.

If you focus your energy on changing others you will frustrate yourself and you’ll frustrate them. Basically, you’ll be wasting your time while eroding the relationship.

Instead, focus on how you respond to others. Focus on what you can control – yourself – and learn to let the rest go.