Never Ever, Ever Give Up

This philosophical strategy towards our pursuit of life while we’re experiencing our brief stay here on this earth has been advocated by numerous individuals, ranging from basketball coach Jim Valvano to Sir Winston Churchill.

I vividly recall the time in my life when I quit, gave up.  During my Freshman and Sophomore years at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, I played intercollegiate golf.  During a four-day individual tournament one summer, I had made it through the first three days quite nicely, and positioned myself for a decent finish on the final day.

Day four turned cold, rainy, windy and miserable.  I found myself approaching the eighth hole, shooting a terrible score, frustrated, hating the elements, feeling chilled and ultimately quitting after that front-nine, withdrawing from the tournament.

To say it differently, I QUIT after completing 63 of 72 holes in the event. That felt okay at the time. As it turned out, many of the competitors struggled that day!  Had I persevered and completed the event, I would have actually finished in a top-ten position.

That triggered a passion inside to never ever give up or quit again. And, driven by this painful memory, to the best of my knowledge, I believe I’ve remained true to that commitment???

It has been noted that it seems to be human nature for most people to quit or “take a break” right at the moment when we are about to achieve that breakthrough or achievement we’ve been pursuing. What a shame…

Having personally felt the pain of giving up when not realizing how close I was to achievement cemented (in my mind) the importance of staying relentless in our pursuits.

As we continue to move forward in this fast-paced, ever-changing world, let’s challenge ourselves to conquer, rise to the occasion, stay optimistic and realize our true potential every single day of our lives…remaining persistent and never, ever, ever giving up.

 

Reflect & Reignite – 2018

As we head into what will prove to be an exciting 2018, I wanted to reblog this annual practice reminder in hopes that it will prove to be helpful to readers…

As each year ends, my wife and I go through an exercise wherein we review our journals from the prior year, reflect on what we have, and in some cases have not, accomplished.

The end goal is to establish what our “top-ten highlight reel” might look like for the year gone by…we are typically amazed by all that has been achieved.

A post-exercise routine of comparing our respective “top-tens” is not only fun, but also provides a barometer for how well our values and beliefs are aligned, i.e. what’s truly important to each of us. It further reinforces the many blessings we have in our lives and the people and events that are shaping our destiny.

Further, this practice helps to create positive feelings and an inner-state that tends to energize a constructive planning effort for what we would like to realize during the upcoming year.

If nothing else, take time to reflect on your core values and guiding principles; and reignite your internal flame by establishing some meaningful, challenging and achievable goals to shoot for entering this new year.

Success via Under-Commitment

Ever since becoming engrossed with Tony Robbin’s Personal Power program in the early 1990’s, one of my primary life-long passions has surrounded taking charge of how my time is spent.

By focusing, and executing, on the most urgent, critical and important activities in our life, we can deliver the necessary results to propel our lives toward optimal success.

Some of my earlier blogs such as the 6 P’s about proper prior planning and High Leverage Activities reinforced the importance of taking charge of your life on this earth.

What I have found during my professional business and coaching careers is that we are responsible for our own demise when it comes to “time & life management.” The predominant culprit appears to be the dis-ease of Over-Commitment!

For a myriad of reasons, human beings seem to be unable to say “NO” when we should.

In teaching “time-management” over the past few decades, I’ve encouraged attendees to plan or commit to no more than 50% of their/your available time. Surprises, unexpected interruptions, unplanned activities, etc. will quickly absorb the remaining 50% that you thought you had available to be used at your discretion!

By Under-Committing, you have a fighting chance of actually staying in control of your precious personal time…and how it will be spent.

Victor Hugo, author of Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame stated that “He who every morning plans the transaction of the day and follows out that plan, carries a thread that will guide him through the maze of the most busy life.  But where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance of incidence, chaos will soon reign.”

Here’s your challenge: will you CHOOSE to…under-commit, over-deliver, eliminate chaos, and gain control???

Execution Excellence

In the press of business (and life), it is so easy to get caught up in things, to feel trapped in the “whirlwind,” and become overwhelmed by all that is going on in “your world.”

The rapid evolution of technology during our current stage of the “Information Age” makes it even more challenging to stay focused and deliver on our commitments.

Among certain individuals, there exists what I consider to be a truly exceptional trait, an oddity that, given my personal experience, exists in about 10 % of the business professionals that I have worked with and/or coached…

“doing what they say they are going to do,

and by when they say they are going to do it!”

Given this ultra-competitive world in which we live, it amazes me how often people or businesses are slow to, or in some cases don’t, follow-up on requests, obligations, vows, inquiries, etc.

Those unique people who indeed do what they say, and within the time frame that they promise, truly separate themselves from the majority who either are delinquent with, or worse yet, abandon their commitments.

Here’s a closing thought…perhaps we should consider delivering more than what we promise, faster than it is expected!