Daily Thought Archives: March 2010

March 1
AUTHORITY IS KEPT BY MAKING DECISIONS
Leaders lose authority quickly with their people when they avoid making decisions or at least are always delaying them. Leaders need to be decisive, and when they either avoid or procrastinate on decisions, their people will lose confidence in them and be more reluctant to follow every command in a proactive way.

March 2
GOAL SETTING BEGINS WITH A DREAM
When we set goals, we should first start with a dream. Goals should not be on something that is an easy reach, but on something that should demand us to use our potential. It is better to dream big and back off a little, than to only focus on what is currently doable.

March 3
BE QUICK TO COMPLIMENT OTHERS
The most successful leaders are quick to compliment others. They have the confidence in their abilities, and never feel threatened by others (even those smarter than they are). In fact, complimenting people around you is a great way to project confidence to others.

March 4
ATTITUDES ARE CONTAGIOUS
Attitudes are really contagious and can be picked up from others quicker than you think. This always means that both good attitudes and bad attitudes can be picked up with lightning speed. To get ahead in life, we need to focus on picking up only the good attitudes and protecting ourselves from the bad ones.

March 5
CONVERT FEAR INTO A CHALLENGE
Fear is something each of us deal with every day, and it's just a part of life. Successful people look at fear as a challenge, not something to get rid of (because we can't); but something to overcome and focus on the reward not the obstacles.

March 6
IDEAS ONLY HAVE POWER ONCE ACTION-ED
Coming up with ideas is important to move us forward in life, because our thoughts determine our actions. However, we just can't keep thinking about these ideas, but we need to put them into action. Ideas only have power after they have been action-ed.

March 7
THE PREPARATION MAKES IT LOOK EASY
We often look at others doing something difficult, and say - "they make it look easy". That's right, for them it is easy because they have invested time to do their preparation. The invisible part of success, the part you don't see others do, is their preparation. Do your preparation, and you will make it look easy.

March 8
FROM COMPLIANCE TO COMMITMENT
Some managers set up an environment and processes for their people to be compliant (following the rules). However, this never inspires their people to success. Successful leaders focus on creating commitment, and having their people with the mindset and attitude of delivering no matter what the circumstances.

March 9
OUR HABITS PREDICT OUR FUTURE
All of us predict the future in some way, as what we do each day, our habits, is creating our future. That's why we need to make sure that our habits are consistent with our dreams. A great question to ask ourselves each week is: "Have my actions this past week been consistent with my dreams?"

March 10
FOCUS ON THE PRIZE VERSUS THE PRICE
There are so many people going through life with the goal of having an easy life. These people shy away from goals with any challenges as they don't want to pay the price. Successful people's focus is elsewhere, not on the price, but on the prize. They focus on achievement, not activity.

March 11
SEEING FROM A NEW PERSPECTIVE
The world is really the same for everyone, as it's the same world we walk into each day. What makes it different for us is our perspective, which creates our view of the world - our life. Therefore, to gain a different view on our world (our life), we only need to take a different perspective. It's just our decision.

March 12
YOU EARN RESPECT EVERY DAY
It is not really the big things we do that earn the most respect from others, but it is those daily habits and behaviours that really catch their attention. When we live our life consistent with our values and attitude, respect from others comes naturally.

March 13
THINKING THERE ARE POSSIBILITIES
There's always two sides to every coin, and there's always two approaches to life. Some people always see the problems in their path, while others always see the possibilities. Every possibility has within it a problem to solve. So, when we focus on the possibility, we get the motivation to solve that problem.

March 14
PASSION = FOCUSED ENERGY
Focus is one of the most powerful words, as what we focus on grabs our attention and our actions. You could say that passion is really focused energy. Whenever we give something our focus and add the energy behind it, achievement always follows.

March 15
GIVING BREAKS THE POWER OF GREED
Greed is thinking that you always need more and that you can't afford to lose anything. The opposite of greed is giving, and those who give know that they will always receive back in abundance (and in many different ways). Greed limits, while giving unlocks.

March 15
MAKE THE TOUGH CALLS A LITTLE FASTER
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March 16
DISCIPLINED TO DO THE RIGHT PREPARATION
What makes certain people successful is really invisible to others. It's their preparation, and the right preparation. Successful people realise that performance is born in preparation, and they make their preparation a priority (and it's not done at the last minute).

March 17
RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING
Effective communication is what enables everything (from our personal relationships to our business relationships). In communicating with others, we often think that "understanding" is their responsibility not mine. However, good communication happens when we make it "our" responsibility to get a common understanding.

March 18
GIVE REASONS, NOT JUST INSTRUCTIONS
Some managers take the easy route and just give their people instructions (the what & how) to get things done. However, successful leaders understand that instructions only gets it done, but doesn't grow their people. They focus on providing the reasons behind the what (the why) and ask their people on the best way (the how) to make it happen.

March 19
HELPING THEM BECOME MORE VALUABLE
Everyone really wants to make a difference, and the more value you bring, the more difference you can make. Leaders help their people become more valuable by increasing their ability (confidence) to take responsibility and make decisions on their own. In many ways, leaders help their people help themselves.

March 20
THE POWERFUL WORDS OF "I WILL"
Commitment and follow-through are the key ingredients of successful organisations. In these types of organisations you are always hearing people say "I will...". In other organisations, you often hear the same words, but with one more word that erases the commitment. You hear "I will try...".

March 21
FORGIVE OTHERS FOR YOUR SAKE
You sometimes hear people say, "They don't deserve to be forgiven!". When we don't forgive others, we are always carrying along a "burden" with us, and it slows us down. Forgiveness is not about lightening their load, but "our" load. Forgiving others is not for their sake, but for our sake.

March 22
BRING A PURPOSE TO WHAT YOU DO
Our big "WHY" is our purpose, and most people go through life not investing the time to be really clear on what their purpose is. However, whether it's our big why or just doing something for our job, when we bring a purpose to what we do; we always give more of ourselves in making it happen.

March 23
WHAT YOU CHOOSE TO ABSORB
Everything that we experience (see, listen to, participate in) has an impact on us. Sometimes we don't realise this as we can only consciously bring back certain memories. However, our sub-conscious mind has access to all our experiences and uses them to guide our behaviours & habits. Be careful what you choose to absorb!

March 24
MAKING PEOPLE FEEL SPECIAL
The best feeling in the world is to feel special (unique). There are two types of people in this world. There are those who want you to understand that they are special, and those who want you to understand that you are special. Make others feel special.

March 25
PUTTING YOURSELF IN PRESSURE SITUATIONS
For many, pressure is something to be avoided. However, successful people don't avoid it, but embrace pressure. They look to put themselves in increasingly pressure situations in order to grow. This enables them to feel more comfortable each time, and when we are comfortable; we think clearer and make better decisions.

March 26
GIVING OUR ALL EVERY DAY
There's one thing that makes us feel great, and is totally within our control to do. It's about giving our all every day. When we give our all, we have lived our life (our time) that day to the fullest. When we do this, we not only live a full life, but also achieve to our potential.

March 27
UNDERSTANDING THE FILTER TO YOUR WORLD
What we consider important, our focus, is really a filter by which we see and understand our world. Some of this is done consciously, but the majority is done sub-consciously. We can change our sub-conscious focus by reconfirming consciously the important each day.

March 28
EMOTION IS THE FORCE OF LIFE
Our decisions in life are made both logically and emotionally. However, to implement our decisions, the majority of our power comes from our heart (our emotion) than from our head (our logic). Emotion is really the force of life, with our emotional reasons always more powerful than our logical reasons.

March 29
MAKING THOSE AROUND YOU BETTER
Leadership is really about influence, and the greatest influence we can have with others is to help them grow (to be better). Successful teams are a team of leaders, who are pulling each other up, versus dragging each other down.

March 30
LOOK BEYOND THE ADVERSITY
Everyone experiences adversity in their lives. Some come through it even stronger, while others let it impact them in a negative way for months & years after. People who handle adversity well look beyond the adversity to what they will do next. This helps them move through that adversity faster than others.

March 31
FROM "ME" TO "WE"
We all have our self interest, and this guides our focus. However, the successful people realise that they can never be successful on their own, and that helping others is always helping themselves as well. It's about moving from "ME" to "WE", and aligning our self interest with the interests of others.