"We are the people that we have been waiting for"
I have been observing that people aren't as creative or determined as I had hoped. Its like the world in which we live is a franchiser and we are all its little franchisees. Where are the heroes? Where are the risk takers? Where are the "Why Sayers? In the "template" we live in, we have to wear _______ if we are going to succeed. Our facial hair has to be exactly like __________ or we cant succeed. We must drive a __________ or we "aren't doing as well as we should be". We cant start a __________ company because will step on ___________'s toes. Why?! And for what?! So we can be mediocre?!! Well what happened to the people that didn't do it like that? What about the people that said "Fuck this...I'm doing it my way"...Yvonne Chouineard, Owner of Patagonia, runs a 250 million dollar company, and lets his people come to work barefoot in board shorts. Why has he been able to do it while everyone else is afraid to color outside of the lines? He literally looks at the guy who wears a suit in the summer and is confused on why a guy would wear a wool suit in 90 degree heat. But no one else is confused...say what? Why don't we have more people in the world that think that way? Why don't we have more people in the world that want to change it? I have a friend that used to believe in passion and gave it up for a "salary man" job...I had lunch with this friend a while back and left almost in tears. I was looking and talking to a ghost...a ghost of a former man that lived his life. And now, he sells _____, drives the ________, dresses like he is supposed to, and only talks about his job selling ___________. What the FUCK is going on in the world?! What happened to LIFE! What happened to becoming SUCCESSFUL in things that you LOVE?! What happened to being an Innovator?! Taking RISK?! SAYING FUCK IT?! I'm going to roll the dice and if I fail, I will pick myself back up and do it again until I WIN! We are the people that we have been waiting for and it is time to realize how powerful we are. And worst case scenario...we can go become a "salary man"...
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Big Stones
"It takes bigger stones to say NO than yes."--KM
The key phrases of my day are:
1. Action, Action, Action
2. Fulfill your life by the day
3. One day makes one week, which makes a month, which makes a quarter.
None of those phrases are possible without realistic goal setting, phenomenal scheduling, relentless persistence, (a nervous twitch), and the ability to SAY NO.
My brother and I were having a conversation about how he can’t say no. That mentality then throws off the entire rhythm of his day due to over packing his schedule, which then creates anxiety and rushing. Personally, I have the same problem. I want to be everywhere. I want to be everything. And if I am not, I feel like I am missing something or letting someone down. But am I? I sat down with a very successful executive and one of his "tidbits" was… "It takes bigger stones to say No than yes". At the time that phrase didn't really make sense...but I now understand it completely. It finally sank in due to a combination of an action packed day of diverse activities. If I hadn’t taught myself how to say no, everything in my life would have suffered. I will give you an example... I was asked by a sports team back in January if I was going to try out for their team. Everything in my BEING wanted to say yes. I am a competitionaholic but before I gave an answer I took a step back and wrote out my schedule if I were to say yes...and let’s just say my life was going to be going 100 mph from 5:00 AM until 10:00 PM with no wife/family/friend time. But something inside of me still wanted to say yes even after looking at my schedule! Can you believe that?! What is it about our society that people just expect YES? Well...as you may have predicted, I said NO. It still makes me feel awkward just writing it. But in saying NO, I have been able to say YES to more important things that allow me to reach my ultimate goals, personal and monetary. The lesson here is that we need to prioritize our lives, not just our days, and say NO to things that affect our long term plan rather than fixing a short term "craving". Trust me...it’s going to be tough to get used to but once you set your eyes on a prize, “YES” doesn’t come as often as it used to.
The key phrases of my day are:
1. Action, Action, Action
2. Fulfill your life by the day
3. One day makes one week, which makes a month, which makes a quarter.
None of those phrases are possible without realistic goal setting, phenomenal scheduling, relentless persistence, (a nervous twitch), and the ability to SAY NO.
My brother and I were having a conversation about how he can’t say no. That mentality then throws off the entire rhythm of his day due to over packing his schedule, which then creates anxiety and rushing. Personally, I have the same problem. I want to be everywhere. I want to be everything. And if I am not, I feel like I am missing something or letting someone down. But am I? I sat down with a very successful executive and one of his "tidbits" was… "It takes bigger stones to say No than yes". At the time that phrase didn't really make sense...but I now understand it completely. It finally sank in due to a combination of an action packed day of diverse activities. If I hadn’t taught myself how to say no, everything in my life would have suffered. I will give you an example... I was asked by a sports team back in January if I was going to try out for their team. Everything in my BEING wanted to say yes. I am a competitionaholic but before I gave an answer I took a step back and wrote out my schedule if I were to say yes...and let’s just say my life was going to be going 100 mph from 5:00 AM until 10:00 PM with no wife/family/friend time. But something inside of me still wanted to say yes even after looking at my schedule! Can you believe that?! What is it about our society that people just expect YES? Well...as you may have predicted, I said NO. It still makes me feel awkward just writing it. But in saying NO, I have been able to say YES to more important things that allow me to reach my ultimate goals, personal and monetary. The lesson here is that we need to prioritize our lives, not just our days, and say NO to things that affect our long term plan rather than fixing a short term "craving". Trust me...it’s going to be tough to get used to but once you set your eyes on a prize, “YES” doesn’t come as often as it used to.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Surround yourself with people that share similar goals
One of the keys of a continuous tenacious rhythm towards accomplishing your goals is to make sure you are surrounded by people that have your similar views and do not fall into the category of "misery loves company". I have taught myself to ONLY surround myself with people that have my similar views and philosophies of life which can be summed up as "living life to the fullest by dominating each and every day." With that being said…my good friend called and said he had a great post for the Enlightened Graduate...I read it and loved it...and here it is…
I’m a family friend to the Vetter’s and share the same Modus Operandi: Dominate everything you do in your life. My first post kind of piggybacks on some of Greg’s posts; Dialed In, Getting’er Done & Spider Monkey… I hope you enjoy.
Competitive Greatness
I am a college football Coach. I don’t get a day off from August 2 till sometime in late December. I work 100 hours a week (usually more). I miss all types of events (weddings, parties, etc.) due to my schedule. I am behind on current events. There are times when I know more about what’s going on in a recruit’s life than with my own family members. I have become a bad friend because of my personal job requirements. I might go weeks without a solid night’s sleep. I sacrifice, forfeit and surrender the majority of my personal life for my job.
With all of that said; I LOVE MY JOB. Football is my passion. I get up in the morning excited to go to work, everyday. When I’m not working I am reading about coaches and football. I am just like a lot of other guys who can’t wait to get out of the office; then I can go watch football. I am an addict and football is my drug; I can’t get enough of it. While football is a major part of my life, it is not my life.
The best way I can describe my commitment to my job, as well as my life, is to borrow Coach John Wooden’s (former UCLA basketball coach & 10 time NCAA Champion Coach) philosophy on Competitive Greatness. Competitive Greatness is not whether you win or lose your contest. Competitive Greatness is rising to every occasion and pushing yourself to the limit; mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually to reach your God-given potential. This immediately makes me think of the wonderful Vince Lombardi quote “I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, his greatest fulfillment of all he holds dear, is the moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious.” It’s important to understand that your life is the ‘field of battle’ and you have an opportunity to be victorious in all facets of your life. Even writing this journal entry I’m getting excited for my next opportunity to compete.
I am sharing all of this with you to ask you a few simple questions that I ask myself every week. These are questions that only you can answer: What are you doing in your life to reach your Competitive Greatness? What are you doing to develop your spiritual life (your relationship with God)? Are you taking care of yourself physically (eating right, exercising), emotionally (developing relationships) and mentally (educating yourself)? If you ever find yourself unmotivated or searching in your life, than you need to re-center and refocus, answering these questions will help you do just that. Ask yourself these questions and write down your answers. Spend your next week focusing on what you wrote down. At the end of your week ask yourself these questions again, write down your answers and compare your answers from week one to week two. You will find a tremendous difference in how you prioritized your life, how you spend your time and you will find out what is missing and how you need to prioritize.
I’m a family friend to the Vetter’s and share the same Modus Operandi: Dominate everything you do in your life. My first post kind of piggybacks on some of Greg’s posts; Dialed In, Getting’er Done & Spider Monkey… I hope you enjoy.
Competitive Greatness
I am a college football Coach. I don’t get a day off from August 2 till sometime in late December. I work 100 hours a week (usually more). I miss all types of events (weddings, parties, etc.) due to my schedule. I am behind on current events. There are times when I know more about what’s going on in a recruit’s life than with my own family members. I have become a bad friend because of my personal job requirements. I might go weeks without a solid night’s sleep. I sacrifice, forfeit and surrender the majority of my personal life for my job.
With all of that said; I LOVE MY JOB. Football is my passion. I get up in the morning excited to go to work, everyday. When I’m not working I am reading about coaches and football. I am just like a lot of other guys who can’t wait to get out of the office; then I can go watch football. I am an addict and football is my drug; I can’t get enough of it. While football is a major part of my life, it is not my life.
The best way I can describe my commitment to my job, as well as my life, is to borrow Coach John Wooden’s (former UCLA basketball coach & 10 time NCAA Champion Coach) philosophy on Competitive Greatness. Competitive Greatness is not whether you win or lose your contest. Competitive Greatness is rising to every occasion and pushing yourself to the limit; mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually to reach your God-given potential. This immediately makes me think of the wonderful Vince Lombardi quote “I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, his greatest fulfillment of all he holds dear, is the moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious.” It’s important to understand that your life is the ‘field of battle’ and you have an opportunity to be victorious in all facets of your life. Even writing this journal entry I’m getting excited for my next opportunity to compete.
I am sharing all of this with you to ask you a few simple questions that I ask myself every week. These are questions that only you can answer: What are you doing in your life to reach your Competitive Greatness? What are you doing to develop your spiritual life (your relationship with God)? Are you taking care of yourself physically (eating right, exercising), emotionally (developing relationships) and mentally (educating yourself)? If you ever find yourself unmotivated or searching in your life, than you need to re-center and refocus, answering these questions will help you do just that. Ask yourself these questions and write down your answers. Spend your next week focusing on what you wrote down. At the end of your week ask yourself these questions again, write down your answers and compare your answers from week one to week two. You will find a tremendous difference in how you prioritized your life, how you spend your time and you will find out what is missing and how you need to prioritize.
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