Driver Or Passenger?

Are you in charge of your future? Are you in the driver seat or the passenger seat of your life? It seems that some people are not even in the car. I think it is vital to distinguish between what is inside your circle of influence and what is not. It is important to be in the driver seat of your life for the things over which you have control. It is also important to be comfortable in the passenger seat for the things outside your control. Are you?

Delegate Outcomes

The ability to delegate well is a key leadership skill both from personal effectiveness perspective as well as growing and developing your people. Learn to not only delegate activities to be done but outcomes - results to be achieved. When you delegate activities you still own the outcome. When you delegate the outcome your people own the responsibility for achieving the results. You will have less worry about and they will grow much faster.

Wabi Sabi

I was reflecting on the word contentment and compared it to the more philosophical Japanese term Wabi Sabi. The words mean simplicity and imperfection, propagating the view to keep things simple and be content even if everything isn't perfect. In nature there are very few squares and straight lines. Plants and trees don't grow in a perfectly orderly fashion. Only humans have this tendency toward perfection. Try a little Wabi Sabi, be happy and know that life maybe isn't supposed to be all that perfect.

Self Esteem, Ambition And Capability

Self esteem is partly a function of capability and ambition. As long as capability is higher than ambition self esteem tends to be fine. When ambition is vastly higher than capability self esteem will start to suffer. Firstly, to grow and maintain a healthy self esteem you can moderate your level of ambition. You can do lots of things but you can not do everything! You have to prioritize and focus! Secondly, continue work on your capabilities to match them to your ambition.

Small Change, Big Results

Think about the game of golf, if you hit the ball just a millimeter off center, over the hundred meter flight or so, the ball may well end up in the bunker or in the weeds. Imagine yourself being close to a break through, only a millimeter off, and one small change is all it takes to slam the door of opportunity open. Small improvements (like hitting the golf ball) can make a tremendous difference in terms of results. What is that one small change that can yield huge results in your life and career?

Will Versus Skill

The notorious NFL coach Vince Lombardi once noted; "The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of determination." Your ability and knowledge in your chosen field of endeavor is probably alright, particularly if you enjoy what you are doing. Skill is the how of what ever you are doing. Will deals with motivation, the reasons why you are doing it. To ensure success the WHY must be bigger than the HOW since it turns out will is more important than skill.

Origin Of Emotion

We often have the idea that our feelings are generated by external forces like circumstances outside our own control, the things we acquire or the people we meet. However, upon reflection, none of those carry our feelings inside them. Even though outside things may or do trigger your feelings, your emotional response is entirely your own. You carry your feelings inside you. Now, whose responsibility is it to manage them?