2. Best Tomorrow starts today
● What’s the best project you can move forward tomorrow?
● What will you need to get started first thing in the morning?
● Do you need someone’s help? If so, can you schedule time for first thing
tomorrow?
● Great Days are like shade trees. The best day to start one was 20 years ago;
the next best day is now.
3. Paint the story
What’s the difference between an authentic Picasso painting and a fake? What if
you can’t tell the difference?
● The difference is the story. The real painting has a story. A good story. A
story with millions.
● The fake is still beautiful to view and will still emotionally move the heart,
but you haven’t bought a part of the story.
The Story, our story is all there is. Art is how we tell stories. Art is all we buy. You
4. Get along to move forward
It’s tempting to act out your emotions. It’s tempting to snap at others when you
are sore, tired, hungry, or feeling lost. Tempting but is it productive?
The group needs to move forward to win, be productive, and sustain a winning
attitude.
We all mirror each other. The leader is the one that sets the tone for the group. It
takes strength to maintain Expedition Behavior, and it’s required.
Be prepared for things to go wrong, to be tired, to be hungry and behave like a
leader.
5. Are you strong enough to say, “No.”?
Relationships are built on trust, and trust comes over time by doing what we say
we’ll do. What’s a good test if your relationship is strong?
Can you say, “No.”? Can you accept no?
Are you dragged along against your will because you can’t say no? Start with
easy decisions, like do you want to eat salami for lunch?
Make sure you can accept a no and if you aren’t comfortable, think about the
trust level in the relationship.
6. Curse of Knowledge -- Expert’s blind spot
You can’t unring a bell. Once you know, you can’t unlearn. You can’t forget you
saw a picture.
The mind of a beginner is often sought after in many practices. I believe the
reason is to be open to the little things that an expert can look right over.
Experts can not see their own mistakes. It’s take discipline to be boring and use
the checklist. An expert without that discipline is an emergency waiting to
happen.
7. What’s the hard thing?
You can do many things, so can others around you. What’s the 1 hard thing that
moves your project forward? Slipknot’s song Custer (not recommended listening
for most people) has a great line, “You want to win the war? Know what you're
fighting for”
Focus on the hard thing. There will be only one really -- you might have trouble
narrowing it down to one, but get as close as you can.
As Jocko Willink says in his book, prioritize and execute.
8. Celebrate beginning and quit early
It’s easy to start. It’s hard to finish.
The horse grows very tall once you fall off. Have a step ladder ready before you
need it. Often the best option is the easiest and the longer you’ve been off the
horse the easier it needs to be. Start at the beginning. One day at a time.
If you aren’t committed to finishing, stop now. It doesn’t pay to pretend to stay
with something only to quit later.
9. You had me at hello and lost me when you kept talking
People buy when they’ve heard enough and often change their mind when they
hear more. I’ve been that guy that couldn’t shut up. Couldn’t tolerate silence.
When someone says yes, shut up.
Practice being silent in a conversation.
10. Fun takes work
It’s easy to yell, bark commands, and demand action. It’s takes work to keep
things fun. Yet we know people enjoying life at work will do a better job, be more
creative, and feel engaged.
You know each day will have opportunities to be a fun killer. Have a plan. Count
to 10, ask questions first, ask yourself are you just being lazy or do you really
need to say no.
It’ takes work to do it right and have a little fun.
11. Care and feeding of your brand
When you attempt to create a brand, you let it go into the wild world of social
media. You can’t have control anymore. You can sell, influence, market, but you
can’t control.
The importance of keeping your brand promise has never been greater. If the
crowd is caring for your brand, are you at least paying attention? Do you have the
tools to even know what’s happening? Probably not.