Focus on what you can control. Don’t waste time and energy on things that you can’t control. While the logic and common sense of this advice is self-evident, many people find it difficult to do. Nevertheless, it is an essential skill. What you focus on — what has your attention — is one of the…
…Lots of Repetition Our effectiveness in every dimension of life is directly related to our ability and willingness to learn. We can only do what we learn to do. And that is the heart of the matter. Learning is not about taking in more information. It is not about sitting in a classroom. True learning…
“I learned to discipline myself to do things I didn’t want to do. Now, I also discipline myself to do things I love to do when I don’t want to do them.” — Edward James Olmos It’s a discovery most of us have made at some point in life: Setting goals is fairly easy, but…
At the heart of personal and professional success is this core principle: Your habits are perfectly designed to get the results they’re getting. Thus, we should continually ask ourselves, “Are the habits I have producing the results I want?” The answer, of course, is that we all have a mixture of habits: some good, some average,…
A key discipline in E+R=O A focus frame is the lens through which you see the situations that you experience. Understanding focus frames is essential because the way you see determines how you respond. Clarity of vision drives quality of response. Perception drives action. Managing your response often requires that you expand your frame in…
Be discerning. Don’t accept an article, news story, or social media post simply because it feels good to you. Beware confirmation bias. Articles, news stories, and social media posts are written by people with agendas, and it is your responsibility to understand the connection between the messenger, the message, the motives, and the methods. To…
Be crystal clear and deeply committed to what you want. Then clarify the path necessary to achieve what you want and say “I will” to the work the path requires. Want without will doesn’t work. If you are not willing to make the required investment, if you aren’t willing to pay the price, if you…
Our lives are full of talking and communicating. We talk to family, friends, colleagues, customers, and our teams and organizations. We communicate to express our thoughts and feelings. We communicate to express our observations and define our experiences. We communicate to connect with people and convey important messages. The way we communicate has a profound…
“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” — Mark Twain — The big message today: Be humble. Be wise. Don’t believe everything you think. Having said that, the prevailing mindset in our culture is to use personal preference and strong feelings…
In order to achieve any goal in life, there are three things you must do: These three disciplines are requirements for achieving anything of significance. What does not work is resisting the process, resenting the time, or complaining about the problems. Keep in mind the three disciplines scale with the size of the goal you…