Life Perspectives, Success & Change

Life is all about perspective & Success is all about change

The exact same situation can be perceived in very different ways by two different people.  The classic ‘glass half-full’ conundrum – where one individual will see loss and pessimism and the other opportunity and a positive outlook. The victim mentality is something I personal abhor, but it has infected much of society today with social media and different forms of insecurity, mental anguish and anxiety.  What needs to change in your life is commensurate with understanding who you want to become and be in your life.  The truth is that you need to be completely honest with yourself and accept different facts of how you see the world.  Considering the shifts we need to make is often hidden.

“What we fear of doing most is usually what we most need to do”.  Whether this was from Mark Twain or Benjamin Franklin is irrelevant – you need to get uncomfortable with being uncomfortable or what I like to say ‘Embrace the Suck’.

 There are hundreds of thousands of books on change you have access to online.  If you are not ready to really think about your life your output then turn away and select one of the fitness posts.  No judgment at all it takes time to bring perspectives together and every individual has their own journey.

The Secret to Success is Hidden

Being busy does not equate being productive. Look at everyone around you. They all seem so busy—running from meeting to meeting, emails-a-go-go, just volumes of stuff to occupy time and space. Yet how many of them are really producing, really succeeding at a high level?  This is exacerbated in the current state of the world, being locked-in and fueled with anxiety and fear.  “Just another excuse’, in my opinion, not everything is going to be puppy dogs, rainbows and ice-cream.

Speaking to several former associates of mine they asked perspectives on mental strength and mindset as it relates to success. Success doesn’t come from trying to demonstrate how busy you are, movement or activity. It comes from focus, pure and simple - ensuring that your time is used efficiently and productively to achieve your goals. Unless you are changing the space-time continuum you get the same number of hours in the day as everyone else. Use yours wisely. After all, you are the product of your output, not just effort.  To ensure you have a higher hit rate there are two elements that need to shift you mental mindset:

Allowing yourself to be wrong, be a student

It’s time to go back and stay in school for the rest of your life.  While the former statement may have the tone of sarcasm, it is actually true.  When you’re a student, you actively seek to have your mental models and archetypes shattered. You want to be wrong and you want feedback. You care more about learning than what other people think about you. 

What did you learn today, last week and over the last year and how have you applied those kernels of insight to your goals?  Make the shift to be a student and constantly learn.  Understand and apply learnings and share them with the world – you will learn more in what resonates and where the opportunity gaps exist.

10x - Make certain your efforts are dedicated to tasks that get results.

I will say something provocative that may irritate some people – as I challenge that state of being “happy with average’.  The concept of 10x is a multiplying effect where it requires you to take personal responsibility for your life, choices and potential. By nature, it’s beyond average, since, to be average is to not take responsibility.

Thinking 10x is not linear, ‘if I do x, then y will occur’. It involves a broader vision where you are involving more than yourself into the equation – where others must also be responsible.  The underlying capabilities of people that operate at 10x is not only speed, but the boldness and creativity to fuel that speed.  There is a caution flag here – there is a huge difference from being in control and out of control when it comes to speed.  You may need to rethink your approach, team and stakeholders in the process.

When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.