365QOD- Day726

“It is my fault”- something I often admit

I handle many projects with large staffs.  Each one of the projects has a construction manager.  I delegate the execution to them.  They are the field generals. 

I have to trust them to make all decisions in the field.  Often times I express to them that I can not make the decisions fast enough.  However, when the project has a failure I have to be willing to take the hit and accept the failure as mine and NOT theirs.  

Why?  I believe that when we succeed it is because of them.  When the project fails it is my fault.  That is what a leader has to be willing to accept.  Your workers and co-workers need to see that humility.

In my belief you can not throw people under a bus and expect them to want to get back on your bus after the problem is solved.  Because human nature reasons that if you threw them under the bus for a flat tire then you will run over them for anything bigger.  This instinct will force them not to trust you or follow you. 

Today’s question is:

“How do you practice humility?”

365QOD- Day725

"No plan survives contact with the enemy." -  German Field Marshall Helmuth von Moltke's

Recently during an internal interview I was asked about how I plan my projects.    I could easily spend an hour talking about how to generate plans.  The simplest way I can explain it is

G- Goal

O- Objectives

S-  Strategies

P- Planning

A- Actions

L- Leaning

This is a technique I wrote about in several posts many months ago.

My answer focused on the imperfection of planning.  I stated that no matter how “perfect” you believe your plan will be it is a matter of time before the holes in it are exposed.  No plan survives contact with reality.  You will quickly see the limitations and feel like you failed.

However, the value of a plan is not the plan.  By planning you go through the thinking required to complete the project.  You should never fall in love with your plan. 

BUT you should understand that how you respond to the contact with reality decides whether you will succeed or fail.  You need to be flexible enough to modify your plans as you move away from the assault.

Remember that, as Mike Tyson pointed out, everyone has a fight plan until they get hit in the face.  Expect it! BUT believe in yourself that you will respond to it with greater force and flexibility.

Today’s question is:

“How do you respond when your plan gets hit in the face by reality?”

365QOD- Day724

 “But there are also a few things I wish I had done differently. The number one piece of advice I would share is to recruit a mentor. Find someone you admire who is at least one generation older, and has no direct authority over you. Lack of context and perspective can cost you months and years, with a bad career choice, an unwise relocation, short-term negotiating posture, and, generally speaking, sophomoric thinking.” - Bing Gordon FAST Company

In an older post I asked a question whether you would chose that your kid is a genius when they are a kid or a successful adult.  Most people would chose the second option.  This is mostly due to people realizing that the skill set to be successful as an adult is more difficult than to stand out amongst other kids.

So what about the rest of us ‘non-genius’ types?  Can we nudge ourselves to the successful adult option.  I believe we can and should.

One of the choices that I was made to make at my last employer was to chose a mentor.  I thought that this was strange since I am a middle age guy.  BUT I went along with the program.  I reviewed the resumes of potential mentors and interviewed three. 

My choice was a senior technical person who had lived in three countries.  We clicked.

Some of the best conversations I have had with anyone about careers were with him.  It was a wonderful experience.  The quote above reminded me of that experience.  It reminded me of how great that advice would be for a young person to hear and apply. 

Currently, I chose my mentors through books.  If I want coaching on a topic then I look for an expert on that topic and read up on it.  This is specific coaching but not career coaching that a mentor can provide.

Today’s question is:

“Have you chosen a mentor?”

The article can be found at

http://www.fastcompany.com/3004900/early-stage-career-boosters-people-mvp-potential

365QOD- Day723

“A single taste without the story”- my thought

The other night I watched a show called The Taste in which unknown contestants were given an hour to prepare a large spoonful for the four judges to taste.  In the show, the judges are looking to create a four member team from the contestants.

Each judge tastes the sample and makes a yes/no vote before they meet the person.  Then they got to understand the ‘story’ of why the person created the sample and who they are. 

So what?  Well if you take a look at all of the shows on TV they follow a reverse pattern.  They want to know the person’s story and then they want to see if they can sing or dance.  I believe that this prejudges the person. This show brought to my attention how important the story is to the sale of that person to the judges.

The Taste judges were kicking themselves for many of the choices they made after they heard the story and understood the why and who.  Some of the contestants were professional chefs and could have definitely improved their teams to win future battles.

This made me wonder how important it is to not know the story.  Some of the people that got through were weak on the presentation portion but excelled in the taste category.  And after all, taste is what the decision should have been based on. 

Today’s question is:

“What prejudices influence your decision making process?”

365QOD- Day722

“Good In Good Out” – the new GIGO

A famous computer expression is garbage in garbage out (GIGO).  The idea is that if you put bad inputs into a system then you will get bad outputs. 

What about the reverse?  Provide good inputs and expect good outputs.  Most times this will work.

Why not always?  Life is a non-linear process.  The effects of the inputs are modified by a bit of randomness from inputs that are not always obvious.

Consider an example.  You are preparing yourself for a presentation.  You take the time to consider your audience, create interesting presentation, and dress sharp.  (good inputs)  BUT on the way into the room you bump into another person and the coffee you have in had now goes all over your shirt.  (random input)

Which version of you will do the presentation?  Will it be the angry out of focused one? Or will it be the calm version with a big stain on shirt show?

In the end we can only control the good inputs.  Randomness will occur and slightly change the results.  Maybe the true answer is to raise the level of good inputs to great inputs?  The idea being is that the more we can control then the effects of randomness will be reduced.

Today’s question is:

“How do you control random inputs?”

365QOD- Day721

“These Tires Turn Orange to Tell You It’s Time for New Rubber”- story slogan

This slogan popped out at me.  It made me think how brilliant this is. 

Long time ago I had a car that I loved.  BUT during the first year it seemed like the car went to the shop more than I drove it.  The problem was that on a straight road the tires pulled the car drastically.  It felt like someone was pulling the steering wheel to the right all of the time.  The manufacturer did all kind of alignments and tests but never solved the problem.

60000 miles later I found out it was the tires and not the car. BUT it took a couple of years of frustration with that problem.  My hands always had to be on the wheel in order not to lose control.

More than the tire story what caught my attention was the idea.  The idea that items could warn us that their lifespan is nearing the end(EOL-end of life).  This is a typical issue that I spend a lot of time justifying.  Just because a piece of equipment is suppose to last 20 years the plant wants to continue using it 40 years after the purchase because it still works. 

So the idea of the equipment changing color is cool.  It would force people to recognize that all things have a useful life span.

Today’s question is:

“Where could you use this idea of being able to tell EOL?”

365QOD- Day720

“It will cost $22000 and last three years” – comments from Rodney Brooks on 60 minutes segment

Recently I saw a segment on 60 minutes that I have not been able to get out of my mind.  In it Rodney Brooks the founder of iRobot company talked about creating a new company and building robots. 

The segment showed off the robots.  The robots have two arms and a face screen.  What makes these robots powerful is that they can be programmed to do repetitive tasks by being guided by an experienced worker.

The 22k cost blew me away.  BUT if a company can replace one worker’s salary and benefits for three years for 22k then the yearly costs is $7333.  Divide this by 365 days at 24 hours of operation and you get: 84 cents per hour. 

So what? This changes the need to ship repetitive work overseas because the work can be done here competitively.  BUT what do with the 150,000 new entries into the labor pool each month?  Now that is the big question that the country needs to decide in the next few years.

Today’s question is:

“What percentage of your work is repetitive?”

365QOD- Day719

   "You are not even thinking” – my observation

I recently read that we have three brains layers.  Bottom one is our habitual/animal layer.  Second one is our emotional brain.  Top layer is our logical brain.

When working with different people in variety of situations, it is easy how we often operate using the bottom two layers.  We do what is wired into us and if emotions are added this becomes our typical response.

So how do we get to use our thinking brain?  I believe that when confronted with a situation we have to ask ourselves some questions:

What do I normally do in this type of situations? (probing the animal brain)

PAUSE

What feelings are driving me to do this? (probing the emotional brain)

PAUSE

When is the first time I decided that I should do this?( initial source for habit and emotions)

PAUSE

By asking these questions you are opening your brain to the thinking that the third layer provides.  Notice the big pauses in between.  This allows us to let the question and answer to be heard.

Today’s question is:

“How many layers do you use most of the time when making decisions?”

365QOD- Day718

   “Exploitation vs. exploration” – big difference

While reading a story in Fast Company about brain scans of entrepreneurs I came across these two words.   The story says that (I have changed the formatting in order to emphasize the ideas)

“Our brains have two basic problem-solving strategies.

Exploitation means taking advantage of what you already know, concentrating deeply on a current task to optimize performance and efficiency.

Exploration means taking a step back from the task at hand to allow your mind to roam flexibly among alternatives”

In order to be successful as an entrepreneur a person/team must be able to switch between these strategies.  According to the article:

“Leadership in the age of flux calls for "ambidextrous" minds that can switch back and forth between the two strategies”

In my opinion the switching between the two types of problem-solving strategies is vital.  The article states this as:

“Successful decision-making isn't necessarily about doing more exploration than exploitation. It's in the timing--knowing when to shift between the two forms of thinking”

Often times a person might start with exploitation and more to exploration to realize that there are more opportunities left in exploitation.  This back and forth might occur several times before a new innovating improvement is created.

Today’s question is:

“Have you ever used these two strategies in your problem solving?”

The article can be found at

http://www.fastcompany.com/3004746/mit-brain-scans-show-entrepreneurs-really-do-think-different

365QOD- Day717

  “A mediocre person tells. A good person explains. A superior person demonstrates. A great person    

    inspires others to see for themselves."- Harvey Mackay

Many years ago I walked the French quarter section of New Orleans.  I ran across a sign that said something similar as to the difference between what average, above average, and great people focus on. 

The quote above resonated with me.  I believe that most of us managers are stuck between mediocre and good person.  We tell people what needs to be done.  If we have more time we might explain the details.  Usually this is where it ends.

I believe that the next level is easy to get to.  To be a superior you simply have to take additional time and demonstrate to the employee.  Most often this requires leaving the comfort of one’s office and going to the field.

In my opinion the great person level is one of quality.  Once you have told and explained to the person, taken them to the field and demonstrated, you must guide them to success on their journey.  But even that is not enough. 

Last step is to ask them to solve a more difficult problem that uses what you told, explained, and demonstrated as the base.  This allows the person to stretch and learn for themselves.  They in a sense become better than the source.

Today’s question is:

“What kind of person are you?”  

365QOD- Day716

“What if no one shows up?” – my question to myself

In my life I have met many people.  While working in several industries  I have  probably met/knew/worked with several thousands of people.  In addition, teaching courses for 18 years in several institutions exposed me to several thousand students.

So what?

I now live far from where I was born.  I am not where near where the majority of the people with whom I have worked with reside.  I no longer actively teach.

If I was to die, who would attend my funeral?  Majority of my own family is spread out all over the world: from US to Europe to China.  Same thing can be said about my students.

It is like the old saying, “If a tree falls down in an empty forest, does anyone hear it?”  Does it make a difference?

I am not depressed or being morbid.  It dawned on me that being away from majority of my contacts that there exists a possibility that a very small group would show up for my funeral. 

Today’s question is:

“Who would attend your send off?”

365QOD- Day715

“My teacher XYZ…” – Wayne Dyer

While reading Excuses Begone! I came across many lines of the form shown above.  Some of the people Wayne claims for his teachers were people that have lived many centuries ago.

The line made me think about the sources of information we use to accumulate our knowledge.  Just because a person is not physically in one’s life can one claim to have been taught by that person? 

I believe that Wayne is correct and wise.  If one influences us then they are our teacher.  It can be a single moment or many lessons.  If one reads several works by a person then definitively that person is your teacher.  You might not have acknowledged that person BUT they have instructed you.

The nice thing is that you can pick and chose the teachers you allow to teach you.  You are not limited to the ones that are physically near you.  Nor are you limited by when they lived.

Today’s question is:

“Who are your unacknowledged teachers?”

365QOD- Day714

“Consider your wake up call a blessing.  Your life, like my life, is finite.  It will end, and none of us can say when.  Do you want to die in the state you are in?  With dreams unrealized?  Negative habits firmly holding you back?”- from This Year I Will by M.J. Ryan

I am convinced that we place most of our limitation on ourselves.  Yes it is easy to blame the parents.  BUT after we become adults the choice to accept bad information given to us by others is our own choice.  AND with time we should be able to re-train ourselves to be the people we want to be.

I never said it was easy.  If you think it is tough then take a look at this video.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50138905n

I guarantee you that after viewing the video you will feel that you are not limited.

Today’s question is:

“What is stopping you?”

365QOD- Day713

“Whenever we bring something positive in ourselves into being, we come closer to living that greatness in all its dimensions.  No matter what new habit or dream we choose to cultivate, we’re also growing our souls.  For the process of change itself teaches patience, humor, resolve, gratefulness, tenacity, and compassion for ourselves.” – from This Year I Will

Imagine creating one great habit per month.  What would you do first? 

Or even better, who would you be at the end of the year alone? As the quote states, you would grow your soul.  You will learn many good habits and will become powerful. 

I am a believer that we are all on a journey to self-improve.  Sometimes the struggles are small and often they are mountains that we must climb.  The willingness to stretch and grow our souls should be a given.  

I also believe that most people never reach that level.    Most people just want their problems to go away.  I would rather out grow them.

Today’s question is:

“Can you change one thing per month?”

365QOD- Day712

“Habit is necessary; it is the habit of having habits, of turning a trail into a rut that must be incessantly fought against if one is to remain alive”- Edith Wharton

I read this quote last week and immediately remembered a series of three posts I wrote about eating cookies and failing.  Those three posts rank as some of my favorites.

Habits are nice if they are good habits.  BUT unfortunately we also tend to build bad habits.  Some are so instinctive that we do not even realize we are doing them.  It is the lizard brain in us. 

I have a bad habit of tearing the skin above my nails when I am stressed out of.  Most times I am not even aware that I am doing it.  At times it is so bad that I have to put a band-aid on my finger because I am causing myself pain.   The band-aid serves as a way for me to preventing the “trail into a rut”. 

Today’s question is:

“What is your band-aid?”

365QOD- Day711

"You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want."- Zig Ziglar

I have heard this expression many of times by Zig.  I believe it to be true.  

Do I follow it? Often times I create things that I believe are cool.  Maybe it is the Steve Jobs’ influence.  If it is cool then people will come.

The problem with this type of thinking is that it is self serving.  It is not asking, “How I am serve?”  It is asking, “How can I get served?”

Ultimately, financial success is tied to the “how may I serve?”  To truly serve we have to understand the needs of others and not only look to fulfill our desires. 

Today’s question is:

“Do you help other people get what they want?”

365QOD- Day710

"A real decision is measured by the fact that you've taken a new action. If there's no action, you haven't truly decided." - Tony Robbins

Man, we always want something.  Kids are really good at this game.  Their list of wants seems to grow and grow. 

But as adults we should know the difference between a need and a want.  We should always satisfy our needs and hopefully some if not most of our wants. 

The quote above puts a different spin on this.  I might believe something is a need or a want BUT I might not have decided that it is important enough for me to act on it.  And as the quote wisely teaches us, without the action taking us closer to the want or need we have not made a real decision.

I have to be willing to make a real decision that requires action AND I have to be willing to accept a loss in order to fulfill the need or want.  In my opinion, most people are not willing to accept a loss and that holds them back from the action. 

Want an example?  Many people stay in unhappy marriages because they are unwilling to lose what they have in order to get what they need.

Today’s question is:

“Have you taken an action in order to make a real decision?”

365QOD- Day709

“Be not afraid.  Fear is what stunts our growth, narrows our ambitions, kills our dreams.” Anna Quindlen

The other day I watched a Ted speech by Karen Thompson-Walker on fear.  It was a memorizing speech. It presented fear as stories we tell ourselves.

In the speech the presenter told the story of a ship that was struck by a whale of the coast of Chile.  The ship crew had three choices:

1. go to an island near by that was full of cannibals and get eaten
2. go to Hawaii but since it was the hurricane season they would die
3. go around the southern part of the continent but they would run out of supplies

So the crew did not want to get eaten and chose not to do option 1.  Option 2 was ruled out because it was certain death also. 

They chose option 3.  It was the story which induced the least amount of fear.   Interestingly enough they ran out of food and became cannibals.  They ended up becoming what they feared.

Today’s question is:

“What stories do you tell yourself to rule out options?”

365QOD- Day708

“Don’t do it the right way.  Do it the next way”- inspired by Jake Nickell Never stop making Ted speech

If there is a slogan in my life this would be it.  I create differently all of the time.  In the past when I instructed a course which I had instructed many times I would look for ways to make it different.

So what was different?  The first time I would teach a course I just wanted to make sure I covered everything that the students needed.  The second time I would cover almost as much as the first time BUT this time I would put emphasis on the key concepts a bit more. 

Now the third time magic would happen.  Third time I would not only cover everything, emphasize the key concepts, but in addition I would stress the application of those concepts. 

Fourth time and later I would emphasize more applications and adapt the course to the students.

Today’s question is:

“Do you look for the next way?”

365QOD- Day707

 “Incredible!” – my surprised expression

A few months ago I got a speeding ticket.  The funny part of this story is that I seldom go above the speed limit.  I have been told that I drive like an old man by many passengers.

In order for the ticket not to show up on my driving record I had to take a 6 hour on-line driving course and give Texas a copy of my driving record.  The course was very difficult to sit through and listen to. Often pop quizzes showed up and you had to supply the answer quickly.  BUT I did learn a lot.

One fact that I learned was that when angry our IQ (Intelligence Quotient)  level drops by 40 points.  So suppose by definition someone is average- 100 points on the IQ scale.  By getting angry their IQ level drops to 60 points.  This temporary drop places them at a mentally disabled level.

Why do you care?  First of all your IQ is your business.  BUT when you get angry your IQ level drops and it affects everything.  The longer you stay angry the more decisions you make that are poor.  This places you and others in danger. 

This drop in intelligence might not even have anything to do with driving.  It could affect your personal as well as professional life.  So when in a situation that you feel yourself getting angry, realize that by getting angry you are putting yourself in jeopardy and the best thing you can do is cool off in order to make better decisions.

Today’s question is:

“How do you stop yourself from getting angry?”

365QOD- Day706

“It is a little box inside a big box” – an attempt to explain an event

Most of us have had an experience when we go away somewhere and meet someone new.  While talking with that person we quickly establish that they know someone that we know or know someone who knows someone we know.  It is an interesting feeling.  You think to yourself that the world has 7 billion people and it should not happen. 

Recently I went to an area in Miami that I absolutely love- Lincoln Road.  While looking at the new Tesla vehicle store my wife ran into someone she knew.  Afterwards she was surprised.  How can this be?

The way I explained it to her was the following: Imagine Miami as being a big box like the size of a room.  You have interests and places that you enjoy.  This is like a little shoe box inside that room.  Your fried by definition enjoys some if not all of the interests and places that you do.  So their shoe box is next to your.  It should be of no surprise that once in a while the two boxes run into each other.

Today’s question is:

“Have you run into someone you knew at an unexpected place?”

365QOD- Day705

“7 Up” – not the drink

Sunday morning I watched my favorite morning show- CBS Sunday Morning.  One of the stories that I saw was very interesting.

The story told of a young director who chose a group of 14 seven year olds.  He filmed them while asking them about their lives.  Seven year later he did it again.  Seven years later he did it again.  The documentaries go all the way until 56- the latest installment.

It was amazing to see how the lives of some of the people rolled out in front of you.  Some that had so much passion but later ran into big difficulties.  The 14 participant discussed some very painful things that happened to them during the last seven years.   

I could not take my eyes off the TV.  The segment made me think how difficult it is to participate at a close look inside one’s life.  What if you knew that in seven years someone will show up at your door and drill you about the last seven years? 

On the other hand it forces them to examine their lives.  Yes it is in front of everyone BUT at least they know they will account fro the good and the bad. 

Today’s question is:

“What would you share about your last seven years?”

365QOD- Day704

“Honey I love you half the time” – a dangerous sentence

If you wouldn't say this to your partner then why do we say it to life?  We often do things half-way and pull back.

I believe that we are holding back because we are afraid that our best effort might not be good enough.  What if we give it our all and we still do not get what we want?

Unfortunately, life has changed.  I heard this line the other day:

“…last century life was full of certainty and little change,

     this century life is full of little certainty and full of change.”

in the audio book Be Who you were Meant to be by ???

Not giving it all is no longer an option.  We have to fully engage in our life battles and challenges.  Without full engagement we will not succeed against the level of change that is coming.  In my mind it is better to fully engage and fail than to half-way engage and not know that you could have succeeded.

Today’s question is:

“How do you know when you give it your all?”

365QOD- Day703

"Vicis exspecto pro nemo"- a Latin expression

I am an observer.  I observe ads, commercials, t-shirts, tattoos, etc. I get a kick out of getting the joke or learning something new.

Recently while on the beach I saw a young lady who had this expression as a tattoo   Unusual to say the least.  

With the help of a search engine, I found out that the meaning of it is that "Time waits for no one".  It is a great reminder to live life to its fullest.   A wonderful reminder to the young lady and every one of us.

Lack of time probably ranks as one of the biggest excuses for not getting things done.  But remember that you can steal time from life by getting up early and achieving your dream.  You can do a lot of damage at 4 in the morning and no one will stop you.

Today's question is"
"What are you waiting for?"

365QOD- Day702

"Careoke" - my invention

While driving around I heard a song on the radio.  The radio did not register the song artist or tittle so I pulled out my cell phone and used Shazam to obtain the information.

A funny thing happened next.  After the song information was obtained the song lyrics started scrolling across the screen.  I could read them as I drove.

I thought to myself.  Wow!  Everyone thinks they can sing in the shower and in their car.  Immediately I connected these ideas and thought, "Why not at least have the lyrics show up on a 6" device above the center of the dash that would flash the lyrics so that they at least can get the words right?"  Imagine a trip across the country with everyone in the car singing songs.

So am I going to pursue it?  Heck no!  The idea is interesting and I believe someone will eventually do it.  I just offer it for taking.  It is not consistent with my brand or where I want to invest my time.

Today's question is:
"How do you chose what you will pursue?"  

365QOD- Day701

"Brilliant!"- my reaction to a painting

After writing 365 posts I organized them by topic and produced a book.  By making small daily investments I created a whole that is better than the pieces.  But the pieces still exist and contribute.

A week or so ago I walked into a gallery in Florida(one of my favorite things to do while on vacation) and saw a bunch of black and white large photographs.  So what?

Imagine a picture of Steve Jobs' book cover that has been divided in 500 boxes across(pixels) and maybe 1000 pixels vertical.  Someone then using image processing determined a number between  0(solid white) to 255(solid black) to represent the darkness level of each pixel.

That by itself is OK but what makes it brilliant is that they then took a classical masterpiece painting(Mona Lisa by Da Vinci, something by Rembrandt  etc.) and replaced that pixel with that image at that darkness level.

So from far away you see the original work and you are not impressed BUT when you get closer you see the sub-image appear.

Today's question is:
"Can a sub-part of your work be a masterpiece?"

365QOD- Day700

"1097" - a magic number

December was a great month for me.  I broke through the 1000 monthly visitors to my blog.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU  .....  I just can't say it enough

For a long time the blog went up and down and the most it hit was 600+.  So what made the difference?
I have my theories but the only thing I did different was to write each blog first thing in the morning.

I  did this instead of attacking my work or email first.  For me writing the blog posts(usually 10-15 minutes) is very therapeutic and fulfills my highest need to be creative.  By getting my creativity in first thing I felt great the rest of the day.  Come to think of it this is an awesome strategy.  By writing the posts first thing I filled my creativity bucket.

I had done the same thing with running at 4:30 in the morning in the past.  By getting my exercise in first I was able to feel physically better the whole day.  I felt like a thief stealing time from life.

The funny side to reaching this milestone was that Blogger made me humble by increasing the graph up to 2000.

Today's question is:
"What would you be willing to rise for earlier than anyone to accomplish?"

365QOD- Day699

"Why as many as 65%?" - my question to the TV segment

This being the beginning of the new year, people are still striving to achieve their new year resolution(s).  Well most of us.  By end of first week it is down to 75% and by end of January 40% will be on track.

The show I watched this morning showed that of the 45% of Americans that create a resolution only 8% achieve it at the end of the year.  BUT what was scary to me was the 65% group of the folks that did not have at least one new years resolution.

Why?  Well, I believe life tends to beat us up and the 65% have tried before and failed and are probably thinking, "what for?"  They have thrown in the towel.  The fight is over.

By not setting any goals then failure is not possible.  But the truth is that so is success.   I guess I value tenacity and grit to much.  If I fall then I must get up.  If I am heading into a bad situation then I have to figure out how to get a better result than bad.

Maybe I am naive but I expect failure as a given.  I expect that I will not succeed on the first try but have to nudge it a little each time to get a better result.  As a matter of fact I just got through reading a book on the Power of Failure.

In the end I would rather fail and grow then sit and give up.  But that is just me.  I fight to be in the 8%.

Today's question is:
"Have you given up the fight?"

365QOD- Day698

‘Why are you doing the work that you are doing?”- Scott Dinsmore TEDx Golden gate speech

This is a question that most of us fail to ask.  We get up in the morning and just plow through our day.  We exist but often do not thrive in the jobs we have.

Existence is nice.  It pays the bills but it does not fulfill our souls. 

I have been going through a 10 year plan exercise and I can tell you that what I currently do is not necessarily what I want to do long term.  It is a good job BUT it does not recharge me as other things in my life.  Importantly, it does provide an avenue for expressing my creativity.   This is my highest need in a job.

Today’s question is:

“Why are you doing the work that you are doing?”

365QOD- Day697

“If you want to find the secrets of the universe think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration” – Nikola Tesla

This statement can be thought of as crazy except it was made by a very special guy.  If you are to trace most of the electrical invention in 20^th century you will find a patent with his name on it.  He invented AC power, motors, radio,  wireless power, etc.

This is a guy who knew the resonant frequency of the Earth and claimed he could split the Earth in half.  If you look up some pictures and read some stories about  him you will be quickly realize he was so many years ahead of any one of his contemporaries.

So if he says the the secret of the universe lies in energy, frequency, and vibration, most likely he is correct.  How do we use it?  That is still unknown to me.

Today’s question is:

“Do you want to know the secrets of the universe?”

365QOD- Day696

"The only feeling is Love or lack of Love.  “Think of Love as if it is water in a glass and the glass is your body.  When the glass has a little water in it, it is empty of water.  You can not change the water level in the glass by waging war on the emptiness n order to rip out the emptiness.  The emptiness goes by filling the glass with water.  When you have bad feelings, you are empty of love.  So when you put love into yourself bad feelings are gone.” – Rhonda Byrne

I was driving when I heard this statement.  It was so powerful that I pulled to the side of the road and wrote it in a notepad.  It clearly explains all feelings.

If I feel bad about something, I can not change the something by continuing to feel bad about it.  I have to insert love in order to change it.  Love in this sense is some positive emotion such as:

Love

Gratitude

Passion

Excitement

Enthusiasm

Hope

Satisfaction

Today’s question is:

“How full is your glass?”

365QOD- Day695

“There are levels of feelings” – a message

While listening to the Power CD I heard the author describe the different levels of positive and negative feelings.

Positive (from highest to lowest)

Love

Gratitude

Passion

Excitement

Enthusiasm

Hope

Satisfaction

Negative (from lowest to highest)

Boredom

Irritation

Disappointment

Worry

Criticism

Anger

Hate

Envy

Guilt

Despair

Fear

After some thought I realized that the positive feelings slow things down and are low frequency in nature.  The Negative feelings accelerate our nervous system and are therefore high frequency in nature. 

I believe that we need to create a card with the positive feelings on it and to pull the card out several times a day and state out loud the positive cycle for each feeling:

I am [insert a positive feeling] for/by/because… [insert your response]

An example of a pocitive cycle is:

I am LOVED because

I am GRATEFUL for

….

I am SATISFIED by

Today’s question is:

“How many times a day do you need to go through the cycle to bring forth positive feelings?”

365QOD- Day694

“Life is not happening to you.  Life is responding to you” – Rhonda Byrne, Power

While listening to the Power book I heard this line and immediately paused the cd.  The book is authored by the same person who brought us the Secret. 

In the book she offers a formula for getting what you want out of life. 

1. Imagine(I) what you want

2. Feel(F) what you want

3. Receive(R) what you want

I believe that step 2.5 is Act(A) towards what you want.  Sitting and wishing will not make it happen.

Today’s question is:

“What are you IFARing?”

365QOD- Day693

"You only get one shot. People might not ever understand that, but at the end of the day it's not their life. You can't let anybody else dictate how they want your life to be," he said. "I only have one shot to play and do something that I love. Not everybody is blessed and have an opportunity to do what they love.
"So I want to do it the best that I can and I'm going to take everything in I can to get what I can out of the NBA. Which, for me, is winning a championship," he added. "So if I have to play on another team or do whatever I have to do to get one, that's my goal. This is my passion, so I'll continue to fight."  - Dwight Howard

Can you blame a guy for pursuing his passion to win?  Maybe we need to learn from him.

In recent history of the NBA when a major star gets traded the home team fans feel like they are owed something.   In reality they are observers and the players are living these lives out. 

I lean more toward Dwight’s point of view.  You have to have a passion for the work you are doing and feel that you can win.  Life is too short to play on bad teams.

Today’s question is:

“Do you feel the passion for what you do for a living AND are you on a winning team?”

365QOD- Day692

“There are no problems to be solved just more truths to be revealed” –advice given to Jeff Van Dyke by a friend

Have you ever had the experience when you just do not get a concept?  Someone is trying to explain something to you and you are just not seeing it.  They try again and again but you still do not see it.

Maybe there is a spark from something they said OR a momentary pause and all of a sudden BAAM! you see it.  It was obvious and right in front of you. 

BUT now that you have seen the solution to the problem, you are left to wonder why you didn’t see it before.  It is so obvious now.  It is a truth that has been revealed. 

Onto another problem… without a pause we move on and except it as the norm.  Maybe a better attitude is to sit and marvel at the new truth and find other areas where it can be applied. 

Today’s question is:

“How do you capture truths learned?”

365QOD- Day691

“TWA should be TFWA” – my observation

Long time ago I heard a quote that your

Thoughts lead to Words

Words lead to Actions

Actions lead to Habits

And

Habits become your destiny

So TWAHD is the way I always remembered it.  While listening to the Power CD I concluded that feelings are the main reason why the Thoughts and Words do not become actions. 

If your feelings about something are not strong enough to move towards action then the feelings will win and you will not take the action.  Now the secret is to get those feelings to align with your Thoughts and Words. 

How?  Well, by spending time understanding why something is important to you and how important it is to you vs. other things in your life.  If you want to move a mountain BUT you are fond of sitting in front of a TV then the mountain will not get moved.

Today’s question is:

“How do you get your feelings to align with your Thoughts and Words?”

365QOD- Day690

“Whatever you can imagine exists… Creation is only the projection into form that which already exists”- Shrivan Bagavatan

This quote is very powerful.  If I can imagine something then it exists.  It exists somewhere. 

But how do we bring that reality into form?  I believe that you still need actions.  Just because I visualize myself driving a 100k car does not mean it will just pop out in front of me.  My actions of doing things to get that car, i.e. working at a wage that can afford the car,  must support the imagination.

Today’s question is:

“Do you know of another way to bring projection into form?”

365QOD- Day689

“The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. While the realist adjusts the sails.” – Unknown

I believe that the more adaptive we are the most likely we are going to get to the end that we wish to get to.   To me being adaptive means having more than one way to accomplish any given task.

Once you accept the idea that you can be adaptive then the only challenge is to find the best tool for that task. 

Today’s question is:

“How adaptive are you?”

365QOD- Day688

 “He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery.” -Harold Wilson

There are many gifts in a cemetery:  gifts never given to their intended receivers, gifts of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual nature.

Why?  People ran out of time? Nope… they did not have the ability to change. 

If you say something is important BUT you can not get yourself to do it then it is not important. 

Yes you can tell a good story justifying why you did not get it done BUT in the end you were unable to ‘change’ yourself into doing it.

Today’s question is:

“How do you handle change?”

365QOD- Day687

“Leadership is not a job. It is a responsibility.” -Lee Cockerell

I agree that I have a responsibility to the teams I lead.  They need to know the goal that we are working towards.  In addition, they need to know the resources that are available and the schedule.

After the goal, resources, and schedule are given then I need to move out of the way and let the team use their imagination to exceed my expectations.  Just get out of the way!

BUT the quote is clear. Just because I get out the way, the responsibility to lead is still mine.  I have to nudge them along and encourage their progress.

Today’s question is:

“How do you lead?”

365QOD - Day684v2

"breathe"- some advice

Well the world did not end yesterday.  That is a good thing since most of us have unfinished business.

Now that we got a second chance, what will you do with it?  Will you contact people with whom you would have spent your last moments.  Will you become more daring? Will you push towards that goal?

Today's question is:
"What will you do with your second chance?"

365QOD- Day686

“Historically, good men with poor ships have fared better than poor men with good ships.” -George Patton

It is foolish to believe that if we are given more then we would achieve more.  There is no guarantee that that will happen. 

Most of us believe that if we were just luckier then our problems will look so much smaller. 

It is not the size of our problems that is the problem.  It is the size of our desire to be bigger than our problems.  We simply want the problems to go away.

In reality, problems are always replaced by similar and often bigger problems.  Our size does not change without an effort.

Today’s question is:

“How do you become bigger than your problem?”

365QOD- Day685

“The biggest risk in life….is not taking one”

Play it safe…  That must be what our ancestors thought would get them through life.  As long as they did not get eaten by some beast they were around to continue existing.

Our modern world is no different.  We can continue to manage. The idea of thriving is a modern idea and one available to us that a few hundred years ago would only been available to royalty.

We eat better than royalty from the past.  We have greater luxuries than even they had.  But are we taking risks to thrive? No.  Most of us are still only existing.

Today’s question is:

“How do you know you are thriving?”

365QOD- Day684

“Rough waters are truer tests of leadership. In calm water every ship has a good captain.” —Swedish proverb

I recently had an interesting experience.  I was the captain of two ships.  One maneuvered in calm waters.  It needed gentle nudges to keep it moving forward.

The other ship was faster, larger, more hectic, more out of control.  The potential was greater but so were the troubled waters. 

When given a choice as to which I wanted to captain in the future, I chose the second.  To me it was obvious that I would grow more and truly test myself.  I will be stretched.

Today’s question is:

“Do you chose the difficult route by default?”

365QOD- Day683

“Life is more accurately measured by the lives you touch than by the things you acquire” - unknown

We tend to hoard stuff.  The other day after church I sat in a church hall and had a discussion about the effects the last hurricane had on people in Galveston. 

The lives of many of the people there were affected greatly.  I asked them what they deemed most important that they took it with them.  The answer was that they went through a hurricane level 3 that barely dropped any rain so when this hurricane level 1 came through they thought it to be a non-event.  So most of them packed a couple of days worth of clothes.  The island was not accessible for two weeks after the hurricane.

Rest of the conversation focused on the way people behaved and how they did things for each other that in the past they might not have done.  They became better humans by having to go through a inhumane experience.  Things were replaceable but people could not be replaced so easily.. 

Today’s question is:

“If you had to leave your home quickly, what would you pack?”

365QOD- Day682

“Winners get UP, losers sit in the road of life and B****”- unknown

Wow! I have been on both sides.  There have been times when I dusted myself off and got up to continue the fight. 

At other times I did not like what was happening when I got hit by change and I bitched and bitched.  I just could not get myself up.  I was knocked out cold(figuratively).

What made the difference as to when I got up and when I stayed down?  How important success in that sub-area of life was the main difference.   Often times the energy wasted by bitching could have been better used to constructively move ahead but often it was not.

Today’s question is:

“What makes you get UP?”

365QOD- Day681

 “Leadership is the art of achieving more then the science of management says is possible”  -Gen. Colin Powell

Anything that can be done can be done scientifically or artistically.  Consider Apple.  They make beautiful products and they tend to make them artistically.

Microsoft on the other hand makes devices scientifically.  The new Windows phones will be dead on arrival.  No one I know wants a windows based cell phone.  I had one for 5 years and would not buy another.   It was great when I had it but my new phone is years ahead of it.

To me the quote states that passion comes from doing things artistically.  Once people are passionate they will be moved towards action.

Today’s question is:

“What do you do artistically?”

365QOD- Day680

“Balance is Bunk there is no such thing it cannot be achieved. If you had balance you would work 12 hour days and be off for 12 hours, work 3.5 days a week etc… You get my point you should strive for Rhythm of life not balance.”- Unknown

I used to live a balanced life.  Man!... I remember those days.  I used to monitor my days very closely and made adjustments to get to a balanced state. 

My definition of balanced life was one in which I expended energies in

Physical

Spiritual

Emotional

Mental

Focus

Urgency

Discipline

Etc…

At the end of each day, I would look at the opportunities presented by the day and consider how well I did to accomplish this balanced state.  I re-shuffled the priorities for next day and worked on improving the results in all areas that were important to me.

The quote above claims that you can not live a balanced life.  I completely agree.  The author of the quote calls it “Rhythm”.  Yup!  I would call it rhythm in many areas that we expand energies towards.  In other words, we are talking about the same thing.

Today’s question is:

“Do you have Rhythm in your life?”