What You Need to Do

Delayed GratificationA multiple Grammy award winning solo musical artist once let slip that the reason he did a certain album was so he’d be free to do the kind of music he really wanted.

“I had to do that…so I could this.”

It’s not that the make-money album was a bust. The related performance drew one of his many Grammy nominations.

But it really wasn’t the music he wanted to do. Yet he did it so he could be free to run with his artistic preferences in the future.

This reminds me of a Ziglarism: “If you do what you need to do when you need to do it, the day will come when you can do what you want to do when you want to do it.”

Delayed gratification, a foundational principle for all kinds of success, isn’t just about NOT doing something now. It’s also about DOING the right things in the present as a setup and preparation for the future.

Step away from the donut…and go for a walk.

To Do or Not To Do

The purpose of to do lists“How many to-do’s are on your to-do list?”

An innocent enough question.

“One hundred and fifty to two hundred,” I replied.

He laughed out loud and said “That’s nuts!”

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Clarity and Control

Clarity and ControlThe desire for clarity is the desire for control.

At least for me.

And the clarity/control I crave most is for outcomes: I want to control what happens.

Which is a recipe for frustration.

Because the world is too complex and change is too rapid for any of us to control the outcomes.

But I’ve discovered a loophole for control freaks like me…and you.

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Life, by the Decade

The primary focus of each decade of life.Just got a crisp little email from my lifelong mentor Bobb Biehl.

He summarizes the focus of each decade of life as follows:

  • Childhood = Security
  • Teens = Self
  • 20’s = Survival
  • 30’s = Success
  • 40’s = Significance/Struggle
  • 50’s = Stride
  • 60’s = Strategic
  • 70’s = Succession
  • 80’s = Slippery
  • 90’s = Sleep

These one word summaries are the “normal” focus for each decade based on observations of thousands of people over forty years.

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Strategy for an Epic Holiday

A great family holidayIt was a fresh idea: Plan the holidays based not on what we wanted to do, but how we wanted to feel.

Easy to define the target: Unrushed, rested, refreshed. Closer to one another.

How to pull it off?

Short travel days. Loose schedule. Multiple days in the same location.

So began the best family holiday ever.

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