Stay Focussed

I woke up this morning with a big smile on my face. I know everything will work out.

In fact, everything already has worked out.

I look out the window, and it’s a beautiful sunny day. I see trees everywhere.

There is no wind, just stillness and quiet.

I’ve survived. I’ve made it through the darkest period of my life.

Like a train going through a tunnel, I’ve come out the other side. My lights are shining bright.

It feels great to be alive.

How did I make it through the abyss? How does anyone make it through the abyss?

You have to dig deep. You have to forgive. You have to make the decision to let the past go and be happy.

This is where your philosophy of life comes in. Here are twenty one nuggets that have helped me navigate life. I hope they serve you well too:

A. Don’t worry about money; worry about the opportunity and money will follow. This is my favorite piece of advice my Dad ever gave me. It’s such a great way to look at your career choices.

Chasing money, especially early in your career, is usually a bad choice. You are much better served building up your skills and knowledge. Taking this longer-term career view pays off both in more money and more happiness.

B. Take your chances when you are young. My second favorite piece of advice from my Dad.

I’d take the risky path with great upside potential every chance I could when I was young. You can grow faster and make a lot more money taking the risky path.

I’m not saying you should take foolish risks. I am saying take smart, calculated risks. You have the rest of your life to recover if things don’t go as planned.

C. Stay focused on the prize. The art of focus is so important in life and business. You multiply your effectiveness when you focus on a limited number of tasks.

Conversely you spread yourself way too thin by focusing on too many things at once.

D. “Perseverance is worth 10X its weight versus ability” or “Eighty percent of life is showing up.” The first quote is mine. The second quote is Woody Allen’s. I’ll let Woody do the talking from here:

“People used to always say to me that they wanted to write a play, they wanted to write a movie, they wanted to write a novel, and the couple of people that did it were 80 percent of the way to having something happen.

All the other people struck out without ever getting that pack. They couldn’t do it, that’s why they don’t accomplish a thing, they don’t do the thing, so once you do it, if you actually write your film script, or write your novel, you are more than half way towards something good happening. So that I was say [sic] my biggest life lesson that has worked. All others have failed me.”

E. A positive mindset allows opportunity into your life. Opportunity is all around us, and we just need to see it.

Negativity makes the world so cloudy that you can’t see the opportunity right in front of you. You can see all the opportunities for a happy and successful life when you are positive. Try it for thirty days, and you’ll see what I mean.

F. Go forward, fast. One of my favorite pieces of business advice. You’ll never have all the pieces to the puzzle. Success relies on your ability to fill in the pieces you don’t have.

You’ll be killed if you wait for every piece of data. Especially in today’s world because the market will have already changed before you take action.

G. The difference between being a success or a failure is the ability to get up, time and time again, after you’ve failed. I should know because I’ve had a lot of practice with this one. Failure is painful. Failure hurts a lot. You’ve just got to fight through the pain, the hurt, and the negative thoughts.

Each one of us has failed many times. The successful people shrug off the failure and keep moving.

H. Don’t live someone else’s life. Don’t let your parents, friends, or anyone else tell you how to live your life.

Take their advice and then do what you think is right.

I. It doesn’t matter what the role is, do your best always. So