Source: Robin Sharma
The person who does too much accomplishes very little. Less is more. The most effective people in business (and life) have the discipline (and brilliance) to focus on doing just a few things spectacularly well.
Less is more. You can actually be more productive doing fewer things. Please think about that. As Peter Drucker said: "There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently, that which should not be done at all."
We have heard it all before, but there is one piece of advice that we really should take to heart:
Live every day as if it is your last.
Whatever you are doing today, ask yourself "is this what I would want to be doing if this was my last day on earth?" Its a very powerful reminder of what is truly important.
Unfortunately, the significance of such thoughts were abruptly brought to my attention once again yesterday when I discovered a friend had died. He was a champion athlete, loving father and great company. He had been battling a sinister disease for a long time and finally lost his battle.
Times like these put everything else into perspective. Don't waste a moment. Don't look back on your life and regret not chasing your dreams.
Live every day as if it is your last.
I just came across this post at a blog called LifeDev. It was actually written by Albert van Zyl from the blog HeadSpace. Anyway, its really great advice.
The lives of great people give us interesting clues about how to organise our days.
All of them attached great value to their daily routines. This is because they saw it as being part of ‘becoming who they are’, as Nietzsche puts it.
For the same reason they were also highly individual in their routines. They had the courage to go against popular opinion and work out often strange daily plans that suited them.
This is perhaps the first lesson that we can learn – that it takes courage and resolve to design and stick to a routine that suits you. But as Emerson reassures us: ‘The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going’.
There are at least 10 other lessons that the daily routines of the great can teach us:
Continue reading "10 ways history's finest kept their focus at work" »
Today I want to share one of the most important attributes of successful and happy people: Responsibility. Its a lesson I have taken years to learn but is most likely the greatest key to my current level of happiness and success. I believe the message can be summed up as thus: you must take responsibility for your actions and your life in order to enjoy true happiness.
Most of my life I have been what you would consider a confident person. I have rarely had any reluctance to take on new challenges or back myself to succeed. As a consequence of my self-belief and willingness I have been able to enjoy some remarkable experiences and varied success. This has included world travel at a young age, reasonable success in several sports and reasonable success in business. All satisfactory results but nothing world-beating or extraordinary.
I have been fortunate to enjoy great success with my business since buying it back in 2005. A lot of that can be attributed to the team I have built, the planning I have done, the manner in which we conduct business in general. However, we have also been fortunate to have been trading in a very strong economy here in Australia. In short, times have been good.
The thing is that I am not foolish enough to believe these good times will last forever. The dark economic clouds forming over the American economy are a warning that tougher times may be on the way. It is also inevitable that my business will confront some challenges that will test our resolve. I heard someone say once that you are most vunerable when you are successful, and with that in mind I have begun to consider what to do in tough times, either economically, personally or when a business disaster strikes. Here is what I have come up with so far:
Following is an excellent old post I recently came across on the the well-written Genius Types blog. Its about just getting on with your dreams rather than making excuses or waiting for the perfect time to start. I believe its very true.
The Perfect Time to Start Never Comes
When is the perfect time to start a business, lose weight, start investing, become an artist, travel the world, or create the life you have always wanted?
Many of us spend much of our lives dreaming about what we'd like to have, or coveting the lives of others. But how many of us take the time to actually appreciate what we already have?
I spend most weekends moving from one activity to another. Multiple sports, social events and kids activities put paid to most of my R&R. My wife and I often take turns with the children while the other one races off to another activity.
Just over thirteen months ago, a life-long friend and
mentor of mine was involved in an horrific
cycling accident.
His Saturday morning bunch ride was collected side-on by a speeding vehicle.The carnage was widespread.
My time in USA is winding down and today I leave the spectacular Colorado rockies 
after a month of playing in the snow.
Yesterday was one of the best days skiing I have ever enjoyed. One of the main reasons it was such a great day was because I did something outside of the usual. A normal day skiing usually entails waking in time to join the crowds for the lifts in the first hour of operation, then making the most of the available conditions with thousands of others. I usually ski runs I am most comfortable on, occasionally trying a few more challenging runs.
We bury a friend today.
She was just 34 years old. Fighting fit and full of life.
Then a week ago she just dropped dead.
Tragic.
Her father is a good friend of mine and he is understandably distraught. Is there anything crueler than outliving your children?
It is the second time in the last year that I have been so shockingly reminded of our tenuous mortality. Two days before Christmas last year a life-long friend and mentor was almost killed in a horrific cycling accident when a car plowed into his group. Today he is still recovering and his life will never be the same. The fact he even survived is amazing.
That first incident went a long way to convincing me that life is too short, and you never know when your time is up. I soon decided to take a new approach to life. To savour it. To be thankful for what I have and to make the most of my time on this earth. My Perfect Life Project was born out of near tragedy.
Now, once again, I have been reminded of how fleeting life can be.
It is a reminder to ask myself, what is really important in life?
To re-affirm my commitment to my family and friends.
To re-affirm my commitment to living as richly and fully as possible.
Life is too short.
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There was a great piece of advice at the service....
"Plan to live forever but live like you might die tomorrow."
