Sunday, June 30, 2019

Have you felt like giving up lately?

Selfies kill more people than sharks. So far this year eight people have been killed by sharks, while 12 have been the cause of their own demise while taking a selfie. Distracted selfie-takers fell off cliffs, crashed their cars, hit by trains, and even shot themselves while posing with guns.

It has been said that life kills you more acutely than death. It hurts when you go through something that kills you inside but you have to act like it doesn't affect you.

What about you? Is it a financial crisis staring you right in the face? Do you live in a home situation which tears your spirit apart? Have your children hurt you, or has a child brought anguish to you? Has sickness or pain brought you down to the valley of death? Have you lost a job? Is your future scary and uncertain? Is your relationship in trouble? Has death of a loved one left you depressed, lonely and empty? 

Do you feel overwhelmed right now? Have you tried so many ways to see it through, yet nothing seems to help? Have you grown tired of trying? Have you almost decided there is no way out? Have you reached the end of your rope? Have you said to your heart, "I don't know what to do now!"?
Let me tell you something you already know. The world is not all sunshine and rainbows. It can be a very mean and nasty place and no matter how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it.

The hard part about being pushed to the point of desperation is reeling yourself back in and regaining control. You don't get to choose who dies or leave you, or what happens to you, but you get to choose how you stand and how you move forward. You get to choose how you think and where you put your attention and focus.

I, too, have my battles. I do get plunged into darkness and confusion, on occasion. I am no better or worse than anyone reading this post.

In hard times, we generally get down on ourselves and begin to feel sorry for ourselves and we become angry and bitter as well. We sink deeper and deeper. It's difficult to stop this process, but one way to get a handle on it is to remember again that no condition in life is permanent. It is important in times of despair to focus on what you didn't lose more than what you lost.

Some may deny that there is a power greater than all of us, but I am not one. People come into your life at the right time. Friends show up exactly when you are in need of them. Coincidence, it has been said, is God's way of staying anonymous.
All of us have been in situations that appeared hopeless, and yet we survived. We found a way. or perhaps the way was shown to us. 

Accept the fact that some things just have to run their course, creating new opportunities, building character, and providing experience. Situations have a way of working out, and they can do it quicker and better if left alone.

 

Sunday, June 23, 2019

Stop stressing over shitty people

The "Thrones" prequel - set thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones - chronicles the world's descent from the Golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. Filming has begun, Naomi Watt stars, and there'll be no dragons.

Hollywood is obsessed with prequels and origin stories. We all have our "origin stories." No matter how far you go in life, never forget where you came from. Only gravediggers start from the top.

I've become increasingly concerned over the rising sense of entitlement in this part of the world. I've encountered it all over the place: as a leader, working with peers and colleagues, interacting with customers and partners, and certainly through my time spent with other leaders.

What's tripping me up is that it's not just the well-to-do, the lucky, or the elite who feel entitled - it's so many "ordinary" people, those yet to make any meaningful contributions. They haven't have fame or notoriety. They don't have name recognition. They don't have leverage. They don't have multiple degrees. They haven't invented anything important. 

Ask yourself this simple questions: Would you rather live next door to a man who is kind and thoughtful or to a man who is mean and self-centred? Would you rather work for a woman who is honest and caring or for a woman who is dishonest, conniving and uncaring? Would you rather have friends with integrity or friends who cannot be trusted to do as they say they will do?

I don't know who likes a person who acts entitled. On the other hand, people always respect folks who deliver. I'm around people who love those who work hard, who prove themselves, earn their power and respect, and earn their way in the world. And who do it with integrity. That's the path to true success.

Over the years I have met literally tens of thousands of people, but as I look back on it all, there are certain people whom I remember, others whom I admire and a handful whom I deeply respect. Some people are memorable because they are warm and welcoming, and others because they make you laugh until you have cramps in your cheeks. Then there are people I admire.

I admire people for so many different reasons. I admire people who take care of themselves physically, because I know how hard it is to do that. I admire great talent. Musicians, writers, actors, all exercising their talents on an extraordinary level fascinates me and I admire that. 

I admire the building of great businesses. Many of my good friends are business leaders and entrepreneurs, and I often marvel at the way their minds work. But over the years in my personal reflection, I have constantly asked myself: what do I respect? At a deep level, I think there is only one thing I truly and deeply respect over and over again in time, and that is virtue. Virtue in other people challenges me. The thing that strikes me most about people of genuine virtue, is that whether I agree with them or disagree with them ideologically, I cannot help but respect them.

I learned my lesson. Money and possessions have their appeal, rapidly advancing careers can fuel our egos but character is what will see you through good times and bad. Now I try to make character my number-one priority in every sphere of my life.


Sunday, June 16, 2019

It might be late, but never too late

Athleisure has completely revolutionized all of fashion. Athleisure stock Under Armour has surged 49% this year. Just a mere three years ago, Under Armour stock was practically uninvestable - spending far too aggressively and racking up too much debt. Much has changed in the meantime.

Just when the caterpillar thought its world was over, it became a butterfly. 


I am a serious dreamer, the one who always believe in a better day. I have a steely determination and belief that in every situation, regardless of what it is, hope can disappear, but it is really hiding around the corner, waiting for the right moment to resurrect itself.



Some of the problems we encounter in life can seem too big, too impossible to move, so we let them back us down. But I strongly say and believe that if we roll up our sleeves, dig in, and stay on task, we can move any mountain of obstacles even if the work is excruciatingly slow. I have moved a mountain of debt the same way, a few dollars at a time; weight is lost, a few grams at a time, and while it might seem small, even insignificant at the time, it leads to big results when added together.


It's never too late for things to change even when hope has retreated. Relationships that appear irretrievably broken can be repaired and made even stronger when least expected. Better days take time to come, and sometimes we have to borrow all the time we can get, holding on until the last possible second. Don't let go too soon. Wrap your fingers tightly around the rope and hang on until your fingers have to be pried away from the rope. 


It's never too late for a situation to change or a better day to arrive. It's only too late when we give up and stop trying. Regardless of how challenging your life might be right now, you must hang on to the belief that an upturn is coming. It always comes. 


Wherever you are in your life, there are many happy fulfilling times still ahead. One may be waiting for you next month or in the early light of tomorrow morning. No matter how the odds may be stacked against you, or how dark and desperate things are, or how old you are, anything is possible at any time. There's always a solution to every problem and sometimes it isn't left for us to figure it out. Sometimes it's a simple matter of answering the phone, reading email or checking the mailbox. A better day often arrives when we least expects it. 


I can't predict the exact hour or day of its arrival, but I have seen  lot of life and this I know: there's a better day coming. Just wait and see.







Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Successful change of leadership


Wrapped in an orange robe, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi meditated for 17 hours in a cave at the Himalayan shrine of Kedarnath. After a hard-fought election, an American president might thwack some balls down a fairway, or go shoot turkey with the boys. The next day, Modi claimed a historic, landslide victory, defying expectations of even his own party to win a second term in office. Similarly Australia Prime Minister and Indonesia President were re-elected. 
In stark contrast, the UK is set for a new PM by end of July. 
It has been estimated that 40% of leaders fail within the first 18 months on the job - regardless of whether they were hired from outside the company or promoted from within. 
In my mind, the number-one job is the success of the new leader. The number-two job is the smooth exit of the outgoing leader. Therefore, it is critical to ensure the new leader receives the help she needs to have the best chance to succeed. 
A leader in a new job is usually burden with stress that comes from trying to act in a way that shows she belongs in the top job, to meet the expectations of self and others, and to achieve impressive results quickly. Most importantly, it is critical to tailor the pace of the transition to the unique conditions the new leader faces. 
As the new leader settles in, she should form an image of what she most wants to see, hear and feel of an optimal future a state of the organization/team. This visioning should be descriptive to the point of being vivid and attractive enough to motivate the leader, and eventually her followers, to do what must be done to make it happen. 
Another foundation for the transition's success is coalition building. The new leader must have behind and around her a team who are committed to and share her vision of what the organization should become. 
It's never smooth or easy to transfer power from one leader to a successor. There are no definitive how-to-manuals, no easy answers and no single best approach.