4 Lessons from the Olympics

February 18, 2014 by Leave a Comment
4 Lessons from the OlympicsWhen the world’s best compete against each other there’s so much emotion, drama, and heart that comes out, that’s why I love watching athletes perform. You can’t help but get drawn in. It’s what makes the Olympics so special.
In a way we know what it’s like to compete, because we know what it’s like to ace the test, nail the interview, deliver a great project, or drive in the game winning run in little league. We also know what it’s like to mess up the test, fail the interview, deliver a less than stellar project, and strike out with the bases loaded.
I can only image what the feeling is like at the Olympics. I think that’s why it’s so easy to feel for the athletes regardless of country or sport. In some we, we are them. What they’re experiencing is what we feel, or have felt at some level, only these athletes have the magnifying lens of the entire world on them.
There’s so many lessons to learn from the athletes. The 2014 Olympics in Sochi have certainly provided plenty of lessons. I’d like to talk about four lessons from the Olympics.
1) The odds-on-favorite doesn’t always win. –  Hannah Kearney was the favorite to take the gold in the women’s freestyle skiing moguls; which she won at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. One mistake cost her the gold, and she ended up with a bronze medal. She tweeted afterwards, “Bronze feels a lot like a broken heart.” She went on to say later that she will accept the bronze for fighting, but not for perfection.
Maybe you’re the odds-on favorite. You need to give your best performance each and every time because someone right behind you is looking to beat you, and they will if you don’t perform your best. If you aren’t the favorite, this presents a tremendous opportunity. This means that anybody has a chance to achieve what they want. If you are prepared, and give your best effort, you may just end up with a gold medal, even when no one else thinks you’ll win. That’s why the underdog always has a chance.
2) Worthwhile pursuits take tremendous dedication. – Olympic athletes spend their lives training; sometimes 10 hours a day – for years. When asked if she would compete in the 2018 Olympics, Hannah Kearney said she wouldn’t because that means giving everything to skiing for the next four years and she has other dreams she wants to achieve.
We think we can have it all, we see other people spread themselves out in so many different fields. But, if you really look more closely there’s always the one thing that they achieved success with and then the other opportunities open up because of the success in that one field.They didn’t try to be a success at everything. I think that thinking slows us down because we’re trying to do everything, instead of focusing on the one thing that we’re better than anybody else at. If we can nail that and achieve success, the other opportunities will open up. What can you do better than anyone else? Do that, it’ll get you noticed and it will give you a chance to pursue other dreams.
3) Your character is always on display. – Jeremy Abbott, a four-time U.S. national figure skating champion, took a tumble on the ice and slid into the wall hard during the men’s short event. He was down for a second before he popped up and finished his routine.
While he was on the ice for that brief moment, a million things raced through his head; what do I do? do I skate over to the judges?, can I continue? I’m in a lot of pain. As those thoughts circled in his head, he heard the roar of the crowd. The crowd was pulling for him and began cheering, giving him a standing ovation.
In an interview afterwards, he said, “I heard the crowd and I had to finish for them.” He could have hung his head and skated off the ice, but he instead chose to finish. He knew his shot at a medal was over, he ended up in 15th place, but to finish what you started, even if it doesn’t go as planned shows exactly who you are as a person.
4) Make the most of your opportunity. – Noelle Pikus-Pace, missed a medal in the women’s skeleton, at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, by a tenth of a second. She wasn’t satisfied with that result, but she was pleased that she had given her best and with that she retired. She left the sport to raise a family.
After suffering a miscarriage, she decided to pursue the Olympic medal dream again, but only if her husband and two young children went with her. She spent the last few years training, and after her final run in Sochi, she was in first. The emotions poured from her as she knew she had secured a medal. She took home the silver medal and during the medal ceremony, she broke down in tears. She had made the most of her opportunity.
What are your Olympics? Maybe it’s something you’re competing in, or maybe it’s just your everyday pursuits. Can you take any of these lessons and apply them in your life to help you achieve the success you dream about?
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Every Day is Valentine’s Day

February 11, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Every Day is Valentine's DayValentine’s Day used to bum me out, only because I was perpetually single. I used to be jealous of everyone else getting to spend that special day with their sweetheart. I thought one day, I’m going to celebrate it.

Now that I’ve been married for almost 14 years, I don’t give a hoot about Valentine’s Day. There’s nothing wrong with celebrating love. In fact, we need more of that. It can also be a good excuse to find the courage to let someone know how you feel about them. If that’s the case, tell them. Don’t wait! Life’s too short to keep it to yourself.
So, we don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day, because to us, every day is Valentine’s Day.
Valentine’s Day places a lot of unnecessary expectations on each other. What other holiday can give you feelings of both anxiety and guilt? That’s how the commercials try and make you feel anyway. Heaven forbid you don’t find the right present. You’ll look like a real schmuck; including to family and friends. So, it’s more about maintaining a good image, than it is about what it should really be about, which is your love for each other.
Valentine’s Day shouldn’t be about stuff anyway. Presents don’t make you any more or any less loved. That’s what my wife and I have discovered. When we feel like doing something special for each other we do it. We don’t need to wait for a holiday to do that. Besides, it’s way more fun to surprise each other with thoughtful gestures throughout the year.
Don’t fall in the trap of believing you need to celebrate. You don’t need to. If Valentine’s Day is your thing, more power to you; just don’t forget the other 364 days of the year.
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A Lesson on Permission

February 4, 2014 by Leave a Comment

A Lesson on PermissionDuring my senior year of high school I tried to start a school newspaper. I found out from my English teacher, Mr. Crump, that there hadn’t been one for a number of years after a student wrote some negative things about a teacher. I thought it was a shame that we didn’t have a school paper. Mr. Crump said that if I wanted to be the editor he’d support me in bringing back a student newspaper; he would act as an adviser. This was my chance to start something special and leave my mark in the world; at least my mark on Whitnall High School.

We put the word out and soon had a staff of around 10 people ready to start a school paper. We met to talk about what we wanted the paper to be, how we’d sell ads to local businesses to pay for it, and I even found another school in our conference willing to let us print our paper there. It was going perfectly. I could already see the first edition.
We were met with resistance from the school district right off the bat. Even after I met with the Superintendent, we were kept waiting. There was always some additional piece of information he wanted. Each time we supplied it, we thought that was it. The last holdup was that he felt the paper should be printed at our school (we wouldn’t have to sell ads), but the school district would be in charge of it and have the final say over the content. I knew what that meant and I didn’t want to compromise what the paper was going to be.
Students had written articles and poems, others knew businesses ready to buy ads for the paper, other students were ready to submit their photography skills. But, after so much waiting I finally stopped trying at the end of March. I spent six months trying to get a paper started and never got anywhere. I knew it wasn’t going to happen since I was graduating in June. The district never gave us permission to start. They waited us out.
I felt badly for everyone who had committed their time and energy to the paper. Sadly, I found out how politics work. When someone with power doesn’t want to give you permission to do something, they won’t. The district was never going to support a student run paper. What I know now is that we should have gone underground and done it without the district’s permission. We had the resources to do it; we had staff, we had stories, we had a place that would allow us to print it. It was all there.
The lesson is this, if you want to do something, do it yourself. Don’t wait for permission. If you want it bad enough you will find a way. If only I had known then what I know now. Gatekeepers are disappearing and there’s more opportunity to do something without having to get permission today than there was when I was a senior in high school. So, whatever you feel is in your heart to do, go do it. The world is waiting for your gift.
Have you ever given yourself permission to do something? How did it turn out?
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I’m on Vacation or How to Reduce Stress

January 28, 2014 by Leave a Comment

I'm on Vacation or How to Reduce StressThere are days that are filled with challenges and you can’t wait to get home. We’ve all been there. But when those days turn into weeks, and even months, something’s got to give. A number of years ago, at one of my former jobs, I was going through some pretty stressful days at work. The stress took its toll on me; I was cranky, had a negative attitude, and it was messing with my health (physically, mentally, and spiritually). My wife could see the effect work was having on me, so she came up with a plan that completely changed everything.

Her idea was this; once I left work, I was on vacation. That’s what I had to tell myself. Each night and weekend was a chance to relax and not worry about work. After all, when you’re on vacation you don’t think about those things that bring you down; you only think about enjoying those precious few hours of vacation that you have. Because of that, we were able to really enjoy our time together.  
This way of thinking got me through many difficult days. No matter what, I was only a few hours away from being on vacation. The feeling when you walk out of the building knowing you’re on vacation can’t be beat. At the time, it also gave me the strength to hold on until I was able to transfer to a different division within the company; one with a lot less stress.
It’s so much easier to be yourself when you’re not stressed. We’re meant to live a life of passion and purpose. It doesn’t meant that we won’t have challenges or disappointments, but we need to be able to find a way to keep plugging away, even when it feels like we can’t. We can’t give up hope. For me, taking a vacation every night was the best medicine there was.
Have you ever tried this tactic? Is there anything else that’s worked for you? How do you find the strength to make it through your challenging days?
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Choose Your Own Adventure

January 21, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Choose Your Own AdventureRemember those Choose Your Own Adventure  books when we were kids? You would get to a crucial point in the story and you would be left with a decision to make because you couldn’t continue until you picked one of the two options presented (technically option three was you could stop reading). The options would be something like, “to open the door turn to page 39” or “to run up the stairs turn to page 51.” What to do? What to do? You thought about it, made your decision, and flipped the pages to see what would happen next.

Recently, I’ve been thinking about those books and saying to myself, “isn’t life just a constant choose your own adventure story?” Only now our decisions have more consequences than just reading a different part of a story. Yet, with these seemingly important decisions, we routinely do the same thing over and over without really thinking about it. Then when things don’t turn out how we want them to, we’re surprised. We end up in jobs and relationships that don’t satisfy us when we don’t think enough about what we want.

There have been plenty of times I’ve said to myself, “I should have known better.” If I had taken some time to think about what I was doing I might have chosen a better option. I’m not talking about “do you want soup or salad?” I’m talking about big life decisions. I think I’m going to try something new and have a monthly assessment of where I’m at with my life and where I want to go and see what decisions I need to make in order to get there. (Maybe I’ll discover it needs to be weekly, that’s part of the fun of trying this, who knows where this will take me).

What page do you want to turn to in your life story? What will you do to assess the decisions you need to make in order to get there?

Here’s to happy and fulfilling adventures!

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The Consequences of Taking Short Cuts

January 14, 2014 by Leave a Comment

The Consequences of Taking Short CutsI’m sure we’ve all been assigned some tasks that end up being boring or seemingly unimportant. If you took a few shorts cuts no one would really know, would they? Why exert your full effort if you don’t need to, right? That’s the wrong attitude to have. There are always consequences. If you’re assigned to do something you should always do it with complete commitment.

Why is this so important? I’ll share two incidents; one from the pages of history and one recent story. 

On April 14, 1865, Police Officer John Parker was assigned to guard President Lincoln and the First Lady while they attended a play at Ford’s Theatre. As soon as the Lincolns got settled in their box, Parker left his post so he could watch the play and left the President unattended. Because of that decision, John Wilkes Booth had no problem walking into President Lincoln’s box and shooting him later that night.  
Recently, a friend of mine dropped me off at the airport for an early flight. Instead of going back home he decided to go into work. He’s the Building Security Manager for a large bank. When he arrived at the bank at 5:15 a.m., he discovered that one of the guards was missing. He found out that the guard had just left, although the guard was supposed to be on duty until 6:00 a.m. when the shift change occurs. It turned out that the guard did this often and was fired later that day.
Though both stories are security related, they apply to any circumstance. You never know when you’ll be needed or who will watch you when you least expect it. So, always give your full effort in all you do. Short cuts are only a short term benefit; your integrity is always on display.
This also shows how we’re all connected. What we do, or don’t do, affects other people’s lives. If Officer Parker had not abandoned his post history may have been different. If I hadn’t gone on an early flight my friend might not have offered to drive me to the airport and he would not have gone in to work early. The guard would still be employed and would still be leaving work early.
Today the Secret Service protects the President and there’s someone more responsible guarding the bank.
We never know what the consequences of our decisions will be, but one thing’s for sure; if you take short cuts your actions could have long lasting ramifications.
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The Power of Thank You

January 7, 2014 by Leave a Comment

The Power of Thank YouI was recently talking with a friend and my memory drifted back to a night at work from 20 years ago. I happened to be in charge of the store for 2nd shift that night. 1st shift was busy that day and they weren’t able to get any of their end of shift responsibilities done. The store was a mess. We worked our butts off that night and left the store organized and tidy.

When I came into work the next day there was a note left for me from the store manager. It simply said, “Greg, Thank you! Crystal.” I knew exactly what that meant, and so did she. She could tell how hard we worked when she came in that morning. It wasn’t fancy, but her acknowledgment had an impact. 20 years later I still remember it. I still think it’s the most genuine “thank you” I’ve ever received.
Saying “thank you” is a valuable currency that many of us don’t use enough. A well-timed “thank you” has pushed me through feeling burnt out or under appreciated. We all want to feel like our efforts matter. I do, at least. Those two words can energize and inspire. Not using them can build resentment. How do you feel after giving all you’ve got and you don’t even get so much as a “thank you?” You feel taken for granted, don’t you?
Those of us with strong work ethics will work hard regardless of the work involved, the condition, or the environment. When you hear “thank you” it just makes you feel good about your contribution. If you appreciate what someone does for you, let them know. It’s something I say to everyone who helps me. It’s one reason why I think I get along with everyone so well. I even throw a little “thank you” out to the universe to start my day just so the universe knows I am grateful.
Do you have any other ways to acknowledge those who help you? What’s the best “thank you” you’ve received?
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My 3 Words for 2014

December 31, 2013 by Leave a Comment

My 3 Words for 2014I recently went to a creative space in Milwaukee called Translator. Every Tuesday and Thursday morning, they host what they call a Lab (the rest of the time Translator is a digital marketing agency). If you’re in the area you should stop by. People get together and share ideas, get advice, and help others with their problems. It’s a great place for business and creative types to meet and collaborate in a positive environment that fosters creativity. I don’t go nearly often enough.

 A recent session was held on goal setting. Many ideas were presented, but one intriguing one offered by Katie Felten, who moderated, was about Chris Brogan’s three words for the year idea. Basically you pick three words you want to be the overriding theme for the next year and live them daily. It was amazing and inspiring to hear the stories of how that’s worked for Katie and Mark Fairbanks over at Translator. There was an exercise where we wrote down three words that we wanted our next year to be about and we went around the room and discussed them.
My three words for 2014 are:
Declutter – I have way too much stuff in my house and in my life. It’s stuff that doesn’t matter. Why do I need so many shirts when I don’t wear half of them? Why are there so many empty boxes lying around? What am I going to do with them? By having so much stuff around, it doesn’t leave room for new stuff to come in.  Decluttering will be not only a physical but a mental purification. I won’t reach minimalism, but I can sure try.
Focus – I want to focus on the things I really want; the things I want to do, the things I want to spend my time on, and who I want to spend my time with. Life is very distracting; especially with TV, the internet, magazines and other media. I can easily waste away a few hours everyday without even trying. I want to eliminate those distractions. When I used to play darts I would get extremely focused on my dart throwing. I would imagine a laser going from the tip of the dart to the dart board. It had to go exactly where my focus was, there was no way around it. And when I could focus so closely as to the exact hole I wanted that dart to go to, I could get pretty darn close. I want to have this kind of focus on whatever I spend my time on or whoever I spend my time with in 2014. I think decluttering will also help a lot with this goal.
Ship – I borrowed this term from Seth Godin. It means that your ideas don’t mean anything unless you ship them, unless they make their way out into the world. As one person said at Lab, “if it doesn’t ship, it doesn’t exist.” That’s true. No one will know about my work unless I share it, and put it out into the universe. It has a chance for a life outside of my mind or the hard drive on my computer if I expose it to the rest of the world. Sure, there’s a chance that nothing happens or the work gets criticized, but there’s also a chance for it to impact people. And at least it sets you up for some unknown possibilities.
I’m excited to see what 2014 shapes up to be because of these three words. You can do this too. Write down the first three words that come to mind (there’s probably a reason they’re right at the top of your head). Put them in a place where you can see them, so you have a reminder of what the words are.
What are your three words for 2014? Why did you choose them? How do you think they’ll impact you in 2014?
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What Christmas Means to Me

December 24, 2013 by Leave a Comment

What Christmas Means to MeWhen I was in middle school right after the Christmas break, my 7th grade English teacher, Ms. Mavrogenis, had us write a paper about how we spent our Christmas. I immediately went to work like the rest of my class and started jotting down what I got my sister, mom, and dad for Christmas, and how we always went out a little extra for mom because December 25th was also her birthday. Growing up we heard stories of how people would give mom a combined Christmas/Birthday gift and we always made sure there were separate presents for her birthday so she could enjoy both, even though they were on the same day.

A day or two later, as Ms. Mavrogenis handed back our papers, she told us that out of all of her students, I was the only one who wrote about what they gave for Christmas, not what they received. In a way, it was a little uncomfortable to be singled out of her 100 plus students, but at the same time I felt good.
Maybe because Christmas is also my mom’s birthday, I look at it a little differently. Christmas to me means that we think of others, we give, and we show compassion for each other. It’s too easy to get wrapped up in the commercial hype about making sure we buy the “right” present; there are enough TV commercials reminding us of that! I try to ignore the commercialism of Christmas and embrace what’s in my heart.
My wish for you is to enjoy your time with your friends and family this Christmas, but to also share your gift with the world, whatever that is. The world needs you. So, whether you give a stranger a smile, a friend a hug, or a cause your time or talents, do it. It will make you feel good and you’ll be making the world a better place for all of us.
How will you be celebrating the holidays this year? 
Merry Christmas! 
I also want to say, “Happy Birthday, Mom!”
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My Favorite Books of 2013

December 17, 2013 by Leave a Comment

My favorite books of 2013I’m an avid reader and am constantly looking for good authors to inspire me, motivate me, and fire up my mind. This year I discovered some truly amazing ones that did that and so much more. These books are filled with awesome information and most definitely had an impact on my life. I encourage you to check them out and if you are looking for a gift, you won’t go wrong with any of these.

Here are my favorite books of 2013:
Daring Greatly by Brené Brown. A book about being brave, stepping into the arena, and giving it your best shot. This book will help you move past your fears, the critics (both internal and external), and slay the dragon of perfectionism. Brené has said, “Perfectionism is a 10-ton shield that stops us from being seen.” Daring Greatly will make you appreciate your talent and your life more. You are enough, just as you are, so start living like it. It had a huge impact on me. If you read anything on this list, start with this one.
The Impact Equation by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith. So good, I read it twice this year! The Impact Equation is a wonderfully written book about making an impact in the world by being as helpful as possible, keeping things simple and being brave by thinking like an owner, not an employee. This book resonated with me so much that it gave me the kick in the butt I needed to start my blog (which is a chapter on building your platform). I continued looking for other ways to share it, and suggested to our CMO that everyone on our team should read it. I was thrilled when he decided to buy a copy for everyone. That weekend I emailed Chris Brogan to let him know how much the book meant to me and about our team reading it together. He not only responded to my email but he ended up coming to Milwaukee to meet with our team! I even got to spend some extra time with him one-on-one. Do yourself a favor and read The Impact Equation, oh, and sign up for Chris Brogan’s weekly newsletter. You never know what could happen!
How to Be Interesting (In 10 Simple Steps) by Jessica Hagy. I saw Jessica was going to be at a book signing and I liked the title of the book, so I went. I’m so glad I did. I left the book singing saying, “I’m starting my blog.” That’s how inspiring Jessica was. How to Be Interesting (In 10 Simple Steps) is an insightful and funny look at life lessons we could all learn from. Follow the steps presented in this wonderful book and just watch where life takes you.
Give and Take by Adam Grant. I read a New York Times article about Adam and was so blown away by this man that I was going to buy the book that weekend, but didn’t get a chance to. The book arrived the next week, sent to me by a friend who also enjoyed it. Adam Grant has studied how givers get ahead in life and in business, more than takers. At the age of 30 he became the youngest tenured professor at the famous Wharton School of Business, and also it’s highest ranking professor. This book made me pause and reflect on things so many times. I highlighted the heck out of the pages of Give and Take, that’s how much it spoke to me. Reading it also helped me come up with a ton of creative ideas.
The Art of Explanation by Lee LeFever. If you want to know how to break things down to its simplest form, The Art of Explanation will help tremendously. Whether you need to explain a product to your customers, explain your ideas to team members, or tell something to your family, this guide will help you. Lee offers great examples of what’s worked for him and his clients in explaining even the most complex ideas so that anyone can understand them. And if you aren’t understood, you won’t get anywhere in life, so therefore this is a must read.
Likeonomics by Rohit Bhargava. A book that will make you smile throughout and gives insight on how to do business in a better way. Likeonomics made me stop and say “yes, yes, yes” many times. Each chapter is filled with wonder advice and real-life examples of how to treat your customers; not as numbers, not as dollar signs, but as real people. It’s refreshing to read something that I feel to be true.
The Icarus Deception by Seth Godin. It’s hard not to be impressed with anything Seth Godin writes. He’s so succinct and so right-on and The Icarus Deception is classic Seth Godin. There’s something about this book that makes you want to go out and rule the world. He makes you feel like anything is possible, if you care enough to put forth the effort. He challenges you to believe that you can, so you might as well go ahead and do it.
The Passion Conversation by Robbins Phillips, Greg Cordell, Geno Church, and John Moore. The folks who wrote this are from a group called Brains on Fire, which focuses on helping companies with word of mouth marketing. I saw Robbin, one of the authors, speak at a BMA Milwaukee event and was drawn in. The Passion Conversation takes customer engagement to a whole new level. It goes in depth with four real-life examples of organizations (both for-profit and non-profit) that have used their strategies successfully. This book is an eye-opener that also sparked a lot of ideas.
What books impacted you in 2013? What are you looking forward to reading in the new year?
Happy reading in 2014!
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