Category Archives: On Success

To Take Your Reading to the Next Level: Use OPIR

One Take from the Week #8: OPIR

I cannot recall how many times I have found myself bogged down in the middle of a book that either lost my interest or was not pertinent to where I was in my life. Unless it is for pleasure (fiction before bed), I generally only read non-fiction. This is for the dual purpose of learning and growing. If I am not getting anything out of the book, then I consider it a waste of time. As William Penn once said, “Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.” My goal is not to have time as something I use the worst.

How can I make the most of my time and prevent a loss of it through wasted reading? I could quit the book like I mentioned in yesterday’s post. This would allow me to discontinue my investment in an underperforming asset. But there is another way. This week I listened to a Living 4D podcast with Paul Check and Ben Greenfield. In this episode, they discussed a method I have heard of from other prolific readers but have never tried personally. It is called OPIR, a way to know what you are reading before you invest (or waste) the time it takes to read the whole thing.

OPIR – Overview, Preview, Inview, Review.

*This strategy was designed to use speed reading techniques to get through business manuals. However, I am not a speed reader. I have tried it and never liked it. It might keep me behind the curve, but I prefer to read at conversational speed. Because I am not a speed reader, the following is my adaptions to the original design.

Overview

  • Start with the cover.
  • Look at the front and the back.
  • Read the information inside the jacket.
  • If you are not familiar with the author, then read the bio.
  • Look at the table of contents. Are you still interested? If yes, then move on to the next step.

Preview

  • Read the foreword and the afterword.
  • Go to each chapter and read the first couple of paragraphs. Skim the rest of the chapter and highlight anything that stands out to you.
  • Is the book worth the investment in time you are about the make? Proceed.

Inview

  • Read the book.
  • Highlight content.
  • Make notes.
  • During the overview and preview, you read the table of contents and glimpsed each chapter. Was there one that you did not find relevant or interesting? Skip it. If at the end, you feel like you missed something, you can always go back to it.

Review

  • Go over your notes and highlights.
  • Take any actionable steps.
  • Hopefully, this book changed your life in some way. The review process is intended to solidify those changes.

Using this process to read a book might cost you a day’s worth of reading. Compare that to a week or a month’s worth wasted in a book that was not beneficial to you. This strategy will improve the value of the content, keep you from wasting your time, and give you a greater ability to retain the information. Give it a try. If you do, I would love to know how it worked out for you. Leave me a note in the comments.

The Skeleton Keys #3: Give to the World

Charity 11/27/2019

I doubt it began with the Egyptian pharaohs, but they are a good starting point. They amassed huge fortunes when they were alive. And when they died, they took their wealth with them to their burial chambers. Why? Maybe they thought they could it would help them in the next life. Better safe than sorry, right? And today, what’s the legacy left for the world? A few monuments and recovered artifacts.

Now, think of the old man. The one you know or the one you have heard about. His goal in life was to accumulate wealth. He was that crabby old guy that living only for himself. He was a hoarder of gold without a charitable bone in his body. When he dies, he will probably do everything in his power to take his loot with him into the next world. And what of his legacy? For a short time, he will be remembered as an old rich guy that died alone. And then as the decades go by, he too will be forgotten.

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. –John 15:13

The greatest sacrifice you make in this world is dying for another. We don’t hear of these feats too often. But when we do, we never forget this ultimate sacrifice. The soldier doesn’t think of the consequences when he crosses that barrier between life and death. He is only thinking that he will cross instead of those around him.

I have always attributed these words in John 15:13, as the end-all be-all for a show of love. And it is, but is there a second best show of love? What could we do now in this world while we are still alive?

A small deviation about responsibility and employment…

When I was younger, I only lived for myself. It was childish. When I got married and had a child. I had to put away childish things and start living for the good of two other people. This is far better than living for just myself. Being responsible for three raises the stakes. It adds a little positive pressure in my life to do the right things.  I hold a certain value in my family’s life. They need me. Oh yes if I was to go away, they would move on. They would find a way to survive. In a sense, it is kind of similar to an employer/employee relationship.

An employer needs an employee. Terminate the relationship and both will find a way to move on and survive. Until then, their relationship is based on a contract. The greater the perceived value of the employee, the greater the compensation the employer will be willing to pay.

Back to the second best show of love…

There is a great joy in being able to help others. The more I help others, the greater the joy and drive to help even more. It brings value to my life and to the lives I touch. I may not have the opportunity to make the ultimate show of love, but I can do the next best thing: I can give my “living” life to my family, to my friends, and to those around me. I can give it to the world in an attempt to make it a better place.

Why the comparison to employment? If you live only for yourself and your contract ends between you and the world, the world will move on. It will forget about you like you forgot about your co-worker who was terminated last year. But if you live for the good of the world, the world will take notice and compensate* you based on your perceived value. Your legacy will be determined by how long you can stay in the memory of those you reached. For example, imagine Shakespeare whose writings will probably be with us in some form until the world is no more.

The first skeleton key to success is to combine your faith with your works. The second is to hope in your own self. The third skeleton key to success is to give it to the world. This is success that goes beyond the grave. It goes beyond our actual time on this planet. Of the billions of people throughout the ages, we have the opportunity to leave our mark by creating a legacy the world will remember.

 

To do more for the world than the world does for you –that is success. –Henry Ford

 

*This could be in other forms of compensation, not just financial.

 

The Skeleton Keys #2: Hope in Yourself

Hope 11/23/2019

America, the land of opportunity. It is the reason so many come to this country. They want a better life than what is possible by staying in their own countries. Here is a chance to live the rags to riches story. Here is the chance for success that they dream of.

This is why my father’s ancestors came to America in the late 1600’s. It is why my mother’s family, fleeing from religious persecution and the threat of communism, came over 300 years later in the late 1960’s. They wanted the freedom to pursue a better life, and not just for them but for their families and their future generations.

As a kid, I didn’t understand the sacrifices that were made by those who went before me. I saw the “have’s” who had more than me and considered myself a “have-not.” It was foolish, but I was young. I imagined all the things I could do if I came from a wealthy family. The aristocrats I read about in my books filled my imagination as well. It is amazing to think there was a time when people got a stipend for having a title in front of their name. Why couldn’t this have been me?

We live in a time when we can peek into the lives of celebrities and stars. We see the where they are today, but we don’t always see how they got there. Some were born with silver spoons in their mouths. Others had to earn it. It is these others that we should really look at. How did they get to where they are today?

This week, I listened to an interview with Shaun White on the Ed Mylett Show. This was the second interview I have listened to with Shaun White and was amazed to hear about his childhood. His family wasn’t wealthy. They made a lot of sacrifices so that Shaun and his siblings could get to the mountains. Where he is today wasn’t handed to him on a silver platter. He had to earn it. He was willing to learn by watching the best until he became the best himself. He is a beneficiary of the America our forefathers imagined. Very little stands in the way of the one who has faith in the future and is willing to work for it.

That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well. –Abraham Lincoln

All through history, and not only in America, do we see the success some are able to achieve despite the circumstances of their childhoods. So many come from very little but are able to attain to great heights. Once again as a youth, I didn’t believe this was something available to me. What a fool! As I get older and continue to work on myself, I now have a different belief. I have a belief that I can do anything that I put my mind to and am willing to work for. If others can do it, so can I.

The first part of this skeleton key to success is to pray mightily and work hard. The second part is to have an unwavering hope in your own self. You have to believe you can do it. If the others can, so can you!

My son, do not think I have forgotten about you. These words are not just for me, but they are for you as well. Our family blood runs strong and the desire for the success of future generations continue to this day. You must believe in your abilities and work to cultivate them. Others can guide you, but they cannot do the work for you. You will have to find your own path and then walk it for yourself.

The virtues of faith, hope, and love make up these keys able to open any door closed to you. Two keys have been discussed, the third is next.

Trust the Process

The seed goes into the ground. It is nourished and watered every day for five years. After the fifth year, the seed breaks through the ground. In a matter of weeks, it is an eighty foot tree. This is the Chinese Bamboo tree.

I have never heard about this tree until I listened to this short clip by Les Brown.

Imagine being charged with the task of caring for this seed. Miss one day in the five years, and you could jeopardize the seed breaking through the earth. Fully aware of the consequences, you do your task. You trust the process, knowing that if you are faithful until the end, you will reap the rewards. You know what it reminds me of?

He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” –Matthew 17:20

There is a seed within me. For decades, it was dormant. It wasn’t getting the nutrients and the water it needed to break through. A little over a year ago, I started to cultivate it. It was time to do the work of a gardener and get busy with life’s purposes. I am on year two and part of me is frustrated. I see seeds sprouting in those around me. When will my seed break through? I have to remind myself I am still in the early stages. I don’t know how long it will take, but I do know that I must continue to water and fertilize.

I tell myself, “I’m gonna move that mountain.” This seems like an impossible task, until I am reminded of the words of Confucius. He said, “The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away a small stone.” A small stone at a time means the mountain won’t be moved in a day. This is faith in action. I believe the mountain can be moved, and so I chip away a bit at a time. Faith and persistence. Water and fertilizer.

pablo-azurduy-69535-unsplash
Photo by Pablo Azurduy on Unsplash

What does the gardener gain from the five years of nurturing the seed? Is it the tree? It may be the only thing the world sees or even judges, but there is more than just the tree. There is the gardener. Not the same person who started the journey five years ago, but a new person. A different person.

Trust the process. Have Faith. Persist. Water and fertilize.

To be successful, you must be willing to do the things today others won’t do in order to have the things tomorrow others won’t have. -Les Brown

5 Ways to Reprogram Your Mind

We become what we think about all day long. –Ralph Waldo Emerson

What do you think about? Do you ever pay attention to the song that gets stuck in your head? What about the video clip that seems to be burned into your mind’s eye hours after you watched it? Did you ever imagine the things you exposed your mind to on a regular basis could have a long-lasting effect on you?

Take any aspect of our current political environment. Regardless of chosen sides, every aspect can be perceived as negative. Consume enough political news throughout the day and soon you will be seeing the negative around every corner.

Now look at the videos, music, and social media you consume. Is what you are consuming in line with where you want to be in the future? Does it match your current set of values? If not, what are the chances of your values going to the same level as the media you consume?

Photo by neONBRAND on Unsplash

All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become. –Buddha

Your mind is one of your most valuable resources. To get where you want to go in life, you have to ensure your mind is functioning at an optimal level. Fortunately, our minds are programmable. We can believe what we want to believe. We can consume what we want to consume. We can protect our minds from the media that is preventing us from achieving our goals.

In his book, Speaking to Win, Brian Tracey makes a great point about our minds and thinking:

The highest-paid and most valuable work in America is thinking. This is because, of all things that people do, thinking has the greatest possible consequences. The better you think, the better decisions you make. The better decisions you make, the better actions you will take. The better actions you take, the better results you will get, and the better will be the quality of your life and work. Everything begins with thinking.

With this in mind, here is a simple list to help reprogram your mind:

1. Define your values or what you want to value. This can be a goal, it can be what you want to stand for, or it can be who you want to be.
2. Program your mind by consuming the things that will help get you closer to your destination.
3. Discern what media is pulling you away from the path.
4. With discipline, turn away or turn off, the unproductive media. You have to learn to say no to the things that pull you away. They are vying for your attention and your time.
5. Do the work. Here is your call to action. Your mind, by this time, should be in the right place. But without working toward your goals and values, you will have only unused knowledge. What is the point of that? Take what you have learned, act on it, and see how far you can go.

Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results. –Willie Nelson

Mistake Free

This is the fourth in a 7-part series comparing Sun Tzu’s The Art of War to youth wrestling and how we can apply these lessons in our own lives.

Click here for Part 1: It begins with Practice

Click here for Part 2: What are your Questions

Click here for Part 3: Winning with Ease

He wins his battles by making no mistakes. Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that is already defeated. –The Art of War, Chapter 4:13 Tactical Dispositions

The wrestler that makes a mistake ends up on his back. The only way to not get in this position is to not­ allow the opponent an opportunity. Becoming mistake-free results in victory. If your opponent has done his research on you, he will know it when he steps on the mat. Your reputation will precede you, and your opponent will arrive already defeated.

As a mortarman in the Army, I couldn’t make a mistake. My team couldn’t make a mistake. One wrong move, one miscalculation, or one errant round could result in killing the people that counted on us for their protection.

Mistakes sink ships on the ocean. They kill businesses by damaging their reputation and the trust people put in them. Mistakes prevent you from going where you want to go.

It is difficult to be mistake free in life, but there are measures we can take to prevent mistakes. There are things we can do to offset the damage and not allow it to escalate into something we can’t fix. We can prepare, be ever-vigilant, and have a partner or coach that is looking out for us. Good coaches identify areas that need improvement. They correct issues early on so that they will not become a problem later on. They are there to prevent you from making mistakes. They are the checks and balances similar to the platoon sergeants and squad leaders of a fire team. They are there to watch, direct, and correct.

When I was younger, I thought I was alone. I isolated myself and listened to my own counselling. It wasn’t very sound, and to this day I am still paying for some of those mistakes. What I needed back then was someone to keep me in check. There were plenty of people out there that would have done it, but I wasn’t looking. It wasn’t until I was older that I started looking. By then my exterior was already hardened making it more difficult for others to get through. I am still working on this area, still working on becoming vulnerable enough to those closest to me. The good news is that I am working on this area and getting better.

It is hard to go through life alone and not make a mistake. We all need a partner, a coach, or a mentor that can see our blind spots. The influencers in your life cannot be afraid to offer counselling. And once they do, it is your job to trust them, listen, and take action. Only then can you come closer to becoming mistake free and establishing the certainty of your victory.

Winning With Ease

This is the third in a 7-part series comparing Sun Tzu’s The Art of War to youth wrestling and how we can apply these lessons in our own lives. This is how you win with ease.

Click here for Part 1: It begins with Practice

Click here for Part 2: What are your Questions

Winning with Ease

What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease. –The Art of War, Chapter 4:11 Tactical Dispositions

Wrestling is a difficult sport taxing one’s body, soul, and mind. In his second year, Alec has yet to put all three together on the mat. This is not a harsh statement. He is only six years old. How many boys his age has found this balance? Some of the older kids, who have been wrestling longer, have begun to put it together. It is noticeable when they walk on the mat. They look confident and fearless. When they win, they make it seem easy. Those are what the ancients would call a clever wrestler. It is the one with the experience, who has put in the hard work and has persevered.

In my forty-four years, I haven’t gone through this life with ease. Why is that? My road has been difficult, because I have not always put in the hard work when it comes to my body, soul, and mind. But when I do put in the work, when I persevere, life gets easier. When I neglect even one of these three pillars, my road becomes difficult to travel.

Want to be the one that not only wins, but excels in winning with ease? Learn from experience by doing the hard work. Keep grinding every day. Keep practicing. Persevere. Do this and you will find your Tao, your Way.

What Are Your Questions?

This is the second in a 7-part series comparing Sun Tzu’s The Art of War to youth wrestling and how we can apply these lessons in our own lives.

 

Click here for part 1: Begin with Practice

To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself. –The Art of War, Chapter 4:2 Tactical Dispositions

What are your questions?

The kids toe the line and shake hands. Once ready and in their stances, the referee blows the whistle to begin the contest. Having never faced each other before, both the boys have options. What they choose to do is based on experience and comfort level. Not knowing the other’s skill level, to shoot for a takedown from distance could be disastrous. If you can’t touch your opponent, the long shot truly lives up to its name in its chances for success.

Charging blindly into an unknown opponent is a recipe for disaster. There is a small chance you may surprise him with an opening bull rush, however an experienced opponent will have prepared for such a scenario and will be able to counter with ease. What is a better solution? It is better to probe for weaknesses and to look for the opportunities provided by your opponent.

It is foolish for a lawyer to cross-examine a witness with statements. Isn’t it better to ask questions? The more questions, the greater the chances of finding a flaw in the testimony.

You can take control of a meeting by spouting off all the things you know without getting feedback, but this will not solve the problem at hand. The meeting participants are not the enemy. The problem is the enemy. To find the solutions you have to ask questions. You have to probe. You have to collaborate. The solutions to the problem will eventually be exposed, and then you can attack.

The quality of your questions determines the quality of your life. –Tony Robbins

If the enemy is within, what should you do? How can you attack a problem if you don’t really know what it is? Whether it is a medical condition or a bad habit, the methods of combatting it are similar. Identify the problem. Ask the questions that can lead to a solution. If you can’t find the solution on your own, collaborate. As Sun Tzu said, “To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands.” It is in your hands whether or not you choose to fight. Only through fighting will you be able make use of the opportunities provided by the enemy.

There are some things you won’t be able to cure. In that case, your only option is to live the best life you can. You do not have to be the victim. You can rise above and not allow the enemy an easy victory.

Losing Before Beginning

If you don’t have confidence, you’ll always find a way not to win. –Carl Lewis

Feel like you are going to lose even before you begin? It doesn’t matter whether it is in business, sports, or any venture you undertake. If you think you can’t win, chances are you won’t. But you can choose to:

  • Figure out what it takes to win.
  • Exhaust every option available to you.
  • Learn as you go.
  • Practice, practice, practice (builds confidence).

America’s greatest inventor, Thomas Edison, put it brilliantly, “I haven’t failed. I have found 10,000 ways that don’t work.” If you are doing things the conventional way, the established norm of everybody else in the field, you may have to change it up. Break away from the pack and set a new trend. If it fails, try another way. Keep experimenting until you find a working model.

To win right this moment may not be possible. But if you are patient, you can victorious. All you have to do is understand the game. Know your competition. Don’t quit.

We are all capable of doing more than we think we are can, but a self-defeating attitude and a lack of preparation is a recipe for failure. Prepare, practice, and persist. Do this and you can win.

If at first you don’t succeed, before you try again, stop to figure out what you did wrong. –Leo Rosten

Your Highest Standard

What have I noticed on the assembly line in the last month that I have been back on it? Too many associates and lower-level managers are content with exerting the minimal amount of effort to achieve the company goals. We want our compensation levels to increase, but we are not willing to do more in order to get more.

What happens when the standard is to achieve the minimum? Morale goes down. Safety is sacrificed. Production goals are not met. The potential of an excellent product is diminished by defects. Customers become less satisfied and ultimately choose another product.

“Don’t wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great.” –Orison Swett Marden

“Circumstances does not make the man; they only reveal him to himself.” –Epictetus

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” –Leo Tolstoy

“We must be the change we wish to see in the world.” –Mahatma Gandhi

It is easy to fall into the trap. We look at the goal for the day and strive to achieve just that, no more. We complain about the environment in which we work and blame the management rather than take the steps to fix it ourselves. We justify safety concerns instead of addressing them. It is easier to put the blame on the circumstances, not on ourselves.

Last week, I said no more. I have always tried to do a good job. My goals have always been simple: no defects and no downtime. But I looked at it and thought even that was the bare minimum. Shouldn’t I be doing more? So I told myself to set a new standard. Set a higher standard.

It may seem over-the-top, but I am all-in. When I get to my station, I set it in order. I look for ways to improve it. I leave it in better shape than the way I entered it. I clean, always clean. In between units, I pick up. Even if it is not my mess, if it enters into my area or is around my area, I clean it up. I don’t say anything to the other associates about the mess, I just do it. Maybe they see me doing it, maybe they don’t. It is not my concern. My concern is that the mess doesn’t travel down the line to the next person.

I’ve become 100%, a hundred percent of the time. The line may go down, but not me. I keep going, preparing for the next unit to come down the line, setting myself up for success.

“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” –Robert Collier

“If I am anything, which I highly doubt, I have made myself so by hard work.” –Sir Isaac Newton

“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” –Marcus Aurelius

Have I become the ultimate factory worker? Not at all. Of course, I want to see the company do well. It pays my bills. It provides a certain amount of security in what can sometimes be a chaotic world. But I don’t plan on working there forever, and this company really is just another employer. My reasons, though beneficial to the organization, are really personal ones.

Working on the assembly line has created an imprint on my personal operating system. In order to maintain optimal quality, there should be no deviation to the processes. If you do the same things over and over again, you should get the same results every time. When something abnormal is added to the equation, it has the potential the change the results. When a continuous stream of abnormalties occur, things can get chaotic.

I have become mechanical, almost automatic. I don’t do well with chaos in either my personal life or my professional. It changes the rhythms and affects the results. The idea of a chaos-free world isn’t reasonable. Neither is a chaos-free workplace. Things happen, and I will have no choice but to deal with it. But if I can minimize it, there is a chance I can overcome it and not let it ruin me. If I continuously strive to create an ideal work environment, a work area free of clutter, then a defective unit coming into my area doesn’t become a disaster. I can deal with it on my own terms with less stress.

“If you train hard, you’ll not only be hard, you’ll be hard to beat.” –Herschel Walker

“People create the reality they need in order to discover themselves.” –Ernest Becker

“Become what you are by learning who you are.” –Pindar

“Character, not circumstances, makes the man.” –Booker T. Washington

Jim Rohn said, “You should work harder on yourself than on your job.” Over the last year, those are the words I have tried to live by. But if I was’t working very hard at work and only doing the minimal requirements to get a paycheck, then I wasn’t really setting the bar very high for the “myself” that I was supposed to be working harder on. I had to ask myself a few questions. What if I changed? What if I raised my personal bar at work as high as if would go? Would this raise the level of work on myself? Could I exceed my own personal development goals?

This factory may not be where I want to be the rest of my life, but it is where I need to be right now. It is my personal training ground. It is where I test the methods I want to instill into my own life. It is a place where I can introduce my philosophical beliefs and see what ideas stick and which ones need to be refined. This is a place where I am learning just exactly who I am, while getting paid at the same time.

When I create the ideal environment to work in, magic happens. When I go on autopilot, my body by rote can operate on very little mental capacity. It knows what to do and so it just does. My mind is free to roam. So I think. I think about the job. Can I make it better? Is there any correlation between what I am doing and life. I envision where I want to be and how I can get there. Calvin Coolidge said, “All growth depends on activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work.” It is here, at this factory job, where to my amazement I am growing the most.

Bedros Keuilian says, “How you do anything is how you do everything.”  This has become my gold standard. I can’t be half-way anymore. I have to be all-in. If I want the results I am looking for in life, then it comes down to this type of consistency.

The willingness and execution of going above and beyond increases my value. It increases my credibility when I am asked about my beliefs. Maybe nobody is watching and noticing what I am doing. That’s fine. I am not doing this for others but for myself as my own personal standard. But maybe there are others watching. Maybe everybody is watching. A positive change by one or by a few has the potential to change a cultural norm.

“Don’t be satisfied with stories, how thing have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.” –Rumi

“The choices you make today will be your biography tomorrow.” –James Altucher