Embrace the Suck

"Embrace the Suck”!  Say what? What did you say? Did I hear you right? You may have no idea what that means. But a Marine, Navy Seal or Army Ranger understands perfectly what it means, and we all can learn from this phrase.

Age is No Guarantee for Maturity

I decided to do a little research on how our thinking changes as we mature. Now, maturity doesn’t necessarily come with age. It should … but it doesn’t. I once read … “Maturity isn’t proportional to age. Some people develop early, some develop late, and some never develop at all.” The definition of maturity is the ability to respond to the environment in an appropriate manner. This response is generally “learned” rather than instinctive. You would hope as you grow older you would grow wiser … but, as Ann Landers once said, “Maturity isn’t a product of growing older, it’s a product of growing wiser.”

Impress Me

An eager rookie sales rep wanted to really impress his boss on his first day. So, when the rookie saw his boss coming towards his office he sprang into action. The new sales rep grabbed his phone and, speaking loudly into the phone so his boss could hear him, the young rookie said … "Yes sir, I can take care of that. I’ll see to it personally myself. You can count on me.” His boss was standing in the doorway, waiting for the young man to finish his call. The young man put down the phone and nodded to his boss and smiled widely, believing that he had surely impressed him. His boss smiled back and replied, "I just wanted to let you know your phone is scheduled to be connected this afternoon."

Those With Confidence Succeed

Who should be your biggest fan? You! If you don’t think you are good, why should anybody else think it? I believe one of the biggest mistakes we make in trying to improve is getting down on ourselves and staying there. Self-doubt is a proven “killer” to accomplishment. You will be a lot better off BELIEVING you can do something rather than DOUBTING that you can do it.

Loyalty

We become loyal when we believe in something or someone; it is something that is developed—or lost—as a direct result of our own actions, behaviors, and motives. To earn the loyalty of others, your behaviors and actions have to reflect that YOU WERE LOYAL FIRST.

True Friends

Most people have a pretty good idea who their enemies are, and if they are smart, they follow Niccollo Machiavelli’s advice of: “Keep your friends close, your enemies closer.” Today I want to address something we sometimes give very little thought to … our friends. We have a tendency to closely monitor our enemies, watching every move they make, but overlook or take for granted the people who can have the most impact on our lives.