“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.” -Thomas Jefferson 

You can’t get away with being lucky and not working hard. Eventually it will catch up to you. Hard work is the backbone of all luck.

Consistent effort and hard work wins. You need to work hard if you want to have good luck. You won’t succeed in your job, business, or project by just hoping and waiting. You’ll most likely get lucky a few times, but your luck will dry up. 

As soon as the sales stop coming in or you stop receiving clients, you’ll have no idea what to do. But, if you work hard and get lucky along the way, the success will continue. 

You need to find what works for you and do it everyday. Don’t wait around for something to happen. Initial “success” may come but it won’t last if you don’t work your ass off. Don’t wait around for miracles, they won’t come. 

Create your own luck. Work your ass off until you get really good at something. It will take a lot of time. It will most likely take years, but if your are consistent and persistent it will pay off. Believe that. 

Focus on the long term outcomes you’re looking for. Let your goals drive your day to day. 

Having a mission that will push you to get better at your craft. Think about the positive impact your goals will have not only on yourself but also someone close to you. 

If you work hard, you’ll get lucky. 

I just talked to a potential client on the phone. I could tell from the tone of his voice he was incredibly happy. I told him that he genuinely seemed happy with his life. He responded with, “there’s no time in life to be depressed, life’s great and more people have to realize that”. 

What a profound statement. He also let me know that his young son has OCD and severe anxiety. He always try’s to change things up for him and make his life as fun and enjoyable as possible. If his life stays the same, his OCD and panic attacks act up. 

This father changed his life to make the life of his son easier. How amazing?

Life is way too short to be miserable. He demonstrated this perfectly. He forces himself to change constantly. He does outlandish things. He does everything differently. He’s truly living life. He loves what he wants to do and if he feels slightly unhappy he changes it. 

It’s really how you look at life. It’s about your outlook. You need to look at everyone as if they’re important, because they are. Everyone is important. 

Wish happiness on people. Why would you ever want someone to fail? How does hat help you? People will pick up on how you feel about them. If you think someone’s an idiot, they’ll feel that. So, think of everyone as important and exciting. 

Life is all about what you make it. If you tell yourself your life is boring and normal, it will be. Think your job is important. Think the people you work with are important. Believe you’re making a difference in people’s lives. Belive you make their jobs easier. 

Why be pessimistic? It does no one any good. Be overwhelmingly positive. Positivity spreads, just like negativity. Replace your negative thinking with positive intentions and thoughts.

Life is way too short to complain. It’s too short to dwell on the past or to worry about the future. Live in the now. Your life is better than you think. If you want to change something, do it. 

“There is a good side to every situation.” -David Joseph Schwartz

Be around people who want to get better. People who are trying to learn new things. They’re conscious about there time and spend almost all their time learning. 

They always are improving and they understand that in the beginning, they’re not good. No one is great when they first start anything, and they’re fine with that. They’ll work hard at something until they are good.

They’ll push you to become better. They force you to step up your game to compete with them. You want people around you that are better than you. People who have more experience whom you can learn from. 

You need these types of people. They’ll help you avoid the early mistakes they made. It will save you a lot of struggles and heartaches. 

Push them too. They have to get something out of the relationship. Push them to become better at what they do. Push them to create something. Help them reach that point quicker. 

Learners are always looking for other individuals like them. They want to be pushed. They want competition. They’re competitive people. They look to be better than average. Better than good. They want to be great and strive to be the best. 

They’ll make you better. Learn from these people. It’s going to be hard to keep up. They may have more years experience but you should take advantage of something you can control. Your hard work, your attitude, and your dedication. 

No matter how experienced you are, you need to have those three attributes.

Hangout and work with these individuals as much as possible. You’ll grow tremendously in your personal life and your career. 

When you make a mistake. When you really mess up. When you do something wrong. Learn from it.

That’s how you improve. It’s how you learn. Make sure you make the improve,net or change the way you do things after a mistake. Quickly learn from that mistake. If you don’t, you’ll continue to make mistakes and show no improvement. 

Mistakes a crucial to learning. You’ll stay stagnant if you don’t learn what worked and what didn’t. If you just keep going through each day expecting different results from what didn’t work in the past, you’ll never win.

You’ll stay in the same place making the same mistakes you made yesterday and the day before. If you’re not self aware as to what’s not working ask for feedback from an outside perspective. 

Figure out what you can improve upon and focus on that until it becomes a habit. Then add something else you can work on. Get better at that and move on. Continue this process. It should be a never ending process. You can always get better. I don’t care if you’re the CEO of Google or LeBron James, you can improve. 

Be consistently learning how to get better. The past will help you avoid those mistakes. Don’t dwell on what you did or didn’t do. Fix it and move on. You can’t change your past so why worry about it? 

Focus on the things you can improve upon. Your attitude. Your consistency. Your dedication. Your surroundings. Focus on improve what you can control. 

Your mistakes don’t make you who you are. The way you respond does. 

There’s no pressure on you. No one is expecting anything from you. 

Use this to your advantage. Give it everything you’ve got. If you lose you didn’t fail, you were never expected to win. But, if you somehow win, you’re a hero. 

You’ll shock the world. Work your ass off. Pull every trick out of the book. Experiment. Try things you’ve never done before. Do a completely different approach to see what works and what doesn’t. 

What’s the worst that happens? You lose? But what if you do win? What if your approach works? 

The Hail Mary just might work. Enjoy the moment. You’re going up against a juggernaut. You’ll earn credibility even if you don’t win. You’ve made it this far. Appreciate that. 

Everyone loves the story of David beating Goliath. What a story. You can beat them. That’s the first step. You may be outmatched. They may have more money. They may have all the resources in he world. None of that matters. Believe you can win. You can beat them. 

They’re not expecting anything great. They’ll think they’ve won before you’ve even started. They may try and “take it easy” on you. That’s the worst thing they could do. They now underestimated your abilities. You’re not a threat. Use that to drive you. 

Don’t ever give up. Push yourself beyond your limit. If you want to win, you have to be flawless and they have to make little mistakes. 

Anything is possible. You can win. Don’t let others get in your head. Victory is inevitable if you never give up and learn from your failures. 

Victory is never easy. If you want it, go get it. You have the ability to win. Go win. 

“No matter what business you’re in, you can’t run in place or someone will pass you by. It doesn’t matter how many games you’ve won.” -Jim Valvano

Go get a drink. Go to dinner. Do a fun activity together. Meet with your employees outside of work. It’s important to see them in an environment besides work. 

Ask them what they like to do besides work. Ask them what they think you can improve upon. Figure out what they like and dislike about their job. Be there to help solve problems that they’re having. 

Try and do this in a one on one format. It helps you really figure out what drives them. Try not to talk about work. Ask what their ultimate goals are. Where they would like to be in 5 or 10 years. Don’t get upset when it’s not with your company.

Maybe they want to start their own business. Maybe it’s to move up in the ranks. Maybe they want to be in your position one day. Maybe they want to live in another country. 

Let them know what your goals are too. They don’t have to be related to work, they can be more personal.

Maybe it’s having kids. Maybe getting married. Maybe it’s making $100,000. Whatever it may be respect whatever they’re striving for. React in a positive way. Let them know you love that they’re striving to become better.

Works important but life isn’t all about work. We all have dreams. We have ambitions. We all have a drive for more. The drive for success. Figure out what really drives your employees. 

We all have lives outside of work. Figure out what your employees really want. It makes them feel wanted and needed. They appreciate the praise. They will appreciate the attention. Let them know you’re grateful to have them on the team. 

Don’t just look at them as another number but more as an important asset to your team. If you convey your respect for them and show them how important they are, they’ll work harder and produce better results.

Remember, it has to be genuine though. Genuinely care for your employees and they’ll strive to win for the team, not just for themselves.  

“There is no substitute for hard work.” -Thomas A. Edison

Whatever you want in life won’t be easy. It’s going to be a long process. It takes a ton of time. Focus on working hard consistently, believing that one day it will pay off. 

There will be people smarter than you. They’ll be naturally better than you. They’ll beat you for a while. But, if they don’t consistently work hard they’ll eventually slip. The one thing you can control and focus on is out working everyone. Be the hardest working person in the room.

People will respect you for that. Your success will come. It may not be immediate but it will come. Learn from your mistakes. Focus on doing the right work.

Hard work will pay off but don’t beat your head against the wall day after day if it’s not working. Find the right way to work and work your ass off. The results will follow the hard work. 

You may see people around and think they’re just lucky, the get everything handed to them, they’re not actually good at their job. Don’t be jealous. Focus on yourself. Most likely they’re successful because of the behind the scenes work they put in. They’re probably reading, researching, studying, and perfecting their craft everyday.

Figure out what they’re doing that makes them so successful. Try and replicate that. It bits and pieces of their strategy into your day to day. 

Control the hard work and have a drive to win and learn. Everything will work out. Some days may seem like you’ve accomplished nothing but you are. The more consistently you do it, the more engrained it will become. It will become a part of your DNA. 

Work ethic is huge. Everyone will say they have it. You have to be the one to prove it. 

Go out work everyone. It will work out. It will pay off. 

Don’t work. Do something fun with a friend. Get outside. Read a book. Just don’t focus on work for the day.

It helps your brain recharge. You need a day every now a then. It’s important for your mental state. Try to do something you’ve never done before or rarely do. Take a moment away from your routine. Away from the norm. 

Go somewhere new. Travel to a new state. Travel to a new country. Try to go with someone you’re close to. If not, go alone. It’s always good to have time with yourself. If you don’t want to go alone, go with a newer friend. 

Turn your phone off. Focus on the place you’re at. Focus on the people you’re with. Focus on whatever activity you’re doing. Don’t check your email. Try not to think about work at all. 

Look for different ways to be happy. You never know what you like until you try it. No Netflix or movies. Something completely different from what you do. Maybe you never watch movies, if that’s the case then go right ahead. If not, don’t do any tv watching. 

The outdoors will make you feel better. Especially if you’re always in an office. Do something active outside. 

You need breaks. You’ll burn out if you don’t. They’re crucial. Don’t get me wrong, you should work as much as you can if you really want to achieve something, but don’t feel bad for taking a couple days away from it all. 

Relax. Everything will be alright. You may even gain a new perspective on your work. Take the time off. It will be worth it. 

“A capacity, and taste, for reading gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others.” -Abraham Lincoln

Read instead of watching tv. Replace the time you spend in front of a screen and spend it in front of a good book. You can either read for fun, for knowledge or for both knowledge and fun. 

Some people read non-fiction in the morning and fiction before bed. You should read to understand what worked for people in the past and what didn’t. You’re not going to remember every part of every book. But the important points will stick with you.

Place book markers in your books. Highlight important sections. Make sure to go back to those books and reread the important parts. 

Reading is important. It helps us learn everyday. Make sure to get in at least 30 minutes of reading each day. If you don’t have 30 minutes, listen to an audiobook in your car. Everyone can make time for the things that are important to them.

If you think you don’t have the time to read, you’re not truly invested in your future. If you want to get better at your work read about it. Read articles and/or books of successful individuals in your field. Learn what’s worked for them. Learn the small tips to improve yourself. 

Focus on continually getting better. Focus on always learning. Focus on the person you want to become. Reading can help you get there. 

Take the time to read. Don’t make excuses. It’s only 30 minutes per day. That time will compound after a while. You’ll learn so much about a subject. 

Now act on what you’ve read. Implement it into your daily schedule. Reading is the gateway to becoming better at your craft. 

Whenever you receive feedback or criticism it’s hard to not take it personally. Whether that be a project you’ve been working on or when you’re presenting an idea to someone. 

If you connect yourself to the project, your feelings will surely be hurt by someone. Feedback is crucial but you can’t ask for honest feedback if you can’t take it. 

Feedback will make your product better. If you ask the people you’re trying to sell to what they would change and what they like or dislike about your product, present it to them as if it’s not yours. 

Disassociate yourself from your product when receiving feedback. Don’t take what they say personally. Take it as important information to better your services. You’re going to have to ask people for feedback, that’s the only way you get better. 

You’re going to have to train yourself. Having someone tell you your baby is ugly is tough. You can’t think about that way. You’re making your product better! It should ultimately make you better at what you do and help you sell more products in he long-term. 

You’re going to need feedback to advance your offerings, improve your skills, or figure out if you’re on the right track. 

Be more aware when  you feel yourself getting upset when you hear feedback. Make a conscious effort to remind yourself this is so important for my future. Their feedback will make me better and happier. Think end result instead of getting all pissy and being resenting the person. 

Don’t take it personally, you’re offerings will suck at first. Receive feedback and put the changes into action. To make your product or yourself better you need feedback. It helps show the flaws in you or your product.

You can do it. Nothing is impossible unless you believe it is. There are endless possibilities once you believe you can. 

Accomplishing a huge goal starts with two words: I can. If you know you can do it, others will feel your confidence. They’ll believe you can accomplish anything too. They’ll help guide you success. They’ll be there when times get tough. The believe in the mission as much as you do. 

You can create a business. You can go to law school. You can climb Mount Everest. You can run a marathon. 

Thinking you can do any new activity you try is crucial. If you don’t believe you can do it, you never will. 

You to have to change your mindset. Whenever you hit a point where it gets hard remember it’s part of the process. You have to push through these points. That’s what separates the successful and unsuccessful. You believe you can get over this hump. 

You can accomplish anything you want in life. Don’t let anyone try to tell you differently. Believing you can do anything is a major part but you still need to put the work in. 

Focus on realizing you can accomplish anything you want, the other steps will fall into place. 

You can do it. Now act on it. Action creates momentum which leads to execution. You can believe all you want but without action nothing will be accomplished.

You have to believe you can do it when no one else believes in you. You can do it.

“If you believe in yourself and have dedication and pride – and never quit, you’ll be a winner. The price of victory is high but so are the rewards.” -Paul Bryant

Look up when you first walk outside. Look near the sun. Take a deep breath in. Smell the flowers and freshly cut grass. Truly appreciate the beauty in nature. Appreciate this moment. 

It’s really easy to get caught up in our daily lives. We miss amazing things everyday because we’re too busy. We let ourselves react to the world around us. You may not even realize how reactive you are on a daily basis. Focus on reducing reactivity. 

Planning your day helps you be better prepared. You need to plug in times of the day where you have nothing planned. Go for a walk. Get outside. Look around. Be aware of the sounds and smells around you. 

Put your phone on silent and disconnect. Appreciate the day. 

Step away from your desk or computer. Get outside and enjoy the day. Take a few deep breaths when you step outside. Be grateful for your life. 

There is beauty all around us. There are opportunities around every corner. We seem to miss the obvious beauty on a daily basis. Start paying attention to the things that matter. If you don’t open your eyes, you’ll never see the beautiful moments, they’ll just pass you by.

Focus on being aware. Find beauty in everything. If you tell yourself everything has beauty in it, you’ll start seeing more beauty around you. 

The world is an enormous place filled with beauty and happiness. If you look hard enough, you’ll see it. 

It’s easy to always think about ourselves. It’s easy to do what we want to. What about the other people in our lives? What about doing something they want to do?

Sometimes we can be selfish. Too selfish. We only think about what we want. Do something else. Ask someone you care about what they would like to do. Maybe that’s going to see a band they like but you don’t.

Go running with them. Play a game they love but maybe you hate. Be more open minded to the things they love. Find out the true reasons why they like what they do. Ask them about it. 

You may even find yourself truly enjoying a hobby of theirs. All it takes is some open mindedness. You never know what you enjoy until you try it.

Others can help you reach that point. As humans, we don’t enjoy change but to grow and learn we need change. 

Trust that what others enjoy. You can enjoy these activities too. Worst thing that happens is you learn something new and figure out something you would rather not do. 

It’s the act of trying for someone else that matters. Let them show you a different view. It makes them happy. It helps you better connect with them. It will help you better find yourself.

“I’m really passionate about things I enjoy, and I like to be out there doing things, and learning and challenging myself. So it’s just more fun that way, just to get out and try and do and learn and meet people and try to do something new.” -Steve Nash

Getting started early helps you prepare for the day ahead. You don’t just jump into the day and wake up two hours in. Your body needs time to wake up.

Would you run a marathon after being awake for 45 minutes? No way. You need time to warm up. The same goes for your mind in the morning. You need time to get prepared. 

You then don’t have to rush through everything. You can take your time. If you start your day out rushed and flustered, the first part of your day will be the same. That wastes time you could have spent being productive. 

It doesn’t have to be anything drastic at first. Try getting up 10 minutes early. You’ll be surprised how much better you’ll feel. You’ll have just enough extra time to prepare yourself for the day. 

It’s not easy waking up early. You need to really push yourself to do it. If you really want to achieve a goal or improve a skill you need to wake up. Try putting your phone across the room or setting out your gym clothes in the morning. Just something small to make it easy for you. Once you get up you’ll realize you’re not that tired. 

The first few days are the hardest. It’s like anything new you do. It will be a struggle in the beginning. Force yourself through those beginning stages. Once you start waking up early for a couple weeks in a row it will become a habit. 

Make sure you do it on the weekends too. As much as we like to sleep in on the weekends you have to get up. That’s the only way you’ll get used to it. That’s how it becomes a habit. Again, it doesn’t have to be anything crazy at first. Start out small and increase the minutes you wake up early over time. 

It will pay off. Once you finish working all day you don’t want to get home and work on something else. Do it before your job starts. Once you get home you can focus on reading or spending time with your family or other tasks you enjoy. 

Try getting up early. It will pay off. 

“Sleep is the best meditation.” -Dalai Lama

As much as we want to work for hours on end, sleep is equally as important as hard work. If we don’t get the proper amount of sleep our bodies will shut down.

We won’t be able to function at a high level. Eventually it will catch up to you. As much as we would all like to say we have stayed up till 4am and woken up at 8am everyday this week, it will start negatively affecting you and your life. 

Your mind and body need rest to recover. That’s why we sleep, to recharge ourselves. We need sleep to survive. You can’t work on 2 hours of sleep forever. When you start to see your performance slip and you begin snapping at people you probably just need a few hours of deep sleep to recharge. 

It doesn’t have to be anything crazy. Just deep sleep. Some people can function really well on 5-6 hours of sleep. Others need the full 8 hours or longer. Test it out. 

See how you work when you get more hours of sleep. Check at what point your performance begins to fall off. If you can test this well enough, you should hit a point where you know if you get 6 hours of sleep you’ll perform well throughout the day. On the other hand, if you get 5 hours of sleep, your work and mental state begins to slip. 

Now you can focus on getting the proper number of hours per night to be highly productive and effective the next day. Don’t try to grind out 2 to 3 hours of sleep everyday of every week. Your body will break down at some point. Instead, focus on getting good quality sleep and making sure you’re getting the correct amount of hours you need every night. 

You’ll feel better mentally and physically. Focus on sleeping.