Planning is crucial. Without a plan you have no end. You have no beginning. How do you start or finish anything? You can’t.

You need a plan to go anywhere. You need to have somewhat of an idea of what steps you’re going to take to get there. 

Without a plan you’re just blindly doing things hoping something works. Then once you do succeed you’re not entirely sure what you did to succeed. 

You won’t follow your plan to the T but it will give you guidelines. It will give you a path to your goal, getting a job, getting a new customer, etc.

Planning is the unsexy part. It’s not particularly fun or glamorous. It is a very necessary part to your goals though. 

If you don’t have a plan or an outline you have no way of knowing if you’re on track to accomplish your goals.

Plan everything. Write down what you want to accomplish in your day and check it off as you do it. It’s very rewarding completing tasks. It gives you an incredible feeling of accomplishment and excitement to get to the next task.

Planning is boring but completing what you’ve set out to do for the day is fantastic. Without that plan you won’t know what you did and why you did it.

With that plan you structure your days and weeks around your ultimate goals.

You make sure what you’re doing today will postively impacy you in 1, 3, or 5 years from now.

Make it a habit to write down your plan for the day and think through why you’re doing what you’re doing.

Don’t worry if you don’t stick exactly to plan. It’s more like your guidelines for the day. 

Planning is a necessary part of your day to day. Without it, you have no direction or reason behind what you’re doing. A plan gives you a direction and a reason.

Try to plan one day a week at first to see how much different you feel once you’ve accomplished your top tasks for the day. 

Your name is everything. It’s how people know you. If you’re known for being a hard working, driven individual, people will trust what you say because of what you’ve done. Your actions are crucial to your name. 

If you’re going to put your neck out for someone and put your name on the line you better make sure it’s for someone you believe in.

Don’t put your neck out for someone if you don’t want to. If you don’t believe they’re a good fit for your company or to take a friend out on a date. Your name is on the line.

Their actions are your actions. Whatever they do is a reflection of you. They’re you. Don’t recommend someone for a job if they’re not ready. Even if it’s your best friend or your wife’s brother. 

Don’t do it as a favor if you know it’s not going to work out. Even if they get hired, they’ll most likely fail. Their failure is your failure. 

You don’t want to put your company or that person through that process. If it’s not beneficial to both parties, don’t do it. It will hurt both sides too much. 

You may want to help a friend down on their luck but it’s not worth it for with of you. You don’t want to ruin a relationship. 

You don’t want to lose the name recognition you’ve work so hard for. 

Think of how the other person would feel if you were in their shoes. If they leave their current company, get hired at your company per your recommendation, and they leave or get fired after a few months. 

That would suck. They would wonder why you would tell them they were a fit if you knew it wouldn’t work out. Now they’re in a worse situation then they were before.

Your name means a lot. Stick by it. Only recommend someone if it’s in the best interest of both parties.

If you’re into rapid learning camping is an incredible environment that provides constant learning and failure every step of the way.

All activities associated with camping take time and patience. 

Building your shelter takes time. Whether you’re sleeping in a tent or in a home made shelter it’s going to take time and, at first, provide a lot of learning from mistakes.

Started a fire takes a lot of patience and effort. Gathering the wood. Stacking the wood properly. Finding kindling take catch from your flame. Blowing on the fire to make sure it lights. Whatever it may be it takes time and almost always your original plan doesn’t work. 

Cooking food and finding food. It takes time, patience, and adaptability to catch fish. You have to change your lure based on the fish you find in your lake or pond or ocean. 

The reason camping is so important is that it teaches you a new lesson everyday. You can always improvee the way you’re doing things. 

When you’re camping you’re going to consistently fail. The main thing you have to do is learn from it. Think about why you failed and how you can prevent that from happening again and improve your own skills.

It’s an incredible environment where you think you’re doing something right until you realize you’ve been getting lucky this whole time and you’re wrong.

If you want to get better at dealing with failure go camping. It puts everything into perspective. You’ll constantly fail but you have to make sure you’re learning from every experience. 

Go camping and figure shit out. Do things you’ve never done or tried. Fail a ton. Learning’s fun. 

To learn more about a specific topic you need to have genuine curiosity. 

For you to help your client get from point a to point b you need to be curious as to why. 

When your spouse is upset with you and you don’t know why, you have to have a genuine curiosity to figure it out.

Curiosity will take you from where you are to where you want to be. 

It will help you learn more quickly about any subject. Curiosity comes off that you care deeply about understanding their situation. People are more open to helping you if they see you’re genuinely curious as to how and why certain things are the way they are.

Curiosity is a prerequisite for becoming great at anything. 

Don’t be afraid to ask simple questions because you think you’ll look foolish. No question is stupid. If someone laughs at you who cares. You’re willing to become vulnerable to take that next step in improvement. 

Curiosity shows you want to understand someone’s needs or a strategy or a product on a deeper level. You want to see how far you can go down the rabbit hole and what’s at the end. 

Being curious is vital to your overall success in any endevour. It’s that non-stop curiosity that pushes you to work one more hour or ask one more question or read one more page. 

It’s that burning desire to get better. 

Curiosity isn’t the only reason people become great but it sure as hell starts the fire. 

Think about what could derail this project. What could happen between now and then that would prevent this potential client from buying my services. 

Prepare for situations that could happen.

Prepare before every meeting. Have questions ready. Think out what you think their responses can be. Both good and bad. 

Write them down. Think of possible questions you could be asked.

What do your current clients usually ask you? What do potential clients of this size usually focus on? What would be most important for us to talk about? What packages do they normally purchase and why?

You never know what can be thrown your way. Being prepared will take time and effort. But so does everything worth pursuing. 

Be prepared will set you apart from your competitors. It will set you apart from your colleagues. Most importantly it will help you can more knowledge about your customer base and make you spend more time figuring out what’s most important in your industry.

Preparation is not sexy. It’s not flashy. It’s typically not fun. But it does pay dividends. 

You’ll never be prepared for every situation. You will be prepared for most scenarios though. 

Preparation shows you care. It shows your intentions. It builds credibility and trust. You have their best interests in mind.

It may take time and energy but it’s one of the most valuable traits you can have. 

Everything you do in life should have a purpose. 

Every action. Every interaction. Every day. 

The little things you do on a daily basis should be for a reason. It should be for a bigger reason then just because you have to. They should have an ultimate meaning.

Why you do what you do every day matters. It drives us. Makes us better or worse depending on what our goals are. 

Goals and purpose drive us. Drive us to do those small habits day after day.

All actions should be purposeful. They should mean something. Be aware of the interactions and actions you do on a daily basis. If they don’t inline with your mission, stop doing them. 

You’re going to have to drop bad habits as well as gain important, good habits.

Acting with purpose take time. It’s not going to happen overnight. It won’t happen in 1 year. It will takes years and years of constant, daily action and awareness. 

Being aware is the 1st major step. Try documenting what you’re doing on a daily basis to see if you’re slowly changing what you’re doing.

Having a purpose guides us through life. With no purpose, we’re not living. 

Live a purposeful life set around your ultimate goals through daily action and awareness.

It’s so easy to be complacent. To stick to your beliefs. To stay in your bubble. Stay in you lane.

Challenge yourself. Challenge your beliefs about topics. Challenge your beliefs about people. Question why you believe what you believe in.

0It’s so simple to not do something because you don’t want to. You know you wouldn’t like it. It’s just not for you. Why not? Why can’t you enjoy it? 

The way to growth is through challenge. If you’re not being challenged you’re not growing. 

Think about some predetermined beliefs you have. If you’re a republican, read some Democratic beliefs and ideologies. Think about why they make sense. Understand why certain people follow this party instead of yours. 

Simply speaking, do something different. Get outside of your box. Outside of your tunnel vision. Be more open to opportunities and ideas and insights from others. 

View the world from their perspective. 

Stop judging what you’re doing and embrace it. Don’t judge others for doing things either. Whenever you have a thought pop into your mind that’s judgemental or makes you angry question it.

Be more conscious of your thoughts. Think about why you think the way you do. Have fun with it. Question everything. 

Be more open to other opinions and don’t be afraid to change your own opinions. You don’t have to believe in one way of thinking your whole life. 

Be curious and constantly question everything. 

You can’t blame anyone but yourself if you don’t pass a test. That’s on you. 

You can try to blame the market. You can try to blame your managers or your team. Your product sucks. Your marketing team never generates enough leads.

When you don’t see success it’s on you. Don’t blame external forces or other people. You didn’t achieve your goal for a reason. Learn from it.

Don’t dwell on it. Figure out what you could have done better. Study your losses. Study your wins.

See what you could have done better and what you should continue doing to succeed.

Change your habits if you want to be successful. Sacrifice social time and other moments to focus on improvement.

Take responsibility for your own actions, failures, and shortcomings. You’re the captain of the ship.

Having the right intent in any and every conversation is pertinent. 

If you’re pushing your product on someone, they can tell. They can tell what your intentions are. They can tell what you’re attempting to do. If your goal is to sell someone on your first conversation, they’ll see you as a salesperson. 

But, if your intention is to truly help someone improve their business, they’ll see that too. You’d be surprised who large of a role intention plays in peoples decisions. 

You’re more likeable. You’re more trusting. You’re more than just another salesperson. You’re a trusted advisor. You’re more of a consultant. 

Show your intent throughout the whole process not towards the end of the process.

They have a problem that your solution solves. Don’t sell them your product. Sell the solution to their problems. 

Your intentions should be around helping them. You need to be able to step away from the sale. If what you have cannot solve their problems you have to be able to give them options outside of your products. That’s true intent.

Show you care. Show you want to help them. Don’t hard sell your products. Look to provide solutions to your prospects problems. 

Customers will look out for you as well. They’ll recommend prospects call you. They’ll become references. They’ll be more than willing to help you with anything. Intent creates life long clients.

Lead with the right intent and you’ll see your business continue to grow for years.

So many of us worry about getting old. We think aging is a bad thing. We are afraid of getting older and the unknown that lies ahead. 

The oldet we get the more we learn. The more experience we have on this planet. One more year helps get you closer to your ultimate goals.

One more year down is one more year we’ve learned. We’ve learned more about a specific subject. Learned more about ourselves. Learned more about our wants.

Getting older is all about perspective and your outlook on life. 

If you think with old age comes worse years of your life, you’ll look down on aging. If you look at aging as a year you’ve learned, worked hard, failed, gained experience, closed in on your dreams, found your passions, etc. you’ll look forward to the next year. 

Of course you don’t want your years to fly by but you also don’t have to dread turning older.

If you’re focused on your goals and constant improvement each year brings a better version of your current self. Each year brings new challenges and adventures. Embrace the next year.

Look back on what you’ve learned. Look back on the great experiences you’ve had. Evaluate the tough times. The hard parts of life are possibly more crucial to shaping you as an individual. 

Discomfort helps us grow. It pushes us to improve. 

Push yourself to get better. Push yourself to do something different. To do something outside your comfort zone. Push your self for improvement.

Each year can bring you Joy and sadness. Whatever this new age brings you learn from it. It will bring lessons to learn from at the very least.

Associate aging with a positive experience. You don’t have to celebrate but you should evaluate how your year went and what you need to do this year to accomplish your goals in life.

Aging is fun and necessary for improvement.

If you have a friend or a loved one doing something different, be there for them. Support them on their journey. 

They’re doing something against the grain. Theyre doing something most people would think is crazy. They’re most likely being ridiculed by other people. Back them up.

Reassure them that you believe in what they’re doing. You think they should chase their dreams. You’re there to support them. If they ever need anything you can help.

It’s an incredible feat to go chase your dreams. That alone is incredible. Most people will always sit on the sidelines fearing the unknown. They’ll never make a change even if they are unhappy. They’re going all in. It’s an amazing accomplishment. 

People will redicule them because they’re jealous, afraid, and it’s scary for them to even conceive leaving their job. 

They’re both fearful to do anything and jealous that someone has done something they could never do.

Tell your loved one or friend that no matter what happens they did it. They attempted something most will never try. They truly are motivating and inspiring. 

If someone wants to do something different, let them and back them up. 

Change is necessary and sometimes paralyzing. That’s why so many people stay at a job for so long even if they’re not happy. 

They’ve done something few on this Earth will ever do. Praise them for that. 

“Fortune favours the bold” – Virgil

Feedback is critically important for improvement. Without you knowing ways you can get better, from someone other than yourself, you’ll never fully improve. 

The way you deliver the feedback is crucial too. Deliver it in a way to give them actionable items to work on that also doesn’t crush their soul.

Don’t give them a list of 100 ways they can improve. Try giving smaller action items that can be worked on for a month. Once they come back and ask for feedback again give them a few more things to work on. It’s overwhelming to get a huge list of what you need to do better. 

Put yourself in the other person’s shoes. How would you like to be presented feedback? 

Would you rather be told you’re doing great in these areas but you can improve upon x, y, and z or have someone tell you you’re doing everything wrong. 

Present feedback in a way which motivates the other person to take action. Focus on these 2 or 3 things, that’s it. If you give them a laundry list of items to change they’ll most likely get frustrated and make no change.

Don’t make someone feel worthless. Help them feel empowered. Ask them what they think they can change. It helps them be more self aware and feels like they’re giving themselves feedback.

If you want to give someone feedback make it quick and actionable. 

Give feedback but don’t be an asshole. Be prepared to take feedback too. 

Be open to change. Be open to someone telling you you’re not great at x. Taking feedback is tough. It’s hard to hear you’re not good. Don’t react to feedback immediately. 

Hear what the other person is saying, digest it for a few hours or days, and then implement their suggestions if necessary. 

Not all feedback will be beneficial. Make sure you’re​ receiving feedback from someone you trust or someone with vast experience. 

Deliver feedback in a non threatening, non critical way. Deliver feedback with the intention of helping someone get better. 

If you say you’re going to do something make sure you follow through and do it. 

Don’t say you’ll be there at this time or you’ll do this on Thursday if you really don’t want to. If you know you won’t be there, say that. 

Once you fall into the habit of being late for everything, people will adjust how they treat your time. 

They’ll start to add a buffer of time. They’ll start showing up later and later. You have no respect for their time so why should they respect yours?

It’s better to tell the truth upfront then be known as a flake. Whenever you say anything people disregard it. Everything that comes out of your mouth seems like a lie. 

Don’t fall into this trap. Show up. Follow through with what you said. 

If you said you’ll call at this time do it. If you said you’ll send over an email, send it. If you’re going to connect two people, send the email. 

They key is to write down what you said you’re going to do and then make those promises priorities. 

The best way to make sure you follow through is to immediately complete the task. Send the email. Make the call. 

Become a reliable source. Become known as someone who’s always on time and follows through with everything you say you’re going to do. 

If you can’t do what you said you were going to do make sure you don’t wait till the last minute to tell them. Don’t call the other party 10 minutes before you’re supposed to be there to say you can’t come. 

If you want people to respect your time respect their time first. Once you’re known as a person who’s punctual and courteous, you’ll be treated the same way. 

It’s not hard. Be on time and follow through with your word. That’s it. 

“It’s supposed to be hard. If it were easy, everyone would do it.” – Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own

Imagine if you could have everything you wanted in life. The only stipulation is that you would have to work for 15 years before you a achieved your goals. Would you do it? Would it be worth it? 

Everything that is worth while takes time. 

You’re not going to be in good enough shape for a marathon in 2 weeks. You won’t be able to have a million dollar business overnight. What’s important to note, is you can take the first step right now. 

It may not pay of now or in 1 year but eventually the small things you do on a daily basis will pay off. They have to. 

Believe that what you’re doing is hard because it’s worth doing. Believe what you’re doing now will work out and pay off. 

It won’t be easy. It will get easier over time but it will never be easy. 

Most people aren’t willing to work hard because hard works tough. It forces you to spend time doing something else besides partying or playing video games or binging on Netflix. 

You need to sacrifice some of your social life if you want to get good at anything. You’ll be different from most of the people you know. People will question you and put you down. Who cares. You’re doing what you want to do. Let them do what they want.

Make it a daily habit to do one thing you want to every day that you originally thought was impossible. Maybe it’s beginning to train for a 5k. Maybe it’s writing the first page of your book. Maybe it’s reaching out to a role model via cold email. 

Great things are hard to accomplish but that shouldn’t discourage you from trying. Just because something is hard doesn’t mean you can’t do it. 

Everything worth doing on this planet is hard, once you start, you may realize starting was the hardest part. 

Don’t come home upset. Take a minute to compose yourself before you step in the door. Whatever happened in your day can be left at the office. 

When you come home think of it as a new day. A fresh start. If you’ve had a bad day move on from it. It’s not the end of the world. Don’t dwell on your day.

Inversely, if you’ve had a great day it feels good to share that with your spouse or family. Don’t pretend like you’ve never had a bad day, just don’t take your anger from your day out on your loved ones. 

You don’t want to come home a say something you don’t mean. 

Think about what went wrong during your day and think of a different approach for tomorrow. Ask yourself why you think he day was bad. What made today so disappointing? 

You may realize your day wasn’t that bad. You’re stressing out about something very small. When you really think back on what made your day good or bad you’ll most likely realize it’s a lot about mindset. 

Your perception of your life becomes your reality. If you think your job sucks and you’re not good at what you do. Guess what? You’ll most likely suck at your job and hate your life. 

Focus on the things that went well throughout the day and improve the areas that went bad. You’ll have bad days, that’s inevitable. It’s alright to be frustrated and angry. Do that on your car ride home or your walk or bike home. 

Don’t walk into your house guns a blazing. 

Pause before you walk in, take a deep breath, and be grateful for your family. That alone will make your day better.