Work Harder on Yourself than You Do On Your Job

"Learn to work harder on yourself than you do on your job. If you work hard on your job you can make a living, but if you work hard on yourself you'll make a fortune.” – Jim Rohn

Another way to think about Rohn's quotation is to look to
the medieval monk Bernard of Clairvaux. Bernard used a metaphor of living as a reservoir rather than as a canal.

In other words, do we live out of the overflow of abundance that comes from our ongoing growth and learning, or do we merely struggle by living and serving out of a static and dwindling level of energy and resources?

What skills, mindsets, insights, and practices are you learning to keep growing?

Two Pathways for Embodying Success

Most people desire to be successful. This begs a couple of questions: What do we mean by success? What does a successful life look like? 

I want to share my two favorite definitions. Both have helped me.

Success as Pursuit of a Goal

First, Earl Nightingale known as the “Dean of Personal Development” describes success this way:

“Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal or ideal.”

I resonate with this definition because it reminds us that success is more a journey than a destination. It involves setting goals as we talked about previously, but notice that Nightingale includes the word “ideal” as a synonym for “goal.” 

In other words, a key to success is establishing a large vision or ideal on your horizon that will guide you in your growth. Jim Rohn puts it this way: “You want to set a goal big enough that in the process of attaining it, you become someone worthy becoming.” 

When we think about success in this manner, we will realize that instead of asking, “How long will it take to achieve?,” we need to ponder, “I wonder how far down the road I can get in this lifetime?” This outlook transforms our life into an unfolding adventure of purpose and possibilities. Success then is not merely about money or past accomplishments. Success becomes a compass and an engine that keeps us moving forward and enjoying the journey.

Success as Maximizing Potential

John Wooden was one of the best coaches of all time in any sport. He led the UCLA Bruin’s men’s basketball team to an unprecedented 10 national championships over a twelve year period including a run of seven consecutive years. 

Wooden’s genius as a coach and teacher is found in his definition of success:

"Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best you are capable of becoming."

Amazingly, Wooden never talked about winning games or championships. In his mind, if his players worked harder on themselves than on winning games, success took care of itself. He focused his practices not on beating the opposition but on the development of the skills, teamwork, and character of his players. 

One of Wooden's other maxims was “Make each day your masterpiece.” Wooden knew that there will be challenges and that sometimes our best will simply mean that we climbed out of bed and went to work. But regardless of the circumstances of the moment, success is found in giving all that we can muster.

How would you live differently if your goal each day was simply to make your best effort in growing toward your potential? Imagine the satisfaction and fulfillment that comes from realizing that life is about growing into the person you were created uniquely to be. There is no competition with others. Instead of competing, try to view head to head challenges as opportunities to assess current progress rather than in terms of winning and losing. The only true loser is the one who gives up or doesn’t try their best. In fact, reread Wooden’s definition and observe that you could potentially win and still not be successful because you gave less than your best.

Action Steps

Which definition of success do you most gravitate to? Why?

What is your big dream? 

Who is God calling you to become? 

How will you take the first baby steps today on your journey of success? 

What can you do or learn today to create a slightly better version of yourself than you were yesterday?

© 2019 Brian D. Russell

Writing Life Changing Goals

"Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible." Tony Robbins

One of my favorite quotations about success and achievement is from the pen of Jim Rohn. He wrote, “You want to set a goal that is big enough that in the process of achieving it you become someone worth becoming.” We thrive in life by having a target at which to aim.

Aim for the Right Target: A Personal Warning

A critical key for an abundant life is to make certain that you are aiming at a target that you truly desire to hit. I can remember working on a book project for six years. The writing had been interrupted for over a year because of my need to focus on healing and solo parenting following a painful divorce. By the time I returned to the manuscript, it had become burden rather than the passion project it had once been. Writing became a matter of “grinding out” words rather than feeling inspired and in the flow. When I emailed the final manuscript to the publisher, I felt more relief than joy. Even worse, the next morning I awoke feeling down and empty. I had achieved a target, but it ended up being one that I didn’t truly desire.

Guidelines for Writing Life Changing Goals

As you dream about your future, here are some guidelines to help you discern your goals:

(1) Make sure that you truly want it. 

Is this a heart felt personal passion or is it something that you only think you should do?

(2) State your goal in the positive. 

This practice keeps you focused on what you actually want rather than what you are trying to avoid or change. Observe the difference between these two statements: I want to stop eating fried food. I want to eat healthy, organic, whole foods. One statement puts into your mind the practice you want to avoid whereas the positive goal focuses you on what you actually desire.

(3) Be specific and descriptive. 

State what you want as specifically as possible. Rather than say, “I want a job that pays more money” say, “I want to work in the healthcare industry and earn a salary of $100,000 per year.”  An even better one would be for example, “I desire to work as a highly paid ($100,000+) physical therapist in a well respected private practice in a growing suburban area in the southwestern U.S.” Notice how you can see, feel, and even hear what the achievement of the rewritten goal is like.

The problem with the original goal of earning more money is that you could achieve it by simply finding a job that pays $0.01 extra per hour and you’d achieve it. 

(4) Make Sure that It is in Your Power to Achieve It. 

If your goal depends on the actions or response of anyone/thing other than yourself, you may have to rethink it. It must primarily be your actions that drive your achievement of your goal. 

(5) Reflect on How the Achievement of the Goal Would Affect your Life. 

This brings us full circle to the opening Rohn quote as well as the story about my book. Achievement is about the person we become. How will I need to change to achieve my dream? What will it take to acquire the skills and knowledge required to take action? Does it align with my highest aspirations and ideals? Will it positively or negatively affect my relationships? Am I prepared for the different life that I will need to embrace to achieve my goal? 

I look forward to hearing about your successes. Just imagine how good achieving your dreams would feel.

For a broader look at Goal Achieving, see my essay “The SET Method for Goal Achieving.”

© 2019 Brian D. Russell

Learning to Say "No"

It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped. - Tony Robbins

There is no decision that we can make that doesn't come with some sort of balance or sacrifice. – Simon Sinek

If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will. – Greg McKeown

Learning to Say, "No"

I’ve experienced too many times when I’ve been dog tired and feeling burned out because of taking on too much work. This has been entirely my own doing. No one forced me to accept a speaking engagement, an invitation to write an article, or an offer teach an extra class. In fact, I love to do all of these activities. The problem was that I lacked a process for making decisions about what was best. I was so committed to living out my mission that any opportunity that seemed good in the moment received a “yes” from me. The result was that I became a prisoner of my own success. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve worked on a project or sat in my seat moments before being called to the front and simply wished that I had never accepted the opportunity. Other times I’ve received epic opportunities, but because of my already scheduled activities I either had to turn these down or literally shoehorn them into a calendar with little margin for the rest of my life. I managed to pull these off but I often found myself under the weather, burned out, exhausted or wondering if I could have performed at a higher level if I had not been so overcommitted. Moreover, I missed out of much joy of enjoying these moments because I was always distracted by what I had to do next.

Learning to say, “No” is key for living the life of God’s dreams. If we don’t learn to say, “No” with intentionality, we will lose the freedom to say, “Yes” when a truly great opportunity appears. Of course, there will be obligations on which we must take action that involve work mandated by a superior or certain family commitments. These are not my concern here. I desire to reflect on avoiding my mistakes hinted at in my earlier confession. 

My Process for Discerning “Yes” or “No”: Default to “No” Except for these Exceptions

Here is my current process for discerning. My default answer is now “No.” It is rooted in the following principle and then filtered with three additional ones.

First, set this rule in stone. If the opportunity does not align with your goals and values, you must say, “No.” 

This rule assumes that you’ve established clear goals and know your core values. Jim Rohn wrote, “If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.” If you don’t know what you want and who you are, you will default into people pleasing or dollar chasing.

Second, just because an opportunity aligns with your goals and values does not mean that you say, “Yes.” 

This is particularly true if you are in a religious vocation when most invitations and opportunities will line up with your calling. 

How do you say “No” when there is an opportunity to do something good that aligns with our mission? This is the problem. Therefore we need additional filters. 

From my reading and reflection, I ask myself these three questions:

(1) Would I want to participate in the activity/project/event tomorrow? 
This question is crucial. If you would be too busy or tired to enjoy the opportunity tomorrow, you will likely feel the same way 3 months, six months, or a year from now. This means you should automatically say, “No.”

(2) If I say, “Yes” to #1, ask: “Is this opportunity an absolute life or death “must do” for me and do I feel a high level of energy that signals ‘I’m all in on this!’?” 
Derek Sivers writes, “When deciding whether to do something, if you feel anything less than ‘Wow! That would be amazing! Absolutely! [Heck] yeah!’ — then say ‘no.’”[1] 

(3) Last, can I reasonably fit this invitation into my life during the season it will come due? 
Learning to recognize one’s limits is critical. I try to divide my year into four quarters. I’m at my best when I’m only working on a couple projects per quarter. When I set goals for the next year, I try to spread out work and projects. Then I can reasonably accept an additional opportunity or two per quarter without burning myself out.

This makes life much more enjoyable and allows us to be at our best when we do say, “Yes.”

[1] https://sivers.org/hellyeah

The SET Method for Goal Achieving

Goals are essential for bending the future to fit our sense of calling, our dreams, and our desires. Goals empower us to be self-directed. I’ve been a generic goal setter for decades but in late 2013 I began to set better goals and my life has changed. I’ve written more books, essays, reviews, and blogs in the last five years than in my previous 15 years as a professor. I’ve gotten fitter. My relationships with family and friends are richer. I’ve even increased my income by 50%. 

Without goals, time will pass and we will wake up wondering where the years went. Without goals, the agenda of others becomes our agenda (and others frequently don’t have much planned for us other than helping them achieve their goals). Without goals, we will expend the majority of our energy and time on tasks that don’t bring true satisfaction and growth. Without goals, the dreams that we have deep within will lay dormant and whither.  

What do you truly want? What do you deeply sense you were created to achieve? What are God’s dreams for your life? 

In this post, I will introduce you to the SET Method for setting and achieving goals. In coming weeks, I will breakdown the process more deeply and offer hacks to help you gain exponential results.

The SET Method  is a three step process:

S: State your goal as a positive target. What do I want?

E: Explain the "why" behind it. Why do I want to achieve this goal

T: Take Action. "What can I do NOW to move forward?"

First, State your goal as a positive target. Ask: What do I want to achieve? Establish goals for different parts of your life: family, finances, spirituality, work, fitness, and fun. It is critical to set goals for what we really want and not merely what we should want. We must also not settle for goals that are easily achievable. I used to make the mistake of making my goals for the next year more of a “to do” list of my obligations than a true set of targets that when achieved would lead me to true growth as the person I was created to be and bring deep satisfaction in my life. Go for the moonshot rather than aiming for getting 10 feet off the ground. Don’t just look for 5% improvement. Be audacious. When we shoot for the moon, we may not make it but we’ll likely be much higher off of the ground than if our goal was simply to attain lift off.

So what do you truly want? Write these targets down using positive language. In other words, don’t set targets to avoid or flee from; set targets that pull you forward. For example, if you are presently deeply in debt, don’t state your goal merely as “I want to get out of debt.” If you achieved this, you would only have made it to $0. Instead, focus on achieving financial abundance. Be specific and include the date when you’ll achieve this. For example, I want to increase my income by 50% by Dec 31. Increasing your income would take care of your indebtedness and help you build a more robust future.

Now we are ready for step two: Explain the “why” behind your goal. Too many of us make the mistake of trying to figure out the “how” of achieving a goal. The “why” is perhaps more critical because it is the “why” that will drive us to discover the “how.” Think about our above goal of increasing income by 50%. What is the “why”? Perhaps its to provide a better life for one’s family. Perhaps its a desire to have more wealth to fund a non-profit. Find your “why” and write it down. It will become the inspiration that motivates you to achieve the goal. But make sure that you are descriptive and multi-sensory in describing your “why.” See your children smiling and laughing while enjoying a family vacation paid for in cash with the increased resources. Feel your own joy in having a more secure financial footing with a positive net worth. 

Last, Take action. You’ll know that you’ve nailed the “why” when you are chomping at the bit to move to the final step. Our “why” inspires us to find the “how.” We do this by taking actions that move us toward the goal. Immediately work out an initial plan of action. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Sketch out daily/weekly/monthly activities. Then, review your goal and your “why” and take action daily. If your initial plan doesn’t seem to work, revise and keep moving forward. Focusing on our sample goal of increasing income by 50%, here are some possible actions: ask for a raise, request overtime, start a side business, begin studying a new skill or topic that will allow you to earn more over time. Focus daily on the “why” to keep yourself energize. If your initial plan does not pay dividends, make revisions until you succeed.

This is the SET Method in its basic form. Stay tuned for more specific breakdowns and tips regarding each of the steps.

© 2019 Brian D. Russell

Self Awareness and Growth

Link to Peter Rollin's Original Telling of the Parable of the Four Pints

Books Mentioned:
Peter Scazzero,Emotionally Healthy Spirituality: It's Impossible to Be Spiritually Mature, While Remaining Emotionally Immature 

Scazzero,  The Emotionally Healthy Leader: How Transforming Your Inner Life Will Deeply Transform Your Church, Team, and the World.

The Arbinger Institute Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box.

Lolly Daskal The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness.


Links to Myers-Briggs Type
https://psychcentral.com/quizzes/personality/start.php

After you learn your type, you can search for it on Google/Bing/etc to learn more about yourself. For example, as an INTJ, I can search "INTJ" "INTJ relationships" "INTJ at work" "INTJ leadership"


 Subscribe to my YouTube Channel and never miss a new video: Your Professor for Life

Video Blog: Navigating Toward Your Preferred Future (YourProfessorForLife #3)

In this short video (10 minutes), I will introduce you to a dynamic way of thinking about the futures. "Futures" is not a typo. Too many of us limit ourselves, our goals, and our thinking by mistakenly identifying the future as a single point. It is not. God has an ultimate future, but there are an infinite number of possible ways to arrive there. Much of these depend on us. What are our goals? What do we really want? Are we willing to take action to advance these?

Interested in participating in the creation of the future? As Seth Godin says, "You are more powerful than you think." 

Learn to navigate toward your preferred future.

3 Questions to Find Your Sweet Spot (Your Professor for Life #2)

Tony Robbins says, "The quality of your questions is the quality of your life."

In this brief (5 minute) video, I offer three questions for your reflection: Who is your mission? Who is your community? What kind of person do I need to become?

The intersection of the answers to these three questions is your "sweet spot" for maximum achievement and fulfillment in life. These questions correspond to three core values/needs in each of us: mission/purpose, community, and character/holiness.

Let me know what you think.

Review of Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World–Class Performers by Tim Ferris

I'm a Tim Ferris fan. I read his first book The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich. I also subscribe and listen to his podcast. He is a specialist in lifestyle design and refers to himself as a human guinea pig. I appreciate the work of Tim Ferris. He is a student of maximizing our potential through physical fitness, wise living, and efficient and effective work and learning strategies. Ferriss provides tools to help us live as the people whom God created us to be. 

Over the last few years, I've taken on many new challenges and responsibilities. To step up to these, I've had to stretch and grow. Ferriss has been a valuable virtual mentor. Much of life is tactics. We need to develop a positive mindset. We need to learn to leverage the connection between physical/mental health and effectiveness. We also need to learn to manage time. If you need help in these areas, Ferriss is an excellent resource. WARNING to my Christ Following Friends: Ferriss is not a Christian. He uses "salty" language and approaches life from a secular prospective. However, if you read between the lines, you will find discussions of habits that one may call "spiritual disciplines." For example, Ferriss promotes fasting, taking sabbaths (he doesn't use this language), taking care of the body, journaling, and quiet time for reflection in the morning.

His latest book Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers is a 600+ page summary of actionable information and takeaways from his podcast interviews. Ferris divides his book into three sections: Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise. This is a nod to Benjamin Franklin's old maxim. Ferriss synthesizes the wisdom of women and men at the top of their game. We get to learn from Brene Brown, Peter Diamandis, Seth Godin, Tony Robbins, Malcolm Gladwell, Whitney Cummings, Jamie Foxx, Arnold Schwarzenegger, General Stan McChrystal, and Peter Thiel to name just a few. His guests include entrepreneurs, comedians, authors, researchers, warriors, actors, and influencers. In Tools of Titans, he profiles 112 people.

In essence, this book represents a Cliff Notes summary of Ferriss' learnings from others. It can be read in any order. Each chapter profiles one of his past guests. Each begins with a pithy quotation from the guest. Then Ferriss summarizes the best ideas and practices from each high achiever. The advice is specific and includes precise details of produces, regimens, and resources discussed. A key part of each interview is getting to hear how various high achievers plan/order their days. Ferriss includes his own adaptations and experiments of the material. Ferriss personally tests the information before passing it on to the world.

Ferriss does an excellent job of cross-referencing between interviews that touch on similar themes and topics. Moreover, he includes helpful appendices. My favorite is a bibliography drawn from the recommendations of his guests. Out of this list he compiles the top 17 most recommended books by his pool of high achievers.

In addition, there are bonus essays placed strategically in the book. These include a fully updated version of Kevin Kelly's important essay on marketing "1,000 True Fans–Revisited"  (pp. 292–98). I personally found helpful his discussion of a "5 Minute Journal" (p. 146). I've worked a version of this into my own life and can testify to its helpfulness (here is a short video about my practice: "Five Minute Morning Journaling for Creating Your Best Day").

Becoming a Titan does not make one immune from pain and challenges. This is central theme of the book. Ferriss shares some of his deepest pain in an essay on suicide. We learn that Ferriss had planned his own death and was close to executing his plan before a fortunate chain of events intervened to save his life (pp. 616–627). He offers good counsel and hope for those who have suicidal thoughts. Ferriss' words are important because they hint at a core truth about life–even the most successful have personal demons and struggles. This is true for all of us. Ferriss tells his story and then provides help and hope for those who may feel as though the world would be better off without them.


Conclusion
  This is a fantastic collection of information for living well. There is insight into almost every aspect of life. The only area lacking is the role (if any) of traditional spirituality in becoming a Titan. This may simply be a matter of the selection of guests. As I noted above, there are secular spiritual practices included throughout the work. Moreover, one of the key takeaways is that 80% of the "Titans" practice some form of meditation. In sum, I recommend it heartily to all of my readers who desire up to date and actionable information to maximize the days that God has given us to live.

Video Blog: A Five Minute Journaling Practice for Creating your Best Day

I learned about the Five Minute Journal initially from the work of Tim Ferris. As I've gotten older, I recognize the necessity of getting each day off to a positive start. In this brief video, I describe my five minute practice. It involves: (1) Writing down 5 things for which I am grateful, (2) Reflecting on my internal feelings of worry or anxiety and writing down the causes as best as I can discern them, and (3) Writing down the key actions that I need to take today to make it a good one.