We all have a million great ideas about the things we want to do. Wake up at 5 am, meditate for half an hour, get a good workout in, get home and get straight to work… you get the picture. I’m just as guilty as anyone on this and sometimes find myself dreaming a little more than doing. This is because it’s so easy to think about doing all of those things, but when it comes to actually doing it, it’s not so easy. 

Something that makes all the difference is making a plan. Literally writing out what you’re going to do, in what order, and committing to doing it. This allows you to leverage the motivation you feel the night before, or the morning of, and helps you to actually implement it. This has been game changing for me this Holiday season. I am visiting family away from home and my routine was totally flipped upside down. But my first night in town I took the time to make a plan, establish what I want my routines to be, and even challenged myself a little bit. I cannot reiterate enough how valuable it is to make a decision in advance that instructs you how to behave rather than deciding how to behave in the moment.

This same concept goes for New Years Resolutions. I’m going to lose 30 pounds, I’m going to read 20 books, I’m going to organize my house completely! All sounds good and dandy, but 80% of New Years Resolutions fail. Why? There’s no plan. Make a plan to determine what you need to do in order to create the results you want in your life.

No matter what someone says, or does, or means, we all share one thing - We all want to be liked. There’s no shame in it, in fact it’s a very normal thing that sometimes is labeled as bad, and I want to take some time to provide perspective to that.

Starting at the very beginning, being liked is an important survival mechanism. As strong and smart as humans are, back in the day when we had predators it was very important to be a part of a group for your safety. So having a need to be liked by others was actually evolutionarily beneficial because it promoted a behavior of cooperation and assimilation, which then allowed you to be a contributing member of the group.

While the game is different now, we still need to use a similar lens to evaluate if our desire to be liked is maladaptive or if it’s adding value. And that lens is "what need is it satisfying?"

If you want to be liked because you’re compensating for insecurities, or are refusing to acknowledge your truth, then that is more of an unhealthy application of wanting to be liked. That’s because it is addressing your needs in a way that compromises your potentiality through external validation. 

If you want to be liked because you want to grow deeper, more intimate relationships with people who challenge you to be better, which facilitates the process of you exploring your truth and potentiality, then that is a more healthy and productive application of wanting to be liked.

In both cases, and just like way back when, this need to be liked is being applied to meet a need. It’s up to you to figure out what need is being met by your desire to be liked by others, and how that contributes to your overall well-being.

When we put ourselves out there we expose ourselves to the real possibility of coming up short. Naturally, we want to do everything we can to avoid that criticism because it threatens our self-belief and affects our self-esteem. However, with a different perspective we can see more positivity in this circumstance. This is communicated effectively in the following quote: “No matter how bad things go you're still ahead of those who aren't trying.”

The real failure, the real thing to be critical about yourself for, is not trying. As long as you pick up the phone and make that call, walk over to that girl and spit a line, roll out of your covers and put your running shoes on, you are ahead of where you would have been if you didn’t take action. And it’s important to recognize that. Maybe they don’t answer the call, maybe she’s not interested in getting to know you, maybe you only go for a short walk instead of a full workout, you’re still better off because you chose to do something.

Out of this natural tendency to self-preserve we overestimate the worst case scenario, and we let it paralyze us from taking action in any form. But outcomes exist on a spectrum, and if things go bad... I bet they didn’t go all the way bad. And it's important to acknowledge that half of the spectrum is allocated for things going well! But remember, "no matter how bad things go you’re still ahead of those who aren't trying."

Life is good! And I really want you to feel that. Maybe you had a few big wins come through recently, maybe you’re finally getting some recognition for the hard work you’ve been putting in, or maybe you’re finally in a place to dream bigger. It’s important to leverage this momentum to help you keep making forward progress, but don’t rest on your laurels. In order to achieve the life you want you need to earn it every day.

Unfortunately, we often get held up on past accomplishments and identities. We remember how things were and who we were, keeping us from being present in who we are now and what we’re capable of now. I’m all for you being proud of yourself, but that doesn’t mean you can get complacent. The job isn’t done, and holding too tightly on to past successes may be limiting you from accessing your potential today. So it’s important to be mindful of the present moment and understand that there's so much more to build and create around what you’ve already done.

When you are no longer so attached to your past results, and you feel the genuine desire to prove yourself in everything you do, you’ll feel a wave of inspiration that will lift you and guide you. I encourage you to earn it every day, to be validated in the effort you’re putting into it, and not holding on to the successes of the past.

As a leading executive creativity coach, Genein Letford has some really clever ways to help people think outside the box. They’re non-traditional by nature, but that’s what makes them so unique and profound. One of those ways is by encouraging people to use metaphors to approach ideas in a new way.

Let’s try this in real time! Using that "bark on the tree" example... What is the bark to self improvement? I’d say the bark on the tree is like self-belief in self improvement, because when you try new things you can fail, and you need to have the confidence to get back up and try again without discouragement. Try using a metaphor to create new associations onthe next creative project you work on!

One of the most important components to business, relationships, healthcare, just about everything in life, is trust. Having trust is so valuable because it allows you to collaborate in a way that frees up your time and energy to focus on other things. But trust is pretty unconventional in how it exists, it’s not something you can acquire in massive amounts all at once, it is slowly built over time. It’s the culmination of many instances of trust - Consistent, dependable, and reliabiable behavior that enables a deep and genuine trust to form.

As stated in the book “Conscious Capitalism”, there are two overlooked elements of trust. The first is reciprocity. You will not be trusted unless you can trust others, so just like so many things in life you need to be the change you wish to see. The second is transparency. The more things are out in the open and accessible to others, the better you demonstrate that there’s nothing to hide. Being vulnerable and transparent allows you to be an authentic person whose intentions are trustworthy because they are on full display.

Unfortunately, as slow and difficult as it is to cultivate trust, it can be taken away in a moment. Trust is very sensitive in that way, and before taking any actions that might jeopardize the trust you have grown with someone, be sure to think through the consequences and even over-communicate to avoid creating conflict.

Be slow and deliberate about building trust through reciprocity and transparency, and hold onto that trust tightly when you’ve earned it.

The first time I heard this expression it really stood out to me. What you appreciate, appreciates. There’s two different definitions for appreciate that are important to breakdown before going further. The first definition is the traditional one - To appreciate is to be thankful or grateful for the presence of something in your life. The second definition is more unique - To appreciate is to rise in value or price. So, to bunch those two definitions together - What you are thankful for rises in value.

I think it’s no coincidence that this word has these two meanings because it is a law of the universe, and I can’t emphasize enough, what you choose to be grateful for becomes more evident and prevalent in your life.

With the acknowledgment of gratitude you assign that thing to be more valuable in your life. If that thing becomes a priority and engrains deeply in your belief system, you’ll start engaging in behaviors consistent with that belief. If you start appreciating your family more, you’ll find that you’re starting to act in ways that better represents the relationship you want to have with your family. If you’re grateful for the amount of money you have, you’ll start being more conscious of matters that relate to your financial health and exercise more positive financial habits.

What you appreciate appreciates, and it starts with your choice to assign your energy and attention to what you want to matter in your life, through gratitude.

Your gratitude is a gift because it has so much to offer other people. It holds an immense amount of value. Do you remember the last time someone went out of their way to tell you that they genuinely respect and appreciate you?  How did that make you feel? Well you hold that opportunity, and can deliver that gift to someone else just by expressing the way you feel. 

I’m actually going to go a step further and say this - it’s selfish to hold onto your gratitude. The world needs your love and compassion. Your expressing gratitude to someone else creates an energetic ripple that influences them, and affects their next interactions, which then goes on to affect more people. Gratitude, positivity, and deep appreciation are contagious, but it all needs to start somewhere. You are the epicenter, and if we all individually committed to expressing gratitude more often the world truly would be a better place, I have no doubt about it.

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”