Something we overlook in life is how much we accomplish every day. Even when it seems like we didn’t get anything done, we can look back at the big things. The hours we spent working, and the small things like making your bed and preparing lunch.  Everything that gets done is a task completed and deserves some recognition.  But, where does that recognition go?

The key takeaway is to give credit where credit is due, meaning, make sure that praise and recognition falls on the right person. There are three different ways to go about that.

1. Especially when working in a team, it’s important to realize that everyone plays their own unique role in the project. The result could not have been possible without everyone’s contribution. In that case, the credit goes to the masses, not the individual.

2. When you are in a management position, and capable of delegating work to others, be sure to make your role as supervisor second to the work of the person tackling the task. This empowers others to take ownership of their work, and earn the result they receive. This is giving credit to someone else.

3. Don’t be shy when acknowledging yourself. If you truly are the fundamental reason something got done, the person that provided the breakthrough solution, or the worker that put in the necessary hours to finish a project, don’t hesitate to give yourself the credit. I understand there is a fine line between self-promotion and taking credit, but at least intrinsically it is important to acknowledge and recognize your own efforts.

Rise and shine!

Basically, when you rise and shine correctly, your alarm goes off and you excitedly bounce out of bed ready to start your day. It’s greeting the new day with a rush of energy. 

I want that feeling every day, and if I want to make it happen, I had to realize it starts way before the alarm goes off.

So first, set your alarm at a time where you feel like you get enough rest. Having a negative relationship with the time you set makes it that much harder to listen to your alarm when it goes off. So, don’t ruin yourself from the beginning and set a reasonable alarm.

If your alarm is too early, then fall asleep earlier! Everyone has different requirements when it comes to their sleep schedule, so be sure you don’t neglect your own.

When that alarm does go off, then get up. In Mel Robbins’ book, The 5 second rule, she says that our brain can’t always process things within a 5 second window, so if you get out of your bed in those first 5 seconds your brain will hardly resist you.  

Rise and shine! Get up, get out, and get after it!

So first, the intent of this goal sheet is to hold you accountable to doing the daily tasks that contribute to your larger goals.  That is why the first exercise is to determine your theme and points of emphasis for the sheet.  After doing that you can then fill in the daily goals that map toward that intention.

The sheet itself is a point scoring system that helps hold you accountable to taking action on a daily basis. It does so by having you set your target number of points that you want to earn in each category over the course of the week.  A really important part of this concept is to set reasonable expectations, or else you won’t take the goal sheet as seriously. The sheet should serve as your baseline, what you expect to accomplish at minimum in any given week.  For example, I try to read before bed every night, but I set my goal to be three times a week because I know at a minimum that is how often I want to be held accountable to be reading before bed.

When writing your goals, it is important to phrase them in a binary way. Using that same example, instead of having the goal be written as “read for 30 minutes”, I have it written as “read a book three times a week before bed.”  That way, when it comes to report on my performance, I have a clear yes or no answer about whether or not I earned the points. In this same example, having a strict definition means I can’t convince myself that I should earn points for reading an article on Facebook before bed, which is exactly the purpose.

Lastly, keeping track of your points on a weekly basis helps you compare between weeks and observe your improvement. If you feel like your baseline needs to be bumped up or down, you can implement that change at the beginning of any week, making your goal sheet realistic for your circumstances.

There are a few specific things I want to dive into. First is simulation - my Ted X event is at an elementary school, so I am expecting there will be unexpected distractions.  So I am currently challenging myself with distractions, or intentionally trying to lose my train of thought so that I can refocus and get back on track.

Another thing is just putting in the time. There is only one way to learn this talk inside and out, which is to pound it into your skull. So, I am incorporating every opportunity i can to become a learning moment by gathering my coworkers to listen to it, playing a recording of it while I’m eating, and repeating difficult lines over and over again until they come easy. There is really no substitute for time when it comes to making something second nature.

And lastly, is patience. Progress is slow, and it could get discouraging when you want to see instant results. But, often times, the nature of improvement is it is imperceptible while it’s happening but on display when it’s time to execute. While progress has been slow and discouraging for me in this process, I’m at a place where I am confident with my delivery and script.

So, practice as much as you can in order to make thing better.

‍

Gary Vaynerchuk's blunt style often turns people off to his views, but I think it conveys an interesting message. When trying to motivate yourself to get out of a rut, and overcome adversity or negativity, his answer is simple - what’s the alternative?

Gary Vee fan puts positivity in a unique light - it’s the alternative to negativity.  If you have the power to let one thing affect you and your life, which one will it be? By realizing the pessimism in a negative mindset, it’s laughable to come upon the right conclusion.  And it makes your choice that much easier to make in that light. 

So, choose positivity, because what’s the alternative?

Say "bless you".  Originating in the medieval times, saying bless you when someone sneezes was a way to send positive thoughts and prayers to a person who may have picked up the plague. And while the plague is now long gone, I think the term plays a similar role in today’s society but we don’t often give it that same credit.

Saying bless you when someone sneezes does a few very interesting things. First, it means that you acknowledge someone else’s presence and chose to tell them that you care about their general well being. Imagine if we said that instead after someone sneezes, “I want the best for you”. That’s what you’re doing in a more socially acceptable way, but know that the message received is exactly that, so it generally makes a very positive impression.

But intrinsically, it’s a valuable thing to do to. By being the person who says bless you in different situations, and even for complete strangers, it means you are comfortable enough to put yourself out there to invite interaction. Living a life that encourages engagement and conversation is a fulfilling position to take, and a subtle “bless you” is your first step toward making that a bigger part of your life.

No matter who you are, what you’ve done, or where you’ve been, there is one thing that is consistent among all of us, and that is we have more to learn. Even after years of mastering a craft, innovation will introduce itself and change the landscape, thus, requiring us to adapt and expand our knowledge base. So, having the mentality to always keep learning is an essential step to self-improvement, because it is a requirement of progress.

And we are living in the most exciting time ever when it comes to access to information, so there are no excuses. The resources are endless and available at your fingertips. There are online schools, podcasts, YouTube, Udemy, e-magazines, ebooks, and social media platforms. The list is enormous. But, an important aspect to converting on those resources is to actively pursue them, which is a little more complicated.

To learn something requires your time, effort, and attention, and creating an environment that encourages you to invest in learning will help bring you toward learning activities. The best way to create those environments is through preparation.

For example, during your drive to work, tell yourself that you will listen to a book you have been trying to get through on audible three times a week. This prepared commitment to the task provides the extra kick of motivation to pursue that resource.

Or, if you’re looking to develop a trade skill, then purchase an online course, and set up a plan on how much time you want to dedicate toward developing that skill. I have done this with learning Photoshop, and the progress I have made is observable and extremely rewarding!

So, assume the mentality that values learning and challenging yourself to understand new things. But, don’t stop there. Create a plan to execute on that intention to learn, keep yourself accountable to that plan, and follow through. Something that has changed my life and helped hold me accountable is my goal sheet. My goal sheet is where I give myself points for a job well done and try to hit a target number of points every week across different goals.

The concept in this message is very important to understand, whether it applies to your life or helps you empathize with others’ lives. Fortunately for me, I had a comfortable upbringing and continue to live a comfortable life. But many people have the odds stacked against them and they feel discouraged to dream. That’s exactly how Morgan Freeman felt, until he broke through.

"I was born in Memphis, Tennessee. I had a long haul from where I came from to here, but here we are. Courage is the key to life itself. There are a lot of people who were born in situations where they think they will never get out of this, so they won't. To the people who say, man I could not get out of there, well, the bus runs everyday. If you can think of it you can do it. That is the human condition. If we can imagine it we can do it. I think that the condition of each individual can do it".

It is really interesting how he chose to use the word courage, because the assumption is that with courage there is fear. That fear often overrides our vision for the life we want to live, and causes us to settle into complacency. But one small step at a time, you can overcome your financial, relationship, or professional situation and inch your way toward your dreams. And it requires having the courage to allow yourself to dream!