Fulfillment in the Process

In modern education, why are we always taught to work on our weaknesses? The focus is to ignore the strengths because they “don’t” need work and improve the weaknesses. In other words, part of our being that we feel the most shy, scared, or ashamed of… we should focus on?

No discredit to a well-rounded person. Balance is essential to almost everything in life and certain short-comings should be addressed to some degree. But why make it a focus? People want to feel good about themselves and feel great about what they do. Who likes doing things they suck at? Perfecting the things we’re already good at seems more effective and a helluva lot more fun.

Here’s some examples of people who have focused on strengths to propel them through  the weaknesses.

• Shaquille O’Neal was a horrendous free-throw shooter (I say was because he’s now retired, but I’m sure it hasn’t gotten any better). Although he did work on his shooting, he used his strengths as one of the best power players the NBA has ever seen to create more opportunities than the next guy. 
• Kim Kardashian can’t dance… or at least play along with Prince on command. Although most hot celebrities have some kind of acting, singing, or dancing talent… Kim has none. But who cares, the girl knows how to build a brand and create value in the marketplace.
• The best accountants don’t work on marketing all day… and it’s ok
• The best lawyers aren’t design geniuses… and it’s ok

Get damn good and what you’re already good at… build a brand in yourself in whatever you do and outsource the rest. Not only will this make your more successful in any endeavor… it will make you HAPPIER. That’s what we’re after right?

I’d must admit, I have a tendency to get caught up with the huge dreams, massive goals, and dramatic milestones of life. When you want to achieve so bad, it’s easy to overlook the most important aspects of life. “Enjoying the process” is never something that I’ve been particularly good at. 

2011 is wrapping up and here I sit reflecting on quite a year. Many social “milestones” and most people would consider it an extremely successful year. Although I don’t disagree, a huge part of me says… you missed things. Things that were infront of your face, potentially fulfilling experience that you overlooked, and took the small moments for granted.

No discredit to big goals and powerful dreams, but I’ve learned I’m most fulfilled by the small moments.

Getting married to the woman I absolutely adore was a big moment in my life… but not near as rewarding to me as the small moment that occurred in the proposal. As I got down on one knee, her voice quivered and she started to teared up. (To get this woman to tear up takes an act of God!) Knowing that, I looked up at her and saw the pure emotion and excitement in her eyes. At that moment, I was 100% thankful for every experience positive or negative that occurred in my life. It was all meant to lead me to this small moment. Nothing else mattered… Everything was right.

2012 is rapidly approaching and I personally am taking an oath to enjoy life, love the process, and capture the small moments. Happy New Year and God Bless. 

The magic bullet doesn’t exist.

Anything worth having requires a consistent, focused effort.

No matter the size, take a step forward each day.

Perfect the process and enjoy the rewards of a consistent effort.

And remember… The magic bullet doesn’t exist.

The magic is in the education learned from perseverance.

Week in, week out, millions of business people travel the skies of our planet. The entire business travel industry is built on the principle “nothing beats face-to-face”. Airfare, hotels, and meals are huge expenses for companies and it makes me wonder… is it all worth it?

30 years ago, I agree with the statement. The communication limits make it just to resort to face-to-face at any given opportunity. But what about today? 

Are we doing what’s comfortable or are we doing what’s best?

Could you tell your customer… “Bill, we appreciate our business together and we’re continually trying to improve our service. It has come to our intention that many of our meetings are more distracting to our client base than they are useful. With that said, we’d like to extend the invitation to do a simple webinar for our next meeting. This 20 minute interactive gathering will be straight to the point, productive, and efficient. Our goal is to increase our service to you while using less of your time. Thanks for your business and partnership”

In many cases, the customer reading this message would think… “Great, I’m overloaded with work… less time always works”.

The future lies in those who can work effectively with a little amount of time. Doing business with a direct, simple, and respectful organization is very appealing. By no means do you discount the power of a relationship, jabbering about last night’s baseball game will always have it’s place. With this method, many would argue there is more focus on the relationship because the value of TIME is the most importance.