Author: Dad

  • Be a Finisher

    Be a Finisher

    When you choose to start something, you have to train yourself to also finishing it. It is one choice, not two. You chose to start this, so you also chose to finish it.

    This was a hard lesson for me to learn and profoundly important in pretty much every aspect of my life. My friends used to joke that I was a “parallel” entrepreneur because I started two or three companies at the same time. I would take on any project without giving much thought to how I would finish it, or how I might be overwhelmed in the pursuit of too many goals. I ended up scattered and unfocused, just trying to keep up with the demands that I signed up for. It was an unsatisfactory life and taught me a crucial lesson. If I didn’t escape this trap, it would have doomed me to a mediocre life.

  • Pay the Price

    Pay the Price

    “Understand there is a price to be paid for achieving anything of significance. You must be willing to pay the price.” – John Wooden

    If you want something big, you have to be willing to pay the price. That means you have to be willing to work for it and make the sacrifices. If you want to run a marathon in three hours, you have to pay the price and put in the grueling months of training and suffering.

    Ambition and achievement requires sacrifice and trade offs. I always wanted to accomplish so I didn’t spend much time with friends. My social life suffered. Many people work so hard they lose sight of their close friends and family and they become more and more distant over time. Eventually, they completely lose touch. It doesn’t have to be this extreme but it gives you a sense of the sacrifice required – the price you have to pay.

    In order to be willing to pay the price, you have to understand deeply what you were trying to accomplish. He won’t be willing to stay up late and work harder than anybody else if you don’t have a clear picture of what the final outcome of all the hard work will be. Make sure you have a clear vision for what you want and why you were sacrificing so you will be willing to pay the price.

     

  • Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way

    Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way

    I didn’t realize this when I was growing up, but my dad was also an entrepreneur. He ran a small company that he and his business partner built over 18 years. My dad had a plaque on his desk that said, “LEAD FOLLOW OR GET OUT OF THE WAY”.

    Perhaps I absorbed this through osmosis as I grew up, but I am a get s#it done (GSD) kind of guy. I have a strong drive to be productive and I am happiest when I feel that I am accomplishing something or working my way towards goals. To GSD on a team, you MUST lead follow or get out of the way.

    LEAD: If no one is taking charge and something needs to happen, you have to step up and take the lead. You will find yourself more often than not in the leadership role because most people do not have a natural tendency to lead.

    FOLLOW: If someone is taking charge and you believe them to be capable and competent, follow. Ask how you can help. Become that person’s enabler and help them lead even better by being the best follower you can be.

    GET OUT OF THE WAY: No matter what happens, nothing will slow the team or company down faster than someone who gets in the way. People who get in the way are generally unhelpful or aren’t willing to do the work. They don’t follow up up tasks that are assigned to them. They complain about the direction the team is headed or problems that are being encountered along the way. They drag teams down, and people like this can singlehandedly make a world-class team mediocre. If you have someone on your team who won’t get out of the way, you need to address it and get them onboard or get them off the team.

     

  • The Choice is Yours

    The Choice is Yours

    Two twin boys were raised by an alcoholic father. One grew up to be an alcoholic and when asked what happened he said, “I watched my father.” The other grew up never having had a drink in his life. When he was asked what happened he said, “I watched my father.” Twins with the same environment came to completely opposite perspectives. They chose to have different perspectives.

    You have the ultimate choice of how you perceive everything in your life. You can choose to be a victim. Or you can choose to make the setback your opportunity for greatness. It’s all about perspective.

  • Solicit Feedback

    Solicit Feedback

    As Steve Jobs said, we are in our own reality distortion field. We see the world through our own lens, with unconscious biases and perspectives. What you don’t know about yourself will doom you to failure. Want to be a better leader? Want to be a great entrepreneur? Want to be a better parent? Want to be better person? Then you have to become an expert at soliciting feedback. I say expert because this is a learned skill that takes many years to master. The reason being is it’s VERY hard to hear feedback. It’s hard to hear that you have weaknesses and you have to work on improving yourself. It take courage and thick skin and the ability to keep the end – your improvement – at the top of your mind. On the other side of the table, it’s VERY hard for other people to give you honest feedback. They don’t want to hurt your feelings, even though some things you do may really bother them.

    How to get honest feedback:

    • Ask for it! There are many questions you can ask to get feedback, and the first step is alerting the other person that you actually want to hear it.
    • Try your best to not react defensively or get upset, especially in the moment you are getting the feedback.
    • Act on it! When someone gives you feedback, you have to show them you heard them and are taking it seriously by actually acting on it.
  • Hard Work = Luck

    Hard Work = Luck

    You will only have a handful of mega opportunities in your life, and they won’t hang around for long. That million dollar idea you had yesterday may be gone tomorrow. That job offer that is the dream job but requires you to move across the country expires in a week. That real estate deal might be off the market in six hours. These opportunities will come your way maybe once a decade. Which means that the vast majority of your time will be spent preparing for opportunity. The more you work and the harder you prepare, the more equipped you will be to capitalize on these opportunities. Will you be ready? Will you be able to identify the opportunity let alone seize the day?  Will your preparation be enough?

    In the same vein, always have your sails up so you’re ready to run when the winds pick up.
    • Quote: The harder I work the luckier I get.
    • Make your own luck.
    • Wooden Quote: It’s too late for preparation when opportunity strikes.
  • Be Nice

    Be Nice

    Be nice just to be nice. But there are also a lot of benefits:

    • You feel better about yourself
    • Whatever is happening in your brain is probably slightly different than the reality so being nice gives the other person the benefit of the doubt
    • The nicer you are to other people, the nicer they will be to you (this is especially important when you need something from somebody else!)
  • Drive fast if you wanna come!

    Drive fast if you wanna come!

  • Don’t take any bull…

    Don’t take any bull…

    You don’t have to put up with toxic, abusive, or negative people. If you have a boss that verbally abuses you or others, or a friend who drags you down, or a business partner who sabotages you… ditch them! It can be scary to break free and find a new path forward. But life is way too short to surround yourself with these kinds of people. At the end of the day it is your choice. Ultimately, you are choosing who you surround yourself with. Or who you don’t want to be around. You can surround yourself with people who lift you up and make you better, or people who drag you down.

  • How to Get Rich

    How to Get Rich

    Assets make your rich.

    The first step to getting rich is knowing the difference between liabilities and assets. Liabilities take money out of your pocket, Assets put money into your pocket. By investing in assets, you are investing into your future earnings. The key is to do this early, in your 20s. The simple formula to get rich is to live cheaply in your 20s and 30s and use your savings to purchase assets that will produce income for the rest of your life. It compounds over time, so your earnings from your assets can be used to purchase other assets. This pattern of savings and investing isn’t a forever thing, only until you can support your ideal lifestyle. The not rich will spend all of their earnings on liabilities, and they spend before they really have the income to support the purchases.

    Suggested reading: Rich Dad, Poor Dad