For the past few years I have been able to spend my winters in Florida. More important than being able to escape the winter weather and being able to work from the beach, I get to step away from the business to reflect and actually work on the business as opposed to working in it.
I’m finally able to have quiet time to catch up on ideas and strategies that tend to be pushed to the back burner when I’m in the hustle and bustle back at the office.
I’ve noticed this past season perhaps because the weather has been off, that I’ve spent a lot of time watching television. I’m usually opposed to watching as I feel it’s generally a time waster, however I’ve recently enjoyed television as it’s changed for the better in the last decade, the new episodic writing style creating a long movie over many seasons is pure genius. I’m definitely a House of Cards junkie, loving Billions and got so hooked on Friday Night Lights, not to mention business specific reality shows like Shark Tank and The Profit.
Watching Coach Taylor motivate his players to constantly stay focused on the process of development while maintaining his integrity at all costs, or watching how Frank Underwood is constantly side stepping disaster while keeping up with a rigorous schedule inspires me greatly. Beyond getting some tips on how to lead and inspire my teams, I take refuge in the realization that I’m not alone in what feels like a constant battle to maintain growth, both personally and in business. And although I can watch Mark Cuban make an investment in some random business or feel like I’m a multi-billionaire investor who is being pursued by the US Government after watching Billions, I’m reminded that it’s not real, and ultimately I’m watching somebody else’s story. I’m reminded of the idea of Spiritual Entertainment, where we read the books, blogs, and watch shows that make us feel that we have made progress but actually we haven’t.
You can read a book and have a temporary “aha moment.”, or attend a seminar and get inspired to do more and achieve more but what counts are the actions that we take afterwards. Too often these emotions and reaffirmations aren’t backed up with courageous action. At the end of the day, we must act. Take the learning, grow from it and then apply that knowledge.
Tap Into Your Knowledge Pool
What knowledge do you already have that you aren’t using? What if you didn’t need another book or blog? What if you didn’t attend another sales huddle, seminar or take another training course? What if what you needed at this point of your career was simply to act to make a change?
Keep Learning
I always say I prefer ignorance on fire over knowledge on ice. I’ve seen so many inexperienced people who put in the action even if they didn’t really know what they were doing and have a positive attitude to learn and grow and ultimately achieve tremendous success. With the access to knowledge available in today’s market, that last piece of the puzzle required to turn your learning into an actionable step is just a few key strokes away.
Stay Humble
Contrary to those that are willing to take the time to learn a little bit more are those who had the knowledge but simply weren’t willing to put in the action. There are many reasons for this. Most of the time ego got in the way, (I’ve seen so many fortunes lost due to ego) and like I wrote last week, people that gain knowledge and have some success, if aren’t careful can start to believe their own hype and tend to start resting on their past successes. Well history has taught us all too often especially when using sports teams as examples what happens to champions who stop doing what they did to initially become champions, they become chumps, and fast!
Don’t let that happen to you, you already know what you need to do.
Have a great week and remember to take action.
Frank.