Making the Biggest Impact...in Life and Career...

Good Morning...

Sometimes a person needs to switch things around to make sense of the world...so rather than ending with a video-clip...I am going to start with one!




One of my favorites...for many reasons...

Of all of the reasons...the one that comes to mind as I write to you today is the hidden message within "Seizing the Moment!"

Poets have a way of cutting through all of the callous of life and in very few words hitting the crux!

Walt Whitman is one such poet!

Has anyone ever told you that your life is poetry?

That is something that we should strive towards...either as a person or in our journey towards meaningful leadership!

Poets like all artists (in fact any master) create their enduring masterpieces under the umbrella of two of life's extremes...

Extreme Pain...

and...

Extreme Discipline!

Let me add a third...EXTREME DEFIANCE...to what life hands them!

That is the true badge of a "Master!"

Whether is it a Master Poet...

or a Painter...

or a sculpture...

or a Physicist...

or a Statesman...

or a Master Blackbelt...

or...you name it...

Mastery is the Key to extracting everything that your choices have to offer in life and make all the difference between success and mediocrity!

I have watched the world deceived into believing that broadening one's experiences and "enrichment" is the path to seek!

I have watched it ruin many an effort and career! AND the lives of talented people!

Organization's tout the benefits of "job enrichment" and "cross-training."

I see "enrichment" and "cross training" as an opiate that placates the frustrated and emotionally under-developed individuals who have yet to find themselves! Whether intentionally or unintentionally...the purpose of such organizational efforts only keeps "these children" busy while the company sucks what value out of them that they can...until they can no longer be retained! Then..."OH WELL!" It is like trying to keep a 3-year old entertained during a 12 hour auto-trip!

I regress!

Let's walk down the road to self-discovery...it may be a scary walk...but I challenge you to walk with me!

So how do you really know if you have found yourself?

The answer to this question is the easiest of all of those we need to answer!

If you do not "hurt" or "suffer" the answer..."

If it does not pain you to watch helplessly as the world does foolish things...

If you do not revel in the small victories that take you one step closer to the end...

If you are not engulfed by what you are doing...and can not wait to challenge the next day...

You are probably living in a rather superficial existence and...

You should challenge yourself to DIG DEEPER!

Find the pain!


"Suffer" a cause!


It is there...we just often hide from it or deny that it exists!

It is safer that way! You have nothing to lose! You have not "vowed" to lose it all...it order to achieve a great thing...the bottom-line of that type of existence is that you will never be part of a legend!

If you look down deep and there is none there...

Than put one there!

Pain and suffering or a "cause" has not foundational criteria!

It can be self-imposed or it can be a natural result of life itself!

The neat thing about "finding a cause" is that any seed can be planted...and the ground in which it is planted will determine what grows! That is counter to the way the world works!

Someone once said..."the biggest mistake that a person can make...is not starting!"

Plant a seed...any seed...and it will grow and bear the fruit you were meant to produce!

A Master needs to work in the "medium" of pain and suffering and a cause...or their masterpieces are superficial and will pass away as soon as others turn their face from the creation!

They create only a short story...not a legend!

Such works of their hands need to be engrave within the thoughts and hearts of those who encounter it...no matter how briefly! Their work needs to touch a basic need of others and generate...no elicit action and support!

Pain and suffering are universal...anything you pick has something in common with millions of people...do not delude youself into believing that you are unique...you are not!

You can not call yourself a Master, unless your work endures!

You can not call yourself a Master unless your creations are challenged by critics...and they endure!

Those are the timeless elements of a true creation...the "Master-pieces!" They must be planted in and spring forth from the most basic of the needs of the human condition!

Go to the "base" of Maslov's hierarchy! That is where the "great works" grew from! That is where the roots...once they take hold can not be uprooted! I have seen nothing of value grow from the higher tiers...such as "self-actualization!" Plants growing from there are shallow...temporal. They have no depth...no roots...no lasting value!

WOW! Talk about a controversial set of topics!

So let's walk the "Carpe Diem" road for a moment!

I believe that that clip caught the essence of Whitman's struggle...millions have seen it...but so few really grasp the deep value...those superficial observers of life say..."I get it...squeeze everything you can out of the moment!" BUT...

The fact of the matter is...if you are meant to be making orange juice and you have peppers in your hands...squeezing that moment will not give you orange juice!

You must be selective in what parts of life you allow into your hands!

Herein lies the second part of the Master's struggle!

Extreme discipline!

A poet limits himself to expression within a certain rhyme and meter scheme! Just as an Artist does to oils, or a Sculpture to marble...a Physicist to math...

The beauty of their work is found in their ability to communicate their cause or message in a media that is understood by those of "like mind!" To capture and communicate the essence of their pain!

There exists no Masters...with a general and broad skill-set...they were specialized and focused! They chose one thing and dedicated their lives to it...until they squeezed every drop from it...and only after they shared that nectar with the world around them...with those of "like minds!" It was for that and that only were they lauded!


What they did and did so well...was to apply that finely tuned skill to every aspect to their life...and it only appeared that they had achieved the status of Renaissance man! Yet all of the Masters were specialists...

I was guided long ago not to seek a broad set of skills...it being explained to me that that we are vessels...with a truly limited capacity! Adding to what I did well...only diluted my talent. I was only told that I was ready to move to the next aspect of "honing"...after I perfected what I was already doing...or I could move if I decided that I should totally cast off what I was doing...NEVER to revisit it!

Every choice should have life changing ramifications! You can not have it all or even try to pursue it all..."unless you want the flavor of oatmeal!"

A recent study concluded that multi-tasking is a delusion...that people who pride themselves in multi-tasking are significantly less productive and effective than single focused people! I have been saying that all along! It is nice to be vindicated! My advice to multi-taskers...

TAKE SOME RITALIN!

Stop lying to yourself...

Pick something and try to do it well!

Don't jump to the next thing...until your have perfected the first!

What good are you doing in handing the world a half-hearted piece of art!

Watch the "Trombone Player Wanted" video again!

And this time LISTEN to it!




Find your strengths and play to them!

Find your "cause!" ( I have another update coming on finding your cause...watch for it)

Do not seek to broaden your horizons until you perfected the one your are currently working on...don't jump too soon...

Specialization is the Key to true enjoyment of life...

A leader's challenge is to maintain the focus on the discipline!


Carpe...Carpe Diem! Seize the Day...Make your lives EXTRAORDINARY!



Enough Said!

Have a great weekend!