Do one thing every day that scares you.
The enemy is within. The enemy is without. The enemy is everywhere.
The enemy is mediocrity.
Mediocrity is choking your inner fire.
What is your inner fire?
It is the ability to stay focused on an task, outcome, objective, goal, vision in the face of insurmountable odds.
It is the ability to spend a lifetime (over 10,000 hours) of focused practice to achieve mastery in a specific discipline.
It is the ability to take action each and every day, to even do the things that you don’t want to do, that will move your closer to your goals.
It is the ability to face your fears, to expand your comfort zone, to be comfortable being uncomfortable.
It is the ability to overcome roadblocks. To climb mountains. To harvest the resources. To walk the path toward your goals.
It is the ability to bounce back. To never surrender. When you encounter failure on your journey.
It is the drive and determination required to achieve whatever you set your mind too.
Without an inner fire you are a minion of mediocrity.
That’s right!
Without an inner fire you are a peon, living a mediocre life, earning mediocre money, in a mediocre career.
Without an inner fire you are a lemming, following the crowd in the rut toward mediocrity.
Without an inner fire you are a pawn, stuck in a job moving someone else’s agenda forward.
Without an inner fire you are a minion of mediocrity.
Are you a minion of mediocrity?
Minions of mediocrity have a negative view of the world.
Minions of mediocrity go back to their old habits at the first sign setback.
Minions of mediocrity are unable to control anger and lash out at the people around them.
Minions of mediocrity are without clear goals.
Minions of mediocrity are without passion, drive and purpose.
Minions of mediocrity nag, criticize, choke and suck the inner fire out of the weak minded.
Minions of mediocrity are everywhere!
Do you see one when you look at yourself in the mirror each morning?
To become an agent of change you must banish this mediocre behaviour from your life.
You can do this simply by igniting you inner fire.
How do I ignite my inner fire?
We are all born with an inner fire.
It has been choked, maybe even extinguished, by those around us.
It comes from within and it is feed by your passion.
To begin commit to a path of mastery.
Discover your strengths and learn to apply them regularly.
Connect with your passion and manifest it in the world around.
Set clear goals and work toward them daily.
Take action whenever you see an opportunity to banish mediocrity.
As an agent of change is it your mission to discover your passion, to continually fuel your inner fire and to help others do the same.
Travel well my friend.
I wish you well on your journey.
A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.
The enemy is within. The enemy is without. The enemy is everywhere.
The enemy is mediocrity.
Mediocrity wants to keep things same.
It doesn’t want you to change.
It wants to keep you ignorant.
It wants to keep you stuck.
As an agent of change it is your mission to continually empty your cup and fill it with better ways of thinking and doing.
It is your current thinking that is keeping you stuck in mediocrity.
Your current thoughts, beliefs, habits and all other parts of your internal programming may need adjustment.
In some cases these adjustments will be minor.
In others, you might be looking at a major overhaul.
Will it be easy? Probably not.
Will it be worth it? Absolutely!
You must learn the cycle of change.
It begins with unconscious / incompetence.
You don’t know what you don’t know.
You are unaware of what you need to improve.
At some point you have an insight.
An ah-ha moment.
You realize (with your real eyes) that you’ve let mediocrity control a particular segment of your life.
This moves you to conscious / incompetence.
You are now aware of the gap.
A gap between where you are today and the person you are meant to be.
You will either choose to ignore the gap or you will choose to change.
This is when the voice mediocrity will be at it’s strongest.
Mediocrity will distract you.
Attempting to justify the mediocre behaviour.
It is up to you to choose.
Will you let mediocrity win by playing small or will you step up and play big?
You empty your cup and begin to fill it with a better way of thinking and doing.
You begin to take action.
You grow stronger.
You begin to implement change.
This moves you to conscious / competence.
You become proficient at making a difference however you still have to think about it.
If you let your guard down mediocrity will take over and move you back to the beginning.
Don’t give in!
You are almost there.
You continue to take action.
You practice.
You find your groove.
You walk the path.
This moves you to unconscious / competence.
It becomes a habit.
You no longer need to think about.
You have succeeded.
Congratulations!
You have taken back the power that mediocrity had previously stolen and returned it to your real self.
You have won a major battle.
Now it’s time to win the war.
As an agent of change is it your mission to continually empty your cup and fill it with better ways of thinking and doing.
Travel well my friend.
I wish you well on your journey.
Beliefs have the power to create and the power to destroy. Human beings have the awesome ability to take any experience of their lives and create a meaning that disempowers them or one that can literally save their lives.
The fifth of the 5 Acceleration Strategies is Real Artists Ship.
Real Artists Ship is a quote made famous by the late Steve Jobs. It embodies the Apple culture of creating and delivering great products. I know that I will spend months (even years) tinkering with various projects – dreaming, thinking, planning – wanting to make them perfect. This strategy is here to remind me that the key to success is to get the most important things done.
This key objective of Real Artists Ship is to build momentum through action.
The leadership benefits of Real Artists Ship include …
1) Know that you are making progress on the critical projects that are aligned with your key areas of focus.
2) Make key decisions that balance both risk and reward.
3) Build momentum through daily action.
The plan of action for Real Artists Ship includes …
1) Learn to shift your focus from the urgent / non-important activities to the non-urgent / important activities.
2) Develop an action plan identifying the key projects for each of your top areas of focus.
3) Learn the project management secrets to accelerate each of your key projects from start to finish.
4) Implement the daily rituals and routines (your habits) that will achieve extraordinary results.
5) Identify and remove the distractions that are preventing your from focusing on your key projects.
If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.
The fourth of the 5 Acceleration Strategies is Build Your Lighthouse.
In the previous strategy you identified your tribe. In this strategy you will learn a simple yet effective process to help you both serve and lead your tribe.
The key objective of Build Your Lighthouse is to build a solid reputation of leadership by focusing on 3 key areas – credibility, likability and visibility.
The leadership benefits of Build Your Lighthouse are:
1) Build a lighthouse on a strong foundation of credibility based on integrity, trust, hard work and other core values.
2) Use the tools of likability as the materials for your lighthouse to listen, influence and serve your tribe.
3) Intentionally direct the light of your lighthouse on your critical areas of focus and key projects.
The plan of action for Build Your Lighthouse includes …
1) Identify the best location to Build Your Lighthouse.
2) Build a strong foundation of credibility by becoming an expert in a specific field of knowledge.
3) Develop a specific plan to serve your tribe to improve your likability (the greater your likability, the greater your earning potential).
4) Enhance your personal brand by applying specific techniques (through humility and just a sprinkle of shameless self-promotion) to improve your visibility.
5) Step-up and take responsibility (regardless of position or title) to become known as a person that does the right thing by living your core values.
6) Create a strong external network to increase your overall network intelligence – to help get things done, act as an advisory board and find the next step in your evolving career.
7) Greatly increase your ability to lead and influence by learning the secret of the rider and the elephant.
Building your lighthouse is about building your reputation. Be on the lookout for ways to serve and lead your tribe and notice how your reputation and level of influence grows.
You have everything you need to build something far bigger than yourself.
