Overdeliver

As a project manager,
I’ve noticed many people
only do the bare minimum
when given tasks.

The rare few overdeliver
and I tend to listen to these rare few
more closely.
I trust them to put
the good of the project
first.

As Mark Goulston
and John Ullmen
share

“”Overdelivering” makes you
stand out in the moment
and makes people remember you later.
You become locked in
as someone who deserves
to be listened to,
and people don’t wonder
whether you have ulterior motives
or hidden agendas.”

Yes, complete the requirements
but then add a little something more.
Overdeliver.

Stay In Your Own Lane

I’m happiest
when I’ve spent the work day
in the writing cave.
My head is down.
I’m 100% focused on my own goals.

As Cy Wakeman
shares in
Reality-Based Rules of the Workplace

“If you remain in your lane,
tending to your own responsibilities
in the present,
you will seldom be stressed.
You’ll be clear, capable,
and effective.

Stress enters the picture
when you leave your lane
to meddle in other people’s business,
judging or trying to control them.”

Stay in your own lane.
Focus on your own business.

Build Something

We’re due
for a ‘just do it’ reminder
because
all of the knowledge, skill, ideas
in the world
is useless
unless we do something with it.

Mike McCue,
chief executive of Flipboard,
shares

“The first lesson was
that I’d bought all these business books
because I hadn’t gone to school.
And I really got
into the theoretical aspects
of starting a company.

Then what I finally realized
after about six months
is that I just needed to do it.
I just needed to actually build something.
And that was a good lesson
— do something, build something
and everything will happen from there.”

Build something
TODAY.

Add A Pause For Innovation

Before starting a new story,
I usually take one or two days
to do…
nothing.
I claim I use this for plotting
because,
by the end of the second day,
I often have a plot.
In the quiet spaces,
I find creative solutions.

As Kevin Cashman,
author of
The Pause Principle,
shares in the July/August
The Costco Connection

“Step back
from the hurried, hectic pace,
the onslaught of information.
Go for a walk or run.
Sit by the river.
Take a power nap,
meditate
or listen to relaxing music.
New ideas and innovations emerge
in the spaces
between the doing.”

If you need new ideas,
take some time off.
It sounds counter intuitive
but it often works.

Challenge Yourself

Are you coasting?

I know I have been.
I haven’t been pushing myself
and when I don’t push myself,
I’m not as happy with my life.

Nellie Akalp
shares

“Boredom is one of the biggest obstacles
to job satisfaction.

After a year or so
of coming in to work
and doing the same thing,
we get stuck in a rut.

Get some of that startup enthusiasm back
by doing things differently,
challenging yourself and
making an effort
to learn something new this summer.

We tend to be happiest
when we’re working right
at the limits of our abilities.”

Challenge yourself!
Get that excitement back.

Working Hard

A buddy told me recently
he was envious
that I worked for myself.
He had to work from 9 to 5.
I could work whenever I want.

I laughed.
I CAN work whenever I want
but to grow my writing business,
that whenever is at least 70 hours a week.
Working from 9 to 5 would be
like a vacation for me.

Janet Pierce,
business intelligence project executive
at Accenture
shares in
July/August’s CMA Magazine

“You can’t be afraid of hard work.
If people get into working for themselves
because they don’t like
how hard it is to work for others,
they probably shouldn’t do it.
You’ll be working more hours.
It never stops.
You basically live your business.”

There are many great reasons
to start your own business.
Working less hours isn’t one of these reasons.

The Benefits Of Competition

I belong to a group of five writers.
We’re all roughly at the same level
and as our readerships grow,
we continue to be at equivalent levels.

Why?

Because we use the healthy competition
between us
to drive us to perform.
If one of us finishes writing a story,
it pushes the rest of us to finish our stories also.

Ashley Merryman,
co-author of
Top Dog,
shares
in the July/August’s CMA Magazine

“When accepting his recent Oscar,
Quentin Tarantino yelled out,
“I love the competition.”
That says it all.
Having others do great work
can spur you to do the same.
Competition also fuels innovation
because it puts firm parameters
and a deadline
around the creative process.”

Competition is a GOOD thing.
It drives us to perform.
Embrace competition.

If Today Was Your Last Day

I was born with a heart defect.
Every time,
I see my doctor,
he’s amazed I’m still alive.

I have always known
that today could be my last day on Earth.
I’m not waiting,
as some of my friends are,
until age 65
to write a novel,
travel to Russia,
launch a business.
I have done and am doing these things now.
I’m also very conscious of
how I’d like to be remembered.

Donovan Campbell
in The Leader’s Code
shares

“I believe that most great leaders,
whether consciously or unconsciously,
begin their leadership journey
by internalizing man’s mortality.
Understanding that
our days are finite
makes each day an infinite gift.
A limited number of actions
means that every action counts.
No day is irrelevant,
no action is insignificant,
no choice is inconsequential.”

How would you like to be remembered
and what are you doing TODAY
to achieve this?

Trust And Always Saying Yes

I have reading buddies
who claim to LOVE every single thing
I write.
I’ve written over 60 very different stories.
I find it very difficult to trust
that these buddies truly love everything
I write.

I go to these reading buddies
when my confidence is flagging
and I need a boost.

However,
when I want an honest opinion
about one of my stories,
I talk to someone else,
someone who has the balls
to tell me when a story doesn’t work.

As Erika Napoletano
shares

“The reality is,
nodding your head nonstop
won’t net you the trusted relationships
your business needs to grow and thrive.
Think of the people in your life
who are nonstop “yes machines.”
Do you trust them
to tell you the truth
or do you know they’ll only tell you
what you want to hear?

Your ability to say no
when a no is warranted
can help you reclaim your business
from overly controlling clients.
It can also help you build your reputation
as an honest partner
that’s willing to have tough conversations
in the interest of doing better business
and achieving better results.”

We don’t trust people
who always say yes.
If you want to be trusted,
you HAVE to say no.

Outsourcing To Friends

During this past book release,
I outsourced (nonessential) duties to friends.
Many folks think
when they outsource to friends,
they’ll be a priority for them.
These contractor friends
will do their best work for them.

The truth is often
the opposite.

People are lazy.
They seek to do as little as possible.
Our friends are people.
Our friends also know
we’ll hesitate before pushing them,
before asking for work to be redone.
We’ll often accept crap from them
that we wouldn’t accept from other vendors.
AND we’ll likely pay full price for this crap.

In my case,
not one contractor friend did
what I paid her to do
in a way that equaled her normal work.
Thankfully,
none of these tasks were essential
to my success.

Unless your friend is extremely professional,
think twice about outsourcing work to her.