Letters To My Son

“You have to master the one who throws obstacles in your way. Master yourself. Only in taking responsibility is where you find freedom and power.”

“Instead of believing the world was plotting to do him harm, he chose to believe the world was plotting to do him good. Instead of seeing every difficult or challenging event as negative, he saw it for what it could be.”

With a growth mindset, we embrace challenging opportunities because we know that we can only reach our highest potential by consistently playing at our edges and that the only failure is not really going for it and learning along the way. The distinction between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset is huge.

“Now is the only time. How we relate to it creates the future. In other words, if we’re going to be more cheerful in the future, it’s because of our aspiration and exertion to be cheerful in the present. What we do accumulates; future is the result of what we do now.”

It is so easy to overestimate the importance of one defining moment and underestimate the value of making small improvements on a daily basis. Too often, we convince ourselves that massive success requires massive action.

Today were talking about the goals burning inside of you. That was quite the week you had. I’ll be the first to say enjoy the win. Celebrate the victory. And good on ya. But somewhere deep down inside, you know one thing is for sure. It is never finished.

“As you reflect and you refocus you can refine and upgrade your behavior. And as you refine and upgrade your behavior, you will refine an upgrade what it is you achieve, because it’s your behaviors that determine what you achieve.”

“Our propensity for action stems from our need to be in control. By taking action, we feel as though we’re actually doing something to forward ourselves or to better our situation. Actively doing something makes us feel as though we have the capacity to change things, while doing nothing makes us feel like we’ve given up, and we’ve accepted that we can do nothing more.”

“The majority of people are ready to throw their aims and purposes overboard, and give up at the first sign of opposition or misfortune. A few carry on despite all opposition, until they attain their goal. There may be no heroic connotation to the word ‘persistence,’ but the quality is to the character of man what carbon is to steel.” -Jeff Olson, The slight Edge

“One of the quickest and most direct routes to getting yourself up and onto the success curve is to get out of the past. Review the past, but only for the purpose of making a better plan. - Jeff Olson.

What is holding you back from living a life that you love? Is it fear? Most of us are hindered by fear in one way or another, but it doesn’t have to control your life. You could learn to conquer your fear and create a life worth living. Just take the first step just start.

Is watching Netflix and having a bottle of wine every night helping you close the gap from where you are to where you want to be?

The truth is sometimes our worst enemy is ourselves and not what happens around us. If you don't want to continue taking punches from life, it's time to get up and start fighting back! Fight back! Take control of your own happiness and find ways to love yourself again.

“ I found good men and women wherever I went on my journey through life. I strived to be as good as they were, as good as I could be, so in the end, those that knew me would be proud to call me their friend. All I ever wanted was to be a good man.”

This episode is especially dedicated to the courage of Viktor Frankl who wrote a book entitled Man’s Search For Meaning. And for teaching me the importance of having a mission in life and that as we serve something bigger than ourselves, our happiness and success will follow.

“Don’t expect the time in your life when you’ll be free from change, free from struggle, free from worry. To be resilient, you must understand that your objective is not to come to rest, because there is no rest. Your objective is to use what hits you to change your trajectory in a positive direction.”

“What are you telling yourself is impossible? My hunch is it’s a heck of a lot more doable than riding your bike to the Himalayas, hopping off and ascending Everest without any assistance. Oh, and then riding back home.”

This episode is especially dedicated to Barry Michels and Phil Stutz who wrote a book entitled, The Tools. For their wisdom in teaching me the character difference between Consumer and Creator. I am both humbled and grateful.

This episode is especially dedicated to Harry Dorfman, one of the world’s leading mental training experts who wrote Coaching The Mental Game - For his wisdom on optimizing our relationships with others and recognizing that I am not 100% right about anything. I am forever grateful.

Competition holds the promise to bring out the very best in us, and that’s why we should seek it out. The word comes from the Latin root peto, which means ‘to go out and seek.’ The prefix com means ‘with’ or ‘together.’ Thus, competition is a social process that requires others. You can’t do it by yourself.

To be fully engaged in an activity means to be present in this moment and in what you are doing right now. It also means to be completely content in that experience. There is no anxiousness about or sense of longing for the future, and there is no regret about the past.

Imagine that. The greatest players on the greatest team ever after a big win. They celebrate with family and press, they reflect on the hard work that got them there and the hard work ahead. Then they sweep.

“It isn’t the mountain ahead that wears you out; it’s the grain of sand in your shoe.” ―Robert W. Service

When my son went off to college and then after one year enlisted in the United States Navy. Between care packages and letters I don’t think there was ever a lack. There were letters that I wrote. Letters I didn’t write. And letters I had wished I had written. No I don’t think it’s too late. The recording of this episode and all episodes go into Time in a bottle. This is that letter.

It felt like something was nearing its end. I had this feeling. A premonition that someone was about to decide that my time was up. After 21 years with the company, what did I need to be overly concerned about?