Stuck between mediocrity and excellence

The thing about advice is that you can selectively choose which part of it you want to take.  In addition to that, you can also choose which benefit will result out of the selected piece of advice that you have decided to follow.  Example: If I do any of the Beachbody workouts, my before and after pictures will look just like the ones I see on the infomercials.  Forget about the fact that there is a nutrition plan that comes with most, if not all, of those workouts that you have to follow.  Doing Insanity and then eating at 5 Guys won't get you a T-shirt. There is a lot to be said for understanding the bigger picture.  There is even more to be valued when you understand the full extent of what you need to take on and execute to get the results that you want. How many of us can say that we've really been "all in" what we want to accomplish? 

What is your source of inspiration for the work that you do?  Is it the people that you work with?  Is it the actual work that you do?   Is it specific purpose or goal that you are trying to fulfill or accomplish?  For many of us, we start out inspired when it comes to doing or creating -- and then something happens.  "Poof!" The inspiration disappears.  Inspiration comes from being present and being engaged with the environment and the people around you.  It comes from reading books. It comes from listening to podcasts. It comes from listening to your favorite music. It comes from continuing to grow yourself.  It may even come from quotes on social media--- or maybe not.  If you start to lose interest or find that your work is waning, search hard for a source of inspiration.  It will get you through the rough patches.

At some point in your life, you are going to be told not to compare yourself to other people.  However, if you have a competitive bone in your body or have ANY Type A tendencies, heeding this advice is basically impossible. We are part of system where comparing ourselves to others is not the exception, but the norm.  Class rankings. Performance ratings. Age, position, and title on an org chart.  The opportunities to compare yourself to others are constantly in your face.  It's the way we've been taught to measure ourselves.  At some point, you may feel like you are either stuck, in the same place, or being left behind.  The Analyst you mentored is now your boss.  Your peer in your business school class is now a CEO and you are still in Sr. Manager purgatory.  Where you are is not where you thought you should be and it's because for your entire life, you've used other people's experiences as your basis for comparison. Here is the ...

March Madness is upon us.  For me that means a sense of constant uncertainty because I went to a couple of public institutions where athletics is both a source of disappointment and euphoria -- usually at the same time.  Some interesting tidbits regarding my higher education's athletic programs: Both of my schools have the basketball courts named after a  women's basketball coach. Both of my schools have had an ESPN 30 for 30 special made about them. Both of my schools would have been awesome to attend in the 70's.  This year, both of my schools have kind of made the NCAA tournament, but they have to play an extra game to play in the tournament.  It's like saying, you're good enough, but not quite.  This is probably the story of a lot of our lives.  Many of us tend to quit right when we're close enough, but we don't push ourselves that extra bit to make it to the big dance.  If you ever get to a plateau in life and it feels like ...

In the words of Justin Timberlake, "Cry me a river."  They reason you aren't doing anything is because you are lazy.  In you case you need the definition, it means :not liking to work hard or be active.  In order to "help you along," I will be your accountability partner.  As your accountability partner, my role is as follows: I will kick your as* if I feel like you are slacking.  If I need to get my Iyanla Vanzant on and keep it real, I'll do that.  More importantly, I'll be your biggest advocate in helping you take steps to where you want to go.  So stop with the pity party and do something!  Sincerely,  An anonymous reader

If you are like me, your employer will give you plenty of opportunities to be busy.  At my old Firm, we called them "extra-curriculars."  Often, consultants would make the mistake of thinking that more extra-curricular activities equaled a better performance rating.  But then the Firm got smart and started asking questions about contribution, leadership, and impact.   This prevented everyone from  signing up for everything and not accomplishing anything (for the benefit of the Firm and themselves).  As I've gotten older- or matured as they say-  I've begun to be a little more selective. But I still have to balance the "what I have to do," with the "what I want to do."  After all, you want to do the bare minimums to keep your performance rating, but not more than you need to so that all of your time is wrapped up in things you really don't want to do.  Imagine what a company would look like if they let people do what ...

In order to change, you have to have the motivation to change.  For a lot of people, the summoning up the motivation to change feels more painful than staying in the same.  (That's a combination of Tony Robbins and Dave Ramsey).  Why do we stay in the same job, work for the same client, and endure the same employer when we know each day is going to a bring a "Please shoot me moment"'?  Why do we complain about our health while drinking a gallon of zero calorie soda every day?  Why do we complain about our finances when there is a high-priced German automobile in the garage?  The problem with motivation is that many of us don't have it in order to make real change in our lives. We envy the ones that do when the reality is that each and every one of us has the power to do something.  We just don't.  Change doesn't happen overnight. Based on my current observations, it doesn't even happen over the course of a few months - and that c...