"Interestingly, koi, when put in a fish bowl, will only grow up to three inches.
When this same fish is placed in a large tank, it will grow to about nine inches long.
In a pond koi can reach lengths of eighteen inches. Amazingly, when placed in a lake, koi can grow to three feet long.
The metaphor is obvious. You are limited by how you see the world."
--via Vince Poscente
I spent part of this week at the First Rate Performance Conference. It was held at the Four Seasons resort in Las Colinas, Texas (which is a pretty nice place for a retreat).
In addition to hearing industry experts and company representatives talking about equations, risk management, and regulatory compliance, the conference featured Terry Hershey, who wrote a book called The Power of Pause (Becoming More by Doing Less).
In the book, Terry counters the modern cultural decree of More-Bigger-Faster. His message was simple (and perhaps even easy).
One of the takeaways was that some things are tactical, some things are strategic, and some things are transformational. All of these things can be good ... but the quality of your life and the results results you get change as you spend less time with the tactical and move towards the transformational.
Hershey is a story-teller. Here is one of them:
A teacher gave her class an assignment to name the seven wonders of the world.
Each student came up with a list and shared with the class. As you might guess, students called out entries like the Pyramids, the Amazon River, the Grand Canyon, or the Taj Mahal. The teacher cheered them on and told them what a great job they were doing.
But one girl stayed silent. The teacher asked her about her list, and the girl answered, "I don't think I understand the assignment."
"Why?"
"I don't have any of the right answers."
"Well, why don't you tell us which you wrote on your paper, and we'll help you."
"Okay," said the girl, "I think the seven wonders of the world are ... to see, to hear, to touch, to smell, to feel, to love, and to belong."
Somewhere along the way, we tend to forget what we used to know.
How much of our daily experience is defined by what we shoot for and what we measure?
Life can be so "daily". That's a problem, isn't it? No wonder we're easily tempted by things that are urgent, rather than important. But it doesn't have to be that way ... and the first step is recognizing that it doesn't have to be that way. The second step is figuring out how you want it to be instead.
To see some of his messages in video format, click this link.
Wow, how time flies!
via someecards.com
The 1st Quarter of the year is almost in the books. How are things going?
Spring is an excellent reminder that I was supposed to get in shape before spring.
“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” ~Zig Ziglar
As a public service, I am sharing this Formal Apology from the Bureau of Communication.
Failure to use it has consequences.
For example, have you seen this video of what an angry father can do to his daughter's laptop?
Do you applaud the standard he is trying to teach her ... or are you tempted to call Child Protective Services?
If she had just used the apology form ...
Sometimes normal isn't enough.
Playing safe is often a good strategy ... But, sometimes you have to expect the extraordinary.
Did you see the strange guy doing a modified tight-rope circus routine during Madonna's Super Bowl half-time performance.
Well, it was more than that ... did you see the guy bounce up and down as though that little rope was a trampoline?
What in the world was going on?
Well, the short answer is: slacklining. Or, if you want to get technical and specific, tricklining. According to California's Adventure Sports Journal , slacklining was invented in the early 1980s by two rock climbers.
As you may have guessed, the Super Bowl halftime cameo was a big moment for the young sport of slacklining—and for the talented, curly-haired slackliner who got the spotlight: Andy Lewis, aka Sketchy Andy . You've got to watch what he can really do!
Imagine what went into developing this skill. Was it thought ... or something you forgot you could exercise?
What are you committed to expecting extraordinary about ... starting now?
During this holiday season, I hope you are grateful for the things that are great in your life,
that you choose what you can use from the things weren't great …
and that you invest those lessons in your future.
The hardest part of finding a better way is often just remembering that there might be one.
___________________
Best wishes to you for a healthy, happy, and prosperous new year.
- Howard
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I know what I want for the holidays ... an amazing island built right on a beautiful yacht.
HT KD
This was created by UK-based Yacht Island Designs.
As you can see, the design is inspired by tropical islands, with huts, a pool ... and to top that ... a volcano guaranteed not to erupt.
Since it's a yacht, it comes packed with VIP rooms, arcades, gym, lounges, spas and even a helipad. What a great place to do business?
The back of the yacht has a retractable beach deck and dock. Why go to the trouble of getting out to sea if you can't wake-board, jet-ski, or swim; right?
If you want to know how much it would cost to fuel-it-up or operate, it's probably not in your price range.
Hope you are having a happy holiday season.
This Thanksgiving weekend, a friend called to say he was reaching out to the people he was thankful for - and just wanted to let me know how he felt.
My mind immediately began thinking about what else the call could have been about? I remembered that I intended to send him a book. I thought about the last time we talked. And then it hit me, he was actually exercising his ability to be thankful.
Wow, what a concept.
Were you actually grateful and thankful this weekend?
It is a choice. It is a habit. For me, it is something I aspire to exercise more regularly ... What about you?
Looking back over the past few weeks, I recognize that I have been pushing hard - with a focus on finishing the year strong. Maybe it's time to recognize how much progress was made and intentionally focus on making people feel appreciated and capable instead?
Scar tissue, resentment, frustration, and fear are unnecessary and counterproductive. It's time to figure-out what feels good and do more of it.
With that in mind, here is a picture of me with my awesome wife and oldest son at the Cowboys game. We had a great Thanksgiving. Hopefully, you did too.
This public service message has been presented by the part of me that knows better. Hopefully, the part of you that knows better will notice it.
Have a great rest of the year.
