Before and after

What you are today is nothing compared to what you will be tomorrow.

And what you are today is massively more compared to what you were yesterday.

Life is continuous progress. Many look for success in what lies ahead – I will have more – while at the same time regretting the lack of what once was – I was better off. The point is to completely revert the perspective, and start measuring success looking at the path so far while aspiring to what comes next.

It’s always the journey, not the destination.

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.

Epicurus

When the going gets though

Are you into it only when everything is great, or even when it’s difficult?

Do you show up for work only on your best days, or even when you don’t feel like it?

Are you happy to take your turn in the company meeting only when the results are great, or even when you’ve had a bad period?

Do you love your partner only when they make you coffee in the morning, or even when they are just too busy to even drink the coffee?

Are you a leader only when the team is great, or even when the team needs guidance and motivation?

The point is, it’s easy when it’s easy. It’s when the going gets tough that the tough get going.

Ideas fly away

No matter how fantastic an idea is, how relevant it is, how sure you are you are never going to forget it and you will keep improving on it.

In the busyness of the day, the idea will most likely fly away.

If you ever want to achieve something meaningful (for you), take the habit of writing things down.

It makes a difference.

Confidence

You don’t always have an answer, you don’t always know what to do, you don’t always understand what is happening.

The trick is not to try to fake it. Not to try to escape it.

If you can just stay with the feeling for a while, what you need will come.

Confidence is about being at ease with uncertainty, without wanting to get rid of it at all costs.

Distractor

We always have thoughts.

Thoughts about what’s about to happen. Thoughts about what we would like to happen. Thoughts about what that person we barely know is thinking about that minuscule thing we did yesterday. Thoughts about our kids, our jobs, our relationships, our lives. Thoughts about how we will get out of a nasty situation. Thoughts about how good it was, how bad it will be, how incredible it could be if only.

We always have thoughts and we will always have them. That’s our great distractor. Not our phones, not our kids, not the noisy neighbor. Sure, all those things amplify our capacity to be distracted, but our own thoughts are the great distractor.

Train to be here, in the moment, and reinforce that link with what is happening.