Mindset Matters

On November 10 th , 2010, Qantas Flight 32 took off from Changi en route to Sydney, Australia with Captain Richard Champion de Crespigny commanding the aircraft. Shortly after takeoff, at just 7,400 feet, disaster struck as one of the engines exploded under the wing. The blast not only completely destroyed the engine, but it sent shards of metal traveling all directions, slicing holes in the hull and the wing of the aircraft. Molten shrapnel from engine tore through the plane, destroying fuel lines, hydraulics and electrical systems. As the plane began hemorrhaging fuel and fluid on top of the loss of electrical power and computer capabilities, the stress to the aircraft began shutting down other ancillary systems and the aircraft quickly lost nearly all functionality. Bells, alarms and alerts started blaring as one by one, twenty-one of the twenty –two operating systems within the aircraft had either become completely inoperable or irreparably damaged. Co-pilots began relayi...

“If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.” - G. K. Chesterton No, that’s not a misprint – If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing poorly. I am not sure what Mr. Chesterton meant when he wrote that many years ago, but I have an interpretation for you. To me, it means anything worth doing is worth struggling through mistakes until you get it right, especially during the early attempts when the execution is sloppy and the process isn’t clear. It means you don’t wait for the “perfect” time to embark on a new course or campaign. It’s stepping out into the unknown before you feel “ready” or “prepared” (hint – for most things worth doing, you will never feel “ready”). It’s having the courage to fail in the moment and to experience sub-par, but also the perseverance to continue through the setbacks to improve and gain mastery. It’s committing to success in the midst of disappointment. Sometimes you have to stop planning and just execute. Sometimes there are no right ...

According to a Barrick Gold publication in which they looked at production values for several different mines, anywhere from 2 to 90 tons of rock was excavated for every ounce of gold produced. Some mines had better production efficiency than others, but if we just take an average there, we are looking at over 45 tons of rock dug out for a single ounce of the shiny stuff. That means out of everything harvested, less than one ten-thousandths of a percent was actually what they were targeting. Over 99.9999% of what they mined was worthless. Yet, all over the world, billions of dollars are spent each year in the mining and exploration of gold. Why? Because the payoff is worth it and sometimes you have to dig through a lot of junk to find the gold. These companies understand the numbers and realize the only way to find more gold is to dig through more useless rock. The more gravel, dirt and stone they excavate, the closer they are to the next ounce of precious metal. As individua...

We all have two conflicting forces within us. Each of us has a sheepdog that is compassionate and protective. It looks to serve others but also wants what is best for you, and it is willing to make sacrifices to accomplish that. The sheepdog urges you to take the narrow road and the uphill path. Then there’s the wolf. The wolf is a coward and predator. It is selfish and short-sighted. Not only is it unconcerned with others, it will give up your long-term gain as well for what is easiest in the moment. The wolf orders you to take the easy road, the comfortable path. Every day these two battle against one another to be the alpha – to be in charge and to be dominant over your decisions. They are both strong, but over time, either can be strengthened or weakened depending on how much they are fed. If you feed the sheepdog, it gets stronger and all its attributes are magnified. However, if you feed the wolf, the sheepdog is weakened and the wolf instead grows powerful and more d...

I was talking with a friend tonight about careers and parenting, life and purpose. We got into some pretty deep stuff and got on the subject of being uncomfortable. We both agreed discomfort is a gift.   It’s a gift because it brings freedom. You are already uncomfortable so you have less to lose by risking and venturing into the unknown. You aren’t trapped in a comfort zone or stuck in a rut. Discomfort is liberating. It’s a gift because it keeps you moving. It’s easy to slow down or stop – to get complacent and comfortable – when nothing is prodding you along. Discomfort presses you forward. It’s a gift because the truly precious elements of your life taste even sweeter amidst a backdrop of discomfort. Sweetness loses is flavor if bitterness is never experienced. It’s a gift because it requires you to dig deeper within your soul and count the cost of your ambitions and dreams. It forces you search for greater meaning and purpose in your actions, testing them...

I’ve heard it mentioned, “Don’t let success go to your head or failure go to your heart.” Success can be intoxicating and also deluding. It can cause not only arrogance but apathy. Success can turn someone who was once driven and determined to being comfortable and complacent. Tragically, once the arrogance or complacency sets in, people will stop making the sacrifices it took to birth the success in the first place. By staying humble, you stay teachable and willing to learn and improve. By staying hungry, you keep apathy at bay. Failure can be debilitating and – when it leads to doubt – will trigger a cancer in the soul. It can destroy confidence and initiative. If we dwell on the failure for too long, it poisons our outlook for the next opportunity or challenge. However, we can’t ignore or downplay failure either. Failure can be a great teacher but only if we let it. We learn a lot more from losses than we do from wins but we must remove our emotions and focus on the less...

A couple days ago we had an election here in town and I had several friends and family members – including my own kids – ask me if I had voted. I did vote but it wasn’t until later in the afternoon so I was quite tired of having to say “no, not yet” for most of the day. As I was being asked this question, I was reminded of a conversation I had with a friend recently, recalling a discussion with his son many years before. He told me he had been encouraging his then-teen-age son to take more of a leadership role on his baseball team but his son responded with, “I don’t want to be a leader.” My friend then explained to his boy, “You don’t get to vote on being a leader. You only get to vote on what kind of leader you become.” Those words are profound. We get a chance to vote on a lot of things but being a leader and influencing people isn’t one of them. Whether you hold a title of “leader” or not doesn’t matter, you still have influence on those around you. Many people don’t ac...

It is very difficult to hit a target if you haven’t yet identified where or at what you are aiming. Zig Ziglar has another way of saying the same thing, “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.” Have you noticed a lot of folks are aimless these days? It seems people are waking up every day, going through the motions, and wandering through life. They may have an idea or a glimpse of what they want their life to look like but certainly lack a clear plan or path to get there. This is not intentional living. Even if goals are made, they are often vague and unmeasurable. “I should read more” is an idea. “I want to read one new book a month and I will accomplish that by reading at least one chapter four or more nights every week” is an actual goal. By being specific and engaging in immediate action, we immediately hold ourselves more accountable. “I want to lose weight” is a far cry from “I will lose 10lbs in three months by cutting out snacking after dinner and runn...

Benjamin Franklin said, “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.”   Now, we all make excuses from time to time, but Ol’ Ben seems to be referring to those who make a habit of it. And I do believe excuses can be habitual because they set a precedent for one’s view of life. If a student gets a bad exam score and blames it on the material or the professor, she has already given up ground for the next test. After all, if the material is poorly presented or the professor doesn’t like her, surely she is a victim and the next result will likely be as the last. Never mind the fact she sleeps through a third of her classes and “studying” looks more like watching TV with a book open. When an employee is in a rut at work, rarely getting a promotion or raise and maybe even being “mistreated” with undesirable tasks and assignments, he may blame the boss or his coworkers. “They never liked me anyway.” Or, “My boss just has it out for me.” Surely, he has...

There is a Hebrew fable about a young man walking down an old farm road. As he walked, he noticed an aged farmer planting carob trees. Curious, the traveler stopped and asked the farmer, “How long will it take this tree to bear fruit?” “Seventy years,” was the old man’s matter-of-fact reply. A bit confused, the traveler questioned the farmer again and asked, “Surely, you don’t expect to still be here when these trees finally produce their fruit! Why go to all the trouble?” The farmer paused, looked up from his work, wiped a bit of sweat of his brow and directed his gaze at the young man as he responded, “You are correct, I will be long gone when it is time to harvest their fruit, but when I was born into this world, I benefitted from the fruit of many trees planted by my grandfather and those before him. Trees I did not plant, nor did I work to cultivate. Just as they did for me, I am planting these trees for my grandchildren and the generations that follow.” You ha...

One thing I have learned and observed over the years is the more I hold on to things, the less I have. I think this applies to material things just as much as to less tangible possessions such as skills and talents. By giving away some of myself and what I have, it seems I am more open to blessings and growth. It also reduces my attachment to my present circumstances. A clenched fist, holding on tight to whatever it holds, may not lose the object in its possession, but neither can it receive anything. Too often, we hold on so tightly to what we have and know that we simultaneously prevent ourselves from something even better. Giving can shift our entire mentality and perspective, allowing us to see things in a different light. When we detach from the circumstances of the moment, it allows a view of the bigger picture. We can more easily view the road ahead if we are not so caught up in the here and now. Small or great, giving is a sacrifice. So is investing for the fu...

I often hear  –  and sometimes it’s coming from my own mouth   –  complaints about not having enough time. We make excuses for things not getting done because we just “don’t have the time.” And we assume if somehow we had more time, things would be a lot different for us. I studied the lives of some very accomplished people and did some pretty strenuous calculations to come up with the following data: Elon Musk is given 86,400 seconds every day. Warren Buffet receives 1440 minutes every day. Bill Gates has been able to consistently obtain 10,080 minutes each week. Oprah has the benefit of utilizing about 720 hours in a typical month. And know what, you do too! With a net worth of $85 billion dollars, the only thing Warren Buffett doesn’t have any more of than you do is time (and maybe hair). Time is an interesting commodity. Regardless of wealth, power or social standing, we are all gifted with the same amount each day. The richest person on the planet ...

I have been told to imitate the actions of those I admire and want to be like – to be successful at a craft or within an industry, to study and follow what successful people do and work to duplicate those actions. While I believe this to be sound advice, it is also missing a huge variable: Heart. Without heart, actions are simply not sustainable. If one was to truly emulate the actions of someone very successful, the amount of sacrifice, dedication and commitment required to follow those footsteps could only possibly endure with deeply rooted conviction and passion. There has to be an overwhelming “why” and it has to come from the soul. Without the Why, the actions are empty and short-lived. Let me give you an example: the Navy SEAL. Everything it takes to become a SEAL can be very easily discovered after a couple hours of researching on the internet. You can find day by day, week by week, descriptions of BUD/S, the SEAL selection process. The actions are right there, out in ...

The other day, I heard someone mention they wished baby monitors had a snooze button. Although comical, it is also thought-provoking. When a new baby wakes up crying in the middle of the night, a parent wouldn’t hit “snooze” even if such a button existed on the baby monitor. Tempting as it might be to go back to sleep, especially after strings of multiple sleepless nights for a new mom, she knows her helpless baby needs her and there is urgency in that need. What if you treated your alarm clock the same way? What if you treated every day with a sense of urgency and purpose, like a mother checking on her new baby? A couple of weeks ago, I hit “snooze” for the first time in months. As soon as I did it, I felt the sting of defeat and it seemed to trigger a cascade of disruption in my mind set. I felt “off” for the better part of the day. It may seem like a small act, but hitting “snooze” starts your whole day out on the wrong path. Although appearing insignificant, it ca...

I believe there is great value in contentment. The Bible speaks of it often and I can certainly see the benefits of contentment manifest themselves in my life and the lives of those around me. Contentment can bring great fulfillment and joy, regardless of circumstances. I believe contentment puts us in a state of mind to focus on the blessings we do have rather than obsess on what we think we are missing. It is also empowering and freeing, as contentment allows us to find satisfaction despite circumstances rather than because of them, releasing us from reliance on external events to produce our happiness. However, contentment does not mean settling nor does it entail giving yourself an out for the current state of affairs in your life. Contentment is a balancing act of living in and appreciating the moment but also seeking to progress and grow in the future. Please understand I am not speaking of progress in social status or wealth or power. Those may be a side effect of your i...

We have all seen false humility: the guy who tries to hide his arrogance with feigned modesty. It’s usually pretty obvious and always obnoxious. But there is also another variation of false humility out there: toxic humility. This is often displayed in self-deprecating talk and a lack of self-confidence, belittling or undermining one’s own talents and abilities. The danger in this kind of behavior is twofold: it is too often accepted as true humility and like a virus, it spreads doubt and disbelief. To clarify, it is not that the bearer of this toxic humility isn’t honest about his view of himself. That is the very issue: he absolutely believes he has little value or utility. He thinks downplaying his own worth is humility but I disagree. CS Lewis said it best when he wrote, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking about yourself less.” His point being, true humility is not an ever-present raincloud of self-doubt that follows you around. It’s a focus on...

Have you ever rented a car and prepaid the fuel just so you wouldn’t have the hassle of gassing up the rental on the way to the airport? After all, it’s never fun trying to find the closest gas station to the interstate in a city you aren’t familiar with while you’re already running late for your flight. Sometimes the convenience is well worth the “risk” of purchasing gas you might not use. Even so, as the end of your trip draws near and you still have a half a tank of gas left over, there is a sense of guilt and waste because of the extra fuel you didn’t need to buy. If you are like me, you feel the urge to drive out of your way just to use up as much of the gas as possible. I come up with excuses to add some extra miles, wasting my time, just so I won’t “waste” my fuel. It seems like such a shame to hand over that rental car with a half-filled tank of gas that I “sacrificed” to purchase. Unfortunately, I am not always as conscientious when it comes to my own opportuni...

Have you “found your groove” lately? Or are you hoping to “get into your groove” soon? People talk about “hitting their stride” and “being in a groove” as this great goal - and it is - to a point. But there is a darker side to “finding your groove” that I don’t hear discussed very often. I am sure you have heard people admit they felt “stuck in a rut” too, but what they probably didn’t mention, or maybe even recognize, was the “rut” they feel trapped in now was once the “groove” they so diligently sought. They got comfortable, then they got complacent, maybe even bored, and now the groove they cherished has been worn down into a deep rut from which they feel they can’t escape. Sometimes the only different between a groove and rut is how long you stay there. When settlers started moving out West, the now famous Oregon Trail was only passable on foot or horseback, used by primarily fur traders originally. As the popularity of westward expansion grew, a wagon trail was clear...

Yesterday I wrote about the fallacy of overnight success  HERE but today I want to share an analogy from nature with you to illustrate that further. The Chinese Bamboo Tree is both fascinating and inspiring. Once sprouted above ground, the bamboo tree can grow two to three feet in a day and can reach heights of ninety feet within just six weeks of pushing through the soil. Not only does it grow at an incredible rate, it is extremely strong and durable. Bamboo can withstand more impact and pressure than concrete or brick and it has a higher tensile strength than steel. That’s pretty impressive when you consider it’s technically a variety of grass. From a small, tender shoot to a nearly indestructible ninety foot tree in less than six weeks, it seems as if the Chinese Bamboo Tree would be nature’s example of an overnight success. However that’s not the whole story. You see, once planted, the bamboo tree appears to do nothing for the first year. In the second year, ther...

We’ve all heard the phrase, “overnight success.” What we think it means is someone whose talent or product was miraculously discovered out of the blue. Some idea or some concept was rolling around in someone’s head and then BOOM, it just exploded into success. We relate to this concept because we live in a microwave society where everything happens NOW. We can send pictures and messages across the globe instantaneously. We can speak to long lost friends in real time even if they are thousands of miles away. We carry a powerful computer in our pockets which receives updates and news from everywhere in the world moment by moment. We buy now and pay later with no interest until April. We want the quick fix, the magic pill, the silver bullet. Instant gratification and immediate results are not just a desire in our culture, they are an entitlement. There’s a reason Instagram is so popular and there’s no such thing as PatiencePics. This “results-right-now” expectation is an epide...

My wife, Tiffany, absolutely hates to fly. I don’t mean it’s an inconvenience or an annoyance to her; I am talking about a full blown, has-walked-off-a-plane-moments-before-a-flight-departed, utter disdain for flying. It used to be so bad her anxiety would start building several days, even a week, before a flight. For years she simply didn’t fly. But as our family grew and kids started hearing about this magical land of beaches and sunshine called “Hawaii”, the pressure mounted for her to get back on a plane. It wasn’t just the kids either; the cold, dark Alaskan winters also added some serious motivation to face her fears and start flying again. In order to get on that plane headed to Oahu, Tiffany said she forced herself to envision kids playing on the beach and the beautiful ocean and warm sun. She had to look past the flight itself and direct her attention on why she was getting on the plane to begin with. Tiffany was focused on the destination. It’s a natural re...