Ways to make 2010 your best year yet
Robin's new book "The Leader Who Had No Title: A Modern Fable On Real Success in Business and Life" will be published by Simon and Schuster in March. Many of the ideas below come from it.
- Remember that leadership isn't about your position. It's about your influence.
- Get fit like a pro athlete.
- Lift people up versus tearing people down.
- Protect your good name. An impeccable reputation takes a lifetime to build. And 60 seconds to lose.
- Surround yourself with positive, ethical people who are committed to excellence.
- Remember that even a 1% daily innovation rate amounts to at least a 100% rate of innovation in 100 days.
- Believe in your dreams (even when others laugh at them).
- Measure your success, not by your net worth but by your self worth (and how happy you feel).
- Take an intelligent risk every 24 hours. No try-No Win.
- Watch "Man on Wire".
- Regardless of your title at work, be a team builder.
- Remember that business is all about relationships and human connections.
- Say "please" more.
- Say "thank you" more.
- Know your Big 5: the five things that need to happen by the end of this year for you to feel its been your best year yet.
- Read your Big 5 every morning while the rest of your part of the world is asleep.
- Be willing to fail. It's the price of greatness.
- Focus less on making money and more on creating value.
- Spend less, save more.
- Leave everything you touch better than you found it.
- Be the most positive person in every room you're in.
- Run your own race.
- Stay true to your deepest values and best ideals.
- Write a handwritten thank you note to a customer/friend/loved one every day.
- When you travel, send love letters to your kids on hotel stationary. In time, they'll have a rich collection to remember your travels by.
- Be a problem solver versus a trouble maker.
- Rather than doing many things at mediocrity do just a few things-but at mastery.
- Honor your parents.
- Commit to doing great work-whether anyone notices it or not. It's one of life's best sources of happiness.
- Give more than you receive (another of the truths of happiness).
- Have your 1/3/5/10/25 years goals recorded on paper and review them weekly.
- Be patient. Slow and steady wins the race. The only reason businesses that went from zero to a billion in a year or two get featured in magazines is because 99% of businesses require a lot more time to win.
- Underpromise and then overdeliver.
- See part of your job as "a developer of people" (whether you work in the boardroom or the mailroom).
- Wear your heart on your sleeve. When people see you're real, they'll fall in love with you.
- Be authentic versus plastic.
- Remember that life wants you to win. So get out of your own way.
- Consider that behind every fear lives your next level of growth (and power).
- Eat less food.
- Drink more water.
- Rest when you need to.
- Write your eulogy and then live your life backwards.
- Demand the best from yourself.
- Remember that the more you go to your limits, the more your limits will expand.
- See everything that happens to you as an opportunity to grow (and therefore, as a precious gift).
- Be obsessed with learning and self-development.
- Become comfortable alone (you are the only person you get to be with your whole life).
- Smile. It's a stunningly effective way to win in business and life.
- Reflect on the shortness of life.
- Be bold when it comes to your dreams but gentle with those you love.
- Remember that success is dangerous because it can kill drive/innovation/passion and going the extra mile. Be successful yet stay hungry.
- Be of deep value to this world.
- Own beautiful things but don't let them own you.
- Use excellent words.
- Laugh more.
- Don't complain, gossip or be negative.
- Plan as if you'll live forever but live as if you'll die tomorrow.
- Feel free to pass these lessons on to those you want to help.
Written by Robin Sharma, January 3, 2010. For more information visit robinsharma.com.
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