Success = Asking a Great Question and Coming Up with a Great Answer

In Gary Keller's book, The One Thing, he talks about the importance of asking great questions in order to achieve our goals. When we ask questions of a higher caliber we're forced to face the challenge of finding an equally impactful answer.

Keller says there are 3 categories of answers: doable, stretch, and possibility. 

Doable answers are the ones we know we can do and are often already within reach.

Stretch answers are still within reach but ones that may require research, study, and extending ourselves beyond our current abilities.

And possibility answers are the type that require us to dream big and live on the outer limits of what we believe we can do.

The latter are the types of answers high achiever pursue because they understand extending one's self is the first step to enriching our lives for the better.

It's Just As Important to Know Who You Don't Want to Become

I've been very lucky throughout my life. I had the great fortune of being raised by two terrific parents, growing in an open-minded community, making great friends, and seeing much of the world. The remarkable people in my life have really made my life worth living. I could go on and on about all the qualities I admire about them. They're trustworthy, ambitious, kind, funny, resilient, and have lots of integrity.

But I've also learned how they, like all of us, can get in their own way. We're all deeply flawed people living a flawed life. Our job is to try and be better than we were the day before. And I say this respectfully, but you can learn a great deal from your inner circle about the qualities and tendencies you'd also like to avoid. 

From watching the people I most love and admire I've learned I want to cultivate a greater sense of patience. I don't want to end each day watching mindless television. I want to continue to work on myself and eat well. I don't want sports to be the only topic of discussion. And I don't want to ever be late for an appointment.

Take a closer look at the people you appreciate and take into consideration both the positive and not so positive qualities you can strive towards and weave around. 

It's just as important to know who you don't want to become as it is who you do. 

Be Great Now

Yesterday, my brother and I returned from Denver where we spent the Thanksgiving holiday with our “baby brother,” Danny. 

It sounds familiar, but the time really did fly by. There were moments where I really appreciated the fleeting nature of this life, but the actual minutes as I listened to my brothers laugh and trade barbs. 'It doesn’t seem fair in a way that it all must end some day,' I thought.

Yet, if it weren’t for life’s all-too-brief makeup we might never dream, strive, or, dare. We are in some perverse way motivated by our own mortality. 

And if we aren't we sure ought to be.

Start Writing

Today, there are countless ways to get your voice heard. There's WordPress, Tumblr, and Blogger to name just a few. And the great news is the vast majority are absolutely free.

http://www.creativebloq.com/web-design/best-blogging-platforms-121413634

Still, two of the most common hang-ups I hear about not starting a blog are the following:

1. I have nothing to say.

2. There's so much noise out there. How do I cut through it?

First, as author, entrepreneur, marketer, and blogger Seth Godin suggests, "Write like you speak." In other words, nobody ever has "talker's block."

Second, good content is good content is good content. The world is not starving for information, but it is always on the lookout for wisdom.

You have something unique and compelling to share. Now get to it.

Be Bold But Not Reckless

Nobody ever sits on their deathbed and says, "Man, I'm glad I never took any risks." Instead, we often regret the opportunities we missed, or passed on altogether.

In fact, Bronnie Ware's book, The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying, reveals the number one qualm people had about their lives was living on someone else's terms.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/03/top-5-regrets-of-the-dying_n_3640593.html

Still, in a culture replete with hashtags, mantras, and motivational gurus one would be forgiven for losing perspective on what it even means to live boldly.  Does it mean doing something dangerous? Drastic? And according to who?

Acting has taught me many lessons about living fully. Kristin Linklater, an enormously influential mentor in my life, was in essence telling my class to speak up when their is wrong, strive to become better each day, see the world, listen intently, refuse complacency, to love, to risk, and if we were lucky we might become great actors in the process - as a byproduct.

In other words, becoming a great actor was secondary to becoming a three-dimensional person.

Define what living fully means to YOU. It doesn't have to line-up with someone else's definition of what it means to be. To live.

In the words of Robert DeNiro, "Be bold, but not reckless."