Raise Necessity

In one of the several books I've been praising lately, I've learned one of the strategies that separates high achievers from everyone else is raising necessity. World class athletes to successful executives understand the power of following through on an objective for a higher calling -- for someone or something other than themselves. 

Whether it's an Olympian who strives for greatness for his or her country, the father who sees a project through long before its deadline to spend more time with his family, or the busy executive showing up to the gym at 5:00 am because she doesn't want to let down her trainer, there is extraordinary power in looking beyond your own needs when it comes to achievement. 

Raising necessity means building the community of folks who have something at stake if you don't honor your word. It's not about placing unrealistic expectations or pressure on yourself but about a heightened sense of accountability. 

If You Chase Two Rabbits You Will Not Catch Either One -- Praise for the Book, "The One Thing"

A mentor recently passed along a book that has completely reframed the way I look at focus. It's called, The One Thing and I highly recommend it. 

I've found myself underlining, highlighting, doggy-earring the countless insights and strategies that seem so obvious yet rarely practiced. Here's a very brief rundown of my takeaways so far:

1. Level up your focus.

2. Not all things matter equally.

3. You have to create a domino effect in your life -- success begets success

4. Do the right thing and then the NEXT right thing.

5. When you improve the right skill your results improve. 

6. Find the ONE thing and LIVE it. 

7. Be aware of the "The 6 Lies Between You and Success."

-- Everything Matters Equally

-- Multitasking 

-- A Disciplined Life

-- Willpower is Always on Will-Call

-- A Balanced Life

-- Big is Bad

8. "When everything feels urgent and important, everything seems equal. We become active and busy, but this doesn't actually move us any closer to success." (My number one challenge!)

9. Success isn't a game of who does the most -- be aware of to-do's that masquerade as priorities.

10. You can think BIG and still go small -- busy vs. productive.

This book will be a revelation for a lot of actors and artists because you can't compare our industry with anything else in the world. It's an incredibly a solo and sometimes lonely endeavor, success can be nebulous, and opportunities rare.

As a result, we often cling to something that will make us feel as if though we're inching closer to our dreams without taking into account its actual usefulness. 

I know I've made countless "to-do lists" over the last 10 years that often gave the elusion I was being productive, while in actuality they were just keeping me busy. 

Pick up this book and figure out how to turn your "to-do list" into a "success list." 

Happy reading!

https://www.amazon.com/ONE-Thing-Surprisingly-Extraordinary-Results/dp/1885167776/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1509656362&sr=8-1&keywords=the+one+thing

Lessons from a Hong Kong Airport

I've been to 45 countries, lived in several cities, and probably been on hundreds of planes. But for many years I was deathly afraid of flying. I just didn't let it stop me. I don't know exactly when that fear creeped up on me. I suppose it happened gradually as I got older. I started to question how an object weighing 370 tons could soar through the air at 500 mph. And rather than allowing myself to be led by curiosity I chose fear.

Then one day my mom told me something that completely reframed how I looked at flying. For years, she was a flight attendant for Cathay Pacific Airlines. She had some funny stories to share like the time an elderly woman attempted to open the emergency door during a flight. "What are you doing?" my mom asked. The woman looked at her and said, "I'm hot."

Because my mom was based in Hong Kong her flights departed and returned to Kai Tak Airport. With Hong Kong's countless skyscrapers and mountains just north of the runway stretching in to Victoria Harbor, landings were not for the faint of heart. It required a demanding type of focus and precision for the pilots. In other words, you couldn't really have an "off day" when landing in Hong Kong. 

All this to say my mom had developed a real sense of poise when it came to flying so when she saw that I would constantly get worked up over a little turbulence she said, "Just think of it like driving on a dirt road. There's just a few bumps along the way."

Those simple words put me at ease and I haven't looked back since. I still marvel at how malleable our minds are and how we have a choice in the way we process information. If we frame it in a way that is advantageous we can completely rethink and rewire how we approach our greatest fears, ambitions, and even our relationship to ourselves. 

Fine Tuning

Change is inevitable, but progress is not. Sooner or later everything changes. Your body starts to tells you what it can no longer do, new neighbors move in, and children grow up. 

But adaptability is a choice to evolve with those changes. In the process of that change, it’s important to confront some difficult questions: 

Am I looking for solutions to modern day challenges? Am I staying open to new possibilities, or am holding on to a method that is now obsolete? 

Having grit, passion, and hard work is certainly a necessity for any endeavor worth achieving. But it doesn't mean a little fine-tuning on our strategies from time to time would hurt.