Expect the Best

“Expect the best, prepare for the worst. Capitalize on what comes.”

                                                  Zig Ziglar

     People are often quoted as saying the quickest path to happiness is to not have any expectations.  There is truth to that statement because of the fact that we can’t always predict what will happen in life so we often will not realize our specific expectations.  This can lead to a lot of unhappiness.  To avoid unhappiness you refrain from having specific expectations but instead follow the process of expecting the best, preparing for the worst and capitalizing on what comes.  Following this process will lead to a positive outcome in every situation.

Expect the Best

     It is important to always expect the best in every situation. This doesn’t mean that you can completely define how things will turn out.  None of us have the power to accomplish that feat. However we all have the ability to tap into the power of your mind.  Expecting the best is a positive thought that will lead to positive actions.  Positive actions will then lead to positive results.  With this power you have the ability to get the best out of every situation because you expect it.  All you need to do is simply affirm that you expect the best each and every time.

Prepare for the Worst

     Expecting the best can easily transition to preparing for the worst.  Preparation is a self-protective act that shouldn’t be confused with having negative thoughts about the situation.  Preparing for the worst is a discipline.  It is a discipline that should be followed regardless of the situation.  You should always avoid expecting to access that preparation but you be should prepared anyway. It is the smart and prudent thing to do and often it is one of the hardest things to do. That is where the discipline comes in.  It takes discipline to save money in case you may need it in the event of a financial crisis. It takes discipline to exercise regularly in case you may need your strength in the event of a catastrophic accident.  It takes discipline to read numerous books in case you need to access that knowledge when plan A crashes and burns.

     After expecting the best and preparing for the worst something will happen in your life.  There will be an outcome.  This will be the outcome that you can’t fully control.  Now that the outcome is here you only have one job left to do.  Your job now is to capitalize on that outcome. 

Capitalize on the Outcome

     If the endeavor was a success capitalize on it by celebrating.  No matter how big or small you should celebrate your success.  Share your success with others so they can benefit from it as well.  Many people call this action paying it forward.  Study your success and learn how to repeat them in the future.  Don’t miss the opportunity to develop new habits or improve current ones when they have been proven to be successful.

     If your endeavor was a failure capitalize on it by learning from it.  Determine what went wrong and how you can avoid it in the future.  Don’t waste time feeling sorry that it went wrong.  Instead use that energy to analyze and develop plans for the future.  You should also determine what went right and how you can continue to do it in the future. The overall endeavor may have failed but there are things you did well that you need to continue doing in the future.  There is always something to learn in failure and don’t miss out on the opportunity to capitalize on them.

     This is a simple approach to that can be incorporated on any scale.  It doesn’t matter if your endeavor is a plan for a weekend spring cleaning or the launch of a billion dollar device.  No matter how small or large you should approach every endeavor in your life by expecting the best, preparing for the worst and capitalizing on the actual outcome.  Thank you Zig Ziglar for the great reminder.

Have a great week,

Drew

Lack of Money is No Obstacle

“Lack of money is no obstacle.  Lack of an idea is an obstacle.”

                                                  Ken Hakuta

    Money is critical to the success of any business.  Either you need capital to get going, profit to keep going or revenue to meet Wall Street expectations.  Money is a key a deliverable that most if not all companies are measured by.  However, no matter if you are starting a company or working for a Fortune 100, money is not an obstacle to your success.  The true obstacle for success is the lack of ideas.

     What is an idea anyway?  Google defines an idea as a thought or suggestion as to a possible course of action.  An idea in itself is only a possibility.  Yet everything that you have ever accomplished is an example of a possibility that became a reality.  Your current job was just an idea before you were actually in it.  Whether that was your idea or someone else’s, the idea was first and you being in that job followed sometime after.  Ideas are the beginning to all things created.

We Were Born to Create

     Your life is unfolding in front of you every day.  We were all put on this earth to create. As a result you are creating your life.  Sometimes that is a hard pill to swallow, especially if your life isn’t currently living up to your desires.  Other times you can be proud of all your life accomplishments that you have been able to create.  Wherever you fall on the spectrum, you are there because of what you have or haven’t created.

      In order to create money you must first have an idea.  Therefore the idea is the root cause to success.  The money is the output from the idea.  The more ideas you have the better chance you have of creating the money you desire.  The more ideas you have the more chance you have of removing money as an obstacle.

Capturing the Ideas We Have

       The beauty of the human mind is that it is full of ideas.  The tragedy is that too many of us don’t share those ideas.  We keep them to ourselves.  We let them come and go.  We don’t capture them for analysis and future creation.  We just let life happen instead of making it happen.  Chances are you won’t get the results you want out of life taking that approach.

      Here are some suggestions you should implement to start capturing and analyzing ideas.  By implementing one or more of these suggestions you have a better chance of creating a habit that will lead to success.

Use a Tool to Capture Ideas Anywhere, Anytime or Anyplace

·       A simple journal is a great way to capture ideas.  Keep it with you in the car, on your desk or in your room.  When you have ideas write them down.  There is power in pen and paper.

·       Use technology to capture your ideas

o   Create a simple word document named IDEAS

o   Use a mobile app like Evernote to capture ideas

o   Use the notes application on your phone or desktop

o   Use a voice recorder (phone, desktop, Alexa, Google Home)

o   Use a collaboration tool to capture ideas from many people (Sharepoint, Trello, Google Docs, etc)

Develop a Routine to Force You to Capture Ideas

·       First thing every morning

·       Lunch

·       Once a week, month, quarter

·       Set a recurring appointment on your calendar until it becomes routine

Combine the Power of Multiple Minds and Create a Mastermind Group

·       Choose 3-5 trusted and talented individuals to share ideas (combining the routine and tools above)

·       Schedule an Idea focused lunch (share a meal and discuss ideas)

·       Schedule an Idea focused walk (walking outside fuels creativity)

     Capture ideas first and analyze them later (I’ll provide more guidance on analyzing ideas in a future write up.)  Remember the more ideas the better chance you have of creation.  If you haven’t incorporated a habit of generating and capturing ideas you are missing out on an opportunity to improve your chances of success.   Implement some of these suggestions and witness the creations that follow.  You were put on this earth to create and the more you create the more success you will have in life.

      One of Zig Ziglar’s most famous quotes on money is “Money isn’t the most important thing in life, but it’s reasonably close to oxygen on the “gotta have it” scale.”  Without money you will run into many obstacles in life.  However money itself won’t be the real obstacle.  The real obstacle will be the lack of ideas.  In order to get the money you need then you “gotta have” ideas. Take some of the advice above and go get your ideas.

Have a great week,

Drew

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