The System That's Slowly And Quietly Destroying Us

It's costing money.It's costing time.It's costing headache and pain and frustration.The trouble is that it's the system we've used for so long.The trouble is that it does what it was designed to do, but we don't need it to do that anymore.The trouble is that it still works for some people.

Can you guess what I'm talking about?

It's the public education system.For some, the public school system is effective at doing exactly what it was designed to do.

It creates workers who know how to follow instructions, sit at a desk for 8 hours a day, and stay in their lanes.

The problem is that it's not creating workers for the jobs that don't exist yet.The problem is that right now, we're all spending lots of money UN-teaching new graduates so they can learn what matters in TODAY's workplace.It's rare that an employer needs their team to know Pythagorean theorem or that Neptune is a gas planet.It's more important that they learn how to lift others up, keep a positive attitude in the face of adversity, and how to create new solutions to problems that pop up on the job.I don't need you to know that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell--I need you to know the consequences of not correcting global warming.I don't need you to know the date of the battle of Waterloo--I need you to know how to handle difficult personalities.I don't need you to know the names of the states and capitals--I need you to know how to use a spreadsheet to solve an inventory problem.It's not about the formula or memorization anymore.We've got technology for that.It's about solving human problems.

2 Minute Action

What's the skill or human problem that's causing 80% of your pain right now?How will you fix it?Some options include:

• Hiring a consultant/specialist who works with people/companies like you.
• Hiring a therapist to get through the personal or socio-emotional hurdles we all have.
• Building/anchoring a practice or habit into your daily routine.

The punchline is that school has failed many of us.It's up to you to identify and solve.Your clock is ticking so I suggest you make this priority and take action.

Hard Work Isn’t As Vaynerchuk Describes It

Gary Vaynerchuk totes his success to hard work and mostly just that.I’ve actually been following him since he was posting wine videos on YouTube for Wine Library in 2012.The weird thing is that he actually does work very hard. He’s constantly working. He’s constantly selling. He’s constantly moving.

But the critical thing to notice is that he’s made most of his money by investing in big companies like Twitter.

Its easy to say: “oh, he just put in some capital and now he’s reaping all the benefits. If I’d have been so lucky, I’d be there too.”This is only partially true.Yes he invested in the right things at the right time.But he also had access to these investments because of all the work he did prior.He was in the social network of the people who could get him access to the deal.He had to have a few things in place to make this happen.

Talent, opportunity, and hard work.

Heres how it looks when targeting succsss:Talent + Opportunity (Hard Work) = Success

2 Minute Action:

Do your dreams match your behaviors?What will you have to do differently to make this dream a reality?What might stop you from getting there?How might you handle those challenges differently now that you’ve addressed them, here.Please take these two minutes to clearly define what success looks like and what you might need to do differently to get there.It may be hard work, but it also may be creating the opportunities you’ll need.Talent is out of your control and it turns out that it’s not super important in the formula we covered above.😉

Anyone Else Trying To Do This and Failing??

The 5 E's.The 6 Step Method.The Secret Formula that will 5x your output.

We're all looking for it.

This collective search is the definition of a "market;" a group of people simultaneously in need of a service or product.This means that we are subject to headlines and programs and blogs and online courses that promise big, life-changing results.I've done it on both sides; as a producer and as a consumer.But you already know the truth.You know when you get that funny feeling in the pit of your stomach that squints and says: "this is too good to be true."Because it is--and you're right--almost always.So how do we get tricked into more online courses and products that make big promises that we never implement?Here's the hard-to-handle truth: we don't trust ourselves. We may have built a track record of big dreams, hopes or a string of half-started projects. So if this is our data, why should we trust ourselves?We could be wrong. This lack of confidence in ourselves leaves us open to influence.

But remember:

Big, hairy audacious goals are made up of lots of little, achievable tasks.It's only after we conquer these small things, and build a new track record of success, that we'll trust ourselves with the big stuff.Then we'll have more confidence in that little skeptical voice that's trying to tell us something important!Trust is built with others the same way it is built with ourselves--yet, most of us are completely clueless.Everyone is starting with the big stuff and failing when the REAL secret is to start with the small stuff.Small, daily, relentless actions."Publish a book" is a big goal, so it's not a small task.But "call 5 publishers" is an achievable, measurable goal."Write a book" is a big goal, so it's not a small task."Write a blog post" is an achievable, measurable goal.Big goals are not checkboxes. You can't do it in one move. They're made up of small, achievable, measurable tasks.

2 Minute Action

What's a big "someday maybe" project you've had on your list?What's a smaller, achievable task you can check off in the next 2 minutes?Is it an email to a friend? Is it a sales call to a supplier? Is it a Facebook Live video asking for critical feedback on your work?Start there. Don't plan everything else out. Just do that, today. Once you do that, the next step will become more clear--and you'll have the momentum of success to move you forward.This is building trust with YOU and you've got to start before you can see the ending. This is the difficult, invisible stuff that stops us from making it.But you know better.