This Choice You Make Will Shape Your Success And Happiness

You know what helps when work gets hard?

The team of people around you.This is why we hire for aptitude, attitude, and cultural fit.It’s always a little easier to take failures on the chin when you have others sharing the burden or when they are there to get you back in the fighting ring.

The cool thing is that you get to choose those people.

You get to choose who works for you or who you work for.You get to choose with whom you share experiences.Slowly, over time, you will see the group of people around you change and grow, and it’s up to you to recognize if you’re flying among eagles.

2 Minute Action

Let a valuable friend know they are valuable, today.It’s so easy but it can be so impactful.

How To Climb A Slippery, 3,200’ Granite Wall With No Ropes

To most people, risk just looks like chance.Luck.Rolling the dice.

But this isn’t how “lucky” people operate.

The reality is, that while chance can play a role, most “lucky” people set themselves up to be that way.They practiced and practiced and practiced until they felt confident in their abilities.They had run the course so many times that doing it on race day just felt like another day.The risk was more visible.

The risk was minimized.

Alex Honnold climbed El Capitan, which is about 3,200 ft of slippery granite, in about 4 hours without any ropes.While there are some clearly dangerous factors, he had climbed the route many times over the course of 8 years and knew every pitch well.When it was time, he already knew he could do it.He had done it so many times already.He was able to believe and trust in himself.

2 Minute Action

What is a risk you could take in your life, right now?Can you rehearse some or all of it?Could you role play with a friend? Could you do it with a safety net until you get the hang of it?Take 2 minutes to break down this risky maneuver into smaller, safer pieces.Stringing them together will feel very different from approaching it all at once with no practice.

You're Not As Good (or as Bad) As You Think

There's something strange that our brains do.We tend to hyperbolize how we're feeling in one direction or another.Either we're having a great day or a terrible one.It's a good hair day or a bad hair day.Our team is either winning or losing.The truth is much more boring.If we just took an extra second to zoom out for a second, we might see what others see. The good news (and the bad news) is that it's never as good (or as bad) as it seems.The more we can look at ourselves pragmatically, the easier it is to see the world as it actually is. This means seeing our Facebook friends and co-workers as they actually are. This means our grip on the world is more founded on the truth, and we are less likely we are to make important decisions along the ebb and flow of our experience.What a fresh dose of clarity for our mental health that would be, right?

2 Minute Action

When was the last time you beat yourself up for something?How might you talk to yourself if you were one of your friends, instead?Using this little question/technique can quickly cut through the fogginess of self-reflection.Use it today, you might just learn something about yourself.