By Robin Sharma

External leadership begins with internal mastery

Warren Buffet once observed, “There will never be a better you than you.”

• And so today, what will you do with you as you march out into a world that needs people playing extraordinarily with their lives more than ever before? Will you exert more of your hidden potential? Will you liberate more of your natural creativity? Will you uncover more of your authenticity? And will you be more of the you that you are meant to be?
• Because there will never be a better time to be the best you than today. And if not now, then when? Makes me think of what the philosopher Herodotus once said: “It is better by noble boldness to run the risk of being subject to half of the evils we anticipate than to remain in cowardly listlessness for fear of what may happen.”

Invisible Fences 

• The dog sets up imaginary limits that determine its reality. We’re like that too. As we grow up, we adopt negative beliefs and false assumptions and sabotaging fears from the world around us. These become our Invisible Fences. We believe they are real. When we bump up against them at work (and in life), we retreat. We believe the boundary is true. So we shrink from all we are meant to be/do/have. The illusion seems so real. But it’s not.
• Walk boldly through your invisible fences
• So I invite you to question your Invisible Fences. Be aware of them. Observe them. Challenge them. So that when one confronts you, rather than running away from it, you exercise the force of will and talent of heart to run through it. Toward the poetic possibilities your life is meant to be. Because what you resist will persist. But what you befriend, you will transcend.

“Be So Good They Can’t Ignore You”

• Here’s comedian Steve Martin’s advice to young comics: “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” Love it. Life favors the devoted. The more you give to life, the more life sends back. It’s just not possible for you to be great at what you do, always reaching for your brilliance and standing for excellence, and not win in the end. (Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead once said, “You do not merely want to be the best of the best. You want to be considered the only ones who do what you do.”)

Life runs according to its own agenda, not ours. Be patient. Trust. Be like the stonecutter, steadily chipping away, day after day. Eventually, a single blow will crack the stone and reveal the diamond. An enthusiastic, dedicated person who is ridiculously good at what they do just cannot be denied.

Walk Towards Your Fear

• Here’s a powerful idea that just might revolutionize the way you work and live if you embrace it at a DNA level: Your life will expand or contract in direct relationship to your willingness to walk directly toward the things that you fear. Do your fears and you’ll shine. Run away from them and you shrink from greatness.
• Frank Herbert wrote in Dune: “I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”
• First, you realize that the fear was mostly a hallucination. And second, you get some kind of unexpected reward for your bravery, because on the other side of every fear door lie gorgeous gifts, including personal growth, confidence and wisdom. I’ve seen it time and time again.

Take Responsibility 

• Leadership is about holding yourself to world-class standards, taking personal responsibility (versus playing the victim), being excellent within the sphere of your influence, building beautiful relationships and elevating others by your example. My point with this chapter is simply this: The way you do the little things says a lot about the way you will do the big things. And resigning yourself to mediocrity around your minor pursuits sets you up for mediocrity when it comes to the major ones.

Deep Listening 

• Bruce Mau that I need to share with you: “Every collaborator who enters our orbit brings with him or her a world more strange and complex than any we could ever hope to imagine. By listening to the details and the subtlety of their needs, desires, or ambitions, we fold their world onto our own. Neither party will ever be the same.”
• When we go deep into listening to the person we are communicating with, when we allow them to share what they know, we have the opportunity to get behind their eyeballs and learn, grow and evolve into our highest and best. And if you are lucky enough to be talking to the right person—at the right time—that single conversation might be the one that changes the way you think, feel and behave forever. Their stardust will rub off on you. And you’ll be transformed. For good.
• Today, just for a day, make the decision to listen (versus just hear). Don’t interrupt. Don’t rehearse your answer while the other person is speaking. And don’t dare check your e-mail or search for text messages while another human being is sharing their words. Just listen. Deeply. Be there for that person. Because everyone has a voice. And each of us craves to have ours recognized. Watch the great things that unfold once you do.

Life Screams By

• Mick Jagger’s solo album Goddess in the Doorway screaming through my head: “No use getting misty eyed, it all screams by so fast.”
• Why postpone what you can do today to some time off in the distance? Why put off playing your greatest game as a human being to some point in the future? Why delay having a remarkably good time until you are old? – Great questions, so WHY do we? 

“When was the last time you did something for the first time?” Smart.

• So fill your days with color. Hunt for the best that this very day will bring. Laugh a lot. Love a lot. Dream a lot. And if there’s an opportunity that the coming hours present to you—and we both know there will be—seize it. Because life screams by. So fast.

I believe that being nice is, in many ways, the very lifeblood of a world-class business.

Everything in Life Helps You Learn

• Every so-called mistake is actually a rich source of learning. An opportunity to build more awareness and understanding and gain precious experience. Experience that will help us do, feel and be even better. Everything that has happened to you in your life—the good and the difficult—was necessary to help you become the person you are now. Why make it wrong? So, just maybe, there are no mistakes. Just maybe what we could call failures are actually growth lessons in wolf’s clothing. And just maybe the person who experiences the most wins.

THE BLANK SLATE OF TOMORROW 

• At midnight tonight, you’ll get a most amazing gift: a fresh set of 24 hours. These hours are pure and flawless and limitless. They offer you the opportunity to show courage, behave brilliantly, connect compassionately, and forge those new habits of mastery that will get you to a better place of being. And they offer you a space to laugh. To create value. And to do your dreams. Whether you’ll admit it or not, tomorrow is incredible. Not everyone gets one.
• Life is for the Living. You and I have been given a gift today: to have the opportunity to make a difference and exercise our talents and have a phenomenally fun time doing it. And we need to seize (and respect) that gift.

“It’s better to die standing than live your whole life on your knees.” Unbelievably powerful phrase. Thanks, Peter Mayle. For waking me up. To what’s most important.

• So make tomorrow special. No, make it outrageously great. Wildly wonderful. A piece of art—one that you can tell your grand-kids about. Just amazing what one can do in a single day. Each one is a chance to be more of what we are all designed to be. 

Gratitude. Powerful idea: 

• What you value in your life increases in value. What you think about and focus on grows. What you appreciate begins to appreciate. Appreciate your good health. Appreciate your family. Appreciate your gifts, your friends, your work and your life, and your perception will begin to shift. You’ll see the blessings of your life (versus the broken parts).

Leadership shows up when things at work—and in life—test us. Each of us, as a Leader Without Title, must rise to that challenge. We need to shine when things don’t go as planned. And we have to take charge. Fast.

Boldness has Genius, Power and Magic

• Ideation without execution is mere delusion. In other words, an idea, no matter how big, only assumes value when it’s acted upon and brought to life.
• This world of ours is full of great thinkers who never realized their greatness. They were strong on the thinking side but weak on the execution side. And they suffered as a result of that constraint. (German poet Johann von Goethe said, “Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic.”)

Extraordinary people are dramatically focused on their best To Do’s

• One of the simplest tactics I suggest to clients at my leadership workshops is to put your three most important professional and personal commitments on a 3-inch X 5-inch card and post it on your bathroom mirror, so that you see them first thing in the morning. (I know it sounds cheesy, but it works.) This little practice affects your awareness. Radically. Your awareness then shapes your choices. And your choices shape your results. Extraordinary people are dramatically focused on their best To Do’s.
• What tokens of excellence can you find that will quickly help you get back to your priorities when the crush of daily events clamors for your attention? Fill your life with these? 

The World Needs Unreasonable People, Dreamers 

• George Bernard Shaw, who noted, “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
• Know that every outstanding piece of human progress was achieved through the heroic efforts of someone who was told their idea was impossible to realize. The world needs more dreamers. Unreasonable souls who fight the urge to be ordinary. Who resist the seduction of complacency and doing things the way they have always been done. You can be one of them. Beginning today. Kahlil Gibran, in The Prophet, made the point far more beautifully than I ever could, when he wrote, “The lust for comfort murders the passion of the soul.”

Carlos Castaneda called it “the cubic centimeter of chance” that presented itself.

• Each day life sends you chances to learn, grow and step into your best. Don’t miss them. Some opportunities never come again. Regret is a choice.

Questions Matter 

• One of the fastest ways to find the solution to an issue or challenge you are facing is to ask the right question. The right question inevitably leads you to the correct answer. Questions matter.
• What one thing—if I did it—would profoundly improve the way I work (and how I live)? 
• What needs to happen between now and the end of the next 90 days for me to feel that this is the best quarter of my work and personal life? (Remember, clarity precedes mastery.) 
• Who do I need to express appreciation to? (Make your list long.) 
• What would I like to improve, professionally and personally? What could I be grateful for that I’m currently not grateful for? 
• How do I want to be remembered at my retirement party?

Mark Twain: “If everyone was satisfied with themselves, there would be no heroes.”

BE BREATHTAKINGLY HUMBLE

BE A COOL BRAND 

• You are a brand. No matter what you think, when people hear your name, they conjure up some association. When people see you, an emotional response gets evoked. Like it or not, you (and your reputation) truly are a brand. So I gently suggest that you manage it. Well. Actually, what I really want to challenge you to do is to take the steps you need to take to become a cool brand. One that shouts “cutting edge,” “with it,” “original” and “revolutionary.”

Conflict

• Here’s my take on conflict: Conflict is nothing more than an opportunity for greater growth and a deeper personal connection. Every conflict carries within it a chance for you to learn a powerful lesson and to grow as a human being (in your understanding and awareness and perspective).

Balance of Life

• Leadership is about balancing compassion with courage. And though it can feel so messy, in truth it’s a gift. Embrace it. Relish the potential it carries. Celebrate it. It can serve you so well.
• Life’s all about balance. And one of the most vital of all balance points is the one involving freedom and responsibility. Yes, be free. Enjoy the moment. Be wildly passionate. Have a fabulous time. Live in the now. And yet, be responsible. Set your goals. Keep your promises. Get important things done. Fulfill your duties.

A LUST FOR GROWTH 

• Just read a quote that provoked me: “Growth is the only evidence of life.” Intelligent words. They come from John Henry Newman. You know I adore the whole notion of growth. I believe that’s why we are here. To grow and expand through the work we do, the actions we take and the lives we lead (please remember: Don’t just live your life, lead it). Growth matters. It’s what ultimately makes us feel fulfilled (we are happiest when we are growing, and realizing our potential). Growth energizes us (even when it’s uncomfortable—and most growth is). Makes us who we truly are.

Acceptance 

• “Acceptance may sound like inaction, but when you try to practice it, you’ll see that it is anything but doing nothing. It sometimes requires more effort than the complaining, confronting or clamming up you would normally do. But … once you experience the freedom it brings—acceptance can become almost second nature.”
• Acceptance. Looking for the blessing in disguise amid adversity. Relaxing into whatever situation you find yourself in. Embracing the age-old adage that life doesn’t give you what you want but just might send you what you need (thanks again, Mick). We all get hard days and mean seasons, from time to time. That’s because you and I are enrolled in Greatness School. And challenge, conflict, confusion and uncertainty are beautifully orchestrated vehicles for our growth. But days do get better and seasons always change. By accepting “what is,” the bitter times will be shorter and your gorgeous days will get longer. And that’s my highest wish for you. Always.

Become a Beautiful Thinker. 

• Commit to making each of your thoughts a thing of beauty. Devote yourself to coming up with stunning insights and ideas and reflections that are outright masterpieces. You’ve heard it a hundred times in as many different ways: You become what you think about. And the thoughts you use become self-fulfilling prophecies.
• The actions you take each day create the results of your life. And since every action you take has been preceded by a thought (thinking truly is the ancestor of performance), what you focus on does drive your reality.

British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli said it so well when he wrote, “You will never go any higher than your thinking.” As a human being you will never act in a way bigger than your thoughts. Dream big and your behavior will follow. Think small and you’ll play small.

OPINIONS DON’T MATTER 

• It doesn’t matter what other people think of you. All that matters is what you think of you. We waste so much energy worrying about the opinions of others, wanting to be liked, needing to please. But authentic leadership and real personal mastery are all about rising above social approval—to self-approval. Respect you. So long as you are living by your values, being authentic, running your own race and doing your dreams, why worry what anyone else thinks or feels or says about you? Success isn’t a popularity contest. And at the end of each day, what matters most is whether you were true to yourself.

How jokeable are you? 

• When was the last time you allowed someone to make you laugh so hard tears streamed down your cheeks? How often do you sit back and giggle at life—even at the messy stuff? (Life’s messy at times, isn’t it; love the messes—your richest growth resides in them.) The best among us don’t take themselves too seriously (no one will take you seriously if you take yourself too seriously). They do their best and then let go, letting life do the rest. Life has its own intelligence.
• So be jokeable. Relax. Yes, go for world class. But blend that drive with a sense of amusement and festivity. Hold on to life with a loose grip. Every setback carries the seeds of an even greater opportunity (it’s taken me about 43 years to get that one). And life was never meant to be an ordeal. It was meant to be pure joy.

Power…. Give It

• Here’s a simple truth I’ve learned, The only way to truly get power is to give it away. The more you rely on, trust and believe in your team and the bigger the investment you make in getting them to their greatness, the larger will be the commitment, engagement and outright devotion they have toward you.
• Real power comes when you spread your passion, offer people a reason to climb your strategic mountaintops, treat them with rare respect and give them permission to shine, grow and Lead Without Title. Be there for people and they’ll be there for you.

Habits

• What separates the best from the rest comes down to habits. A few good ones (that’s really all it takes—two or three really good ones) will make a massive difference in the way your career and your life looks at the end. They will make the difference between mediocrity and mastery. So choose them well.
• Sustained failure happens as the consequence of small, daily acts of neglect that stack up over time to lead to a blowup, and a breakdown
• Here’s a metaphor that may serve nicely to make my point: A good habit is like a sturdy oak tree. It starts off as a little seed, planted in a single moment. Fail to nurture it daily and it dies a fast death. But tend to it, just a bit each day, and the thing grows. Until one day it’s so strong that it is next to impossible to break. Your habits will define how close to your personal mountaintop you get.

FIND PERFECT MOMENTS

• As I got out of my car in the parking lot of our office, I noticed an amazing fragrance in the air. It was pure beauty. So sweet and breathtaking. I looked around and saw that I’d parked under a tree overflowing with red and pink blossoms. Spring had sprung, and the tree was spreading its magic. I just stood there. Closed my eyes, entranced by the smell. And the moment. I felt grateful to be alive.
• Laughing. Having fun. Experiencing adventure. And not missing out on Perfect Moments. Mostly, they are free. And they are right in front of you. Today. If only you make the time to look for them.

Praise

• Made me think about praise within the workplace (and within the home). A rare commodity. Praise, to me, is like the sun: The more you give away, the more everything around you grows toward you. However, most people don’t give praise freely (even though it’s free).
• Giving praise to all those around you, when they most deserve it, makes you look like more. It elevates you. It makes you look like a hero. It makes you look like a giant within the workplace. To everyone around you. So don’t withhold what your teammates most crave.

Good things happen to people who do good things. Do the right things and you cannot help but see the right results.

“The last 1 percent most people keep in reserve is the extra percent champions have the courage to burn.”

Spend every bit of your energy playing at your best and creating world-class results. Offer every bit of your potential to all you do. And awaken your talents. And your inner fire. So at the end, you can say, “I gave it my all. I did my best.” That would be fantastic. Wouldn’t it? And please remember—the opportunity for outright greatness comes at the very moment that ordinary people give up.

SAY WHAT YOU MEAN 

• Ever notice that it’s the people we love most that we take most for granted? Odd, isn’t it. It’s easy to spend less time with your family because they will always be there for you (or so you assume). It’s easy to put off expressing your love to your loved ones because there seems to be no urgency to do so. It’s easy to let home relationships slip because you assume there are more pressing things to deal with. But what could possibly be more important than your family?
• So pick up the phone and tell your parents that you love them. Before you leave for work, give your spouse a kiss—like you really mean it. And please, hug your kids and tell them that you adore them. Your kids will only be young once. And when that window of opportunity closes, it will close forever.

Use World-Class Words 

• Words shape the way you feel. They influence the way you process reality. And they can either take you closer to your mountaintop or draw you nearer to the valley. Use world-class words and you’ll get to your world-class life.
• No matter what life sends us, we are responsible for the way we respond. We truly are. We can own our reaction. We can choose what we do with the situation. We can be bitter, or show up better. Tons of choices—at all times. Starting with our words. Choose them well. Leaders do.

There will never be the ideal time to do the dreams in your heart. So I took a risk. (Al Pacino recently told Larry King, “You will only be as good as the chances you take.”)

I had to let go of my safe harbor and be a beginner again. “How was it?” you ask. Breathtakingly great.

• It was an experience I’ll never forget—one that is part of the personal story I call life. So get out there. Risk. Ask. Dream. Dare. Fall. Fail. And never let anyone tell you that your dreams can’t come true. Eventually someone’s going to do what you dream of doing. Why not you?

Life Works in Oscillation 

• One of the core organizing principles of my life is that success is the result of a delicate balance between making things happen and letting things happen. Yes, we have the responsibility to set our goals and realize our potential and play at our very best. We need to do our part. Good things definitely unfold for people who are devoted to doing great things. But I suggest we also need to show a gentle commitment to letting things unfold. In other words, do your best—then let life do the rest.
• I need my peace. Crave it, actually. (I believe world-class results come from alternating periods of peak performance with periods of deep renewal; big idea there.)

THE MIRROR TEST 

• I believe it’s important to remember that when you know better, you can do better. With higher levels of awareness, you can make smarter choices. And the more clarity you get as to who you want to become, the more quickly you can start making the choices needed to get you there. Clarity really does offer a framework for more intelligent decision-making (and we become our decisions).
• Here’s a simple tool for you: the Mirror Test. Look into the mirror and ask yourself the following question: “What one thing could I do today that if I did it, my professional and personal life would get to its NLG: Next Level of Greatness?”
• You will become a lot like the five people you spend most of your time with (hope I didn’t scare you). So my suggestion is that you invite people into your professional and personal life who inspire you. Who will uplift you. Who will make you more extraordinary/authentic/unforgettable (and loving). Who are viscerally committed to world class. And, most importantly, who see the world through a different set of eyes. They’ll challenge you. They’ll push you. And sometimes maybe they’ll even irritate you (if so, fantastic). This practice will serve you well. So that you grow. And reach. And evolve. So that you will never be the same.

Become an Excellent Innovator 

• To get to world class, it is absolutely essential to become an excellent innovator. Relentlessly making things better and passionately discovering new ways to add value, work smarter and move faster are core creative traits that the best in business live by. And to be astonishingly creative and generate those big ideas that catapult you to your highest level, you don’t need to go walking in the woods or find some sanctuary.

Leadership begins at home. 

• Your family is an organization that needs to be managed, cherished and elevated if you aim to truly get to the rare air life I believe you deserve. I also believe that the highest moments of our lives are the moments shared with those we love.
• How proud are you of your kids? Are they your primary priority? Mine definitely are. I’d let go of all I’m doing in my work life in a second, if my children needed me to. Do you spend quantity time with your kids as well as quality time?
• I must share with you that no matter what toys, video games or gifts I give my gang, nothing beats my time. That’s all they really want. That’s all they’ve ever really wanted.
• believe that the best way to influence your kids is to be true to yourself and to lead the best life that you can, so that they will adopt the same values, though their path may be different.

THE HIDDEN MACHINERY

• Leonardo DiCaprio- filmmaker Martin Scorsese described the first time he saw DiCaprio acting: “In his performance, I didn’t see the machinery.”
• Masters make everything look so simple. The most brilliant of the best do their craft with effortless ease and exceptional grace, or at least, make it look that way to you and me. We can’t see the machinery. We don’t see all the early mornings and late nights spent working hard to be BIW (Best in the World). We don’t observe the fierce determination that was invested to overcome impossible odds and make the dream come true. And we don’t hear the laughter of the critics that needed to be ignored to get to the mountaintop.

“Sometimes if you want to see a change for the better, you have to take things into your own hands.”

FIRST PRINCIPLES FOR GREAT RELATIONSHIPS 

• The quality of your life comes down to the quality of your relationships.
• Commit to insanely great relationships and you’ll have an insanely great life.
• Be the first one to say hello (or Namaste/Shalom/Hola/Salam Malekam, or whatever may be appropriate) when you encounter another person. In other words, be kind first (which takes courage, because we’re all scared of rejection). Smile a lot. It’s one of the ‘best ways to have someone open up to you. Remember, we make lasting impressions on people within the first few minutes of meeting them. Use people’s names. This is really important. It shows that you care, and is a mark of respect.
• Look people in the eye when you speak to them. Become a world-class listener. Get this one right and you’ll own the title of “Relationship Superstar.” Most people don’t listen. Most people are so self-focused that they fail to ask good questions when they meet another person. Listening and asking questions shows humility. It shows you are interested. It demonstrates that you are engaged—and not in love with yourself. Most people’s idea of listening is waiting until the other person has finished speaking so that they can interject. Offer sincere compliments. Praise is free. Never miss an opportunity to celebrate and elevate another person, whether at work or at home. You’ll connect with the best within them. And then they’ll give you their best. Leave people feeling better than you found them. Treat everyone like royalty (and I do mean everyone; it scares me when someone’s really nice to me but rude to a waiter—no consistency there). Behave as if you’ll never see them again. When I get home from work each day, my kids come flying around the corner and hug me. Every day. Makes me feel like a king.

I’m inviting you to consider is that it’s a waste of time to fret over and regret things you’ve done that cannot be changed. But it’s an intelligent use of time to bask in the good times, feel gratitude for them and use even the challenging times of your personal history to leverage your future success.

Leadership

• One of the things I took away from the film is that leadership is all about believing in others (and yourself) when no one else does.
• Develop, honor and inspire people, and they will fly. As the wonderful teacher Leo Buscaglia once said, “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment or the smallest act of caring—all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”
• But leadership is all about getting good at being uncomfortable. It’s about running toward, not away from, the things that intimidate and frighten you. And leadership is about trying new things.
• Too many people talk the good talk these days. Tons of empty promises. And hype. And lofty statements that never amount to anything. True leaders are different. They talk less and do more. I love the quiet leaders. Those silent souls who under-promise and over-deliver. And when they do speak, they speak Truth. The Merchants of Wow among us understand that a person’s word is their bond. And that every promise kept builds credibility, the foundation of trust. So make the commitment to be impeccable with your word.

Brilliant Results Don’t Just Show Up

• How can you get better if you don’t practice? Success doesn’t just occur. Brilliant results don’t just show up by chance. The finest things in life take patience, focus and sacrifice. To get to world class, you need to work at it. Daily. Relentlessly. Passionately.
• Just hoping you’ll get to great as a leader (and human being) is nothing more than magical thinking. It’s a waste of time. Remember the 1 percent wins. A few little improvements each day, the result of your daily practice, amount to staggering results over time. Athletes get better through practicing their sport. Leaders get better by cultivating their craft. By elevating their skills. By deepening their impact. By consciously stepping toward their mountaintops. Until they get there.

Optimism really is: it’s knowing that the more painful the event, the more profound the lesson. There are so many lessons in this life we just don’t want to learn. You just can’t tell someone these things and expect him to become wise. Wisdom only comes the hard way.

DON’T FIGHT FOR YOUR EXCUSES 

• “I can’t be better than I am at work.” “I don’t have the time to exercise.” “I can’t do this project (or reach that dream) because it’s too hard/scary/impractical.” It’s so very human to fight for your excuses. And the more you fight for them, the more they’ll own you. Don’t feed what you don’t want. Let them go. And step into your power.
• “We have forty million reasons for failure—but not a single excuse,” observed Rudyard Kipling. Successful people don’t make excuses. They create results. And no great life was ever built on a foundation of excuses. So stop making them. Most of them are self-created delusions, designed to help you avoid doing the things you are afraid to do. Yes, beneath every excuse lives a fear. A fear of changing. A fear of the unknown. A fear of failure. A fear of success.
• Today can be the day you burn the bridges that lead to your excuses (please do). Today can be the day you step up to the possibilities that lie just off the beaten path of your life. Today can be the day you Lead Without Title. And access your genuine greatness.
• “I guess you’ve had an elegant sufficiency of enoughness.”

Be Different 

• The best businesses know their Separation Points—their competitive advantages—and then have the discipline to stay brilliantly focused on them until the whole world knows what makes them special.
• So have the courage to be different. Have the boldness within your industry to create value that has never before been created. Be strikingly creative, always getting better and dreaming bigger. And know what separates you from everyone else. Because if you don’t know what makes your business special, how can you tell everyone else?

Time is a lot like an airplane, flying by too fast. Don’t blink. Before you know it, your kids will be gone, off living lives of their own. Time’s like that. Slips through our fingers like grains of sand. So today, please do love your loved ones. Give your best at work. Go the extra mile in all you do. Speak truthfully. Live with honor. And have some fun. Because one day, your time will run out.

A STAINLESS CHARACTER 

• Stainless steel—a tremendous invention. But what about a stainless character? One that is noble, aspires for mastery in all pursuits and never gives up in moving closer to its ideals. What is within must always appear without. What I mean by that is that the quality of your inner world eventually is reflected in the quality of your outer world. Your external life can never grow bigger than your internal one. Life really is a mirror—reflecting who we are, rather than all we want.
• A person who dreams pristine dreams and who is impeccably honest, good, ethical and stands for what’s best will soon act in alignment with those values. And those actions cannot help but drive extraordinary results. Inner always creates outer. Always.

SET PEOPLE FREE 

• The best leaders turn their teammates loose. They clearly communicate the vision, coach and develop their people and, once done, set them free. Free to use their own creativity and ingenuity to get the results needed. Free to do excellent work and find splendid solutions. Free to feel what it’s like to succeed. And free to fail, because making mistakes is part of getting to success.

SMART COMPANIES COMPETE FOR EMOTION 

• Powerful thought: The main competition is not for “share of wallet” (as I hear at so many of my clients’ conferences). No. It’s for share of your customers’ hearts.
• The four Big Ideas. First, from start to finish, they understood what they were there for: to create an experience for their clients. Second, they engaged the audience and made us part of the show. They had us singing, dancing and laughing. Third, they showed us love. (How many businesses actually show you love and make you feel special when you do business with them? Well, Coldplay did.) They thanked us for making them so successful, they showed genuine gratitude and they seemed truly humble (and people connect with vulnerability). And fourth, they were really good at what they did. Fantastic songs with great delivery. Yes, Coldplay over-delivered. And guess what—because of that, I’m a real fan. My challenge to you: Be the Coldplay of your market space. Create fans, then delight them. And do whatever it takes to get them coming back for more.

Comedian Gilda Radner, who died of ovarian cancer at age 42, put it so very well: “Now I’ve learned the hard way that some poems don’t rhyme and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the most of it without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity.”

Do Your Best &  Let Life do the Rest

• For the past few years, I’ve tried to live by the pretty simple philosophy that I shared with you in an earlier chapter: Do your best and let life do the rest. It’s not easy to let go of what you want (I know how painful that can be). But why wouldn’t you, if something even better is waiting just around the corner?

Planning 

• One of the best effects of planning that I’ve discovered personally is what it does to my mind. Let me put it this way: Few things focus the mind as well as setting plans on paper and then sequencing them into goals. The very act of doing it heightens your awareness as to what’s most important. And with better awareness, you will make better choices. And as you make better choices, you are certain to experience better results.
• The ONE Thing

ASK TO GET 

• You’ll never know if you don’t even try. There is enormous power in asking for what you want. All too often, our internal chatter prevents us from taking the steps needed to get us to our own unique form of greatness. We are kept small from our inner imaginings—so many of which are lies.
• The most brilliant of the best, those who live glorious lives that matter, ask like crazy. They understand that it’s a habit that must be polished for it to shine. And the more you do it, the easier it gets (like any skill).
• Nothing happens until you ask. People are not mind readers. They need to know what’s meaningful to you. And if you ask nicely, they just might say yes.

But if you don’t expand your community, you just might miss out on meeting your new best friend. It’s so easy to do the same things at work each day—to get stuck in a rut. And if you don’t stretch, you’ll miss an achievement that could flood you with a sense of confidence and fulfillment that will be the start of a whole new world of work.

ON PERSONAL MASTERY 

• Two beautiful words: personal mastery. They have an inspirational vibe to them. They offer hope. They challenge. They provoke. They affirm—and remind us of our highest possibilities.
• To be given the gift of life is to be given an awesome responsibility. Each of us must go out into the world each day and live our best. Yes, life doesn’t always seem fair. We’ll encounter difficult customers and low-performing suppliers and angry commuters. We’ll face hard and confusing times. We’ll feel alone, or like giving up on standing for our highest and best. That’s just life happening. But, at the same time, life offers you daily opportunities to shine. To polish your gifts. To release your chains. To achieve personal mastery.
• Make a commitment today that will alter the course of your life. Forever. Dedicate yourself to personal mastery. Think about your thinking. Detect your authentic values and what you aim to stand for. (How can you be who you are if you don’t know who you are?) Get to know your fears. Reflect on your personal genius and human potential. Learn to let go of the emotional baggage from you past. Refuse to tolerate negativity.

Kahlil Gibran once wrote that “Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother”; every one of us has so many more choices than we can currently see, and as we dare, doors we didn’t even know existed begin to open up. Read more. Learn more. Get fit—no, get ultra fit (sad that—too often—good health only matters to those who have lost it). Become remarkable at what you do for work. Become so good at your craft that your organization cannot run without you. Become the friendliest person you know. Work on compassion and understanding. Be nice. Be good.

Stand for Something

• “Let twenty-four despise [my hotels] for all I care—just so one in twenty-five love them.” The big idea for us: Businesses that try to be all things to all people end up being nothing to anyone. You need to stand for something. You need to play ferociously. Passionately. Emotionally. To get to world class. Or don’t play at all.
• People appreciate being reminded that they are meant to play at great. That there are no extra people on the planet. That every life has a purpose. We knew these truths as kids. So we dreamed. We reached. We acted fearlessly. Lived life passionately. And stood in possibility. But we lost that wisdom—as we grew up and walked farther out into the world, away from our Real Nature.

Aim for your Personal Mountaintop 

• Life has a habit of making us forget. We fall into routine. We take things for granted. We stop taking risks. We stop aiming for the mountaintop. We stop speaking truth. We play small with the gift of our lives. But we deserve better than mediocrity. Ordinary people can do remarkable things. By recalling who they truly are. And living at their best.

DO YOUR LIFE

• I just want to be me.” Perfect.
• What’s more important in life than being yourself (and loving who you are)? Most of us really do end up living someone else’s life. And we dismiss happiness as a result. Fulfillment comes from living your truth. Doing your values. Pursuing your desires and ideals. “To thine own self be true,” wrote that British sage, Shakespeare. No point in getting to the end and realizing you never let the real you come out to play. An excellent life grows out of an authentic one. Truly.

Give to Get

• Give support to get it. Give praise to receive it. Give your best to attract it. Give more respect to experience it. And give more love to become beloved. 
• Powerful thought: If you make five people feel better about themselves each day, by the end of one year you will single handedly have elevated the lives of nearly 2,000 people. Continue this practice and—after a decade—you’ll have positively impacted 20,000 people. Factor in the number of people that those you touch, in turn, influence and you’ll quickly realize that your “little daily gestures of inspiration” can end up helping hundreds of thousands of human beings over the course of your lifetime.

Visionary

• Arthur Schopenhauer once said: “Talent hits a target no one else can hit; genius hits a target no one else can see.”
• Being a visionary and stepping into the higher reaches of your life necessarily means dealing with the fact that people will question you. They will not get where you are going. They might call you odd or foolish or unorthodox. They will laugh at you. All good. Thank them for the compliments and keep doing what you need to do to get to where you need to get. The world will be a better place once you do.
• Maya Angelou observed, “If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can transform a million realities.”

Community

• Beautiful word. Every single one of us has a deep psychological need for it. We all crave to belong. To know we are part of a larger whole. It gives us a sense of security. Safety. And happiness. The best organizations foster community and build workplaces where people feel safe to be themselves again. The best families do the same thing—honoring each other and creating rich shared moments. So maybe we should stop worrying so much about building fences. And start creating true security—by building bridges.

Failure is the price of Greatness

• That reminded me that too many of us are so afraid of failure that we don’t even try (Seneca once said, “It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare. It is because we do not dare that things are difficult”). Many of us are frightened of looking silly or being embarrassed by failure and as a result, we don’t take the risk and seize an opportunity. We think failure is bad. It isn’t. It’s good. No, it’s great.
• The faster you fail, the more quickly you’ll learn precisely what you need to do to win. So Fail Fast. Out-fail the competition. Out-fail the person you once were. I’ll leave you with a quote from Robert F. Kennedy: “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”

Angels of Evolution

• Everyone who is causing you stress, struggle and challenge in your life just might be an angel of sorts. They just might be the very messengers carrying the lessons you most need to learn to get to your Next Level of Greatness. The difficult teammate might be an angel of sorts, here to teach you understanding. The mean salesclerk might be an angel showing up to help you with compassion or communication or standing up for yourself.
• Angels of Evolution. The hardest stuff in your life is the ideal stuff to get you to where you’ve always dreamed of being. The people and events that irritate, anger and hurt you are the ideal educators to help you learn the lessons that will help you shine—at work, at home and in life. So that you evolve. And grow.

Become an idea factory. 

• Of course, you also need to have a passionate commitment to breathing life into your big ideas through near-flawless execution. Couple the two and you just might produce something extraordinarily valuable.
• One big idea could revolutionize your life—and even the world around you. All it takes is that single genius thought to change the whole game.

Speak Your Truth, EVEN when your VOICE SHAKES

• Every calling is great when greatly pursued,” observed Oliver Wendell Holmes. Each day, at work and at home, you have an opportunity to create an impact, to make a difference and to reveal your potential. And one of the things that separates leaders from followers is that those who lead speak openly, honestly and courageously. Even when the very thought of doing so frightens them. Even when their voices shake.

Powerful thought: Life’s most painful experiences are the very circumstances that introduce us to our best. During times of ease, we can get caught up in shallow pursuits and pleasures. Hard times cause us to go deep. The unmeaningful stuff falls aside and we awake to what’s important.

Every life is terminal. 

• No matter how long we get to live, we are all headed for the same end. When you remember that before we know it we’ll all be dust, the things that currently limit you (like fear, pride and past disappointments) just fall away. And you discover that the time to shine—and be great—really is now.

Enjoy the Climb & the Mountaintop 

• I’m inviting you to consider that the climb offers you far more value and as many rewards as getting to your mountaintop. Why? Because the climb to your ideals shapes your character, offers you opportunities to realize your potential and tests you to see how much you really want to win. It’s the climb that teaches you, transforms you and evokes the genius that inhabits you. You get to develop the Qualities of Greatness, such as perseverance/courage/resilience/compassion/understanding. Sure, getting to the dream feels deliciously wonderful. I’ll be first to agree with you on that. But it doesn’t bring you the same sustained gifts that the journey does. We learn more from the times that test us than we do from times of success.
• So the next time you feel impatient or frustrated or hopeless en route to the professional and personal life that you want, remember that precisely where you are might just be the best place you could possibly be. And maybe the journey is better than the destination.

WHAT IS SUCCESS? 

• To me, success is all about being in the process of joyfully creating a life that reflects your highest values, your deepest beliefs and your greatest dreams.
• There’s the part about the “process” of creating life on your terms (the journey really is better than the end). There’s the part about “joyfully” journeying through life because life is meant to be fun. There’s the element of living by your values and beliefs, which is all about being true to yourself and living life on your terms. And there’s that aspect of chasing your dreams, as these are what get us out of bed each day and fill our hearts with hope.
• At the end of our lives, the only thing that endures is who we became, the difference we made and the love we gave.
• This reminds me of the words of Mark Twain: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” That’s true success.

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing, the last of the human freedoms to choose one’s attitude to a given set of circumstances, to choose one’s way.”

“You’ve been blessed with a burden.” I believe the same is true for each of us.

• Harley-Davidson ad that encourages us to “Leave behind shoes no man can fill”). To forget the burden on you to be great is to neglect the call on your life. And no failure could be bigger than that.

LIVE AN INTENSE LIFE 

• I like my music loud, my coffee strong and my dreams large. I like days with color, people with passion and conversations that call out the best within me. I want to live like there’s no tomorrow, achieve the best within me, and love the people in my life like I really mean it. I want to do my part to elevate our world. I want to live with intensity.
• What a beautiful word: intensity. Live a high-volume life. Play full-out. Take risks. Reach high. Don’t look back. Be authentic. Be great. “Live to the point of tears,” said novelist Albert Camus. I so love that line.
• Sure we need to enjoy the journey, tread lightly and balance our courage with striking kindness. But do it all with rare passion, with bravery and with a sparkle in your eye. Do it all with intensity. All of the great ones do.

“People over 65 were asked ‘if you could live your life over, what would you do differently?’ They said three things: I’d take time to stop and ask the big questions. I’d be more courageous and take more risks in work and love. I’d try to live with purpose—to make a difference.” That says it all.

• Greatness comes when you create something with your life that is not only bigger than you but outlasts you. Legitimacy and recognition and prestige and material things are all fine and are all very human pursuits. But there’s something far more important: Legacy. Making a difference. Having an impact. Creating something special. And meaningful.
• What Body of Work will you create over your life so that the generations who follow will know that you’ve been here? What bold acts and brave moves will you make This Very Moment to let the greatness that slumbers within you come out and visit the light of This Very Day? What will your “most treasured possession” look like? And, at the end, what will you have done with all that talent with which you’ve been blessed? Just wondering.

“Every time Nelson Mandela walks into a room we all feel a little bigger, we all want to stand up, we all want to cheer, because we’d like to be him on our best day.”

WILL YOU BE GREAT TODAY?

• Someone reading this book today will walk out into their world and do something that will get them to their Next Level of Greatness. Someone near you will make the decision over the coming hours to raise their standards and step up to their highest potential. Someone around you will start something—even if it appears to be a little gesture—that over time will cause breathtaking improvements and result in the way their life looks, in all its dimensions. Why not make that person you?
• Forget what anyone’s ever told you. Stop listening to the small thinkers. Muffle the voices of the critics. Get to the truth: You are meant to play big with your life. To go out there and be remarkable. No, extraordinary. And every time you refuse to listen to that call, you betray yourself.
• So honor you. Make this day—and your life—a special and unforgettable one. One tiny step truly can result in gigantic consequences over time. Remember who you truly are, and all you have been built to be: a Leader Without Title, a Rare-Air human being—and someone who made things better. I’ll leave you with the words of philosopher Marcus Aurelius, who said, “To live each day as though one’s last, never flustered, never apathetic, never attitudinizing—here is the perfection of character.” Wonderfully said. I wish you Greatness.