Saturday Success: a life changing trait, sleep and money & 3 keys to being great
Making life & money work for you.
Welcome back to the Saturday Success Series email!
This week we have:
Master Yourself: Start and end w/ this life changing trait
Master Your Money: Sleep = wealth
The Weekly Special: 3 keys to ‘Great by Choice’
The goal here is maximum value, so let’s get to it.
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Master Yourself
My girlfriend came home from her AA home group meeting and she was lit up.
Not in the good way.
She was pissed.
She’d had a standoff with a fellow member.
Spicy, I know! Tell us all the drama, baby.
This older woman had a bad attitude toward my girlfriend, Lisa. The elder had even thrown an insult or two Lisa’s way.
She called her a minion at one point. A minion! Not an insult for Gen Z, but definitely one for geriatric millennials (sorry, babe).
The easy answer? Let your hackles raise and breathe fire. An obvious, even understandable, response.
Instead she came home and we discussed.
Lisa ultimately decided to lead with empathy.
How do you do this when you’re madder than a 6 year old being told it’s bed time?
By shifting your perspective and putting yourself in the other person’s shoes. Why are they acting like this? It’s about them more than it’s about you.
This older woman was feeling threatened. She’s Home Group Queen. The home group is her baby and her one place of power. The rest of her life is on shaky footing, but here, she’s stable and safe.
You can also tell Home Group Queen was a hottie back in her day. She still clings to the remnants. Desperate to be popular and appealing.
My girlfriend (not to toot my own horn for impeccable taste) is a modern day hottie. You know how this story goes more often than not (catty, it gets catty).
Lisa is a threat to possibly up-end the Queen’s power and “queen bee” status. At least in the woman’s mind.
In Queen’s head this is a power and status struggle. Hard to be nice when you’re fighting for your metaphorical life.
So, instead of letting this devolve into a frenemy situation, Lisa sent a text to the Queen. Kind words. Appreciation. Then she invited her to an anniversary dinner.
Guess what happened next?
The response was warm and appreciative. She even got an apology!
Now Lisa has an ally. There need not be anymore standoffs or nastiness. All because of the life changing trait I mentioned in the title and haven’t explicitly named yet.
But it’s empathy. Empathy is the life changing trait. And it’s easy to attain.
Simply stop being so self-centered. Reconsider from their position. And take the high road every time, it’s much less traveled.
Master Your Money
Tired people make poor choices.
Feels semi off topic but it’s not.
If you’re not getting enough sleep you’re making less optimized decisions.
And that can bite you in the ass when it comes to money (and most everything else).
Tired people impulse shop. They throw up their hands and say who cares when it’s time to get that 401k match. They don’t perform well at work (adios promotions, commissions & pay increases).
Get on a regular sleep schedule. Your bank account will thank you.
Weekly Special
3 Keys to ‘Great by Choice’
Jim Collins writes some very good business books (Built to Last, Good to Great, and now, Great by Choice).
Today I wanted to cover his 3 core ideas from Great by Choice. Great by Choice is a book that lays out what great companies do differently from good companies.
You can use these ideas in your personal life too.
1. Fanatic Discipline
Fanatic Discipline refers to a high level of consistency in primary principles, goals, performance standards and processes.
Great companies are absolutely unrelenting in pursuit of their goals, and remarkably consistent regardless of the circumstances.
It’s that regardless of the circumstances part you want to pay attention to. They didn’t make excuses. They had non-negotiables and they executed them, no matter what.
Create some Must Do habits that you do daily, regardless of the world around you. The weather shouldn’t affect you. Your spouse’s mood shouldn’t throw you off. The news, well…you don’t still watch that do you?
2. Empirical Creativity
Empirical creativity is a mix of imagination/creativity and perseverance/discipline.
The easiest method to explain this is through companies that have destroyed the status quo through consistent tests and observations.
They were prepared to take risks with new ideas, and they drove a culture of learning from mistakes, not being scared of them.
You can do this is in real life too. Think of how your family can save money. Think of you operate through your day. What new systems can you set up for success? What new ideas and smart risks can you engage in?
3. Productive Paranoia
Productive paranoia is the ability to be incredibly vigilant about potential disastrous events that could occur and then channeling that dread into planning and decisive action.
Recent example: Fundamental Algebra is my next college course.
I was dreading it. I haven’t done a bit of algebra in almost 20 years. I let a dark cloud hang over me for a day or two.
Then I created a plan. I have 2 math videos to watch each day and a handful of problems. I’m getting the hang of it!
Another real world example? Bad things will happen to you. We don’t know what or when, but we know they’re coming.
So you invest your money to build your wealth. This way when life punches you in the mouth, you’re as ready as you can be.
Thanks for reading! If you found this valuable, please share with someone who could use it. See you next Saturday!
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