Tag: #success

The Best Advice Ever Given In a 5 minute YouTube: Wear Sunscreen

In a previous post, I touched on the topic of going back in time and giving advice to my 16-year-old self right after the 1977 lifeguard crew photo was taken. That message would be simple.  “If I could offer you only one tip for your future, sunscreen would be it. Wear sunscreen.”  Today, my future-self of that 16-year-old lifeguard, is wearing the skin of many years of “burning to get tan”.  It’s a casual regret that requires semi-annual monitoring and with increasing frequency for removal of suspect patches. 
If the genie fantasy of the magic lamp ever fell into my possession, my only selfish wish would be to go back in time to redirect my youthful self to put a shirt on or wear sunscreen during my time in the sun. Yes, ok, I’d also slip in some additional selfish advice:  buy Microsoft, Apple and Amazon stocks and don’t sell until we recover from a global pandemic. 

Baz Luhrmann popularized a rap-like song in 1999 with words credited to an essay written as a hypothetical commencement speech by columnist Mary Schmich.  The five-minute message, for me, became the best advice that spans an entire lifetime.  I can only imagine how my response to life’s responsibilities would have been more enjoyable if I would have heard and headed this advice at a much younger age.   Spend 5 minutes watching the video.  You may have to play it back a few times because your mind will drift on a personal reflection and may miss the next nugget that comes pretty fast.   The line of “Get to know your parents….” echoes and rings true. If you can, do something about that today.  If not, find a photo and keep it out.

Without further commentary, please take the time now to click the link.  I can assure you that your thoughts and focus will be much different if you just catch one phrase and hold on to it for a while.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ7AzBIJoI

For added convenience, I found the lyrics online and are posted below.

Continue reading “The Best Advice Ever Given In a 5 minute YouTube: Wear Sunscreen”

Ten Secrets of Success That You Can Make Your Own

I have this printed out and sitting on my desk to remind myself about these ten essentials basic actions.  Everything else seems to fall into place when one works on the basics.  Skipping over the basics drags the process of learning and implementation at the expense of long-term follow-through.  Many of these are referenced in “The Leader List” from an earlier post.  Go back to it and see if you can find them in that blog.

How To Define Your Success: Back To Basics

Definitions for success can be listed from here and to “infinity and beyond” because everyone has their interpretation of success.  These interpretations are usually formulated by what one hears, sees on TV, reads on the internet, or by emulating people whom one admires.  Of all the things and meanings that one attributes to success, everyone can ultimately agree that success is not an endpoint, it’s a process.  Where everyone splits off in every direction is how success is measured. Jack Welch stated it best when he said, “You get what you measure”. That’s a great quote and it’s also a guideline to keep you honest and focused on the goal. It’s not all about achieving the goal, it’s about what you become striving to achieve the goal.  Along the way, you measure milestones to keep yourself on track.

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A Biased View of The Evolution of Corporate Structures

If you’ve been with the same company long enough, you gets to experience various organizational structures. Some work great, but others struggle to gain critical mass and are destined to be moved to the bottom of the file cabinet. One of the biggest challenges comes when the C-level managers decide to perform reorgs every 18-24 months. It usually happens when new leadership comes in and decides to start rearranging the “furniture” right away so that they have their fingerprints on the organization so that they can justify their existence. Continue reading “A Biased View of The Evolution of Corporate Structures”