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Too Happy
If you are feeling too happy and zen, tune into any news channel — they specialize in rage and angst. — Sakfucius
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Three Times
Pay attention: If someone brags three times in the first minutes of meeting you, he is invariably all talk, little action — or in Texan ‘big hat, no cattle.’ — Sakfucius
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Enthused
Assuming all are qualified, would you rather hire an enthusiastic optimist, a doubting realist, or a moody pessimist? — Sakfucius
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Lettuce
Don’t wait long to take action on your ideas. Ideas have a shelf life like lettuce in the refrigerator — motivation wilts with time. — Sakfucius
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Permission
Millions of ideas have died untried because someone asked for his manager’s permission. — Sakfucius
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Attention
Earning someone’s undivided attention is crucial. Start with a personal story, a startling fact, a well tested joke, or a thoughtful question, followed by a crystal clear ‘why this matters to them,’ every time. — Sakfucius
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Freedom Test
How free are you? Are you free to do exactly what you want precisely when you want to do it? — Sakfucius
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Action Always
Taking pretty good action today always beats waiting for perfection. — Sakfucius
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Covey
Covey was right when he observed that the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. It’s rare, it’s hard, but it’s possible. — Sakfucius
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Life Design
Either design your life’s plan or someone else will do it for you. — Sakfucius
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Green Lights
Don’t wait for the lights to all turn green. There is never a perfect time. — Sakfucius
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Weekly Question
Did I really live this week or did I just exist? — Sakfucius
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Interviewing
Take your time and always ask the why behind each question if you want to land great recruits. Discern a person’s goals, logic, and attitude, not her history. — Sakfucius
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Jealousy
Does anything good ever come from being jealous of another’s success? — Sakfucius
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Straightforward
A complicated life is a lot less complicated if you always do the right thing. — Sakfucius
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Caring
In all relationships, it’s crucial to show that you really care. — Sakfucius
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Old vs. Age
The day you don’t have dreams or goals is the day you become old. Age has nothing to do with it. — Sakfucius
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Thoughtful Mistakes
We all make regrettable mistakes, but some people don’t learn the lessons and repeat them. — Sakfucius
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Firewall
Don’t let outside opinions infect your attitude. Only you choose your reaction so stay true to yourself. — Sakfucius
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Sacrifice
Exceedingly few succeed without sacrifice. Do what it takes. — Sakfucius
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Attitude
Few things are completely within our control, but attitude is the one where you alone decide. — Sakfucius
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No Chance
You have no chance if you don’t believe in yourself. — Sakfucius
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Perspective Change
Are you looking for problems or are you looking for opportunities? Approaching each day with the latter attitude will change your life. — Sakfucius
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Will They Miss You
If you went alway today, why would they miss you? If your company went away, why would they miss you, or would they? — Sakfucius
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Leaders and Troops
Every leader is confirmed or rejected from below. Being given the position from above doesn’t mean a person passes the test. — Sakfucius
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Too Many Options
We all want options, but too many options often means a person doesn’t commit fully to their current pursuit. Home run success requires 100% commitment. — Sakfucius
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Relationship Icebergs
The dangerous icebergs that sink personal relationships are diverging goals, growth, and interests. Change is inevitable. — Sakfucius
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Concise
Being concise is more important than being comprehensive. — Sakfucius
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Gratitude PhD
Gratitude is much easier when things are going well. Those who are grateful when times look dark are those who have found the key to happiness. — Sakfucius
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Focused Charisma
Being charismatic starts with finding what’s interesting and important for someone, reflecting it back, and then keeping the cycle going for the entire time you are with them. — Sakfucius
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Trying Anew
Have you learned a new sport, a new language, a new art in the last few years? Substantial striving is the key to staying young. — Sakfucius
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Road Rage
Road rage comes from an expectation that traffic will be light and drivers will be both competent and kind. Reset your expectations. — Sakfucius
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Help
Who did you help this week? What if you helped someone every week? How would that change your life? — Sakfucius
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Greatness
Rarely is something great, easy to do. Does hard work and taking risks scare you? — Sakfucius
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Limitless Mind
People who believe that they can re-wire how their mind thinks, can. Most believe that they can not, so they do not. — Sakfucius
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Unexpectedly Thoughtful
If you surprise a person something that he really wants, he will remember you. — Sakfucius
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Meeting 101
Every presentation needs an impactful story that emphasizes your main point. Without it, it’s a good bet that you will be forgotten. — Sakfucius
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Peace
Observe everything but overlook much. Fighting every little battle is a recipe for stress. — Sakfucius
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Better to Fail
It’s better to try and fail, than to never try. Be prepared to get back up if you get knocked down, with no loss of enthusiasm. — Sakfucius
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Improving Habits
Whether you decide to build a new habit or stop a bad one, daily focus and visibility is key. Keep a log. — Sakfucius
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Stratospheric Lifegoals
Many aim for a top 1% of 1% goal but few become NFL or Hollywood stars. Set your dream goal, but work on an 80% chance backup goal too. — Sakfucius
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Best Time
The best time to have started was yesterday so don’t delay until tomorrow. — Sakfucius
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Get More Done
You can get through life without writing things down but the ones who use ink get much more done. — Sakfucius
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Put Things Off
What if you decided to never procrastinate on important, impactful tasks, even when they are daunting? — Sakfucius
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Searching for Strife
If you are always looking for problems and things that could be improved, you will find them. — Sakfucius
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Stuff
Does having more and more and more stuff really make you happy? — Sakfucius
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Expand
Expand your possibilities, expand your circle of friends, expand your life, by smiling and saying hello. — Sakfucius
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Public
Why are so many people self-conscious and have inhibitions in public? When you let go, you tend to rediscover being fun. — Sakfucius
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Assist Leaders
Why are people who help their work colleagues up their game and improve their approach so rare? — Sakfucius
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Interviews
The best interview is sitting next to someone on a five hour flight. — Sakfucius
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Wishful Thinking
Wishful thinking is but step one. Only doing, striving, trying, risking, stumbling, overcoming, learning, improving oneself, helps. — Sakfucius
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Admiration
The older you become, the less you admire people for their finances. Money doesn’t buy good character. — Sakfucius
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Measure Progress
Turning a worthy goal into reality has a number of milestones that must happen in order. Do you have them written down with target dates? — Sakfucius
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Firm but Nice
Firm but nice is a great way to get stuff done. Too many people jump to anger which might work once in a while but burns bridges longer term. — Sakfucius
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Credit Trips
People can make a big impact if they are not concerned about who gets the credit. Claiming credit trips up success. — Sakfucius
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Personal Brand
To build your brand, four factors matter most: authenticity, consistency, impact, and visibility. — Sakfucius
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Win Lose
Win/lose is a tough way to live, while win/win is a stellar way to succeed. There is usually a way to be a win/win guy if you search for it. — Sakfucius
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Action Plan
Many people want things to go their way, but the most successful actually write out a plan and get to work. — Sakfucius
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In Pursuit of
The fountain of happiness is found by helping others, especially those who don’t expect it. — Sakfucius
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Mission
What’s your mission this year? Or better yet, what’s your #1 mission this quarter? — Sakfucius
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Momentum is Fragile
Sharing too much too soon about your plans, before taking massive action, is likely to kill your momentum. — Sakfucius
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Alone is Limiting
The sooner you master asking for help, and the sooner you learn to offer help often, the better your chances of outsized success. — Sakfucius
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Sharpen your Axe 1.0
Don’t spend your weeks trying to chop down trees without sharpening your axe. Invest time to improve yourself, week in and week out. — Sakfucius
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Procrastination
Does anything frustrate you more than procrastinating on items that you must do? What if you made 20 minutes of progress on one of those items in the morning while your will power is strong? — Sakfucius
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Yes Man
What if you said yes twice as often as you now do? — Sakfucius
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Five Words 1.0
What five words does a person who knows you well use to describe you to others? It is worth finding out. — Sakfucius
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Five Words 2.0
What five words does someone who just met you once use to describe you to others? Are you making the impression you prefer to make? — Sakfucius
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Five Words 3.0
What five words would you pick to honestly describe yourself? — Sakfucius
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It’s Up to You
Would you rather be a hero to your kids or to passing strangers? — Sakfucius
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Open Minded
Don’t rush to judge people and you will find many more hidden gems and diamonds in the rough. — Sakfucius
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Think for Yourself
Of course Wall Street chants ‘you can’t consistently beat the S&P 500’ so invest with us. Think clearly, do the math, yes you can, and it’s worth the effort. — Sakfucius
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Diversification
Only diversify as much as prudent but not more. The goal is to prevent loss of too much capital on a mistake, balanced against investing as much as possible in your best ideas. — Sakfucius
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Lucky
It’s hard to get lucky if you don’t put yourself out there. — Sakfucius
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Humor
Humor is WD-40 when selling your ideas. It doesn’t take much to lighten the mood and improve the reception. — Sakfucius
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Plan B & Plan C
Even when your plan seems to be on track, always outline Plan B & C. That homework will fortify your resilience and flexibility. — Sakfucius