If everything worthwhile in life can be achieved with a bit of hard work and the right attitude then why is that we spend so much time and money investing in the right schools, the best toys, good food and quality experiences for our children?

Why do we invest in the best training and education and buy the best tools to do our job?

Why do we choose to live in the best suburb we can afford?

Hard work? Right Attitude?

Isn't that going to get us where we need to go?

Actually while hard work and a good attitude is going to get us a long way in life they are not the only things you need to succeed.

So the next time you see someone not achieve the heights you think they should be capable of don't automatically presume they didn't work hard enough or have the right attitude.

I think sometimes we learn more when we listen to people with whom we disagree.

It's really easy to read and invest further on topics we like, when the person confirms that we are right, or tells us more information on what we want to hear.

It confirms we know what we are on about and validates our thinking.

But it's a mistake to dismiss those who contradict or disagree with our way of thinking or have a different viewpoint.

You don't have to read or listen expecting or wanting to change your position (although to be fair in some cases this wouldn't hurt) or because you want to be wrong. 

And none says you have to be their friend.

It's because the world is full of people who have ideas you don't agree with and they aren't always wrong .

It's because the world is full of people who don't agree with your ideas and you aren't always wrong .

I hear it all the time: "life is too short for......"

...bad wine
...hanging out with dumb people
...eating badly
...not taking chances

But no, for most of us life is long.

Long enough to make a generous selection of bad choices and still have time to get it right.

(If this isn't true then none should try and change their negative ways as there's not enough time to benefit)

Two words that should be used sparingly.
Things we always do and things we never do are not the same as the things that others always do and never do.

Things we always do and never do now are not the same as things we always or never did in the past.

Chances are the things we always and never do in the future will be different too.

So perhaps always and never should be used sparingly.

Not just to find out what it is that makes them so amazing.
But to find out what it is about them that is just like you.
Then you will know what it is about you that is amazing.

Sometimes it's better to take a risk and do something even though you might get negative feedback, 
or no feedback
or do it wrong
or not exactly right

Sometime it's better to take a risk and do something rather than waiting for permission from others who don't know you are waiting for permission

Before you think back to the good old days of the people who came before us with lower stress lives, a slower way of living and yearn for the increase in time before things got so hectic.

Write a simple list of the things that cause you stress and then another list of what the absence of that stress causer would mean?

Your phone means you are constantly being bombarded with messages BUT it does mean you don't arrive home after a day seeing clients and have to face a day's worth of emails.

Both parents needing to work makes the juggle of childcare and housework a nightmare sometimes but it's awesome that women can choose to hold a job if they want to.

No cash machines?
No shops open on the weekend?

And while a paleo diet may be a cool thing, I am very happy we don't have to live the paleo lifestyle!

The tyranny of before and after pictures for clients is that what is promoted as being success is reduced to waist size, ass fat and what they look like. Success as measured by these pictures doesn't move or live or breathe.
Success is demonstrated with no reference to the increased health, the joy of movement, the feeling of owning their body.
Success like this is worth having on Facebook and all dressed up with people marking their success out of ten on how good they look at parties or in the supermarket.

Meanwhile back in the real world don't you want your clients to have success that makes a difference every day, not just when they are being judged for what they look like?

Often it's not that what you are saying isn't true it's that the people you are talking to are hearing something completely different.

How you say your message is just as important as what your message is.

If you are talking to someone who has never exercised and doesn't know the joy of being fit, you may be saying 'exercise will give you improved energy and a little bit of less chance of dying of a dumb ass lifestyle disease' but they are hearing 'I think you are fat and useless and may as well die if you don't lose weight now'.

Business is the same, when you say 'Just work with me and I'll make your business better and you richer and happier' many of your potential clients will just hear 'you are failing, I know you are failing and now I want to tell you how badly you are failing and charge you money for it'.

Understand it's not just what you say but how you say it.

Being isolated from the wider industry you work within is easy when you can get all your resources, your needs, your skills, and your social interaction from one source or place or from within one organisation.
It can be a brilliant thing- if your organisation is up to the job. 
Those working in a large organisations are lucky, their workplaces have the money and time to bring the world to their team.

The trouble is that if you are a sole trader, work in a small industry or business the resources, the interaction, and the knowledge within your organisation are more limited.
Being isolated within that small organisation means you have a very limited knowledge of what resoureces other organisations have, especially the big ones.

So if you are going to to socialising, learning from, working with and getting your knowledge from only within your organisation, make sure you work with one that is big enough to meet all your needs, even the ones you don't know about.

For the one man bands, the loners, the sole traders who choose to work alone, you don't have the luxury of being isolated from the wider industry you work within.

If you want to survive and thrive you are going to have to get out there.