Daily SPARK Minute with Simon T. Bailey

“You know, there are days when I had to look myself in the mirror and say, ‘You are brilliant.’ In fact, something brilliant is about to happen to you and it starts now. Why? Because you are brilliant. Simon says so.

“One life hack for me is I’m a list person. I make a list of what I need to accomplish for the day. I do my best to keep a list of no more than five to seven things because if I write down too many things than I intend to do, I’m not going to get through the list in the day’s time, and then some of them would be pushed to the next day, eventually being put on the back burner, and then falling off the list. So, the whole ability to make a list and hold myself accountable to ensuring that whatever I don’t get through that day, I put it on the next day, and I build that list. Five to seven things that are critically important that I need to accomplish, that have the greatest impact on what I do in business, that is a life hack for me that works really well. Then, you have this psychological achievement of crossing off the list to say ‘Yes! You did it!’”

“Protecting your energy is borrowing a line from Star Trek, ‘Shields up!’ So, whenever you are around negativity, it’s intuitively saying within yourself, ‘Shields up. I’m not going to allow the negativity of this situation to rub off on me.’ Number 2: The moment you send that you are about to create verbal judo on yourself and beat yourself up, you stop because you have to protect your energy with your words. Language is the software of the mind, so when I am protecting my energy, I have to be mindful of the words that I am saying to myself about myself. I think the third thing to consider when you protect your energy is starting with how I can ensure that everyone that comes across my path, that I am projecting positive energy towards them because you get what you put out.”

“So, this whole thing of kindness is letting go of ego, moving to eco; engaging and caring only is really understanding that every moment matters, and every moment counts. So, how do I practice self-love? How do I practice gratitude? How do I practice surrender? When you do, you literally are setting the tone to create an environment of kindness because everybody is going to feed off of how you’re showing up.”

“Thrive! Today, I want to invite you to think about one thing you can do to thrive. That is the decision to perhaps exercise, drink more water, go for a walk, call someone that you haven’t talked to in a while, take yourself out to breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and have a really nice meal. Perhaps, it’s even writing a handwritten note to someone that means the world to you. Thriving is taking a daily step in a forward direction, and it’s being present in the moment. When you are in the moment, you are taking control of the future, not waiting for something to happen to you. When you think about this from a professional standpoint, it’s doing one thing to be better than you were the day before. What are you going to do to thrive today?”

“Today, I want to invite you to take a break. That’s right. Slow down. Take a time-out. Take a deep breath.  Relax and be okay just taking a break because when you do, it gives you the opportunity just to step back, to relax, and to know that everything is going to be okay. Plus, giving yourself a break allows you to assess where you are, determine where you want to go and figure out what’s working and what’s not working. So today, just take a break!”

“Welcome the struggle. If it was easy, everybody would be doing it, but if you struggle, on the other side of the struggle is the ability to reflect. What did I learn? How did I grow? What will I do better or differently next time? I struggled, and I used to run away from struggling because I wanted everything to be neat and perfect, and in order, and when things were a hot mess, I didn’t embrace it. So today, I’m inviting you to realize that struggle is a good thing.”

“Here’s what I realize. When it is time for you to step into your destiny, everybody who has been assigned to aid and help you will show up at a place called there, but you have to get there in here. The reason I say you have to get there in here, it’s because it’s not who you are that holds you back from being your most brilliant self and having that spark, it’s who you think you’re not that holds you back. I am inviting you for the next few moments with your permission, I am going to upload it into your heart drive, how do we really become the spark? So, everybody say this: ‘Simon says, I am the spark.’”

“Every day I look forward to meditating, listening to music that just really centers me, going through a list of affirmations, reading something that inspires me. The word inspiration means breathing life into, and going on my daily walk, whether I do it on the treadmill or go for a physical walk. What that does for me every single day is it allows me to take control of the steering wheel of the day. So, no matter what comes my way, things that I didn’t see coming, things that I was not expecting because I’ve established who I am and whose I am. Then, all of a sudden, I am convinced that I can respond from a healthy place all because I took the time to work on myself first before I did anything else. So, what about you? Work on yourself first.

“I think number one, communication builds trust. Trust is the emotional glue of all environments. Another piece of Gallup research that surveyed 10,000 employees over the last six months. They discover that employees need four things: trust, stability, compassion, and hope. So, what leaders are doing when they are communicating is they are communicating hope stability, we’re great, we’re going to be okay even though we’re operating in a vocal world. Volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. I am the stabilizing force that’s going to communicate to you.”