Sometimes it takes trying things and falling flat on your face to figure out what the most effective strategy is to do whatever it is that you’re doing. Whether sales, building a business, running a department, etc. move fast with intention to see what works best, and do more of that.

Plan to win.

If you fail to plan, you're just planning to fail.

It isn't up to your manager/mentor/peers to tell you what to do every day.

If you don't have tasks on your calendar that align your goals, you're missing out on an opportunity to make progress and grow.

In my experience, on days where I don’t take the time to write down my most important tasks, things simply don’t get executed at the same level.

Delayed Gratification

Delayed gratification is critical, and your ability to delay gratification will have a massive impact on how quickly you reach your BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal).

During my time as a walk-on, I had to be the king of delayed gratification. Getting my teeth kicked in on the daily, with no scholarship, all with the goal in mind to one day earn a scholarship. It took two seasons, but eventually the work I put in resulted in my desired outcome.

The same concept applies in our careers. I know many of us have big ambitions for what we want to build, or what role we want to be in, the money we hope to earn, the fulfillment in our work, etc.

Again, I can speak from experience in saying that more often than not, getting to these things does not happen overnight. Getting those things requires patience, experience, hard work, and ultimately doing things you may not be dying to do. It’s part of it.

Expensive vs. Inexpensive Experience

Expensive experience is gained from you doing ‘the thing’ that results in you getting that experience.

Inexpensive experience is experience you get from watching others do ‘the things’ and then being able to learn from that experience without necessarily doing ‘the thing’ yourself.

In some context, me and my generation must get the experience on our own, but I would invite you to soak up as much inexpensive experience as possible as you pursue your loftiest goals.

Find mentors or others you trust who have walked the path you’re on and connect with them. Learn from them, and implement what feels aligned.

It is a great strategy.

Faith and Clarity

I had a conversation this week with a buddy of mine and he said something that really provoked thought.

“Clarity and faith can’t coexist.”

This statement struck me. I know many times in my life I’ve prayed for clarity on what to do in a specific situation, and God will give you signs without question, but it was an interesting question to ask…can faith and clarity coexist?

If you had clarity on all of your decisions and where they would ultimately guide your life, well then would you really need faith? I’m not sure.

Maybe we should shift our prayers toward having more faith that the present moment is exactly where we are supposed to be in service of God’s plan for us…I don’t know, something to think about.