How to be happy in business

Credit: Bud Caddell

Related post:

1. Are you happy?

Grey Group Poland: Advertising Agency of the Year

Just a short note to congratulate everybody at Grey Group Poland for achieving the Advertising Agency of the Year Award.

It has been a pleasure cooperating with them both as Strategic Development Advisor to the Management Board and lately as their Digital Strategy and Development Officer and I am very happy to be part of this success.

Once again, congratulations to Rafal Baran and all the team!

Novak Djokovic: Nothing is impossible

Novak Djokovic is currently the number 1 tennis player in the world. In this video we get the chance to see his journey from being a 5 years old kid hanging around a tennis court located across the pizzeria his family ran; to becoming the best tennis player in the world. Great story!

Enjoy!

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1. This is what it takes to be the best
2. Michael Phelps: Focus and determination

“Be careful”

Every now and then I find myself telling my kids “be careful!“. They run around, they climb, they jump, they play all over the place and of course, as I do not want them to get hurt, the first words that often come out of my mouth are … “be careful“.

My wife recently helped me realized that by doing this I am actually doing more harm that good. Basically all I am doing is telling my kids that they should “play it safe“, that the shouldn’t do anything too “edgy“, that is better to avoid taking risks and in other words that they should just “follow the rules“.

But what I have also realized is that one of the reasons why I have reached most of my accomplishments in life, is not because I was “being careful“! I mean … I used to be a circus arts performer! Yes! I used to be a flying trapeze artist! You do not get to perform “double-back somersaults” or “passing leaps” or “single trapeze” acts just by “being careful“

I had the opportunity to work in many different countries, meet the love of my life, work with remarkable people, work on designing and building a successful career in a wide variety of industries (work in progress), take part in exciting projects… not because I was “being careful”, but because I was adventurous, because I took chances and was on the edge, because I took action when other people just stayed still “being careful“.

Of course I am not saying that you should take stupid risks or to simply go out and try something dangerous if you have no clue what you are doing. What I am saying is that if you want to do exciting work and accomplish exciting goals, the last thing you should focus on is on “being careful“.

As George Lois once said:

“Better to be reckless than careful. Better to be bold than safe. Better to have your work seen and remembered. Your work must be seen and remembered or you’ve struck out. There is no middle ground.”

Quote of the week

“If you are only capable of taking action when your attitude is positive then don’t bother. If you require extrinsic motivation to make your move, you should just give up now. If you only perform at high level when you are feeling your best, then you are the exact opposite of a professional and destined to remain an amateur at life and everything else“
Mike Mahler

Quote of the week

“The path of least resistance is what makes rivers run crooked”
Elbert Hubbard

Quote of the week

“In order to get to the next level of whatever you’re doing, you must think and act in a wildly different way than you previously have been“
Grant Cardone

RIP Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

In memoriam of Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address

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Photo credit: apple.com

This is what it takes to be the best

Commitment, consistency, focus, discipline, mental toughness, diligent work ethic, constant and never ending improvement. These are some of the key factors that make you “the best“.

George St-Pierre is the UFC‘s welterweight world champion, and he is considered by many as the best Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter in the world, and in these videos we get the opportunity to follow his preparation for the toughest fight of his career, when he faced another remarkable fighter named Jake Shields.

Now, you may be wondering: “how does this relate to me?” … “I am not a fighter?” … well, I don’t care what is it that you do, weather you are an entrepreneur, a banker, a nurse or a taxi driver; if you want to succeed, if you want to be the best … you need to embrace all the elements I have just mentioned at the beginning of this post.

I am sure that you do not need to be a fan of MMA or other martial arts to enjoy and get value from these videos.

Note: You can just watch one of the episodes to see what I am talking about. However I have included all three videos in case you really enjoyed them and end up wanting to watch the whole program (that was what actually happened to me. I watch the first-one and I simply could not stop. Now, I am definitely a big fan of George St-Pierre!)

Enjoy!

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

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3. The Pursuit of Mastery

Inspiration is everywhere

This is one of my favorite videos. It tells the story of Manuel de los Santos, a Dominican Republic former baseball player who in 2003 lost his leg after a motorcycle accident.

A few years later he watched the film ‘The Legend of Bagger Vance‘, and he was inspired to take up golf. Today Manuel plays to a handicap of just three and is competing in high profile tournaments all around the world.

Enjoy!

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I believe that you that inspiration comes from within. That when you have a clear purpose, this will propel you to achieve anything you want. However, great stories, great books, great speeches, or on Manuel’s case, great movies, can give you that kick in the ass that you need to get going. So, go out there. Expose yourself to great sources of inspiration.

There is no longer the excuse that “you can’t get inspired”. Inspiration is everywhere. You just need to expose yourself to it.

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2. How high are your standards?
3. Team Hoyt: Love, courage and devotion
4. Michael Phelps: Focus and determination