Ten thoughts for 2014
by. Anthony Demangone
As we inch closer to the end of the year, it is natural to reflect on the year that was with an eye to improving things in 2014.
With that in mind, here are some thoughts.
- There’s no free lunch. If you want to change something, you’ll have to…well, change something. That means something has to give. There are only so many hours in the day. If you want to improve some facet of your life, the investment in time, energy and focus has to come from some place else.
- There’s no substitute for hard work. Seinfeld is funny. So that must be why he’s successful, right? Perhaps to a point. But he works hard. Behind every successful person, you’ll see a ton of hard, focused work. Nearly everything I see and read backs this up. Nearly everything. If you’re looking for a silver bullet or secret to success, stop looking. And start working.
- Watch out for vampires. There’s a good deal of negative energy out there. Stay clear of it. And beware of those that feed off of negative energy. Seth Godin does a wonderful job of highlighting this trend. He calls these folks “vampires.” Vampires will not help you improve in 2014. In his words: “It’s so tempting to evangelize to the vampires, to prove them wrong, to help them see how destructive they are. This is food for them, merely encouragement. Shun the ones who feed on your failures.”
- Learn. Never stop learning. My pal John Spence sums it up in this blog video called Personal Kaizen. Life-long learning is the key to personal success and happiness. The more I learn, the more I understand. And that understanding allows me to connect dots and see patterns.