Keep It SIMPLE

"In the mid-1980's, John Opel, the then Chairman of IBM, gave a talk to an audience of Stanford MBAs.
In response to a question for his advice about how newly-minted MBAs should embark on their careers, he delivered this very centered advice:

1. Create value
2. Don't fake it
3. Business is people

The element that made his answer so engaging was that, after number two (Don't fake it), John paused and
read the body language in the room. He then said, with passion, "No, really, I mean it!". It brought the
house down.

He had correctly detected a subcurrent of dismissal of this statement, and called them on it. He went on to say that we were all smart enough and smooth enough to fake it and get away with it, and that the only thing preventing us from doing so was our own desire to do better than that. For the right kind of person, not faking it is its own reward, and don't allow anyone ever to tell you otherwise.

The MBA whipper-snappers were shocked that they were so apparent to such an old fart. I think it had a
profound effect on at least a few attendees -- a great moment of wisdom passing from one generation to
another."

Recently, I began the practice of asking prospective coaches for my referral network to answer a version of the following question: "If you had to give three pieces of advice to a complete stranger that you felt certain would massively impact their happiness, success, and wellbeing, what would they be?"

Unsurprisingly, the answers have been fascinating, helpful, and fun. What I didn't expect was the value of the process to the person being asked the question! What seems to happen is that in being asked to formalise a lifetime of experience into three pithy phrases, people become more aware of what it is they have to offer that is unique to them, and what starts as an intellectual exercise becomes a wonderful affirmation of our inner wisdom and inner knowing.

Even better is the fact that because your three pieces of advice come directly from your self,
you'll never have to worry about forgetting them!

If you had to give three pieces of advice to a complete stranger that you felt certain would positively impact their happiness, success, and well-being, what would they be? or... If you could only give 3 pieces of advice to your children/a child on how to have a happy, healthy, successful life, what would they be?

This is the best true story being experimented.

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning. A man with a violin plays six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people passed through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle-aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes:
The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin valued at $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the price of seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities. The questions raised: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made... what else are we missing?

When asked, “How do you develop mental toughness in life?” my response might sound negative at first. I answer, “Always be prepared for a surprise. The surprise might be a negative surprise. Something is going to happen in your day, whether you are late because you got stuck behind a train or your car had a flat tire—something is going to happen. And the key is your ability not to take mole hills and look at them as mountains.”

Problems are a normal part of change. Things are changing so rapidly that there are going to be problems you face. So you must look at failure as an event, not as a person. I’m not a failure. Maybe I’ve had a failure or a temporary inconvenience. I’ve had a stumbling block, and the idea is to turn the stumbling block into a steppingstone, and step on it instead of stumble over it. So look at failure as the fertilizer of success.

Fertilizer stinks, it smells. You see that guy putting it on his lawn and you say, “Wow, that guy fertilized his lawn.” You fertilize your mistakes. You don’t wallow in them, lay in them, roll in them; you pick yourself up off your mistakes and learn from them. You try not to repeat that same thing again. But you look at it as a temporary inconvenience, as a detour—a detour in life—not as a failure.

--by Denis Waitley