If you want people to behave a certain way, you have to tell them how you want them to behave. That way they know what you expect from them

Set high goals and hold yourself accountable for the delivering on the results. This part is about the journey, not just the end game.

I notice I cause problems for myself when I get overly attached to my preparations. One of my many blind spots is around overly relying on my preparation. “Winging it” is rarely my first choice. However, things do tend to work out well when I trust my ability to adapt and find a way.

Doing our best doesn’t mean being perfect. It means doing our best in the current situation at the current time in the current mind-frame with our current knowledge. By believing that everyone is doing their best, I can release myself from the situation and give every person the benefit of the doubt.

Our calendars speak facts, and typically, our interpretation of what happened in the past year isn’t as accurate as the calendar.

So, if how we perform is driven by our behavior, and our behavior is driven by what we believe, couldn’t taking our thoughts off of “automatic pilot” have a huge impact on how effective we are? This takes a lot of sustained discipline, because it takes raising our daily awareness.

It’s not just about focusing on the final score. It’s about looking at the small results that lead us to the overall win. It’s a progress tracker that keeps us in the game and helps us define our next action step. There is a very different play call on 3rd down and short than on 3rd down and ten yards. Each successful “down” leads us to the opportunity to put points on the board.