Are you anxious?? I am. Lots of uncertainty right now.  It’s easy to get caught up doom scrolling and sidetracked on things you can’t control.  What can we do? Accept, Adjust and Adapt Accept what is.  Naming your emotions, writing down what you need to accept to get through this tough time period will help get it out of your brain.  Adjust.  The same pre covid pre-political angst methods may no longer work. Change your routines and habits.  Journaling I want doing prior to this, now I do every day.  Adapt.  The new virtual world requires different skills. Have you modified your approach? My two examples.  I get outside three times a day no matter what and measure myself to it with a yes or no in my journal.  I added in 5-15 minutes of work to family time clearing mediation to reboot for the evening. That could also be a walk or a stretch, anything to clear the mind.  Defeating Average in the new virtual decade.  Colin

“We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” – Joseph Campbell Questions that help me find this essence. What would you do if you didn’t compare yourself to anyone else? What advice would your 20 years in the future self give you about your choices this year? What brings me energy? What brings me life? I hope these help you as you navigate your GPS to the life that is waiting for you. Defeating Average. Colin

The turn of the calendar like a season in a year has natural energy change. This year feels like an aberration but it’s still there.  Get laser-focused on what you want and what you can control.  3 W’s What, Why, Who What What do you want?  What do you really want? Spend some time thinking and journaling on this daily.  Why Why do you want it? What will keep you going when obstacles rear their ugly head? Jot down a number of your why’s.  Who Who can help you? No one achieves anything alone. It takes an army.  Who are you going to enroll to help you? What’s in it for them? Who are:  Your accountable partners  Inspiration partners People you can lean on To Defeating Average Together.  Colin

As we look ahead to 2021, there are three things I think about daily. 1. Endurance How am I playing the long game? What am I doing daily that builds to long term capacity? 2. Excited  How am I keeping focused on what brings us life and energy daily? 3. EQ (Emotional Quotient) What am I learning every day to improve? What has failure taught me? What am I grateful for? To a productive new year. Defeating Average. Colin

I have been reading (listening to Audio Book) Ray Dalio’s “Principles” over the last week. As one of the most successful entrepreneurs and investors on Wall Street, Ray looks at himself and his company as a machine that can be designed to make smarter decisions using multiple points of data. I love his focus on operating principles that the machine works by. One example: Great ideas and methods are better than new ones. We often get distracted by new and shiny while proven classics are often more valuable. I encourage those looking to rewire for 2021 and our new virtual environment to give it a read / listen. Colin

A colleague asked me last week how to establish a relationship with someone on my team. I shared the old adage, it takes you 6 times meeting someone to build a relationship.  In a virtual world, it’s even harder. What are six things you can do in those meetings to build the bedrock of trust? Listen Summarize what people are telling you Follow up on key items in the meeting in 24 hours Ask about origin stories Ask about their values Share your values Here is to building a mountain of trusted relationships in 2021. Defeating Average. Colin