Think about your work, your school, or your primary non-cinnamon role.
Ask yourself:
‘Is this the thing I am destined to do?’
‘Is this what I have been working towards?’
‘Have I arrived?’
‘Or is this simply leading me to where I am going?’
It is easy to think that where you are right nowis your story, role, or great achievement.
But if you are growing, there is always more. Like the sizes at a Big and Tall clothing store.
There are new chapters. New challenges. New knowledge. New capabilities. And new identities. And if you are Mork from Ork, there is Nanu Nanu.
I have been surprised by how many doors I have passed through at the back of wardrobes. But instead of finding lions, and witches, I keep finding new opportunities and perspectives.
These doors have led me to great new experiences that I didn’t realize were coming. But now I expect more incredible things ahead. Which is probably how Dave Grohl feels.
It is a beautiful place to be in your life, career, or avocation when you expect more and better roles in your future because growth and transformation have become the rule, not the exception.
Key Takeaway
Keep going. Keep Growing. There is more and better ahead.
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Remember when we used to line up to pick teams on the playground? Did you love that? Did you hate that? Your response to this question is likely related to where you were typically picked. If you were picked early you probably loved that process. If you were frequently the last kid to be picked you are probably still suffering from PTSD, or Playground Team Selection Damning.
While you are no longer getting picked for Dodgeball, as an adult you are still being picked for teams. Yes, the adult world is full of teams. And they are always looking for strong new members. But we’re not talking about the NFL, MLB, NHL, or OPP.
The adult teams include employers like businesses and non-profits. They include governments, associations, bowling teams, and 80’s cover bands.
On most adult teams your physical advantages no longer matter. It is your mental advantages that get you noticed. And the number one way you get drafted by an adult team is to demonstrate that you get things done.
On the adult teams, the valuable positions go to people who do what they say they will do. You get recruited by delivering results. By being dependable. By always showing up on time, and by not leaving until the goods have been delivered.
Adult teams recruit and promote adaptability. If you are flexible and deliver under every condition and in every climate you will find yourself in demand.
We place a high value on resourcefulness. If you are a problem solver who can find a way to complete the mission in less-than-ideal situations you will have team leaders lining up at your door to add you to their team. And if those leaders didn’t select you for Red Rover back in the day, then it’s time for you to have the last laugh.
Key Takeaway
Do what you say you will do. Get things done, no matter what. Develop a reputation as a problem solver. And delivers results regardless of conditions. Because resourceful adults are a team’s most valuable resource. So focus on your own accountability. And the best opportunities will find you.
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Over the weekend my daughter Ava and I went to a concert. As we left the venue and walked to our car, we couldn’t help but laugh at how good the whole experience was. Because despite long odds, lucky things kept happening to us. And we felt like we were Forrest Gumping.
Our string of good luck was especially evident because the Noah Kahan concert we attended had been sold out for months, and we didn’t have tickets. Then in a strange twist, the concert in Milwaukee switched venues, and a few extra tickets were available for a couple of hours. Not only did we snatch up 2 regularly priced tickets, we stumbled onto the last two special-access wristbands at the venue. Then, we got pictures with Noah and talked to him after the show.
Ava is in the front row in the green jacket. Noah Kahan is in the second-row middle. I am in the back row on the right side, wearing a hat and a smile.
As we reflected on our amazing experience at the end of the night, Ava noted how this type of thing always seems to happen to me. She looked at me as if I was Mr. Miyagi and asked,
‘What is your secret Dad? Why is it that things always seem to work out for you? Teach me your ways!’
-Ava Albrecht
I laughed. But I knew she was right. Things tend to work out well for me. After a moment I said, ‘There’s a lot to it. Let me think about how to share this with you.’
The next day, while we were driving from Milwaukee to Madison for some discus training I told her that I had an answer to her question about why things seem to work out well for me most of the time.
The 4 Ps of Good Fortune
There are 4 important factors that help create opportunity, positive outcomes and luck. And as luck would have it, they all start with the letter P.
People: People are your links to opportunities. Most people miss this. But the majority of your great opportunities will come from other humans. The more people you know, and the more people who like you, trust you, and want to spend time with you the more good things will come your way. People send invitations. People open doors. People re-write rules. So befriend people. Keep them close. Treat them well. It will lead to good things, just like the Fine Young Cannibals said.
Place: Opportunities happen at specific spots on the planet. Sometimes that means being in the right country, state or city. But it often means being at an event. It could mean you should position yourself within a few feet of a specific spot or a person. Because that is the place where an opportunity is going to appear. Recognize those spots and put yourself there. Remember that today, many of those places are digital. So be on LinkedIn. Engage in social media. And snatch up those opportunities that are only available online. I found the concert tickets online when Nohan Kahan announced there were a few new tix available on Instagram. I also found my 100-year-old typewriter on Facebook.
Ava put herself in a place where she would be noticed.
Preparation: Preparing yourself for opportunities is extremely important. If you know there is a chance to interact with a person in a specific place, you can prepare to have that interaction go well. Preparation means doing your homework.
It means wearing the right clothes. It means having the right question, request, or introduction ready. It means bringing your baseball glove to the ballgame so you can catch the homerun ball. It means having your eclipse glasses on you when the sun slips behind the moon. It means having money saved and ready to buy the priceless piece of art you find at the yard sale.
Noah Kahan literally called Ava out of the crowd for wearing her Dan & Whit’s shirt, from his home in Vermont. #preparartioon
Positive Energy This is one of the most valuable resources on the planet. Humans are drawn to it like gold, sunsets, and street performers. You have to learn to tap into your own positive energy. Let it flow from you.
In the same way that humans like to gather around the heat of a campfire, we enjoy standing near the glow of positive energy. It magnetizes you. Which attracts both people and opportunities. (According to Notorious B.I.G. it can also attract Mo Money n’ Mo Problems. But I haven’t reached that level yet.) To tap into the power of your positive energy simply smile more. That is where it all starts.
Key Takeaway
You have the ability to create your own great opportunities. Start by treating people well. Put yourself in the right places. Prepare to take advantage of the opportunities that come your way. And share as much positive energy with the world as you have to give. That is how good luck is made.
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The most successful people I know have taken significant chances. The universe is willing to pay out great rewards. But it requires you to put something on the line to prove you deserve it.
I first learned this lesson from a piece of cross-stitch art in my childhood home that said The turtle only makes progress when it sticks its neck out. You can learn a lot from cross-stitch philosophy.
The great barrier to success is your willingness to take a risk. Most people simply aren’t willing to risk enough to earn a great reward. They play it too safe. But the safe harbor you think you are anchored in is not nearly as safe as you think. (And there is very little safety in safes as Geraldo Rivera showed us.)
The relative lack of safety everywhere means that you should risk it for the biscuit. Always bet on yourself. But it is easy to lower the risk in your risky endeavors. In fact, there is a maxim I adhere to every time I take my chances:
Load your dice before you roll them.
Whenever you take a chance, like ABBA, take as much chance out of the situation as possible. You can do this by taking on opportunities where you have the greatest chance of winning.
Remember, not all playing fields are even. Choose to play on fields that are tilted in your favor. And tilt every board you compete on in your direction by knowing and playing to your strengths.
Take on battles where you have advantages. Lean on your relationships. People advantages are often the greatest advantages of all. Choose opportunities where your proximity is a strength. Compete where your category knowledge is high. It’s what Alex Trebek would do.
Count the cards. Know the decision makers. Do your homework. Study patterns. Start a business in a space where you have great expertise. Then do what hedge funds do and create situations where you win no matter what happens.
Key Takeaway
Take the chance out of the chances you take. Know your strengths. Play to them. You will significantly increase your likelihood of success. Which will ensure that you win more than your fair share of victories.
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Like a soccer player, I am goal-oriented. I always have been. I set goals in all areas of my life. They challenge me. They motivate me. And they make it easy to track my big-picture progress.
However, I also recognize that my ultimate goals are really lag measures. They are results. Or outcomes. Or accumulated totals. And if all I ever did was focus on my lag measures, I would be unlikely to ever achieve them. Which would be laggravating
The secret to achieving your goals is to focus your attention on the lead measures.
The lead measures are the inputs that are likely to lead you to the results you want.
An Example We Can All Relate To
I have a big birthday coming up in May. So I set a goal of weighing 210 pounds by May 25th. I picked the number because it is what I consider to be my ideal weight, where I feel and look my best. For context, I weighed 215 lbs when I graduated from high school and 211 lbs when I graduated from college. But I have been as heavy as 224 lbs within the last 6 months.
But I don’t obsess over the number 210. And I am not dieting. Instead, I am focusing on the 2 lead measures that impact weight loss:
Calories consumed
Calories burned.
It’s that simple.
I weigh myself first thing every morning. That gives both a progress report and a baseline for the day. I write the number down every day to track progress over time. Because if I can measure it I can manage it. (Which I think was a quote from Stanley, the retractable tape measure guy.)
I eat every day. But I don’t eat beyond the just-full feeling. (Which is better than that not-so-fresh feeling.) This means I am eating what I need. But I’m not taking on excess food or calories. So my lead indicator is ‘Did I eat past just-full? If ‘no’, I have a positive meal experience, and I give myself a tally, Ali. I want to have 3 of those every day.
However, I also track my calorie burning. In fact, to improve my calorie-burning habit I bought cardio equipment for my home gym so that I can burn calories every day that I am home. Each day I track whether I burned calories through deliberate exercise of at least 30 minutes.
By focusing on my lead measures I am taking actions that are leading to predictable weight loss. Today I weigh 214 pounds. And I have 4 months to lose 4 pounds. Which is quite manageable. Or woman-ageable.
But Wait, There’s More!
On my quest for self-improvement and achievement, I track several other lead indicators:
Hours of sleep at night: This is a great indicator of energy, mood, productivity and Zzzs caught.
Books Read Per Month: This is my indicator of increased intelligence. I want to read at least 2 books per month. One of them can’t be a picture book.
Hours spent writing per day. This is a great indicator of how many blog posts I will publish and pages I will write for my next book. If I write for 1-2 hours every day, my progress is steady and good. By doing so I can usually come up with one funny joke per day. (As judged by me, which is totally cheating.)
Hours spent on business development per day. I am the Founder & CEO of the advertising and ideas agency The Weaponry. Which means that I am responsible for growing the business. The most important thing to know about business development is that you have to plant seeds in the spring if you want to harvest in the fall. So I track the time I spend planting. #WWJAD (What Would Johnny Appleseed Do?)
Placing water on my vanity each night: Drinking water is a valuable part of my health plan. It helps with my mood, and alertness, and makes me feel full, which prevents overeating. I track whether or not I set a glass of water next to my sink each night. Because if I do that I drink water first thing in the morning.
Dates with my wife per month. This year I want to have at least one date with my wife every month. It is an important investment in our relationship. You can’t just set the goal of having a happy marriage. You have to spend quality time together, talk, and focus on each other regularly to achieve the goal.
Speaking events per month: Since publishing my book What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? I have had a lot of speaking opportunities. These enable me to share more positivity, inspiration and valuable life lessons with the world. I can track my positive influence on others, in part, through the number of talks I give.
Key Takeaway
Set measurable goals. Then determine which lead indicators you can measure to track your effort toward achieving your goals. Your lead indicators are great predictors of success. Focus on the lead measures and they will lead you where you want to go.
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The world isn’t perfect. It isn’t always fair. And things go wrong all the time. This is well documented by Murphy’s Law, and in every episode of Seinfeld. Just ask Mulva.
Since you are technically part of the world, you are not perfect either. You sometimes do the wrong things. You make mistakes. You react too quickly and make poor decisions. You don’t always control your temper. Or your tongue. Or, your thumbs. (Which are like modern Jobsian tongues.)
When things go bad there is a natural tendency to blame. Humans have an innate ability to draw quick conclusions and simplistic explanations. Because it is much easier to judge than to seek understanding.
This is a massive mistake.
Blaming is a lazy response that prevents you from investigating and discovering the truth. Blaming discounts your own responsibility. And it discounts the complexity of the universe and human interactions. That’s why, as Phil Dunphy might say, when you blame, you be lame.
Key Takeaway
If you want to live a better life stop blaming others. Commit to discovering the truth. Look at the facts. Explore all sides of the story. Ask questions. Don’t make accusations. Consider your own role and your contribution to each situation. Truth seekers and blamers see the world differently. And only one of them gets it right.
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Several years ago while working in Montreal, I got a small piece of valuable advice. I was working with my good friend, director Guillaume de Fontenay. Guillaume is a French Canadian from Montreal. Guillaume is the french equivalent of the name William. So I assume that in french Billy the Kid is called Gilly L’enfant.
Guillaume and I playing Ebony and Ivory in Montreal.
One evening at dinner Guillaume shared a story about an interaction he once had that greatly angered him. He said his natural desire was to verbally lash out at the other person. But the point of the story was that he didn’t lash out. Instead, he replied with something smart and considered. Guillaume confided,
‘We have a little saying in French for when you are angry…’
Il faut tourner sa langue sept fois dans sa bouche avant de parler.“
-Smart French Saying
Guillaume translated this for me as: Twist your tongue seven times before you speak.
It is very good advice in any language.
Twisting
It is important to think before you speak. Since hearing this saying I have leaned on it countless times. And it has never failed me. It works at work and at home. It works with strangers and friends. It works like magic when you are seeing red and your blood is boiling. It works when you have something sharp on the tip of your tongue. It works when you feel salty, disappointed, or jealous. In fact, the only time I have found it doesn’t work well is when you are in the dentist’s chair. Because those people have work to do. (Sorry Faith and Dr. Tina.)
But This One Goes to 11
I can also say that in my anglophone mouth, it is often better to twist more than 7 times. When you are angry or emotional it is often best to hold off until the next day, or the next week before responding. Which can mean a lot of tongue-twisting. Like sister Susie sitting on a thistle as she sells sea shells at the seashore.
But perhaps the most important lesson I have discovered through the employment of this très bon advice is that after tiring your tongue out through the twisting there is no longer an urge to speak at all. And no response to the people who have angered, offended, or irritated you is often the best response of all.
Key Takeaway
Twist your tongue 7 times before you speak. More if necessary. It will give you time to think. It will give your tongue time to cool. And it will prevent you from saying things you later regret.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
Note: In French, tourner actually means turn. But twist is what Guillaume said. And the saying sounds cuter that way.
This is an exciting week for people who own calendars. Because we have flipped to a whole new set of 365 days. The new year brings on new hopes and dreams. It is full of opportunities. Most of us come into the new year, like Wayne Gretzky, with a bunch of new goals.
But the most important thing to do in the new year to convert those goals into reality is to take action.
A goal to lose weight is only a dream until you take action with your diet and exercise. A goal to start a business is worthless until you start talking to potential customers. A goal to travel is only a dream until you buy your ticket to ride. And a goal to write a book, screenplay, or fortune cookie is meaningless until you start typing on your keyboard. (Oh lord, why don’t we?)
The familiar phrase New Year, New You is missing a key ingredient. The complete saying should be:
New Year. New Action. New You.
The action is the active ingredient. It is the change agent. It is the inflection point. Don’t forget the new action. Action is the yeast that will make this year rise above all the rest. So here’s hoping you get a lot of action in 2023.
Key Takeaway
Goals don’t change you. Actions do. As you make plans for the new year go beyond the goals to the actions they require. Write down your new actions. Put them on your calendar. As you take action you will make progress toward your goal. A journey of 1000 miles doesn’t begin with writing down your goal. It begins with that first step.
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We are 360 days into 2022. Which means the end of the year is near. For those who get the number of days in a year confused with the number of degrees in a circle, you may be thinking that tonight is New Year’s Eve. It is not.
However, within the next 5 days, we will ring in 2023. Which is exciting. It’s even more exciting to bust into the new year with a new set of annual goals. In fact, there is almost nothing more exciting than a new list of goals. Because those goals represent a new and better you. A you who is fitter, richer, happier, and maybe more sober or less cigarettey than the current you.
I am a huge fan of setting goals to become a better human. Setting goals has helped me Rumpelstiltskin my ambitions into accomplishments.
A few examples:
Goal setting is how I broke my high school, conference and state records in the discus.
Goal setting is how I became an entrepreneur and launched the advertising and idea agency The Weaponry. (Goal setting also helped my team launch our new agency website by the end of 2022. We haven’t announced it yet, but if you click the hyperlink above you will be the very first people to see it live.)
Goal setting is how I publish a new blog post at least 3 times every week.
Goal setting is why today my weight is within 1 pound of what I weighed when I graduated from high school.
Goal setting has enabled me to steadily increase my net worth.
Goal setting drives me to read a whole mess of new books every year.
Goal setting has kept me off the pole. (That and a lack of requests to actually see me on a pole.)
Goal #1
All of my successful goal setting has taught me that there is one goal that you should set first. A goal that will make it easier to achieve all of your other goals. Here it is:
Surround yourself with people who are already doing what you want to do.
There is nothing more valuable to achieving your goals than to spend time with others who have already achieved that goal, or who are fully committed to doing it now.
The gravitational pull of humans on other humans is very strong. And like a Peleton in a bike race, the group will pull the individual along. (Which also means that if everyone else is wearing spandex and doping, you are highly likely to too. Right Lance?)
The best chance to keep your fitness goals is to surround yourself with fit and health-committed friends.
The best way to write a book is to surround yourself with published authors. (And pens.)
The best way to get rich is to spend time with rich people.
The best way to become more positive is to hang out with other positive people.
The best way to become a better spouse and parent is to spend time with great spouses and parents.
The best way to get rid of tan lines is to hang out at a nudist colony.
Key Takeaway
Peer groups are like trains. You are highly likely to go where those around you are going. So when you set your goals, make sure you get on the right train. Surround yourself with the right people. People who are committed to going where you want to go. It is the most important step on your journey. And it is the key to arriving at your chosen destination on time.
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Adam Albrecht Blog 