Tweet 100 in my career advice book Success Tweets says, “Care about what you do.  If you care a little, you be an OK performer.  If you care a lot, you’ll become an outstanding performer.”  On Tuesday, I met someone who is the very essence of this tweet.  Caroline Mehle is the Wealth and Freedom Director with Speaking Empire.  She’s a good person to know.  Who doesn’t want more wealth and freedom?

Caroline is managing an event for Speaking Empire where I am a VIP guest.  As part of my VIP package, I was given the opportunity to put a flyer in the participant welcome packet.  The event began on Tuesday.  Caroline and I agreed that we would meet on Monday and I would give her my flyers for the packet.  I arrived before Caroline and left a note to be given to her upon check in.  I hadn’t heard from her by 7:00 so I called the front desk to ask to speak with her.  I was told she was a no show and had cancelled her reservation.  I was bummed by that.  I had spent some money getting the flyer designed and printed especially for this event.

Tuesday morning I arrived at the event a little before registration was to begin.  Lo and behold, there was Caroline.  She stayed at the hotel Monday night and hadn’t received my message when she checked in.  I asked if it were too late to get my flyer into the welcome packet.  She said “Absolutely not, give them to me.  I’ll take care of it.”  Remember, this was five minutes before about 200 people were going to descend on her asking for their meeting credentials.  My flyer was in every welcome bag.

That’s caring about what you.  Here’s another example.  I drink a lot of bottled water.  I couldn’t find a recycling bin at the meeting venue.  At the end of the day on Tuesday, I asked Caroline if there was a recycling bin handy.  She said, “Give it to me.  I’ll take care of it.”  No funny look, no “Gee I don’t know,” no “It’s not my job.”  The next day there was a recycling bin in plain view.  Again, that’s caring about what you do.

Let’s switch gears.  It’s football season .  If you read this blog regularly, you know that I am a huge Pittsburgh Steelers fan.  I grew up in Pittsburgh.  My dad had Steelers season tickets for many years.  He gave them up only because he moved to Florida.  He learned to use the Internet at age 70, so he could follow the Steelers on line.  He really cares about the Steelers.  I’m not that much of a fanatic, but there is no professional sports team more near and dear to my heart than the Pittsburgh Steelers.

On Sunday, February 1 2009, Steelers won the Super Bowl.  On Monday, February 2 2009, Mike Tomlin, their coach, noted that because the Steelers were in the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl, he was “a month behind getting ready for the 2009 season.   We’ve got to be thoughtful in how we prepare our football team.”

Some may say, “Chill, Mike, savor what you’ve just accomplished.”  However, Mike Tomlin, just like Caroline Mehle, knows that outstanding performers don’t rest on their laurels.  They care about what they do, and they care about their life and career success.  High performers always set higher goals and look towards greater achievements.  The Optimist Creed urges us to “Press on to the greater achievements of the future.”

That’s what Mike Tomlin was doing the day after he won the Super Bowl, and that’s what all outstanding performers do.  They set high goals and meet them.  Then they set higher goals and meet them too.  They are always looking to exceed expectations.  They care about what they do.

I care about helping people create the life and career success they want and deserve.  I care a lot.  That’s why I wrote Success Tweets and give it away for free.  You can get a copy at http://budurl.com/STExp.  That’s why I wrote a series of blog posts explaining each of the 141 tweets in more detail and turned it into a book called Success Tweets Explained.  I care so much about helping people create the career success they deserve that I committed to writing 700 or 800 words every day for 28 weeks.  I’ve also created a membership site to further help people create their career success.  I do this because I care.

I care a lot about helping you achieve the kind of career success you deserve.  And I know that this caring will pay off in me becoming an outstanding career success coach – somebody who gives really great career advice.  Caroline Mehle is in the business of making seminars run smoothly, creating great experiences for the participants.  She cares about what she does, and it shows.  That’s why she is so good at what she does, and is a tremendous career success.  Mike Tomlin is a football coach.  he cares about winning every single game.  That’s why he is good at what he does.

When you care you do your very best.  One of my favorite books, To Kill a Mockingbird was published over 50 years ago.  There is a passage in that book that has always stuck with me.  It’s in Chapter 11 and is spoken by Atticus Finch, the father, played by Gregory Peck in the film.  He’s speaking to Scout, his daughter…

“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.  It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.  You rarely win, but sometimes you do.”

It takes courage to care. Because when you care, you put yourself out there.  You do your best.  And doing your best can be a scary thing.  When you care, when you consciously do your best and fail, it is heartbreaking.  But at least you have the satisfaction of knowing you did your best.

I remember when I applied to graduate school at Harvard.  I decided that I was going to demonstrate to myself how much I cared by writing the very best application I could.  I wasn’t going to let myself off the hook if I didn’t get accepted by saying, “I could have written a better application, but I just didn’t spend the time I should have.”

When I put my application in the mailbox – we still did quaint things like that back in the old days – I was proud of what I had written.  I knew it was the very best I could do.  I was also frightened because I knew that my best might not be good enough.  After all, both of my other degrees were from state schools.  Who was I to think that those kind of credentials would get me accepted at Harvard?

I cared about the quality of my application, so I did the very best I could.  The story in this case has a happy ending.  I was accepted and got my degree.  Even if I had not been accepted, I would have been proud of myself because I cared enough to write the best application I could, and I dared enough to admit it to myself.

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  Successful people are proud of what they do.  They care.  They follow the career advice in Success Tweet 100.  “Care about what you do.  If you care a little, you’ll be an OK performer.  If you care a lot, you’ll become an outstanding performer.”  Does your work show that you care?  Or does it reflect an “it’s good enough” attitude?  Take it from a career success coach, if you want to create the life and career success of which you are capable, make sure that how much you care shows through in every single piece of work you do.

That’s my career advice based on working with Caroline Mehle.  What do you think?  Do you know somebody who really cares about what he or she does?  If so, give them a shout out by leaving a comment here.  As always, thanks for reading my daily musings on life and career success.  I value you and I appreciate you.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, please download a free copy of my popular career advice book Success Tweets and its companion piece Success Tweets Explained.  The first gives you 140 bits of career success advice tweet style — in 140 characters or less.  The second is a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

PPS: I opened a membership site on September 1.  It’s called My Corporate Climb and is devoted to helping people create career success inside large corporations.  To celebrate the grand opening, I’m giving away a new career advice book I’ve written called I Want YOU…To Succeed in Your Corporate Climb.  You can find out about the membership site and get the career advice in I Want YOU… for free by going to http://www.mycorporateclimb.

Tweet 100 in my career advice book Success Tweets says, “Care about what you do.  If you care a little, you be an OK performer.  If you care a lot, you’ll become an outstanding performer.”  On Tuesday, I met someone who is the very essence of this tweet.  Caroline Mehle is the Wealth and Freedom Director with Speaking Empire.  She’s a good person to know.  Who doesn’t want more wealth and freedom?

Caroline is managing an event for Speaking Empire where I am a VIP guest.  As part of my VIP package, I was given the opportunity to put a flyer in the participant welcome packet.  The event began on Tuesday.  Caroline and I agreed that we would meet on Monday and I would give her my flyers for the packet.  I arrived before Caroline and left a note to be given to her upon check in.  I hadn’t heard from her by 7:00 so I called the front desk to ask to speak with her.  I was told she was a no show and had cancelled her reservation.  I was bummed by that.  I had spent some money getting the flyer designed and printed especially for this event.

Tuesday morning I arrived at the event a little before registration was to begin.  Lo and behold, there was Caroline.  She stayed at the hotel Monday night and hadn’t received my message when she checked in.  I asked if it were too late to get my flyer into the welcome packet.  She said “Absolutely not, give them to me.  I’ll take care of it.”  Remember, this was five minutes before about 200 people were going to descend on her asking for their meeting credentials.  My flyer was in every welcome bag.

That’s caring about what you.  Here’s another example.  I drink a lot of bottled water.  I couldn’t find a recycling bin at the meeting venue.  At the end of the day on Tuesday, I asked Caroline if there was a recycling bin handy.  She said, “Give it to me.  I’ll take care of it.”  No funny look, no “Gee I don’t know,” no “It’s not my job.”  The next day there was a recycling bin in plain view.  Again, that’s caring about what you do.

Let’s switch gears.  It’s football season .  If you read this blog regularly, you know that I am a huge Pittsburgh Steelers fan.  I grew up in Pittsburgh.  My dad had Steelers season tickets for many years.  He gave them up only because he moved to Florida.  He learned to use the Internet at age 70, so he could follow the Steelers on line.  He really cares about the Steelers.  I’m not that much of a fanatic, but there is no professional sports team more near and dear to my heart than the Pittsburgh Steelers.

On Sunday, February 1 2009, Steelers won the Super Bowl.  On Monday, February 2 2009, Mike Tomlin, their coach, noted that because the Steelers were in the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl, he was “a month behind getting ready for the 2009 season.   We’ve got to be thoughtful in how we prepare our football team.”

Some may say, “Chill, Mike, savor what you’ve just accomplished.”  However, Mike Tomlin, just like Caroline Mehle, knows that outstanding performers don’t rest on their laurels.  They care about what they do, and they care about their life and career success.  High performers always set higher goals and look towards greater achievements.  The Optimist Creed urges us to “Press on to the greater achievements of the future.”

That’s what Mike Tomlin was doing the day after he won the Super Bowl, and that’s what all outstanding performers do.  They set high goals and meet them.  Then they set higher goals and meet them too.  They are always looking to exceed expectations.  They care about what they do.

I care about helping people create the life and career success they want and deserve.  I care a lot.  That’s why I wrote Success Tweets and give it away for free.  You can get a copy at http://budurl.com/STExp.  That’s why I wrote a series of blog posts explaining each of the 141 tweets in more detail and turned it into a book called Success Tweets Explained.  I care so much about helping people create the career success they deserve that I committed to writing 700 or 800 words every day for 28 weeks.  I’ve also created a membership site to further help people create their career success.  I do this because I care.

I care a lot about helping you achieve the kind of career success you deserve.  And I know that this caring will pay off in me becoming an outstanding career success coach – somebody who gives really great career advice.  Caroline Mehle is in the business of making seminars run smoothly, creating great experiences for the participants.  She cares about what she does, and it shows.  That’s why she is so good at what she does, and is a tremendous career success.  Mike Tomlin is a football coach.  he cares about winning every single game.  That’s why he is good at what he does.

When you care you do your very best.  One of my favorite books, To Kill a Mockingbird was published over 50 years ago.  There is a passage in that book that has always stuck with me.  It’s in Chapter 11 and is spoken by Atticus Finch, the father, played by Gregory Peck in the film.  He’s speaking to Scout, his daughter…

“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.  It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.  You rarely win, but sometimes you do.”

It takes courage to care. Because when you care, you put yourself out there.  You do your best.  And doing your best can be a scary thing.  When you care, when you consciously do your best and fail, it is heartbreaking.  But at least you have the satisfaction of knowing you did your best.

I remember when I applied to graduate school at Harvard.  I decided that I was going to demonstrate to myself how much I cared by writing the very best application I could.  I wasn’t going to let myself off the hook if I didn’t get accepted by saying, “I could have written a better application, but I just didn’t spend the time I should have.”

When I put my application in the mailbox – we still did quaint things like that back in the old days – I was proud of what I had written.  I knew it was the very best I could do.  I was also frightened because I knew that my best might not be good enough.  After all, both of my other degrees were from state schools.  Who was I to think that those kind of credentials would get me accepted at Harvard?

I cared about the quality of my application, so I did the very best I could.  The story in this case has a happy ending.  I was accepted and got my degree.  Even if I had not been accepted, I would have been proud of myself because I cared enough to write the best application I could, and I dared enough to admit it to myself.

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  Successful people are proud of what they do.  They care.  They follow the career advice in Success Tweet 100.  “Care about what you do.  If you care a little, you’ll be an OK performer.  If you care a lot, you’ll become an outstanding performer.”  Does your work show that you care?  Or does it reflect an “it’s good enough” attitude?  Take it from a career success coach, if you want to create the life and career success of which you are capable, make sure that how much you care shows through in every single piece of work you do.

That’s my career advice based on working with Caroline Mehle.  What do you think?  Do you know somebody who really cares about what he or she does?  If so, give them a shout out by leaving a comment here.  As always, thanks for reading my daily musings on life and career success.  I value you and I appreciate you.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, please download a free copy of my popular career advice book Success Tweets and its companion piece Success Tweets Explained.  The first gives you 140 bits of career success advice tweet style — in 140 characters or less.  The second is a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

PPS: I opened a membership site on September 1.  It’s called My Corporate Climb and is devoted to helping people create career success inside large corporations.  To celebrate the grand opening, I’m giving away a new career advice book I’ve written called I Want YOU…To Succeed in Your Corporate Climb.  You can find out about the membership site and get the career advice in I Want YOU… for free by going to http://www.mycorporateclimb.

Here’s some career advice that comes from the young NFL season.  I live in Denver.  People here love the Broncos.  I’d go as far as saying that people in Denver love the Broncos almost – but not quite — as much as people in Pittsburgh love the Steelers.

We are in the midst of a quarterback controversy in Denver.  The coaches and players think that Kyle Orton is the best quarterback on the team.  He is the starter.  Many of the fans think that Tim Tebow, a second year player who won the Heisman Trophy when he played for the University of Florida, should be the starting quarterback.  Neither Orton nor Tebow have  commented publicly on the situation.  But a whole lot of fans and reporters have.

The sports talk shows are full of Orton/Tebow discussions.  People write letters to the editor of the Denver Post about it.  Sportswriters all seem to have their position on the issue.  Last Sunday, a columnist who doesn’t write about sports devoted his column to it.  That one got me.  I asked myself, “Why would people bother with this?  What difference does it make who the Broncos quarterback is?”  Then the answer hit me.  They bother because they care.  They care a lot.

And that’s where today’s career success advice comes in.  Tweet 100 in my career advice book Success Tweets says, “Care about what you do.  If you care a little, you’ll be an OK performer.  If you care a lot, you’ll become an outstanding performer.”  Bronco fans who care so much that they call talk radio shows and write letters to the editor are outstanding fans.  If they bring that same passion and caring to their jobs, I’m sure they are outstanding performers and on the road to life and career success.

If you want to become a life and career success, you have to care about what you do.  You have to be passionate about it.  I’ll use myself as an example.

I am passionate about helping people create the life and career success they want and deserve.  I care a lot.  That’s why I wrote Success Tweets and give it away for free.  That’s why I wrote a series of blog posts explaining the shorthand career advice in each of the 141 common sense tweets in Success Tweets in more detail and turned it into a career advice book called Success Tweets Explained.

I care so much about helping people create the life and career success they deserve that I’ve committed to writing a 700 or 800 word blog post five days a week, 50 weeks a year.  Besides that, I’ve created a membership site called My Corporate Climb to help people create their corporate career success.  I also do webinars and speeches.  I am really passionate about being the very best career success coach out there.

I do all of these things because I care.  I care a lot about helping you achieve the kind of career success you deserve.  And I know that this caring will pay off in me becoming an outstanding career success coach – somebody who provides his clients with really great career advice.

When you care you do your very best.  2009 marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of one of my favorite books: To Kill a Mockingbird.  There is a passage in that book that has always stuck with me.  It’s in Chapter 11 and is spoken by Atticus Finch, the father, played by Gregory Peck in the film.  He’s speaking to Scout, his daughter…

“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.  It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.  You rarely win, but sometimes you do.”

It takes courage to care. Because when you care, you put yourself out there.  You do your best.  And doing your best can be a scary thing.  When you care, when you consciously do your best and fail, it is heartbreaking.  But at least you have the satisfaction of knowing you did your best.

I remember when I applied to graduate school at Harvard.  I decided that I was going to demonstrate to myself how much I cared by writing the very best application I could.  I wasn’t going to let myself off the hook if I didn’t get accepted by saying, “I could have written a better application, but I just didn’t spend the time I should have.”

When I put my application in the mailbox – we still did quaint things like that back in the old days – I was proud of what I had written.  I knew it was the very best I could do.  I was also frightened because I knew that my best might not be good enough.  After all, both of my other degrees were from state schools.  Who was I to think that those kind of credentials would get me accepted at Harvard?

I cared about the quality of my application, so I did the very best I could.  In this case, the story has a happy ending.  I was accepted and got my degree.  Even if I had not been accepted, I would have been proud of myself because I cared enough to write the best application I could, and I dared enough to admit it to myself.

What about you?  Do you really care about what you do?  Do you dare to admit how much you care?

The career success coach point here is simple common sense.  Successful people are proud of what they do.  They care.  They are like the Broncos fans who call talk radio and write letters to the editor.  They follow the career advice in Tweet 100 in Success Tweets. “Care about what you do.  If you care a little, you’ll be an OK performer.  If you care a lot, you’ll become an outstanding performer.”  Does your work show that you care?  Or does it reflect an “it’s good enough” attitude?  Take it from a career success coach, if you want to create the life and career success of which you are capable and which you deserve, make sure that how much you care shows through in every single piece of work you do.

That’s my career advice on caring about what you do – a lot.  What do you think?  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  As always, thanks for reading my daily thoughts on life and career success.  I value you and I appreciate you.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, you can download a free copy of the companion piece to Success Tweets, Success Tweets Explained.  It’s a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

PPS: I opened a membership site on September 1.  It’s called My Corporate Climb and is devoted to helping people create career success inside large corporations.  To celebrate the grand opening, I’m giving away a new career advice book I’ve written called I Want YOU…To Succeed in Your Corporate Climb.  You can find out about the membership site and get the career advice in I Want YOU… for free by going to http://www.mycorporateclimb.

They played the Super Bowl yesterday.  The Green Bay Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers by a score of 31 – 25.  This killed me because I grew up in Pittsburgh and am a huge Steelers fan.  Oh well, maybe next year.

There is a lot of career advice to be found in a championship sporting event like the Super Bowl: focus, determination, hard work, commitment, attention to detail.  World class athletes demonstrate all of these career success characteristics.

In this post, I want to focus on an important, but often overlooked, piece of career advice that can be found in the stories surrounding yesterday’s game – the importance of clarifying your purpose and direction for your life and career success.  Tweet 3 in my latest career advice book Success Tweets says, “Think of your purpose as your personal mission; why you are on this earth.”  Tweet 4 says, “The mightier your purpose, the more likely you are to succeed.”

Mike McCarthy is the Head Coach Green Bay of the Green Bay Packers.  In one of the little ironies you find in sports, he is a Pittsburgh native.  He grew up as a big Steelers fan.  Early on, Mike realized that his purpose in life – his personal mission — was to be a football coach.  And for him, this was a mighty purpose.

Mike McCarthy’s purpose of becoming a football coach was so powerful that he took an unpaid job at the University of Pittsburgh as an assistant coach.  He worked all night as a toll taker on the Pennsylvania Turnpike to pay the bills.  He quickly became a paid assistant coach at Pitt and then moved on to a series of assistant coaching positions in professional football before becoming the Green Bay Head Coach.  Yesterday he coached his team to a victory in the Super Bowl.  Mike McCarthy’s mighty purpose has taken him to the pinnacle of his profession.

As a career success coach, I’m here to help other people succeed in creating the life and career success they want and deserve.  I think this is a pretty mighty purpose for my life.  I may help someone who someday may become President, or a Supreme Court Justice, or find a cure for cancer, or just be a loving and caring parent.  This purpose anchors me.  It keeps me going when I get frustrated, or when I feel like quitting, or when I start to feel that it’s OK to be “good enough,” not great.

I define the word “purpose” as follows…

• Your reason for existing. 
• Your mission in life.
• Your passion.
• Why you are on this earth.

This isn’t always easy to discover. 

If you’re young and still trying to figure out your purpose, don’t worry.  It takes time.  That’s why I always tell people to be open to new ideas and thoughts, as you never know what you might pick up.

If you told me when I was in high school that my purpose mission would be to help others create their life and career success, I would have laughed.  It took several courses in college and a year of service as a VISTA Volunteer for me to figure it out.  That’s when I began my career in the human development field.

Your purpose needs to come from deep inside you.  It is unlikely to change over the long run.  I’ve had lots of different jobs in lots of companies and have been self employed for over 20 years. 

Through all the changes, one thing has remained constant – my desire and passion for helping others create the life and career success they deserve.  In my heart of hearts, I know that I am on this earth to help others navigate the ambiguities of life in order to reach their goals and create their career success.

Here is my purpose…

To help others achieve the life and career success that they want and deserve by applying their common sense.

It hasn’t changed since I was 23 years old.  This purpose reflects who I am and why I get up every morning – even on mornings after my team has lost the Super Bowl.  It’s what’s right for me. 

What’s right for you?  What is your passion?  What is your reason for living?  Why you are on this earth?  What is your purpose?

You have to begin your career success journey by clarifying your purpose in life.  Why are you on this earth?  What are you meant to do?  I believe that the more mighty your purpose, the more you are likely to succeed.  A mighty purpose gives you that strong foundation.
 
Brad Swift of the Life On Purpose Institute (www.lifeonpurpose.com), makes a great point about clarity of purpose…

“Taking a bold stand for living on purpose starts by knowing your purpose with crystal clarity — knowing it so well that if someone woke you up at 3:00 in the morning and asked you what your life purpose is, you’d be able to tell them.  And if someone who knew you well heard what you said, they’d realize that your life was a true, authentic reflection of that purpose.”

There are two common sense piece of career advice on which I want to focus here.  First, your purpose should be so big, so mighty, so important to you, that it is deeply ingrained in your psyche.  It has to be part of who you are.  Second, you have to live your purpose 24/7/365.  This takes commitment; commitment to determining your life’s purpose, and commitment to living it.

If you were to wake me at 3:00 in the morning, shine a light in my face and ask me for my life’s purpose, I’m sure I would say, “Helping people create their life and career success.”  It’s that much a part of me.  My elevator speech begins, “Hi, I’m Bud Bilanich, the Common Sense Guy; I help people create their life and career success applying their common sense.”

For me, this is a mighty purpose.  I’m helping other people create their life and career success – and fulfillment in their lives.  That’s important work in my book.  I take immense satisfaction out of seeing others learn, grow and succeed.  In another life I might have been a teacher or athletic coach.  In this life, I help people create the life and career success that they want and deserve.

If you woke Mike McCarthy am 3:00 am and asked him his purpose, I bet he would tell you, “being a football coach.”  This purpose is so mighty for him that he began his coaching career as an unpaid coach, learning the ropes while taking tolls on the graveyard shift to make ends meet.

Is your life purpose mighty?  I hope so.

The common sense career success coach point of here is simple.  Successful people ground themselves in a mighty purpose.  Tweet 3 in Success Tweets says, “Think of your purpose as your personal mission; why you are on this earth.” Tweet 4 says, “The mightier your purpose, the more likely you are to succeed.  It will give you a strong foundation when the winds of change shift.”  Take this advice to heart.  Ground yourself with a mighty purpose — and live it every day.  As the old saying goes, “It’s better to aim to high and fall a little short than it is to aim too low and reach your goal.”  Or, as Mario Andretti once said, “If you’re in complete control, you’re probably not going fast enough.”  I’m sure there were plenty of times during his run to becoming a Super Bowl winning coach when Mike McCarthy felt a little out of control.  But in the end, he and his team triumphed.  His mighty purpose saw him through.  Here’s a tip of my hat from one Pittsburgh guy to another Mike.  Enjoy your victory.  You’ve earned it.

That’s my career advice on finding a mighty purpose to help you create the life and career success you want and deserve.  What do you think?  Please take a few minutes to leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us.  As always, thanks for reading my musings on life and career success.

Bud

While this is a career advice blog, I cover a variety of topics.  Sports can teach us many life and career success lessons.  So today, I want to discuss an NFL game that happened last night.

If you read this blog with any regularity, you know that I’m a Pittsburgh guy, a big American Football fan and an even bigger Pittsburgh Steelers fan.  Last night, the Steelers played the Baltimore Ravens.  It was a tough, brutal game. 

The Ravens broke Steelers quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger’s nose the first time the Steelers had the ball.  The report from the bench during the game was the Big Ben’s nose wasn’t broken, just bloodied.  Having broken my nose five or six times during my rugby playing days I thought, “Who are they kidding?  I know a broken nose when I see one.” 

After the game, the coaching staff admitted that Big Ben’s nose was indeed broken.  It’d difficult to play with a broken nose.  It hurts and it’s hard to breathe.

But Big Ben isn’t the focus of this post and today’s career advice.  Troy Polamalu is.  Troy Polamalu is the Steelers strong safety.  He won last week’s game against Buffalo with an interception late in the game, and he won last night’s game by causing a Ravens fumble that led to the Steelers only touchdown that allowed them to win 13 – 10.

Tweet 138 in Success Tweets, my latest career success coach book says, “We all make mistakes.  Own up to yours.  You’ll become known as a straight shooter, honest with yourself and others.”  If you don’t already have a copy of Succes Tweets, you can download one for free at http://www.SuccessTweets.com

Point 7 of The Optimist Creed, one of my favorite writings on career success says, “Promise yourself to forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.” 

Sometimes the mistakes of the past can be but a distant memory.  Sometimes they can be but a few hours.

Troy Polamalu is a great player.  But even great players make mistakes.  Last night, Troy Polamalu made a big mistake early in the game.  He lost the man he was guarding in the end zone, allowing him to score a touchdown – the only one Baltimore would score all night.

But he kept playing hard.  And late in the game he caused the fumble that won the game.  Writing on ESPN.com, James Walker said, “Polamalu’s well-timed blitz could be the biggest play in Pittsburgh’s regular season…Many players can make plays.  But very few can make them consistently when the game is on the line…That is the rare category that Polamalu is in.”

But even great players make mistakes.  One of the reasons Troy Polamalu is a great player is that he forgets his mistakes, and as The Optimist Creed says, “press on to the greater achievements of the future.” 

Ann Landers, the famous advice columnist once said…

“If I were asked to give what I consider to be the single-most useful bit of advice for all humanity, it would be this: expect trouble as an inevitable part of life and when it comes, hold your head high, look it squarely in the eye, and say ‘I will be bigger than you.  You cannot defeat me’.”

I like what Ann Landers has to say here because it is a bit of reality check.  She’s right, trouble – and setbacks and failure – are an inevitable part of like.  Self confident people look trouble squarely in the eye and move forward.  They are not cowed by their failures, rather they embrace them and use them to move towards their goals.  They also own up to their mistakes.  In this way, they become widely trusted.  And trust is the glue that holds together all relationships. 

Last night, Troy Polamalu held his head high, looked trouble squarely in the eye and didn’t let it defeat him.  He made a terrbile play early in the game, and a great play later that won the game.  His teammates trust him.  One of them said, “He watches film like no other player.  In practice, you can see that he knows exactly what to do. And when you see him flying around in practice, you just know he’s going to do it in the game.”

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  The Pittsburgh Steelers won a game last night because one of their star players followed the career advice in point 7 of The Optimist Creed, “Promise yourself to forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future,” and in Tweet 138 in Success Tweets, “We all make mistakes.  Own up to yours.  You’ll become known as a straight shooter, honest with yourself and others.” 

Successful, self confident people realize that mistakes are part of life.  They learn from their mistakes and they build on this knowledge to create their career success.  Owning up to your mistakes is great career advice.  First you have to own up to them privately.  This is the only way to get past them and move forward to career success.  Second, you have to own up to your mistakes publicly.  Admit them to your colleagues and coworkers.  Take responsibility when you let down others.  You’ll build strong relationships by being forthright.

That’s my take on the career advice we can take from last night’s Pittsburgh Steelers win.  What’s yours?  Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  As always, thanks for reading.  If you want a copy of The Optimist Creed that you can frame and hang in your office, just like me, go to http://BudBilanich.com.optimist.

Bud

While this is a career advice blog, I cover a variety of topics.  Sports can teach us many life and career success lessons.  So today, I want to discuss an NFL game that happened last night.

If you read this blog with any regularity, you know that I’m a Pittsburgh guy, a big American Football fan and an even bigger Pittsburgh Steelers fan.  Last night, the Steelers played the Baltimore Ravens.  It was a tough, brutal game. 

The Ravens broke Steelers quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger’s nose the first time the Steelers had the ball.  The report from the bench during the game was the Big Ben’s nose wasn’t broken, just bloodied.  Having broken my nose five or six times during my rugby playing days I thought, “Who are they kidding?  I know a broken nose when I see one.” 

After the game, the coaching staff admitted that Big Ben’s nose was indeed broken.  It’d difficult to play with a broken nose.  It hurts and it’s hard to breathe.

But Big Ben isn’t the focus of this post and today’s career advice.  Troy Polamalu is.  Troy Polamalu is the Steelers strong safety.  He won last week’s game against Buffalo with an interception late in the game, and he won last night’s game by causing a Ravens fumble that led to the Steelers only touchdown that allowed them to win 13 – 10.

Tweet 138 in Success Tweets, my latest career success coach book says, “We all make mistakes.  Own up to yours.  You’ll become known as a straight shooter, honest with yourself and others.”  If you don’t already have a copy of Succes Tweets, you can download one for free at http://www.SuccessTweets.com

Point 7 of The Optimist Creed, one of my favorite writings on career success says, “Promise yourself to forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.” 

Sometimes the mistakes of the past can be but a distant memory.  Sometimes they can be but a few hours.

Troy Polamalu is a great player.  But even great players make mistakes.  Last night, Troy Polamalu made a big mistake early in the game.  He lost the man he was guarding in the end zone, allowing him to score a touchdown – the only one Baltimore would score all night.

But he kept playing hard.  And late in the game he caused the fumble that won the game.  Writing on ESPN.com, James Walker said, “Polamalu’s well-timed blitz could be the biggest play in Pittsburgh’s regular season…Many players can make plays.  But very few can make them consistently when the game is on the line…That is the rare category that Polamalu is in.”

But even great players make mistakes.  One of the reasons Troy Polamalu is a great player is that he forgets his mistakes, and as The Optimist Creed says, “press on to the greater achievements of the future.” 

Ann Landers, the famous advice columnist once said…

“If I were asked to give what I consider to be the single-most useful bit of advice for all humanity, it would be this: expect trouble as an inevitable part of life and when it comes, hold your head high, look it squarely in the eye, and say ‘I will be bigger than you.  You cannot defeat me’.”

I like what Ann Landers has to say here because it is a bit of reality check.  She’s right, trouble – and setbacks and failure – are an inevitable part of like.  Self confident people look trouble squarely in the eye and move forward.  They are not cowed by their failures, rather they embrace them and use them to move towards their goals.  They also own up to their mistakes.  In this way, they become widely trusted.  And trust is the glue that holds together all relationships. 

Last night, Troy Polamalu held his head high, looked trouble squarely in the eye and didn’t let it defeat him.  He made a terrbile play early in the game, and a great play later that won the game.  His teammates trust him.  One of them said, “He watches film like no other player.  In practice, you can see that he knows exactly what to do. And when you see him flying around in practice, you just know he’s going to do it in the game.”

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  The Pittsburgh Steelers won a game last night because one of their star players followed the career advice in point 7 of The Optimist Creed, “Promise yourself to forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future,” and in Tweet 138 in Success Tweets, “We all make mistakes.  Own up to yours.  You’ll become known as a straight shooter, honest with yourself and others.” 

Successful, self confident people realize that mistakes are part of life.  They learn from their mistakes and they build on this knowledge to create their career success.  Owning up to your mistakes is great career advice.  First you have to own up to them privately.  This is the only way to get past them and move forward to career success.  Second, you have to own up to your mistakes publicly.  Admit them to your colleagues and coworkers.  Take responsibility when you let down others.  You’ll build strong relationships by being forthright.

That’s my take on the career advice we can take from last night’s Pittsburgh Steelers win.  What’s yours?  Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  As always, thanks for reading.  If you want a copy of The Optimist Creed that you can frame and hang in your office, just like me, go to http://BudBilanich.com.optimist.

Bud

I’m really enjoying writing this series of posts further explaining the ideas in my latest career success coach book, Success Tweets: 140 Bits of Common Sense Career Success Advice, All in 140 Characters or Less.  I hope you’re enjoying reading them.  I’m pleased to say that Success Tweets is now in its second printing.  You can pick up a copy at your local book store, or online at Amazon.com.  Better yet, you can download the eBook for free at http://www.successtweets.com.

Today’s career advice comes from Tweet 100.  It is the last tweet in a series on becoming an outstanding performer.

Care about what you do.  If you care a little, you’ll be an OK performer.  If you care a lot, you’ll become an outstanding performer.

The NFL begins play next week.  If you read this blog regularly, you know that I am a huge Pittsburgh Steelers fan.  I grew up in Pittsburgh.  My dad had Steelers season tickets for many years.  He gave them up only because he moved to Florida.  He learned to use the internet at age 70, so he could follow the Steelers on line.  He really cares about the Steelers.  I’m not that much of a fanatic, but there is no professional sports team more near and dear to my heart than the Pittsburgh Steelers.

On Sunday February 1 2009, Steelers won the Super Bowl.  On Monday February 2 2009, Mike Tomlin, their coach noted that because the Steelers were in the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl, he was “a month behind getting ready for the 2009 season.  We’ve got to be thoughtful in how we prepare our football team.”

Some may say, “Chill Mike, savor what you’ve just accomplished.”  However, Mike Tomlin knows that outstanding performers don’t rest on their laurels.  They care about what they do, and they care about their life and career success.  High performers always set higher goals and look towards greater achievements.  The Optimist Creed urges us to “Press on to the greater achievements of the future.” 

That’s what Mike Tomlin was doing the day after he won the Super Bowl, and that’s what all outstanding performers do.  They care about their life and career success.  They set high goals and meet them.   Then they set higher goals and meet them too.  Pay attention here.  This is some important career advice.

Mike Tomlin was 36 years old when he won the Super Bowl.  He is the youngest coach to win a Super Bowl.  That’s pretty impressive.  But not to Tomlin.  Because he cares deeply about winning he says he expected that kind of success and expects more.  On the other hand, he is humble.  He realizes that football is a team game.  Coaches don’t win Super bowls on their own; neither do players.  They need one another…

“I’m an unrealistic dreamer sometimes.  I’m blessed, extremely blessed.  I’ve been around some great people – coaches, players, ownership – and I’m a product of that.  That’s my story.”

And a great story it is.  It shows the power of caring about what you do.

I care about helping people create the life and career success they want and deserve.  I care a lot.  That’s why I wrote Success Tweets and I give it away for free.  That’s why I am writing this series of blog posts explaining each of the 141 tweets in more detail.  I care so much about helpingyou achieve the life and career succes you deserve that I’ve committed to writing 700 or 800 words every day for 28 weeks.  I’ve also committed to doing a podcast on each of the tweets.  I do this because I care.  I care a lot about helping you.  And I know that this caring will pay off — for you and me.  The thinking and writing that goes into this work will help me become an even better career success coach – somebody who gives really great career advice.

When you care you do your very best.  This year marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of one of my favorite books To Kill a Mockingbird.  There is a passage in that book that has always stuck with me.  It’s in Chapter 11 and spoken by Atticus Finch, the father, played by Gregory Peck in the film.  He’s speaking to Scout, his daughter…

“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.  It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.  You rarely win, but sometimes you do.”

It takes courage to care. Because when you care, you put yourself out there.  You do your best.  And doing your best can be a scary thing.  When you care, when you consciously do your best and fail, it is heartbreaking.  But at least you have the satisfaction of knowing you did your best.

I remember when I applied to graduate school at Harvard.  I decided that I was going to demonstrate to myself how much I cared by writing the very best application I could.  I wasn’t going to let myself off the hook if I didn’t get accepted by saying “I could have written a better application, but I just didn’t spend the time I should have.” 

When I put my application in the mailbox – we still did quaint things like that back in the old days – I was proud of what I had written.  I knew it was the very best I could do.  I was also frightened because I knew that my best might not be good enough.  After all, both of my other degrees were from state schools.  Who was I to think that those kind of credentials would get me accepted at Harvard?

I cared about the quality of my application, so I did the very best I could.  The story in this case has a happy ending.  I was accepted and got my degree.  Even if I had not been accepted, I would have been proud of myself because I cared enough to write the best application I could, and I dared enough to admit it to myself.

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  Successful people are proud of what they do.  They care.  They follow the career advice in  Tweet 100 in Success Tweets.  “Care about what you do.  If you care a little, you’ll be an OK performer.  If you care a lot, you’ll become an outstanding performer.”  Does your work show that you care?  Or does it reflect an “it’s good enough” attitude?  Take it from a career success coach, if you want to create the life and career success of which you are capable, make sure that how much you care shows in every single piece of work you do.

That’s my take on the career advice in Success Tweet 100.  What’s yours?  Please care enough to take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  As always, thanks for reading.

Bud

I’m really enjoying writing this series of posts further explaining the ideas in my latest career success coach book, Success Tweets: 140 Bits of Common Sense Career Success Advice, All in 140 Characters or Less.  I hope you’re enjoying reading them.  I’m pleased to say that Success Tweets is now in its second printing.  You can pick up a copy at your local book store, or online at Amazon.com.  Better yet, you can download the eBook for free at http://www.successtweets.com.

Today’s career advice comes from Tweet 97…

Today, do the things others won’t do; so tomorrow you can do the things they can’t.

I got this one from Jerry Rice an American Football player.  He is in the NFL Hall of Fame.  When he retired, he held all of the important records a wide receiver could amass.  I’ve never seen anyone better – and I’ve watched a lot of football over the years.  Growing up in Pittsburgh, Sunday’s meant two things – church and watcing the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Jerry Rice was well known for his commitment to fitness.  He worked out harder and longer than any other pro football player.  When he was asked the secret his success, he said, “I am willing to do the things today that others won’t do, so I can do things on Sunday that they can’t do.”  In other words – work hard, prepare, commit to taking personal responsibility for your own success.

It’s simple, really. Success is all up to you, and me, and anyone else who wants it. We all have to take personal responsibility for our own career success. I am the only one who can make me a career success. You are the only one who can make you a career success.  When you become willing to do things that others aren’t willing to do – and this can be a million little things like keeping your clothes in good repair; shining your shoes; rehearsing your presentation out loud; proofreading your emails, not just relying on spell check; staying up to date on your company, your competitors and your industry; building relationships by doing willingly for others.

If you already do these kinds of things, bravo.  You’re in the minority.  Too many people do only what they have to.  Successful people always go the extra mile.  As Jerry Rice says, they do the things others won’t.

Think for a minute.  What are the kinds of things that you can do that go above and beyond, that demonstrate your commitment to your own career success?  Make a list.  Then go about doing these things regularly.

Here’s a bit of important career advice.  Stuff happens: good stuff, bad stuff, frustrating stuff, unexpected stuff.  Successful people respond to the stuff that happens — especially the niegative stuff — in a positive way.  Humans are the only animals with free will.  That means we – you and me – get to decide how we react to every situation that comes up.  When you take responsibility for responding positively to people and events – especially negative people and events – you’re taking personal responsibiliyt for you career success, doing the things that a lot of people won’t do.  This means that you’ll be more successful in the long run.

Personal responsibility means recognizing that you are responsible for your life and the choices you make. It means that you realize that while other people and events have an impact on your life, these people and events don’t shape your life. When you accept personal responsibility for your life and career success, you own up to the fact that how you react to people and events is what’s important. And you can choose how to react to every person you meet and everything that happens to you.

The concept of personal responsibility is found in most writings on success. Stephen Covey’s first habit in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is, “Be proactive.” My friend John Miller’s book QBQ: the Question Behind the Question asks readers to pose questions to themselves like, “What can I do to become a top performer?”  When you ask and answer this question, you’ll be on your way to doing the things that other won’t do – and getting the promotions and recognition that they can’t get.

In my opinion, all of this comes down to two words: activity and persistence.  Activity and persistence are my watchwords.  I set some very high goals for myself for every year.  I begin each year in high gear and then I kick it into overdrive.  And, I persist until I achieve all of my goals, no matter what.  I am committed to activity and persistence.

My friend, Mike Litman has some interesting things to say about activity…

“Activity. Activity. Activity.  Too many people are standing still.  Too much pondering, too little action. Too much scatterness, too little focus.  Too much talk, too little results.  In 2009, commit to a year filled with activity.  Be 1% more active each day in your business.  Start at 1%.

“Activity. Activity. Activity.  When you stand still too long, moving becomes real tough.  Very tough.  Every day, do at least one action that moves you forward.  What I love best about a lot of activity, is that I get to make mistakes and learn what works.  You can do the same.  Activity. Activity. Activity.  2009 is about you being more active then you’ve ever been.  Are you in?  Are you ready to commit to a year filled with activity?”

Kevin Eikenberry writes to leaders, but his ideas apply to anyone who wants to create life and career success.  He says…

“Let me be blunt.  We can create and engage in the best leadership skill training, we can create the best leadership development opportunities, and we can provide coaching and mentoring that is outstanding, and yet, if all of these programs and leadership activities, don’t include an ongoing persistent process of improvement – a way to instill and inspire persistence, we will fall short of what is possible…As a leader, when we practice proactive persistence – persistence that is positive and supports people through both an example and support to pursue the desired objectives persistently, we are truly leading…Ask yourself today what you can do to create greater persistence in yourself and your organization.  Your answer (and the action taken on that answer) will pay you rich rewards.”

These guys are right!  Activity and persistence will make you an outstanding performer.  And they are the key to putting the career advice in Success Tweet 97 to work.  Activity — even 1% more than you currently do — and persistence — fighting through problems and setbacks — will yield positive results in the long term.  But you have to commit to them. 

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  Successful people commit to taking responsibility for their life and career success.  They follow the career advice in Tweet 97 in Success Tweets.  “Today, do the things others won’t do; so tomorrow you can do the things they can’t.”  Be willing to put in the time necessary to create the life and career success that you want and deserve.  Successful people are willing to do whatever it takes to succeed.  They are active and they are persistent.  The law of inertia says that a body in motion tends to stay in motion.  That’s why activity is so important.  Once you get moving, it’s easier to stay moving towards your goals.  And it’s easier to persist in the face of problems and setbacks.  To paraphrase Muhammad Ali – “Inside a ring or out, ain’t no shame in going down.  It’s staying down that’s shameful.”  Persistent people don’t stay down; they get back up and keep moving.  Make activity and persistence your watchwords.  You’ll amaze yourself with how much you will accomplish, and the life and career success you will create.

That’s my take on the career advice in Success Tweet 97.  What’s yours?  Please take a minute to leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us.  As always, thanks for reading.

Bud

I’m really enjoying writing this series of posts further explaining the ideas in my latest career success coach book, Success Tweets: 140 Bits of Common Sense Career Success Advice, All in 140 Characters or Less.  I hope you’re enjoying reading them.  I’m pleased to say that Success Tweets is now in its second printing.  You can pick up a copy at your local book store, or online at Amazon.com.  Better yet, you can download the eBook for free at http://www.successtweets.com.

Today’s career advice comes from Tweet 97…

Today, do the things others won’t do; so tomorrow you can do the things they can’t.

I got this one from Jerry Rice an American Football player.  He is in the NFL Hall of Fame.  When he retired, he held all of the important records a wide receiver could amass.  I’ve never seen anyone better – and I’ve watched a lot of football over the years.  Growing up in Pittsburgh, Sunday’s meant two things – church and watcing the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Jerry Rice was well known for his commitment to fitness.  He worked out harder and longer than any other pro football player.  When he was asked the secret his success, he said, “I am willing to do the things today that others won’t do, so I can do things on Sunday that they can’t do.”  In other words – work hard, prepare, commit to taking personal responsibility for your own success.

It’s simple, really. Success is all up to you, and me, and anyone else who wants it. We all have to take personal responsibility for our own career success. I am the only one who can make me a career success. You are the only one who can make you a career success.  When you become willing to do things that others aren’t willing to do – and this can be a million little things like keeping your clothes in good repair; shining your shoes; rehearsing your presentation out loud; proofreading your emails, not just relying on spell check; staying up to date on your company, your competitors and your industry; building relationships by doing willingly for others.

If you already do these kinds of things, bravo.  You’re in the minority.  Too many people do only what they have to.  Successful people always go the extra mile.  As Jerry Rice says, they do the things others won’t.

Think for a minute.  What are the kinds of things that you can do that go above and beyond, that demonstrate your commitment to your own career success?  Make a list.  Then go about doing these things regularly.

Here’s a bit of important career advice.  Stuff happens: good stuff, bad stuff, frustrating stuff, unexpected stuff.  Successful people respond to the stuff that happens — especially the niegative stuff — in a positive way.  Humans are the only animals with free will.  That means we – you and me – get to decide how we react to every situation that comes up.  When you take responsibility for responding positively to people and events – especially negative people and events – you’re taking personal responsibiliyt for you career success, doing the things that a lot of people won’t do.  This means that you’ll be more successful in the long run.

Personal responsibility means recognizing that you are responsible for your life and the choices you make. It means that you realize that while other people and events have an impact on your life, these people and events don’t shape your life. When you accept personal responsibility for your life and career success, you own up to the fact that how you react to people and events is what’s important. And you can choose how to react to every person you meet and everything that happens to you.

The concept of personal responsibility is found in most writings on success. Stephen Covey’s first habit in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is, “Be proactive.” My friend John Miller’s book QBQ: the Question Behind the Question asks readers to pose questions to themselves like, “What can I do to become a top performer?”  When you ask and answer this question, you’ll be on your way to doing the things that other won’t do – and getting the promotions and recognition that they can’t get.

In my opinion, all of this comes down to two words: activity and persistence.  Activity and persistence are my watchwords.  I set some very high goals for myself for every year.  I begin each year in high gear and then I kick it into overdrive.  And, I persist until I achieve all of my goals, no matter what.  I am committed to activity and persistence.

My friend, Mike Litman has some interesting things to say about activity…

“Activity. Activity. Activity.  Too many people are standing still.  Too much pondering, too little action. Too much scatterness, too little focus.  Too much talk, too little results.  In 2009, commit to a year filled with activity.  Be 1% more active each day in your business.  Start at 1%.

“Activity. Activity. Activity.  When you stand still too long, moving becomes real tough.  Very tough.  Every day, do at least one action that moves you forward.  What I love best about a lot of activity, is that I get to make mistakes and learn what works.  You can do the same.  Activity. Activity. Activity.  2009 is about you being more active then you’ve ever been.  Are you in?  Are you ready to commit to a year filled with activity?”

Kevin Eikenberry writes to leaders, but his ideas apply to anyone who wants to create life and career success.  He says…

“Let me be blunt.  We can create and engage in the best leadership skill training, we can create the best leadership development opportunities, and we can provide coaching and mentoring that is outstanding, and yet, if all of these programs and leadership activities, don’t include an ongoing persistent process of improvement – a way to instill and inspire persistence, we will fall short of what is possible…As a leader, when we practice proactive persistence – persistence that is positive and supports people through both an example and support to pursue the desired objectives persistently, we are truly leading…Ask yourself today what you can do to create greater persistence in yourself and your organization.  Your answer (and the action taken on that answer) will pay you rich rewards.”

These guys are right!  Activity and persistence will make you an outstanding performer.  And they are the key to putting the career advice in Success Tweet 97 to work.  Activity — even 1% more than you currently do — and persistence — fighting through problems and setbacks — will yield positive results in the long term.  But you have to commit to them. 

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  Successful people commit to taking responsibility for their life and career success.  They follow the career advice in Tweet 97 in Success Tweets.  “Today, do the things others won’t do; so tomorrow you can do the things they can’t.”  Be willing to put in the time necessary to create the life and career success that you want and deserve.  Successful people are willing to do whatever it takes to succeed.  They are active and they are persistent.  The law of inertia says that a body in motion tends to stay in motion.  That’s why activity is so important.  Once you get moving, it’s easier to stay moving towards your goals.  And it’s easier to persist in the face of problems and setbacks.  To paraphrase Muhammad Ali – “Inside a ring or out, ain’t no shame in going down.  It’s staying down that’s shameful.”  Persistent people don’t stay down; they get back up and keep moving.  Make activity and persistence your watchwords.  You’ll amaze yourself with how much you will accomplish, and the life and career success you will create.

That’s my take on the career advice in Success Tweet 97.  What’s yours?  Please take a minute to leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us.  As always, thanks for reading.

Bud