To build muscle, lift heavier weight. Muscle doesn’t grow without resistance.
To think better, tackle more difficult questions. Intellectual powers don’t grow without resistance.
It isn’t enough to think an idea. To determine its value, you need to think about it and through it. The best conclusions often come after the most effort.
Below are some of the conclusions I’ve reached.
Whether you agree or disagree with them, I offer them as food for thought, to challenge your thinking. Do you agree? If so, why? If not, why not? What experience do you have that supports or refutes these conclusions? Better thinking is the first step to a better life.
Leadership is not correctly evaluated by polls or popularity.
Anyone can make a promise but it takes a leader to keep one.
You feel better when you surround yourself with the right people.
Quick isn’t the same as rushed and fast isn’t the same as hurried.
Constant astonishment is a prerequisite for an extraordinary life.
There is always a backstory and once you understand it, it usually changes your perspective.
Good information doesn’t exist in a vacuum and requires context to be correctly understood.
Love is giving another what he or she needs, not what you want to give them.
You don’t improve the bad times you live in by bad behavior.
Turnabout is NOT fair play when it comes to bad behavior.
Complaining never makes anything better.
Prepare better and whatever you do will end better.
You learn much about your relationships by who you stay in touch with and who stays in touch with you.
You can never sincerely over-appreciate someone.
Living purposefully is better than just having a purpose.
One of the most useful life skills is learning when to say no and saying it quickly.
It really is true that the more you learn the more you realize how little you really know.
Being unhappy doesn’t give anyone an excuse to make others unhappy.
Those who understand others the least are often those who understand themselves the least.
You often learn the most from the courses in life you didn’t sign up for.
I may select several or all of these to expand on here in the weeks ahead. Please share your thinking and reactions to these ideas.
Mark Sanborn is an award winning speaker and Leadership Expert in Residence at High Point University, the Premier Life Skills University. For more information about his work, visit www.marksanborn.com. He also teaches professional speakers and leaders how to increase their messaging and public speaking effectiveness. Learn more here.
