Morning Motivator – A note from Seth Godin’s Blog

Sometimes, I cannot help myself.  Seth is the master and makes some great points here.  I felt that I needed to send this and allow us all to think about how to get "unstuck" in our past success.

Senior management by Seth Godin.  View more about Seth at http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

A newly-retired executive takes a job as an adjunct professor and really shakes things up. Both the school and the students are blown away by her fresh thinking and new approaches.

A forty-year old internet executive who has been running his company for decades misses one new trend after another, because he's still living in 1998.

One thing that happens to management when they get senior is that they get stuck. (As we saw with the new professor, senior isn't about old, it's about how long you've been there).

If you've been doing it forever, you discover (but may not realize) that the things that got you this power are no longer dependable.

(2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:)
Reliance on the tried and true can backfire (Rupert keeps missing one opportunity after another, and keeps misunderstanding the medium he works in) or it can (rarely) pay off (Steve Jobs keeps repeating the same business model again and again--it's not an accident that Apple has no real online or social media footprint. Steve believes in beautifully designed objects, closed systems and evangelizing to developers and creatives).

Worth quoting--one of Arthur C. Clarke's lesser known three laws:  "When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is probably wrong."

The paradox is that by the time you get to be senior, the decisions that matter the most are the ones that would be best made made by people who are junior...

Great work Seth! 

Cheers,

Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

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Morning Motivator – Thank You, Thank You, Thank You

"It started as a way to help other people learn and let them know that they were not the only one facing these challenges."
- Zachary Barker

The title is THANK YOU times three on PURPOSE.  Today the Morning Motivator CELEBRATES its third birthday.  On this day, back in 2007, the Morning Motivator launched as a way to help others learn and let them know they were not alone in facing their challenges…

As the years have passed, the marked followers have grown from 20 to over 350, based solely on word of mouth (and me adding a few of you that I thought it would help).

I want share my appreciation with EVERYONE for the support, feedback and positive encouragement… (Including the negative stuff I get on occasion).

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
The only lesson I really have here today is:  "If you BELIEVE in something with your heart and soul, find a way to share it.  Do not allow others to impose their will upon you or affect the joy that you receive."

If you love it – do it.  If they don't love it – they are not the RIGHT people to be on the team anyhow.

Remember that it is much EASIER to work with the people that already BELIEVE and WANT what you have, as opposed to trying to convert the non-believers.

Here is to another 3 years of SHARED success!  Please let me know what I can do to IMPROVE the Morning Motivator to help you attain your DREAMS…

Cheers,

Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator- Opportunity or Distraction?

"Hutchison's Law:  Any occurrence requiring undivided attention will be accompanied by a compelling distraction."
- Robert Bloch

Opportunity is LIMITLESS in the world we live in today.  We have more OPTIONS to create success than the last 3 generations combined.  Yet, many STRUGGLE to attain success amongst this infinite pool of opportunity.  Why?

I BELIEVE it is because we have a very difficult time determining WHAT opportunity is and what distraction is.  Our generation is HESITANT to "turn down" a good opportunity, even if it is not necessarily the "best fit" for us.  This IS a flaw of TOO MUCH opportunity…

Understand that FOCUS is KEY to your success.  Opportunity also KNOCKS only a very few times.  How do we DISSEMINATE between what should gain our focus versus what is just a very sexy, disguised distraction?

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
Clearly DEFINING purpose and goals seems to be a CLEAR-cut manner of eliminating distractions.  Once you are AWARE of the pieces necessary to achieve your successes, it becomes much easier to understand WHICH opportunities you should take on.

You DO NOT have a CLEAR vision of what you want to be and when?  Maybe spending an afternoon thinking about it will help ELIMINATE all the distractions that are SABOTAGING you now…

Whatcha think?  Or did you get distracted and forget what I was talking about…  ;)

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator – Can You Be “Just Happy”?

"It is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle a question without debating it."
- Joseph Joubert

I WONDER… Does anyone else feel the IMPENDING responsibility to be "more" than what they are in life?  I am not talking about doing BETTER business or being a NICER person.  I am talking about AFFECTING the world in some form or fashion.

I STRUGGLE with the idea that I am supposed to be "Just Happy" with having a "good life" and living in a "nice community."  I am CHALLENGED at the idea that I was sent to this Earth to just have a job and work and maybe have kids and eventually die (nice run on sentence, eh?)

Do you STRUGGLE with the societal concept of "BEING HAPPY?"  Does it feel like settling for what your parents told you SHOULD make you happy?  Are you SEEKING greater purpose without a full UNDERSTANDING of "why?"

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
I am told this "feeling" is a typical condition of "my generation."  I am told that "we" are seeking purpose and fulfillment without the pursuit of riches and status that the Baby boomer had before us.

How are you DEFINING your purpose?  Does it REALLY fulfill you or just push back the feelings that make you QUESTION "why" and "how"?

In seeking the ANSWER to these questions, we must face the reality that we may NOT be in the place we are to be.  We may have selected a "LIFE" for the wrong reasons, and, as a result, we may be forced to make drastic changes or accept our place, while SETTLING into the life we chose.

Where do you fit in?  What will you DECIDE?  Better question … am I the only one that FEELS this??

Cheers,

Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator – The Longest MM Quote Yet...

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.  We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?  Actually, who are you not to be?  You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.  There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.  We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.  It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.  And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.  As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."  (A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles", Harper Collins, 1992. From Chapter 7, Section 3
- Marianne Williamson

This quote makes me REALIZE that we are all AFRAID of success.  It increases our ACCOUNTABILITY and RESPONSIBILITY, while decreasing our PRIVACY and LIMITS our dream capacity. 

I admit... I AM AFRAID.  I am afraid that if I am as successful as I DREAM I can be, I may lose focus of what make me happy – friends, family, socializing in my community and mentorship amongst my peers.

I am AFRAID that if I ACHIEVE "my" success, I may not have enough dreams to keep me excited going forward.  I may burn out all my joy of POTENTIAL success by realizing I am in TOTAL CONTROL of whether or not I attain it.  I am afraid...

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
Have you ever ACHIEVED a success, only to think in the back of your mind, that it was not as EXCITING as you hoped?  Or that you wish it was not so EASY to attain?  Or that you did not know what to "DO" next now that you are "here?"

Success at a young age can create ENTITLEMENT issues (something I will reluctantly admit I believe I struggle with).  It can also cause you to LESSEN your fervor if the success comes too easy.

The good news is ALL OF IT is in YOUR control!!  Change your ATTITUDE and put a chip back on your shoulder.  Get (close your ears kids) PISSED OFF at the world for a few days and make it your point to "show them" what you can do.

SUCCESS is not to be FEARED, but to be SHARED.  Change the fear by helping another find their success path... and you will find your path will circle back around with them.

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.