Managing Change: Transforming a Hard Day into a Great One

By Robin Sharma
Author of the #1 International Bestseller “The Leader Who Had No Title”

Last week, some smart soul on Twitter asked me to share my thoughts and strategies on turning a so-called “bad day” into a positive one. So he could show leadership versus victimhood. And focus on opportunities versus stay stuck on problems.

Excellent request. Ready to reply. Thank you for asking.

The first idea I’ll suggest is that there’s really no such thing as a “bad day”. (I still adore Nietzsche’s genius line: “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.”)

Everything that we experience serves our growth + expansion + progress + excellence. Hard times deliver a relentless stream of rich gifts that–properly leveraged–makes us smarter/faster/tougher. And infuse even more success and excellence into your life.

These gifts include:

– insight and understanding
– mental and emotional strength
– greater levels of creativity and ingenuity
– all-new levels of wisdom + knowledge
– the confidence delivered via experience
– higher levels of leadership mastery
– humility and larger humanity

But, of course, The Blessings Within Adversity are easy to forget. We all have days that frustrate and discourage and irritate us. We all encounter moments that knock us off our game–and diminish our confidence and self-faith. That’s just part of the leadership and life ride you and I are privileged to be on. Part of being a human being. And aiming for rare-air.

When faced with a challenging day, many people play the victim. They crumble into retreat, blame conditions and other people and believe they are powerless. But giving away your power is excusing yourself. And no victim ever changed the world.

You’re different: a game-changer + exceptional producer + a true leader. So to keep you focused on getting giant things done and staying at your finest on even the most difficult of days, please remember these 6 practical ideas:

  1. All progress is messy. The very nature of any type of growth (business or health or personal or inner, for example) means you’ll experience disruption, confusion and what appears to be difficulty. Just keep in mind that problems are progress in wolf’s clothing. And that rather than going backward, your challenges are actually showing you you’re moving ahead. Brilliantly.

  2. Think Like An Entrepreneur. No matter what you do for a living, embracing the mindset of an entrepreneur will serve you well. Entrepreneurs get that the only way to win is to hunt for the opportunity amid adversity. They get that what makes the best the best is not how you perform when all’s going well but how masterfully you show up when everything’s falling apart.

  3. Keep Perspective. Here’s a good question to ask yourself on a bad day: “Has anyone died here?” Or simply remember that if you’re healthy + have work that matters + people who love you + a roof over your head, you’re a seriously fortunate person. I guess what I’m suggesting is that gratitude is the antidote to frustration. And that maintaining perspective in times of crisis is a beautiful leadership move.

  4. Manage Your Mindset. Related to keeping perspective is protecting your mindset (mindset’s even more valuable than IQ to do world-class work and create a life you love). On a challenging day, it’s so easy to start wallowing in self-pity, focusing on what isn’t working and getting messed up with negative thinking. So–instead–I encourage you to maintain “a pristine bubble of total focus on your most valuable opportunities.” Stop watching the news. Block out the noise of the naysayers (critics are just dreamers gone scared). Clear out any toxicity and get busy achieving giant results.

  5. Fuel You. Your productivity, performance and success are a direct reflection of what’s going on in your inner life. The doorway to success opens inward–not outward as the dominant messaging of society suggests to you. So–on a turbulent day–take great care of your “inner assets”. Go for a run. Eat like a nutritionist. Write in your journal. Connect with nature. Read the autobiographies of your heroes. Get some rest. Breathe.

  6. Stay Centered on Your Personal Everest. Here’s a quote from Leonardo Da Vinci that’s served me well over my 16 years as a leadership advisor to The FORTUNE 500 and top entrepreneurs: “Fix your course on a star and you’ll navigate any storm.” The key to staying strong and passionate is having a ridiculously clear mission and purpose (a vague vision delivers vague results). Know your mountaintop. Be monomaniacally focused on breathtakingly exciting goals. Then, when a hard day hits, you’ll take the knock. But keep on going. With greater conviction than ever before.

I celebrate your success. And honour your talents. Keep Leading Without a Title. And go make awesome things happen! Please.

Your fan always,

P.S. For the first time in a year, I’m making a limited number of memberships to my famous 21 day online program for ultra-achievement and living a life you love available. The Robin Sharma Success System has helped THOUSANDS of people just like you defeat their fears, achieve giant goals and enjoy more happiness than they could ever have imagined.

If you’re ready for some DRAMATIC and LASTING improvements in your mindset, energy levels, productivity, performance, financial life and overall happiness, then – seriously – you truly cannot afford not to try this 21 day online Success System.

It comes with 100% money back guarantee so you have absolutely nothing to lose and the life you have always wanted to live to gain.

I’ll be closing doors soon so snap up one of the limited memberships now

Ok. That’s it for now. Go do something great today. Please.

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The 10 Best Personal Development Books?

By Robin Sharma
Author of the #1 International Bestseller “The Leader Who Had No Title”

Greetings from New York City.

Just did a light run through Soho (exercising FIRST thing in the morning has been such a game-changer). You owe it to yourself to try it for 7 days.

Now I’m settled into creative mode. Great Colombian coffee. Book-filled room. Fresh flowers. (Another tip: your environment dramatically influences your creativity).

So, I wanted to share some more good information with you in my ongoing OBSESSION to help you Lead Without a Title + build out a life THAT MAKES HISTORY.

I’m often asked which books are most transformational for people like us who want to do fantastic work and lead our best lives.

So here are 10 of the best. Read them. Share them. Study them. LIVE them…

  1. Jonathan Livingston Seagull. By Richard Bach.

    With lines like: “Don’t believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation,” this book will move you deeply. I re-read it in Thailand. Still amazingly good.

  2. Think and Grow Rich. By Napoleon Hill.

    Fantastic book. Not so much about financial wealth as it is about the making of a rich life. You’ll learn how important it is to have a burning desire (this galvanizes your focus and causes the release of your creativity) + the imperative of setting clear goals + the value of “a mastermind alliance”. This book truly changed my life when I was starting out as a self-published author with nothing but a dream in my hands. Times were tough. This book got me through.

  3. The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. By–well, Marcus Aurelius.

    Marcus Aurelius was a warrior—who then became a Roman emperor. He wrote his lessons on greatness and a life well lived during a multi-year military campaign. Someone got his notes. And put it into this book. I go back to this book often. It strengthens my character. And resolve to help more people.

  4. Steve Jobs. By Walter Isaacson.

    One of the best books I’ve ever read. Period.

  5. Long Walk To Freedom. By Nelson Mandela.

    Nelson Mandela’s one of my heroes. Noble. Courageous. Focused. A visionary. If I could be 1/100 of who he is, I’d be overjoyed. This is his autobiography. You’ll walk with him through his days as a lawyer, his time as a disruptor, his prison years and his period as the positional leader of South Africa.

  6. Stop Acting Rich. By Thomas Stanley.

    Thomas Stanley became famous for “The Millionaire Next Door”. But this book–not so well known–is exceptional. He explains the concept of “The Glittering Rich”, shares how too many of us live beyond our means and how to create true financial freedom. Like most of the books I read, I listened to it.

  7. As You Think. By James Allen.

    Maybe 10 times. That’s at least how many times I’ve read this book. And like all great books, it seems better+wiser and deeper every time I read it. Of course, the book hasn’t changed. Just my ability to grasp the information. And understand the concepts. This book is all about the power of your daily thinking. And how it drives your life’s behavior. As you know so well: your behavior shows us your beliefs. And this awesome book will inspire you to build new ones.

  8. The Magic of Thinking Big. By David Schwartz.

    Uber-practical. Tons of value. Great concepts, like “Go Through Life First-Class.” Every student, teammate and human being should read this book (along with “How To Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie–that work should also be on my list. True.).

  9. Talent is Overrated. By Geoff Colvin.

    Read this one a few years ago. Changed the way I viewed Genius. Confirms a lot of the work of exceptional performance researchers like the famed Anders Ericsson that talent is less about natural gifts and far more about devotion to a skill, relentless practice and patience. Another superb audiobook.

  10. Spark. By John Ratey.

    One of the best books I’ve read in years. I’m on my 3rd reading. Shares the latest (and so fascinating) research on how exercise transforms the brain, our performance, our productivity and even builds a new type of brain that is excellent at resisting stress. Please do your life a giant favor. And read this book. Today!

Ok. So there you go. Some of my favorite books. Go study them. And use them.

Please remember, ideas–flawlessly translated into reality are the keys to breathtaking success. And you becoming more of who you truly are.

Oh–and definitely make some time each day to read. Small little advances in your knowledge base lead to quantum improvements in your performance over time.

Thanks for making the time to read my posts. I work hard to make them valuable for you. So we get you to your best. Sooner versus later.

Be great. And dream even bigger. The world needs you to shine.

Speak soon,

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How to Achieve Your Goals Fast

By Robin Sharma
Author of the #1 International Bestseller “The Leader Who Had No Title”

Greetings from New York City. Please know how grateful I am to have you in this community.

So….someone on Twitter asked me “Does all of this leadership and success material really work? Or is it all (expletive deleted).” A little cynical, no? ;)

I haven’t replied as yet. But I wanted to use her tweet to make a point. With great respect…

“Nothing works (no book+online course+event+idea) until you make the time and commitment to DO THE WORK.”

Success is less about learning superb ideas and more about having the guts/patience/focus and smarts to get the ideas DONE.

Ultra-successful people are just uncommonly skilled at execution. And we all can get to this place. Via daily practice.

So to kickstart your best life, I wanted to show you how much I’m trying to help by giving you a wealth of free resources.

These have taken me a lot of time and money to create and edit and prepare. All I ask is that you share them with 3 people today. So I get to feel I’m making more of an impact on people’s lives. And that you ACT on them. With speed. Please.

Here you go:

#1: 103 training videos for elite performance+productivity+inspiration: Click to watch now

#2. Some of my best articles on leadership and personal development: Click to read now

#3: 10 of my most listened to podcasts: Click to listen now

Be amazing. Starting today.

Your fan always,

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JK Rowling’s Secret Success Weapon

By Robin Sharma
Author of the #1 International Bestseller “The Leader Who Had No Title”

I know you’re all about Mastery. And Excellence. And crafting an iconic life. Along with doing things most people call impossible. For this, I applaud you.

So I wanted to share a great story with you…

All she ever wanted to do was write. But few believed in her.

She ended up as a single mom. Collecting social benefits checks–just to get food onto the table. For her and her child.

On a trip from Manchester to London in 1990, her train was delayed. And an idea burst into her imagination. About a boy who didn’t know what he was.

She called this kid Harry Potter. And she wrote about his adventures.”

12 publishers rejected the book. A small house called Bloomsbury Press eventually agreed to publish it. But even then, the author was told “you’ll never make any money on children’s books.”

Yet, the book caught fire. Touched the hearts of millions. Inspired a new generation to read.

Of course, the woman is JK Rowling.

And she’s sold 400,000,000 books. And built a fortune of $800,000,000.

From an idea. About a young wizard. With a brave heart.

Her secret “weapon”?…

… JK Rowling DIDN’T LISTEN TO THE DOUBTS OF HER CRITICS.

“For some to love you, some must loathe you,” she brilliantly observed.

And she’s right. All visionaries are initially ridiculed before they are revered.

All enormously successful people first meet with rejection, resistance and yes, sometimes outright hatred. Criticism truly is the price of greatness. And you really need to be so invested in your dream + abilities + passion that ABSOLUTELY NOTHING will knock you off your game.

So be strong. Go for world-class. And when you get knocked down, dust yourself off, and stay true to your loftiest visions. In the end, you’ll be grateful you did.

Sending you all green lights! So you get your boldest (and most audacious) dreams done. You know this: Life’s just too short to play small.

My very best, as always,

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This Inspired Me

By Robin Sharma
Author of the #1 International Bestseller “The Leader Who Had No Title”

I’m sitting in an airport lounge as I write this. In Florida. Just delivered a Lead Without a Title keynote for 700 top CEOs at an event sponsored by the FORTUNE 100 company Ingram Micro. Fantastic audience! Grateful.

This morning–in deep prep mode for the presentation in my hotel room–I came across an interview with the famed French designer Philippe Starck (a genius who can design a chair in 2 minutes and a chic hotel in 1.5 days. He says he prefers to work in solitude–”naked in my bedroom” for maximum productivity).

Anyway, the piece (which I read on The Harvard Business Review’s website), really validated a lot of my personal productivity practices (except the bedroom thing). And left me with a ton of creative inspiration.

And so I wanted to share it with you. So you work at peak. And succeed massively.

Here’s an excerpt that’s really worth thinking quietly about in this world of “dramatic distraction” and “really busy being busy”:

HBR Interviewer: “What’s the secret to working so quickly and productively?”

Starck: “I am sort of a modern monk. We don’t go to dinners. We don’t go to cocktails. We don’t go to movies. We don’t watch TV. I don’t use my energy on other people. I just work and read. I live with myself in front of my white page (My Note: yes, he works with a simple pencil and piece of paper).

…Of course, for much of the year I have to travel and speak to journalists, engineers and things like that. It’s the worst. But from the 15th of June until the 15th of September, I live completely secluded–locked in one of my houses–working from 8 am until 8 at night–or making my own biorhythm; work 3 hours, sleep 45 minutes, work 3 hours, sleep 45 minutes for 24 hours, without eating.”

“It’s a little sick. But I’m like Dr. Faust. I signed a contract with the devil to sell my life for Creativity.”

Beautiful..

I absolutely LOVE this! Yes, Philippe Starck isn’t the most life balanced person. But no true master ever is. They all were obsessed with their craft. DEVOTED to pouring their genius into the marketplace. And inspiring the world via their exceptional gifts and talents.

Look. You owe it to yourself to make time to be alone. To create space for your biggest ideas to flow. To access your most raw and natural potential. And to pour all you come up with out into the world.

So your life gets to it’s best level. And so you inspire everyone around you. By your obvious brilliance.

Until next time, please remember to make time to create and think in solitude. Your greatest creativity needs space before it will flow. And few things will make you feel happier than presenting your best to the world.

Your fan always,

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