David Gets More Creative

Here is another entry from my friend David Spiegel. He mentioned me in his daily inspirational email so I couldn't help sharing it here today. Thanks again, Dave!

"As long as you believe it is impossible, you will actually never find out if it is possible or not."

- John Seymour: English author

The Universe is sending me messages once again!

After receiving today's quote of the day, I received my daily insights from my mentor and friend Doug Smith at Front Range Leadership:

Every problem is an invitation to get more creative.

They seem to go hand in hand. If you believe a thing to be impossible then it absolutely will be. Change the word "problem" to read opportunity the outcome is inevitable. Change! And with each new opportunity the creative waters flow. First they trickle and after some time and with repeated use they become like flood waters,unstoppable.

20 years ago I told a vendor I was working with that I had made the decision to sell only Halloween. His response"you can't make a 365 day a year living that way! Good luck with that!"

I didn't know how, I just believed that I could and would. I made the statement and then lived up to that commitment. Simple!

The challenge/opportunity was stated "I will make my lively hood in Halloween!"

For 20 years I have creatively crafted a a life built around that statement. I can not begin to tell you how many times I have heard"...and what do you do the rest of the year". Too many times to recount that's for sure! It did not happen over night. It was not always easy.

There was no magic formula other than hard work and commitment. There were set backs and stumbling blocks and learning curves and many many changes along the way. And here we are,20 years later with the opportunity to be creative once again. As a matter of fact the level of creativity today is so much greater today in part because of the experience and expertise accumulated over the last two decades.

In those 20 years I have worked Halloween from every angle imaginable, wholesale, retail, eCommerce, distributing, consulting, manufacturing, designing, packaging import export and more. Each new skill affording me new lessons and the chance to become even more creative.

And so it will be with future endeavors. Believing that anything, no every thing, is possible will insure that my creative being will continue to grow and that there is no limit to success. Not even the sky!

-- David Spiegel

Comments

Measures Matter

Some people measure quantify first and quality later. Some people measure money first and impact to the team later (not even second!). How you measure productivity might determine your character and your reputation. Put people first. -- doug smith

New Ideas

New ideas won't break you but they can make you bigger. -- doug smith

Your Reputation

More authority means higher levels of responsibility. More power requires more service to others, not less. What you do with your power is who you will be known as. Also, how you use the power you have creates who people will remember you as. How do you want to be remembered? -- doug smith

What You Need

Use what you've learned to become what you need. -- doug smith

For example

Get good at something that won't obsolete itself. For example: emotional intelligence creating great conversations encouraging people leadership What would you add to the list? Which ones are you developing? -- doug smith

Personally

Improving performance does require us to take our work seriously. But it does not require us to take ourselves too seriously. Taking things personally is a waste of self-esteem. -- doug smith

Show Up!

"You've got to be there. Big decisions are being made!" my former boss told me a long time ago. "If your voice is in the room you might be heard..." It was good advice then and it still is. Show up. When there's a goal you're working on and an opportunity appears to advance that goal -- show up. When changes are being made that will affect you -- show up! When it matters to you -- show up. You won't always get what you want by showing up, but you never will if you don't! -- doug smith

The Problem With Compromises

Think about the last time you compromised on something. Whether it was a big compromise or a little compromise, how do you feel about it now? While we often call it "meet in the middle" it seldom does. Compromises are not automatically fair, no matter how implied that fairness is. Someone usually gets more out of a compromise than the person they are "compromising" with. If the low end is you, you don't like it -- and you remember that. If the top end of the compromise is you, you probably forget all about it even though the inequity simmers in the background. Compromises must be constantly revisited because they are inevitably unfair. If you get the chance to balance things out, your relationship will prosper. If you miss that chance, the relationship will suffer. What's your choice? -- doug smith

High Performance Leadership Combination

We can rationalize anything without making it justified. Leaders should always ask: who is this good for other than me? High performance leadership does NOT mean performance at any cost. It means performance that serves a noble cause while also benefiting people. High performance leadership is a combination. Results without relationships are shallow and temporary. Take care of both, and you'll be a high performance leader. -- doug smith

Decide

What do you want? Are you getting what you want? Intention is direction. Decide. And, then go. -- doug smith

High Performance Leadership

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