Wow! Last week I began a conversation around your "MORNING ROUTINE" and I've been inundated with emails, thoughts, questions and ideas. If you'd like to read the post from last week that started this conversation, CLICK HERE

The question was simple: If you have a morning routine, what is it?

I heard from about 70 different people, and their routines are all different and accomplish different things.

Some focused on "what you do in the morning". This includes things like: brush my teeth, have a cup of coffee, read the paper, go for a walk, make my bed, comb my hair.

I would call most of these "morning habits". (I can hear my mother saying, "Russ, make your bed before breakfast!")

At a recent leadership summit, we had a short conversation about your "MORNING ROUTINE".  This has created some great conversation, as well as questions from many. I want to begin a conversation today around this.

In Brendon Burchards book, "High Performance Habits", he researches habits that are consistent with High Performing Leaders. He identifies 3 things that just jumped off the page for me:

1. High performers are more successful than their peers, yet they are less stressed.

2. High performers love challenges and are more confident that they will achieve their goals despite adversity.

3. High performers are healthier than their peers.

He digs much deeper, and he identifies a bunch of other things that are common to High Performers, but these three connected with me around the theme of a "MORNING ROUTINE".

Time Leadership

I don't talk about Time Management anymore.  I talk about TIME LEADERSHIP.

Many of us spend so much energy trying to "manage" our time, and the reality is that our time is limited, it's somewhat controlled, and if we're just trying to manage it, then there's nothing real strategic about it.

Bob Shank taught be about "TIME LEADERSHIP". The idea is that as leaders, we decide where we want to spend our time based on our goals, based on our priorities and based on what will produce the greatest outcomes. WE decide. We don't simply try to manage whatever morsels of time are on our plate, but we made decisions around what is important.

Changing My Leadership

I attended a “Trainers of Trainers” session a couple of weeks ago that was put on by an organization I’ve been connected with for a long time. As I sat down in the seat for the 2-day session, I had a flood of memories wash over me as I recalled the first trainers session I had attended over 30 years ago. I was remembering the excitement, the fear and the challenge of sitting in a room full of other leaders, wondering at the age of 23 if I would ever be able to become a leader and actually do some of the things we were being taught and challenged to do.

Fast forward 31 years: I am a leader. I did put those things I learned into practice. I have been involved in a number of successful organizational ventures that have taken me around the globe.

On Being Busy…

A good friend of mine published a blog post this morning and the title is: “If the Devil can’t make you bad, he will make you Busy.” If you want to read his blog, CLICK HERE

This caught my attention this morning as I looked at my calendar for the day and the week, as I began to lay out my day today, and as I realized that I would never get done all the things that I want to get done. I was feeling a little overwhelmed with it all, then I read his blog, and I was not only overwhelmed, but I was discouraged!

In Jim’s blog, he says this:

“Have you ever seen the road sign that simply says, “Speed Kills.” Of course, it’s referring to driving too fast, but I’m convinced that there are also very poor consequences of living an overcrowded and constantly exhausting life.”

I recently had 2 mail-order experiences. I ordered something for my office online, and when it arrived, the item was thrown into a large box, it had been broken during shipping, and when I picked up the box, it was falling apart because it had been damaged. The item had to be returned, and I had to purchase a new box to return it in. I wasn’t happy with the experience.

I then ordered something else online, and had an incredible experience. The item I purchased was an Apple Watch, so I knew the experience would be better because of their reputation.

LifePlan On Demand!

For those of you that are interested in the LifePlan Facilitation but are limited by time or resources, the Paterson Center just released an online option.

CLICK HERE to learn more!

You can also contact me directly by writing: russ@leadermundial.org

I’m Tired of Being Hacked!

This week I found out I was hacked twice. In one case, an account was accessed and they tried to access my full personal account. In another case, someone got into a blog I had written and inserted a “click-for-pay” link into one of my articles, which was actually pretty clever. I addressed each of these issues.

When you’re hacked, there some simple things that need to be done:

1) Change Your Password: Choose something different, something challenging, and change it often. Don’t use the same passwords for multiple accounts, and don’t use things that people can find out about you online.

2) Be More Cautious: Pay attention to SPAM messages, click throughs, and things that are sent to you that might give people access to your personal information.