Hi Reader

There are five points to your North Star. These five areas are vital to better understanding yourself to develop better leadership skills.

1. Habits

Life is 99% mindset and 1% external factors. It’s all about perception. That’s why a lot of my work is helping people with the internal part of their processes. Once they see how they can use their mindset to accept and even enjoy the situation for what it is or take action to improve it, that's when everything clicks together for them.

When you feel frustrated or upset with a situation, try inverting it. If you are angry, try asking yourself, “What positive outcomes could potentially emerge from this?” or “How can I learn from this moment?”

2. Leadership

The support that we get in life can often determine our success. It starts with how we support ourselves as leaders and how we support others. We have to put on our oxygen masks first to help others. We should try to make time for reflection so that we understand what is going on inside of our own heads. This helps with self-awareness, so we become less reactionary and make better choices. Once you get your own thoughts and emotions in a good place, then it makes it easier and more enjoyable to help others.

3. Inspiration

“If you focus on what you lack, you lose what you have. If you focus on what you have, you gain what you lack.” ― Benjamin Hardy, author of The Gap and The Gain

4. Reflection (Journal prompt)

Have you been able to carve out some time this week for reflection/self-care?

5. Research

Richard Wiseman wanted to understand why some of us are lucky and others can’t seem to catch a break. He asked volunteers to read through newspapers and count how many photos were in them. The people who considered themselves to be lucky would finish the task in mere seconds, while the unlucky ones took an average of two minutes. I bet you are curious to why. On the second page of the newspaper was a big message that read: “Stop counting, there are 43 photos in this paper.” There was also another message halfway through the paper that read “Stop counting, tell the experimenter you have seen this and win $250.” The people who felt lucky were more likely to notice opportunities and take action versus the people who felt unlucky and couldn’t see past their task. (1)

I would like to know more about how you view time and how I could help you save more time. If you have two minutes I would love to get your perspective of time and what distracts you from accomplishing your most important work.

Karl

P.S. A new interview with Dan Balcauski of Product Tranquility company, you’ll learn about how meditation helps you build your self-awareness so that you can make better decisions. You’ll enjoy his story about asking specific questions to get to the heart of a product and how to price it. You can listen on the Dig to Fly website or on your favorite podcast player.

P.P.S. I wish you a Merry Christmas, New Year and a wonderful holiday with your family and friends. I’ll be taking time away from the computer next week. My focus will be on helping you develop your leadership skills to grow your career.

(1) Wiseman, R. “The Luck Factor.” The Skeptical Inquirer 27, no. 3 (May/June 2003): 1-5.

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