“Your job is an historical artifact. It’s a list of tasks, procedures, alliances, responsibilities, to-dos, meetings (mostly meetings) that were layered in, one at a time, day after day, for years.

And your job is a great place to hide.

Because, after all, if you’re doing your job, how can you fail? Get in trouble? Make a giant error?

The work, on the other hand, is the thing you do that creates value. This value you create, the thing you do like no one else can do, is the real reason we need you to be here, with us.

When you discover that the job is in the way of the work, consider changing your job enough that you can go back to creating value.

Anything less is hiding.”
– Seth Godin

“Is bigger better for the investor or is it better for the customer?

At a huge hotel in Nashville (more than 1,000 rooms), there’s always a long line at the check in desk, the gym is full at 5 in the morning and the staff has no clue who any guest is.

It’s clear that doubling the size of the hotel helped the owner make more money (for now).

But it’s worth taking a moment to think about whether bigger is the point.

Maybe better is?”
– Seth Godin

“Is there anything easier than listening to a lecture or reading a book and taking notes?

And is there anything more difficult than setting aside our preconceptions and the resistance and acting ‘as if’, being open to belief, at least for a moment?

If taking notes is making it easier for you to postpone (or avoid) the possibility of belief, better to put down the pencil and focus.

Facts are easy to come by. Finding a new way to think and a new confidence in our choices is difficult indeed.”
– Seth Godin

“…is that the system can’t hear you. Only people can.

And the problem is that people in the system are too often swayed to believe that they have no power over the system, that they are merely victims of it, pawns, cogs in a machine bigger than themselves.

Alas, when the system can’t hear you, and those who can believe they have no power, nothing improves.

Systems don’t mistreat us, misrepresent us, waste our resources, govern poorly, support an unfair status quo and generally screw things up–people do.

If we care enough, we can make it change.”
– Seth Godin

“While practices are situationally specific, principles are deep, fundamental truths that have universal application.  They apply to individuals, to marriages, to families, to private and public organizations of every kind.  When these truths are internalized into habits, they empower people to create a wise variety of practices to deal with different situations.”

• Stephen R. Covey

“Julius Caesar had long wished to capture the British. He sailed to the British Isles, quietly unloaded his troops and supplies, and gave the order to burn the ships. He then called all of his men together and said, “Now it is win or perish. We have no choice.” With that single order, he guaranteed the success of his campaign. He knew that people who have no other alternative – or will accept no other – always win.

If you find yourself in a situation where victory seems impossible, you may benefit your cause be developing an alternate course of action. If your objective won’t yield to a full frontal assault, try an oblique approach. There are very few problems in life that are impossible to solve, and few obstacles that will not eventually give way to a determined, motivated person with a plan that is flexible enough to cope with changing conditions.”
– Napoleon Hill

“You will never be able to truly step inside another person, to see the world as he sees it, until you develop the pure desire, the strength of personal character, and the positive Emotional Bank Account, as well as the empathic listening skills to do it.”
– Stephen R. Covey

“The going is always hard on the road to greatness. If success were easy, everyone would achieve it. True Thoroughbreds never quit. Competition only spurs them, and obstacles merely reinforce their determination to succeed. If you have not yet achieve greatness in your life, it is because you have been willing to settle for less. You may not cross the finish line first every time you try, but if you stay in the race, you will eventually prevail.”
– Napoleon Hill

“The tiny, insignificant postage stamp is a good example of what it is possible to achieve if you stick with the job until it is finished. Inconspicuously stuck on the corner of the envelope, it provides the impetus to keep moving until the entire packet reaches its ultimate destination. The influence you may have upon your company, your church, your family, or any organization is incalculable if you have the persistence to pursue your goal until you achieve it. It is an absolute certainty that you will encounter obstacles in any worthwhile endeavor. When you do, remember the inconsequential little postage stamp and stick with the job until it is finished.”
– Napoleon Hill

“Unless I open up with you, unless you understand me and my unique situation and feelings, you won’t know how to advise or counsel me. What you say is good and fine, but it doesn’t quite pertain to me.”
– Stephen R. Covey