If you want to change the world, change yourself first.
For 25 years at Microsoft, I've been on a relentless quest to advance human potential through learning, leadership, innovation, and execution.
But the most exciting journey has been mastering myself.
Join me on a quest
Can anyone become great?
Coach John Wooden coached greatness.
He was able to transform low performing team to high performing teams through personalized coaching.
You are not your past.
You are your Future Self.
At any given moment, the choices you make are building and shaping future you.
That's power. And it's all yours.
Don't forge your chains. Forge your flexibility.
I remember when Jacob Marley said, "I wear the chains I forged in life."
Agility is one of the greatest skills you can develop for work and life.
But how do you build your agility?
We're creatures of habit so we have to learn
"Sometimes it's hard to live the way of the wise." -- The Last Dragon
The world tests your resolve.
Don't choose the path that's easy.
Choose the path that's worth it.
How do you know the path that's worth it?
Sometimes you can't figure it out looking forward.
You need to
Where does your intelligence come from?
"You don't develop from avoiding mistakes. Intelligence comes from learning from your mistakes." - Mehul Nariyawala, former Google engineer
Your behaviors are the control panel for the rest of you (your thoughts, your feelings, etc.)
According to Dr. Andrew Huberman, most people try to change by starting from their sensations, perception, feelings, and thoughts, then behaviors last.
But to change, change behavior
Wise words from Naval Ravikant:
"A fit body, a calm mind, a house full of love. These things cannot be bought — they must be earned."
-- Naval Ravikant
It's a sharp reminder that while money can be many wonderful things, it can't buy you some of your most meaningful things.
Your ego can be your greatest ally or worst enemy.
To master your ego, one way is practice is to practice Third Observer perspective.
Simply imagine a "fly on the wall" observing you.
Imagine you are the director of the scene, how would you direct yourself?
Darwin says this:
“It’s not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” — Charles Darwin
I just say, "Nature favors the flexible."
It's why agility is the ultimate skill for work and life.
And you know I don't
How can you put a bow on 2023 and set the stage for 2024?
I use a process I call Year End Reflection (from Agile Results)
I ask 3 myself 3 questions:
1. What are 3 things that went well?
2. What are 3 things to change or improve?
3. What are 3 Wins you want to achieve this
Got stress?
Here's a simple way to practice calm.
And a simple to build your EQ (Emotional Intelligence)
The key is don't react. Choose your response.
You got this.
How to use Friday Reflection for Better Weeks
If you don't do Friday Reflection you're throwing your weeks away.
I created Friday Reflection to have better weeks and better weekends.
It puts a bow on your week by packaging up your impact into 3 simple stories.
Friday
Here are 10 quotes better together that reveal truths & insights about productivity:
1. "Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort." – Paul J. Meyer
2. "Amateurs sit and wait for
Is your life going to get better over the next 10 years?
Jim Rohn has timeless strategies to change the next 10 years of your life.
If you don't know Jim Rohn, he was Tony Robbin's early manager and mentor.
One of the best phrases I heard today:
“Fear is excitement without the breath." -- Dr. Carolyn Frost
What a great reminder how breathe is your key to regaining your calm.
What's the cure for a racing mind or monkey mind?
You have to learn how to get things out of your head faster.
Learning how to clear my mind helped me innovate better at Microsoft and achieve extraordinary levels of high performance.
Without being able to dump my brain, I
Your life is your collection of stories.
The stories you tell yourself and others have power.
"Maybe stories are just data with a soul." -- Brene Brown, The Power of Vulnerability
Who inspires your greatness?
"Great people are those who make others feel that they, too, can become great" -- Mark Twain
Greatness is contagious when you can see it in action and learn how it's done.
Greatness is earned, not born.
Today is a great day for Friday Reflection.
Friday Reflection is a habit from the book Getting Results the Agile Way.
Ask yourself what are 3 things going well, 3 things to improve, and what to change next week?
That will be how you get better at productivity every week.
Do you struggle to feel grateful?
Sometimes you need to start with forgiveness.
Maybe to forgive someone else.
Maybe to forgive yourself.
Forgiveness can be a gateway to gratitude.
Are you hacking at leaves?
Swim upstream and solve the recurring cause.
“When solving problems, dig at roots instead of just hacking at the leaves” - Anthony J. D’Angelo
How to add the fun factor to work and life:
I added The Fun Factor to Agile Results long ago to change the game of productivity.
Adding The Fun Factor, aside from joy, also helps you add focus, flow, and fulfillment.
Here's the backstory...
It was the early 2000s, and I was
I read a message that started with:
"Can I have your attention for 2 minutes?"
The irony is they lost it in the first second, and I had automatically closed it and moved on.
we're now in a world where goldfish have a longer attention span than humans.
Use that insight to
Sonder opens the gate to better empathy.
Sonder is the realization that everyone around you, even strangers passing by, has a life as vivid and complex as your own.
Sonder inspired me to meet with a minimum of one new person each week around the world at Microsoft for a couple
Whatever work you do, do you know the game?
There are games at every level, and you can't level up if you don't know the game.
Ben shares a great question to ask:
"What’s a game worth playing?” -- Ben Meer
Just as thinking and doing go hand-in-hand, so do strategy and tactics.
"Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat." – Sun Tzu
Want a model to master your happiness, well-being and fulfillment?
Master Dr. Martin Seligman's PERMA model:
1. 𝗣ositive Emotion (P)
2. 𝗘ngagement (E)
3. 𝗥elationships (R)
4. 𝗠eaning (M)
5. 𝗔ccomplishment (A)
It's how to flourish with skill.
Your greatness is going to come from deep pain or deep pleasure.
Your inner world creates your outer results.
Sustainable greatness is when you spend more time in your super strength making impact in a way that's meaningful to you.
It's time for a fresh start. And it's time to start the new year off better.
Start your year the Agile Way.
People often fail at New Year's resolutions for good reason.
They do them wrong.
They bite off too much.
They're worn out from the holidays.
They don't choose
One of my books was downloaded 850,000 times.
That was just in the first 6 months.
I thought it was because of the chapters in the book.
It turns out, what drove the demand was all the "How Tos" in the book.
What I found was that a smaller set of people needed the concepts,
You need to learn to see what you don't see.
Insight is the building block of innovation.
If you are a matcher or a mis-matcher you can look for the opposite of what you tend to optimize for.
Matchers throw away difference. Mis-matchers throw away sameness.
How to get what you want and persuade with skill?
There are 3 mantras that help me in work and life:
1. “You can have anything you want if…you first help enough other people get what they want.” -- Zig Ziglar
2. "People will do anything for those who encourage their dreams,
Feeling upset or did someone upset you?
Count to 10, slowly to regain your brain.
Normally people focus on their feelings.
That makes it worse.
When you count to 10, focus on the numbers and your breaths.
This will help you choose your response vs. just react.
This will
There's a secret to trying new things.
You have to suspend disbelief.
If you don't suspend disbelief, you'll be too busy looking for all the reasons why something won't work.
And you'll miss all the reasons it could or would.
I practice critical thinking with 3 simple questions:
1. How do I really know that’s true?
2. Have I examined the evidence thoroughly enough?
3. Is there another equally likely explanation that I’m overlooking because I want this to be true?
Each question reveals a lot.
Mastery isn't an accident.
It's a path you choose and a level you earn.
Master helps your Future Self realize your full potential.
"The future belongs to those who learn more skills and combine them in creative ways." — Robert Greene
Imagine if you were an incredible innovator?
Imagine if you could solve any challenge work or life throws your way, and that could create new value.
Everyone is born with imagination. It's one of your most powerful skills.
But it's one that people practice the least.
Have you said something that surprised yourself lately?
“I prefer not to think before speaking. I like being as surprised as everyone else by what comes out of my mouth.” —Anonymous
Discover the secret to personal transformation: Shadow Work.
This 4-step process has transformed lives, resolving deep-seated issues and paving the way for success.
Ready to embark on this journey?
Bookmark this tweet and follow these steps to start your Shadow Work:
Motivation and ability are the keys to your success.
But how do you master your motivation.
Familiarize yourself and practice the 21 Laws of Meaningful Motivation.
Here's a way to look at the gains and losses in life:
"For everything you have missed, you have gained something else; and for everything you gain, you lose something." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Sometimes your greatest losses, make space for your greatest gains.
How has "necessity is the mother of invention" changed your life?
When Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, asked me to share stories and insights of digital transformation, it forced me to become a storyteller.
It turned out to be one of the greatest skills for work and life.
I've used information models for years at Microsoft.
They help me learn faster, explore new areas, and innovate better.
They even help me shape the future of products.
Here is a simple example of the Productivity Information Model I created to advance productivity.
Are you going pro?
"There are professional habits and amateur ones.
Which are you practicing?
Is this a pro or an amateur move?
Ask yourself that. Constantly."—Ryan Holiday
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” -- Buckminster Fuller
You can change your world.
And you can change the world.
The biggest change comes from building a new model.
If you want to change your life today use AI as your business growth coach.
For example you can ask ChatGPT what's an experiment I can do to try and make $200,000 per month online by teaching what I know?
And you can keep drilling in to create a simple action plan you can test.
Can you change fast enough to outpace your problems?
One way is to look back each day and ask yourself, what did you change or what new value did you create?
This hindsight gives you foresight to help you focus.
How to unlock your work and life by revealing your subconscious rules.
Here's a hack I learned from Tony Robbins long ago to reveal your inner rules:
1. Writing Exercise:
Complete sentences like "In order to be a successful parent, I need to..." or "In order to be successful
Ever wondered why some people seem to effortlessly succeed at their habits?
It's not because they're superhuman.
It's because they've cracked the code to a bigger, more important problem.
Want to know the secret?
Here are a few lessons from Santa Clause that might ring true, for you:
1. Make the most of what you’ve got.
2. Laugh hard.
3. Follow your passion.
4. Find the joy in what you do.
5. Team up.
6. Find your voice, help others find theirs.
7. Focus on what’s right over what’s
Jordan Peterson's 69th Rule for Life:
"Life is tragic, but it is also beautiful."
The skill in life isn't about controlling everything.
It's about upskilling how you respond.
In tragedy one of the best skills you can build is the power to find the lesson or the silver lining.
Energy is a habit.
How do you build your energy habit?
Your thoughts. Your feelings. Your actions. Your environment.
As Tony Robbins says, "Physiology first!"
Success (and lack of success) leaves clues.
Your structure reflects your strategy which sets your trajectory.
It's why health coaches like to see your food log.
It's why productivity coaches like to see your calendar.
What do clues from your calendar teach you?
Your success with habits and goals depends on how you meet or resist expectations.
You have inner expectations--what you expect from you.
And you have outer expectations--what others expect from you.
What inspires you to become your full potential?
“On your last day on earth, the person you became will meet the person you could have become.” — Anonymous
To become your Future Self, consistently ask yourself, "What can I do today that my Future Self will thank me for?"
Of all the things you can master in this life, what is the one greatest thing to master?
Mastering yourself is where true power comes from.
"Know thyself." -- Socrates
"Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power." -- Lao Tzu
"Knowing yourself is the
What do you think?
Know what Bobby says, what Sally says, and what all the "experts" say.
But always know what you think and why.
This is one of the most important leadership skills I had to learn at Microsoft to make key decisions with empathy and insight.
Begin your new year with a strategic advantage by starting in February.
By shifting the beginning of your year, you avoid the January rush, and the holiday crush, and set yourself up for success.
I've used this approach at Microsoft for years, so I could "catch the next"
Discover the secret to unlocking your greatest productivity.
These 3 strategies have transformed my productivity game.
Want the same results?
Implement these 3 life-changing habits today:
How do you think about competition?
Here's how Tony Robbins thinks about it:
The word competition in Latin comes from this idea to compete.
It means to conspire together.
By you and I competing, we conspire to make each other better.
The purpose of competition is to conspire
You can seriously boost your productivity today.
Pick your most time consuming or energy draining recurring task.
And optimize it or transform it.
For example, I needed a faster way to consolidate notes.
I create Cheat Sheets in Evernote and stuff everything into a page.
There's a simple way to better your leadership skills.
Practice Amazon's Leadership Principles.
Amazon's Leadership Principles test your ability to innovate, lead, and make data-driven decisions while maintaining a customer-centric approach.
"Bring me new business models!", said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
I remember wondering what exactly is a business model?
As a leader, if you can master business model innovation, it gives you an incredible advantage in the business arena.
Here's how to get started:
How do you think about love?
How you represent things internally guides everything you do.
Here's how Ebi Atawodi thinks about love:
"I do not believe in being liked. I believe in being loved. And that's a very, very different thing."
...It took me a while in reading all the
Socrates got it right:
"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." - Socrates
The big shift in life is growing from know-it-all to learn-it-all.
You are worthy.
That's the most important belief for love and connection.
Here is a deep quote from Brene Brown from her epic TED talk, The Power of Vulnerability:
"This may be one of the most important things I ever learned in the decade of doing this research.
...
And what
As Mark Twain put it:
“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”
There’s brilliant TED talks on this idea, and even books all on the same idea:
“Don’t believe everything you think.”
One of the most surprising and
Do you know your Sweet Spot?
Your Sweet Spot is where your talent + passion + value combine to create value.
That value could be for yourself, or for others.
Remember that value is in the eye of the beholder.
Your Sweet Spot is your force multiplier.
It's how you get better,
What emotion or feeling are you practicing?
I'm practicing feeling more xīn kuàng shén yí.
It's a Chinese expression that means a state where your heart is broadened, and your spirit is delighted.
It's like feeling carefree and content, with your mind being refreshed and
What are you?
I remember this part from Peaceful Warrior.
"Where are you? …. HERE.
What time is it? … NOW.
What are you? … THIS MOMENT."
You are your moments.
What is bigger than your fear?
Hopefully, your dreams, your ambitions, and your big, bold goals.
If not, that's where to start.
Create and hold a vision for your Future Self that pulls you upward and onward over anything in your way.
Change your thoughts, change your life.
The greatest way to change your thoughts?
Change your focus.
The greatest way to change your focus?
Change your language.
What will Future You do that would surprise you today?
All the world wants health, wealth, and relationships.
They want to master themselves, then master their world.
But they usually try to master the world first and pay the price.
Master your inner world to change your outer world.
Inner world, outer results.
Are your customers feeling your change?
I see so many leaders get stuck on making changes that don't matter.
It's optimization when you're making behind the scenes changes.
It's transformation when your customers feel your changes in the market.
What phrases or sayings do you use to build your mental tougness?
The Navy SEALs are master of mental toughness.
I use a few of their mental mantras when things get tough.
My favorite Navy SEALs quote is:
"Pain is weakness leaving the body."
Talk about a reframe for pain.
Did you know even Tony Robbins doesn't start each day so great?
He said sometimes when he starts his day, he's not in a great place.
So, he starts his day with gratitude to change his state to grateful.
When you feel grateful, you can't feel fear or anger.
Do people get what you do?
At work. if your manager doesn't get what you do, it can spell trouble.
A tool one of my mentors gave me for this is a simple exercise:
"How would your manager whiteboard you?"
The idea is to draw a super simple visual of your efforts.
The core is
You can't feel fear and anger when you feel grateful.
Gratitude is where strength lives.
But you need to train your nervous system to feel it.
You do that by "feeling" 3 things you're grateful for.
And don't repeat them. Keep it fresh.
Here are 10 ways to bust your productivity pitfalls:
1. Break the Analysis Paralysis
Procrastination can be a productivity killer. Stop overthinking, start doing. Take small steps, and momentum will follow.
2. Dodge the Big Bang
Don't wait for perfection to deliver. Provide
Here's a tool I've used to drive innovation at Microsoft.
It's part of a bigger toolbox I used to drive millions in revenue around the world.
It's the Pains, Needs, and Desired Outcomes framework.
It forces you to focus on the customer's problem in their language.
The more self-aware you are, the more helpful ChatGPT tends to be.
If you want more out of your AI tools, use them to augment your strengths and to either balance your weaknesses or even outsource your weaknesses to them.
That's the game for rising and thriving in the age of
How does AI augment us?
Let me count the ways...
Actually, I did a twist on 10 classic quotes to show how AI can help us think and do better.
Change your language, change your thinking.
Change your thinking, change your life.
Grind-it-Out is not the way to productivity.
Smooth is.
"Slow is smooth; smooth is fast." -- Navy SEALs
Slow down to speed up your productivity.
Here's how...
12 questions that change your life:
1. “Who do you want to be and what experiences do you want to create?
2. “What do you want to spend more time
doing?”
3. “Why do you do what you do?”
4. “Are you giving your best, where you have
your best to give, in the service of
What will be your 3 Wins for Today?
You have a lot of demands.
You have limited time.
You want to maximize your focus, flow, and fulfillment.
Starting your day with 3 Wins is a simple way to achieve that.
When you identify 3 Wins to pull you through your day, you create
The world reinforces sameness.
The algorithms on platforms reward and reinforce sameness.
Like minds.
Nature reinforces sameness, too.
Ask any hen, who has ever been pecked.
Wolves are another example.
Sameness reduces conflict, increases efficiency, and promotes cohesion.
My simple check for a good manager is:
1. Do they get you? (if they don't, troubled waters ahead)
2. Do they bring out your best? (if not, exit stage left)
3. Do they have your back? (vulnerability-based trust)
David Draiman of Disturbed reminds us to empower each other to become beacons of compassion, understanding, and strength in the fight against the demons of addiction and depression.
#mentalhealth
#personaldevelopment
#motivation
I saw such a powerful sign today:
"Surround yourself with people who fight for you in rooms you aren't in."
What a reminder of vulnerability-based trust.
Whose got your back?