Dan Waldschmidt's Blog, page 43

Start Trying To Fail.

There’s always more you can do.

There’s always more focus you can bring to managing your priorities.

More effort you can bring to getting things done. More money you can invest in realizing your dream. More ways to win. More urgency. More intensity.

You have it. It’s inside you. And all around you.

You just don’t know how to get to it.

Until something bad happens — then you somehow find a way to tap into the extra reserve.

You find a way when the stakes are high enough.

You get more creative. More inspired. More purposeful.

Somehow, against the odds, you get better when things get really, really bad.

You don’t give up and fall apart. You find a way through the obstacles standing in your way.

The bigger the challenge, the better you get at figuring it out.

But that only happens a few times in your life.

Most of the time you just let life take you where it wants to go.

You make excuses. Blame other people. Whine. Whimper. Wish things were different. All the while forgetting that you can be powerful when it really matters.

When the worst tragedies strike, you’re going to rise to the challenge. You’re going to be amazing.

That’s already inside you. Waiting to come out.

Why wait for your most trying moment to take advantage of that power? Why wait for life’s harsh lessons to beat the brilliance out of you?

You have to do something else.

Put yourself in challenging situations right now where the only way out is to learn and grow and exceed ordinary expectations for yourself.

You won’t naturally pursue objectives that you’re likely to lose.

But that’s the secret to being your best yet. Trying to fail.

The post Start Trying To Fail. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...

Being Better Than Best.

If you want to be the best, you have to be better than the best.

But how do you get better when you’re already doing your best right now and there are other people better than you?

You’re already telling people that you’re giving 110%. That you are “all in” all the way. You’re committed, driven, and willing to do whatever it takes to achieve your goals and improve.

Usually those are just words.

Empty words. Nice aspirations. And fanciful devotion. But usually just words. You aren’t really willing to do what it takes to be the best. You just want to look respectable.

Being the best looks quite a bit different than giving a lot, doing a lot, and hoping a lot. It demands that you put yourself in the horribly uncomfortable position of losing to other people.

Being the best demands that you deliberately seek out competitors who are already better than you.

No one wants to do that.

Especially when you have already worked brutally hard to achieve some level of success. When you’re better than pretty much everyone else around you right now.

The right competitors challenge you in ways you’re not being challenged right now. They do things in small ways significantly better than you can do those things.

Not everything. Just some things. And those things are the reason why you’re still not the best. They have mastered what you’re still aspiring to achieve.

It’s easy to shrug these competitors off.

It’s easy to have a perfectly amazing explanation for not getting better. It’s natural to want to celebrate the wins rather then work on future success.

One of the trademark characteristics of those who are the best at what they do is that they seek out competitors who make them better at what they are already the best at.

It’s a deliberate strategy. Not an accident. Intentional.

They find tougher players to play against.

And then they leave it all on the field.

They fight to win. And usually lose. For the first few tries at least.

But they don’t end up staying down. They get up, brush themselves off, and learn what they need to do to get back in the winner’s circle.

And that’s where they stay.

Better than best.

The post Being Better Than Best. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...

Figure It Out.

Don’t whine about it. Don’t cry about it. Figure it out.

Just because you have a big problem doesn’t mean that it’s the end of the world.

Everybody has problems.

Everybody you meet today in every place you go has problems that are just as scary to them as your problems are to you.

The hard truth about tough problem is that there aren’t any easy answers.

There isn’t one thing you can do to magically make your problems go away.

You have to figure it out.

And figuring it out takes time. And focus. Emotional courage too.

And while it’s scary to not know what you want to know right away, you have more chances to figure it out now than ever before in the history of problems.

Access to answers has never been more readily available than right now.

Access to experts that can solve your specific problem can be found more easily than ever before.

Figuring it out though is something you have to do.

It’s your commitment that makes the difference.

How committed are you?

The post Figure It Out. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...

Your Greatest Challenge.

Your greatest business challenge isn’t that your dream prospects do business with your competitors instead of you.

It’s that they don’t care about what you’re doing in the first place.

Your greatest personal challenge isn’t that you achieve all your goals exactly when you think you should.

It’s that you care enough to set goals and work towards them in the first place.

At a primal level, success appears to be about not losing.

Surviving another day. Making it to the other side safely.

But when you look a bit more closely at success you realize that it’s not about winning or losing at all. It’s about caring.

It’s about you getting other people to care. It’s about you caring enough to do things that you wouldn’t otherwise be doing.

Which means apathy is your biggest enemy.

Not loss. Not failure. Not tragedy. Apathy.

Not doing anything at all. Not caring enough to do anything differently.

Your greatest challenge is to beat apathy.

To care more yourself. Even when it feels like you’re all tapped out on emotion.
To help others care. Even when they already have other priorities.

You can accomplish anything if you care enough.

You can change the world if enough people care alongside you.

No matter what you’re trying to achieve or what problem you’re trying to overcome, never forget that apathy is your greatest enemy.

Find it. Kill it. Win.

The post Your Greatest Challenge. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...

Why You Are That Way.

You don’t suddenly lose your motivation.

Motivation is something you lose just after you stop looking for it.

Which is why it matters that you make time to stay motivated.

It matters that you focus on your mindset — cultivating a winning mindset.

What you think about most you become.

If you dwell on negativity, you’ll be a negative person.  You’ll only see the worst parts of life happening around you. And you’ll miss out on the opportunity to be healthy, smart, and financially confident.

If you only think about how people are trying to take advantage of you, you’ll struggle to trust people and never give them the benefit of the doubt.

No one wants to be around that person.

Which means you’re going to keep losing.

If you are angry, bitter, and full of regret, you will only see those qualities in those around you. It’s impossible to build wealth, get in shape, or lead your business to success while holding on to to hateful thoughts and spiteful activity.

You get stuck most of the time because your thinking is broken.

To change that, you have to change what you think about.

You have to change your mindset.

You have to disrupt the default pattern for how you allow your mind to make decisions for you.

That process isn’t an accident. It’s a carefully protected set of activities that you execute each day.

Drink 10-12 glasses of water to keep your body fresh and alert.
Start the day with 15-20 minutes of meditation or reflection.
Carve off 30-45 minutes of exercise time each day to work off stress.
Spend 5-10 minutes each morning and evening to journal your thoughts.
Use smart tools and reminders to help you get more things done throughout the day.

You are that way for a reason.

You’ve collected unhealthy habits and mental head trash that is distorting your view of the universe and causing you to stay stuck — in a horrible spot.

The way to win is to fix what you think about. And like any other new habit, you’re going to have to keep working at it until you get the results that you want.

Think about being awesome. It will change the rest of your life.

The post Why You Are That Way. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...

If You’re Not Last, You’re First.

Success isn’t a moment in time. It’s a process.

It doesn’t matter what you’re trying to achieve — being successful takes focus, planning, and commitment.

Along the way to succeeding you’re going to fail.

You’re going to fail a lot.

You’re going to try to accomplish you goal and come short.

It’s not life ending, career ending, or goal ending. Just a part of your evolution from where you are now to where you need to be.

It’s why we call it a journey. Not a destination.

Which is why your mindset matters.

It matters more than anything.

How you look at temporary failure is a good indication of how likely you are to be massively successful. Or not.

If you’re more concerned about saving face then pushing yourself beyond what is comfortable, you’ll never achieve the level of success that’s possible for you.

If you view failure as an opportunity to test yourself against better competition or a chance to learn what areas you need to improve, you’re likely to develop the skills and stamina you’ll need to be successful.

Success hangs in the balance.

Finishing matters. Giving your best each competition matters.

Winning isn’t just you crossing the finish line first. It’s crossing the finish line at all.

It’s finishing what you start. It’s pushing yourself harder this time than you did last time. It’s being uncomfortable, worn out, and not sure you’re going to make it this time.

If you’re not last, you’re first.

Mostly because you gave it your all.

Even if you end up last — but gave your best — you’re a winner.

And that’s what you wanted in the first place anyways, isn’t it?

The post If You’re Not Last, You’re First. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...

They Can’t Help You.

That other person that looks successful and is telling you they have all the answers probably can’t help you the way you think they can.

They don’t have the answers to your problems.

They might have a answer to a problem that they solved for themselves or someone else — but there’s no guarantee that your problem is something that they can fix.

It’s important you realize that as soon as possible.

Just because you feel more stuck than they appear to be doesn’t mean that you need their help. Or that you can unstick yourself by paying them for their help.

That’s the irony of other people’s success. It all looks better in hindsight.

Your situation always feels worse than it actually is.

What makes your situation truly bad is when you panic and foolishly pay other people to do what only you can do for yourself.

It’s going to take some time to fix your situation.

It’s not going to be easy, cheap, or pretty. It’s going to take you longer then the consultants want to admit.

You’re going to have to invest more time and emotion than you expect going in. That’s the reality of solving complex problems.

Stop outsourcing the magic of figuring things out for yourself.
Talk things out with smart people who have different insights than you do.
Spend time developing advocates who can help you navigate complex challenges.

Build your will to figure it out.

Most importantly, stop believing that just because you pay someone with a “proven seven step process” that all of your problems will go away.

Not only will you be frustrated when you realize that solving your problem isn’t as easy as you were promised, you’ll have less money to fix that problem moving forward.

Sometimes the right choice is just not making the stupid choice.

The post They Can’t Help You. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...

Your Chance.

Your worst performance doesn’t need to define you.

Just because you have failed in the past doesn’t mean that you’re always going to be a failure.

Every moment you have is an opportunity to redefine who you are.

Every struggle you have is a chance to overcome.

Every negative thought that enters your mind is a test of your commitment.

You have endless chances today to improve and better yourself.

Think about all of the seemingly insignificant decisions you usually take for granted — what you eat and where you go, how you spend your free time, and the friendships you invest in.

You have a lot of chances to be awesome.

No matter how far away from your goal you are right now, you can make decisions that instantly bring you closer to where you want to be. That’s on you.

It doesn’t matter what’s going on around you or that circumstances out of your control are making your life more difficult than you would like it to be.

You can change direction. You can improve.

You can make progress with the chance you have.

You can’t make the same bad decisions you’ve made in the past and repeat the same stale activity you’ve done in the past, and expect things to get better.

If you’re serious about being better, do better.

Start right now.

The post Your Chance. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...

Take Time To Do Things Right.

If you can’t manage to get the details right you will never end up achieving the level of success you think you deserve.

Big picture thinking is important.

So is small picture doing.

It’s easy to brush away the details as something that you’ll figure out later.

Something that isn’t a priority right now.

You’re told by gurus and experts to just get your idea out there.

Ship it to the world. You can fix it later.

Or can you?

You’re not guaranteed a second chance at a first impression. You’re not even guaranteed a second chance at all.

Value your idea enough to invest in doing it right.

Think through the angles longer than you think is necessary. Plan and prepare and debate the seemingly insignificant elements of your idea.

Take time to do things right.

You can’t deliver a magical experience on a conveyor belt of mediocrity.

That means that sometimes being awesome is a slow, grinding process.

It’s not easy emotionally or intellectually.

You’re doing something that is hard to do. Something that not many other people dare attempt.

Act like you care. Work like what you’re doing matters.

Don’t be so eager to get things done that you never do anything that’s awesome enough to change the world.

Focus on the details.

The post Take Time To Do Things Right. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...

Wanting To Need To Want To Win.

It’s not enough to know what to do or how to do it.

Winners just don’t know how to win. They want to win.

They want to win before they know how to win.

They’re not even sure they have the skills and talent to win, but they are absolutely sure they need to win.

It’s like oxygen. It’s a necessity for life. Not a “nice” to have. It’s a “need” to have. A primal urge. A longing wired into the very core of their being.

That want is what makes the difference.

It’s what separates them from everybody else. They want it more.

That impacts how they spend their time and where they invest their money, the friends they hang around, the news they listen to, and the thoughts they allow themselves to have.

That desire is what drives them to act differently.

Long after everyone else has given up or made excuses for not doing the hard things, winners continue to cultivate the need to want.

They want to need to want.

That matters. Results are a trailing indicator. Winning or losing — either one — is a circumstance you figure out at the very end of massive amounts of effort and strategic energy.

It’s the last thing you figure out. Good or bad — you have to go through the entire process to get to the result. It’s all or nothing.

But wanting — really needing to want — is something you can monitor all along the way. It’s not all or nothing.

It’s a real-time indicator of success.

You don’t need to wait to figure it out. You don’t need help to get it right.  You can know right now if you want it bad enough enough.

And you know what you need to do to fix that — you have to want to need it.

Spend time each day thinking about what you really want for your life. Meditate on it. Let it consume you.

Measure your momentum by the dissatisfaction you feel.

Winners want to win. They need to win. They want to need to win.

What do you need?

The post Wanting To Need To Want To Win. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...