How Come No One Told Me That?: Life Lessons, Practical Advice and Timeless Wisdom for Success

by Prakash Iyer

Change your thinking. Adapt. Change your life. Henry Ford was right. If you only do what you have always done, you will only get what you have always got.

In choosing a road to take in life, don’t take the easier path. Choose the one that takes you to your goals.

Don’t do what’s convenient. Do what’s necessary. In making a choice about which road to take, don’t take the nicer, easier road. Instead, choose the road that will take you towards your goal.

If you don’t know what makes you happy, and if you don’t know what you really, really want, happiness can become a tricky thing. You can end up wanting what everyone else wants.

Forget the destination. Enjoy the ride.

What separates the winners form the rest? It is their bias for action. The willingness to act. They don’t just think about it. They do it. They have a bias for action. Become that kind of person. Get that bias for action. Just do it.

Don’t ask other people ‘How can I help?’ Ask yourself that question. And then do something about it. It’s ever so rare that we proactively do something to help! Maybe we all should. Get that bias for action. Don’t just think about it. Do it.

Find someone who helps you make those minor adjustments that can make you unstoppable. A person who helps you adapt to change. Someone who reminds you that the old version of yourself is getting outdated and becoming a misfit in a changing world. Get a ‘Let’s make it right’ partner.

Danny Biasone is the man credited with its introduction. He is the man credited with changing the face of basketball. He introduced the clock—a countdown timer—and a new rule came into force. Once a team got possession of the ball, they had twenty-four seconds in which to take a shot at the basket. If they failed to do that, the ball would pass over to the opposing team. Result?

We could all do with a shot clock that would remind us that sitting pretty on past successes is not an option. We need to make progress, grow and learn in order to stay relevant. And if we don’t do that, we risk losing what we have so carefully built up. Taking your foot off the pedal is not an option.

The obsession with quality can mean you are ‘thinking’ about getting it right. You plan. You prepare. You analyse. But you don’t act. You are afraid you’ll get it wrong. But when quantity becomes the driver, we are all quick to swing into action. We get going. We make mistakes. And we set them right. And through it all, we gain experience and get better, which leads to better-quality work.

Good leaders don’t do that. They know there is a wide world out there—and it is colleagues and partners and processes that help make things happen.

Thinking differently can make you happier. Happiness is a choice. Choose wisely.