Make Prioritization Your Passion

Principle #2: Self-leadership means scheduling what’s important to you.
Make prioritization your passion.

If you do not take control of your schedule, it will take control of you. Stephen Covey put it this way: “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule but to schedule your priorities. In this high-productivity world we often forget that there comes a time when we need to unplug. Work spills over into family. Family gets neglected. Stress builds and relationships—the ones closest to you—become strained.

You must learn to schedule time with your loved ones first and foremost. You must be in the memory making business. I have friends who schedule their lunch breaks so that it shows up busy on their calendars. I have other friends who schedule time with their kids during the workweek; when something work-related comes up, they simply fall back on their calendar that says “Football with Billy” or “Lunch Date with Madison.”

My wife Sheryl was amazing about this concept. Today is a hard day for me because 1-year ago, she slipped into a coma on this day. And a week later, she was gone -safely home and free of pain. But in her life, priorities mattered. Her keys to making memories is good advice for us all.

1. Never say no to a memory making moment. If may never present itself again.

2. Take as many pictures as you can and take one night a week to look at them as a family.

3. Become passionate about creating memories by giving cards that people will keep a lifetime.

4. The smallest phrases are the most powerful, and overtime create the most priceless memories.


If you have a family, they are your first priority. Once they are taken care of, then schedule accordingly. Prioritizing is essential to knowing what gets scheduled and what you say no to. The great German writer and philosopher Goethe said it best: “Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.”

Make sure today you do what matters most before you do what matters least.

Make Each Day Your Masterpiece

You are in the process of creating a masterpiece. Every day there is an opportunity to improve. The most successful people change their lives because they can see the opportunity to change something today. You are an agent of change, and your life and your business are both your responsibility and your opportunity.

As I looked at the autographed basketball in my office and the Pyramid of Success John Wooden gave me, I was reminded that he constantly instructed his players to make each day their masterpiece:

When I was teaching basketball, I urged my players to try their hardest to improve on that very day, to make that practice a masterpiece. Too often we get distracted by what is outside our control. You can’t do anything about yesterday. The door to the past has been shut and the key thrown away. You can do nothing about tomorrow. It is yet to come. However, tomorrow is in large part determined by what you do today. So make today a masterpiece . . . This rule is even more important in life than in basketball. You have to apply yourself every day to become a little better. By applying yourself to the task of becoming a little bit better each and every day over a period of time, you will become a lot better. Only then will you be able to approach being the best you can be – John Wooden


Masterpieces are created when you make good decisions and then commit to managing those decisions. Both require you to master the art of self-leadership and embrace the importance of self-discipline. How would the person you see yourself becoming in the future be acting today, in the present? I love this question. I ask it of myself often. It brings immediate perspective to each aspect of life. You will never change your life or your business if you don’t manage yourself every day. As Wooden has his pyramid, one of the most famous pyramids is that of Maslow -


You will never move from the base of Maslow’s pyramid to become a fully engaged human being without self-leadership. We will explore this over the next several days.

Sales Mastery 2010!!!!!!!!!

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NEW POST: He's 104

I thought we’d go in a little different direction with this one. You may recall the name Satchel Paige. Today is his 104th birthday, but it doesn’t much matter. He’s a legend. He played professional baseball for 40 years. He finally quit when he was 60, after pitching 3 shut-out innings for the Kansas City Athletics.

I was reading about him in USA Today today and just loved a lot of his musings and quotes, so I thought I’d share them with you.

“Don’t look back. Something might be catching up with you.”

"How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?"

“We don’t stop playing because we get old. We get old because we stop playing.”

“Ain’t no man can avoid being born average, but there ain’t no man that got to be common.”

“Don’t pray when it rains, if you don’t pray when the sun shines.”

“You win a few, you lose a few. Some get rained out. But you got to dress for all of them.”

“I ain’t ever had a job, I just always played baseball.”

“Mother always told me, if you tell a lie, always rehearse it. If it don’t sound good to you, it won’t sound good to no one else.”

Sage advice for us all – except the lie part – but there sure is value in practicing your lines.

Good stuff to think about as you ponder making it to 104 too.

NEW POST: The Cost of Freedom

The 4th of July. This is a good read....

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence ?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants,nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated,but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to
pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer,
Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown , Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed,
and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his
children vanished.

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and
silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.

Remember: freedom is never free!

I hope you will show your support by sending this to as many
people as you can, please. It's time we get the word out that patriotism
is NOT a sin, and the Fourth of July has more to it than beer,
picnics, and baseball games.