Andy Albright was back in Burlington, N.C. fresh off a trip to Las Vegas, Nev., where he met with executives from Columbian Financial Group for a couple days. Andy took a Red Eye flight home just to make sure that he would live and in person for this week's Podcast of The Wednesday Call.
We all don’t know everything going on in a person’s life. We don’t know what a person is dealing with. There are always “uncertainties” in life. The question is how much are you going to do in the face of adversity and uncertainty? People get frozen when they really should lead through calamity and chaos. You can’t let circumstances stop you from doing things you know are important.
You don’t know what is going to happen from day to day. You don’t know when something is going to change. True leaders keep proceeding even when things look dark and bleak. They don’t stop because something happened halfway around the country or even in their hometown. Leaders keep doing. They don’t quit. They keep moving. They keep going.
Pretty much the only guarantees in life are death and taxes. When things get rough, do you do stuff anyway? How do you proceed?
The Idol of Certainty
A lot of people love worshiping the Idol of Certainty. They know what is going to happen each day pretty much to the minute in their minds. Set pay. Set hours. Set lunch. Set day and time to watch television. They love it.
You can do better than that.
Some people do change, but only when they want to change. Some stop bad habits, grow and become successful. Some people are killing it and then stop for no apparent reason. Maybe they reach an income level and get “fat and happy.” What they should realize is they can do more and make more. Andy encouraged people to stop doing bad things that hold you back. People who keep evolving and changing are going to get more done.
Show your team by taking action
The Alliance is looking for people who want to be on a winning team and back it up with action. The true teammates are those that don’t flinch in the face of adversity. They think more about how far they can go and not when they will reach a given destination. You know this because you can see what they do, who they hang out with and where they are headed.
37:00: What to do next?
People want to know what to do next. It sounds simple, but most people don’t know what to do next. Figuring out what to do next can change your life. Andy’s watch has two hands on it. The small one stands for NOW. The bigger one stands for RIGHT NOW. Those are the ways Andy approaches scheduling his time and reminding himself his time is the most precious commodity he possesses. When you know exactly what you need to do next then it seems like you are more efficient than most of the world. Know what is next and taking action on it is what separates good people and great people. When you keep MOVEing, you get more done faster! It’s called getting things done.
40:00: How to get the best out of people?
How to overcome helplessness? How to overcome junk?
When people take a situation and make it personal, permanent and pervasive it’s not good. Do you think negative thoughts when you do something wrong? Maybe you said something wrong, forgot something or whatever.
Have you ever heard a person say, “What’s wrong with me? Why do I always mess things up everything? Why do I always cause problems?” This is permanent thinking and it is not good.
You have to work hard to stop thinking this way because it is defeating behavior. If you eliminate words like always, never, everything, every time then life will be better for you because you are decreasing the chances that something permanent will happen the next time you are doing something. Choose your words wisely.
When your cable company keeps you on hold, you get angry. When you get angry, accidents happen. When accidents happen, you end up at the hospital or in a ditch hurt. Don’t get angry!
If you can stop and think when something happens, then you can reduce the chances of getting angry.
Do you ever say, “I am such an idiot, moron, dummy, etc?” The next time you mess up, tell yourself it is only one mistake. That’s the reality. When you treat mistakes and losses like it is life or death, then you are going to die a lot in life.
Don’t let one mistake define and stop you from moving on to the next opportunity.
55:00: Condemnation
Don’t let one mistake allow your mindset to be forever changed. You can make up for a mistake by doing better the next time. Maybe you can plan it better the next time.
Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor. You are not perfect, please proceed and keep doing! Don’t ever let perfection stop you from trying to succeed. Be convicted to do better even if you think things are a disaster at that moment.
58:00: Permanent, Personal and Pervasive
When you make a mistake, you take responsibility for it, but you also act with conviction that you will get better and improve. Don’t worry about the speck in somebody else’s eye when you have a log in your own eye. Don’t use a magnifying glass to point out shortcomings of others and focus on enlarging your areas that need improvement.
Don’t ever let a mistake define you and limit what happens in the future. Stop looking in the rearview mirror and watch the road or you are gonna cause a bad wreck! Keep looking forward.
60:00: Starting over after a mistake is critical to your future success.
When you make a mistake you can start over. Maybe you don’t want to cuss and you are trying to quit it. Maybe you go a month without cussing and you slip up because your dog chewed up something you really like. You say a cuss word. OK, that’s done now. Start a new streak of not cussing. You are human. Move on and try to do better from here on out.
Condemnation will hold you down forever. Conviction says you can change forever tomorrow. Own your mistakes and know you have the opportunity to move past it and do better from now on. If you treat every mistake as a permanent event then you will
65:00: YOU determine what you are going to do.
Mistakes can be corrected and fixed. You can fix them slow or faster. It is up to you. You can change anything you want to if you are willing to do what it takes to improve your circumstances. You are not tied down. You do have free will. You can’t take a situation and make it personal, permanent and pervasive. You can let other people help you by positive peeer pressure. Find ways to help yourself realize that you can’t change something and that it will always be the same way.
Think more about what can be instead of what was in the past. Optimism is powerful.
72:00: We are all one decision away from changing where we are right now.
We shouldn’t judge people because of one mistake. We should rate them based on action. Don’t let your imagination hold you back, but rather let your imagination push you forward. What you believe matters. What do you believe and what matters? Don’t wish for it and expect it to happen. Be willing to go out and make it happen.
76:00: Are you giving others your best?
When you look in the mirror do you see yourself and know that you are giving everything your best? This mirror concept can change your thinking and your life. If you don’t know you are giving your best, then you can improve. Do your best. If others see that you are giving your best to people around you then they will do the same. They will do their best because they don’t want to let you down.
80:00: Love beats everything including fear and doubt
Love will beat everything. It will fight off depression. It will make you do things you never though you would do before. It will help you overcome any obstacle in this world. When you figure out what your purpose on this Earth is then you can use love to do amazing things that make the world better.
Don’t let condemnation and stagnancy kill you. Put down the doubt, live with uncertainty, know you are not perfect and be convicted in all that you do. Don’t be perfect, that won’t work. Keep trying until you make a mistake.
83:00: Here’s what will work: Believe that tomorrow will be better and we each will be better. We are not going to be crushed by anything around us and we are not going to look down at people who are not on our level either. Know what your capacity is and get going. Work until you reach your best in all you do.
Don’t make it personal, permanent and pervasive!