Details aren’t what you focus on after you have figured out everything else. The details are everything else.

They ultimately determine if your plan works or not.

The details are the difference between executing a failed strategy or delivering impressive results. So it’s a bad idea to make the details an after-thought.

The tiniest of details can make a big difference in how well your idea ends up working. Things like tone of voice, color,  time of day, and the number of times you repeat an activity all factor into your overall likelihood of success.

That’s just how your brain is wired.

When your brain feels overwhelmed by new information or data that is complex and confusing, your brain begins to look for reasonable ways to summarize that material into information that is safe, logical, and useful.

The quickest way your brain does that is to look for inaccuracies – to study the details and see what doesn’t add up. If the details don’t corroborate the evidence that your brain is processing, then that information is throw it away. Almost completely discounted.

That’s important to remember when you’re launching a new product or marketing a new storyline or training senior sales executives.

Success is determined by how well you execute the details.

You can criticize the rest of the world for missing the forest for the tree in their face at the time, but maybe you’re the one who played the tree there in the first place.

Maybe it’s you tripping up your own success by ignoring the details.

Does it matter how quickly you launch if what you do ends up being unsuccessful?

It’s better to be bullish then brilliant.

Most of the time, getting things done is more important than thinking about things.

We often should spend time trying to figure out how to reinvent what we’re doing. Ways to find a breakthrough that no one else has achieved.

And while fighting for breakthrough is a great endeavor, never forget that getting things done might be the reinvention you’re looking for all the time.

Maybe your breakthrough is in the practicality of your approach.

Maybe your brilliance isn’t in ideation but in application.

Maybe getting things done is what makes you remarkable.

There will always be those who preach the discipline of working smarter, not harder.

Maybe being smarter means you know that you should be working harder.

It makes a difference. And that difference is probably what you have been looking for all along.

Life is a battle. What are you bringing to the fight?

• Bring dedication. — Care more about you, your vision, and the world you want to live in.
• Bring direction. — Come with a plan. Speak with a vision. Lead with confidence.
• Bring diligence. — Stop accepting the status quo. Do you your research. Fight for your dreams.
• Bring discipline. — Do what’s hard when no one is watching. Keep getting back up when you get knocked down.
• Bring discretion. — Morals matter. Do what’s right even when it costs you. Stop following the crowd.
• Bring diplomacy. — Being stern doesn’t mean you have license to wound with your words. Practice kindness patiently.
• Bring dimension. — Stop being a copycat. Learn new skills.  Be relentless about pushing your own limits.
• Bring dignity. — Don’t slouch your back or your morals. Live with class, compassion, and courage.
• Bring diversion. — Be interesting. Care about other people.  Have manners. Get cultured. Respect what’s different.
• Bring divulsion. — Speak with candor.  Stop telling white lies. Practice honesty. No one likes a “faker”.

Bring life the best you.

Bring it every day. Week day.  Weekend. Holiday.

Bring it while you’re sleeping, eating, running, talking — while you’re living.

It won’t often be easy, fun, or what comes naturally.  But it is what brings you the results that you want.

You are where you are right now because of what you’ve done.

Not because of chance or luck or coincidence. Not because of cosmic revenge or life being disproportionately unfair to you.

We often like to think of life as if we’re bystanders to the action. Peering in on what happens to us. Commenting about the saga as it unfolds.

But life isn’t like that.

You’re in the game whether you want to be or not.

The choices you’ve made (or not made) have put you where you are right now. And while that might be uncomfortable to hear — unpalatable to accept — believing that is the key to getting to where you want to be.

If you’re going to change your circumstances, you have to believe that you can actually change “you”. Its not good enough to say the words or cheer with everyone else at a motivational rally, you have to believe in your soul that you have the ability to change your circumstances.

All on your own. By yourself. By making the right decisions. You have to own your destiny.

That starts by owning the decisions you make each day.

Each decision. Each choice you think or say or do. Each choice is yours. Owned by you.

That’s the beginning of what comes next. That’s where you can change your future.

The struggle that follows is a challenge of massive proportion and pain. It requires dedication and bulldogged determination. You’re going to get hurt and lose friends and have to make hard choices.

So it only makes sense that you own that process.

You aren’t a bystander. You are in the game. Fighting for your life. Fighting for what you want for you. And the glory that follows is a result of the guts you have right now.

You’ve made the bed you’re sleeping in. Maybe it’s time to change the sheets.

Stop waiting on the crowd to believe you.

Stop waiting on your dreams until life starts being fair.

Stop waiting to have enough money to feel completely secure.

Stop waiting for someone else to lead the way forward.

Stop waiting for the skeptics to be fair.

Stop waiting for bad things to not happen to you.

The truth is that doing big things requires a lot of heart and soul. Guts — that’s the primary differentiator between winners and losers.

Not brains. Not brilliance. Not being in the right place at the right time.

Just letting go of “no” and “later” and starting out on an expedition of possibilities.

Trying. Pushing. Leading. Fighting. Finding. Sweating. Caring. Working.

And that all starts with stopping the stuff that limits you from being amazing.

Stop what stops you.

Is it fear? Or overindulgence? Anger?  Or complacency?

If you want to go places, if you have stop stopping and start heading towards where you want to end up.

Or else, you’re stopped. Stale. Dying. Soon dead.

All that changes when you decide to stop stopping?

What’s that for you?

What’s the cost of doing nothing?

What will happen if you don’t start working on your idea? Who get’s hurt if you don’t make any mistakes or end up with regrets?

You have to think through this scenario every day of your life.

Why do anything at all?

It takes quite a bit hysteria and of screwed up circumstances to get you to ignore the possibility of doing nothing. It’s not often that you start with the premise that “not doing anything” isn’t an option.

That’s because uncertainty is a bigger fear factor than a screwed-up existence. It’s the same in your personal life as it is your business life. If the demons in your brain can let you wait it out that’s usually the option you choose.

And you are not alone.

Everyone around you operates the exact same way. Doing anything is usually the worst option to be considered.

• Machinery breaks? Let’s patch it together instead of buying something new.
• Sales executive not working out? Let’s hope he figures things out next quarter?
• Business goals not being reached? Let’s “reassess” our original goals.

Fixing it — whatever that means at the moment — isn’t an option until there are no other options. That’s important to remember (especially if you are trying to present your ideas or solution as a better alternative to doing nothing).

No amount of prodding, prancing, pushing, panting, or placating will change the fear that other person feels. Think about how you feel in that situation. Fear and doubt and frustration aren’t easy problems to solve.

Time changes all that.

It heals wounds and lays bare weakness and pain.

If you’re trying to help, stick around. That’s the best place to be.

• Not chasing other deals.
• Not making excuses.
• Not offering false hope.

Just “being there”. Present.

And ready to help with “something” when “nothing” is no longer an option.

Letting people know you care isn’t something you say. It’s how you act.

There’s a cycle in life. And managing the flow of that cycle is important if you’re going to be successful.

Some call this cycle the “ups and downs” of life. And that’s one way to describe it. But that creates an image in most of our minds of an ocean wave. An unending linear motion that goes up and down and up again. Moment after moment after moment.

Life is more like a tumbleweed rolling through the Wild West. It’s not so much an up-and-down motion as it is a spinning upside down contortion. Turning around while moving forward. Getting blown side to side while trying to keep in the middle of the road.

It’s natural to not be good at living part of your life upside down and off the beaten path. And there’s no easy way to plan for that. To manage that. To get used to that.

Being upside down and turned around is the exact opposite of what you’ve tried to spend most of your life doing. So you fight against it. You don’t like that it’s happening when you’re in the middle of it. You want to be right side up.

All that is natural.

But perhaps a better response is to embrace the cycle. Not enjoy it. Not pretend like you’re OK. But to respect the process and to anticipate the glory of being back on your feet and swinging your sword with both hands.

Whether it’s business or your private life, professional or personal, you’re going to end up on your head, blown side to side.

In that moment, remember the cycle. This is where you are now.

Its not forever. Its just right now.

Heal. Grieve. Resolve. Learn.

And when the moment comes where you find yourself standing back up, act like a man possessed by the visions of those upside down moments

There’s no good replacement for hard work. No viable alternative. No efficient substitute.

Hard work is in a league of its own. And trying to find something more effective is probably why your business strategy is failing.

No great idea works if you don’t work. Hard.

It used to be a given that life demanded hard work. Every hour, from sunup to sundown, was utilized in the ongoing quest for personal advancement. If you didn’t work hard you didn’t eat. And you probably didn’t live long.

But then we learned that the way to a more “fulfilled life” was to get an education. To go to college. Instead of sweating in the field we could make more money wearing a white collar and telling other people what to do.

In fact, with an advanced degree from college we could even run an entire division of a company, retiring with a gold watch and a healthy pension .

And the journey got confused with the destination.

We started to think that working less was a sign of success. A badge of honor. That we must be smarter than everyone else around us.

But what we forgot is that the pension our grandparents earned came after 30 years of dedicated performance. The watch and golden retirement came after thousands of hours of unwavering loyalty and focus.

Today, it makes us feel special when we talk about working smarter. It makes us feel like what we do is better then the “ignorant people” who only know how to dig ditches and landscape yards.

We must be better than them.

After all, how smart can those people be, getting sweaty day after day after day when we sit in a corner office. And so, our corporate hallways are filled with executives in white collars and power ties, jaunting from meeting to meeting, preaching the accolades of efficiency and effectiveness — all the while preparing to point a finger at somebody else when things don’t work out right.

And why should it work? Why should we expect something from nothing? Better yet, how logical is it to expect that doing the bare minimum will make us elite performers?

It just doesn’t make much sense at all.

And, NO, the answer isn’t to put your head in the sand and hope that things magically get better on their own. That doesn’t make much sense either.

You should be learning from the performance of others. You should take the lessons you have had to learn the hard way and refocus your energy on ways that you can do more with less.

Just don’t confuse the destination with the journey. Working less isn’t the goal. It’s not a badge of honor.

Getting better results is the goal.

And usually that means rolling up your sleeves and doubling down on the elbow grease you bring to the game.

There is no magic elixir.  The hard truth is that you probably just need to work harder.

There are a lot of questions you have to answer each day.

Some are simple questions about “where things are” or “who needs to be involved”.  There are complex answers about “how to do” a particular tasks or “why doing it that way” matters.

Every day you are faced with questions. It’s your responsibility to find answers. To break through the confusion with insight and clarity.

Which means that you have to get good at answer a few questions well.  One more important than the others:

Did we do our best?

It’s that simple.  You can’t ever do better than your best and it’s incredible natural to do a lot less than your best.  So the question that matters most each day is: “Did we do our best?”

The answer tells you everything you need to know in order to change the situation.

1. If you did your best and lost then you might be competing at a level or in an arena where you don’t belong.  Or maybe you just need to do your best another day.  Keep trying.
2. If you did your best and won then you know the conditions and environment for getting even bigger results in the future.  You know how tough it is and level of focus you need to deliver.
3. If you didn’t do your best and still won then you need to chalk that up to “luck”.  Or maybe that’s an indication that you need to play in a bigger arena or against tougher competitors.
4. If you didn’t do your best and lost then you don’t know much of anything. You don’t know if your best would have changed things. You don’t know what to change — what to do differently.

Doing your best is the benchmark.

That’s where success starts.  And that’s why you feel confused and frightening when you try to answer other questions first.  ”Did we do our best” is the beginning of that journey.

If you’re not doing what you can with what you have then there is little else that can help you.  Not outside consultants.  Not friends, family, or therapists.  Not anyone.

The only one who can help you is “you”.

So maybe it’s time to start asking yourself the only question that really matters: “Are you doing your best?”

What’s the point of trying if you don’t try hard enough?

What’s the point of listening if you don’t learn something?

What’s the point of complaining about failure if you don’t try something different?

What’s the point of giving if you don’t really mean it?

What’s the point of getting knocked down if you don’t get back up?

What’s the point of pretending you care when it’s clear you don’t?

What’s the point of doing what’s easy if it doesn’t work over the long run?

What’s the point of asking for good advice if you aren’t going to follow it?

What’s the point of starting big things if you end up finishing small?

What’s the point of hoping to get lucky if you only work lazy?

What’s the point of expecting a lot when you aren’t working a lot?

What’s the point of pretending like you don’t make mistakes when you do?

What’s the point of asking for a second chance when you won’t change?

What’s the point of expecting fairness when life isn’t fair?

What’s the point of looking tough when you’re not willing to do what’s tough?

What’s the point of doing what you’re doing right now?

Sometimes that isn’t always clear.  Sometimes in your busyness and fear what comes naturally is to go through the motions.

And so day after day, instead of moving towards where you want to be, you avoid any obstacle that makes it harder for you to “get through the day”.

And it seems like it’s working.  You make it through the day and the week and the months and years that follow.

But you often stop and ask yourself “what’s the point”.  That’s a question worth answering.  Right now.  And tomorrow.  And the next day.

Because right now it’s not too late to start doing things that matter. Right now there’s time to make a point of heading towards where you want to be.

There’s a point to you getting there, right?

How will you be remembered?

By your friends. Colleagues. Family and community.

Will you be remembered for the same thing? Are the memories you create the same for business and pleasure? Do your personal friends see you the same way your professional colleagues see you?  Does that matter to you?

Are you who you want to be?

From time to time it’s important to stop and think about the memories you’re creating. To pause and plan deliberate actions.

Everywhere you go, every day, from now until your last day you’re creating memories. Thoughts, dreams, feelings in others around you.

Do you want to be known as kind? Smart? Savvy, competitive, or tireless?

In business, especially in marketing, we often ask how we can be memorable. How we can create memories that last.

The truth is that being memorable is inevitable.

What you do creates memories and feelings and sometimes wonder. You are memorable whether you want to be or not.

If you’re not deliberate about what you do and who you become, you probably aren’t going to be memorable in the ways that you want.

Your business, your family, your life — they are full of the memories that you create. Why leave all of that up to accident or chance?

Why not be memorable on your terms?

The difference between success and failure often comes down to how long you keep looking for answers.

You will always have problems. And it will always take you time to find answers.

So it is only natural that you grow weary of the constant churn. It is natural that you grow annoyed at your own inadequacies.

But without problems or the relentless search for answers, you won’t find breakthrough.

Like a butterfly emerging from its captivity, your struggle is what builds beauty.  What you think is pain is really just life making you tougher. Making you smarter. Crafting you into the type of leader who is worthy of the task at hand.

So, regardless of the problems you are facing right now or how slow you seem to be as finding answers, find inspiration in the simplicity of knowing that what you’re doing isn’t just learning but making something beautiful for everyone around you to see some day.

And that is probably worth the frustration you feel.

Nothing illustrates the complexity of our individual differences more than politics or religion.

While it is easy to assemble under a common banner for overall purposes, each of us has a different perspective. That perspective is uniquely shaped (and ever evolving) by years of experience, personal pain and fear, and goals that we set for ourselves.

So while we can operate under a common label, organization, group, or association, it is a mistake to assume that black-and-white perspectives held by groups of which we are a part are our own positions.

They are usually applicable. Mostly believed.

But universally abdicated in certain circumstances.

Which is important to remember when it comes to business strategy. The most effective message is one of commonality — but yet individuality.  You must speak to a group but message to the individual.

Think about the last time you left a group with which you willingly associate yourself where you found yourself in distinct disagreement with the policy or perspective of the group .

The fallacy of ubiquitous group perspective is what makes a television news show appear to deliver biased information, marketing messages to seem shady and insincere, and lead consumers to believe that the organization they’re buying from “just doesn’t get it”.

It’s because life is gray. And if your strategy for marketing is black-and-white, you’re not speaking to most people.

You’re really just talking to yourself.

Do you ever feel like the day won and you lost?  That your busyness got the best of you.  That what you thought you wanted for you you didn’t spend any time working on.

Today passed and you aren’t a better person.  Today came and went and nothing changed for you.

You feel like a loser. Like you failed.

And you aren’t sure if it’s ever going to change.

You aren’t sure if you can grow your sales, if your marketing will ever start connecting, and if you business is going to start leading your industry.

And those are the easy problems.  It’s your personal fears and pain and doubts that make you feel like a loser most days

It’s being physically fit and mentally fit and financially fit that drive you sideways.

Today changes all that.  Tomorrow too.

It’s all new today.  Each moment is an opportunity to win back the day.

You still have baggage from yesterday — unfinished dreams and lasting consequences – but right now is an opportunity to move a little bit closer to where you want to be.

And just knowing that might be enough to fuel a little extra effort and emotion.  It might the difference between you winning the day today and feeling like you did yesterday.

Business strategy is a gritty conquest.  Fixing problems with sales and marketing and engagement isn’t easy or fast.

That’s why each day matters.  Why today matters.

Because it’s a craft of “inches”.  You fix failing by winning.  And that begins with what you do right now.

This moment.  And the ones that follow.

You don’t need to forget about the past.  You just need to do something (and that’s hard).

So take a deep breath and then go be awesome.  

But not both at the same time .

Every day you will hear a good idea about how to make more money, how to get back in shape a little more quickly, or some ideas on how to invest for greater success. In one day you’ll hear a great idea — maybe two. In a week even more. In a month quite a few more.

Over a year you will hear hundreds of amazing ideas from credible people. Ideas that you think are worth pursuing. Ideas that are good.

Just remember that you only have so much of “you”. And you can use all of that up spending a little bit on a lot of ideas or you can choose to spend everything you have on one big idea.

You can do everything just not all the same time.

Think about that the next time you are tempted to chase another “life changing opportunity”.

There’s a certain beauty in constraint. You don’t get unlimited choices. You don’t get unlimited funds, energy, or insight. What you have — who you are — is a precious commodity.

Forget about the fact that if it’s “too good to be true it probably isn’t true”. Forget about the fact that there are no true “get rich schemes” in life . Forget about the fact that doing anything right requires massive amounts of mind blowing effort, pain, and agony. Forget about all of that.

Simply remember that you are in limited supply. You can spend that supply chasing 1,000 different ideas that will end up half finished or you can decide that you want one big thing from life.

And when you make that decision, life starts to get a lot simpler . All of your effort and energy and experience is focused on helping you achieve your goal. That means your chance of success just got a whole lot better.

Stop chasing. Start saying “NO”. Fight fearlessly for your one big deal.