One idea that you get in one conversation with a friend who is world-class can transform your life. I’m so blessed in my life to have conversations with some people who are truly amazing. These are people who inspire me. These are people who, just being around them, I feel better about the possibilities of my life. These are people who, just being around them, their energy and brilliance rubs off. If I can do it, you can do it as well. You might be surprised at some of the people that you can meet if you’re committed to meeting world-class people. Develop that community around you, put your family first, and remember to craft a world-class life. It’s so important to have world-class relationships. Develop world-class competency. In other words, make a commitment to yourself to be the best in the world at what you do. In so many ways, that starts by knowing your gifts,
So many people don’t know their gifts. So many people have not taken the time to get to know themselves. Let me ask you right now, here in this moment, what are the three gifts that make you special? Maybe it’s your ability to ask good questions. Maybe you’re a great listener. Maybe you’re a great strategic thinker. Maybe you’re one of those people who just have this ability to get people to like you in the most authentic of ways. Maybe you have extraordinary discipline or high levels of energy. Maybe it’s your passion. Maybe it’s your analytical mind. Maybe it’s the size of your heart. I don’t know what it is for you, but it’s really important to know your three greatest gifts and then to spend the remaining days of your life sculpting those gifts. If you were to focus on your three highest gifts over the next three years, I promise you, after three years, you will reach a level of operation where people look at you and say, “That person is a genius.” You will have the level of insights, the level of focus where you are truly world-class. If you look at the best of the best, they’re not any different from you. They just figured out what their gifts were and then spent their days refining those talents. Elite performers on the playing field of athletics have spent over 10,000 hours in that specific sport, and that gets back to the swan effect. It might look easy because they’re at a level of mastery, and that level of mastery has been arrived at through all that work on their key gifts. A number of years ago in ancient India, a Maharaja saw this sword crafter who was truly amazing at what he did. He sat this person down and he said, “What is the secret of your mastery?”, and the sword crafter said, “When I was a young child, for some reason, my heart told me that my destiny was to be a sword crafter, and so, sir, as I grew up, if something did not relate to my craft, I did not focus on it and I did not do it. That is the secret of my mastery.” The point of the story is simply this. You want to focus on what you do best, and you want to make a commitment to yourself to be the best in the world at what you do. Read for 60 minutes a day for material or books in your specific field. Again, you want to be an expert. You want to develop specialized knowledge. You do want to be the best in the world and the most knowledgeable in the world at what you do. You’ll have such an edge if you commit yourself to reading for 60 minutes every day in your chosen field. Get a mentor and develop a board of advisors to help you get to your best in your career. Often, we think we can do it alone, and yet with a mentor, we will shorten the learning curve and we’ll make much better choices in terms of how we live and how we work. Use your commute time. If you’re commuting half an hour each way every day, after one year, that amounts to six weeks of eight hours spent in your car. You want to use your car as a mobile learning center. You want to be listening to CDs of books on tapes, inspirational books, and specifically, information that’s going to make you world-class in your career and what you’re doing. Develop that lust for learning. I remember when I met Shaman Perez, he looked at me and he said, “Robin, if you eat three times a day, you’ll be fed. If you read and learn three times a day, you’ll be wise.” Finally, go to seminars. Go to workshops. Go to training sessions that will help you be a better human being, that will help you be a better leader. Get on the internet. Seek out people who are authorities in their field. Learn from other people who are doing what you’re doing. It’s amazing that one idea can transform your life.