In this 1-minute video, my good friend Steve Ritter presents an alternative to being the perfect parent. What do you think?

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It’s not the smartest, richest, or best-looking person that succeeds. It’s the person who takes action consistently.

I”m reminded of a 7th grade student who was frustrated that his Aunts spoke behind his back in French.  What did he do? He taught himself basic French.

Or the teacher who always dreamed of becoming a writer. We asked her what she could do in the coming week.  She applied to and was accepted to a writing program.

What one new action could you take this week that would have a significant positive impact on your life?

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Succeeding on our own is often child’s play compared to succeeding as a team. Once you have a team – whether a marriage, sport, or professional setting – you have to resolve competing agendas, balance disparate personalities, and resolve conflict.

If you have five minutes, take a look at this school team. The 24-page diagnostic team report analyzes the school’s faculty on four bedrock teaming dimensions:

• Investment: What are team members investing and not investing?
• Trust: What’s the level of trust?
• Innovation: Can team members leverage differences to create new solutions?
• Distancing: How does the team handle change?

If you had to help this team, how would you do it?  Where would you start?

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About ten years ago, I was stuck at a stop sign and had to make a decison: Right turn to go home. Left turn to someone who would likely reject me.

I turned left and drove to a book store called Andersons Book Shop in Naperville, IL. I asked the woman at the counter if the store would take five copies of my self-published memoir on consignment. All five other book stores I had asked, including Borders, had said no. She said yes.

Her store ended up selling more than 1,000 copies of Of Beetles and Angels. One of the book sellers at Andersons’  became my agent, selling my book to Little, Brown and Company (think Twilight) for six figures in a two-book deal.

I wish I could say I’ve taken the left turn every time in my life. But I haven’t. Fear of rejection, fear of trying something new, fear of wasting my time have stopped me.

How about you? What stops you from making your left turns? What left turn will you take in 2012?

Some of your left turns will be dead ends. But some, and you never know which, will be Magical.

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Many of you will be travelling over the next few days, so I’m going to share  a thought on surviving airport delays.  Over the last ten years, I’ve been delayed hundreds of times, as part of my speaking, author tours, or when I travelled weekly as a business consultant. One day, I was particularly upset because I wanted to get home, and then I realized a few things…

• Oregon Trail: I used to play the video game Oregon Trail as a kid, and know that people used to trek across the U.S. in covered wagons, braving harsh elements, fighting for food, and enduring all manners of unexpected challenges, such as broken wagon axles. Today, even with severe delays, we make that same journey in days, and enjoy much greater safety and comfort.
• Seeing Family: I thought of people like my mom. My mother, after being a refugee, didn’t get to see her own mother for over 15 years.  Today, we take for granted that we can Skype, call, email, and see each other regularly. For 99% of history, moving meant that you might not see your family for years – sometimes never again.

Of course, it’s still frustrating when we cannot spend the holidays with our family in the way we planned, or we miss an event that is important to us. But history clearly tells  us that we are blessed to see each other using relatively efficient and safe methods of transportation.

Happy Holidays to you, and safe travels…

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I heard an interview recently with Steve Ross, the former CEO of Time Warner, and he shared something that inspired me.

As the story goes, Steve was at his father’s deathbed when Steve’s father gave him some advice, a dying father’s last words of inspiration to his young son. Here was the advice.

There are 3 types of people in the world: 1) Those who get to the office and daydream all day long, without taking any action. 2) Those who show up at the office early and work all day long without taking a moment to dream. 3) Those who show up to the office, and for the first half hour sit back in their chair and just dream. The rest of the day, they take action and work.

Son, be in that third group. You’ll find that there is almost no competition.

As a result of the interview, I’ve changed my morning routine. At least three times a week, I’ll spend the first half hour of the day doing nothing but dreaming. No dream is too outlandish or crazy. I’ve already generated some great ideas and taken action on some of them.

How about you? What do you think of Steve’s story? Are you giving yourself enough Dream Time?

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