We’ve stepped into the final quarter of the year and we’re at a place of wrap-up or catch-up or perhaps simple overwhelm. It’s time to retake control of your calendar, your projects, your finances, and your life! 

We all have competing priorities. Sometimes, though, we end up putting the real priorities aside to deal with the crisis of the moment. When you’re in a spin, attending to what has just grabbed your attention moment by moment, day by day, you need to step back. 

You need a shift in your perspective, what I call the Magic of Parallax Perspective. 

From my last five blog posts, you might have gotten that M-A-G-I-C is a framework I use for leadership and personal development. 

M = Mindset

A = Accountability

G = Gratitude

I = Inspiration

C = Clarity

For more on each of those, listen into my podcast One Sharp Sword and/or go back to my blogs to read through them. 

The parallax perspective is a...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Most people celebrate January 1st as the New Year.

For me, I use my birthday to celebrate. 

And yes, today is my birthday!

I do some deep reflection. I look at where I’ve been this past year. And OH, what a year!

I look back at my accomplishments, the struggles, and the wins. I look at the course-correction I made for myself, as well. Success isn’t a straight path. It’s a continuous climb with multiple points of celebration. And today, I celebrate the past and the future!

I also plan for the future.

Planning is different from wishing. I have a few wishes. I don’t hang on to those so much. In fact, it’s my DESIRES that I pay attention to. What is my heart telling me? What path must I pay attention to and not ignore??

This past year, I’ve fulfilled some serious dreams and started on some new ones.

A couple of years ago, I had a strong desire to be on Big Stages. I want to… need to share my...

Just own it. 

Really. You don’t need permission anymore. You have influential power. 

You may not think so, or maybe it doesn’t seem so all the time. And yet, if you’re human and in society, there’s a good chance people are noticing you. And because they are, you have the opportunity to make a difference in their lives.

You don’t even need to directly interact with them. Just be the model of the person you hope to be! 

Are you smiling?

Practice doing that more.

Are you engaging and deliberately, actively, positively® lifting them in some way?

Practice doing that more.

Do you make eye contact?

Practice doing that more!

When I talk about being deliberately, positively, actively® uplifting, I’m saying that each of those adjectives matters.

During your day, are you deliberate?

Are you actively engaging?

And when you engage, are you positive? My mom taught me to leave a place...

You know that plastic bit at the end of a shoelace? Without that aglet, yes, it has a name, without it, your shoelace would fray. Over time, your shoelaces would turn to strands of broken threads. 

Aren’t you glad it’s there?

There are so many small things that work for you in the world. In fact, if you looked at all of the small things that are working for you, you’d see that even the struggles you’re having aren’t so big. The struggles make you stronger. They force you to think differently.

Now if you choose to turn the struggles into something that you’re worrying about, you’ve moved from struggling to suffering. Believe it or not, that is a choice. Suffering is a choice. Worrying is a choice. How you process the world around you is a choice!

In my blog from a couple of weeks ago, I talked about mindset. It really does affect everything. 

EVERYTHING! 

If you can think about how happy you...

WE have to do something! 

Yes, yes we do.

Don’t we?

Mindset was the name of the game last week! Be sure to check out last week’s Wednesdays With Wayne if you missed it.

Accountability is where we’re heading today. You see, when we agree that something should be done, that we should do something, you’ve set yourself up for failure.

The big “a-ha” moments come to the leaders I work with when I explain this concept. It’s why organizations fail to be profitable, why meetings tend to be repetitively deathly horrible, and why family chores end up sounding like nagging.

“We should do something” is a cry for help.

So, own it.

OWN IT. 

Let’s say you saw a dam that had a little crack in it. “Oh, someone should fix that!”

Let’s say you saw a wall in your house that got a small crack in it from the house settling over time. “Oh, we should patch...

Here’s something you won’t hear very often, if ever. And you’ll be surprised to hear it from me.

Here it is – A Positive Mental Attitude won’t get you very far.

I know… I didn’t ever think I’d be typing those words for you to read.

There’s a myth out there that you might have encountered. It goes, “You can get whatever you want with a Positive Mental Attitude.” It’s sort of like everything that’s surrounding what you’ve heard about The Secret or the Law of Attraction. 

The reason it has become a myth is because it gets misinterpreted all the time. 

I hear it from people who are looking to level up: “I try to be positive.” 

The truth is, that’s hard during the best of times. And we’re not in the best of times. 

Wait, what? Did my Wednesdays With Wayne just become a downer?

Nope! I still wake up perky and smiling, even prior to...

I’m going to admit that I judge whiners. I don’t get triggered by much, and yet when people complain about their lives and don’t act other than to say that they know that they should do something, I get frustrated. It’s like watching a toddler, telling them what to do, and while they hold eye contact with you, they seemingly deliberately drop the cup that they’re holding onto.

What the…!

The problem is perspective. And the answer is also perspective.

So many people, and you could be one of them, sabotage their growth and potential because they say that they’re not ready. 

• I can’t apply for that job because I’m not ready.
• I can’t do coaching with you because I’m not ready.
• I haven’t started that thing that I really want to do/have/become because… I’m not ready.

That’s such bull….

Think about anything… ANYthing you’ve taken on. 

What...

Who owns you?

We’re torn by the distractions of so many things that are important. There’s where overwhelm comes from. There are so many things, big and small, that need our attention. Feeling like you own your day comes from having a handle on your “to do” items.

You own them, and not the other way around. 

A lug wrench, a hair dryer, or a bread knife all show up at your door…  They’re each important in a certain circumstance and, if you’re packing for a picnic, only the bread knife is making it into your picnic basket. 

It’s not that what doesn’t go into the basket isn’t important. It’s that you’re exercising discernment for what’s important now.

The same way you could acknowledge that any tool has a place, you can look at the projects that you’re pursuing or the ones that you’ve put on your to-do list for someday. Somehow those...

Hey…! Where are you going? 

No, really. Where are you going? You know that to get there, you want to pack a few things that will help you along the way. 

Essentials to pack:

1. Mindset
2. New Values

Yep… we’re working on mindset all along the way. Check out my signature mastermind retreat and my previous blog posts.

Values…? NEW Values?

Yep, because the old saying really IS true – what got you here won’t get you there. 

Think about who you were and what you really valued 20 years ago. Does the today you hold the same values as the yesterday you? Some of the core values of integrity, love, family, etc. maybe. But the other values of what you wanted back then… those would only slow you down today.

So think about who you’re becoming and where you’re heading. Actually, that’s backwards. Think about where you’re going.

Then PLAN who you’re becoming.

Plan who...

What does it mean to really feel alive?

Are you filling your days with the things you love and live for? Feeling drawn to exploration is a prize, so are you ready to get out and explore or, do you have that nagging feeling like you “should” be doing something else… something more productive maybe?

It’s not uncommon, especially now as we focus on creating our own, personal, new normal.

There’s a conflict: 

What could I be doing? What should I be doing? 

People ask me how to balance their lives and the question of work-life balance still comes up. 

Work – Life Balance is a MYTH.

WE HAVE LIFE.

What we choose to put into that is our choice, every single day!

You can choose to fill your life with work. Or, you could choose to fill your life with not-work, whether that’s family, play, distraction, or philanthropy, you choose.

You will get more out of life when you choose something that lights you up,...