Boasting world class means what when looking at the big picture?

remarkable
in the hundreds of visits to Apple stores, jeff noel never thought the floors were remarkable

 

world class consistency
Apple employee said Apple has three quarries so every floor in every store is the same

 

Nuwanda attended a meeting in which a person got very serious and direct about being “world class”. Condescending in tone, actually. As if they had a clue about actually, personally being world class.

And yet this condescending person, by any measurable standard, is completely not world class.

Who among us is qualified to talk about “world class” performance anyway? Someone who’s read a lot of books?

You’re kidding, right?

And what stops us from applying world class to everything, not only what we have a passion for?

“Think about that”, Nuwanda said…

Next Blog

Here’s Why I’m Right

The title here will ruffle some feathers and simultaneously, get others to cheer.  Why?  Because, as the 1960’s psychedelic rock band The Doors summed up in one of their songs, “People are strange.

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.  You get the point.

So how does working seven days a week lend itself to balance?

First, the big picture intent is to NOT work seven days a week.  When the early pioneering Americans had a vison to become farmers, they spent countless hours clearing the land.  We can’t even comprehend the hardships they endured.

Every time I fly and look out the window, I imagine America, long before it was tamed – covered with trees and forests for as far as the eye can see.

What I’m doing now, working seven days a week is this:

  • Working to become a world-class professional speaker
  • Establishing processes to teach our son “life’s big four”
  • Preparing a metaphorical “hurricane disaster plan”
  • Preparing for the responsibility that comes with aging parents
  • Figuring out how to become a speaker, author, mentor of choice
  • Working to hear, “Well done”

The reason some succeed over others, is that successful people outwork the others.  This shouldn’t surprise anyone.  It’s a basic survival of the fittest, of the smartest, of the most creative, etc.

So, in summary, I’m clearing a hostile land, cutting down trees, digging up roots, making piles to burn, removing boulders, caring for sick animals, hunting for food, building shelter from the seasonally harsh climate, dealing with the emotional loss of my home state or mother country, protecting my family from wild animals and unknown diseases.

So really, if you don’t come from a lineage of hand-me-down success or riches, you have got to out work the competition.

Don’t beleive me?  Try and do it any other way.

A Reader Asks

Received an email from a jungle jeff blog reader, seeking clarification on the “Don’t Bother” blog post from last week. The reader’s email challenged my thinking, in a good and healthy way.  By the way, thank you for that.

Do you give obsessive diligent consideration to your work?

Most people, myself included, probably rush to, “Of course!”

May I audaciously suggest we (again, myself included) don’t do nearly as well as any of us think we do?   Huh?

Exactly. Huge.  Here’s what I mean.

This is simple, and also “dangerous”, because there is a human flaw in most of us. We are conditioned to judge others on what we see them do. It happens without even trying.

What’s complex, and perhaps arguable (but I argue it isn’t), is that we overwhelmingly judge ourselves on our intentions.

Huge difference here.

You see, I perceive my approach to balance as better than anyone else I observe, and yet others….

What others may think is that I preach balance, but lack balance, and therefore am a phony. This thought crosses my mind daily, “Am I a hypocrite?”

Do you ever catch yourself privately asking, “Am I a hypocrite?”

Tomorrow, maybe, I’ll dive a little deeper on this.