10 Lessons Life Has Taught Me

#1. Givers versus takers always win (even when they think they don't).

#2. Dream 20x bigger because at the end you'll have wished you did.

#3. Doing work that wows is a massive source of pride, happiness and self-fulfilment.

#4. The hours we waste today we'll miss in the future.

#5. Success is so much more than just money. It has to do with what reaching a huge goal makes of you. It has to do with inspiring people by your excellence. It has to do with producing value that serves many. And it has to do with making your mark on the generations who'll follow you.

#6. Adversity is a servant of your growth, progress and talent expression. Embrace it's gifts and thank it's lessons.

#7. Health is a crown on the well person's head that only the sick person can see (told to me by a participant at one of my events).

#8. Investing in books, courses, conferences and powerful learning returns your investment 100x. Success adores the lifelong learner.

#9. The humblest is the greatest (and the quietest).

#10. Being polite, decent and loving will always serve you incredibly well.

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Robin Sharma's 5 AM Club Rules

#1. Rise at 5 am
#2. Spend your first 20 minutes on exercise
#3. Invest the next 20 working on your plan/goals/dreams
#4. Devote the last 20 to learning
#5. Run this 20/20/20 Formula for 66 days
#6. Share your progress on social media
#The5amClub

This daily ritual is a game-changer. Please don't give up too early. All change needs patience and time until the new habit becomes your default.

You CAN do this. It'll be hard at first, messy in the middle and awesome for your life at the end.

Your fan always, Robin

The 8 Fundamentals of Extreme Achievement

Just a quick check-in and sharing of some fast ideas today…

…to move you into action.

…to kindle your inner fire.

…to galvanize your motivation.

…to alight your productivity.

A couple of first principles on peak performance:

Principle A:

Please remember that success lies in a masterful consistency around the fundamentals.

Principle B:

Success is really, really simple. It’s not easy, but it’s really simple. [It all comes down to the execution].

With these two principles in mind, I share..

The 8 Fundamentals of Extreme Achievement

#1. Making no decision is a decision. To do nothing. And doing nothing always brings you to nowhere.

#2. The way of performing that got you to where you are today is not the way of performing that will get you to where you’ve always dreamed of being.

#3. Making excuses donates power to the very things you are excusing.

#4. If you’re not being laughed at a lot you’re not doing very much.

#5. If you’re not scared a lot you’re not doing very much.

#6. Investments in your personal development are the smartest investments you’ll ever make.

#7. What you focus on always gets better.

#8. All great achievement begins with a single act of brave commitment.

Makes me think of the Goethe quote that has kickstarted my own personal inspiration for so many years:

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back…

…Concerning all acts of initiative there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too…

…All sorts of things occur to help you, that would otherwise never have occurred. A whole stream of events from the decision…come your way.

…Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”

Great quote from a great thinker…

So what are your big ideas and “splendid plans”? And today, are you willing to make the commitment to breathe life into them?

Or will you just let them die on the drawing board of fear, excuses and stagnation?

- See more at: http://www.robinsharma.com/blog/11/the-8-fundamentals-of-extreme-achievement/#sthash.ywGvA6L1.dpuf

The 8 Acronyms of Extreme Achievement

A quick but strong and valuable piece of information about getting you from where you now are to where you’ve always wanted to be is below…please read it with care…

I’m in Moscow as I write this…just finished a 3 hour presentation for Russia’s business elite.

They were smart, energetic and open to learning (remember: the moment you think you know everything you know nothing).

One of the pieces that kickstarted their passion and got them all talking was the section on The 8 Acronyms for Extreme Achievement…

…if you’ve read my books like The Leader Who Had No Title and The Greatness Guide you know I adore my acronyms…

…and here are 8 of the best (apply them over the next 90 days so you finish this year at your very best…there’s still enough time to make this year legendary…but you need to get moving swiftly now)…

The 8 Acronyms for Extreme Achievement

#1: APR: Absolute Personal Responsibility

Nothing in your personal, physical, professional and financial life will change until you start making your changes. Human beings are really really good at self-deception (lying to ourselves keeps us from pain). And playing The Victim.

But the beginning of transformation is awareness. And the very moment we stop blaming others and conditions for what’s not world-class in our lives is the moment we take back our power to dramatically alter our situation.

APR is all about waking up to the reality that your current reality (in whatever areas are most important to you) have not been caused by your boss or by your spouse or by your childhood or by the world. You created them (via your thinking, behaviors and performance). And once you truly get this, you’ll be in the beautiful position to make the new choices that will deliver all-new results.

#2. NSI: Never Stop Improving

Study Jay-Z or Cirque du Soleil or Zuckerberg or Lady Gaga. All extreme achievers have one belief in common: good enough is definitely not good enough.

To start seeing explosive gains in your achievement levels, I invite you to make the commitment to using every single day of the rest of your long life as a platform for improvement and a vehicle for daily optimization.

Remember: as you live this day, so you craft your life (the best way to predict the future is to create it in the present). Leave everything you touch 1% better. Never stop improving your mindset. Never stop improving your communication. Never stop improving your fitness. Never stop improving your productivity. Never stop improving your knowledge base…you get my point…

#3. BIW: Best In the World

The whole name of the game is to win. And winning is less about being better than others and a whole lot more about outperforming who you were yesterday (hint: you can’t get to be the extreme achiever you’ve always dreamed of becoming, stuck in the think and action patterns of the person you’ve always been).

And when you’re all about the hot pursuit of Mastery, Excellence and Exceptionalism (not so you become the best in the world but so you express your best), the inevitable result is that you become one of the best in the world.

You really were born into greatness. But the world may have schooled it out of you.

You really have something special within you. But life may have suggested it out of you.

Today’s an awesome day to make the choice that will change the game for you…and start standing for your highest and best.

#4. ABDOV: Always Be Delivering Outrageous Value

Your life comes alive when you devote it to service. The secret of happiness truly is helpfulness.

We live in The Generosity Economy…the person who helps the most will profit the most (not only in terms of your joy-levels but financially as well).

When you train your brain to focus on the mission “how may I help the most people?” and when you begin to see yourself as a walking talking living breathing value contributor, success, abundance and breathtaking levels of well-being beat a path to your front door.

#5. KMF: Keep Moving Forward

Study the excellent research of Angela Lee Duckworth and you’ll discover that the #1 factor that determines whether you’ll become an extreme achiever or an average person comes down to one thing…

…it’s not your IQ.

…it’s not your looks.

…it’s not where you live or where you’ve been.

It’s a world she calls “Grit”…your ability to persist, stay passionate and get your biggest goals done (in the face of being laughed at, bumping into obstacles and even being filled with self-doubt).

KMF is all about moving ahead–when things are easy but even more essentially, when times are hard.

You show us how badly you want your dreams when you press ahead in the most difficult of times. Remember: Victims surrender to adversity while Extreme Achievers exploit it to their advantage.

#6. FMOB: The First, The Most, The Only and The Best

First mover advantage. The great spoils of success don’t come to the person who got the brilliant idea but to the performer who got the idea done.

Ideation without execution is mere delusion.

Stop telling us you’ll start your business or get ultra-fit or fall in love or change the world. Talk’s just cheap. Action speaks louder. Just go do it…and then tell us what you did.

Being a FMOB is about committing to becoming legendary. An icon. A giant on the planet. And using your life to make history.

#7. LWT: Lead Without a Title.

You can lead without the need for a position or formal authority. I’ve spent over a decade criss-crossing the world teaching this concept to the likes of FedEx, GE, NIKE, The Coca-Cola Company, IBM and Oracle.

The real idea is this: every day when you walk out into the world, you have a choice: you can show victimhood or you can inspire us via your leadership.

—the flight attendant on the Delta flight from San Diego to Minneapolis last week who gave me green tea from her purse showed pure leadership.

—the school crossing guard who I saw dancing on the street to make the kids laugh is a leader.

—the chef at the Colombian restaurant I ate at recently who worked like Picasso painted and lit up the room with his fierce passion for perfection is a leader.

Become the CEO of your job responsibility, the Master of Your Craft and The Captain of Your Fate…

…and please own the idea that success is not reserved for the lucky…it’s the domain of the leaders…and people just like you with the vision, guts, discipline and devotion to use their lives to make spectacular things happen.

You CAN do this…will you?

#8. WTOH: What’s The Opportunity Here?

This is a tool I teach to my elite coaching clients. And it works wonders when used consistently, to the point of it become your default way of thinking.

You see, a problem only becomes a problem when you view it as a problem.

- See more at: http://www.robinsharma.com/blog/10/the-8-acronyms-of-extreme-achievement/#sthash.gHNzpx0a.dpuf

Robin Sharma's 100 Reminders

Being productive is an excellent vehicle for happiness.

It doesn’t really matter what others think of you–only what you think of you.

Do your work like it’s the most important work in the world. Because it is.

A superb reputation takes years to build–and minutes to lose.

There’s no point in being rich but sick.

Adore your parents. You’ll miss them when they’re gone.

If you’re not making things better you’re making things worse.

Being optimistic and enthusiastic never goes out of style.

Be on time if you can’t be there early.

Remember that the only real failure is quitting too early.

Smile more often. Your face will thank you.

If you don’t understand people, you don’t understand business.

Leadership’s not about a title but about a way of doing things.

Eat less food, get more done.

All elite achievers are obsessed with being the best.

Your daily behavior reveals your deepest beliefs.

Sweat the small stuff. Mastery is the result of 1000 tiny victories.

Your fears are liars. Your doubts are traitors.

Without a daily plan you’re lost in the woods.

The world belongs to unreasonable people.

Love your family like there’s no tomorrow because one day there won’t be.

When you show up as your real self, you inspire people to do the same.

The fastest way to get respect is to give respect.

The marketplace always rewards originality. Don’t be a mindless clone.

Until your vision becomes your obsession, nothing ever changes.

Enthusiasm is contagious.

All great projects require sacrifice, some suffering and a lot of discomfort. But they’re worth it.

Better to have 3 awesome friends than 10,000 digital ones.

Spend more time in nature.

Spend more time in silence.

Don’t let a stained past spoil your spotless future.

To double your income, triple your investment in personal development.

Elite achievers honor the value of every passing moment.

Too much entertainment is a symptom of a person without a clear vision and a burning ambition.

Less ego, more service.

Remember that listening to someone deeply and sincerely is a giant act of power.

An addiction to distraction is the death of creative production.

A problem only becomes a problem when you start to view it as a problem.

Don’t just parent your children–develop them.

Success is less about luck and more about practice.

What you give away comes back to you in a river.

Money is the inevitable consequence of value delivered to other human beings.

To have what few have, do what few do.

Think for yourself.

To have an amazing company, hire only amazing people.

Being happy makes you more productive, creative and exceptional.

Don’t be selfish. Too many people think that’s cool. It’s not.

Remember that your environment shapes your thinking, which drives your performance.

Loyalty in one relationship breeds loyalty in every relationship (including the relationship you have with yourself).

Read Walter Isaacson’s biography on Steve Jobs. It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read (and contains hundreds of lessons on entrepreneurship, innovation, inspiration and life).

Read my blog post “Don’t Stop Believing” when you feel like giving up.

Being scared is part of being alive. Accept it. And walk through it.

Know that every massive achievement began with a humble beginning.

Aim for the company of icons. Playing small with your talent is disrespectful to your potential.

Show love to your customers by giving them 10X what they expect. These are the people who feed you and your family.

Be a person with a fiercely strong character. And stand for the highest of honor.

Stop beating yourself up for not being perfect. No one is.

One of the biggest reasons people don’t reach world-class is that they’re too good at giving up.

Everyone you’ll meet today has a story to share, a lesson to teach and a gift to reveal.

No idea works until you start doing the work.

As I wrote in The Leader Who Had No Title: You can make excuses. Or you can be phenomenal. But you can’t do both.

Your life shows us what you’ve settled for.

No master was brilliant at many things. Focus. Focus. Focus.

Jealously is the price ambition pays for success.

If you’re not careful, making money can become really costly.

Family first.

Your work is your craft. Your life is your art.

When you let go of your dreams, you die while still alive.

Don’t be a critic. If you have nothing encouraging to say, stay silent.

Potential unexpressed turns to pain.

Measure your success via your impact, not your income.

Life’s best pleasures are life’s simplest ones.

Growth happens when you push past your comfort zone.

If you don’t believe you can achieve something then you won’t do the work to achieve it and so you won’t get it and then you’ll say “see, I couldn’t achieve it.” Belief is that powerful.

Gratitude is the antidote to fear.

Action is the solution to procrastination.

Dream big. Start small. Act now.

As you become more successful, become more humble.

Say please and thank you and sorry when you should.

Don’t wait for lucky breaks. Go make your lucky breaks.

I learned from Warren Buffett that extreme achievers focus on the value you’ll receive versus the cost of the product.

As I teach at The 48 Hour Transformation every June: “Small daily improvements over time lead to stunning results.”

Watch the documentary “Jiro Dreams of Sushi”. It will inspire you to be the Picasso of your industry.

Persistence is more valuable than intelligence.

No one will believe in you until you first believe in you.

As someone said to me at one of my presentations a few years ago: “Health is the crown on the well person’s head that only the ill person can see.”

Build your entire life around just 5 priorities (your “Big 5″). Any more and you’re diluting your focus, time and talent (and sabotaging your success).

Cut yourself some slack. No one’s productive all the time. Farmers plant seeds and then let the field sit fallow for a season. That’s when the real growth happens.

Be honest. People will trust what you say, sell and do.

Hard work is a force multiplier.

Be kinder than necessary.

Fears you run toward run away.

Look for the best in people and they’ll reach higher to deliver their best to you.

Less talk. More do.

You become your conversations. Choose your associations extremely well.

If you take yourself too seriously, no one will take you seriously.

Just because you couldn’t do it yesterday doesn’t mean you can’t do it today.

In the end, we never regret doing what was difficult.

Life is short. Help more people.

Great to be successful. Evenbetter to be kind

The 8 Things Really Productive People Know

Good am great human beings! . It's 4 am and I wanted to start my day by sharing...

The 8 Things Really Productive People Know....

#1. That the quality of your practice drives the caliber of your performance

#2. That clarity precedes mastery

#3. That the key to being a genius is focusing on doing one thing staggeringly well

#4. That mess creates stress

#5. That the bigger the dream the more important the team

#6. That learning and investments in personal development/professional skills are game-changers

#7. That a clear mind gives you 10x performance

#8. That ridicule is the price A-Players pay to become iconic

Make this day amazing! And let's keep this group focused on productivity please. That was the idea behind it and I'd be grateful if that remains our focus.

With a ton of respect and best wishes

The Brain Tattoos of Very Productive People

The Brain Tattoos of Very Productive People

#1. Clarity precedes mastery. Ultra-productive people have a blindingly clear vision, a deep sense of their values and written (and sequenced) goals. They understand that vague visions lead to vague results.

#2. You can be liked or you can produce great results but you can't do both. Epic producers have no need to fit in. Their commitment to their dream is much larger than their connection to the herd. And so they care less about what people say about them. And more about doing work that becomes art.

#3. Time is a non-renewable asset. Seems obvious but the reality is that the best performers are ridiculously aware of the value of every passing hour. And so they use each well (and fully) versus becoming addicted to distraction and suffering from Broken Focus. Syndrome.

#4. Just because an opportunity is an amazing one doesn't mean you should do it. Great producers stick to their game plan versus interrupting their progress by the next new shiny opportunity.

#5. The way you begin your day sets up how you live it. Epic performers understand that world-class results are made in the lab of practice. And so they get up early, develop themselves, review their plans and prepare their minds/bodies/emotions and spirits for exceptional productivity over the day ahead.

Above all else, productivity begins with a mindset. And an awareness that life is short...so today's the day to get giant things done.

No excuses, just great results. Less talk, more do.

With much respect and encouragement, Robin

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How World Class Leaders Accomplish The Most In The Least Amount Of Time - Part 1

1. To Get The Energy, Do The Work
 

Number one: to get the energy, do the work.  

What does that mean?  

It means that what most people do, what ordinary entrepreneurs do is they wait until they feel inspired and have energy before they attack a to-do list or focus on execution around the most important projects.
 

Is that not right?  Most people wait until they have the energy.  
What do remarkable entrepreneurs  and the most creative people do?  They do the work to get the energy.  Every single time you complete a project on your to-do list or something that you had resisted that was important to do, literally you have a corresponding release of what I call completion energy.
 

Start doing this right away.  Your to-do list things, all the messes, all those most important things that you haven't been doing, one at a time start  completing them.  You'll start finding that there is corresponding release of energy every single time you achieve something on your to do list.  

Eventually you get to a place where there's so much energy, you almost feel unstoppable.  To get the energy do the work.

 

2. Work In 90 Minutes Cycles and Recover
 

Start today with the mindset where you work for 90 minutes and then you get up and you take a break.  I work in 90 minutes cycles,  and then get up and take a break.  After 90 minutes get up and go for a walk, or have a glass of water.  After 90 minutes get up and move or go for a workout.
 

The whole idea that sitting behind a desk for 10 hours straight, will make you more productive is nonsense.  This is the study of energetic cycles which is a science.  Yet most ordinary entrepreneurs have fallen into the seduction of; the harder I work in a linear way the more productive I will be.
 

This is the same way you build a muscle.  You stretch it and stress it.  All stress on the muscle tears the muscle, which causes it to grow.  Stress is your friend.  Stress will allow you to push past barriers, which expands a capability.  The stress expands our capability.  Your enemy is not recovering from stress.  When working hard, most entrepreneurs push too hard and don't take time to recover, and then they start depleting their capability.

 

3. Recovery Is The Secret To World-Class Performance: The Sprinter Model

 

To double your productivity, remember the sprinter model.  A sprinter has a burst of performance and then recovers.
 

So work 90 minutes then take a break to recover and then take another 90 minute work cycle.  

Add onto this affect by working for three weeks, and then take a week off.  Work expands to fit the time available.  If you only have three weeks to work in a month and you have a deadline you'll get it done in three weeks.
 

It seems unattainable but what would your life look like if you took that week off and came back energized.  Think about the quality of your ideas and how much return on investment you can make.  What could one of those ideas possibly make you?
 

I learned from warren Buffett to always measure the value vs. the cost.  That's one thing billionaires do, it's all about the value.  They'll spend the money if they get the value.  To have what the 1% have, you've got to be willing to do what 99% will not.

Watch your email for Part II coming out soon.

Click Below and post your thoughts and questions about this in our private Facebook Group.

I hope this serves you well ...