Tag Take Action

Sticking With What Works

Steve Keating 3 Comments

Ya know, there are “things” that just work. But some people insist on trying to make them work better. Why can’t they leave well enough alone?

I vaguely remember, at least I think I remember, seeing an old washing machine in the house where I grew up. Attached to the top of it were a couple of rollers. I don’t remember ever seeing it work but apparently when the washing machine was done you put the clothes through the rollers and it would squeeze all the water out of the clothes. I think those were around for a while so they must have worked at least okay.

Yet somebody decided they didn’t work well enough. So they made the washing machine “better” by adding a cycle where the tub spins around real fast and that somehow forces the water out of the clothes. As I have no experience with the old machines with the rollers I can’t say from experience if the new way is better or not. 

Now most of you are thinking at this point the it’s obvious that the new way of washing clothes is much better than the old way. But here’s my question for you.

If we were back in the day of the old fashioned washing machines how many of you would have taken the initiative to make it better? How many of you would have complained about it every time you washed clothes? How many of you would have said, “somebody ought to do something about this?”

How many of you have ever stopped long enough to realize you’re somebody?

The most successful people don’t ask why. They ask why not. They don’t say “somebody” ought to do it. They say, “I’m going to do it.” The most successful people act on their thoughts. 

Here’s an idea, the next time you see a problem don’t complain about it. Don’t hope “somebody” does something. Make the decision to do something about it yourself. Even if you see something that appears to be working well look a little deeper and ask yourself if it could work better. 

Then do something that most people won’t do…TAKE ACTION. 

Sticking with what works makes sense right up until somebody makes something that works better. Why not be that somebody today?

On a completely different subject…I’m trying something new out over on Twitter. It’s called “Super Followers.” For $5 a month people can follow a part of my Twitter steam that is for subscribers only. It features primarily short videos of me talking about the kind of things I tweet and blog about. But the best part is I’m assuming there will be far fewer Super Followers than regular followers. That will give me the opportunity to answer questions more throughly than I can on regular Twitter. Most of the answers will come in the evening cause we all have day jobs, right? Think of it as ”mentoring on demand!”

You can find more information by clicking the Super Follow button on my Twitter profile page. http://twitter.com/leadtoday (You may need to refresh the page to see the Super Follow Button) Give it a try if you’re so inclined, I can’t promise it will last for a long time but I can promise the content will be helpful as long as it does. 

Planning for a Better 2021 – The “Launch”

Steve Keating 1 Comment

The “Launch” is the seventh step in our planning process. It’s also one of the most frequently skipped steps. It is amazing to me how many times I’ve seen a person or a company invest time and in the case of companies, huge amounts of money, to develop a great plan and then do nothing with it. 

Years ago I was working for a company and we were contacted by one of the largest banks in the world. While they were already huge, their growth was stagnant and they wanted a plan to begin growing again. 

We advised them that the first step of developing a plan would be determining where they were at right now…we needed a crystal clear idea of their “As Is.” As I said this was a large bank and the most effective way to determine their current situation was to conduct a needs assessment throughout all levels of the organization. This would a seven figure investment and they would receive an actionable plan that would lead to a return to growth for the organization. 

We delivered the plan to the bank on time, which was four months after the process began. They were a little overwhelmed at the amount of detail we provided but they agreed wholeheartedly with our findings. They were excited to be moving forward. 

We scheduled our first follow up meeting (The Follow Up will be the 8th and final step in our process) for 90 days after they put the plan into action. 90 days later when we called to confirm the follow up meeting they asked to reschedule. They were still preparing to launch the plan “in the very near future.” Remember they paid over a million dollars for the needs assessment and the plan that came out of it. 

The bank NEVER did actually launch the plan. They had the best of intentions. They invested heavily to make certain their plan was actionable and that their desired outcomes would be achieved. But they failed to launch!

The “Launch” is where having a coach or a mentor can make a huge difference. Without someone to hold you accountable you may never begin. Or, you may have a few “false starts” and then never get going again. 

Think of all the time you’ve invested to this point. You likely know more about yourself then you ever have before. You’ve dreamed your dream and made a plan to make it become real. You’ve done the hardest part. 

All that’s left is to implement the plan. 

You need to take that first step. Some of us, okay, most of us will still need a little push. That’s what your coach or mentor is for. If you think coaches or mentors are only for big shots then don’t get one.  But find yourself an accountability partner and ask them to hold you accountable. The only requirement for an accountability partner is that they care enough about you to actually hold you accountable. 

I can’t say that strongly enough…whoever you ask to hold you accountable MUST truly CARE for you. That is a must must must! They need to be willing to keep encouraging you, pushing you, even scolding you in that’s what’s needed. Your accountability partner needs to stay along side of you when you tell them you’re done. They must care enough to not allow you to be done. 

Some people seem to misread the title of this step. After completing their plan instead of going to “launch” they simply go to lunch…and apparently never come back. Lunch can wait, your future will not! Implement your plan ASAP…as in today because in you’re always waiting for tomorrow, tomorrow never comes. 

Just Thinking

Steve Keating 1 Comment

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately. Mostly about thinking. Very serendipitously I’ve seen several blog posts about thinking in the last few weeks too.

I think that thinking is good. I wish more people would try it. It really helps when making decisions and I particularly recommend taking a moment or two to think before you speak. It’s amazing what a difference that moment or two can make.

If you think as you look around (I don’t normally recommend multi-tasking but in this case I’ll make an exception) you’ll realize that pretty much everything you see began as a thought. Someone thought about making the device you’re reading this on. If someone printed it out for you to read that was very thoughtful of them. Everything begins with a thought.

So thinking is good. But is it always good? I think not!

Our thoughts lead the way for us. If our thoughts are positive our life tends to be positive. If our thoughts are negative our lives tend to be as well. Henry Ford once thought “whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” That was a great thought but it only became great when he said it out loud.

You see as good as your thoughts might be thinking alone is not enough to succeed. Thoughts can begin the process of success but action finishes it.

Mountains of failure are built on the foundation of good thoughts, or as some people might call them, good intentions. But those good thoughts all have one thing in common…a lack of commitment to take proper action to bring them to fruition.

Every person reading this has had great thoughts that they never followed up on. Those great thoughts could have become something special if only….

If only they had been acted upon.

So keep thinking but don’t just think. Take action. Massive, directed, intentional, unstoppable daily action. It may lead to nothing. It may lead to learning what to do differently next time. But it may lead to something incredible that makes a difference for you, for those close to you or maybe the world.

What do you think about that?

The Lottery of Life

Steve Keating 1 Comment

I don’t often buy lottery tickets. I do when there is a jackpot over $500 million or so but why bother with those pesky $200 or $300 million ones. 

 

I think lots of people are just like me. Lottery officials seem to confirm that. The higher the jackpot the longer the lines to buy tickets and the faster the jackpot grows. 

 

There are a lot of people who play the lottery of life the same way. They ask for a little help but what they mean is “do it for me.” They will actually refuse “some” help because they want enough “help” so that they don’t have to do a thing on their own to succeed. 

 

The people who truly win the lottery of life are the ones who have developed the discipline and work ethic to succeed on their own. Except they know they never really do it on their own. They work their butts off and accept whatever help they can get along the way and use it to boost their own efforts, not replace them.

 

There are certainly people who seem to “luck” their way to success. There are people who have the appearance of success handed to them. There are also a whole lot of people hoping for success to somehow magically appear.

 

But the surest way to find success is to look for it in the hard work and effort you put forth to earn it. 

 

The legendary baseball player Babe Ruth once said, “You just can’t beat the person who never gives up.” Are you that person? Do you suffer the setbacks that life offers and bounce back to try again? Are you working for success or hoping for success?

 

I don’t want anyone to stop hoping for something better but hope alone doesn’t accomplish much. Never allow hope to stop you from making a concerted effort to earn the success you’re hoping for. 


If you’re willing to work for it then I’m willing to bet you’ll find it. You’ll find it or you’ll make it but either way you’ll have won the biggest lottery of all. You’ll have won the lottery of life! 

Easier Said Than Done

Steve Keating 2 Comments

I shouldn’t be, but I often am, surprised at how many people respond to a blog post or something I post on Twitter by telling me “that’s easier said than done.”

 

That got me to thinking…yes I know that scares a lot of people….but it got me to thinking about what is easier to do than it is to say. I’m stumped! It seems to me that everything is easier said than done. In fact, it seems to me that the biggest accomplishments are way easier said than done. 

 

It’s far easier for anyone to say they are going to do something than it is to actually do it. That’s especially true for things that are worth doing. 

 

When I hear the response “that’s easier said than done” I’m almost certain that the person saying it will never know how easy or hard it is to do because they have no intention of even trying. 

 

I know some of you won’t like hearing this but “easier said than done” is an excuse and a poor one at that. It provides people with the cover they need to do nothing. Except in the long run that “cover” turns out to be as transparent as glass. 

 

If you’re reading this you should know that the device you’re reading it on wouldn’t even exist if the person or people who invented it had bought into the “easier said than done” excuse. 

 

Pretty much everything you take for granted today was once thought impossible and it would still be impossible if the person who overcame that seeming impossibility had accepted the lazy excuse of “that’s easier said than done.”

 

So what’s one thing in your life you would like to change if only it wasn’t easier said then done? 


Clear you mind of the success limiting thinking of “easier said than done” and just do it. Once you’ve accomplished it, once you made that change, once you’ve succeeded it won’t matter anymore how hard it was; it will be done. Even better than that, YOU will have done it! 

Today is the Best Day to Do It

Steve Keating 6 Comments

The problem with doing something tomorrow is that when tomorrow comes it’s today. Then what will you do… push it to the tried and true tomorrow again? 

 

How many tomorrows does it take for tomorrow to become the day you actually take action? There are probably many people who can’t answer that question because they don’t know how many tomorrows it will take. They don’t know because they haven’t taken action yet. They are still counting tomorrows. 

 

Successful people will miss few opportunities today. Less than successful people will miss many opportunities tomorrow. 

 

For the record, someday, the perfect day, and the right day are just as bad as tomorrow. Today is the only someday for successful people. You can make today the perfect day, you can decide today is the right day. Yesterday’s tomorrow is today. 

 

You are out of excuses. 

 

You may not realize it but all that stuff you “plan” to do tomorrow weighs you down. It is a drag on today’s productivity. Each day you delay taking action on “tomorrow’s stuff” the weight becomes heavier and the drag greater. 

 

Here’s an idea: if something takes less than a minute to do then do it immediately. Do it right this second. You’ll be surprised how many things you put off that could be done in less than a minute. 

 

Most of the things we put off are not delayed due to a lack of time. We put them off because we don’t like doing them or they make us uncomfortable. We use time as an excuse. 

 

You should know that one of the biggest differentiators between successful people and less successful people is that successful people have developed the habits of doing the things that less successful people simply don’t like to do. 

 

Success is far more about possessing the discipline required to take action than it is about anything else. You can be the smartest person on earth but if you don’t use your brains what does it matter. Lack of initiative kills far more opportunities than lack of money. 

 

Do you have the discipline required to invest a handful of minutes a day to stop putting off those things you don’t want to do? Even the ones you know would make a positive difference for you?

 

When you start doing the things that require less than a minute pretty soon you’ll have enough momentum built up to tackle longer and tougher tasks. Before you know it, nothing can stop you. 


So what do you say? Got a minute to succeed? 

The Best Time to Plant Ceeds

Steve Keating 2 Comments

I’m told the English language is one of the hardest languages to learn as a second language. There are many words which appear to be identical yet have multiple meanings. Then there’s the your vs you’re thing that even many native English speakers can’t seem to figure out. Do I write this blog or do I right this blog? This list of conflicts within the English language could go on and on.

 

As challenging as the English language can be however it’s also fascinating when you really study it. 

 

For instance, Google says there are 171,476 words in the English language and only three of them end in “ceed.” 

 

The first of the “ceed” words is proceed. Proceed, as in begin or continue. Successful people know this word well; while almost everyone wants success not everyone is will to proceed down the path required to achieve it. Wishing for something rarely makes it happen, working for it frequently does. Proceed to take positive steps toward your goals or just keep wishing, the choice is always yours.

 

The biggest challenge for most people in their pursuit of success is simply beginning. They don’t “proceed” to the starting line, they procrastinate, they make excuses, they just never build any momentum for themselves. You cannot finish what you never begin, so proceed to the starting line and then push yourself over.

 

The next “ceed” word is exceed. Not coincidentally, successful people know this word well too. In almost everything they do they exceed the efforts of less successful people. The most successful people know that they are due absolutely nothing until they actually do at least something.

 

Once you’ve begun you must keep going. One trait of highly successful people is that they kept going when they thought they couldn’t continue. They “exceed” not only their own expectations but the expectations of the naysayers who said they couldn’t do it. Never quit without thinking about why you started in the first place. If your initial reasoning still makes since then push on; do not limit your success by failing to exceed previous limits.

 

The final “ceed” word is of course succeed. Clearly the definition of what it means to succeed is as varied as the population of the world. We all define success on our own terms. But this much is certain, success comes from doing. It comes from doing something significant, something that matters. 

 

The people who decided that proceed, exceed, and succeed should be the only “ceed” words in the English language were pretty smart. They must have known that the process of success was to proceed, then exceed and if you accomplish both of those you’ll almost certainly succeed. 


The very best time to plant your own “ceeds” for success is today. Don’t limit yourself even one more minute. Do it now with the absolute certainty the only chance you have to finish is to begin.