Topsoil Property Co

Asking creates formality. And lowers your chances of success. Don’t ask people to take on a part-time, unpaid job to “mentor” you. Rather, bring intellectually stimulating challenges to them. Make them specific. Engage people you want to learn from by inviting them to be helpful in targeted and focused ways. Small asks multiplied over time can lead to much deeper relationships than forced formality can.

Anxiety does not produce good work. Unfortunately, anxiety spreads like wildfire from one person to the next. The goal of an anxious person is to spread their anxiety to you. They feel validated and thus better by you also feeling anxious. Avoid this downward spiral. It's a trap. When someone else is spewing anxiety, remember to: Remain calm: freaking out makes things worse, not better. "Let's figure out how to take care of this.” Be empathetic: acknowledge the person's anxiety without adopting it. Repeat the concern back to the person, then say, "I can understand why this is a concern.” Be clear: do not overpromise or overreact. "We are going to look into this.” Things not to do in response to others’ anxiety:  -promise to do more work -promise you'll work all night to solve it  -promise to do anything other than look into it The most important thing is that the anxiety stops with you. Do not turn around and spread the anxiety to your team, family, etc....

We must choose to put our focus & energy on the essential and let go of the good. There is an abundance of “good” things we can invest our time into. There is a shortage of time to invest in what is truly most essential. The challenge is not choosing between good and bad. The challenge is in choosing between very good and the most essential (the best). Our culture teaches us to cram more in. Do just one more thing on top of your already packed schedule. Let go of all those “good” things. Say no. Walk away. Let it go. And then choose to invest your most precious resource: your time, focus and energy, into that which is truly most essential to your purpose on this Earth. Our time on this planet is so short. Do not waste away your time prioritizing the good, and ignoring the essential. “The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.” Warren Buffett HT to Greg McKeown .

Forget thought leadership. I'm more interested in results leadership. I want to hear the thoughts and learn from people who are getting results. You don't build a great reputation by talking about what you are going to do. You build a great reputation by doing and building great things. Roll up your sleeves. Put on the yellow gloves. And get used to cleaning out dirty toilets (in reality and metaphorically). The work that gets results is not glamorous. It's strenuous, tedious, and often boring. You win by doing what others don't and won't. While the world searches endlessly for mirages of the silver bullet and the miracle pill, you have the privilege of doing the work. Day in and day out. HT to Joe Polish on the Dave Aspry podcast for sharing these ideas.

The reality is that most people get "great jobs" after a very, very long time of shoveling crap. People wrongly think they will be discovered or "chosen." Choose yourself. Do the hard work. Bring your yellow cleaning gloves and realize that scrubbing the toilet is the hard work you need to do to get ahead, not for one night, but for a lifetime. Thank you, AP .