Secrets of success?

The secrets to a successful life? Wow. I’m hesitant to put myself anywherennear the top of that list. But since PetenReilly tagged me, I’ll share a few things that seem to be working prettynwell for me right now…

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1. Persistence. Over time, water, ice, and wind created thenGrand Canyon. I try to be that persistent on matters that matter.

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2. Patience. Of course persistence requires patience and thenability to hold a long-term goal in my head for, well, a long term. I also worknvery hard to remain calm when life, people, and other bumps in the road occur.nIt’s a lot less stressful when I can say, “Let it flow over you. Be patient. Itnwill all be fine in the end.”

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3. Finding something I care about. Once I’ve identifiednsomething I care about deeply, I try not to let anything or anyone stop me fromndoing it. If it requires ignoring people, taking a new job, moving to a newnplace, so be it. Excellence requires passion.

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4. Listening. Genuine listening – truly being in the momentnwith people and hearing what they have to tell you – is extremely powerful.

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5. Good cheer. I’m an optimist. I’m happy. I try to have ansmile on my face as much as possible. People like happy people. I like being anhappy person. I strongly believe in the power of personal choice. It’s not thensituation; it’s how we respond to the situation that dictates ournhappiness.

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6. Joy in little things. Children’s giggles. A crisp sunnynwinter morning. A positive blog comment. The twinkle in my wife’s eye. I make itna point to find the joy in little things. The accumulation of a multitude ofnlittle delights sustains me when more challenging times arise.

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7. Spending time around little children. I’m a huge advocatenof spending as much time around 2– to 9–year-olds as possible. Their laughter isninfectious, their joy de vivre is catching. Preschools and elementarynschools are happy places. Soak in the joy.

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8. Technology helps. Spreadsheets, a shared online calendarnwith my wife, mail merge, the ability to type fast, etc. I wouldn’t be nearly asnproductive without my mastery of some basic technology skills. I am both moreneffective and efficient because of digital technologies.

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9. Keep it simple. Simplicity helps bring clarity. Fornexample, we have only two family rules for our kids: be nice and be safe. So farnwe haven’t come across anything that doesn’t fall under one of thosentwo.

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Thanksnfor the invite, Pete. I hope this is what you were looking for. Although Intypically don’t forward these kind of things along, in this instance I’ll tag anfew folks to hear what they might have to say. FYI, this memenstarted here.

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• Eric Hoefler

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• John Pederson

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• Scott Elias

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• Chris Lehmann

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• Kimberly Moritz

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