Monthly Archives: November 2016

Listen to history, apply it to the future.

listen-to-historyKevin Love played one year of college basketball for the UCLA Bruins in the 2007-2008 season where he led the team to a final four appearance. He was a First Team All-American, Pac 10 player of the year, First Team All-Pac 10.

As a Freshman in UCLA in 2007-2008, Love often reached out to John Wooden for advice. John Wooden was the head coach at UCLA from 1948 – 1975. During his tenure, the Bruins won 620 games in 27 seasons and 10 NCAA titles during his last 12 seasons. During his freshman year Love said of Wooden, “I just turned 19 and I know my history. He’s not only the best coach of any coach of all time, but he’s also one of the best human beings you’ll ever meet.”

Drafted after his Freshman year in college, he played for the Minnesota Timberwolves where he was a three-time NBA All-Star and the Cleveland Cavaliers where he was part of the team that won the NBA Championship in 2016. And when he became an NBA player, Love remembered what he learned from Wooden, “Coach Wooden, when he speaks you listen. I’ve taken a lot of things from him… It’s not just about basketball, it’s about life as well.”

United States Supreme Court Justice, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. summarized the importance of listening to history, and then applying it to the future when he said, “It is the province of knowledge to speak, and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen.”

Those who want to have a positive impact on the future, must first seek to become wise about the past. In the story of Kevin Love and John Wooden, the result was learning the steps that Wooden took so that they could be repeated. In studying history, it is also just as likely that one may learn of the past mistakes to know what not to repeat.

I’ve heard it said this way, “Make sure you understand why the fence was put up before you take it down.” You may have equal chance to leave the fence up as you do in taking it down, but your decision will be made based on knowledge of the history of the reason for its placement in the first place.

 

Who benefits from your clear personal mission?

personal-missionOne answer to this article’s title is of course you. But so does everyone you come in contact with. Your personal mission is why you’re doing what you’re doing. It’s important to be clear about why you should try so hard to accomplish whatever you are working on. Steve Jobs said your personal mission statement lets you say, “I did what I was created to do. I contributed to this world in a significant manner.”

Your personal mission, therefore, can’t be short term thinking – it’s not about working hard to earn money. It’s not even about earning money to buy a car. There is nothing wrong with earning money and buying a car, that may be a great step but it’s bigger is than that. It’s the impact you want your life to have.

And when you figure out what you were created to do – as Jobs said, ask yourself, besides me, who benefits from my personal mission? You may still be doing great things, but to what end? Stop waiting for the impact to just happen and make it happen. Make your life a mission, not an intermission.

Why do we need a personal mission? Life is full of choices. How do you know which choice is the right one? One way that helps you decide is having a personal mission. What that as a focus, you can measure each choice to see which one gets, or keeps, you on track to reach it.

“You’ve got to think about big things while you’re doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.” – Alvin Toffler, author of Future Shock

What should be in a personal mission? The best part of being successful is helping others be successful. A Chinese proverb says, “By accident of fortune one may be a leader for a time, but by helping others succeed one will be a leader forever.” Fill your personal mission with the benefits you will bring to each person you can.

“Mission is about people, not projects.” – Todd Engstrom, Verge 2013

What does a personal mission look like? If it takes too long to explain, then you don’t understand it. If you don’t understand it, then you can’t use it. Abraham Lincoln said, “If you give me six hours to chop down a tree, I’ll spend the first four sharpening the axe.” Invest the time up front so that your personal mission statement is as sharp as an axe and can fell a tree in one blow. Brevity is the key.

“Your mission should be a single sentence that states what you are here to do.” – Steve Jobs

 

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