“The man who doesn’t read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.”

–     Mark Twain

Advantage is a fleeting thing.

In tennis, you can be one point away.  In business, one decision (or non-decision) away from losing the advantage.

Perhaps it’s a price advantage.  A feature advantage.  A momentum advantage.

Maybe it’s a confidence advantage.  Or a belief advantage.  It could even be a timing advantage.

To let it pass — just as the man who could read but doesn’t — is sad.  It borders on being wrong.

If an advantage presents itself, the difference maker seizes it.  If you can, you must.

“Your mistake does not define who you are.  You are your possibilities.”

–     Oprah Winfrey

OK, let me begin by saying that I actually threw up in my mouth a little bit quoting Oprah.  Not.  A.  Fan.  At.  All.

But, she’s got this topic right.

Mistakes shape us, and we ought to get more comfortable making mistakes of aggression — mistakes of action, because they help us understand our possibilities.  Mistakes shape us, but possibilities define us.

If we spent one-third of the time we spend avoiding mistakes actually making some of them, and if we devoted all the time we spend worrying about making mistakes to focusing on possibilities — well, we’d make a BIG difference EVERY day.

“Know your limits, but never accept them.”

–     Unattributed

(…and no, this is not a third consecutive, Eagles’ concert inspired DD…)

I am not a fan of people who say “I’ll give you 110%.”  No, you won’t.  There is only 100%, and while I appreciate your enthusiasm, a bit of pragmatism goes a long way when we’re pushing ourselves too hard.

Everyone loves the combatant who “leaves it all out there,” but all we can leave out there is all we have.

This isn’t about defeatism or accepting limitations.  It’s about acknowledging them, and the fact that if more than 100% is needed — that we’re going to need help.   Support.  Change of routine.  Assitance by someone with complementary skills or experiences.

It’s not about breaking through.  It’s about getting through.  It’s about understanding what we can get done, and either letting the rest of it drop — or getting the support we need to go broader or deeper.

No one really expects 110% — or they’re not realistic in what they expect.

Actually, I guess this is sort of a third consecutive, Eagles’ concert inspired DD.  We ought to take it TO the limit, but we ought to think twice before we take it beyond.

“Louder does not mean better!”

–     Ron Prill, high school band director, Fairfield, IA c. 1980

Another thought from Sunday’s Eagles concert…  They’re even better on the acoustic songs than the rockers.

If we’re relying on volume, maybe it’s the message that needs attention.  Song writing over pyrotechnics.  Quality over volume.  Less, better over more average.

“We’re scared, but we ain’t shakin’; kinda bent, but we ain’t breakin’ —  in the long run.”

–     Lyric from the Eagles’ “The Long Run” 

It is, after all, a long run.

Today, there will be things that shake and bend us.  They won’t, by and large, break us.

As long as we remember, it’s a long run.

Last night, thanks to my incredible wife, I saw an Eagles concert at Summerfest in Milwaukee.  I’ve wanted to see an Eagles show for, well, I guess for about 42 years since Don and Glen formed the band.  It’s really the only band that I’ve wanted to see that I’ve never   The original members were all on stage.  The songs were as fresh as they’ve ever been.  The camaraderie on stage was real — not forced — and the now middle-sixties musicians on the stage were kids again — as were all of us in attendance.

It was a great reminder that truly great music is timeless.  It was a great reminder that so are we — in the long run.

Today, I’ll see a great customer and remind them of just how important they are — and how, in the long run, how important we are to one another.

There are no coincidences.  The show last night was awesome.  Today’s meeting will be awesome.  And, in the long run, so will most everything else be, too.

“Expect the best, plan for the worst and prepare to be surprised.”

–  Denis Waitley, American speaker, writer, author and consultant

If you’re of a mind to build a plan, these three components are pretty solid building blocks.

Have a positive goal in mind.  Establish contingencies for the worst possible interruptions and distractions.  And prepare  to be surprised — in very good and very bad ways.

Preparedness.  On purpose.  Difference making stuff.

“Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are, and doing things as they ought to be done.”

–     C. E. Stowe (son of writer Harriet Beecher Stowe)

Or, as I often heard growing up on the farm, “Common sense ain’t so common after all.”

As a customer, I am in a situation where common sense is screaming at the top of its lungs, and my provider has gone stone deaf.  Common sense has bought billboards all around this provider and they’ve lost their eyesight.  Common sense has pitched a tent in the middle of their office, and they pretend it’s not there.

Seeing things as they are.  Doing things as they ought to be done.

Simple.

But not nearly common enough.

If you’re driving your car at the speed of light, and you turn on your headlights, do they do anything?”

–     Steven Wright, comedian

What if we went SOMEplace at a measured, progressive speed, instead of ANYplace at a frenetic pace?  Would that make a difference?

Not all the time, mind you, but occasionally, just set aside all the “stuff” and do one thing.  Well.

Sometimes, a fast pace, a frenetic sprint in multiple directions is necessary, but it ought to be the exception.  When it’s the rule, the “urgent” might get done, but something important is going to break. Even worse is when the pace is aimed at driving perception.  Or, as Wright also said, “I replaced my headlights on my car with strobe lights, so it looks like I’m the only one moving.”  Do we really need the speed, or has speed replaced destination as the primary item in our travel plan?

If our pace is right, our headlights are less important, because we know where we’re going.  We can feel our way there.

“The mind unlearns with difficulty what it has long learned.”

–     Lucius Annaeus Seneca, “Seneca The Younger” (4 BC – 65 AD)

Do we ever “decide” to make something more difficult than it needs to be?

Is it habit?  Or is it conscious decision?

In either case, isn’t it just a conscious decision to change?

If something is hard, let’s make sure it’s not because we’re deciding to make it that way.

Making a difference means finding the simplicity where others find complexity.  It means finding the easiest way to get through the most difficult issues.  It means not being part of the problem.

“Been there, done that.”

–     The cynical, but ubiquitous saying from a 1980’s t-shirt

The sources aren’t sure where the phrase started.  It’s permeated much of life and business over the last 40 years or so, however.  The t-shirt actually added the line “Got the T-Shirt.”  So, when we hear – or say — “been there, done that,” there are some things to remember.

It’s really less about being there than it is doing that.

All it takes to “be there” is a taxi, a car, a plane ticket or any other means of transportation.

But what have we done once we’re there?  What was our plan, and how did we do against that plan.

There are times in life that we can make a difference just by having been there.  Sick relatives, injured friends.  Helping a sister through a break up, celebrating a new love with another one.

Those times are rare, and they simply scratch the surface of difference making over the long term

Today, we’re in Chico, CA.  Yesterday a different “we” were in Huntington Beach.  Completely different scenarios, completely differenet casts of characters.  Some similarities, though.

How much of a difference we make ties to how much of a difference we intend to make, how solid our plan is, and how well we execute on that plan.

By noon PDT today, we’ll have “been there.”  Here’s hoping that our preparation, prayer, planning and professionalism will allow us to say, “Done that!”  And that once said, it will be true, and that a foundation for something better will have been laid.