Life will teach you incredibly valuable lessons — if you let it.

I have learned so much from my 56 years of life-experiences.

First, I had big dreams as a child. As crazy as it sounds, I wanted to be President of the United States when I was in the 8th grade. Crazy. I was just crazy.

However, it did make me think seriously about what would be necessary to achieve such a lofty goal.

Choosing big goals is undoubtedly crucial to achieving impossible levels of success. (By the way, I am President of MACNY- the Manufacturers Association in New York State and I live in a white house. So, I did get my dream — well sort of.)

However, my success and happiness would have never been possible without three rarely stated and ridiculously simple practices that I have mastered.

We can all do amazing things if we only will make big mistakes, find our silence, and give ourselves to help others.

Make Big Mistakes — and Learn from Them

Most of us hate to make mistakes.

I’m not too fond of demonstrating that I don’t know the answer or that I was wrong. However, I have learned more from my mistakes than my successes.

Deep learning usually happens when we undertake tough things, which means we will likely not get it right — at least not the first time.

Don’t avoid making mistakes. Try hard things. Do what may seem impossible.

Seek your dreams, no matter how hard they seem.

Let yourself make mistakes. If fact, you know it is difficult when you are making mistakes. Remember, we learn and remember more when we are trying the impossible, getting it wrong and making it right.

It has taken me years to seek opportunities where I know I will not get it right the first time. I was cautious. I planned everything and wanted to get it perfect the first time.

Now, I want to do amazing things.

I want to tackle the impossible outcomes. And, in doing so, I will make lots of small, and even some colossal mistakes.

That is to be expected when you are doing hard and complicated things. Seek to be proven wrong or to make mistakes where you will learn.

Volunteer for what is hard. The harder, the better.

Give it your best, and let yourself make mistakes.

You can learn from every one of them. These hard lessons are your ticket to success and happiness. Do the impossible — even doing it wrong is necessary!

Daily Habits You Can Use to Excel

Seek hard to achieve outcomes or projects.

Do things that challenge you daily.

Make big goals, break them down into doable pieces, and get to work.

Make the mistakes necessary to learn, grow, and become successful.

Find Your Silence — to Find Your Voice

Now is an excellent time to find your silence.

We are still in a time of social distancing and cautious interactions with others.

We have plenty of virtual options to be with each other, and we need to use these excellent tools to stay connected. We also need our times of silence.

Silence is underrated as a time of great creativity and joy.

In a world that is typically on the move always, it’s so hard to find moments and extended times of silence. Finding them is critical.

Planning for them is vital. However, the first step is to acknowledge how crucial they are to us and our lives. Constant motion does not serve us well.

We are not machines that can continuously perform and interact 24/7. Instead, we are human beings in need of time away from our responsibilities and need to perform.

We are at our best if we have rest.

Silence is a part of this fundamental need we have as human beings.

If I let me myself, I am constantly on the go.

My mind is always engaged and thinking about my next project, task, or writing piece.

My Type A personality, my professional experiences in the US Army, and serving technology and manufacturing companies for nearly 20 years have taught me always to be “on.”

However, I have also learned this does not work. It wears me down and makes me ineffective. And, it can hurt others.

Silence is the only solution I have found to cure these ills.Seek silence every day. I do. Plan for it and schedule it. Follow through and make it a vital part of your day. It may seem at first that this is “wasted time,” but it is not.

Your brain and your body crave the silence.

It refreshes us. It makes us more effective in the moments and hours after the silence.

Daily Habits You Can Use to Excel

Be silent daily.

I like to meditate for 20 minutes in the morning.

During the day, make time for moments and long periods of joyful silence.

It will refresh you — and allow you to make subconscious connections.

Silence will give you a fuller and more meaningful day-to-day life.

To Help Yourself, Go All-in to Help Others

Giving in significant and meaningful ways to others is the best way to get valuable results from your life.

When you do whatever it takes to help others, you will be rewarded with genuine admiration and life-long friends.

Your professional colleagues will also remember your kindness and devotion when it comes time to helping you and advancing your outcomes.

Taking from others will not get you to your long term goals. Such actions will be self-defeating.

Only going all-in on serving others will help you reach your long-term potential and goals.

When someone sees just how much you care, they will trust you and rely on you. Giving others your time, talent or treasure is critical. Donating money is good. Offering your time is better. Providing your talent is the highest form of service we can give to others.

I give my all to others. Its the only thing that pays dividends.

Whenever I am self-serving, I am playing small.

When I tackle tough challenges in the pursuit of selfless giving, I have always seen remarkable short-term and long-term outcomes.

The more I give to others — the more I get in return.

The payback is a lifetime of meaning, friendships, and beyond my imagination results.

Find ways to help others. The tougher the challenge, the better. People need our help.

If we get good at coming to the rescue, people remember.

They depend on us. They become our raving fans. They will be there for us in need and as we advance in our lives.

Daily Habits You Can Use to Excel

Put tasks where you can help others at the top of your daily prioritized to-do list.

Put others first.

Make time to help them when they ask .This is an investment in your future. It also feels so good to help others.

Look at your day as a set of opportunities to help others have a better life.

Creating our best selves can be hard work.

My many years of experience and successes have taught me that there are three key lessons to life. They have served me very well.

When I try big things and make big mistakes, I get to do both the things that define me and allow me to grow.

I need to be silent, so I can find my “creative me” and rejuvenate.

Finally, I need to give always to others. The more I give, the more I get to become the person I always wanted to be.

To learn more about leadership visit me at www.macny.org.

To get a copy of my book Present-Future Leader, go to www.amazon.com.