Focus Your Life Now & Become Unstoppable

The simple way to increase your impact, influence, and fulfillment.

Mareo McCracken
Sep 1, 2018 · 6 min read

What kind of bro-dude wears sunglasses indoors? He walked on stage, looking so full of himself.

What a total jerk.

Yea, I was at a sales conference, but seriously, are we as sales professionals really that shallow?

Then he told stories. His stories.

Stories of struggle.

Stories of triumph.

Stories of hope and desire.

Stories of family.

Stories of helping others.

We connected. The audience connected. I learned. I was humbled.

I was wrong. Very wrong.

He genuinely cares about others. He wants others to succeed.

Oh and the sunglasses, yea he had a major accident a few years ago and lost an eye and almost his life.

Who is the jerk now? (…me)

Never judge.

Never.

Ever.

Ever.

Ever.

Judge.

Here is what else I learned from SAP CEO Bill McDermott:

“Life happens in moments.

Learn to believe in yourself.

Self-confidence can come from work.

The harder you work the more you will feel good about yourself.

Just keep delivering.

Your work ethic is something you can control.

The more you give the better life gets.”

Stories are powerful. Stories help us connect. Tell people your story. Listen to theirs.

He also took the time to take photos and shake hands. Nice guy. Good man. And that is one reason we should never judge others… Sometimes we need to be humbled in order to move forward.

Moving forward revolves around our ability to care.

Don’t care about what others think about you, but do care about others.

“When you stop caring what people think; you lose your capacity for connection. When you’re defined by it, you lose our capacity for vulnerability.” — Brene Brown

Being vulnerable is powerful. It creates room for connection. Vulnerability also helps us to stop judging and start seeing.

When we stop judging, we can truly live. The less we judge, the more we can help others.

Judging goes hand in hand with justification. When we are wrong, and see others wrong, we start to justify why we are right…even though we are wrong! We justify when we think our needs and wants are more important than those of other people. It shows we do not care enough.

When you care for others, magic happens.

When you are building a business or a career only thing that actually matters is that you care enough. You need to care about things that matter. Care about your client, your product, your results. If you care enough you will learn, you will be curious, you will find a way to help and serve. Those who care enough will always be wanted, promoted, and valued.

We all know that when we change the way we look at things; we change our own reality.

The only way to truly change a relationship is to change yourself first. But it is not about your actions, skills, or behavior. It is your mindset. Your mindset has to change. You need to look at others in a whole new way, the way you actually want to be seen, as humans.

Caring for others means learning their stories. It is about curiosity.

When we treat others as objects, everyone suffers.

“…when we shift our perspective, we stop seeing others as objects and begin to see them as people…This allows us to stop feeling frustrated because we no longer see other people as “owing” us anything. And we stop feeling angry because we can understand the reasons people behave as they do.” — Kimberly White (Author: The Shift)

Doing this is hard, it requires all of us to change.

Change takes courage.

Showing kindness takes courage.

Producing better results takes courage.

You have to have courage.

Courage is the ability and choice to act and fulfill your purpose in the face of fear, grief, or pain.

You must help others develop courage.

To give others the gift of courage do these two things:

1. Show True Appreciation (Gratitude)

2. Encourage (Support, Guide, Mentor, Believe)

The best way to help others create, keep, and show courage is through appreciation and encouragement. Do not praise. They do not need your superiority. They only need your support and gratitude.

Focus on encouraging others.

Everything we do has a huge impact on everyone around us.

“The only limit to your impact is your imaginations and commitment.” — Tony Robbins

Our actions are not ours alone. We live with and impact others. While what we do is our own, the follow-up, the result, is to be felt by so many others. What we do has serious repercussions. Our responsibility for our actions is ours alone. Our duty is to be accountable for own actions so we can influence and help in the right way. This means recognizing the value of our own actions while respecting the value of others.

Master self-understanding and you can master the world, your world. Once we are aware enough, we can focus on others. Focusing on others allows us to care for them.

Caring about others means we first see them as people, as equals in importance, as humans who are valuable and special.

Once we can see correctly, when can and must take proper action. Taking actions that show your ability to see, feel, and understand the needs of others is what true leadership is really about. Show care for others and growing our impact is our biggest responsibility.

Focus on others.

Meaning arrives after we take responsibility.

“Meanings are not determined by situations, but we determine ourselves by the meanings we give to situations.” — Alfred Adler

Focus on taking responsibility.

Responsibility drives meaning. Being responsible means performing your tasks and contributing to your community, thereby creating a stronger community and cementing your impact. The feeling of contribution is how meaning is formed emotionally, and that comes from first being responsible.

In order to take responsibility you must focus. Focus on stopping bad habits and focus on doing the right things.

Here is how you take true responsibility:

1. Stop complaining.

2. Create and act on your own personal vision of greatness.

3. Strive for excellence.

4. Be an example.

5. Let go of comparing yourself to others.

6. Commit to “seeing” others as humans, not objects.

7. Stop blaming.

8. Contribute by serving others.

9. Stay aware of the present, focus on the now.

10. Take action, right away, always.

Once you take responsibility you will create peace in your life. Everything gets better when you own your thoughts and actions. You will be able to help others as well. When you have fully embraced the truth being the power of responsibility, you will improve every aspect of your life and the lives of those you interact with.

We always are the total of what we do.

“We are the sum total of our experiences. Those experiences — be they positive or negative — make us the person we are, at any given point in our lives. And, like a flowing river, those same experiences, and those yet to come, continue to influence and reshape the person we are, and the person we become. None of us are the same as we were yesterday, nor will be tomorrow.” — B.J. Neblett

Who we are — becomes what we do.

What we do — become who we are.

Take action with the right things at the right times for the right reasons and your aligned self will be exactly who you want and need it to be. You will be able to live to your potential.

As you truly see others as they are you can care for others and take proper action. You can help and serve and make a difference. You will find your purpose; you will live the future you were meant to live.

Keep going. All it takes to change the world is for one person to care, make that person you.

Ready to upgrade? Want better relationships? Get this free guide now!

I’ve created a quick guide for mastering professional relationships, immediately. If you follow this one MAIN truth and actionable steps found inside, your whole life will improve, quickly.

Also if you want to know the 5 books that EVERYONE should read, connect with me!

Thrive Global

Mareo McCracken

Written by

Creating meaning and value at the intersection of revenue, organizational health, and individual performance | Revenue Leader @ Movemedical

Thrive Global

More than living. Thriving.

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