achieving greatness takes work
===
“There are countless ways of achieving greatness, but any road to achieving one’s maximum potential must be built on a bedrock of respect for the individual, a commitment to excellence, and a rejection of mediocrity.”
–
Buck Rodgers
===========
Here is a truth: Doing great things takes work.
Yup.
No matter how easy the great make it look <whatever “it” is> … “it” takes focus … some attitude <okay .. a lot of attitude> and a commitment to getting the shit kicked out of you along the way.
Sorry about that folks but, yes, a commitment to getting the shit kicked out of you.
Greatness is not a smooth road.
Because unfortunately greatness isn’t really a balanced relationship. What I mean by that is that along the way … the really great people truly show respect for all and everyone. But, yet, other people get to play by other rules <i.e., others don’t have to show respect for other individuals>.
Yes.
It sucks.
Not everyone plays by the same rules let alone the rules themselves. 
But sometimes the rocky road is far more interesting and rewarding in the end.
And often, it seems, the rocky road is the high road.
Simply … greatness is achieved by winning the right way despite the fact others play the wrong way.
4th of July, a bedrock of respect for the individual, a commitment to excellence, accountable decision making, achieving greatness, actions today make who i am tomorrow, advertising, agency, aligning perceptions and behavior creates satisfaction, alignment, analysis paralysis, analyzing actual behavior, anything that can go wrong will, architects of fate, argue 90% of the time the, astonish people, at some point you are accountable, attacking doubt, attitude twoard war, attitudes and behavior, avoid the gray, balanced relationship, be who you are, behavior management business, being a partner in business, being accountable, being distinct, being great takes work, being honest to yourself, being smart and tough, being soft in business, believe, believe distinctness is the key, bell curve, benefit, big mistake big succcesses, big mistakes, black or white, brand, branding, breeds an aspect of complacency, buck rodgers, bull in a china shop living, business, business is messy, business is not often lived gently, business thinking, Business Thoughts, but any road to achieving one’s maximum potential must be built, campaign, capacity of the human mind, change, change agents, change begins in the head, change forces prioritizing, change is easier if you simplify, change is scary, change takes remarkable effort, changed behavior, changing objectives to make change, chaos, chaos creates opportunities, character, choice between alternatives, choice cannot be made with statistics alone, choices, choices leading to full life, choices we make or do not make, choosing to be true, collaboration, collector of moments, commitment to getting the shit kicked out of you, commitment to getting the shit kicked out of you along the way, committed to showing up everyday, committment, communication, complex simplified, concept building is not brain surgery, concept statement, consensus, consistency, consistency is underrated, consistency of character, consistency of character is underrated, consistency of values, consulting, consumer, consumer attitudes, consumer buying system, contribute to society, controlled chaos, countless ways of achieving greatness, courage and faith, courage doesn’t always roar, courage is about resiliency, cowardly decision making, creation means destroying something, creativity, creativity process, cynicism, dealing with adversity, dealing with everyday life, deceiving others, deceiving yourself, decide to not play by the different set of rules, decision making, decision making under uncertainty, decision utility, defining happiness in moments, depth of character to face everyday life, designing perfect systems, desire everything at the same time, differentiation, difficult to discern good guys from bad guys, difficult to manage expectations, disappointment created by expectations, disappointment in yourself, discerning the difference between attitude and behavior, discerning true uniqueness, discipline but freedom, disciplined chaos, discovery is messy, distinct, distinctness is the key, diversity of measures, does a consultant come in and force you to sit down, doing good shit, doing great things, Doing great things takes work, doing it the right way, doing the right thing, doing the right thing is hard, don’t worry about people stealing an idea, doubt resides between certainty and uncertainty, doubt something, doubt something once unquestionable, effective business direction, effective business strategy thinking, effective communication, embellishment, embracing failure, enlightened conflict, enlightened life, enlightened moral compass, enlightened people, enlightened uniqueness, every moment counts, every one is an architect of life, every one plays a role in fate, excellence, extraordinary cruel logic, facing overwhelming responsibilities, facts and truth, faith in oneself, fear, fear of choices, fearlessness, few words, fight the hardest battle to be yourself, fighting for what you believe in, finding the right words to say, finding what is possible from impossible, finding your way is tough, flame inside, follow the truth, freedom of, gain some new identity aspects, generalist, generating ideas, generations changing behavior, geting thru chaos unscathed, getting a new start means destroying some old things, getting kicked in the gut, getting kicked in the gut by questioning, gobs of poor management skills, good people, great work, greatness is achieved by winning the right way, greatness is achieved by winning the right way despite, Greatness is not a smooth road, groups, guilt and obligation, happiness, hard choices, hard decisions, hard to say something different, having a personal defect, heightening value in life choices, hiding behind statistics, hope, I get tired of this unique, ideas, identifying who you are, ignorance, illogical decision making, imperfection implies opinion, in chaos we found safety, inability to manage expectations, inaction, increasingly popular words, individuals, inefficient processes, informing a decision, inserting myself into tangled moments, inside an enterprise are only costs, intentions, Invariably you land on one meaningless thing, investing energy in the proper thing, investing energy when appropriate, is anything back or white anymore, isolating variables using statistics, it isn’t process it is the work, judgement, judging failure needs context, judgment is not easy, juggling versus balancing, just this once, knowing what is right is not enough, lack of responsibility, lack of self confidence, lack of uniqueness, lacking hope, lazy decision making, lazy way to outline expectations, leadership, learning, lessons, letting go is difficult, letting go is not simple, lies, life, life gives you a bazillion second chances, life is a struggle, life is about making choices, life is complex, life is not a mission, life is not a straight line, life is not as simple as it seems, life is often not lived best gently, life is tough, life lessons, life not defined by meeting objectives, life thoughts, Life truths, life’s white lies, listening, little failures versus big failures, living life backwards but still question, logical decision making, logical versus illogical, lying to yourself, make weaknesses irrelevant, making changes personally, making choices, making the hard choice, management, management be accountable, management is about human beings, managing business relationships, managing change is tricky, managing perceptions, marketing, marketing strategy, maslow and decisions, maybe it is better to admit we failed at something, maybe life is not that complicated, measurement of failure, measuring life, messaging, moments are like a balance sheet, moral fiber, most things in life are not black or white, motivated by a desire to achieve, multiple agendas, murphy’s law, no idea is unique, no one says you failed any more, no one wants to trust chaos, no substitute for judgment, no such thing as a good war, not a quantity of words person, not meeting an objective is not failure, nothing beats experience, nothing is original, numbers are facts, numbers are facts nonsense, numbers show possibilities, numbers will confess anything, obligation to do, obligation to do the right thing, old ideas, on Uniqueness, once doubt enters it takes on huge proportions, ongoing search for the right words, only few find the way, ordinary life with extraordinary responsibilities, ordinary people don’t think they are remarkable, organizational change, organizations, organizations are living orgamisms, organizing chaos, original ideas, original ideas are typically nuances of existing, other people get to play by other rules, people confuse process and disciplined thinking, perceptions of uniqueness, perfection is crap, perfection is the thief, personal creative destruction, personal thoughts, personality, perspective can help with the complex, play by the rules, power of words, prioritizing actions, process is a means to an end, productivity, providing perspective, pursuing the way, put failing in perpsective, questioning the unquestionable, quotations, quotes, randomness of life, Rant on Uniqueness, rarely is working hard enough, reason for being, reason to believe, Rejection of mediocrity, relationships, resiliency, resiliency and character, respect, respect the military, responsibility, results, results achieved, results is management criteria, right is right, right words, risk aversion, rocky road is more interesting, safe, say it differently, say it differently to be distinct, say that something is happening when it is, scared, see your own reality, seek truth, seeking the way of truth, self actualization, self doubt, self esteem through problem solving, self truth, self worth, shades of gray, shortcomings leading to consequences, simplicity in life, simplicity seems too chaotic, simplifying to make choices easier, six impossible things before breakfast, slippery slope, slippery surface of irrelevant brilliance, small degrees of separation, small gestures in trivial looking moments, smallest actions contribute, so what makes you unique, soft choices, soldiers lament, some wars are worth fighting, something more important than fear, sometimes systems work that should not work, sonya kitchell. special forces, sorting out the truth, speaking, specialist, speed to market, stand for something within yourself, standing on the uncertainty pedestal, standing up every time we fall down, statistics cannot make the decision for you, statistics getting in the way of a good decision, stimulus reponse, stop and think, straight lines, straight lines are rare in life, strategy, strength against adversity, strength of character, strength of character to make change, strip away the undoable and identify the doable, struggle between energy and indolence, struggle between vitality and decay, Stuff I Like, stumble upon doing it right, stunning grace in the face of overwhelming life, subconscious influences behavior, sustainable, swallowing nonsense, systems remain stagnant, take revenge on doubters, takes focus, talking, tangled ball of string, tangled up people, that i will be tomorrow, the answers are within you, the military, the most powerful weapon in life is not a mission, the myth of original, the myth of the proprietary process, the rocky road is the high road, the subconscious, The Unit unknown soldier, the word failure is tough love, there is no formula for good choices, thinking, thinking impossible things, thinking is good, this i am today, thoughts, to be sure of you, torturing numbers, training is woefully lacking, training means results, treat military with respect, treat people fairly, trivial moments, trivial moments in bigger life, trust, truth, truth and expectations, truth goggles, truth is rarely simple, truth is what really happened, truth or lies, truth or nothing, truth to oneself, trying to preserve will lead to stagnation, uncertainty is a bitch, uncertainty takes on geometric proportions, unfortunately greatness isn’t really a balanced relationship, unintended results, unique selling proposition, uniqueness, uniqueness in business, unquestionable, untangling people, use your imagination, we all fail, what I know opinions, what is management, what is the alternative, what is the place of words, what looks like chaos, what we have is not what we need, what we need to get us through, what we want is not what we need, whatever it takes, whatever it takes to cross that dark bridge, words, words that become deeds, words worse than nothing unless they do something, work is often up to people, working hard every day to change, worry about implementing a great idea versus protecting it, you are not a failure because you fail, you cannot dwell on every moment that slipped by
Written by Bruce
Leave a Comment