Lou Holtz has 3 questions for you…
These three questions are the “catch-all” questions for everything… for parenting your children, for handling your finances, for making professional deals.
Before we get to that, let me back up and tell you how I know Lou Holtz.
One of my mentors is Harvey Mackay, author of five bestsellers, including Swim with the Sharks. As part of our mentoring relationship, Harvey introduces me to his close friends and associates. (I’ve blogged about the fact that success relies, at least in part, on getting physical exposure to people you admire.)
At any rate, Harvey introduced me to Lou Holtz. Aside from being kind enough to take his picture with me, Lou gave me some great advice…
It’s the same advice he gave to his players on the field, to his teammates on projects, and to the coaches he manages.
Anytime you are tackling a problem, ask yourself:
- Am I doing the right thing?
- Am I doing the best with the time I have allotted for this?
- Am I treating others as I would want to be treated?
If you can answer these questions with a resounding yes, you are on the path to success. If you say no to one or more of them, make the proper adjustments, and rework your solution.
Once Lou told me about these questions, I started using them all the time. When I’m disciplining my kids, I ask myself: Am I doing the right thing? Am I doing the best with the time I have? Am I treating my kids the way I would want to be treated?
And when my kids are being unfair to one another, I ask them the three questions…
When dealing with a client, I ask myself those questions. You get the point.
Lou also gave me one other question. Consider it the bonus question.
This person helps a person keep focused when working toward a goal…
The question is: What’s important now?
When Lou was coaching his teams through a season, he kept perspective by asking over and over: What is important now? What is important now?
By doing this, he stayed in the moment and kept his team focused on making the most of that moment.
I pass this advice along because I think it applies to just about everything.
What is important now?
This is a question I can ask myself if my kids are ever in crisis. It’s a question I can ask myself when I’m trying to accomplish something for my business.
In crisis and in success, asking What is important now? stops us from focusing on distractions and reminds us to keep doing our best in the moment…
As always, let me know your thoughts by posting a comment below.
What is important in your life right now? Let me know!
