Happy Sunday Everyone:
Having a personal board of directors is not a new concept but it’s one worth reflecting on. One of my favorite quotes is from Jim Rohn “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with”. That’s not necessarily a personal board of directors quote but it’s in alignment. If I had to make that my own quote I would say that who I am is a reflection of the people I seek advice from. My personal board of directors starts with my dad, he’s the chairman, after that, I have 6 others, all of whom I view as honorable, smart, worthy of following, worthy of seeking knowledge from, trustworthy, reflective, caring, engaged, and wise.
He’s going to hate me for this but my oldest board member is Dave, he just turned 84. We get together for breakfast once a month, Wednesday, black bear diner, 7:30, although I think it might as well be 7:00 as we both pride ourselves on being early. Dave owns a great financial services company and took me under his wing when I started in the mortgage business. I seriously can’t count the network of friends, clients, and business partners I have today because of Dave. Sitting here thinking about it I can’t help but feel a surge of gratitude in my heart for his personal efforts to mentor me, hold me accountable, guide me, trust me, and root for me along the way. We’ve had a great run together.
Dave recently wrote a book about his experience in his business, he called it “Life’s Little Lessons”, he asked me to participate in the forward, which I was honored to do. I was reading the book yesterday, reviewing Dave’s top 50 lessons in life, I found myself being reminded of the amazing points I can easily lose sight of when they’re not in front of me on a regular basis. This goes back to my 2 words for 2022, healthy and consistent, I need to be consistent in reviewing topics that keep my mind/heart healthy!! Dave’s top 50 helps, as I sit here and type, I think I’m going to put them in my daily morning routine.
They’re all great but figured I’d share with you my favorite top 10 life lessons from Dave.
- Get in over your head.
- Activity and aptitude determine altitude.
- Don’t compare you, your life, or your business to theirs.
- Job description from 9-5, see people and fight to see people.
- If you miss the joy of it, you miss it all.
- It’s easier to tame a maniac than to pump life into a corpse.
- People who don’t seriously consider their future will someday find their yesterday full of regret.
- Don’t let your ego get in the way of your judgement.
- Over tip breakfast servers.
- When you wake up in the morning and don’t feel the walls of a casket, you know it’s going to be a good day.
I’m sitting here thinking what is the point today? honor Dave? get some good lessons out? Have a board of directors? I think it’s all of them. We do need to honor folks that have come before us, that have helped us massively in our own journey of life. We need to reflect on lessons that we’ve learned along the way. We need to study those lessons. I can tell you, I feel over my head right now and in seeing this in Dave’s lessons, it makes it exciting vs. fearful, like I have permission. Having a personal board of directors is really important and to not be intentional about is really dumb. There are people in this world that want to do it alone, I’m not one of those people and I can’t relate to those people, I want to find people I admire and respect, bring them into my world, study them, listen to them, and then put into motion what they taught me. Thank you, Dave, for all that you’ve taught me along the way, its both appreciated and recognized!
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!