Great post and I couldn’t agree more. I work in the entrepreneurial community and from time to time hear/read those “go for it” speeches. Rarely however, do you hear real world speeches (at least from the paid speakers) covering the risks and trials you will face as an entrepreneur, or anyone making a huge life-changing decision. I guess those messages don’t sell conference tickets!

About a year ago, Michael Gerber was in town and a colleague and I attended the 1/2 day conference. Michael, as you probably know, is author of the eMyth series of books which have generated lots of buzz and so of course being in the field, we wanted to hear what he had to say.

I guess I should have read the books first and saved my money. The entire point of his two hour presentation seemed to be something like “wait for that moment of entrepreneurial insight where everything feels right and you will be destined to succeed beyond your wildest dreams”. Great sentiment and very inspiring; real world it is not. (And my apologies if Michael is a friend of yours).

The problem is we all want to focus on the few who succeed; whose blinding flash of insight result in a life changing decision that takes them to ever higher levels of income and growth. What we never seem to acknowledge though is that for every person who “makes it” there are thousands who had a blinding insight just as real, that made a decision they will regret for years.

Now I’m not saying we should all avoid life-changing decisions. I’m agreeing with you that the best decisions are made paying equal attention to our head as well as our heart. It takes passion, drive and creativity to succeed no doubt. But anyone who doesn’t also take into account responsibilities, possibilities, and practical consequences is setting themselves up to fail.

I just found your blog and I am very impressed with your thoughts and comments. Keep up the good work.

I’m a fan and have recently read your new book. I’ve also recently read Eckhart Tolle’s “A New Earth” whose basic premise, the power of now, mirrors your thoughts. At 60 years old, “retire” is not in my vocabulary. So the power of now is timely.

We must not be prisoners of the past or the future. It’s a process which takes practice, however, to not be controlled by lifelong inertia of bad habits of having intimate relationships with only the calendar and the clock.

I am making the time to enjoy early morning walks, the sunshine and sunsets. There are still dreams to pursue.

Excellent post! I’m encouraged that you address the leader’s life in entirety, rather than compartments.

One further comment is that winning is not always about a conflict or decision situation. I have seen one extreme case - this person always had to add his comment to any decision, presentation, discussion. He very often had a valid point. However, these additional inputs and criticisms did not help the team spirit as the members “knew” there would be some extra comment even when they did a great job.

So, sometimes it pays to shut-up even if the point you are about to make is valid.

Another extreme example I saw was a top manager who got a team event organized with racing cars but went to the track the weekend before to practice so he could win the team event. He already worked long hours and saw little of his family but spent a whole weekend away just so he could beat his team members.