Axiom 49: All in the Family

"Nepotism is a game the whole family can play." -Unknown

"The parents eat sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge." -Ezekiel 18

For good and bad our families help shape our successes and failures in life.The more we understand the influences our families have on us the more we can maximize our resources and talents.

It's in your genes...

Whether you like it or not you are genetically good at some things and bad at others. If you're not sure what your strengths and weaknesses are look at your family and see if you can spot similar traits in yourself. Once you know what you are naturally good at you can tailor your goals and activities to your genetic strengths.

It's in your behaviors...

You learn how to deal with the world from your family. You should take a real hard look at those learned behaviors from time to time. Figure out what behaviors are good and which ones are harming your chances at success. Don't unknowingly inherit the bad behaviors of your parents. As long as you are aware of these behaviors you have the power to change them.

It's in your resources... 

Your resources (or lack thereof) are often tied to your families resources. If your family has resources they can get you a job, give you money, educate you, connect you to the right people, keep you safe, and so on. The concept of generational wealth is real. Your resources now are likely the result of successes and failures of the past generations of your family. Yes, not just your parents, but their parents, and so on.

However, lack of generation wealth does not preclude success. It just makes it a little tougher. Most of the highly successful people of today came from average middle class families. Lack of resources can be overcome for those that are willing to work hard and work smart.

DISC Personality Test

When I attended some sales training classes last year I had to take a DISC personality test. I had always though these types of tests were quack pseudo-science. I mean how could answering 24 quick questions tell someone everything they need to know about my personality? However, the results were astoundingly accurate

I'm not going to summarize what the DISC test is. You can read more about it here. What I actually found is there is a lot of support for this test. Many companies are using it for hiring. Steve Jobs believed in it. I became a believer after I saw my results.

I now see the world in D-I-S-C colors. I interact differently with people based on their personality style. As a manager I have to know my strengths and weaknesses and my staff's strengths and weaknesses. DISC is the easiest way for me to do this.

Whether you are skeptical or not you should take the test and judge for yourself. There are many free versions online you can find. You'll find out if your career fits your natural personality type. You'll find out why the people around you act the way they do. You'll find out what your own strengths and weaknesses are. Lastly, you'll find out that the world is much simpler than you may think. 

Axiom 48: Turning Little Things into Big Things

"Do the little things. In the future when you look back, they'll have made the greatest change." 

-Nike Thaddeus

I'm often amazed that people often flounder in life because they do not understand how to break big things down into simpler, more manageable goals. You'd be astounded how much you can achieve over time by just devoting a few minutes each day to a task. Don't believe me? Well here are some of the things I have been able to accomplish just by dedicating a little time each day:

• 1 hour per day for two weeks straight / twice a year: I have been able to write all the posts for this blog. It has been great to get all my ideas down in writing and to catalog all of my food travels with so little time invested.
• 10 minutes per day for one year: I was able to read through the entire Bible. This is something I had been wanting to do for a long time and was only possible by doing it in small 10 minutes increments.
• 10 minutes per day for one year: I read through the Christian Apocrypha, the Muslim Qur'an, the Buddist Dhammapada, and the Hindu Baghavad Gita. I was tired of hearing people quote these different religions without knowing for myself what their actual holy books say. It was a pretty easy accomplishment for only 10 minutes per day.
• 15-30 minutes per day / 5 days per week: I've been studying French for about a year and a half. I went from not knowing anything to knowing about 2,000 French words. I now understand enough to watch French TV shows. Not bad for 15-30 minutes per week.
• 1 hour per day / 3-5 days per week: I've been working on a reference guide for the industry I work in. After about five years sporadically working on it I am nearly finished.

Just think of what you could accomplish in 10, 20, or 30 minutes a day over the course of one year. So how do you start?

• Break your big goal down into something very small you can do everyday.
• Put these small goals on your calendar and hold yourself accountable to do them.
• Consider using a time management trick like the Pomodoro Technique.

It really is that simple. If you can set aside just 10 minutes a day you can accomplish some big goals over the long haul.