My Two Cynts – Ten Lessons I Have Learned in Life
Always remember where you came from
”Never lose the compass for your journey. There is something in your past that has made you who you are. Don’t just remember it, don’t just look back, but actually go back so you can make a difference for the people who are now in a place you once were. ”
2. Do the right thing (Integrity)
”Period! It’s just that simple. Never compromise your integrity. There’s a difference between doing things right and doing the right thing. People might doubt what you say, but they truly believe what you do. So they need to see you doing the right thing. ”
3. Show up (your authentic self)
”You must be present to win. You have no idea who you will meet or what will happen if you just suit up and show up. YOU have to show up. Do you. The authentic you has to show up because that is your contribution to the team. ”
4. Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is a train
”Bad things do happen to good people. That is when you must accept adversity and make a vow to never, never give up. Bad things don’t discriminate on who you are or what you have done. I’ve dealt with husband with brain damage who they said would never walk or talk again, poverty, abusive father, and four second-semester miscarriages, along with a young daughter that passed away, and I could go on and on. Through it all you know it’s a train, but you will get through it. ”
5. Respond gracefully when bad things happen
”I practice this in the work place a lot. People don’t always remember what happened, but they will remember how you responded. So, if you respond the right way then people will remember that. ”
6. People matter and that’s all that matters* (The Power of Nice)
”That is actually the most important one to me. At the end of the day when you are looking at results it is people that get the stuff done. So never discount anyone because of their position. Every single person counts, there’s a person behind everything you do, behind every data point, every product, every service. If you focus on people and realize they matter you will get far in life. ”
”My favorite quote is ‘People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care’. You show people you care by spending time with them. Be mindful of how you treat and talk to people. Be nice! ”
7. Get MAD (Make A Difference)
”This is about, very simple, find a cause that you are MAD about and so passionate about that it makes you just get up in the morning to go out and work on it. When people ask me what keeps me up at night I tell them nothing. I stay up late, but when I go to bed I go to bed. Honestly, nothing keeps me up at night. The question I like to ask is ‘What gets me up in the morning’? It’s about passion, it’s about purpose, and it’s about making a difference. If I don’t feel like something is getting me up and I’m fired up about it then I need to reassess. ”
8. Embrace your sisters and brothers
”No man is an island. We need each other to live in this world, to solve our problems, and to make stuff happen. We have to keep our friends and our coworkers close, their feelings close, keep their cares close because at the end of the day we are our brother’s keeper. ”
”The HASU moment - Hook A Sister Up. We have to be comfortable just calling people up and letting them know what your needs are and can you help me? Or offering to help people when you hear them say something and you say I have a connection there! I’m all about embracing each other, physically embracing, but really just embracing what people are doing and their missions because we are all in this together. ”
”It is all about being MAD, mad enough to make a difference, and there are so many causes out there that we can get MAD about. You just have to connect with one and that’s what I do; I always have something that is making me mad, mad in a good way, Making A Difference mad.”
9. Protect what is important to you (crystal balls vs rubber balls)
”Now in order for you to do this you have to KNOW what is important to you. There are somethings that may be important to somebody else, now I don’t judge other people, people have their own stories, their own background so they have reasons for why things are important to them or not important to them. I practice something called crystal balls vs rubber balls; crystal balls are things they drop, they shatter, and they never come back. You can’t recover those okay, rubber balls are coming back. Crystal balls are what’s important to me. ”
”You have to truly know what is important to you. Once you know what is important to you you can make decisions based on that. ”
10. Find your passion, your purpose, cry, and get busy
”I usually end my presentations by saying ‘cry like a baby, fight like a girl, and change the world like a woman.’ Sometimes you just have to cry, there’s just stuff that’s going on in the world and it is in your heart that you want to change it so bad, or you want to make a difference in that person’s life so bad. Usually, when things happen like that, that is putting you in touch with your purpose and your passion.”
”Have a true passion and I believe I am called to create permanence and stability for children and young people. I have been a Sunday school teacher since I was 19 years old, always worked with the little ones, and now they are 35-40 years old sending me notes on Facebook and telling me stories on how I impacted their lives. Everyone has to find out what that ‘it’ is for them because that is truly what makes you get out of bed everyday. ”
“In my career, I end up landing in two places that fit my passion and my purpose with AT&T and now the Mavs. I mean it’s crazy! I will end up having a third phase and that will fit with my passion and purpose too and it will all come together. So the saying I use is ‘If you find something you really love it will never feel like work.’ And ‘you make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give.’ This is about giving and so for you to truly give from you heart you have to find your passion and your purpose and put yourself into that.”