Letting your customers set your standards is a dangerous game, because the race to the bottom is pretty easy to win. Setting your own standards--and living up to them--is a better way to profit. Not to mention a better way to make your day worth all the effort you put into it." -

More than anything else, I think prospects, customers and citizens watch what you do more than they listen to what you say.

Being aware of your fear is smart. Overcoming it is the mark of a successful person.

Your peer group are people with similar dreams, goals and worldviews. They are people who will push you in exchange for being pushed, who will raise the bar and tell you the truth. They're not in your business, but they're in your shoes. Finding a peer group and working with them, intentionally and on a regular schedule, might be the single biggest boost your career can experience.

If your organization requires success before commitment, it will never have either.

If you take action, you will be judged. There's no way around it. The alternative, of course, is much safer. To be ignored. Up to you.

Tell your lizard (brain) to shut up.