doug smith training

Do you ever beat yourself up emotionally about something you did or didn't do? Maybe your performance wasn't up to your expectations. Maybe someone else was unhappy with what you did. For me, that's hard to let go, and yet holding onto it is virtually useless. It's better to let it go, so that I can pick up something else and get working. Work hard. Learn. Move on. Do your best and forgive the rest. -- doug smith

Forgiveness isn't free. It costs the loss of the sense of self-righteousness that sometimes feeds our feeble ego. We don't need that, but like candy, it feels like we do. Let it go. That's harder to do when it is ourselves who we need to forgive. Then, it isn't self-righteousness that clings to the anger but something else. Something deeper, less secure, less righteous. Let that go, too. Forgiveness isn't free. And self-forgiveness isn't easy. But my friend, forgiveness is necessary. Let it go. -- doug smith

Why do people get stuck in their anger? Anger feeds on itself. It's contagious. It spreads only ill feelings and seldom accomplishes value. It gets in the way. I understand where it comes from. I feel angry myself sometimes. But it does not help us most of the time. We all make mistakes. We change, we grow, we cross boundaries. We even hurt feelings. Let's let the feelings heal. Let's learn and move forward. You'll make mistakes and I'll make mistakes and the more passionate we are about what we do the more likely we are to cross those hard to see boundaries. If you can forgive my mistake I can forgive your anger. Then we can both let go and go forward. -- doug smith

Do you ever have someone stand between you and your goal? Does it ever sometimes seem that the actions of someone were an intention attempt to thwart your progress? Maybe, like me, you were over thinking the whole thing. People do things that we would not choose or pay for. People surprise us. Our job, as centered high performance leaders is to keep our focus anyway. Centered leaders forgive without giving up the goal. There's no success in revenge or in keeping resentment. Success is in remembering your mission and acting relentlessly on your goals. With that kind of focus, with that kind of passion, even people who at first seemed opposed to your efforts may find themselves eventually strongly attracted to them. And if not, why not forgive them until they do? -- Doug Smith