Facing it—always facing it—that’s the way to get through. Face it! That’s enough for any man.

—Joseph Conrad

Although Joseph Conrad gives us powerful advice regarding success and excellence, many of us have a difficult time facing challenging tasks and assignments on a regular basis. Rather, we tend to work in fits and starts. Either we procrastinate and postpone what we know we have to do, or we go into overdrive and try to make up for the time we lost procrastinating. Both habits take their mental and physical toll.

By performing more actions and fewer activities, we will experience more freedom and momentum, which will enable us to gain more control over our personal and professional lives. However, creating momentum is a very elusive craft. To help generate more of it, it is helpful to make a momentum action list. This list is a simple yet powerful way to turn lethargy and hopelessness into excitement and possibility.

First, make a list of what you want to do tomorrow by entering each task on the left side of the page. Then, to gain momentum on things you want to do tomorrow, do 15 seconds of work on each one of them today. Enter the work (regardless of how minimal it might appear) on the right side of the page. (See the example on page 30.)

By spending just a few minutes today with tomorrow’s list, you will be able to gain momentum with many projects. When you wake up tomorrow morning, you will already have the wind at your back as you revisit these assignments.

If you prefer, you can create this list each morning for yourself. Simply spend 15 seconds on 20 projects or tasks. The earlier in the day you begin your momentum list, the less ominous each assignment will feel later when you return to it.

Make at least seven copies of the blank momentum list on page 31 and experiment with it. You have nothing to lose but the feelings of being overwhelmed and the pain derived from procrastination.

The components of the 15-Second Principle is an agreement. It states that you agree to give your full attention to and take some action toward a dream project, an overwhelming task, or new skill each and every day for a minimum of 15 seconds. In signing the 15-Second Agreement, you agree to visit the world of your dream project, challenging task, or overwhelming assignment for at least 15 seconds a day. This simple yet powerful discipline will enable you to bridge the gap between rumination and creation on a daily basis. This skill will enhance your tenacity, discipline, and productivity. The principle also requires that you forgive yourself whenever you do not live up to this seemingly easy contract.

How to Interpret 15 Seconds

The 15 seconds is more a theoretical concept and less a literal definition of time. For all practical purposes, the actual time frame can be as little as one second or as much as several minutes. I am not suggesting that you use a stopwatch when applying this principle. For myself, my students, and clients, 15 seconds tends to be an unintimidating amount of psychological time. It gives you the freedom to break up patterns, change directions, and test unknown waters by allowing you to commit to new behavior for brief periods of time. Ultimately, you want to develop the ability to control whether or not you take actions on a more regular basis.

Overview

This is a bright new day, complete with 24 hours of opportunities, choices, and attitudes—a perfectly matched set of 1,440 minutes. This unique gift, this one day, cannot be exchanged, replaced, or refunded. Handle with care; make the most of it— There is only one to a customer.

—Anonymous

Part 1: Spend a Minimum of 15 Seconds a Day Furthering the Project

Habits breed habits. From not going to the gym to not practicing a sport or musical instrument, these nonactions can become as deeply ingrained in our system as the habit of doing them can be.

Committing to the 15-Second Principle each day, however, can prevent stagnant inertia (both physical and emotional) from setting in. It is effective in many ways:

1. Psychologically, 15 seconds is a tiny amount of time. Even if the experience turns out to be sheer hell, you can put up with the pain for at least 15 seconds. If it’s that uncomfortable an experience, your agreement states that you can stop this self-inflicted torture. This escape clause makes it easier for you to keep returning to your project for a minimum of 15 seconds each day.
2. It will encourage you to take charge of the project and to experience it every day (even if it’s for only 15 seconds). This will prevent your fears and negative thoughts from growing too large and influential. By momentarily taking the helm of your dream ship, you will have a visceral experience of what living your dream is really about.
3. You can never convince yourself or anyone else that you don’t have 15 seconds on a given day to do something. It’s too small a block of time to rationalize away. As a result, you have to face the truth: Either you don’t really care about this thing, or you are scared to death of it. Suddenly there are no gray ambivalent areas within which to hide. For at least 15 seconds a day, you must squarely face yourself.
4. Although you are only committing to 15 seconds, you will generally find that you will want to do more. It’s the fear of beginning rather than the actual doing of the project that is preventing you from spending more time pursuing your dreams. The first 15 seconds of practicing or doing anything is psychologically the hardest. If 15 seconds pass and you are still having a miserable time, give yourself permission to stop. You have lived up to your agreement. If, on the other hand, you are energized or have a little discipline, just do a little more.
5. The earlier in the day that you can log in your 15 seconds, the easier it will become to return to this project during the day.
6. The 15-Second Principle will also allow you to stop and detach yourself from your usual mind-set and behavior. This momentary intervention will help you break free from obsolete patterns and enable you to gain a clearer perspective and deeper awareness of your life and restricting habits.

    
    

   Part 2: Forgive Yourself When You Don’t Do Your 15 Seconds Each Day
   

    
    

   On the surface, the 15-Second Principle appears to be simple and easy. You probably have no doubt that you can fulfill your daily time obligation every day. “No problem. Any fool can commit to something for 15 seconds a day,” you will say. Think again. You will be shocked at how challenging this exercise is. This is especially true if you pick a cherished dream project. The main point here is that if you screw up and skip a day, forgive yourself. Berating yourself will just make it more difficult for you to get back on track the following day.

   As I mentioned, you may commit to simply writing your dream. If and when you forget to write your dream down, you agree to forgive yourself and to recommit to your agreement on the very next day. It is totally acceptable for this process to go on for months or years. The daily action of writing down your dream and speaking it out loud will slowly but surely give it more authenticity. This will help you to build up your courage muscle, which, in turn, will enable you, ultimately, to sign the 15-Second Dream Agreement

    
    

Young CEO

Bill Gates, about 27, in his Microsoft office in 1982.

Bill Gates: The Early Years2 of 9   Geniuses at Work

Gates watches his friend and future Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen typing on a teletype terminal at the Lakeside School in Seattle in 1968. Gates was 13 when he entered the exclusive prep school, which was around the time this photo was taken.

Slacker?

Much of the computer equipment at Lakeside was bought with proceeds from a rummage sale organized by the students’ mothers. Gates was drawn to programming the machines and was excused from math classes to pursue his interest.

Graduate

Gates during Commencement at the Lakeside School in 1973.

Arrested

In 1977, Gates was arrested by New Mexico police for speeding.

Partners

Gates and Allen in Microsoft’s offices in 1982. Started initially in New Mexico, the company moved to Bellevue, Wash., in January 1979.

The Staff

The early team at Microsoft paused for a group portrait in 1978. Gates is at the bottom left.

Lots of Memory

Gates demonstrates the memory power of a CD in 1987.

Bill Introducing Microsoft

Bill’s Lexus

Bill and Melinda Gates

Gates’ 40,000 sq. ft. “ecology house” in Seattle – 7 years to built at estimated cost of $97 million (1998)

Bill Gates gets knighthood from Queen Elizabeth (2005)

Bill Gates playing video games at CES (2005)

Bill Gates hands over beta 2 of Windows Vista, Office 2007 and Longhorn Server at WinHEC 2006 in Seattle (2006)

Bill Gates launches Windows Vista and Office 2007 at New York’s Times Square (2007

Bill Gates and his wife Melinda cuddle Samuel Baltazar (right) and Ires Mahnica during a visit to the Manhica Health Research Centre

A beggar was sitting at the train station with a bowl full of pencils. A young executive passed by and dropped a dollar in the bowl. He then boarded the train. Before the doors closed, something came to his mind and he went back to the beggar, grabbed a bunch of pencils, and said, “They are priced right. After all you are a business person and so am I,” and he left.

Six months later, the executive attended a party. The beggar was also there in a suit and tie. The beggar recognized the executive, went up to him and said, “You probably don’t recognize me but I remember you.” He then narrated the incident that happened six months before. The executive said, “Now that you have reminded me, I do recall that you were begging. What are you doing here in your suit and tie?” The beggar replied, “You probably don’t know what you did for me that day. You were the first person in my life who gave me back my dignity. You grabbed the bunch of pencils and said, ‘They are priced right. After all, you are a business person and so am 1.’ After you left, I thought to myself, what am I doing here? Why am I begging? I decided to do something constructive with my life. I packed my bag, started working and here I am. I Just want to thank you for giving me back my dignity. That incident changed my life.”

What changed in the beggar’s life?

What changed was that his self-esteem went up and so did his performance. This is the magic of self-esteem in our lives.

Simply put, self-esteem is how we feel about ourselves. Our opinion of ourselves critically influences everything, from our performance at work, our relationships, and our role as a parent to our accomplishments in life. Self esteem is a major component in determining success or failure. High self-esteem leads to a happy, gratifying and purposeful life. Unless you perceive yourself as worthwhile, you cannot have high self-esteem. All great world leaders and teachers throughout history have concluded that one must be internally driven in order to be a success.

Effort Does it

Life without vision, courage and depth is simply a blind experience. Small, lazy, and weak minds always take the easiest way, the path of least resistance.

Athletes train 15 years for 15 seconds of performance. Ask them if they got lucky. Ask an athlete how he feels after a good workout. He will tell you that he feels spent. If he doesn’t feel that way, it means he hasn’t worked out to his maximum ability.

Losers think life is unfair. They think only of their bad breaks. They don’t consider that the person who is prepared and playing well still got the same bad breaks but overcame them. That is the difference. His threshold for tolerating pain becomes higher because in the end he is not training so much for the game but for his character.

LUCK FAVORS THOSE WHO HELP THEMSELVES

A flood was threatening a small town and everyone was leaving for safety except one man who said, “God will save me. I have faith.” As the water level rose a jeep came to rescue him, the man refused, saying “God will save me. I have faith.” As the water level rose further, he went up to the second storey, and a boat came to help him. Again he refused to go, Belying, “God will save me. I have faith.” The water kept rising and the man climbed on to the roof. A helicopter came to rescue him, but he said, “God will save me. I have faith.” Well, finally he drowned. When he reached his Maker he angrily questioned, “I had complete faith in you. Why did you ignore my prayers and let me drown?” The Lord replied, “Who do you think sent you the jeep, the boat, and the helicopter?”

Luck Shines on the Deserving

Alexander Graham Bell was desperately trying to invent a hearing aid for his partially deaf wife. He failed at inventing a hearing aid but in the process discovered the principles of the telephone. You wouldn’t call someone like that lucky, would you?Good luck is when opportunity meets preparation. Without effort and preparation, lucky coincidences don’t happen.

LUCK

 He worked by day

And toiled by night.

He gave up play

And some delight.

Dry books he read,

New things to learn.

And forged ahead,

Success to earn.

He plodded on with

Faith and pluck;

And when he won,

Men called it luck.

–Anonymous

What we really want to accomplish is self-motivation, when people do things for their own reasons and not yours. That is lasting motivation.

Remember, the greatest motivator is belief. We have to inculcate in ourselves the belief that we are responsible for our actions and behavior. When people accept responsibility, everything improves: quality, productivity, relationships and teamwork.

A few steps to motivate others:

• Give recognition
  
• Give respect
  
• Make work interesting
  
• Be a good listener
  
• Throw a challenge
  
• Help but don’t do for others what they should do for themselves
  

   
   

  People do things for their own reasons, not yours. This is illustrated by a story about Ralph Waldo Emerson. He and his son once were struggling to get a calf into the barn. Both father and son were exhausted, pulling and pushing. A little girl was passing by and she sweetly put her little finger into the calf’s mouth and the calf lovingly followed her to the barn.
  

   
   

   
   

  ACTION PLAN
  

   
   

  Develop a sense of pride through training.
  

   
   

  Reward performance.
  

   
   

  Set well-defined, clear goals.
  

   
   

  Set high expectations.
  

   
   

  Set clear, measurable benchmarks.
  

   
   

  Evaluate the needs of others.
  

   
   

  Make others part of your big picture. Set a good example by being a positive role model.
  

   

  Build the self-esteem of others.
  

   
   

   
   

   
   

Is it absolute freedom to do what a person wants? Is freedom regardless of consequences? Does it mean corrective action after a problem occurs or a wrong is done? Is it imposition? Is it abuse? Does it take away freedom?

The answer is none of the above. Discipline does not mean that a person takes a belt and beats up kids. That is madness. Discipline is loving firmness. It is direction. It is prevention before a problem arises. It is harnessing and channeling energy for great performance. Discipline is not something you do to but you do for those you care about.

Discipline is an act of love. Sometimes you have to be unkind to be kind: Not all medicine is sweet, not all surgery is painless, but we have to take it. We need to learn from nature. We are all familiar with that big animal, the giraffe. A mama giraffe gives birth to a baby giraffe, standing. All of a sudden, the baby falls on a hard surface from the cushion of mama’s womb, and sits on the ground. The first thing mama does is to get behind the baby and give him a hard kick. The baby gets up, but his legs are weak and wobbly and the baby falls down. Mama goes behind again and gives him one more kick. The baby gets up but sits down again. Mama keeps kicking till the baby gets on its feet and starts moving. Why? Because mama knows that the only chance of survival for the baby in the jungle is to get on its feet. Otherwise it will be eaten up by wildcats and become dead meat.

My question to you is: Is this an act of love? You bet it is.

A boy was flying a kite with his father and asked him what kept the kite up. Dad replied, “The string.” The boy said, “Dad, it is the string that is holding the kite down.” The father asked his son to watch as he broke the string.

Guess what happened to the kite? It came down. Isn’t that true in life? Sometimes the very things that we think are holding us down are the things that are helping us fly. That is what discipline is all about.

STEPS TO BUILDING A POSITIVE SELF-ESTEEM

Turn Scars into Stars

Read the life histories of people who have turned a negative into a positive, adversity into advantage, stumbling blocks into stepping stones. They refuse to let disappointment and failures pull them down.

Some of the best music was composed by Beethoven. What was his handicap? He was deaf. Some of the best poetry written on nature was written by Milton. What was his handicap? He was blind. One of the greatest world leaders was US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. What was his handicap? He served from a wheelchair.

Learn Intelligent Ignorance

Education teaches us what we can do and also teaches us what we cannot do.

I’m looking for a lot of men with an infinite capacity for not knowing what cannot be done.

–Henry Ford

Henry Ford gave this world the V8 engine. He did not have much formal education. In fact, he did not go to school beyond the age of 14. He was intelligent enough to know there had to be a V8 engine but he was ignorant and didn’t know how to build it. So he asked all his

highly qualified, educated people to build one. But they told him what could be done and what couldn’t. According to them, a V8 was an impossibility. But Henry Ford insisted on having his V8. A few months later he asked his people if they had the V8 and they replied, “We know what can be done and we also know what cannot be done and V8 is an impossibility.” This went on for many months and still Henry Ford said, “I want my V8.” And shortly thereafter the same people produced his V8 engine.

How come? They let their imagination run beyond academic limitation. Education teaches us what can be done and sometimes also teaches us false limitations.

In order to succeed, we need to understand the law of cause and effect and the relationship between actions and results.

For every effect, there is a cause. The law of cause and effect is the same as the law of sowing and reaping. The law of sowing and reaping says five things:

• We must have the desire to sow. Desire is the starting point.
  
• What we sow, so shall we reap. If we sow potatoes, we are only going to reap potatoes, not tomatoes.
  
• We must sow before we reap. Sowing takes place before reaping; we must give before we get. We cannot expect the fireplace to give us heat before we put in the fuel.
  

  Some people are constantly looking to get before they give. It does not work this way.
  

• When we sow a seed, we do not reap a fruit–our harvest is manifold. If we sow a positive seed our harvest will be manifold in the positive, and if we sow a negative one the harvest shall be manifold in the negative. It is not uncommon to see people going against nature’s law.
  
• A farmer knows that we cannot sow and reap in the same day. There is always a period of gestation.
  

   
   

  It is like the law of physics. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Most of the time people are trying to change the effect while the cause remains. Either we feed our mind with positives constantly or negativity automatically fills the vacuum. Many ancient sages have said what James Allen said in his book As a Man Thinketh. A man’s mind is like a garden. If we plant good seeds, we will have a good garden. But if we don’t plant anything, something will grow and they will be weeds. That is nature’s law.
  

  The same is true in our lives. I would go a step further. Even if we plant good seeds, weeds will still grow. The process of weeding goes on forever.
  

  If you put water in a glass and put it in sub-zero temperature, it will freeze. That is not surprising, that is nature’s law. In fact, that is the only thing that will happen.
  

   
   

  Our thoughts are causes. You sow a thought, you reap an action. You sow an action, you reap a habit. You sow a habit, you reap a character. You sow a character, you reap a destiny. It all starts with a thought.
  

Winners may analyze but never rationalize that is a loser’s game. Losers always have a book full of excuses to tell you why they could not.

We hear excuses like:

I’m unlucky.

I’m born under the wrong stars.

I’m too young.

I’m too old.

I’m handicapped.

I’m not smart enough.

I’m not educated.

I’m not good looking.

I don’t have contacts.

I don’t have enough money.

I don’t have enough time.

The economy is bad.

If only I had the opportunity.

If only I didn’t have a family.

If only I had married right.

The list can go on and on.

HOW THEY CATCH MONKEYS IN INDIA

Monkey-hunters use a box with an opening at the top, big enough for the monkey to slide its hand in. Inside the box are nuts. The monkey grabs the nuts and now its hand becomes a fist. The monkey tries to get its hand out but the opening is big enough for the hand to slide in, but too small for the fist to come out. Now the monkey has a choice, either to let go off the nuts and be free forever or hang on to the nuts and get caught. Guess what it picks every time? You guessed it. He hangs on to the nuts and gets caught.

We are no different from monkeys. We all hang on to some nuts that keep us from going forward in life. We keep rationalizing by saying, “I cannot do this because . . .” and whatever comes after “because” are the nuts that we are hanging on to which are holding us back.

Successful people don’t rationalize. Two things determine if a person will be a success: reasons and results. Reasons don’t count while results do. A good advice for failure is: Don’t think, don’t ask and don’t listen. Just rationalize.

Everyone has a will to win but very few have the will to prepare to win.

–Vince Lombardi

Most people spend more time planning a party or vacation than planning their lives.

Preparation

Confidence comes from preparation, which is nothing but planning and practicing. Winners put pressure on themselves. That is the pressure of preparing and not worrying about winning.

If we practice poorly, we play poorly; because we play as we practice. The difference between success and failure is the difference between doing exactly right and almost right.

A complete mental and physical preparation is the result of sacrifice and self-discipline. It is easy to be average but tough to be the best. No wonder the average people take the easy way.

Preparation is the necessary edge to succeed in any field.

Purpose + Principle + Planning + Practice + Perseverance + Patience + Pride = Preparation

Preparation leads to Confidence

Preparation means tolerating failure but never accepting it. It means having the courage to face defeat without feeling defeated, being disappointed without being discouraged.

Preparation means learning from our mistakes. There is nothing wrong with making mistakes. We all do. A fool is one who makes the same mistake twice. A person who makes a mistake and doesn’t correct it, commits a bigger one.

The best way to handle a mistake is to

• admit it quickly
  
• not dwell on it
  
• learn from it
  
• not repeat it
  
• not assign blame or make excuses
  

   
   

  Pressure comes from being unprepared. There is no substitute for preparation, practice and hard work. Desire and wishful thinking won’t do it. Only preparation will give you the competitive edge.
  

  Pressure can paralyze when a person is not prepared. Just like water gravitates to its own path, success gravitates to those who are prepared. Weak effort gets weak results.
  

  Persistence is a name we give to
  

   
   

• a purpose
  
• preparation
  
• patience
  
• principles
  
• positive attitude
  
• a plan .
  
• price .
  
• practice
  
• pride
  

   
   

  Ask yourself:
  

   
   

• Do you have a clearly defined purpose?
  
• Do you have a plan of action?
  
• What effort are you putting into preparation?
  
• What price are you willing to pay? How far are you willing to go?
  
• Do you have the patience to withstand the gestation period?
  
• Are you willing to practice toward excellence?
  
• Do you have any firm principles to stand on?
  
• Do you have pride in your performance?
  
• Do you have the “can do” attitude?