The Greatness Guide: One of the World's Top Success Coaches Shares His Secrets to Get to Your Best

75. The Heart of Your House (#litres_trial_promo)

76. Become an Inspirational Human Being (#litres_trial_promo)

77. Make a Dent in the Universe (#litres_trial_promo)

78. Not All Leaders Are the Same (#litres_trial_promo)

79. Six Reasons to Set Goals (#litres_trial_promo)

80. Remember the Boomerang Effect (#litres_trial_promo)

81. Make People Feel Good (#litres_trial_promo)

82. Commit to First Class (#litres_trial_promo)

83. Do a Clean Sweep (#litres_trial_promo)

84. Follow the Million Dollar Baby Rule (#litres_trial_promo)

85. The Earth Is Small (#litres_trial_promo)

86. Guests Are God (#litres_trial_promo)

87. The Beauty of Time (#litres_trial_promo)

88. On Mountains and Mastering Change (#litres_trial_promo)

89. What Happened to “Please”? (#litres_trial_promo)

90. Bon Jovi and the Power of Focus (#litres_trial_promo)

91. Do a “101 Things to Do Before I Die” List (#litres_trial_promo)

92. Spend Time with Your Kids (#litres_trial_promo)

93. Get Goofy at Work (#litres_trial_promo)

94. Revere Great Design (#litres_trial_promo)

95. On Evian Water and You as a Big-Time Dreamer (#litres_trial_promo)

96. Be like Garth (#litres_trial_promo)

97. Don’t Give Up (#litres_trial_promo)

98. Get Big on Self-Care (#litres_trial_promo)

99. Guess Who Inspires Me? (#litres_trial_promo)

100. How to Live Forever (#litres_trial_promo)

101. Lay Claim to Greatness (#litres_trial_promo)

Keep Reading (#litres_trial_promo)

Resources for Personal Greatness (#litres_trial_promo)

Resources for Organizational Greatness (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

Epigraph (#ulink_d844fe81-8491-53ea-bdbb-4be0a9f77fb9)

“Life is pure adventure and the sooner we realize that, the quicker we will be able to treat life as art.”

Maya Angelou

“I used to think that one day I’d be able to resolve the different drives I have in different directions, the tensions between the different people I am. Now I realize that is who I am. I do feel I’m getting closer to the song in my head. I wasn’t looking for grace. But luckily grace was looking for me.”

Bono, lead singer of U2, as quoted in Rolling Stone

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I’m No Guru (#ulink_54781509-96aa-54a3-9f5b-290299848a96)

The media sometimes calls me a leadership (or self-help) “guru.” I’m not. I’m just an ordinary guy who happens to have learned ideas and tools that have helped many human beings reach their best lives and many organizations get to world class.

But I must be really clear: I’m no different from you. I have my struggles, my frustrations and my own fears—along with my hopes, goals and dreams. I’ve had good seasons and some deeply painful ones. I’ve made some spectacularly good choices and some outrageously bad mistakes. I’m very human—a work in progress. If I have ideas that you find insightful, please know it’s simply because I spend my days focused on the knowledge you are about to experience. Thinking about practical ways to help you play your biggest game as a human being and reach greatness. Dwelling on how I can help companies get to the extraordinary. Do anything long enough and you’ll get some depth of insight and understanding about it. Then they’ll call you a guru.

A man at a signing I did at a bookstore in Bangalore, India, heard me say, “I’m no guru.” He came up to me and said: “Why are you so uncomfortable being called a guru? ‘Gu’ simply means ‘darkness’ in Sanskrit and ‘ru’ simple means ‘dispel.’ So the word ‘guru’ simply speaks of one who dispels the darkness and brings more understanding and light.” Nice point. Made me think.

I’ve had good seasons and some

deeply painful ones. I’ve made some

spectacularly good choices and some outrageously bad mistakes. I’m very human—a work in progress.

I guess my discomfort stems from the fact that if you think I’m different from you, then you might say, “Well, I can’t do the kinds of things Robin talks about because he has talents and abilities I don’t have. All the stuff he talks about is easy for him to do. He’s this guru.” Nope. Sorry to disappoint you. I’m just a guy working hard to make the best of his days, trying to be a great single dad to my two wonderful children and hoping he’s—in some way—making a difference in peoples’ lives. No guru here. But I do like the “dispelling the darkness” point. Need to learn more about that one. Maybe some guru can help me.

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Harvey Keitel and Windows of Opportunity (#ulink_574a46fa-195a-5ed4-823c-395b93a1b915)

I don’t always get it right (I told you I’m no guru). But please know that I try so hard to walk my talk and to ensure my video is in alignment with my audio. Still, I am a human being, and that means sometimes I slip (I’ve yet to meet a perfect one). Here’s what I mean.

I spend a lot of time encouraging the readers of my books and the participants at my workshops on personal and organizational leadership to “run toward your fears” and to seize those “cubic centimeters of chance” (opportunities) when they present themselves. I challenge my clients to dream, to shine and to dare, because to me a life well lived is all about reaching for your highest and your best. And, in my mind, the person who experiences the most wins. Most of the time, I am a poster boy for visiting the places that scare me and doing the things that make me feel uncomfortable. But recently, I didn’t. Sorry.

I was downtown at the Four Seasons in Toronto, in the lobby getting ready for a speech I was about to give to a company called Advanced Medical Optics, which is a long-standing leadership coaching client of ours and an impressive organization. I look up and guess who I see? Harvey Keitel. Yes, the Harvey “Reservoir Dogs Big Movie Star” Keitel. And what does the man who wrote The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari do? I shrink from greatness.