Lou Holt Con't

Lou Holtz's Three Simple Rules for Life:

1. Do right
2. Do everything to the best of your ability-even if no one is watching
3. Always show people you care

He talked a lot about the important of developing meaningful relationships with people, as a necessary skill to be successful in your marriage, in your community and in your profession. Well, a lot of people say you need to do that, what I have never heard before is the series of very simple questions he said to ask yourself to see if you actually have meaningful relationships, or if you need to makes some dramatic changes in your life and business to start creating them.

1. If I didn’t go home today, who would miss me, and why? (again the priority was home and family FIRST-I love this guy!)
2. If I didn’t go to work today, who would miss me, and why?
3. If my business went under today, who would miss it/us, and why?

Perhaps one of the most insightful ‘ah-hah’ moments of his entire presentation for me came when he stated that the Number One Mistake people make in life is that we fail to show people we genuinely care. He went on to explain that every single person in the whole world has the same three questions, whether or not they consciously acknowledge them, or realize that they have them. Chances are, if you like and trust someone, they have answered these three questions to your satisfaction.

1. Can I Trust You? (Will you do the right thing)
2. Are You Committed to Excellence (according to the standards you espouse)
3. Do You Genuinely Care About Me?

I found these questions to be extremely profound, and as I thought about how they applied to all of the people in my life, I realized that everyone I loved and trusted, both professionally and personally, I could answer YES to all of these questions. And everyone and every business I disliked and distrusted, had proved the answer to one of these questions was a NO at some point. It was so fascinating to think about, because it was so very simple. It is actually not very hard to live by these rules. If, in all your relationships both personal and professional, you focus on proving the answer to each of these questions is a resounding yes, you will have success in everything that you do. You will, by word and action, show people that you care.

As you can tell, Lou Holtz made a lot of lists, and presented his beliefs and thoughts in simple and concise phrases, with a lot of funny stories and sound bytes in between. He was such a dynamic inspiring man, and, for those who have not heard him speak before, he has a fairly noticeable speech impediment/slur. I found it completely inspiring that the best speaker at this motivational conference of ‘all-star’ public speakers, was a man who had difficulty actually speaking.

I’ll end this post with his Lou Holtz’ thoughts on happiness:

If you want to be happy for an hour, eat a steak.

If you want to be happy for a day, go play golf.

If you want to be happy for a week, go on a cruise.

If you want to be happy for a month, buy a new car.

If you want to be happy for a year, win the lottery.

If you want to be happy for a lifetime, make a difference in the life of others

*If you want to be happy for an eternity, marry the right person, in the right place. (my own addition).