Today we’re going to do a bit of reverse engineering to see just what it is that makes us tick. Ready? Here we go:

Our life—which includes our job, our relationships, our income, our health—is determined, to a large extent, by our actions.

Our actions are determined, to a large extent, by our beliefs.

Our beliefs are determined, to a large extent, by our thoughts (and vice versa). But what determines our thoughts?

Our thoughts are determined, to a large extent, by the questions we ask.

And most of us ask bad questions.

If any of this rings true for you, then it really comes down to one simple equation:

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What will your one thing be today?

Back when I was producing my sketch comedy TV show, Almost Live!, I had one cardinal rule that I followed, for each and every show, during the entire 15-year run. That rule was this:

For each show, there had to be at least one element that would make the audience think, at the end, “Now that was worth watching!”

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First, a status report. My cheese is fine. Nobody’s moved my cheese; my cheese is right where it’s always been.

Cheese, you see, is the reward you get for making it through the maze. It’s the fun stuff. Cheese is:

• the glass of wine at the end of the day
• the weekend movie
• the summer trip to Italy

Cheese is the fun stuff. I’m not going to lose track of my cheese. It’s front-of-mind, and I know exactly where it is.

It’s the peas that seem to move. What are the peas? Peas are the things that are good for you, but that aren’t necessarily fun. Peas are the twists and turns in the maze; they’re the sweat that it takes in order to earn your cheese. They’re the hard work. Peas are:

• the 30 minutes on the treadmill each morning
• the sales calls you make to drive your business
• the extra hours you put in because “good enough” isn’t good enough

Peas get lost all the time. They get lost in phrases like:

• “I was going to go to the gym this morning, but I was just too tired.”
• “My friend invited me to a long lunch, so I couldn’t get that report finished today.”
• “I know that I said I’d call my parents today, but tomorrow’s fine; they won’t care.”

I’ve said each of these—and others like them—at one time or another, and I’m guessing you have too. And each time I’ve said them, it means that somebody moved my peas.

That somebody, of course, is me. Nobody else can move my peas, and nobody but you can move yours. You alone are responsible for your own sweat equity, both literal and figurative.

So my challenge for you (and me) is this: start making the peas front-of-mind. Rather than spend your day thinking about the glass of wine, rather than spend your week thinking about the weekend, rather than spend your spring thinking about summer vacation, focus instead on the job at hand. Focus on doing what needs to be done. And then do it—to the best of your ability.

Don’t move your peas. Eat them, enjoy them, relish them. Because when you do, the cheese will taste that much better.

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I just finished co-chairing (with the truly amazing Ruby Newell-Legner) a major conference for my professional organization, the National Speakers Association (NSA). By all accounts, it was a huge success (which translates, of course, into huge relief for me!). In the three days since the event ended, I’ve spent some time trying to discern what it was that made the conference so successful.

Yes, we had some truly great speakers and presenters. Yes, the format flowed well and was easy to navigate. Yes, the food was good. But you and I have both been to events that had all these elements—and more—and yet they didn’t quite click. So what was it that set this conference apart?

I think it comes down to one word:

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June 23rd, 2010 is a date that will go down in Wimbledon history. This is the date that two guys whom you’ve probably never heard of—Nicolas Mahut and John Isner—battled for ten straight hours in a match that had to be completed the following day because, well, because it got dark!

Ten straight hours! Even before it was completed the following day, it was the longest match in the history of the Wimbledon Championships. In fact, it was the longest match in the history of tennis.

Now, why should you care? (I figured I’d say it first before you could get all snotty about it.) What’s the leadership lesson for your business?

Actually, there are two:

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There’s a guy at my gym whom I call Burl. Not because he’s burly, like you’d expect a gym regular to be, but because he looks like Burl Ives. (For you younger readers, Burl Ives was a rotund, congenial-looking man, whom you may know as the voice of Frosty the Snowman. He was not known for his rock-hard abs.) Burl is there every morning, sitting on an exercise bike, watching TV. Not actually exercising, mind you. I’ve never seen him so much as pedal his bike. He just sits there, watching TV.

Burl Ives: He didn't pedal

Now, here’s the thing. I’ll bet you that every morning, he tells his friends and family that he’s “going to the gym.” Which is technically true, but not really legitimate.

Kind of like when the rest of us tell our friends and family that we’re “going to work.”

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We all know their names: John, Paul, George, and Ringo. (If there are any children reading this who don’t know what I’m talking about, these are the names of the Beatles. The Beatles were a pretty famous musical group in the 60s. The 60s was the coolest decade ever, and you missed it. So there.) These four guys changed history, but they didn’t do it alone. Here are four other names:

Brian, Neil, George (a different one), and Mal.

These are just four of the crucial people on what I call the Beatles’ “satellite” team. And in your business, just as in the Beatles, your satellite team can make or break you. Let’s take a closer look.

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Are you preparing for success, or, to paraphrase Shakespeare, waiting for success to be thrust upon you?

My first job in television was basically that of a glorified secretary (and by “glorified” I mean “unglorified”). My primary function was to answer viewer mail. At around 2:00pm on my first day, while I was answering the 50th inane request for the Chicken Kiev recipe that some local chef had made on our morning show the previous day, I recall thinking what a perfect use this was of my brand new Bachelor’s degree. Still, I was hoping for more. So when quitting time rolled around, rather than go home, I found my way to the engineering department and asked them if they had a manual for the video editing machines. They gave me one, and I spent the next eight hours teaching myself how to edit. I did this for the next four days; then, the following week, I did the same thing with the video cameras. And then, I waited for someone to get sick.

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Everything is better in first class. Right? I mean, that’s why they call it first class. It puts you ahead of the rest. How many times have you been sitting back in steerage (the airlines call it “economy”), seen the people in the front of the aircraft being served foie gras and vintage champagne and thought to yourself, “Everything will be great once I get into first class”? For that matter, how many times have you thought:

• “Everything will be great once I’m making $100,000 a year.”
• “Everything will be great once I get that promotion.”
• “Everything will be great once we have kids.”
• “Everything will be great once the kids move out of the house.”
• “Everything will be great once pigs learn how to fly.”

Yes. the grass is always greener on the other side. “But,” you say, “things really are better in first class.”

Think so? Read on, Sparky.

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“What do you do for a living?”

That’s a question that far too many people dread, because they don’t have a good, compelling answer. They say something like, “I’m a lawyer,” or, “I’m a financial planner,” or, “I’m the drummer for the Beatles,” and then wonder why everybody quickly walks away. (Okay, they’re probably not going to walk away from that last one, but you get my point. And by the way—Ringo, if you’re reading this, give me a call. I miss our little chats.)

What’s the real problem here? These people are answering the wrong question. The question was not “What is your job title?” The question, if you’ll remember, was “What do you do for a living?” So, how should you answer this question?

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