Robin S. Sharma

Knowing what to say, in the right way - at the perfect moment - can mean the difference between a world-class life and an average one.

I wish for a world where people understand that life is short. So today's the time to do big things.

One of the core organizing principles of my life is that success comes through a delicate balance between making things happen and letting things happen.

People want to be a part of an organization that lets them be fully alive and bring their gifts to work. People really do want to be engaged and feel proud of their contribution.

I'd done all the things I thought a person had to do in order to be successful and fulfilled, like getting a great education and becoming a lawyer, and yet there was zero spark in my life. But there was no light-bulb moment. It was gradual. In the early 1990s, I decided to experiment and try some new ways of living.

Showing leadership doesn't mean every employee will run the organization; that would lead to chaos. Businesses do need someone to set the vision and then lead the team to it.

I had lost a clear sense of the vision and values instilled in me as a child and was no longer driven by any mission or passion. I made the difficult decision to pull back from the noise of my life and reinvent the way I was living and leading.

Stay true to your vision/dream. There's something to be said for just staying at what you are trying to achieve well past the point everyone else gives up.

As we produce work that becomes pure poetry, we impact and influence our teammates, we wow our suppliers, we inspire customers and strangers. And we lead our industry.

You can stay angry at someone who hurt you. Or you can get busy doing your visions and changing our world. But you don't get to do both.

Goal-getting matters. And writing down the brave acts and bold dreams you intend to accomplish will provide the spark to get them done.

The starting point of discovering who you are, your gifts, your talents, your dreams, is being comfortable with yourself. Spend time alone. Write in a journal. Take long walks in the woods.