Know. Want. Care.

I don’t know how to change the oil in my car. I’m sure I could figure it out but I don’t actually want to know and don’t much care to learn. So the fact I don’t know how is irrelevant. You may not know how to fly a 747 jet but you may have the aptitude and even the interest to take the years of school and training required to learn. So the fact you don’t know is replaced by the desired to find out.

In my work, a manager may say to me; “I don’t know how to navigate all the different personalities on my team”, but she may add that she wants to learn. What’s important is not that she doesn’t know how, but that she has the desire to figure it out.

Do you know, want, or care?

We can read books and articles about the brave who have made bold moves in their lives. We are impressed by their fortitude but when relating it to something in our own lives, it may not seem so simple.

The three motivating factors for most of what we do in our lives is whether we know how to, want to, or care to. Simple to say, not always easy to do, but not knowing how to do something may not be the end result.

Mean what you want

A friend of mine recently shared a situation in his life where a relationship isn’t going so well. He is frustrated and says he doesn’t know how to change it. I asked him one simple question – do you want to find out how to change it? He said is isn’t sure. That may sound odd but it makes sense.

We get caught in situations and they become our comfort zone and we play out all the scenarios of what could happen if we made changes and we get stuck. So his desire to change it, is still unclear. The fact he doesn't know how, almost becomes irrelevant.

Discovering whether we want or care is critical.
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Kneale Mann | People + Priority = Profit

It’s Only True if You Believe It

Self-doubt can be one of the most destructive and debilitating emotions we possess. It can be difficult to believe in yourself even when those around you believe in you. Something deep inside has convinced you that you aren’t worth it, can’t do it, won’t make it. It’s an emotion most of us feel at one point in our lives.

Some have it briefly from time to time or in certain situations while others feel the paralyzing fear that stops them from moving forward. As counter-intuitive as it may sound, it becomes their comfort zone.

Dr. BJ Davis was a two-time convict. He lived a world of drug abuse and despair. His life was going nowhere. Give yourself 14 minutes to watch this.

And find out what happened next.


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Kneale Mann | People + Priority = Profit

Help Someone Up

I often say we see what we’re looking for but how often do we get what we don’t want? The human brain seems to do a great job of building up the negative energy in an instant yet it gets stuck on its way to positive thought. We get scared, we worry, and we play out scenarios that could take us in the wrong direction, which are destructive behaviors that get us nowhwere.

Earlier this week, I was reading a few articles on being bold. They sounded great – regret is worse than failure, freedom is better than money, I was getting excited and re-energized. But then that monkey brain takes over and the cycle continues.

Replacing Negative Thought with Positive Action

It’s clearly not enough to do what we tell each other to do and go for our passions, reach for our dreams, and dig deeper to find what we really want. Just saying it is just a bunch of words. If we don't take one more step today, we might wake up tomorrow beating ourselves up again.

We are battling generations of behavior inside each of us that contribute to our behavior maps that direct us to the wrong destinations. And we are doing it without a plan. We are hoping and wishing for a different result yet staying where we are.

Change is hard. Regret is worse.

I’ve been revisiting a great piece of advice recently. If we’re feeling down, help someone up. And it works. It feels great to take our minds away from our real or imagined problems and lend a helping hand to another.

It shakes loose the rubble of our confused and clutter minds to clear our way to potential ideas. So just for today, let's put aside what we are worried about and help someone up.

It could be exactly what we need.
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Kneale Mann | People + Priority = Profit

Do You Want Some Cake?

My grandfather used to love telling the story of his boyhood friend Campbell. One day, they were at my great grandmother’s house and she had just baked a delicious chocolate cake. She asked my grandfather if he’d like a slice and he replied; “Yes please!” and she gave him one.

She then turned to Campbell and asked him the same question and he said; “I don’t mind”. She replied; “I don’t mind either” and left the room. No cake for Campbell.

Real or Imagined

Whether this story happened or not isn’t the point. My grandfather was trying to teach his 9 year old grandson to say please and thank-you and if I wanted something someone had offered me, it was okay to accept it.

How often do we do that to ourselves? We send out confusing messages to the universe and wonder why more confusion returns. My grandfather didn’t teach his grandson to take what wasn’t his or be an arrogant self-centered person, he was showing me how to discover what I wanted and be okay with wanting it.

Say What You Mean

Now take the Campbell story into your life, your work, your company, and see how often basic communication breaks down to the point of confusion. We humans try our best but often we don’t communicate very well with each other.

In our relationships, if we aren’t clear, how on earth can we expect others around us to have a clear sense of what we want, mean, or say? So the next time someone offers you a piece of cake, simply say yes please or no thank-you. It’s all you would expect if you were doing the offering.

Thanks Gramps, you are still teaching me!
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Kneale Mann | People + Priority = Profit

A Living or A Life?

We can pretend that work is one part of our lives and life is the other but we live a blended existence. It’s the second question most people ask when we meet them – what do you do for a living? A living? Is that where we’ve come? We get paid to provide a service and we call that a living. I’m not sure if that’s sad or a reflection of how far we have gotten off track.

Perhaps the perfect scenario is you work at something you truly enjoy; watch the Alan Watts video I posted recently and it might give you insight into what will do it for you.

Last week I had lunch with a colleague I hadn't seen in years and he reflected on the time he sold his brand new car because he realized he bought it to get to work to pay for it to get to work to pay for it. He stressed about the payments and it affected his work and then his life. He replaced the car with a bicycle.

Show me the Money

I have another friend who says he’s stuck in a bad relationship because he doesn’t want to lose his life’s savings. How sad is that. I wonder where that will be on his list of life’s passions and enjoyment as he takes his final breaths.

I’m often asked by clients and prospects how I can help them. The bigger question is understanding why they do what they do and what they want to accomplish. If there were easy answers and instant results, we’d all be millionaires.

Transformation Imminent

If we’re running a company that isn’t doing as well as it should, if we’re in relationships that aren’t making us happy, if we’re in a job that is restraining us from our true gifts, or if we’re simply unhappy where were are, what should we do? Or better stated, what are we prepared to do to change it?

The late Jim Rohn once said; “Your life doesn’t get better by chance, it gets better by change”. And the change needs to start with ourselves. I’m as guilty as you in the making excuses department.

Let’s start making a living not a paycheck.
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Kneale Mann | People + Priority = Profit

All Wretch No Vomit

The question seems simple but the answer is clearly complicated. What would you do if you didn’t have to worry about the financial elements of life?

Alan Watts was a writer, speaker, philosopher, teacher, and spiritual leader who posed the question in his legendary speech about our quest to find passion and purpose. If you haven’t heard it, listen. If you have, it’s worth another.


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Kneale Mann | People + Priority = Profit

How to Kill Your Dreams

It's what most of us seek. It's the reason we travel the journey.
But what is it really? How do we know when we achieve it?

Success is defined by what you want in your life, not what others may think. Bel Pesce outlines five ways for us to not follow our dreams and give up trying to find success.


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Kneale Mann | People + Priority = Profit

37 Ideas

Trust yourself. Learn every day. Keep moving. Be bold. Learn from yesterday focus on today. Try something new. Ignore naysayers. Eat the cookie. Keep something just for you. Do not give up. Listen to your heart. Imagine then do. Laugh daily.

Take control of your life. Say thank-you. Fill your life with music. Get back up. Be open. Turn your phone off. Have the pie. Walk away from hurtful people. The past has passed. Have compassion for others. Don't be so hard on yourself.

Take more chances. Spend an entire day with your favorite person, often. Love yourself. Enjoy life. Take one more step every day. Be kind to you. Lose the fear. Learn the lesson. Sleep in. Take the shot. Keep at it. Love unconditionally.

Enjoy the moment.
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Kneale Mann | People + Priority = Profit