I posted my Lessons Learned in 2008 on Sources of Insight.  2008 was a pretty insightful year for me.  I met a lot of great people, read a lot of books, and learned a lot along the way.  I recapped my top 10 lessons here.

Top Ten Lessons for 2008

• Adapt, adjust, or avoid situations. Learn how to read situations. Some situations you should just avoid.  Some situations you should adapt yourself, as long as you play to your strengths.  Some situations you should adjust the situation to set yourself up for success.  See The Change Frame.
• Ask questions over make statements.  If you want to get in an argument, make statements.  If you want to avoid arguments, ask questions.
• Character trumps emotion trumps Logic.  Don’t just go for the logical win.  Win the heart and the mind follows.  Build rapport.  Remember the golden rule of “rapport before influence.  Have the right people on your side.   If you win the right pillars first, it’s a domino effect.  It’s part of social influence.  See Character Trumps Emotion Trumps Logic.
• Develop a routine for exceptional thinking.  Create a preperformance routine that creates consistent and dependable thinking.  Work backwards from the end in mind.  Know what it’s like when you’re at your best.  Model from your best experiences.  Success leaves clues.  Turn them into a routine.  Set time boundaries.  Don’t let yourself take as long as it takes.  Work has a way of filling the available hours. Set a timebox and improve your routine until you can shift gears effectively within your time boundaries.  See Design a Routine for Exceptional Thinking.
• Give your best where you have your best to give.   Design your time to spend most of your time on your strengths.  Limit the time you spend in your weaknesses.   Play to your strengths.  When you play to your strengths, if you get knocked down, it’s easier to get up again.  It’s also how you unleash your best.  See Give Your Best Where You Have Your Best to Give.
• Label what is right with things.  There’s been too much focus on what’s wrong with things.  Find and label what’s right with you.  We all have a deep need to know what’s right with us.  Shift from labeling what’s wrong, to labeling what’s right. See Label What is Right with Things.
• One pitch at a time.  Focus on one pitch at a time.  Hook on to one thing.  Be absorbed in the moment, no matter what’s at stake.  Let results be the by-product of what you’re doing.  Don’t judge yourself while you’re performing.  Don’t rearrange your work; rearrange your focus.  See One Pitch at a Time.
• Spend 75 percent on your strengths.  Very few people spend the majority of their time on their strengths.  Create timeboxes for your non-negotiables.  You’re not your organization’s greatest asset until you spend your time on your strengths.  Activities that you don’t like, hurt less, if you compartmentalize them to a smaller chunk of your day.  See Spend 75 Percent on Your Strengths.
• Ask Solution-focused questions.   Ask things like “how do we make the most of this?” … “what’s the solution?” … “if we knew the solution, what might it be?”  Believe it or not, a lot of folks get stuck unless you add the “if you did know the solution …” or “what might it be?”  See Solution-Focused Questions.
• Use stress to be your best.  It’s not what happens to you, it’s what you make of it.  Distinguish stress from anxiety.  Stress is your body’s response.  Anxiety is your mind’s response.   See Use Stress to Be Your Best.