Last week I share some insights from the June 2020 interview Tim Ferriss conducted with Coach George Raveling. This week I wanted to share a few more insights from notes I wrote while listening to the 2018 and 2020 interviews Tim Ferriss did with Coach Raveling.

On personal responsibility:

“Practice: Self Leadership and Self Discipline” – This message is taped to the mirror in the main bathroom in Coach Raveling’s home so he sees it every morning. It reminds him, and is an important message to all of us, to practice the two important concepts every day. Leadership Guru John Maxwell says, “The hardest person I will ever lead is myself.” Self Leadership and Self Discipline take focus, commitment and daily effort.  

“Look within, before you look out.” - Our natural tendency is to look outside for people and circumstances to blame for any part of our life where we are unsatisfied or unsuccessful. The literature on growth however, suggests that it is not what happens to us that is most important, but the stories we tell ourselves about what happened. The narrative we create around those events will determine whether we become victors or victims. This is consistent with Victor Frankl’s quote “The last of the human freedoms: to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.”

“If you want to do something that will change the world, you change first.” - First of all changing the world is too big a task; focus on your part of the world. In your part of the world the only person you have control over is you, so if you want things to change, start with yourself. This is simple, but not easy. 

“If it is to be, it is up to me.” Coach Raveling has had this quote posted on his office door and other prominent places for decades. 

On learning and staying curious:

“What is it that I don’t know that I need to know and how is this going to help me stay relevant?” This is a question Coach Raveling continually asks himself. In addition to the blogs and newspapers he reads Coach Raveling has a personal library of thousands of books. He has a very unique style of reading and marking up books, which he talks about in the 2018 interview. At 80 he was still making a daily trip to the book store to seek out and buy books that could help him to learn, grow and stay relevant. This intense curiosity and desire to learn and grow is an important challenge to all of us. In an interview I listened to recently with Neil deGrasse Tyson, he too talked about the importance of curiosity. 

“Information equals Knowledge. Knowledge equals Wisdom. Wisdom equals Growth. And Growth allows me to share.” This is a personal formula Coach Raveling developed over his lifetime. The constant learning and growth allows him to share with others. This is why I believe that knowledge is not power; it is potential. The potential to empower others if we are willing to seek it, distil it, refine it, make connections and share it with others. 

What’s Important Now? Practice Self Leadership and Self Discipline, stay curious and share your knowledge and wisdom. 

Take care.

Brian Willis

www.lifesmostpowerfulquestion.com

www.winningmindtraining.com

Maximizing human potential through Life's Most Powerful Question - What's Important Now?

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