Lessons From Obama. In an interview to a News Paper, the US President reveals his seven secrets for life, health, fatherhood and leadership. Follow Barack Obama's rules to change your world. So what should you do to be Barack Obama. Here are the secrets of his success.
1.Be there for your family, even if you're not around
"I don't miss the important things. But there are some things I do miss, and those are the trade-offs you make. I'd like to say that quality time replaces quantity, but sometimes it doesn't. You know, a lot of the best moments of family life happen spontaneously. If you have less time to devote to them, there are fewer of those moments. What I've been able to do is create a zone of normality for my kids. [My wife] Michelle's been wonderful about that. I have been able to transmit to them my absolute interest in them and my absolute love for them."
2.Use your workout to focus your mind
"One of the things about this job is the loss of anonymity. I can't run outside anymore. Looks like I've got to find other ways to exercise. My blood pressure is pretty low and I tend to be a healthy eater, so I could probably get away with cutting back a little bit, but the main reason I work out is to clear my head and relieve stress. It's a great way to stay focused"
3.Organize your life to focus on the big picture
"One of the things I really try to push in my organization is to make sure that everybody is focused on the things that are really going to be game changers. They design my schedule so it focuses on being active instead of reactive. I think we've been pretty successful. I don't spend a lot of time returning phone calls or emails. If somebody needs something, most of the time there's somebody else who can handle it. Eliminating TV has been helpful, but I'm still a sucker for SportsCenter. "
"The most difficult thing is to carve out time to think, which is an important time to think, which is an important time for somebody who's trying to shift an organization, or in this case, the country, as opposed to doing the same things that have been done before. And I find that time slips away."
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| "Change is good, as long as you're in charge of it." |
4.If you want to avoid disappointing others, don't disappoint yourself
"I always try to make sure that my expectations are higher than those of the people around me. People are having a tough time right now and I never want them to feel as if I've over-promised. I try to explain in a real honest way how difficult some of the changes I'm talking about will be. But I never want the effect to be that I'm not working as hard as I can on their behalf, that I'm not continually trying to improve. I'm actually glad for the high expectations. One of the really interesting things is that when you're really pushed to the limit, it turns out that you have more in your reservoir than you expected."
5. Help your children grow up at their own pace
"Their main concern was , 'When are we going to get a dog?' They did often ask about what they called 'secret people', which were the Secret Service folks. They used to ask : 'Are we going to have to have these people with sunglasses and earpieces following us around all the time?' They've adjusted wonderfully. And I've tried to make sure that they haven't had to participate too much in the political process."
6.Quit smoking, as often as you need to
"There wasn't some dramatic moment. Michelle had been putting pressure on me for a while. I was never really a heavy smoker. Probably at my peak I was smoking seven or eight a day. More typical was three. So it wasn't a huge challenge with huge withdrawal symptoms. There have been a couple of times when I fell off the wagon and bummed one, and I had to kick it again. But I figure I need to cut myself a little slack."
"Eliminate certain key connections-that first cigarette in the morning, or after a meal, or with a drink. If you can get rid of those triggers, that should really help you. It did me."
7.Learn from your father, even if he wasn't a good one
"I would like to think that most of the issues that are related to my father have now been resolved. That was part of what writing Dreams From My Father was all about: understanding him and his own personal tragedy. He wasn't a presence in my life, he was an idea that I had to wrestle with for a long time."
"Somebody once said that every man either spends his life trying to live up to his dad's expectations or trying to make up for his dad's mistakes. And I'm pretty sure that I was doing a little bit of both. But I also feel that somewhere in my late twenties or my early thirties I sort of figured out what his absence had really meant. It is part of what I think has made me a pretty good dad."
"I really don't think it will all have too much of an impact on my decision-making as president. There's no doubt that it has contributed to my overall drive. I might not be here now had it not been for that absent father prodding me early in life."
