I’ll be the first to admit, I’m no life coach. More than anything, I’ve simply followed my passions and lived my life accordingly. What’s the recipe for success? … I really have no idea? From what I have observed in those who are successful (“success” being defined as living up to one’s full potential) is that they have a few underlying principles in common:
Find Your Beat - No matter what your definition of success, if you are not happy doing what you do all else seems immaterial. Follow your passions. Do what you love. There is no higher calling. Find your beat and dance to it's own drummer. And dance with reckless abandon!
Focus - My grandmother once told me, “You can have anything you want, you just can’t have everything you want.” To me, this speaks to focus and perseverance. Set goals and stay the course. Will it be easy? Hell no! Undoubtedly there will be hurdles to overcome and obstructions to conquer. Highly accomplished people remain focused on getting the job done despite the blockades. “Obstacles are those frightful things we see when we take our eyes off our goal,” said Henry Ford. Keep your eyes on your goals and never, ever give up.
Fail Spectacularly - The grander the challenge the higher the potential for catastrophe. The history books are filled with stories of successful people risking everything. Sometimes the outcome is a celebrated success, other times it’s not so pretty. The main lesson here is to have the courage to try. Failure can lead to incredible discovery. Embrace failure as an opportunity to learn and grow. Shake it off, pick up the pieces, and move on.
Never Stop Exploring - Show me someone who is content and I will show you an underachiever. Be restless. Search, endeavor, wander. Push your limits and step beyond your comfort zone. The familiar breeds contentment and complacency. True growth only occurs when you journey into uncharted territory and tackle the unknown. "Man cannot discover new oceans until he has the courage to lose sight of the shore", - Andre Gide.
May 2012 be YOUR year for attempting great challenges to be better!
4 comments:
Pretty damn good post for not being a "Life Coach"! Thanks for some food for thought on a Monday AM.
I know what you mean about "fail spectacularly".. A disappointing DNF at IM Louisville in 2010 led to a PR performance at IM Florida 10 weeks later.
Some would say the 50F temperature difference played a part, but I chalk it up to a learning experience. That's my story and I'm sticking to it..
LOVE this.
Love it.
Will you be my life coach?
Great post.
I am always conjuring up ways to be better today than I was yesterday and I would say failure happens more than 50% of the time but it doesn't stop me from dreaming.
I was once told I was the kind of person who would always step in shit (meaning always have good luck) but as I have gotten older and I would say wiser it is not luck but hard work and perseverance.
Lazy is a four letter word in my vocabulary.
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