Struggle Less, BE More

Are you a little bored?  Does your life seem a little weak at the moment?

It’s time for you to recognize that this whole time you’ve been drifting…or waiting, the wheel is right in front of you and your foot is near the gas pedal: you’re still sitting in the drivers seat of your life!

I’ve been running into a lot of people recently who seem to be coasting or waiting for something big or important to happen to them.  I think it’s a natural response sometimes to uncertainty and an environment full of challenges.

“I’ll just pull over and wait until…the storm passes, the sky clears, the road is less foggy, you say”

But I’m afraid things aren’t going to clear up soon enough.

Flashback to a metaphor the business community responded to over twenty years ago from management consultant Peter Vail: the idea of normal looking like paddling your canoe on calm waters is a myth; we are really in an age of permanent whitewater.  Therefore, instead of waiting for the rapids to subside, we must instead adjust ourselves and our skills to this new reality.

How do you become a force to be reckoned with in this new environment?

The formula is still the same…and we learned it in high school physics.

F=ma or Force = mass x acceleration.

A human force in this world is someone of substance (mass) who is going somewhere (acceleration)

Which means you have two basic variables to work on, right now, even if things aren’t very clear:  Yourself and your destination (or goal)

You can work on yourself – being someone – by improving your knowledge, your skills, your abilities.  Equip yourself better or sharpen the tools you have.

Some of you need to build a you that is less defined by your company or your job and more by who you are in this world…your values, abilities, mission, etc.

And then you can work on your destination.  Do you even have a goal you are moving toward?

What would get you excited and pumped when you got out of bed every morning?  Now that’s acceleration…

Bottom Line: To lead a life of significance, to be a force in this world, you need to BE a person of substance who is headed toward a compelling goal.  Work on both variables and you’ll feel the difference and move forward in spite of the certainty or challenge in the world around you.

Power Questions:

1.  How can I invest in me in order to “BE the man” / “BE the woman”?

2.  What goal is big enough or destination is exciting enough to compel me forward?

3.  What skill do I need to learn in order to be more effective in the new work environment?