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Are
you winning the “game of life?" Are you as
successful as you would like to be in your life and in
your career? If not, what are you doing to change your
situation? Are you consistently taking action to move
toward your goals? Or are you complaining and blaming
others for your current lot in life? You have the power
to create a life you love – one that fulfills all
your personal and professional needs.
A
great metaphor for the game of life is the Olympics. Olympic
athletes compete to determine who wins the gold, silver,
or bronze medals as well as who has the stamina to simply
finish each event. In the game of life, some people are
winners who successfully create lives they love. Some
even recreate themselves as their lives and circumstances
change. Others go through life never reaching for the
gold, sitting on the sidelines complaining about the hand
they were dealt. What about you? Are you in the game?
Are you actively creating your next chapter?
In
my youth, my dream career was to build robots for Disneyland.
Instead, I entered the fledgling aerospace industry, starting
as an engineer and climbing the ladder to the executive
suite. By all definitions, I was successful. However,
things change. When I reached the place in my career that
I had been striving for, I discovered that my career ladder
was standing against the wrong wall. So I reinvented myself
as an author, speaker, seminar leader, and executive coach.
How I did it is the subject of my first book, Get
Out Of Your Own Way: Create The Next Chapter Of Your Life.
Let’s
consider your situation. Indulge me for a moment. Let
your imagination wander. Visualize yourself as a great
Olympian. You pick the sport. You have worked and trained
diligently to get where you are. You have established
routines that you follow every day to stay in peak shape.
Now your moment of truth has arrived. You are in competition
with the best athletes in your field. Just being in the
race is an accomplishment. (We place just by showing up.)
Imagine what it feels like to win a medal. Visualize yourself
on the winners box, having won the bronze, silver, or
better yet the gold medal! What a thrill it is to be a
winner! Savor that feeling!
Now
consider, what determines who wins. Only the best of the
best earn medals in the Olympics. These are people whose
overwhelming desire to win leads them to establish routines
that assure consistent peak performance in their chosen
sport. Winners may not have the best game plans, but what
sets them apart is their consistent pursuit of the skills
and confidence necessary to win. Winners establish routines,
both mental and physical, that propel them toward their
goals. What makes you feel like a winner in your life?
What routines have you established to help you accomplish
your goals? What’s keeping you from reaching your
goals?
Often,
we stop ourselves from going for the gold. We get in our
own way by the way we think and the actions that our thoughts
cause us to take (or not take). What makes one person
triumph over the rest of the pack? The answer is confidence,
correctly targeted routines, and fearlessness. A wise
man once said that the road to confidence is paved with
weekly victories. Your confidence grows when you take
on the challenges of life in spite of your fears. Establish
routines that help you stay focused on your goal and moving
toward it. Keep in mind that having an average plan and
taking consistent action steps toward its implementation
is more productive than having a marvelous plan and doing
nothing to turn it into a reality. What actions do you
take each day to propel you toward your goals? What routines
do you follow every day? Your daily actions will determine
whether or not you have what it takes to win – what
it takes to create the life you want to live.
Every
day, remind yourself to Get Out of Your Own Way™.
Go for the gold! Identify action steps and consistently
implement them. Learn to applaud your small victories
and use them as stepping-stones. Modify your plan as required.
Keep in mind that there is a big difference between just
being busy and taking specific, well planned action. Remember,
to obtain the gold medal in the game of life, have a goal,
a plan, and take consistent action. Consciously create
the next chapter of your life. Your future begins with
what you do today to make tomorrow happen.
Jovita
Jenkins created her own next chapter, transitioning
from a distinguished non-traditional corporate career
in aerospace engineering and executive leadership, to
founder/CEO of Ajides International, Inc., a boutique
leadership training and executive coaching firm. Her highly
acclaimed book, Get Out Of Your Own Way: Create The
Next Chapter Of Your Life, is available on her website
www.jovitajenkins.com,
amazon.com, and in selected bookstores. Ms. Jenkins, coaches
emerging leaders, speaks on success and leadership to
conventions and corporations,
and lectures in UCLA’s Technical Management Program.
Watch for her next book, Rebirth of a Boomer.
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