There is always time to score or improve, right up to the final whistle. This is true in games, sports, exams and life. Don’t slack off or think you’re beat. Play harder for the victory.
Don’t coast either. Victory can be snatched from you if you’re not paying attention.
It just happens at different times and under different circumstances. Some pain you can prevent. Others are out of your control. But know which is which so you can adjust accordingly.
Do people know who to call if you become incapacitated? What if you’re on a bus? How do they ID you? Who would they call other than police or ambulance?
What if your parents had a problem? How would someone get in touch with you? Are your details, which they hold, up to date? Have you got a new number?
Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Take some of your precious time now and put procedures in place. There may not be time to do so later on.
You’re lucky to be alive. You’ve navigated through big challenges, tough times and difficult circumstances. Life is better now than at any time in the last 20 years. Appreciate that fact every day.
Marvel at how good things are rather than the small problems everyone can find. Be a big, bright, shining star. Give energy to those around you. Do not complain or explain. Attract others into your circle because of how wonderful it is.
In an average day, who are the top five influencing voices in your day? Who are you hearing, reading, watching, seeing the most (time spent) or is most influential (short time but with major impact)?
On Sunday, one might be the leader of your religion, one of the Sunday newspapers, your spouse, your kids and/or your parents. On Monday it might be your spouse, your boss, your team at work, the nightly news and your favourite podcast.
On Thursday it might be your boss, your colleagues, your favourite author and people at your monthly meet-up.
Do you listen to them all equally or critically? Do you question their motives and bias or just some of them? Why do you allow them to influence you and not others?
Whoever you are letting influence you, you will become more like. If your boss is kind, or kind of a jerk, that will influence how you are with others. If they complain a lot, you will too. You better hope some of them are financially free or financially disciplined. If not, you might end up the same way.
Be very mindful of who is influencing you and why you let them. Sometimes it’s peer pressure, to belong, because of some of your values or fear of change and exploration. It’s time to deeply consider this and see if you can find influencers that are more positive or that will take you in the direction you would actually like to go. Don’t just drift along. Be intentional. Go!
You can be paid more per hour but you’ll work fewer hours. Or the company will need to reduce staff altogether and you may be one of those affected.
Employees will make more if wages go up, so margins will reduce and shareholders will be affected by reductions in dividends and/or share prices.
There always seems to be easy answers. However, that is rarely the case. Tough decisions need to be made after careful assessment and an understanding of how best to balance the various constraints and options.
Never? Really? You probably know. You might not want to admit it though.
Face the brutal facts of reality. Assess them. Make a plan. Execute. (The plan…)
Would you be a benign dictator? What demands would you have on others? How would you change things, if at all?
We all like to think we would be just and fair. But often people think they would rule on everything too. Though you wouldn’t have time to gather all the facts of every situation of all 8 billion people.
The world is fairly self-correcting. It isn’t perfect but it is pretty good. You may not get things your way all the time but perhaps that is a good thing.
What one thing, rule, law, situation, etc would you change, enforce or improve?
Think catching the bouquet, a fly ball or a wave. Or consider arriving on holiday as a hurricane is announced, living during a pandemic, or far worse, a war, or sharing a lift in a foreign land with the person you eventually marry.
Timing can be good or bad, brilliant or devastating. Try to set up your environment to win and set up your mindset to win too.
Maximise your good timing and minimise your bad timing. Get yourself where you’ll reap more benefits.
Perhaps timing isn’t everything but it is incredibly influential.
Lots of thoughts come into our heads. But which are our real dreams and which are simply ideas that have occurred to us but we aren’t in love with them.
Sift through these ideas. Dismiss the merely interesting ones. Grab the one or two that lift your soul and make a smile on your face. Those are the dreams.
Now take at least one step right now to progress toward them.
