Stop Worry Before It Stops You.
“My greatest point is my persistence. I never give up in a match. However down I am, I fight until the last ball. My list of matches shows that I have turned a great many so-called irretrievable defeats into victories.” ~ Bjorn Borg
a Life that Matters.
All last week we talked about the qualities of leadership. Put simply, to be an effective leader you must KNOW your strengths and weaknesses… and constantly strive to improve both your performance and the performance of the people around you.
This week, we will discuss the meaning and importance of PERSISTENCE to your life.
Look closely at the picture above. Yes, there are people out here in Colorado who think hanging off the side of a perfectly good mountain is great fun!
The reason I used this picture is simple. It reinforces the central idea of this week’s lessons.
If you intend to climb to the top of the mountain of life—or get anywhere near it—you must persist with passion until you reach your destination… or destiny.
You can have the greatest goals ever conceived… together with the best laid plans ever created… together with an entire army of people willing to help you achieve them.
BUT, if you give up too early—or give in to life’s inevitable set-backs and circumstances—your dreams will never move off the page and into your life.
This week, I’ll give you 5 concrete ideas on how to take ACTION in the face of fear, uncertainty and doubt… helping you create the mindset for persistent success.
Are You Persistent Enough?
Let’s check with the expert! My trusty American Heritage Dictionary defines Persistence as…
1. Refusing to give up or let go; persevering obstinately. 2. Insistently repetitive or continuous. 3. Existing or remaining in the same state for an indefinitely long time; enduring. 4. Continuance of an effect after the cause is removed.
Today, I want you to look out over the rest of the year, and write down 3 things that you will have to overcome to achieve your single biggest goal in the remaining 10 months. Just how HIGH is your climb to the top?
1) ____________________________
2) ____________________________
3) ____________________________
Time Horizon: December 31, 2017.
How will you overcome these barriers to your success?
To be successful, you have to take risks.
The question is, do you have the power to overcome the results of the risks you take?
By taking some time to realistically think about what you are going to face in the immediate future, you will not be surprised when the “bad thing” actually happens.
You will be well-prepared to deal with it.
If you want to put more PERSISTENCE into your performance, start to eliminate WORRY from your life.
Worry wastes time, steals energy and prevents you from accomplishing your goals. There’s no reason to worry about something you can or can not fix.
If you find yourself constantly stressed over money, friends, health issues, your children, people at work or your environment — STOP IT!
Identify exactly what you’re worried about, and transform that worry into a positive action to resolve the concern.
Take care of IT, before it takes over YOU.
“How hard it is, sometimes, to trust the evidence of one’s senses! How reluctantly the mind consents to reality.” ~ Norman Douglas
Factor 1F’s CONTRIBUTION to your performance…
A high commitment to this Factor of your performance suggests you never play the victim to your worries.
By focusing on the actions you can take, rather than the negative conditions of the problem, you maintain your momentum even when besieged with negative situations.
Everyone has reasons to worry, but you’re able to work through your concerns without wasting precious energy before correcting or improving the situation.
Once resolved, your energy level actually increases due to positive feelings that come from correcting a bad situation.
Factor 1F’s COST to your success…
A lack of commitment suggests you’re often a victim of your worries.
You can burn a lot of energy as you sit and picture the most unfavorable things that could happen — further draining your energy level.
As you focus on “worst case” scenarios, you rob yourself of the energy and motivation needed to take action.
This leaves you with little energy to actually resolve the problem. What’s more, these overriding concerns keep you from completing your other tasks.
This leads to a negative spiral of additional stress stealing away more energy.
Like cancer invading the body, worry invading your mind is the single biggest killer of hopes and dreams.
Factor BENEFIT…
What happens when you consistently do Factor 7D? You have more power.
Worries never drain your positive energy for long. You accumulate performance positives like “Revitalized, Enlivened, and Proactive” — immediately moving you towards the results you expect.
What happens when you FAIL to consistently do Factor 7D? You have less power.
You do nothing but sit and worry and end up exhausted.
Negatives like “Stressed, Overwhelmed and Worried” start to take their toll on your performance — quickly moving you away from the success you want.
The Bottom Line…
Worry is the natural enemy of persistence.
Just how persistently will you pursue your dreams and goals when you are stressed out, burned out and running on empty most of the time?
Remember, there are tangible RESULTS… and then there is everything else. Become known for producing superior RESULTS and you will become successful beyond your wildest dreams.
Don’t and you won’t.
If you haven’t already, right now is the perfect time to take a baseline assessment of your EXPECTATIONS and your POWER to achieve them.
I urge you to take the full 100 question TQ Test to baseline where you are now… and what you will need to do differently to achieve your goals this year. — E.R. Haas, CEO
Category: Color Commentaries, Personal Growth
