Reflecting on its application to life, can we do everything and be everywhere all at once?
I was in San Francisco with my girls celebrating my sister’s birthday when the movie everything everywhere all at once came out. We went to see it. The theater was filled mainly with college students and those in their late teens or early twenties. My own young adult college student loved it. The movie had a few walking out early. With it’s multiverse focus, it was long and seemed to end about three times with the theater dwindling as the movie progressed. We stayed to the very end. It’s emotional theme was filled with laughter, some crazies, and a few tears especially at the end. To this day my youngest still adored that movie.
Life’s Application
But as I reflect on its application to life, can we do everything and be everywhere all at once? Really hard, even tiring and strenuous. Sure grounds for emotional imbalance and high stress.
Business coaches will tell you to focus on one thing at a time. Being everywhere all at once depicts lack of focus and going nowhere. Apply this concept to your goals. Sometimes you may have to reflect on all your life experiences to get to where you want to go. If it’s studies, you have to choose a major. If it’s career, you have to choose one or one will choose you (if you’re to survive) and chances are you may end up miserable. Not to mention relationships. You have to choose. You have to decide who your friends will be. Who will you be with long term to start a family and build a life?
Our society today seems all over the place. Values have gone awol. Anything goes. You can do anything provided it makes you happy. But at the end of the day, are you really happy?
Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing. When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.
Billy Graham
I was a sprinter. I ran the 100 meter dash; 200 meter and 4 x 100 meter races. This was my thing. When I was called upon, I was ready. It was a desire to achieve not for me but for the wider team’s goal. That’s one of the memories held dear throughout my childhood into adulthood where I participated in events well into my late 20’s.
As I reflect, I am taken aback by the same habits that I used which has stuck with me even today. Here I share.
7 Habits Of A Highly Effective Athlete
1.Discipline
Here it is not about being forced to do something. It is about maintaining daily habits to achieve good or satisfactory outcomes. My dad was a boxing champion who fought for the land of my birth. He was a winner. I would rise early mornings and go running with him before daybreak. Then in the evenings after school I would go practice with fellow athletes. This daily mantra improved my abilities. It was not for personal gratification but for helping the team to win; whether it was school, church camps, or organizational competitive games to come out on top.
Determination means the ability to do something even when the odds are against you. My natural prowess slowed in recent years because I became latent. I sit at the computer all day working without hardly ever getting up to stretch. So after discussion with a personal coach, I decided to start working out. On my second class, I had to drive a 4-hour return trip. I was 5 minutes late for the class due to traffic and was turned away. I had missed the warm-up and didn’t know much. I was disappointed. But through my determination, I decided to make sure it never happened again. I have been attending and haven’t been late again. In this case, my health goals are too important to miss.
3.Drive To Succeed
This trait has driven me to go after my goals, dreams and aspirations. My studies and organizational leadership prowess has helped me to manage business operations with a desire to see others succeed. My published books on Success, leadership, career development and motivation are solid proof.
4.Never Give Up
In the first course I did after I left high school, a teacher lost the end of term paperwork I submitted. She searched and couldn’t find it. This was not submitted online but in person. Talk about being disappointed. I was devastated but I was determined to graduate. So I took a deep breath, asked to redo the major assignment and turned it in again. Yes, I graduated and found that my early training to never give up has stayed with me throughout life’s ups and downs. That experience helped build my strength of character.
5.Commitment
This quality is one that many organizations desire in people. It is a pledge or an agreement to do something. The problem is, we have to strike that balance. Overcommitment, especially for workaholics, can lead to restricted work/life balance or self-care.
The more committed you are, the more work you get….yikes! Certainly the goal you planned (smile)
6.Planning
One thing an athlete must do is plan. No plan easily translates into failure with missed deadlines, priorities and more. A friend shared the woes of a politician who was busy working in the community trying to attract votes. He was successful at that but later discovered that he had missed the application deadline. After all he had done, he was left off the ballot.
7.Teamwork & Care For Others
Teamwork means working together with a group of people to achieve a common goal. Running a relay is never easy. Sometimes teammates become injured, tired, fall behind, or become overworked and the rest of the team must collaborate to build and eliminate the gap. This is not an easy feat but the effort is always well worth it and provides the reward. That’s what I did all those years. Collaborate.
Today, caring for others is my mantra. It goes deep within my inner being and provides that lasting satisfaction when as a professional leadership coach, I help individuals achieve their goals.
I look back and reflect on these traits and with renewed fervor and realize that they made me who I am today. What about you? Did any of the characteristics resonate? Any you would add? Do share, we would love to hear.
For the months I carried you, growing inside of me...
For the months I carried you growing inside of me… Entrepreneurs know the travails of starting and growing a business. The challenges associated with carrying a business from incubation to reality. It’s no easy task.
Career transitions, college students, and goal seekers all know how difficult it is to carry the burden of studies to get to the finish line. It’s no easy task.
Parents know how difficult it is to bear the burden of the change in lifestyle as a newborn is expected. It’s no easy task.
Let’s not forget authors whose stories became known from a dream, to a thought, to a page, to a book. Published! It’s no easy task.
So it is with whatever we put our minds to. Whatever we decide to do from idea, thought, dream, goal… it is not going to…
Student loan debt is top of mind to many college grads these days. The promise of high paying jobs that would not only cover the debt but also provide a lifetime of satisfaction has left many regretting their majors. CNBC shared the 10 most regretted majors and the 10 majors grads wished they had pursued instead. Dive in to see which of your majors made the list.
10 Least Valued College Majors
10 Most Valued College Majors
Where did your major fall? Least regretted or most valued? What are your thoughts? Do share. We would love to hear.
What happens when your career becomes your identity? This Happens to so many of us? Here are 3 of the Questions HBR’s contributor Janna Koretz suggest asking yourself.
1. How do you think about your job outside the office?
2. How do you describe yourself? How much of this description is tied to your job, title, or company?
3.How would you feel if you could no longer continue in your profession?
Great questions. Read the article for the full analysis.
You may also listen to tips as I chat with Patricia Reid-Waugh or get a copy of my book ‘Your Career’ Ditch It? Switch it?’ Both provide a deeper dive into how you can ditch it and gain the identity that brings lasting satisfaction.
If you could give advice to your younger self, what would it be?
Life changes. We evolve, make decisions, choose careers, relationships, and enlarge our own space to embrace and create our own circle of influence including nuclear families. Recently I came across the common question about life and pondering the changes you would have made if you had the chance to advise your younger self. In deep thought I decided to ask professionals what their thoughts were. Most reflected. Here are excerpts of those who quickly chimed in:
Stop and smell the roses. Life passes by in a flash. Children grow up. Relationships mature, evolve, change. Enjoy life. Appreciate the little things.
Take more adventures. Let go of traditions.
Enjoy life more along my journey. To be fearless and take more risks.
Slow down, travel, start a business, invest, read more.
Busy is good. That’s my favorite response to entrepreneurs who express that they are busy.
You see, we have all been there when there is nothing to do. No job. No contract. No financial inflow. What frequently follows is sadness, apathy, boredom, inability to meet financial obligations and the list goes on. For sure that ain’t good for our mental state and wellbeing.
Among Others
An 80-year-old grandmother was busy going to the gym, church, shopping, Medical visits to the doctor. Those activities kept her busy. It made her feel alive. Then suddenly her husband also retired. Now they both sit at home watching golf, tennis, jeopardy and wheel of fortune on TV. This past weekend she spent time in the hospital. Latency had stepped in.
The Deal
That’s what happens when we are not busy. It happens to entrepreneurs, workers, student or retirees. There’s no respect of persons.
Is Your Organization Selling what employees want to buy? The question Gallup posed most certainly creates a pause for both the employer who is searching for top talent and the job hunter who comes with his or her own fair share of what they will or will not accept.
9 Reasons Employees Accept Job Offers
Here are a few things that top talent seek in their next career move:
Great Pay and Benefits (duh)
Environments that are respectful, diverse and inclusive
Great Cultural fit to bolster a sense of belonging
Work in a location that is safe, easily accessible, and aesthetically pleasing
The desire for flexibility –remote or hybrid work
Work/ Life balance. Fast disappearing are those days of long working hours that when they get home they are no use to family or themselves
Financial Stability. People want to work where they don’t have to worry about the business viability as well as their own ability to cover expenses and save for their future
To work with great people (stress-free) and build key relationship with others in the industry
The ability to learn and grow that fosters self-actualization
If you are providing these things as an organization, you are well on your way to attracting and retaining top talent. Seeing gaps? Lets connect to get you you started on the road to improvement.
Likewise, as you reflect on the 9 reasons, what stands out to you? Is there anything you would like to add? Do share. We would love to hear.
Get an education. Become a lawyer, doctor, get a cool career! Marry Prince/Princess Charming. Buy that nice big house. Have the perfect kids. These are some of the wishes that moms and dads often want for their children to Jolt them to success or to Restart. But I have always stressed that you should not let anyone define what success means to you. It’s entirely your decision.
Brian Tracy asked the question “What Does Success Mean to You?” Responses came in Opaque forms including:
Doing what I want when I want and helping others so that they can to help themselves
The highest level of success is happiness
Do the right thing and be a great person or human being
Not caring if it is Monday or Friday. Loving every day of the week the same. Having a good relationship with people. Making a difference. Continuously learning and…
The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.
J.P. Morgan
The Regret Minimization Framework is a simple mental model to minimize the number of regrets in the long run. Jeff Bezos after a conversation with his boss asked himself what he would regret more when he was 80 years old: Trying to build something he had strong conviction in and failing, or failing to give it a try? He realized that not trying would haunt him every day (Utkarsh Amitabh HBR).
Walking away from a great job is not an easy decision. I know that because I did it. I walked away from a great career in the pharmaceutical industry. Naturally, this decision came with it’s fair share of ups and downs but when you decide to make a decision based on purpose, all you need to do is weigh the consequences. Like Bezos did, he considered himself at age 80 and thought about it in the context of regret. If you know Amazon, then the rest is history.
As a Certified Professional Coach who specializes in career transitions and people management, I have help many leaders become clear on the next step in their career journey. It may not mean that you want to venture out into entrepreneurship. It might very well be that you want to shift into a new career in the same company or another. I reflect on a client who left his career in the financial industry to venture into a new career in social work. Hmmm, pretty drastic change, right? But the change proved satisfying.
So what’s your plan? What’s your purpose? What’s your passion? Can’t figure it out? Let’s connect.
Have a success story? Do share, we would love to hear.
The most beautiful things are not associated with money; they are memories and moments. If you don’t celebrate those, they can pass you by. – Alek Wek
I love challenges. I set goals, and do everything to accomplish them. Then when I do, I move on to the next goal. As the head of Head of Human Resources for many years, I relentlessly celebrated the achievement of others on the job, but I never stopped to celebrate my own personal achievements. In recent years I came to value the importance of celebrating life’s triumphs. I guess it comes with maturity. There is something gratifying to it. Besides, it leaves a lasting legacy on those close to me.
Oh how to celebrate? The question was asked and many Bravely Expressed and jumped in. But I found Sarah Starrs list of ways to celebrate insightful. Here I share my top favs!
Photo by Craig Dennis on 
Success Strategies 