Success is a Choice

When we recognize a wave of opportunity and ride on it to our destination, that is success. Success is not a privilege bestowed naturally upon us – it is a choice we pick knowingly or otherwise.

We all have choices  to wait for a miracle to change our lives or create the miracle that changes our lives. The advantage with the latter is that we are in control of how we approach our life’s goals. We don’t get deterred if things don’t happen the way we want it to, because we, the wave-riders will climb on the next wave of opportunity.

Not my day?

I play table tennis quite regularly at office. I usually play with couple of friends of Chinese origin. They are amazing players. Quite frankly, I used to get kicked in my butt quite often for one year! Then, the game got better, techniques got more sound, my defense improved and gradually, I started winning games more often. Now, on my day, I make them look like rookies, and those days happen quite frequently.

Yesterday, some interesting thought came up while I was playing. I was down three games to zero. The games were not going quite my way. There were several narrow misses and there were streaky points taken against me. It seemed that there was no luck. Thats when I thought – Maybe, it is an indication for me to just concentrate harder and adjust my game. I decided to bank on my strength to come out of the dip. I started attacking more, which was my game and backed myself to deliver. I stood a foot back from my normal position to increase the probability of landing my smashes on the table. I completely sleepwalked the game. It was a phenomenal turn around. The next game went really close (several deuce points) but I hung around and nailed that game as well.

The point I am trying to make is – when you feel you are in bad patch and things are not going your way, it is important to show more determination and trust your strengths to bring yourself out of whatever bad patch y0u feel you are in. In game, it shows faster; in life, it takes longer to see the result. But, it will show. The principle is still the same.

A misfit? Really??

Have you ever been called a misfit, meaning you don’t belong somewhere like your workplace, church, community, etc. Is that because you are different from others?

Not fitting is actually very good. I just came across these amazing people who are changing how music is played. Computer programming combined with live music – check it out. Another classic example of carving a niche for yourself. The world needs your talent.

attitude

Don’t walk as if you rule the world but walk as if you don’t care who rules it…That is attitude.

I read it through one of my best friend’s email forwards. I believe that whoever wrote this basically nailed it. When you think you rule the world, it is arrogance. When you don’t care who rules it and do your stuff, it is attitude. Ruling here is used in a very generic sense. Ruling might mean – running your organization, running the government, chairing some committee, etc..It can be anything like this.

One problem that seems to tag along with several people is that they either believe that they are powerless and are intimidated by some pseudo, self-proclaimed higher power in the society, or they believe that they can do anything they want because they proclaim themselves as very powerful. There is very thin line to walk there. One person might exhibit both tendencies at different point in time. For instance, at his work place, he might be intimidated by his boss and not have the courage to express his heart’s will. When the same person returns home, he might be showing off his “power” to his family, friends and neighbors. These people are neither here nor there.

Attitude is not exhibiting either of these qualities but staying right on the middle. It is the ability to brush away both forms of fear – receiving and imposing.

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Are you ready?

Your achievements depend on the answer to this question. If you think you will be ready in five years, it will be five years. If it is two years, two years it will be. But the point is,  you never know this for sure. When that said time arrives, you might find yourself still wanting.

Believe that you are ready now, and you are! If you believe you are ready (to lead, to invent, to execute, to inspire) then you start exploring ways to do that. I honestly believe that it is the right way to spend our energies.

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For who?

Have you ever asked the question – For who?

Whom do you work for? Who are you trying to impress? Whom do you write for? Who are you trying to make happy?… so forth.

The fact is that if the answer to your question is not ‘myself’, then rethink your actions. Because, the best way to achieve something is when you do it for yourself. If you are an author, if you constantly think if people are going to like your work, you can never be yourself. Be yourself and you will create a master piece.

It is a simple rule – try it out, you will definitely see a change in the quality of your creations.

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Choice

How do you choose between doing and not doing something?

Easy, choose the hard one. For instance,

• If you have a choice between temptation and restraint, choose restraint.
• If you have a choice between perfection and lazyness, choose perfection.
• If you have a choice between quality and quantity, choose quality.
• If you have a choice between following and leading, choose leading.
• If you have a choice between kneeling down and standing up, choose standing up.
• If you have a choice between reasoning and blame, choose reasoning.
• If you have a choice between guilt and experience, choose experience.

Remember, easy does not necessarily mean right.

Passion and Faith

I was digging through some of old Seth Godin blog posts…There was an article he wrote about faith and passion in fast company (2007). Awesome read.

An excerpt that probably summarizes the entire article..(that is, if you don’t have time to read the entire article)

Here’s what I learned from one handed molly: Sadie and Greg are a metaphor for every company that says that it wants to be fast. First, the people at the company have to have faith. Faith that their idea is a good one. Faith that their mission is worthy. Faith that people will want what they have to sell, and faith that, in the end, the world will be a better place because they made a unique contribution.

We all know people who work in jobs where they lack faith. It’s just a job. It’s a paycheck. Just a way to pass the time and pay the bills. Without faith, these people will never take a risk. Why should they? What’s the point?

Who is a perfectionist?

I don’t know about the accepted or worldly meaning. I think perfectionists are -

1. People who cannot compromise on quality.
2. People who will always take the extra step to make things just right.
3. People who trade laziness to hardwork.
4. People whose never have “almost” in their dictionary. It is either done right or not done.
5. People who rarely compromise on the result of their work.
6. People who are meticulous and pay attention to every detail

Doesn’t this make them fascinating and wonderful employees? More so, wonderful people?

Some great points to add from http://vinylart.blogspot.com – Daniel.

4. in the extreme can get one in trouble, not starting until the end is assured. I’m still learning how to just start and that listening to my gut will lead me through.

3. can go the other way as laziness can inspire great activity bourne out of a desire for efficiency.

A Rubber Band

If you have a lot of colored pens on your desk and a paper, how long does it take you to draw beautiful mulicolored lines or multicolored lines evenly spaced apart? Now, take a rubber band and tie the pens together and in one stroke, you will find this possible. This is now trivial. The power is not in the pen or paper or you, the power is in the way your small rubber band held everything together.

One common problem always in an organization is that everyone is like a colored pen wanting to exhibit the beautiful things they can draw. But very few people want to be the rubber band that brings everyone together to make the drawing beautiful and even better, easy.

To be a leader, be the rubber band. That is where value and useful experience lies.

Hold them together