Slam Dunk Your Success

By now most of us have lost hope on our billion dollar bracket, as our March Madness brackets are inked with RED.  Hey, at least we took a shot, right?

But looking back at the underdog teams like the Dayton Flyers, I can’t help but think to myself, how could they, against all odds, make it so unexpectedly far?  It’s safe to say a majority of people picked Dayton’s opponents early on to move to the next round, not Dayton.

Despite the cards being stacked against these underdog teams, though, many of them pressed on, further than most of us expected.

It brings us to an important reality: so often we are wrong about who or what will succeed.  We get caught up focusing on who “should” win that we forget to live “in the game”.  Each team, like each of us, faces moments when they must come to play, put their best foot forward, and compete for their goals.  

But what if each team played according to how much others believed in their ability to win? We surely wouldn’t be shaking our heads at our destroyed brackets.

More importantly, though, what if we achieved only as far as others believed we could?

Life for us is like March Madness.  When others hear of our goals and dreams, they often times place “bets” on the likelihood of us achieving these goals and dreams.  Sure, we may never know what they truly think, but what if their “bet” drove our outcome? 

We’d rarely succeed if our success depended on what other people thought of our dreams.  Lucky for us, we don’t let the “bets” others place on us determine the course of our future.

Others can “bet” (and they will!), but we will set goals and align our actions to meet those goals despite what anyone has stacked against us.

We can’t allow someone’s wager on us to determine if we will or will not succeed. 

We’ve got to work for our goals and stay focused on what we believe we can achieve.  One of my favorite quotes says it best:

“If you go to work on your goals, your goals will go to work on you.”  -Jim Rohn

Do Your Fears Wake You Up?

This week I finally got a chance to see the new movie everyone is talking about, Divergent.

Not expecting much more than a little entertainment, I was surprised to find myself motivated by the main character Tris.  Tris is part of world divided by personality and overtaken by fear.

Sometimes, we might find ourselves overtaken by fear.  The best place to look for fear is in our excuses.  What reasons do we give for not acting on our goals? What obstacles do we let shut us out from doing our best in school, on the field or on stage? These excuses shed light on what we are afraid of in our lives.

When we meet Tris, we quickly learn that she is different—a Divergent.  Unlike the majority of the people in her society, Tris does not fit into just one personality type or way of life.  Most importantly, though, her fears don’t shut her down like the rest. Instead, her fears wake her up and call her to action.

I admit, often times, I am shut down from my fears.  I use excuses to justify not trying out for the team or not applying for the job of my dreams because I FEAR I will not be good enough.  Instead of being crippled by fear, fear should bring us to life!  What if every time we faced our fears, it made us ACT? …made us greater? …inspired us to be our best?

After seeing the movie, I decided to check out the book (I know…I did it backwards!).  I quickly glanced at the front cover and read: “One choice can transform you.”

Sometimes fear cripples us from facing the decisions that will ultimately change our life. When you and I face our fears in the coming days, weeks, months, and even years, will we allow our fears to shut us down or will we use our fears to wake us up and help us make the choices that can transform our lives?

 

Are you looking for one choice that can transform your life? Check out our summer program this July 7th-11th at the University of Louisville and learn how to make the choices that will help you get anything you want out of life!