I want to share some powerfully valuable truths with all of you. The important thing to note is that they will only become valuable and true for you when you choose for them to be valuable and true for you. Interestingly enough, I have already shared these ideas with most of you, but I thought you might find it valuable to hear these ideas from someone who has earned great credibility with the world at large, the actor Will Smith.
"There is a redemptive power to making a choice"
"The first step, before anyone else believes it, is that you have to believe it"
"There's no reason to have a Plan B because it distracts from Plan A"
"I think that there's a certain delusional quality , that all successful people have to have"
"You have to believe that something different, from what has happened for the last 50 million years of history; you have to believe that something different can happen"
"Being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocrity"
"Why would you be realistic? It's unrealistic to bend a piece of metal and fly people across the ocean, fortunately the Wright brothers thought otherwise. I'm gonna do it, it's done. It's already done the second I decide I'm going to do it"
From a Will Smith interview with Charles Osgood
As I shared my "delusional" spirit with one of my clients today, Bill Sturman in Minnesota, he was quick to thank me for the delusional attitudes that I both possess and impress upon others to adopt in their lives. Bill is a software engineer by profession. About 5 years ago, he closed the doors of his own software engineering company, and went to work for a much larger company. Towards the end of 2009, he went to the hospital with what he thought was a heart attack. Wow, talk about a wakeup call. Fortunately it turned out to be an acute anxiety attack (okay, better to be relaxing on the beach in Tahiti – but definitely better than a heart attack), the product of working for a company that put sales revenue ahead of customer satisfaction. Bill was getting stressed by long hours and too many meetings with unhappy clients, because his employer couldn't deliver on promises made. Most of you know that I believe that there are no accidents in life. So Bill said to me this morning, "Because of your coaching Frits, and I really do mean that, …the (School) Board was very complimentary of the strategic plan that I presented, and they went on to approve the first half of my 6 month project for them. That represents about $80,000 that I'll put in the bank. Not bad for 6 months of work." Continuing on as he spoke about a Budgeting system he had created for Vo Tech and 4 Year Colleges, and in reference to the "fire sale" strategy that I had shared with him he said; "I actually helped wrap up a project on that. This afternoon I go out to one of my old customers (5 years ago) to establish a maintenance/improvement service contract. There are ½ dozen Universities that are using my budget management software, that will yield $20k to $50k annual contracts." So Bill will enjoy his best income and his "Best Year Ever"™ in 2010. From stress to joy in about 4 months flat, that's faster than a Ferrari's 0 – 60 performance.
Witness Raji's, (my awesome Publicist) successes in finding great new clients, or Mark's success in the corporate world as he "rises to the top" of a large multi-national pharmaceutical company "I put more money in the bank this year Frits." They provide additional evidence that what you dream is within reach, as long as you follow five simple rules; Ready for those "rules?"
1. Dream, or as my friend Chris Nelson the famous Jamaican bobsledder of 1988 says, "Dream Big." Be delusional and unrealistic. Regardless of what your life has been like, good or bad, you are allowed to have more. Get clear on what "Success" looks like.
2. Wake up, get dressed and leave the comfort of your home. You don't need to know what it is that you will do after "leaving home," simply step out in faith, with no preconceived notion of what the "steps to success" have to look like, just be clear on what success looks like. After you take the first step, the next step will be revealed. Some of the steps of success won't even be visible until you move forward a bit. Just be sure to "wake up" from your dreaming, and "go to the well." Regardless of whether or not the bucket comes up empty or full, keep going to the well (or perhaps find another well to go to).
3. Be delusional, unrealistic and demand the best for yourself and all that you love (like Lynda who loves millions of people in Peru).
4. Remember that life and success are both simply the product of choices. Don't like the life that is being "produced?" Make different choices. Don't want to make different choices? Love the life that has already been produced. That choice, to love what you have, brings you "more" in the very moment that you make that choice.
5. Destroy the expectations of perfection, great joy and beauty can be created from that. For example, through the years, many of you have seen "horrific" typos in my communications with you (I thought I was going to be a professional football player, so I skipped typing class – for you youngsters, that's what we called it back in the day, you know it as "keyboarding"). Today, my beautiful wife is sometimes addressed as "Oyu" [sic], and it's a designation that we both have come to appreciate as a result of "good enough." As my new friend, Dr. Brian Alman, said over dinner last week; "I am perfectly good enough." Everything really is as it should be. In this moment, you are what you need to be. Your life is what it needs to be. Or, as the great teacher "Sandy" Meisner taught his students to say to themselves, say to yourself "I am enough." Each of you has great beauty and value, I know, I've seen it. If you can't see it, allow me to help you "see it."
I cherish what I was told today (some of you will recognize this). "It's working, Coach! Every day you're getting closer! Everything you've ever wanted is being pressed toward you. Everything is clicking. Don't let the illusions trick you. Don't let the events of today dampen your spirits. Things couldn't be any better than they now are. You couldn't have more reasons to celebrate. Now! Do it! The hardest work is done! Just show up, be present, open every door and let events unfold. Life is your stage. This is your parade." I say these exact same words to you today.
What's the hard part of success (the hardest work that I was told was already done)? Dreaming Big, being delusional and unrealistic. But those aren't very difficult, are they? When that stuff becomes easy, life becomes easy. I hope your 2010 is as exciting and rewarding as mine. Thanks for being a friend of mine.
Make this "THE BEST YEAR EVER!"™
Coach Frits
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