Three keys that can change your life and your career
I remember a time when my father was taking me home from some event when I was a freshman in high school and he turned to me and said, “Son, I want more than anything that I can help you become someone rich, powerful.” and influential. But this is something you have to learn to love on your own. Don’t be afraid to make sacrifices to achieve your goals in life.” Many of us go through life expecting everything we need and want to be handed to us on a silver platter. Some say God will provide. Now I’m a religious man, but I feel that God gives us the tools to excel in life in whatever area we want.Do you want to be a president of a company?Then you need to take the appropriate steps needed to achieve your very realistic goal.You want to run a non-profit business to help the inner-city children. Again, develop a plan and take the appropriate steps to make this happen. The failure to achieve our goals in life is truly the result of our inability to take the appropriate steps to guide our careers and lives in the direction of our goals.
In my professional career, which is very lively, I look for three keys that have helped me change my life. I’m not where I want to be yet, and I have a long way to go. But these three keys have helped me identify where I struggled in the past and freed me from the many mental traps that held me back. I hope this discussion helps you make a change in your life moving forward.
overcome your fears
The biggest factor that prevents us from being good at anything is FEAR. Afraid to make a decision. Fear of taking action, Fear of doing anything that will result in change. The number one reason people don’t commit to change is the fear associated with making changes. People are afraid to make career changes because they feel comfortable with their current situation. They know where they are and making a change could make your situation worse. Well, I’m not going to sugarcoat this topic for you. Making a change could have a positive or negative impact on your situation, life, and career. So fear is a real thing, but allowing your fear to hold you back from something that has the potential to lead you to greatness only results in you not committing to change. If you want to be great, you need to learn to overcome your fear and be brave. Only the brave, who overcome their fears, are the ones who achieve success in their lives and careers. Look at any successful entrepreneur in the world today.
Benny Luo, founder of Nextshark, Newrockstars, Discoverme and The Other Asians commented in a Fast Company article about the importance of learning from failure. “Before finding success in my first venture, I dabbled in many ‘get rich’ ventures, including network marketing, online poker, and affiliate marketing. While I found minimal success, all of these ventures eventually became But, one day I realized that after every failure I always gained valuable knowledge of things that I could apply or avoid in my next project, that was the attitude I adopted after every failure from then on, I focused on on what I won instead of what I lost, because that’s what really matters in the end.” Failure is not the end. But the fear of failing will lead to failure itself.
Take decisions
The decisions we make shape us throughout our lives. No matter what decisions we make, good or bad, each one sets us on a new path in the future. Make a bad decision? No problem. Learn from the decision and make another decision to take a different path. This is advice I received from Tony Robins in his Giant steps book. This is a book that I recommend to anyone who wants to develop an inner fire to make a change in their life. It helped me understand and relate to how the fear of making bad decisions kept me from becoming the great man I am today. Now, I am not saying that I am a well-known person in any particular circle. But I am the king of my castle working hard and trying to make good decisions regarding the paths I have chosen. I am a great man in the eyes of my wife and children. And that’s all the recognition I need in my life. And I know that my past failures have been a building block that I continue to use to build my career and my self-image in the community in which I live.
Ben Leber, Co-Founder and CEO of Thrillist media group is a good example of this. In an article on the Fast Company website, Leber talks about this very topic. He says, “I’ve had to make some really tough decisions, but ultimately I think the best companies are the ones that can recognize when something isn’t right and fix it, rather than just turn a blind eye because it’s easier.” great people make decisions. When a decision doesn’t have the desired result, make a different decision. There is nothing simpler than that.
to take action
Taking action is the final key in the equation to becoming a great person. “Your inaction leads to futility.” is a quote that comes from a former mentor of mine. Our purpose in this world is not to live a comfortable life. All living things in this world are made up of cells. If you took Biology in school, you know that cells that are inactive, that don’t move, have no purpose. They are useless to the organism that is alive. Therefore, the body will reject the cell thinking it is dead. It has no purpose in the living system, so it must be parsed out of the system to allow room for the other cells to move. Another reason the dead cell is parsed out of the system is that other cells can mimic the dead cell by slowing down and stopping moving. This leads the living organism to die. We are meant to move, breathe, think, and stay active. We were born to stay active by taking action in everything we do. Are you hungry; you take action by preparing lunch and eating it. You get tired; you take a nap. You get stuck in a job that doesn’t meet your desires for a career field; Take action and make a change. You don’t have to quit completely, but make a plan. Talk to people in the field you want to get into. Network and build connections with those who have been on the path you are about to take. The key is to take action and commit to a positive change in your life and/or career.