By Connie Podesta, Hall of Fame Speaker, CPAE, CSP
Success is NOT the result of good timing, karma, coincidence, fate or good luck. Those are the labels used by people who REACT to what the world sends their way The true key to success is to ACT: Cease excuses. Be accountable. Take responsibility. Stand out.
We’re all too familiar with the “react” mode – right? Wake up in the morning, everything’s fine then boom, we stub a toe, get a tough call from a client, have to learn a new technology platform, the internet crashes…any number of little “disasters” that we allow to derail us. Whatever it is – knee-jerk reacting is a surefire way to become powerless. That’s why it’s so important for people to learn how to ‘act’ rather than ‘react’ to life’s little stumbling blocks if they’re going to out-think and out-perform the competition.
Never give up the power to control your own destiny. Acting is taking charge of your self-respect, financial security, career happiness, relationships, and health. Acting is looking at whatever curveball you’ve been thrown and making adjustments that will allow you to leverage it, learn from it and use it to your best advantage. You can choose to let things ruin your day, take you off track or darken your mood or choose to make the best of things. It’s up to you.
We have the power to choose how we want to live and act right now. And those choices—keeping skills up-to-date, being open to new ideas, coming up with fresh approaches, exploring innovative ways to do business—will determine our future.
So choose to act in these ways:
- Meet the world head-on by being open to new ideas.
- Be open to learning from every person that comes your way and ever experience life holds
- Continuously develop new competencies, sharpen skills, fuel mindsets
- Commit to lifelong learning
If we choose to react, we’re choosing to be left behind. After that, catching up is very hard to do.
One thing we all must watch out for is making choices based on what’s easy, rather than on what’s right. Remember that “easy” doesn’t always get the job done. Almost anything worthwhile – that adds meaning and value to our lives is going to require some work. We might have to step out of our comfort zones and we definitely are going to have to start doing some things differently. It’s time to start asking yourself the big questions – and sometimes the tough ones. Like, what can I do differently to ensure my value at my organization? Am I nurturing my relationships, both personally and professionally that people will WANT to keep me in their lives? What am I doing to get in my own way and how do I need to change to embrace success?
To survive in today’s world, you need as much confidence as possible. Every time you make a good choice about your career or financial security or happiness, your confidence level increases. It’s a self-feeding cycle, and it’s one of those things where a big appetite is a very good thing.
