Don't Miss The Boat

Last ten days to go for 2015. Some people will miss the finish line and end up short of their goals. No amount of review meets can suppress the regret that pops up ‘I should have done this’ and ‘I could have done that’. Success like failure is a personal thing. List out all your ‘I could have’s’ and ‘I should have’s’ and put them into action right away.

Pull up all the stops, put away all the inhibitions, silence the fears and take that leap of faith into giving your all and aiming for the best performance of your life.

And no matter what happens, no matter how many ‘no’s’ or disappointments you may face on an hourly or daily basis, DO NOT take your eyes off the goal. Your world rests on your vision. If you take your eyes off the road and look to the left for 3 seconds, your car will move left by 3 degrees. Imagine if you took your eyes off the road for 10 seconds. You would be dead. Stay focused. Don’t let the obstacles deter you. Let the vision of your goal inspire you.

Use your urgency to your advantage. Don’t let the urgency of achievement make you desperate. No one likes desperate people, whether in business or in love. Use your urgency to involve people in your purpose. I was at the traffic signal one time and a street hawker knocked my window. He told me that he had the last box of strawberries to sell and if could take it he would make it in time to catch the last train home, which was 2 hours out of the city. I bought it. I had no plan to buy the strawberries but didn’t mind the purchase as it had a higher satisfaction attached to it. My box of strawberries got someone’s daddy home.

When the water level is rising more rapidly than your performance, it’s time for SOS action. Collaborate with your seniors. Don’t be afraid to meet up with the senior leadership and borrow their experience and viewpoint for ideas. They have walked in your shoes after all and they have very high stakes in your performance. I have seen teams that work tightly with the leadership have very high chances of success.

If the inflow of numbers is still eluding you, it’s time to push the pedal on the outflow. Inflow equals outflow. This is the law of the universe. What you give, you get in abundance. What goes around comes around. Your only focus should be outflow, the inflow will come, by law, it’s guaranteed. Decide the proportion of inflow you want and adjust the proportion of the outflow.

Have faith in your purpose. Treat everyone as a beneficiary of that purpose. You can never underestimate the power of goodness. Just because you don’t know him doesn’t mean that the person you met randomly at the airport cannot be a potential customer. Treat people the way you would treat your highest paying customer and you will make one as you do. Just because I am not yet your customer, should not stop you from making me a beneficiary of what you do by involving me and aligning me to your purpose.

Regret is a killer. Kill it now with determination to do what you know is right, what you know you should do, and following it through till the end. Success is waiting for those who reach the finish line. Get there to put a deserving closure to the sacrifices, you and your family made the whole year long.

Rooting for your success.