Is your “Platform for S.U.C.C.E.S.S.” comprised of:
Strength
Uniqueness
Competency
Core
Energy
Structure
Sustainability
Strength of vision, purpose and mission are requisites for success. We must visualize to realize. If we are to realize, we must summon stamina commensurate with the strength of our purpose. Strength is the mental muscle necessary to pull or push our way through, over and around the obstacles of adversity.
Here comes the poet, Robert Frost, moving with alacrity down the road less traveled. The courage to be unique requires the moxie necessary to challenge the status-quo. A “rebel without a clue” is simply a clueless fool. Become a rebel for your own cause by first learning what that cause is, and then align its execution with the ways and methods that provide for the betterment of others. Success is earned by first learning that in life, we must cooperate to flourish. You buy this and live this only if you believe this. It exists at the core or on the fringes of your spirituality. If it is beyond your fringe, disregard this section.
Competency brings substance to confidence. Competent confidence is contagious. Learn your trade. Learn a new skill. Polish and refine those trades and skills every day by seeking small steps toward improvement. If you seek to scale the heights of Mt. Olympus, the Pantheon of Champions, make every move a step towards the summit.
Self-knowledge and conviction is conceived from our core and expands externally through our word, action and demeanor. Commitment, conviction and self-belief are the ineffable (difficult to describe) elements that move people. Passionate fervor, when bridled by professional decorum is a contagion that creates the opportunity to win the heart of another.
Your personal platform is supported by four sources of energy – emotional, intellectual, spiritual and physical. Emotional energy connects through empathy, fuels your purpose and makes your commitment stick through its connection to both. The mind holds the anchor of logic to your platform. The body is the vessel that imports and exports the concepts that enable you to physically feel each of the realms. Focus your energy and competitive fire on the goal; choose not to create enmity or wish for ill will to befall another. There is a cost associated with winning. Don’t lose your soul on the altar of a deal that is void of integrity.
Now is about then; what is happening today is a product of what happened yesterday. You have arrived at your station today from the sum total of yesterday’s planned design, effort, resilience and result. Structure your day today to prepare yourself for the challenges of tomorrow. Take the time to learn. Find the opportunity to apply what you’ve learned. Don’t settle, feel the restless urge to improve. Life is supported by forward progress. Progress is the product of structured discipline and focused activity.
One hit wonders are aberration or accident. Sustainability requires talent, stamina, vision and adaptation. If you seek to leave a legacy, your product, approach or process must be sustainable. Success can be sustained – personally and corporately – if you are always under construction. Yesterday’s ideas will fade in the patina of obsolescence unless they are revived, discarded or reinvented to anticipate or address the demands of the future. “Because it’s the way we’ve always done it” is the tombstone of those “walking dead” who embrace the statement as mantra of mission statement.
