Let's Get Real...

Good Morning...

Mt PC is still in the shop...so I am doing the best that I can...writing this on my Blackberry...

I am learning to do the best with what I have...without regrets...

Thank you for understanding...it is quite a challenge...

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I hope that this week you:

- Achieved what you set out to do...or...
- Got one step closer to what you wanted...or...
- Realized that what you desired was not worth the effort....AND...you changed your direction!

There is that old cliche..."winners never quit and quitters never win"

As I think about it...there may be times that quitting is winning!

That is especially true when you are pursuing the wrong things (goals)...or those aspirations that are truly unrealistic...

The reality is that one must be realistic about their pursuits...in order to achieve them...

I recently posted a thought on Face book...

"Unless you have received a posthomous award for your efforts...you have never even approached giving 100%..."

We have become unrealistic about performance and the amount of effort invested in our pursuits...both of ourselves...and of others...

How many times have you said or heard...he or she gave 110% to this job or project?

Let's "Get real!"

How much are we really giving in pursuit of our goals...

Ignorant or deceived people believe that they have given more than 100% or that their friends or subordinates have done the same...

Few have given level of efforts approaching 100%.  Those few are the heroes of legends...not those who are standing and breathing around you!

These are the people who have made the supreme sacrifice (died) to achieve what they believed in...

Oh...I know...it is just a figure of speech...

But sayings like these things are viral...

If we start using them...we soon begin to believe them...

and it is those beliefs that move us further from the truth...

let's do a back of the envelope calculation...

suppose that you work 12 hours/day...5 days per week...(that is a lot of work)

In total...that is 60 hours/week

There are 168 hours in a 7 day week...

Given those two figures your career investment is about 36%.  This a quite a distance from 110% isn't it?

110% is not real or possible! 

Stop using that cliche!

Even 100% is not real unless you died in the effort...

I would love to see a sentence in a performance evaluation that says..."X" has gone above and beyond expectations giving a full 38% to the effort!  Sounds silly doesn't it...but it is real!

If you are reading this blog...you have never given 100% to anything that you have attempted...

That actually is a good thing...I am glad that you are still alive!

Yet true success...depends upon being realistic both about your goals and the effort used to achieve your goals...

What are you willing to invest in your goals...

I have "ranted" enough!

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I was channel surfing the other evening and happened upon one of my favorite "classic" movies...

Forrest Gump

One of my favorite lines in the movie is

"Life is like a box of chocolates...you never know what you are getting until you bite into one..."

A great thought...it is profound and elegant in its simplicity...

As I reflect on this...I think a bit more needs to be added...

Every chocolate in "the box" is delicious...but some do not appeal to individual tastes...

Some people are very "picky" and will only eat a select few chocolates...while others will devour the entire box...

Hidden within this observation is the fact that contentment comes from either finding and eating only the chocolates that appeal to your tastes...or learning to appreciate every chocolate that you bite into...

I seek the latter!

Although I would prefer to eat only what suits my tastes...

Satisfaction comes from learning to appreciate every chocolate that we are given...

...Life is more complete for those who are content with whatever life hands them...

...while knowing that there are always more treats to be had...

Enough Said!

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Today's update may seem a bit fatalistic...

It is not meant to be...

It comes from my realization that I need to be simultaneously content with what I have received...and in pursuit of the right things in the future...

I disagree with the statement that we do not know what the future holds...

The laws of "cause/effect" are immutable...the future (the effect) will be exactly what it is going to be...based upon the sum total of the "causes"

These causes have been amassed from one's past and combined with present decision and situations...

Some things coming are unavoidable...some can be averted...

The beauty is that can "water down" the unavoidable negativity of some of the effects...by the correct decisions and action...TODAY...

We can shift the tides...by choice...

Life is not fatalistic...it is dynamic...

It is meant to be enjoyed...

We can enjoy it if we simply get real and stop deluding ourselves...

Have a great weekend!

My thumbs are tired...

PURA VIDA!