You Get What You Work For...or...Do you?

Good Morning!

I bet that your week has been full of challenges...some successful and others...

Hopefully you have been left with questions...like...

"What did I do to deserve this?"

As I reflect on my week...I realized that I should not only be asking this question when things did not go the way that I thought...

But also when things did go the way I planned or even when they surpassed my expectations...

Do you question every effort and accomplishment, their status, and your intentions and performance on a weekly basis?

If not...you are simply putting your success in the hands of the randomness of life...

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There are a ton of advocates of visioning and plans...

I see literally hundreds of quotes, per week, on Twitter that emphasize the importance of plans in relation to goals (dreams)...and secrets of success and all of it focused on a person's mindset...

Goals and plans are great...but neither get a person any closer to success...without action...

AND...

Action is meaningless if it is not controlled...

Consider the uncontrolled energy expended (and the subsequent results) related to a nuclear explosion!

Although the intent of the explosion is achieved...its ultimate goal...

It is only destructive...although their may be political justifications for such use...it remains totally destructive...

When that same energy is controlled and directed...the results are amazing!

We live as comfortably as we do because of the control afforded by reactors...and the harnessing of energy far beyond that of a nuclear explosion...

To a great extent...Our lives are like that...

We can achieve critical mass...

There are two paths at that juncture...

One that leads to total destruction and the other that leads to unimaginable construction!

Without constant monitoring...that energy channels (naturally) towards the destructive end of the spectrum...

Without control...the energy is wasted...or worse...destroys...

A person must constantly question every activity and control it...otherwise...

That individual will wake up asking..."What have I done to deserve this?"

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Life is not a short-term proposition...

It is to be faced head-on and addressed in the long-run...

A simple way to achieve success is to focus on the long term goals...with persistent action...and consistent results...

The shorter the time frame...the higher the probability that you will not get what you are working towards...

This leads me to an interesting observation relative to success...

The interesting thing is that it is statistically supported...

Case in point...

In the short-run...when sampling...there is a higher probability of variation...

In the long-term...the probability of an individual (random) sample's value...tends to move towards the mean of the population...

What this means is that accuracy of prediction the results improves as the time frame from which the sample is drawn and the number of data points increases.

What we can learn from this is that if you find yourself failing more than succeeding...when combined with the randomness of life (relative to control)...adjust your expectations more realistically and put your goal further out (increase your time frame...) and put more data points (meaningful, directed and controlled activities) between where you are and your assessment (prediction or goal)...

Think about this...it is not black and white...

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It is a simple fact of life that until you are "out on your own"...and then a majority time this is not even true...that...

What you are given is a gift...in fact undeserved charity!

Someone has cut you slack or wants you to get more than you deserve because they see potential...

or...they simply like you!

Think about the extreme example of your mother...she sees the best in you when if she were not driven by a huge amount of hormones...she would have sent you to a foster home long ago!

She picks up after you...cooks for you...changes your diapers...forgives you for some terrible things...

You do not deserve her love and support...you are not entitled to it...

If you got what you deserved...relative to how you treated her...you should be serving time in a prison camp!

How often to you really show appreciation to her?

Mother's Day?  Christmas?  Her Birthday?

How often does she have to ask for the same things...over and over?

How often did you do something helpful...unsolicited?

Get real with yourself and face the fact that you lived a huge portion of your life on charity...

Enough of that!

Given this "fact"...a critical component of a successful person is appreciation for the charity that you have been given...

Up to the point that you earn everything that you have...and I mean really earn..not some jaded and self-deluded justification of your product or service...

You are no better than a thankless beggar...in fact...you are worse than someone who does live up to their commitment to  "work for food!"

Your life and your paycheck is pure charity...most often because you did not really meet expectations (even though you have deluded yourself into believing you did fantastic) and got another chance...

Be honest...if your performance isn't original...earthshaking...or a world's record...it is simply common...with someone accepting it through a charitable action!

I have observed many people finding themselves in the unemployment ranks...asking "Why me?"...when other comparatively (from your perception) incompetent people are still employed by the same companies...

What did you do to deserve it?

In many cases...that plight was due to the individulal's lack of appreciation for the gifts and the charity that they had been given...

Think about it...

All things come with a cost...the answer to another question...puts things into perspective...

"What did I have to put up with to get what I needed?"

In many cases...the cost of doing business with some people is simply too high!

These are the people who get laid-off...

The simple fact is you are either an asset or a liability...

What are you?

What are the costs associated with keeping you around?

Perhaps it may be simply for entertainment purposes or someone to blame failure on!

Stop thinking that you have value!

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Another fact...

Getting laid-off is simply a nice way for a company to say..."You are fired!"

You have to come to grips with that fact and find out what was wrong with you...

But on the opposite side of the spectrum...you have to ask...

"Why am I still working?"

"Are you a major kiss-*&$?"

Are you simply an entertaining "intersection beggar?"

How much more charity can you get before they see who you really are?

Do you really work for food?

Do you really fulfill your commitments?

Are you giving the company what they want without messing with the data...and lying to hold on to your job?

Realize that you are on the lay-off list...your time to be fired will come to...

It doesn't matter where you are in life...

You need to be asking yourself..."What is wrong with me?"

AND you need to do something about it!

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Like Michelangelo...

The statue of David resides within the block of stone...it is up to you to get it out!

How?

You need to chip away at that block of marble...taking away everything that is not David...until at last you are left with the masterpiece!

It is all of the baggage that you carry that stands between you and a masterpiece!

Rest assured...in the long run...

You will ultimately get what you work for...or what you do not work for!

If you do not chop at your life...there may be a masterpiece may still be hidden within...but it will not be visible or real...

Some people are afraid to chop because it will expose what a fraud and failure they really are...(there is no masterpiece!)

Rest Assured...

People will lose their patience and give you what you really deserve!

Then you have to move on...seeking other opportunities...

The cool thing about this is that in the age of the internet...

News travels fast...and who then is going to trust you?

If you are not working..."What's wrong with you?"

If you are still working..."What's wrong with you?

It is a narrow path that one must walk to be successful...and it requires effort to stay on that path!

Visioning...dreaming...planning..."Secrets"...are all well and good...but the fact of the matter is...

It is YOU who needs to walk...

Stop standing on the corner and begging...

You don't deserve anything...

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I enjoy asking myself the hard questions...and you should too!

If you are afraid to see who you really are and what little, you are truly capable of doing...then you will never get out of the ranks of beggar...and will live your life jumping from "fool to fool!"

That too will come to an end...

Grab your bucket...put on that orange vest and find a busy intersection...

Or...

Find a piece of cardboard and a permanent marker and write..."Will work for food..."

Success looks for no charity...

It only takes what it deserves...and earns...

It does not look for something for nothing...there is no entitlement in charity...

It holds a sign that says..."Will work for what I get!"

and it holds true to its commitments!

It show appreciation and strives to repay every good act done to them...

No excuses...

Truly successful people get what they work for and still count all of it a gift and a blessing!

Be among the truly successful people...

Stop sitting around thinking that you deserve anything...the truth is...you don't...good or bad!

Pura Vida!