Are You Giving A Gold Medal Performance?

Was this week your best effort? Seriously. Did you give your absolute all to the work, projects or commitments you had before you this week?

This week many of the sports I have been following like soccer, tennis and volleyball concluded their competitions. Watching the teams and individuals alike put their hearts on the line for a chance to win gold is simply inspiring to me. You know as the athlete walks out on that field or court for that gold medal opportunity it's a culmination of a lot of hard work, personal sacrifice and gritty determination. Heck just to be on that stage has to make all the effort, all the struggle and all the countless hours of preparation for that particular moment, that shot, so absolutely worth it.

Sure not everyone will walk away with gold; someone always has to lose. However its better to take your shot and give yourself the opportunity to win than to never be there at all. Pick any athlete in these Olympic games and ask them if they thought they had put themselves in the very best possible position to win. I bet without a doubt even those who lost at their particular event would say I had my chances and gave myself at least the opportunity to win. In the end that's all they could ever ask for.

So you might be thinking what in the world does this have to do with me and my work? To which I would say everything. We all have the opportunity before us to take our lives to that gold medal level every day. Through out actions, our efforts and the connections we make each of us has a chance to put in our very best performance. Some weeks we'll come out on top. Other weeks not so much. But just like an Olympic athlete, you never get that gold medal shot unless you are putting yourself squarely in a position to go and take it.

So I ask you again....

Was this week your best effort? Seriously. Did you give your absolute all to the work, projects or commitments you had before you this week?

If not, why not?

The good news is you have an entirely new week ahead of you. Don't waste it.


Ripple On!!!

Walking Lottery Ticket - Part Two

So you remember yesterday we talked about my giving you a lottery ticket every day without any financial obligation on your part and the only real expectation was your need to come meet me every day to pick up the ticket. One tiny little action that you had to take every day in order to pick up the ticket that gave you a chance at millions of dollars was all that I asked. All it took was investment of a little bit of time and effort on your part...every day without fail.

You got excited. You couldn't believe someone would be so kind and generous at first. You found yourself fantasizing about what the money would do for you and how it would absolutely change your life right? Plus when you won, I wouldn't expect a thing from you....not one red cent of the money would you have to share. What a bargain right?

But then the excuses came. You had this going on or that going and now that golden ticket, the one that could change your life forever, somehow took a backseat to your procrastination, to your excuses, to your laziness. You began to bargain...to make deals for me to watch the ticket, to hold on to it for you but all the while still hoping, still praying that the ticket would payoff. You hoped that even though you didn't have to do a thing (literally) for it that your lottery ticket would finally cash in. I think you and I both know that life doesn't work that way.

I took my time explaining this scenario over two days for a reason.

This happens every day, though the lottery tickets you are given are walking up and down the halls of your office, standing in line with you at Starbucks, will be at today's Chamber luncheon, is the person you rode up with in the elevator this morning and is that person whom you've yet to meet...but will. Your walking lottery tickets are the people whom you know and don't know. They are the ones that literally have the power and capability to do far more than six numbers on a piece of paper could ever do for your life, your career and for your own personal psyche. No, these lottery tickets have the power to effect real change in your world.

And....there's good news!

Every day you and I have the opportunity to meet one of these walking lottery tickets. Yes it takes effort. Yes it takes time. No I can't do it for you...neither can anyone else. It takes you and only you. But just like in our scenario it takes your willingness to show up (and do it every day) wherever the ticket might be to have any shot at cashing in on the opportunity.

People are like a lottery ticket. You have absolutely no idea what you might get when you meet someone new or make that extra effort to get to know someone better. The possibilities are truly endless.

Many of you who've heard me speak or read my book understand that my willingness to go the extra mile, to seek out the walking lottery tickets in my life enabled me to become an entrepreneur and find real success in my life. Those lottery tickets weren't just going to land in my lap...I had to go seek them out and make the effort to find them. But let me tell you it was worth the effort!

No I won't give you any daily lottery tickets but I will tell you that if you would take a different view of the people who cross that path in your life you might just find that your life is filled with tons of potentially winning tickets. The question then becomes, are you going to let the excuses control your destiny or are you going to rise above it all and seek out your winning numbers?

Give it a try because the odds are so much better than any real lottery. Life, by design, works in our favor. You just have to know how to play the game. But just like with a lottery, you have to pay to play.

Good luck and good Rippling!!!

Steve

Walking Lottery Ticket - Part One

So imagine I decided to give you a lottery ticket every single day. No strings attached and the only level of expectation that I would ask of you is your willingness to take one small detour each day to meet me to pick up the ticket. Some days you will have to meet me at my son's soccer practice. Other days you might have to meet me at the some coffee shop. Still other days, you might have to track me down at some painfully boring networking luncheon that you will, by the look on my face, know I went to under some obligation or duress.

Every day, we would have to meet somewhere other than where you are accustomed to going. Yes it might be a pain and yes it might take a little bit of time but the lottery ticket, oh the lottery ticket, could be worth so much more than the time and effort. It could completely change your life. You know that right? The odds just need to work in your favor....just once!

Oh and here's the kicker....when you win (notice I didn't say if) you won't owe me a dime. Now is tracking me down and going out of your way worth the time and effort? Would you be willing to make it priority enough to make sure you leave a little time in your schedule every single day to meet me?

Would you think about that lottery ticket every day? Anticipate how it would feel to meet me on that one special day to pick up the winning lottery ticket? How it feels in your hand and the explosion of excitement as you discover the numbers that are being called to announce the winner are yours. You can imagine it right now can't you?

So here's the question. Would you do exactly what I asked you to do, meet me exactly where I asked you to meet me and do it every single day until the lottery Gods aligned and called your numbers? You can't imagine how many people would commit to me right now that they would do it but then....The car won't start or the kids get sick. The wife is angry because you had to work late. You had a bad day and need to hit the bar instead of driving all the way over there to meet me.

The excuses start to flow as to why you simply can't make it. The bargaining begins. You call me and say "Steve, brother man I am so sorry but I have this or that going on and I simply can't meet you. Can you watch the ticket you have for me and let me know if WE have a winner?" You want me to watch your ticket that you can't make it over to where I am to pick up? What if WE win? Will you have a since of entitlement to the money you didn't actually do anything, literally anything, to earn? Will it still be OUR winner?

Part Two Tomorrow.....