I had the opportunity to witness a remarkable event in Sydney where Tony Robbins was appearing. An incredible experience to say the least. He certainly lived up to his reputation of being a brilliant presenter. In a room that was close to ‘freezing’ (Tony likes it that way), there was an audience of 3,000 expectant followers, who digested his style, his presence and quickly embraced the energy of his session.
Tony was able to build passion and energy within the room, so that even introverts (of which I deem to be) were caught up in the fervour of the moment. The atmosphere became electric. Imagine 3,000 people readily interacting with those around them and even hugging complete strangers. We were ‘high fiving’, punching the air and saying “YES”, not once but several times, until we believed we could do anything.
The stimulus of that event cannot be understated. The exhilaration of being part of something amazing stays with you. Tony’s words were many, but the overriding message was we all have the ability ‘to create a life that overflows with lasting success and fulfilment’.
The event reinforced what is important – putting ourselves and our needs first. Such a difficult thing to do when other pressures rear their heads. Planning to achieve a personal goal is so important to ensure our well-being of who we are, and how we see ourselves, remembering that we as individuals are people too.
We need to pursue what we believe is possible, because if you think about it, anything is possible if we have the inclination and determination to make it happen. Whether in our personal lives or our career, we are what we plan to be. How we see ourselves can either build us up or tear us down, the choice is ours.
As Tony said, “the purpose of a goal is to grow”. I am sure you would agree that without growth we stagnate and never reach the fulfilment we seek, such a shame as life really is for living.
It is unfortunate to note then a recent study by CareerBuilder.com stated that a whopping 58% of Managers said they didn’t receive any management training. They were promoted because they were good at what they did and were not necessarily good at making the people around them better. This equated to employee engagement being at a low ebb, with nearly 70% of employees actively ‘disengaged’.
Staff can only be as good as their manager allows them to be. Profound? Yes, I believe it is. When a manager doesn’t see an employee’s potential, their career can be stymied, and it won’t be long before that person is looking for ‘greener pastures’. This situation will cause the ongoing ‘health’ of an organisation to dive bomb as talented staff look to find better career options elsewhere, taking their wealth of experience with them.
Talk to anyone and they can relate a period in their life where adversity has affected them in some way, however more to the point, is how they ‘worked through’ the difficulties and ultimately achieved momentum to move on, which is the real key to achieving dreams and career goals.
Tony’s message “the purpose of a goal is to grow”, is certainly significant. We can choose to sit back and allow life to take over, or we can take hold of it with both hands and squeeze everything possible out of it, and in so doing enhance the potential for living a life on purpose.
People often complain about the lack of time when the lack of direction is the real problem. (Author unknown).
My message is not to let outside circumstance circumvent your own true potential. Whether it is your manager who doesn’t understand what it takes to assist you to be successful or, a difficult situation that strikes and takes you ‘off track’ for a period of time. It is up to everyone to continue to pursue what is important.
The goal may be different, but persistence pays. You may need to take a different pathway for a time, but with the ultimate goal in sight, it will bring you back on track as and when that becomes possible.
Make sure you take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves, don’t overlook the potential of a new idea, another way of thinking, as you just never know where this may take you.
Life is like a piece of string you never know how long it is, so the trick is not to waste it sitting in a role where you no longer have an interest, where the potential for advancement is limited, and it doesn’t ‘rock your boat’ every day you are there.
However, you might also want to think about having a conversation with your manager before making the decision to move on, as they may not understand your career aspirations, and may even be able to assist you to meet your immediate career needs. You just never know what can transpire.
One word of warning, never leave one position, until you have the new contract signed. In other words, don’t burn your bridges. It is pointless making a rash decision which results in the loss of wages and doesn’t augur well when applying for another position.
With 2022 well underway, I wonder if many of the 75% disgruntled employees have invested time and energy into changing their situation.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if at Christmas you can look back at the past few months and see a renewed passion and energy in your life and how that enthusiasm has affected how see yourself and your career.
To reach any goal you need to take the first step, which builds momentum to ultimately reaching a predetermined destination.
Good Luck.