A Major Shift In My Life!

It is no secret I suffer from the same disease that I’ve helped thousands overcome. Those wretched thought patterns that have buried themselves so deeply in my psyche that they have become automatic. The problem with these patterns is that they no longer serve me. They come up like thieves to rob me of achieving my very best. 
 
Maybe you have run into these thieves as well. You know, the ones that as soon as you hit a snare in life, begin to tell you how dysfunctional and unfit you are for success. 
 
As long as you stay in your little comfort box of average, they are happy, but the moment you begin to stretch your wings, to strive toward greatness, there they are, the little demons within who are ready to push you back in your tight little average box.
 
Well, I’ve been working on some really big things lately, I’m getting published in a major Law Review Journal, I’ve been working on a huge contract with a local college to train the students and professors on leadership and communication, and I’ve been working on a really huge opportunity with Cisco, a California tech company. By and large each one of these are really big deals. 
 
But as life would have it, each one ran into a snare at the same time! This one thing I know, life isn’t about living on coast, it’s about seizing opportunity. But with opportunity comes challenges.
 
Here’s the rub, suddenly my old patterns came to pull me away. “This is too big a deal for you”, “What are you doing, you can’t do this.” …and on and on ad nauseum. Essentially those voices were telling me to stop trying to achieve greatness, get back in your average box. Sound familiar?

Then came the shift. 
 
You see patterns of thinking are learned. They can only control us to the point we allow them. It’s easy, as a coach, to spot in others-- but to make the shift--to shift from an old tried and untrue pattern to a new one, is a long slow road. 
 
Then this happened. I could feel the all too familiar downward spiral, then I stopped. And with great effort made a shift. “I got this”, “Think, just think this through”, and so the conversation went. I took some time to really focus on the issues and took the focus off of my abilities/inabilities.
 
This was a major breakthrough. Usually I’m fine with the little things but when really really big issues hit all at once, especially during these gloomy southern winters, I have sadly allowed those little demons to get the upper hand.
 
But not this time!
 
The new patterns pushed me back on track in a matter of hours. This is a huge shift! I regrouped, figured out a plan and, WOW, what a shift.
 
I’m back in negotiations with Cisco and now I have other high-level individuals on my team, I’ve learned the real obstacle in the way of the College of Business contract and taking action to correct the issue. That’s not all!  My paper will not just get published in one-- but numerous-- Law Reviews, Journals, and other publications. 
 
What became a major hurdle has now turned into enormous opportunity beyond anything I could have dreamed.
 
There are two kinds of people. Those that allow the ocean of mediocrity to toss them about and those who steer the ship. Don’t live your life drifting in some ocean of mediocrity. Take the oars and start to steer your ship in the direction of greatness. You WILL get there.