David J. Pollay's Blog

Monday Morning Momentum™: Stay In the Game Long Enough to Succeed ©

                                     

Welcome to Monday Morning Momentum!  Each Monday I lay out a simple momentum plan for you to follow: I help you focus on one thing each week that will increase your momentum in your career, business, and life.  Thanks for being here!  Best to you, David

------------------------------------------------------------

Stay in the Game Long Enough to Succeed Ó

Your dreams

Many people give up on their dreams.  They face a challenge, or a series of setbacks, and then they question their ability to succeed.  The payoff for their effort seems too far away to justify the frustration and disappointment they are experiencing today.  But what if they hung in there just a little bit longer?  Could the success they are striving for be just around the corner?

27 years ago

A high school friend of mine, Big John, recently reminded me of an event that took place twenty-seven years ago in our high school gym.  He wrote about it in our high school anniversary alumni program.  Big John said it was one of his best high school memories.  It’s a simple story about what can happen when you stay in the game.

I was a sophomore in high school when I joined the Saturday morning basketball league.  I played on my friend Sal’s team.  And we had a good enough season to play for the championship against Johnny Malo’s (all names are changed for this story) team – the team that taunted us all week before the game that they had a big plan to shut us down.

Well, championship Saturday came and their “big plan” was working…on me!  I was having my worst game of the season; I couldn’t make a basket.  It was the rest of the team that kept us in the game.

So, it came down to the last ten seconds of the game and we were tied.   And who had the ball?  Johnny Malo.

Johnny Malo took the ball down court, passed it to Frank, who dribbled around two of our guys, put up a jump shot, and with one second remaining, he made it!  We were down by two, and Johnny Malo was jumping up and down like he was a contestant on the “The Price Is Right!”

Our last chance

So with one second left on the clock, we took our last timeout and huddled around Sal to hear his plan.  And this was what he said, “Throw it to the open guy.”  “What?!,” I said.  “What kind of plan is that?!  Throw it down to Big John.”  See Big John was the only one of us over six feet tall and he was a good ballplayer.  But, then Sal said, “Nahh, throw it to the open guy.”

So we ran back on the court and Earl stood on the side trying to pass the ball in bounds.  I ran to the far corner of the court to give Big John as much room as possible; I still wanted him to get the pass.  And what do you think Frank did?  Correct.  He threw the ball to me:  the guy farthest from the basket, and the one who only made two baskets all game long.

The shot

So I jumped high to catch the pass, grabbed it with two hands, swung the ball in front of me, and let it fly!

The gym was quiet as we all watched the ball arc high and toward the hoop.  And then as the ball started descending in the direction of the basket the silence of the crowd was replaced with a rising chorus of “ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yeaaaaahhh!  The ball went in!

We couldn’t believe it – a three pointer to win the game and the championship!  The place went nuts!

And twenty-seven years later Big John wrote about this moment in our alumni program.  We both knew that I had wanted to take myself out of that game.  I had lost my confidence; I thought I had already taken enough shots.  But I stayed in the game and I was given one more opportunity to make one of the most memorable shots of my life.

I learned that you have to stay in the game long enough to succeed.

What game are you playing in?  Your shot may be just around the corner.

This week

Look at all of your most important projects.  Which ones matter the most to you?  Which ones do you consider critical to your success and happiness?

All of us have given up on something at some time in our lives.  The question this week is whether or not you are going to stick it out with what means the most to you in your life?

This week identify one dream you will not give up on.  What is it?  Write it down.  Carry it in your wallet, or put it in your purse.  Keep it in your planner.  And tell the people you love.

Decide to stay in this important game long enough to succeed.

Invite Your Family and Friends to Join You

And if you want your family, colleagues and friends to join you on your momentum journey, send this post along to them.  Have a great week, and let me know how it goes!

------------------------------------------------------------

And remember you can sign up for my newsletter, Monthly Momentum Minutesä, right here.

Monday Morning Momentum™: Don’t Let the Peanuts Run Your Life

                               

Welcome to Monday Morning Momentum!  Each Monday I lay out a simple momentum plan for you to follow: I help you focus on one thing each week that will increase your momentum in your career, business, and life.  Thanks for being here!  Best to you, David 

------------------------------------------------------------

Don’t Let the Peanuts Run Your Life Ó                                                                                                        

I love peanuts

I love peanuts.  I like them salted or unsalted.  I like them sweet or savory.  You can put them in my dinner or in my dessert.  I never met a peanut I didn’t like.  It is a joy to eat peanuts!

It’s also a challenge to eat peanuts.  Peanuts pack a caloric punch.  Too many peanuts per day and you have to loosen your belt.  One day I decided to reduce my peanut intake.  I resolved not to eat peanuts after dinner, or for a late night snack. 

I tried not to eat peanuts

So, the next night I had dinner.  And sure enough, I had a thought to eat some peanuts.  But I reminded myself that I had decided not to eat peanuts.  So I did not eat peanuts. 

And then it happened.  An hour later I was standing in my kitchen with salt on my lips, peanuts in my mouth, and another load ready to go.  But, I did not remember opening the cabinet, reaching down to the bottom shelf, grabbing the peanut jar – okay, the peanut tub – and putting a handful of delicious peanuts in my mouth.  It was only after I stuck my hand in the tub of peanuts a second time I thought, “Whoa!  Whoa!  Whoa!  How did this happen?  How did I end up here?!” 

The unconscious mind

Psychology researcher Jonathan Haidt of the University of Virginia explains this phenomenon with a metaphor he calls the “Rider and the Elephant.”  In his book The Happiness Hypothesis, and in his earlier research papers, Haidt described how the “rider” is our conscious mind, and the “elephant” is our unconscious mind.  We are constantly trying to guide our body and thoughts in the direction we want them to go.  The challenge is, as Haidt’s metaphor illustrates, when an elephant is determined to go somewhere, it will, rider in tow.

The challenge of change

Now take my peanut example to another level.  What if you want to change something important in your life?  If you decide that you are going to do something differently, but you are not aware of what is happening below the surface, in your unconscious, how will you succeed?  The answer is “you won’t.” 

Haidt warns, “The rider can’t just decide to change and then order the elephant to go along with the program.  Lasting change can come only by retraining the elephant, and that’s hard to do.”  The key to achieving new and important things in your life is to find out what is unconsciously limiting you and then replace it with a belief that will enable your success. 

Uncovering your beliefs

Your most potent levers of sustainable change are your beliefs.  Uncover your beliefs and you will find out why you do what you do.  You will learn more about your “elephant.”

This week

So here’s one approach to drawing out your beliefs.  This week start by identifying an important and big goal in your life and how soon you would like to reach it.  Make sure this goal would change your life dramatically if you achieved it. 

Now grab a pen and answer these questions. 

(1)    What will I gain if I achieve my goal? 

(2)    What will I have to do to accomplish my goal? 

(3)    What will I have to give up to reach my goal? 

(4)    What will happen if I fail to meet my goal?

Start each of your answers with “I believe I…” to help elicit your beliefs.  Now look at your answers.  These are some of the beliefs you hold relative to your goal. 

The question, then, is which of these beliefs will help you achieve your goal and which ones will hold you back. 

Your success in life depends on your ability to uncover and change your limiting beliefs to those that will fire you up and bring out your greatness.

Don’t let the peanuts run your life. 

Invite Your Family and Friends to Join You

And if you want your family, colleagues and friends to join you on your momentum journey, send this post along to them.  Have a great week, and let me know how it goes!

------------------------------------------------------------

And remember you can sign up for my newsletter, Monthly Momentum Minutesä, right here.