Don't Wait For Your Ship To Come In - Swim Out And Meet It!
Growing up in a single-parent household, and one with little resources, it was a common refrain from Mom upon all requests from my sister and me for anything extra, "Wait until my ship comes in." Maybe you heard that as your grew up or perhaps you say it to your own children today.
If I asked for those white, high top, Chuck Taylor basketball shoes, or just shoes that didn't have a hole in the sole, the answer was always, wait until my ship comes in. My sister and I are pretty sure that the ship was sunk off the coast of Jacksonville Beach and was never seen again.
As working professionals, we catch ourselves thinking, if not saying, things will be better if only my ship comes in, or I win the lottery, or a rich relative gets promoted to the church triumphant, or... you get the picture. We pass on that attitude to our family, co-workers and friends. It becomes a deeply entrenched; however, potentially negative way of planning for your future. The feelings that we are downtrodden and there is no way out of the current economic challenges except by some miraculous occurrence that has the same odds as winning the Powerball, or about 17 million to one, is debilitating.
The energy that you expend on unproductive thoughts can be better used. One of life's hard lessons is that you are complicit in your failure. You cannot claim credit for success unless you also own failure. That hurts doesn't it? I know about failure on a grand scale. It's a human characteristic (blunder is more descriptive) to lay the blame for our short comings and failures at the feet of others. I have done that too.
There are lots of valid reasons, excuses, and events beyond our control that contribute to success and failure. There are thousands of books on self improvement, motivation, and anecdotal stories of overcoming both. Here's a little secret... you need to be OCD to be successful in your personal and professional lives.
What's OCD, you ask? Its three keys to success that have been distilled to their simplest meaning and instruction.
Objective: You have to have them or at least one. Call it a mission, call it a vision, what you call it is not important. Why do you do the things you do? For whom?
Commitment: Stick to it, don't give up, and press on. You are accountable for your own success or failure. Nothing changes if nothing changes.
Direction: Taking the right actions, for the right reasons, at the right time, with the right people, produces the right outcomes.
Find whatever it is that you are passionate about and get to it. Each of us has a talent and skill to do something and when you add the desire for that vocation that is in your heart, success will not be denied.
Don't wait on your ship to come in. Swim out to it and climb aboard to greet it.
Growing up in a single-parent household, and one with little resources, it was a common refrain from Mom upon all requests from my sister and me for anything extra, "Wait until my ship comes in." Maybe you heard that as your grew up or perhaps you say it to your own children today.
If I asked for those white, high top, Chuck Taylor basketball shoes, or just shoes that didn't have a hole in the sole, the answer was always, wait until my ship comes in. My sister and I are pretty sure that the ship was sunk off the coast of Jacksonville Beach and was never seen again.
As working professionals, we catch ourselves thinking, if not saying, things will be better if only my ship comes in, or I win the lottery, or a rich relative gets promoted to the church triumphant, or... you get the picture. We pass on that attitude to our family, co-workers and friends. It becomes a deeply entrenched; however, potentially negative way of planning for your future. The feelings that we are downtrodden and there is no way out of the current economic challenges except by some miraculous occurrence that has the same odds as winning the Powerball, or about 17 million to one, is debilitating.
The energy that you expend on unproductive thoughts can be better used. One of life's hard lessons is that you are complicit in your failure. You cannot claim credit for success unless you also own failure. That hurts doesn't it? I know about failure on a grand scale. It's a human characteristic (blunder is more descriptive) to lay the blame for our short comings and failures at the feet of others. I have done that too.
There are lots of valid reasons, excuses, and events beyond our control that contribute to success and failure. There are thousands of books on self improvement, motivation, and anecdotal stories of overcoming both. Here's a little secret... you need to be OCD to be successful in your personal and professional lives.
What's OCD, you ask? Its three keys to success that have been distilled to their simplest meaning and instruction.
Objective: You have to have them or at least one. Call it a mission, call it a vision, what you call it is not important. Why do you do the things you do? For whom?
Commitment: Stick to it, don't give up, and press on. You are accountable for your own success or failure. Nothing changes if nothing changes.
Direction: Taking the right actions, for the right reasons, at the right time, with the right people, produces the right outcomes.
Find whatever it is that you are passionate about and get to it. Each of us has a talent and skill to do something and when you add the desire for that vocation that is in your heart, success will not be denied.
Don't wait on your ship to come in. Swim out to it and climb aboard to greet it.
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