The formula personal, professional, organizational and business success is timeless: Create value for others and you shall prosper and achieve greater abundance, prosperity and fulfillment.
However the secret to success is being pounced upon threatened and in some cases destroyed by the five wolves that hang out in our lives, relationships and behind the water cooler in our workplaces.
Five wolves: Five multiple challenges facing the best and brightest among us: 1. Business, Personal or Corporate Change/Shock 2. Accelerating work and life changes, challenges, competition, transition, turning points 3. Communication and relationship building problems or challenges 4. Personal stumbling block that can make tapping into one’s true potential and happiness difficult 5. Life, work and health crises
While the reality of having to build your own security, rather than relying on the security of organizations, governments, institutions or even our own personal relationship or marriages can be daunting, and the wolves we face can be down right scary…
It can also be invigorating. Invigorating? YES. I am proof, my clients are proof the being invigorating, re-igniting your passion for the possible, tapping into your potential can be done whether you are sitting a top the mountain of success, stuck in the valley wondering what is your best move, or hiding at the bottom of the mountain asking yourself how your personal, professional or business success seems to have slipped through your keen mind, able heart and years of trying to do your best.
Where does the invigoration start? I think it starts with looking at what is RIGHT, as opposed to fixating on what is wrong. I think it starts with beginning to look at the fact that while our personal and career landscapes have changed, the fact that we now live with the reality that change is a constant is a good thing. Change makes us grow; change helps us tap into our true potential, and with every single change in life or work there is an opportunity. Those who achieve success and fulfillment learn to seek out the opportunity in each and every change. And, they learn to use each and every change to WIN the war with wolves by building what terrifies wolves, shuts down wolves and ultimately makes them run for the hills, VPPVG.
Vision: The external stuff. What you think you really want to achieve in your personal life and your work? Sometimes our vision is clouded by the desires of others, sometimes our vision is clouded by false core beliefs that are the reflection of things we were told to believe about life, about work, about ourselves. But, the truth is that we cannot start to WIN the race with wolves, we cannot start to really create a roadmap that will help us engage our potential to achieve greater success and fulfillment in our lives and our work with out a clear vision. And, this clear vision cannot be the vision of those who love us, those who mentor us, those we work for, our parents, teachers, authority figures, spouses or partners. A clear vision is our own personal vision of what we want to achieve in life and work.
Purpose: The internal flame. What your goal is for your lifetime, what you REALLY want to achieve, the legacy you really want to create. It is a known fact that most people spend more time deciding on which movies to go to than really thinking about their purpose. Your purpose counts, my purpose counts and when we lose sight of our purpose we lose our anchor. However, too many of us spend our lives drifting holding on to the anchor of someone else. We lose sight of the important of discovering our purpose, the reason that we are here living this life, doing the work we do….and, and then we float. Floating can be okay, but it never allows us to really live life with true and sustainable gusto, it never allows us to feel true peace of mind, self love or satisfaction because we are floating waiting to see which way the current will turn, searching for an anchor that is not our own. Can you find your life purpose on your own? Some of us can, most of us cannot because as visionary, Marshall McLuhan said, and “I do not know who created the water, but I know it was not the fish.” Sometimes the most difficult thing we face is separating ourselves from the environment in which we live and work so that we can find our own true purpose, and also see the water (the opportunities) that might be right in front of our face.
Passion: Ah, yes the flame behind your true purpose. The things that you do that really make you feel at one with the universe, enabled, empowered, engaged, valuable. Passion drives our best thoughts, best actions, best leadership, best work, and best relationships. After our survival needs have been met, all human beings share the desire to feel valued, loved worthwhile. It is this desire, and our intrinsic strengths, talents and spiritual strength that create positive passion. Finding out what our true passion is, determining what it is that makes us feel valued, loved, worthwhile in our lives and work is important, if not critical.
Values: We all have values that help form our map of the world. Values that tell us what is right, what is wrong. Values that determine how we speak, act and the boundaries we set up in our interactions and relationships with others. When our core values our out of sync we feel is disconnection with our true self. When you values are not lived in our relationships and in our work there is a conflict that is growing. The lives we lead, the relationship we build, the work we do must be in alignment with our values. And, if it is not we will never achieve the success and happiness we seek because this misalignment of values will create an inner conflict that insidiously threatens, erodes or destroys our passion, purpose and potential.
Goals: Not rocket science, but most of us are so busy, so caught up in what we need to do, should do, and have to do that we forget about our goals. While many of us have read that people who set their goals, people who write down their goals are more likely to achieve them, actually taking the time to do this requires commitment and effort. And, in the heat of arguments, or when we are under stress our true goals and objectives can almost disappear from our consciousness. In the daily bump and grind of life and career it takes discipline and practice to really reflect upon our true goals. Goals are not achieved by simply writing them down and forgetting about them. Goals that you need to think about, build and engage my picking objectives that stretch you so that they will help you grow. Goals that you need to embrace, read/tell to yourself and internalize on a regular basis so that they become real. Goals that reflect: Your vision, purpose, passion and values.
Tips on Building VPPVG, winning the war with wolves and living your best life: Where can you start to build VPPVG? The first place is with desire. If you really want to start WINNING the race with wolves, living your best life, enjoying greater success and satisfaction in your life, your relationships your career YOU need to engage your desire. No one can do it for you. Once you have the desire, the opportunity to find a coach, professional or friend who will help you really understand and engage VPPVG will present itself. The key to winning the war with wolves like everything else in life starts with your desire.
Acknowledging your desire, putting your ego aside and reaching out to find someone who can help you create a new roadmap to success and greater fulfillment. A roadmap that will help you negotiate changes, challenges, transitions and even crises, because VPPVG is a timeless answer. And, in an era where our access to knowledge, information and technology has not yet helped us to really engage our true potential to create greater prosperity and peace for all, being able to build VPPVG in yourself will also help you inspire the same type of growth in those you love, those you lead and those you serve.
The second place is fighting the fear factor. Yes, we all have an innate fear of change, and sometimes making a decision, even a positive decision to win the war with wolves is scary, and can keep us stuck in stasis. If you want to make a change, if you want to win the war a wolf, or many wolves in your life and work accept that fear is what we all fear. And, know that you do not have to be held hostage by any emotion, even fear. You can use the strength of your desire to let go of the fear factor and make an important investment in your best self, best work and best life. The third place is moving from thinking to doing.
The best laid plans of mice and men are irrelevant if our ideas, our thoughts, our desires are not actualized. Having the desire to win the race with wolves by developing you VPPVG is the start, but taking making this desire actionable is the solution.