Monday, March 17, 2008

66 Tips For Better Networking - #63 - Go All The Way

Route 66 - The Journey Toward Success

Go All The Way

Whatever you do, don't just do it half way. Pour your heart into the task at hand and let your soul shine brightly in the work you do. Do not let your mind paralyze you into just doing part of the job. Real success requires you to go all in.

Too often people only do the minimum in their career. They put in enough effort to get through the day, but are not fully engaged in being spectacular. For many reasons they hold back.

Sometimes it is being lazy, but more often I find people are scared. They over-think every situation and are concerned as much with how their actions will be perceived by the greater community. They fear that if they show their true ambition that some may criticize or that if they select the wrong path that failure would loom and embarrass them.

I have a close friend who is writing a book. He has the desire to inspire others and an amazing personal story of success. I read the draft of his first chapter and found that he was holding back on the "low points" in his life. He mentioned some of his personal despair, but failed to open up his heart and share the real traumas he overcame. The whole chapter came out flat, and he knew it, but he was uncomfortable to share the whole story.

I challenged him to open up and expose himself fully. To sprinkle the pages with only part of his story would never trigger a reaction in the future readers of his book. Once you decide to put yourself out there, going part way will not produce the desired results.

He went back to the drawing board and let his heart flow completely as he wrote about his journey. His words seemed to leap off the page and connected. When reading the new version of the chapter I nearly had tears in my eyes. It was inspiring and I wanted to know more. Those who will eventually read his future New York Times Bestseller will trust his advice once they read about how he got to achieve his own levels of success, and the troubles he encountered along his own journey.

Regardless of what you do to earn a living, unwrap yourself from your self-spun cocoon of protection. Like a butterfly entering the world, put yourself out in the sun one hundred percent. Does this make you vulnerable? Yep. But a butterfly cannot expose it's whole beauty and potential to the world, nor could it ever fly, if it stayed inside the cocoon.

Life is full of risks, but worse that the fears you harbor of taking the wrong action would be looking back and discovering you never achieved your potential. To reach your personal highs you must first find a way to push out of your shell and do more. You must give it your all and go all the way.

Have A Great Day.

thom
www.thomsinger.com

3 comments:

Mike Chapman said...

This is really very nice. It is very difficult to know when low points in your own story are potentially helpful to others and you were a great friend to help with that.

Anita said...

I think the key is finding people you trust to help you along the way. For example, I'm sure there's a reason he gave you the first chapter to read. We all need people in our professional and personal lives to kick us in the pants when we need it, and to provide a pat on the back when we need it.
Anita Bruzzese
www.45things.com

goldwasser said...

havin your influence in my life is key to going all the way. i thank you for helping me realize how great i can be. with you helping there is no stopping us from reaching the top of the new york times bestseller list, there are no limits!