CoachCherri.com – The Transition Coach

” Champions aren’t made in the gyms.  Champions are made from something they have deep inside them¾a desire, a dream, a vision.”

-Muhammad Ali

I haven’t been an avid watcher of the 2008 Olympic Games but the swim matches have caught my attention a little.  Much as of the hype has been on twenty-three year old Michael Phelps’ 8^th gold medal history making wins, who  was diagnosed as a child with ADD (attention deficient disorder), according to a recent interview on Good Morning America with his mother.  Most of these athlete’s have a mountain moving story of obstacles they had to overcome to reach their goals. 

 Take for instance Dara Torres, whom the media keeps repeatedly emphasizing that she is forty-old years old, the oldest swimmer to compete and qualify for the Games.   I loved it when she made the statement, “the water doesn’t know how old you are“.  Torres had to have surgery to remove a bone spur that caused a partial rotator tear in her right shoulder.  Although she had to miss four weeks of training, it was said that she didn’t miss a beat during the Olympic trials.  

 A true Champion is defined as a valiant fighte, who understands the Universal Law of Cause and Effect.  This law generally means that you reap what you sow by putting in time, energy, and effort over and over again until you inevitably enjoy the results and rewards.  It doesn’t come with a disclaimer: give up at the first sign of injury, disappointment, defeat, fear.  It simply means give it all you GOT and SOME. 

 The CHAMP and the CHUMP

 Let me compare a few qualities of these two characters famously made by San Jose State College’s sprint coach Bud Winter, in his book titled ” So You Want To Be A Sprinter”.

 The “CHAMP” has the WILL TO SUCCEED.

• Follows a goal oriented training plan.
• Accepts pre game nerves but keeps anxiety and worry to a minimum.
• Focuses on personal goals without letting distractions of what others are saying or doing.
• Shows poise and courage in a crisis.

 The “CHUMP” has the WILL TO FAIL.

• Fails to prepare themselves/and or equipment properly for competition.
• Gets injured or ill regularly especially just prior to the competition.
• Expects times to “just come” or come easily because ” I’ve been doing the training.
• Never trains or practice drills unless the conditions are perfect.

 Choose which character you want to emulate as you go after whatever it is you desire. Should you decide to be a gold medal winner, take note of their body language: feet firmly planted, body erect, shoulders back, head up, smiling, eyes aglow and one or both arms thrust triumphantly in the air.  Now is not the time to look timid.  Go for the Gold…Act like a Gold Medal Champion.

In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out.  It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being.  We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.

-         Albert Schweitzer

How often do we think about the words we speak to ourselves and other’s around us? Our words have power and they impact our lives in a negative or positive way.  We get so caught up in the rhetoric of speaking the truth, that we don’t’ realize what’s truth for one person, may not be truth to another and especially how to speak the truth.

Some of you may remember this old story about a group of frogs, who went leaping through the forest one day when two of the frogs suddenly fell into a deep pit. All of the other frogs gathered around the hole to look down on their two fallen friends. They all began to sadly shake their heads and to croak out dismal warnings. “It’s too deep!” croaked one frog. Another croaked that there was no way that they would ever be able to get out of that pit alive.

The two fallen frogs began to continuously jump as they tried to get out of the pit, but the frogs that were watching kept croaking louder at them that they might as well stop because they were as good as dead and just wasting their time. One of the two frogs finally gave up and heeded the pessimistic advice of the frogs at the top. He quit jumping and literally “croaked” and died.

However, the other frog leaped even harder than ever and to the surprise of all the other frogs he jumped right out of the deep pit. The other frogs asked him, “Why did you keep leaping even though we yelled and croaked at you to stop?” It was then that the frog explained to them that he was deaf and he had thought they were cheering for him and yelling words of encouragement to him the entire time!

The moral of the story is…sometimes you have to turn a “deaf’s ear” to the people who don’t believe in you or support you in what you are striving to achieve.  Believe in yourself and take a leap of faith.

Story source: www.themotivationdoctor.com

“Find yourself and express yourself in your own particular way. Express your love openly. Life is nothing but a dream, and if you create your life with love, your dream becomes a masterpiece of art”.

We honor great works of arts, paintings, writings, public buildings and spaces — they are the outcome of imagination, vision and genius.  But wise teachers have shown us that when we discover and use our gifts, we create masterpieces of our lives.  Even if it’s on a grand scope or a small, yet, limited influence, we can touch those around us.   We must trust that we can create our individual masterpieces.  Nothing resonates more than your own individuality– you become your own work of art when you understand who you are, and express it in a unique and authentic way.   In the business arena, it is known as branding.

Many times we walk around blind, unaware and unconscious of the work of art we truly are.  We have been endowed with the power of choices that reside within us, yet all the tools and colors that make us originals have been handed over to us by others.  Why not choose your own landscape, the background, the scheme of colors, the medium and your own brush strokes with consciousness and full awareness.   Create your life in way that when you stand back from the canvas and pause at it all, it is with great pride and joy in what’s shaping up to be a masterpiece.  Is that not the purpose of the Master who created you in the first place?

What lies between where you are now and what you want to create (your life’s masterpiece) is a seed that needs to be planted in rich soil.   Creating any thing takes time, love, understanding and patience’s with one else’s.   Like an artist, you can set out to create your own masterpiece.  There are many steps involved:

• Study the Subject – examine who you are and what makes you unique.

• Identify the Big Shapes - it may look like a puzzle in the beginning– organize and arrange the pieces until shape begins to take place.

• Underpaint the Canvas – create freely your image of how you see yourself — don’t worry about filling in the details, yet.

• Study the Color Values -  see the value of your masterpiece (YOU) the beauty of the image first, then work the colors in.

• Blocking in the Colors- carefully fill in the colors of your uniqueness as you see them, leaving nothing out.

• Adjusting Color and Value - make adjustments as you see them appear, don’t allow other’s to paint for you — a masterpiece is authentic.

• Finishing the Painting - Resist the temptation to finish it too soon, you may leave out some important shapes, colors and details.  Step back, get out of the way — there will be more work to do.

Start today in creating your life’s masterpiece for you and the people  whose life will be enriched by it.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

- Mark Twain

I am often struck by the number of people who have extraordinary gifts and talents, but are afraid to expose them to the world.  How many extremely talented people do you know who are hiding their greatness?  All of us have something unique and special to offer.  Oftentimes we hold back and only scratch the surface of what we could be.  All of the symptoms of hiding are really the same in each of us.

It’s either something in our past, an incident that we felt shut the door to a promising future, or an erroneous message that we gave too much “air-time” to.  Many of you may be in a job or career that stifles your greatness. But for some unconscious reason, you have chosen to sit quietly and hope for the best.  Or maybe you have this great idea for a business and you’ve done all the ‘leg work’ to get it going – but fail to launch.

Remember as kids when you used to play the game ‘hide and go seek.’  The person hiding went to great lengths to be inconspicuous (ducking, dodging and shifting places) to be safe and not found.  However, the “seeker” takes great pride in their ability to launch into action.  The challenge to find what was hidden created adrenaline that lead them on a path to endless possibilities and discoveries – their greatness.  Think about it. It takes more effort to hide and stay small than to come out of hiding and do the work.

I had a problem with ‘failure to launch’ in the workplace before I made the transition to explore my greatness.  I clung to the safe positions.  You know, the ones that kept you hidden in a cubicle, never challenging your intellect, never requiring you to present an idea/project: the one’s that pigeonhole you.  The moment I made the transition to come out of hiding and step into a career that harnessed my greatness (helping other’s realize their greatness), it changed my life in ways I never imagined.

Hiding Behaviors

Ever wonder why your career or entrepreneurial venture seemed to ‘fail to launch’ to what you desired it to be?  The real truth is your behavior(s).  These are behaviors you may or may not be consciously aware of.  But if you really dig deep enough you will discover that you haven’t been much of a “seeker” in exercising your greatness. What you have been communicating and actually doing is playing “peek-a-boo” with yourself.  Instead of putting yourself out there and getting known in the workplace/marketplace, you do a little here and a little there.  I’m speaking to those who never seem to feel they are ready and to those who hide behind fear.

Here’s what hiding behaviors might look like:

• The Perpetual Student – “I’m almost there, I need more training, seminars, etc.” Always preparing, never doing.
• The Marketing/Branding Wimp – ” I’ll do a little and leave the rest to chance.”
• The ScaredyCat - “I don’t want to be in their face.” Doesn’t want to seem aggressive.
• The Procrastinator - ” I’ll do it tomorrow.” Waits till the last minute, next week, next month, next year…
• The She Who Would Be Everything – “I can do it all.” Wants to do everything, never committing to one thing and doing it well.

Reasons We Hide

We are afraid of all sorts of things.  If you ask most people what they are afraid of they’ll tell you, “nothing really.”  But if you engage them in thoughtful conversation, you’ll really find out the truth.  Some fears may seem trivial to others, but very real to the person who is experiencing them.  We hide our greatness for many reasons.  Reasons that keep us on the launching pad so long that we lose our flame for what we once hoped for: a promotion, career change, competitive salary, thriving business, and much more.  So why aren’t we being our greatest selves?

Some of those reasons may be…

1. Fear of becoming big and powerful in the world.
2. Fearing we might fail and how that is going to look to our colleagues, friends, family.
3. Afraid of being found out – we aren’t as smart as we appear to be.
4. Fear of looking or sounding stupid.
5. Listening to a spouse or family member(s) that may not be supportive.
6. Fear that our success will take us far from our comfort zone.
7. Fear of money (management, bad decisions).
8. Fear of making powerful connections and having influence.
9. Fear of what will people think?  How will they treat me?
10. Holding on to old worn out messages from the past.

Ask yourself this question: “What is it costing me to stay hidden in my career, business?”