Three-Step Dance to Success
Three-Step Dance to Success
One of the most influential books of the past 50 years is Viktor Frankl's, "Man's Search for Meaning." Having survived the horrors of Nazi death camps, Frankl observed that the most basic and enduring of human needs was for "meaning," or I might term it, significance. We want our lives to "amount to something."
So the question really boils down to, "What can I do with my life that will be fulfilling and make a difference for me and others?" I don't want to get too philosophical, but
that is a key question!
I think the answer is both simpler, and perhaps more difficult, than we like to admit.
The answer is simple because it's been known for thousands of years. Philosophers, teachers, theologians and poets have been talking about this for a long time. "There is nothing new under the sun." Unfortunately, it's also more difficult than we like to admit because we want an instant solution or a guaranteed formula and that (sad to say) hasn't been found.
Here, however, are three "simple" (not easy, but pretty straight-forward) steps that have been recommended by lots of smart people and, in my 25 years of observation, seem to work. Ready? Here we go:
1. The first step of the success dance is, as Socrates put it, to "know thyself." In Western culture, with our love of technology and speed and change, we don't do much "pondering." We are not patient, introspective people. In the famous words of Walt Whitman, we want to "be up and doing."
Too often, we are doing the wrong things. As Peter Drucker put it, too often we climb the ladder of success, "only to find it was leaning against the wrong wall." The good life seems to be a life lived out of our values, consistent with our talents and reflecting our aspirations. Success is about integrity, commitment and service. Often, money and other nice things arrive, too, but success is seldom found in anything as obvious as a bank account or fancy house.
2. The second step is about getting along with people. It's about teamwork, partners, community, and fellowship. As the poet, John Donne, wrote, "no man is an island," or as the Nobel-winning economist Milton Friedman observed, no one person can produce even a simple pencil. We need the cooperation of others. We need people who love and respect, appreciate, trust and cooperate with us.
Success is about the ability to get along with one another. We need our families, friends and business partners. At the very least, we need the trust (and purchasing power) of our customers!
3. The third step of the success dance is about making a difference. The third step is always action! It's about being flamboyant, taking a risk, reaching out, trying
something, getting our feet wet and our hands dirty. It's about making a contribution and serving as many people as possible.
The third step is to make life better, easier, and richer for others, before we focus on enriching ourselves. I love Zig Ziglar's quote that, "You can have anything you want in life if you find a way to help enough other people get what they want in life." What a wonderful challenge!
ThreeStep Dance to Success - To learn more about this author, visit Rodger Blaker's Website.
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Over and over again, I receive emails, inquiries from clients and invitations to speak on the question of "the good life." Every human being wants to live a great life! We want peace, joy, loving relationships, meaningful work, and a level of financial success. We want our lives to "mean something."
One of the most influential books of the past 50 years is Viktor Frankl's, "Man's Search for Meaning." Having survived the horrors of Nazi death camps, Frankl observed that the most basic and enduring of human needs was for "meaning," or I might term it, significance. We want our lives to "amount to something."
So the question really boils down to, "What can I do with my life that will be fulfilling and make a difference for me and others?" I don't want to get too philosophical, but
that is a key question!
I think the answer is both simpler, and perhaps more difficult, than we like to admit.
The answer is simple because it's been known for thousands of years. Philosophers, teachers, theologians and poets have been talking about this for a long time. "There is nothing new under the sun." Unfortunately, it's also more difficult than we like to admit because we want an instant solution or a guaranteed formula and that (sad to say) hasn't been found.
Here, however, are three "simple" (not easy, but pretty straight-forward) steps that have been recommended by lots of smart people and, in my 25 years of observation, seem to work. Ready? Here we go:
1. The first step of the success dance is, as Socrates put it, to "know thyself." In Western culture, with our love of technology and speed and change, we don't do much "pondering." We are not patient, introspective people. In the famous words of Walt Whitman, we want to "be up and doing."
Too often, we are doing the wrong things. As Peter Drucker put it, too often we climb the ladder of success, "only to find it was leaning against the wrong wall." The good life seems to be a life lived out of our values, consistent with our talents and reflecting our aspirations. Success is about integrity, commitment and service. Often, money and other nice things arrive, too, but success is seldom found in anything as obvious as a bank account or fancy house.
2. The second step is about getting along with people. It's about teamwork, partners, community, and fellowship. As the poet, John Donne, wrote, "no man is an island," or as the Nobel-winning economist Milton Friedman observed, no one person can produce even a simple pencil. We need the cooperation of others. We need people who love and respect, appreciate, trust and cooperate with us.
Success is about the ability to get along with one another. We need our families, friends and business partners. At the very least, we need the trust (and purchasing power) of our customers!
3. The third step of the success dance is about making a difference. The third step is always action! It's about being flamboyant, taking a risk, reaching out, trying
something, getting our feet wet and our hands dirty. It's about making a contribution and serving as many people as possible.
The third step is to make life better, easier, and richer for others, before we focus on enriching ourselves. I love Zig Ziglar's quote that, "You can have anything you want in life if you find a way to help enough other people get what they want in life." What a wonderful challenge!
ThreeStep Dance to Success - To learn more about this author, visit Rodger Blaker's Website.
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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