Toronto, October 17 2010.
We’re well into the final quarter of 2010. And here’s my mantra: Make this the best quarter ever. Finish 2010 the way you want to begin 2011: on a High.
2010 has been exhilarating and exhausting in equal measure. After the shock of 2009, this year has been resurgent. We’re living in a post-apocalypse reality. After the universal destruction of so many established models and beliefs, there is a new vitality emerging.
2011 will be a phenomenal year for those who are ready for it. Are you? Because if you are, you’re in the small minority. Our research indicates that 4 out of 5 people are closing out the year feeling beaten-up, worn-down and tired out. They’re dragging their tail to the finish line. They’ve just been through the most difficult two years of their lives. They’ve been forced to re-evaluate and re-create almost every rule of the game because they’re being confronted with a whole new game. And it needs to be played at a whole new level.
Only 1 out of 5 people are ready for the new game – even if they don’t exactly know what it is. They back themselves. They pursue a higher purpose. They’re travelling light. They’ve let go of what doesn’t serve them so they can discover what does. They’re coming out of the last two years younger and faster. I’m one of them, and if you’re reading this, so are you. I’m ready for 2011. I sense the possibilities and I see the opportunities because I’m hanging with the right people. They’re amazing. So who are they? And how can you become one of them?
They are a special tribe called Connected Catalysts. They are highly social, idealistic, ageless, enthusiastic, courageous, curious and generous. They may not all want to change the world, but they all want a world of change. They embrace the chaos because they know that’s the new world order. They feel the FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt), but they relish it. They know that ultimate victory is in the hands of the Gods, so they play every game like the privilege that it is.
Here’s the greatest attribute of Connected Catalysts: They energize the people around them. They inspire them to do things they otherwise would not have done. Their secret sauce is other’s sauce of power. Think about the Connected Catalysts in your life. Think about how priceless they are to you. Think about how impoverished you would be without them.
Here’s Lipkin’s Ultimate Belief in Personal Effectiveness: Our individual ability to cause a difference is directly dependent on the number of Connected Catalysts we have recruited to our cause. Let me repeat that: Our individual ability to cause a difference is directly dependent on the number of Connected Catalysts we have recruited to our cause.
If you look, you’ll find Connected Catalysts everywhere. They transcend demographics. They emerge in response to emergencies. And here’s another heads-up: the more Connected Catalysts you find, the greater the likelihood that you are one. Like attracts like.
We become what we repeatedly do. So if you want to become a Connected Catalyst and make this the best quarter ever while you do the same for others, here are six actions you can take right now:
1. Hold-On: It’s only a few short weeks to the Christmas break. Just like the rest of 2010, it will flash by. Anyone can handle anything if it’s short enough. Violent storms are always over quickly. This too shall pass. And it’s almost always easier than you think it will be.
2. Game-On: The most you can do is the most you can do. So do it. Like Tim Hortons, be “Always Fresh”. Burn your excuses. Don’t give in to anything except the desire to be great. Connected Catalysts are extremely consistent. The people around them rely on them to be their best. Remember: in every meeting, you train people how to expect you to be in the next meeting. Train them to expect you to be brilliant. It will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
3. Live Vicariously: Get your pleasure through others. See their success as your success. Be a walking pick-me-up. Never act in a way that makes others feel worse because they’ve interacted with you. Always act in a way that makes others feel bigger because of their interaction with you. Even when you have to be tough, you don’t have to be mean. Nice people win in the end – That’s Canada. Become a one-way ticket to the things that matter most to others. Build your relationships and they will build you. It’s that simple, but it’s not that easy.
4. Concentrate: Converge your energy on what counts. Intensify your effectiveness by eliminating your distractions. Yes, you can. Most the distractions that derail us are manufactured from within. We’re all confronted with the brutal facts. No one gets a free pass to Nirvana. Everyone I know (and I know a lot of highly successful people) has their own tough row to hoe. The difference is the awareness they bring to their realities. Even pain becomes a clarifying force in the lives of Connected Catalysts. They’re aware of being aware. They concentrate on concentrating. They refuse to submit to the cacophonies of confusion around them. Instead, they understand the new game-changers and they master them. Do you? In my case, I need to concentrate on three things: being in total sync with the spirit of the times; being a coach who liberates people to obliterate their inner barriers; stripping away everything that interferes with the first two things.
5. Accept The Offer: See everything that happens to you between now and December 24 as a gift. Yes, everything – especially the things you believe could be losses, afflictions, problems or penalties. The biggest opportunities camouflage themselves as insurmountable crises. You know why? To test our commitment to our cause, our gratitude for our odyssey and our faith in the final outcome. There’s no middle path here: either you accept the offer or you reject it – and suffer the consequences that you create. And by the way, if you love LIFE, then breathe every breath as though it could be your last. One day, you will be right.
6. Take Care: Eat, Drink, Pray, Party, Love, Read, Write, Fantasize, Listen, Dream, Share, Exercise, Holiday, Indulge and Sleep like your life depends on it. It does. You cannot give what you do not have. But what you have is what others need to have. So be generous with yourself. Be self-more so you can be self-less. Make sense? Let me make it even simpler: We need to burn brightly without burning out. For me, this entire message is about regeneration. Of course, it’s about inspiring others. But most importantly, it’s a deposit on my dream of inspiring others. Thank you for making it real.
Now go be a Connected Catalyst…
