An article for business professionals - March 20, 2007
Taking Turns
By Jan Bolick
Between St. Patrick’s Day and four days of basketball over the weekend - I couldn’t help but re-visit my passion for passion.
Green, green, everywhere there was green - festive shamrocks and streamers and beer and cookies. Reminding us of St. Patrick and his vision for which he had so much passion. Reminding us of leprechauns, rainbows and pots of gold.
Game after game. Frenetic pace. Down to the wire. Nail biters. Overtime. Double overtime. Thrilling. Heartbreaking.
And one game in particular on Saturday night. There was that green again - threatening our Carolina Blue skies. Collisions. Crashes. Dives. Head to head - nose to nose.
In each game - only one winner. And one loser. Heartbroken.
In most of our business pursuits, there can be more than one winner. And there doesn’t have to be a loser.
But there does need to be passion - backed up by the same perseverance and practice needed on the court. A little luck helps as well.
In my pursuits, two situations in particular have put my passion and perseverance to the test - crossing bridges and taking turns.
Stuck on one side of the bridge - needing to cross - but ruminating, plodding along or otherwise stalling on a decision or project or goal that is truly important to me. If I can remember to remind myself of the Salado River story, it helps me with crossing bridges that stand between me and my passions. (link to recent article - Crossing Bridges).
Now on the other side of that bridge - moving along - maybe even speeding along - straight toward that goal. Oh my goodness - I’m going so fast. What if I crash?
What if I don’t?
Think for a moment about what it would be like to be a race car driver. Driving 190 miles per hour. Going around those turns. All those cars around you – about to crash at any moment. Oh my goodness.
Here is an excerpt from an interview with Richard Petty sharing some advice he got from his Dad.
"Daddy said the most important thing is to look far ahead so you can see trouble at the earliest opportunity. When entering a turn, tap the brake pedal gently, allowing the car to take its set. Then stay on the accelerator and drive through the turn. People get into trouble when they go into the corners too hard and then jump on the brakes. That advice has stuck with me all my life."
It has stuck with me too. Might it help you?
Do you ever find yourself going after something you want? You are all prepared. You’ve planned and maybe even and practiced. And then you get started and then here comes something new, something unexpected. And you think to yourself, "Oh my gosh - this is scary. I’m going too fast."
It happens to me quite a bit. I want to stomp on the brakes sooooo bad.
But then thanks to Richard Petty’s Dad, I say to myself, "No - don’t do it. You’ll spin out - crash into the wall."
And then, tapping the brake pedal gently, confirming the importance of my mission, affirming my passion for it, "C’mon staaaaay on the accelerator. Drive through that turn."
If we can just stay on that accelerator. If we can just drive through that scary turn. We will find ourselves closer to that pot of gold for which we feel so much passion.
This coming weekend, we won’t be seeing as much green, but I bet we will see even more passion and perseverance out there on the basketball court.
And hopefully we will see evidence that our lucky leprechaun stuck around for few extra days to help keep our skies Carolina Blue!
copyright 2007 by Business Class Inc.
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Recent articles:
Little Hops
The Dimming Fire
Keep Me Hopping
Traditions
Hoping or Hopping?
Crossing Bridges
Doing Business with Heart
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