You can’t rewind the past
The only way to learn the secret
…is to press play.” – Jay Asher
How things converged this week to lead to:
This Time…Play to WIN
- Researching “Controlling Emotions” for a training session and exercise that I need to design for work: Learning about brain physiology, automatic thoughts, and freeze framing.
- Started Coursera Course entitled “Know Thyself” and learning about: Socrates, components of the self, the difference between emotions and moods and bamboo breathing.
- Discovering and trying a new art medium transferring ink onto wood which allows for a massive opportunity for me to create beyond my drawing ability: when you follow your bliss doors open that weren’t there before – Joseph Campbell
- Finishing an interesting book about developing strategy called Playing to Win. Although the book is about
Play to WIN corporate strategy and what P&G did in particular, as I read it all I keep thinking about was how this could be used for an individual life. I created a model for myself to use for the next year based on the basic principles:
- Don’t just play the game of life, play to WIN the game
- Define what WINNING will look like in all areas of my life
- Figure out WHERE to play to WIN
- Figure out HOW to play to WIN
- Figure out WHO I want on my team of life who also wants to WIN
- Play to My Strengths, and
- Manage What Matters Most
A practical example of using the model to make a decision: Going out to dinner with a boyfriend from my past who was in town from California. Although I was VERY tempted and the mental chatter in my head kept making statements like : “how bad could it be”, “it’s couldn’t hurt”, “it’s just dinner, just go” – BUT – I quickly went through the WINNING model and it didn’t fit in playing to WIN in any way possible for ME, (for him maybe – apparently – but not for me ). So, my final answer was a clear and definitive: “NO, I’m not interested, but I hope that you have fun while you’re in town”. And most importantly I meant it, that I hoped he had fun, but I was choosing not to be apart of it. SCORE! A deliberate choice that was focused on the best use of my time and energy for the weekend.
To win you have to make conscious choices.
You have to decide.
When you make a choice you are letting go of ALL THE OTHER CHOICES you could have made. When you are clear on what winning looks like for your life, then the choices are easier to make – because – you KNOW what fits and more importantly what doesn’t fit in your winning strategy.
…all the above lead me to…This Time…”Gonna love myself more than anyone else. Gonna treat me right. Won’t let my emotions rule my life. Gonna be my own best friend. I’m going to be the one to WIN”.
WHY NOT???
NO MORE JUST PARTICIPATING IN THE GAME.
PLAY TO WIN!
Play to Win:
Examine Your Life
Check Your Emotions
&
Follow Your Bliss