Herman School of Business
Starting at the Starting Line...
If everyone would start the race at the starting line…more people would finish faster. Many wander around life ignoring getting to the starting line.
Two of my friends have recently completed chemotherapy and are doing well. One day a Doctor told them cancer had been discovered and that instant became the starting line towards getting better and beating the disease. When your life is on the line and sprinting towards recovery calls for getting on the “starting line” right away…people have no trouble dropping the rest of life and focusing on the race to good health.
Other friends could lose a few pounds (myself included) to insure better health…but we put off getting to the starting line to weight loss…until whenever. Some friends drink too much but somehow ignore “starting” to recover because it doesn’t seem that bad just yet. Others spend money as if the government was coming to bail them out next week. They will get to the “starting line” of debt recovery later because facing it now is too depressing.
Listen, I understand that you can’t live your life as if everything is going to kill you…you would lose your mind and miss out on the enjoyment of life. But we could head for the starting line a little quicker if we tried. It can be a little thing like one less coke a day for me. Or maybe you give up stopping for coffee and make yourself a “takeaway” from home when you leave for work. Couldn’t you start reading about new employment opportunities and maybe even develop your resume as a start to the starting line?
In a month people will make New Year’s Resolutions. My friend calls them Resolutionists at his Health Club and he suffers for about three months before they finally stop coming to the gym and sweating up the equipment. A Resolutionist is not at the starting line, but at least heading there.
Pick out a problem you want to overcome today. Pick one thing out you want to change. You have just turned your life toward the starting line of recovery. Turn away if you want…the problem will just compound itself and get worse until you get serious about focusing some effort of actually getting on the starting line and doing something about it.
And by the way…this isn’t just about dealing with problems. It’s also about achieving goals that are positive. You can’t finish the race until you get past the starting line.
- Posted: 2 December 2008
- Comments: 0
- Category: Business failure
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