It is important that we have fun, not just in our personal lives but in our professional lives as well. Having fun makes us happy, and being happy is part of being successful.
Halloween is a great time to be a little goofy and have some fun. It is a time where we can ease up a bit, have some fun, and no one takes it too amiss. So go have some fun for Halloween! It’s not just for kids anymore!
Sometimes we cannot do anything to change a situation. It is what it is! The best we can do is to accept it and deal with the results of the situation.
For example, Sunday night our pole barn was hit by lightening. More accurately, the box where the electrical wires came out of the ground and into the pole barn was hit. It fried the wires in that box, in the box in the pole barn, and much of the wiring inside the barn. It bent the circuit box all out of shape. In addition, it blew a large hole in the metal side of the barn.
In addition, it fried the wiring going into the detached garage, ruined some breakers there, and blew out a TV, receiver, microwave oven and the built-in cook top, among other items, in the house.
I cannot change that the lightning struck, nor can I change the damage it did. It is what it is. It is not going to do any good to get frustrated or complain about the time I am spending with the insurance adjuster, the electrician, the TV satellite repair person or the time that I will spend putting together a list of the ruined items and finding replacements.
It is what it is! I accept it. (Although, I will admit I feel a bit better for doing a bit of venting!)
Every choice we make has a payoff. Every choice also has a price.
The payoff of a choice is, of course, the good that we get out of the choice. If there were not any payoff, we would not do it!
The price is what the choice costs us. Sometimes the price is that once we commit to one choice, other choices are closed to us.
For example, if we choose to work late, the payoff may be that we feel good about finishing a project, it may help us achieve a promotion, it may ensure that we get a higher pay increase or a bonus, it may help us achieve our career goals, among other things.
The price may be that we cannot attend our child’s soccer game or other special event. Part of this price may be that we miss an important night for our child, we miss seeing his or her success, we miss talking with the other parents, and other things.
The key to professional and personal success is to balance our choices so that overall in life we get the payoff we want without paying too high a price.
The concept of developing win-win solutions has been used in business for many years. It can also be used to increase success in our personal lives.
The idea behind win-win is that a solution will meet the needs of both parties. If the solution is not win-win then it is either win-lose, where one party gets what it needs at the expense of the other, or it is a lose-lose where neither party gets what it needs.
This same concept can be used in our personal lives. If we can find a solution that meets our needs as well as the needs of our spouse/children/friends, etc. then it becomes a win-win. This increases everyone’s success!
Last week my husband and I went to see Moneyball. I am not a sports fanatic, but I thought it was a good movie.
In my opinion, the best part is near the end when one character is showing another character a baseball clip. The baseball player in the clip had a real fear of running to second. He is at bat, hits the ball, runs for first and decides to run for second. Rounding first base, he slips, falls, and scrambles on his hands and knees back to first. Everyone is shouting and laughing at him. He finally realizes that they are shouting at him to run. He hit a home run! He was so concerned with failing that he did not notice his awesome success—a home run!
How often do we do that? How many times have we succeeded, maybe succeeded big, and yet we do not even notice it because we are so focused on failure? Try to see the success in every “failure” because often it is not a failure at all!
We all have things that we really do not like to do. Most of these things, unfortunately, have to be done. Often we waste a great deal of time and energy avoiding these things even though we know we will end up doing them eventually.
When there is something we do not want to do, it is best just to do it anyway so we can then do the things we want to do.
