Are You Playing Big?

Clarifying what you really want out of life, your career, relationships and your personal time can be a challenging process that requires time and deeper reflection. For many, it’s easier to live the values of others and follow their plans instead of defining our own clear vision of personal success. Consider the following to help you define and live your big life:

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. - Mark Twain

Establish a clear vision (even if it’s just identifying the next few steps). Visions are intrinsically aspirational and do not need to be built on the past. They are values based as opposed to beliefs based. A vision is like having a blank canvas in front of you and then deciding on the design, the colour, the texture, the borders, the white space that you want to include. Most of all, the vision should excite you. When you don’t have a clear vision, you run the risk of fulfilling other people’s goals and living without clear direction. Life can then become lackluster.
Shift out of your comfort zone - the life you want, the career you deserve and the person you need to become more of will be found just outside the boundaries of your current comfort zone. If you keep doing what you’ve always done then you’ll keep getting the same results. You can tell that you’re on the edge of your comfort zone when you feel both excitement and fear at the same time. Be prepared to feel uncomfortable!
Start to take risks - in order to shift out of your comfort zone you will inevitably have to take some calculated risks too. These are risks where the expected outcomes are positive and the potential downsides are limited or at least you know you can cope with the worst case scenario. One of the best bits of advice I received from a very good friend and business mentor was “in order to aim high you have to be prepared to fail. If you can deal with failure, then you have all you need to pursue success instead.”
Deal with your fears. Fear shows up in the things we want most and can really hold us back and stop us exploring our full potential. Acknowledging your fears is the first step to overcoming them. By bringing them out of the darkness and into the open they will have less hold over you. Then engage with your own reservoir of courage. Courage is simply taking action in the face of fear.
Surround yourself with the right people. According to Jim Rohn “you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with”. The right people can elevate you whereas others can drag you down. Build your own Dream Team to help you play a bigger game as big games are never won by one person alone. Identify a team of Trusted Advisors too who can provide valuable advice and constructive feedback along the way.
Take Action - Once the vision for playing big in your life has been defined you need to start taking action. Otherwise the vision is simply a pipe dream. Brainstorm on paper all the elements that need to happen in order to achieve your vision then prioritise. What are the milestones along the way that will indicate that you are making progress? Who else needs to be involved? What conversations now need to take place? What do you need to believe in order to achieve this?

So, playing big in your life - if not now, then when, if not you then who?