It's Game Time!!

It’s that time of year……you know the summer has ended and Fall is here - when football season begins! Whether you love it or hate it, are a die-hard college or NFL fan, or really just love the excuse for some great tailgating….

You have vacationed, contemplated, researched, second guessed, procrastinated, licked your wounds, and procrastinated again… now it’s time to get back into the game.

Now the game may not look like it did before – you may have decided that you want to learn a new game or go back to a different game you previously played, or maybe you just need a change in team or venue as you want to remain in the game you already love. Whichever it is, you’ve spent enough time on the sidelines, you’re “off season” has passed and it’s time to move forward, to find or rediscover and follow your passion.

So, what’s stopping you…. maybe one of these???

1. Procrastination

• “I’m waiting for things to settle”

• “It’s just not a good time right now”

• “It would be better to wait and see if…”

• “I’ll wait to see if things improve”

• “I think I’ll wait until they are more open to my ideas”

Procrastination …. Often thought to be laziness or the inability to make a decision, procrastination can more often be rooted in fear. A subconscious safety mechanism that prevents us from moving forward if we are unsure as to the outcome – “I know this may be a prickly subject”, "I know this may make things worse”, "I know this may cause some angst”…..so if I put it off for another day, the beginning of the week, the start of the month – whatever you push it out to, you can remain in this safe, tolerable situation, just a little longer.

You easily convince yourself that you deserve just a few more hours or days of calmness, before you create a situation that may backfire and make you uncomfortable or unliked/unloved by some, that may cause tension, causing you even more worry. The longer we procrastinate or hold off on these decisions or actions, the more difficult they become to complete. This in turn stresses us out, which increases our anxiety, so we want to stay in our comfort zone for a little while longer, fear and anxiety have more time to eat away at our confidence and, so we want to put it off a little while longer……talk about a vicious circle!

What’s the worst that would happen if you just moved on your decision or action now? You've already done your homework and know what you need to do. I'm sure that it isn’t half as bad as the horrific scenarios of what may happen, that you play out in your head over and over again, whilst you procrastinate. Wouldn’t it just make sense to take a deep breath and jump forward? Imagine how you would feel knowing that you had accomplished your task or had made that decision.

2. Living In The Past, AKA - Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve – If only!!!!

If you are anything like me, you may have the rather nasty habit of over analyzing your past….decisions I’ve made that didn’t work out - that job I took that wasn’t what I thought it would be, if only I had said yes/no, if only I had kept quiet/spoke up, I should have gone to that meeting/I shouldn’t have gone to that meeting, I could have said something earlier/I could have waited to say, I would have been a great leader/I would have been better staying out of leadership, I could go on forever – and given half the chance, that’s exactly what I would do.

If you have this tendency, it not only plays out in your work-life, it is applied to your personal life too!! I shouldn’t have dated that guy/I should have accepted that guy’s invite for dinner, I would have been a great model/I should have stayed out of modelling, (not a good example for me at 5ft 1in and a little too curvy to ever be a model!) I should’ve taken that opportunity to work abroad for a year/I should never have left my hometown, if only, if only….if only

You need to get over the past – yes, learn from your mistakes (I’m still learning :o), but move on, the past is always magnified when you over analyze it, and becomes the only driving factor in your life. This leaves no room for being present and working on your potentially awesome future. Unless you’ve invented time travel (massive congrats if you have, you’ll make a fortune!!), there is no way to go back and change your past decisions and actions. As the best coaches in sport say, "forget last week's loss, focus on next week's challenge".

So, clear out all that old heavy baggage you carry around in your head and your heart. Reflect by all means, learn from your mistakes…. but don’t stay and dwell there, let it go!

Now we have gotten those old chestnuts out of the way…. we can proceed 😊

To help you along, here are a few questions to ask yourself?

• Who am I really?

• What inspires me?

• When do I feel most energized?

• What sets my soul on fire?

• Where am I most engaged?

• Are there things, jobs or people I need to let go?

• What’s really stopping me?

• Am I willing to change?

• What would my dream day look like?

Although not simple questions to contemplate and answer, they are crucial in understanding yourself and what drives you, and the answers will provide some of the initial stepping-stones on the path to discovering what your true passion is.

Please also keep these key elements in your mind as you work on developing your path:

o Be Curious

o Listen to, and Trust your Gut Instincts

o Have Faith in your Abilities

o Be Authentic and True to yourself

o I truly believe that everyone has a skill or a talent that makes them Shine (not as in Stephen King type shining :o) - You are Strong, Gifted, Talented and Unique, embrace that fact

o Dream Big!

Getting on the path to success isn’t easy, and even once you have a clear understanding of where you want your path to go, you then have to work on a plan and goals to get you there……You can do this by starting to think about those initial stepping stones, or you may have already started (Congratulations, keep going, you’re getting there🏆 )

Achieving success is in your own hands, please don’t wait on the “right time” because it will never be the right time, there will always be obstacles and excuses. Just take a breath and jump forward!

If you feel a little stuck at the starting gate, are struggling with your next steps, or wanting to change course. As a coach, I would be happy to be your confidential “thinking partner” and unbiased support system. Please feel free to call +1 919-480-5034 or e-mail me at pam@saorsacc.com

So, what are you waiting for…?

It’s Time to Let Go, to Get Real, to Learn to Dream Again and To Turn those Dreams Into Reality – It's Gametime and …. This Is Your Time!!!