Get Serious for Success
Get Serious
Get Serious – that’s our “word phrase” this year for Baskets and Beads Kenya and for myself personally. It means to take a more serious approach to all aspects of life. In order to have success in any or every area of your life, you need focus and that means getting serious. There are so many things that take our time away. I call it the busy person syndrome. Social Media is a big time and energy suck.
The average daily use is 2 hours and 21 minutes or 35.8% of someone’s time. There was a time when I spent a lot of time on social media and let it take up a lot of space in my day. We have a tendency to let it consume a significant amount of our time. Has there been a time in your life when social media or other things have taken up time and slowed down your progress for success? It might be time to take a look at getting serious about moving the things out that are keeping you from working hard on your goals.
If you are serious about eliminating distractions to your success, here are 7 steps to consider if you want to “Get Serious “ – SERIOUS:
S -Serious - The dictionary definition of serious from Oxford Language is (of a subject, state or activity) demanding careful consideration or application. As a military veteran I still live by a lot of military terms. One of the terms we used was “half stepping” In marching that’s a shorter step, a way to slow down the pace, not taking full strides and delaying progress.
Half stepping in any area of your life can be a delay in your success. There are times when we need to slow down. We sometimes have a tendency to get in half stepping mode in our goals and dreams. I’m guilty of this for sure. Have you ever had time when you slowed down because you were afraid of achieving your goals or maybe you didn’t know how.
The get serious philosophy is for every area of your life. Personal, Business/Professional, Faith, Health etc. Take a moment to write down areas you need to get serious about and make a plan to hold yourself accountable for those.
E – Encourage Yourself and Others – Getting serious requires some encouragement. Maybe it’s easy for you to encourage others but not yourself. Perhaps you need a little encouragement from family, friends or a group you are part of. Depending on what area you are working on getting serious about will dictate who needs to be on your encouragement team. When I was working towards the Accredited Speaker designation in Toastmasters (A professional speaking designation), I had my mentor and coach Sheryl Roush who was guiding me in the process and cheering me on. I had my veterans group at church praying for and encouraging me and my close friends. My daughter was at the international convention when I spoke in front of 2,000 people and achieved the designation. She actually had a part in the speech I gave too!
It's important to have a solid team of people around you for whatever dream you are working to achieve whether big or small. Perhaps you only need one or two people but having them in your corner important to give you that push when you are lacking motivation or want to give up. They will help keep you moving forward.
R – Resist the Devil – I am a faith based person and I believe the devil comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). There are evil forces at work constantly looking to take us down and stop us from achieving our goals and dreams. Whether you want to refer to that evil as the devil or simply evil, there is a scripture that says “Resist the Devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7).
Evil comes in many different forms. It can be simple distractions to get you off track or something that is meant to stop you in your tracks. In 2023 I was getting ready for my trip to Kenya and had dropped my dog Indigo off with my son to watch her. I was on the way home and stopped at a traffic light. The light turned green and I started to go as I was the first one at the light. I had a hard time getting my foot to push the accelerator. It felt like something was holding my foot back. About that time a car came speeding through the red light in the lane to the left where the light had turned red. Had I been out into the lane, that car would have plowed right into me hitting me on the driver side and who knows what would have happened.
Always have a plan to fight against the things that will come against you to stop you from achieving your goals.
I – I am a child of God. Remember, you have a source that will allow you to turn to in time of need and support you during struggles and successes. Be grateful and thankful for the things you do have. Gratitude can’t exist in the same space as a bad attitude. If you find yourself going down the negative self-talk road, list 5 things you are grateful for and keep listing until your attitude changes.
One of my favorite songs about being a child of God is called No Longer Slaves. It says “I’m no longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God.” It’s a great song to listen to as a reminder:
O – Outstanding Performance – How you perform in your life will determine your level of success. There are probably hundreds if not thousands of books written on leadership and performance. Outstanding performance comes down to one basic thing; self leadership. How you lead yourself through every area of your life is key to outstanding performance. That doesn’t mean you must know everything about whatever task you are undertaking, it means you have the tenacity to work hard to master those tasks or get someone who can master them for you for the things you cannot do. For instance as a contract administrator I handle contracts. I approve invoices but do not pay them. That is not something I need to be an expert at doing. I do need to know who to contact to handle that task.
U – Understand Your Core Values. What are your core values? Some of mine are the Air Force core values – Integrity First, Service Before Self, Excellence in All we do. Integrity, Service and Excellence are some of my primary core values. Faith, Adventure and Tenacity are some of my others. If you don’t know what your core values include, there are plenty of tests you can take to discover them. It’s important to know what the foundation for your beliefs are so when things come against you to test them, you can stand firm on your values. Integrity means doing the right thing when no one else is looking. When I make a decision, I consider what will be the right thing to do in making my decision. Your core values are the foundation to which you build on and required to “Get Serious.”
S - Stay the Course – There’s that age old saying “When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.” One thing for certain, when you decide to pursue anything, you will come up against opposition whether its from someone or something on the outside or your own thoughts. In my book “Think Like A Negotiator, there is a strategy that says “Prepare in Advance.”
It’s important to prepare for roadblocks in your path and how you will handle them. Roadblocks such as discouragement, problems or objections. Those things are going to happen and you must be prepared to keep going through them even when you want to quit.
Get Serious about every area of your life and make a plan to keep moving forward so the goals and dreams you have will keep moving in a positive direction. Consider this Get Serious philosophy to ensure you stay on track to a prosperous future.
Now Go Get Serious
Eldonna