Staying In The Game By Indirect engagement During “Down Times”
Less is More in 2017
January 4, 2017Intelligence Difference: A fresh look that gives hope to Academic “Failures”
January 8, 2017Staying Relevant during “Down Times”
“I took another walk around the neighborhood and realized that on this earth as it is– The race is not always to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor satisfaction to the wise, Nor riches to the smart, Nor grace to the learned. Sooner or later bad luck hits us all”.
—King Solomon (Ecclesiastes 9:11)
Quick Read Summary
- The starting point is knowing with Clarity where we are headed in life
- The most basic requirement that qualifies everybody is breathe
- A downtime is simply a state in which you are incapacitated to directly contribute towards your activities and goals that directly connect to your biggest pursuit or vision.
- We shall face “down times” and setbacks at one point, all of us.
- The great myth is that all you do must be directly contributing to your overall goal.
- It is prudent to plan “indirect activities” to engage and grow in during your setbacks.
- The activities that are of no direct impact to our vision are just as important as those that do
- “God has been known to connect the most unlikely of ambiguities to form a masterpiece”.
- Engagement is a battle of discipline and the opponent is yourself. You win this battle, you are worth more than a degree, connections, ideas, and capital. For if you had these things and you lost the battle against yourself, success will be elusive
Quick Read Summary
- The starting point is knowing with Clarity where we are headed in life
- The most basic requirement that qualifies everybody is breathe
- A downtime is simply a state in which you are incapacitated to directly contribute towards your activities and goals that directly connect to your biggest pursuit or vision.
- We shall face “down times” and setbacks at one point, all of us.
- The great myth is that all you do must be directly contributing to your overall goal.
- It is prudent to plan “indirect activities” to engage and grow in during your setbacks.
- The activities that are of no direct impact to our vision are just as important as those that do
- “God has been known to connect the most unlikely of ambiguities to form a masterpiece”.
- Engagement is a battle of discipline and the opponent is yourself. You win this battle, you are worth more than a degree, connections, ideas, and capital. For if you had these things and you lost the battle against yourself, success will be elusive
“Every time you wink, the stars move”
-Emerson
This message goes to job seekers, hustlers, entrepreneurs, people facing setbacks in life and those who consider themselves to be generally stuck. By now we all realize that the path to our destinies is not straight, smooth and paved. By now we all know that there is a destination: some of us know it with absolute clarity, others are on the path to knowing it and others are yet to awaken. Nevertheless, we are all hunters either intentionally or subconsciously.
[clickandtweet handle=”@namale” hashtag=”#LifeSignatures” related=”” layout=”card” position=”right”]”The path to our destinies is not straight, smooth and paved”[/clickandtweet]
The greatest capital needed for success is not education, (ask Peter J Daniels), money, (ask the Wright Brothers) connections, ideas, great teams and technology but that which has been there from the beginning of time: breathe.
This means that anyone anywhere for as long as they are healthy and free (yet even the impaired and imprisoned have proved it right) and are breathing, can forge a life of success. Our experiences are different but we are all united by one immutable fact: we face down times from time to time.
“The greatest capital needed for success is not education, (ask Peter J Daniels), money, (ask the Wright Brothers) connections, ideas, great teams and technology but that which has been there from the beginning of time: breathe”.
The Myth
For those who know exactly what they are hunting for, one great myth contributes to their downfall: the belief that all action taken must be directly connected or be seen to directly contribute towards the goal or the vision. So when they get stuck, they are not motivated enough to do anything else save that which is directly linked to getting them closer to their destinies.
Chance is an interesting thing. I read somewhere that Kellogs, paper clips, sticky notes, gravity, and even the laptop computers were all discovered by chance. Here is a truth worth echoing throughout eternity: the activities that are of no direct impact to our vision are just as important as those that do.
“Here is a truth worth echoing throughout eternity: the activities that are of no direct impact to our vision are just as important as those that do”.
Two reasons for saying this: first, we are not God and have no idea how our ‘indirect engagement’ will turn out in the end. But God has been known to connect the most unlikely of ambiguities to form a masterpiece. Second, an inspired activity is 100% much better than inactivity.
“[clickandtweet handle=”@namale” hashtag=”#LifeSignatures” related=”” layout=”card” position=”right”]God has been known to connect the most unlikely of ambiguities to form a masterpiece”.[/clickandtweet]
The Meantime
Time and chance happens to us all. So when we find ourselves encumbered by ‘downtimes’ or setbacks, the most plausible thing to be found doing is something, even if it does not mean anything to the vision being pursued. In the end, I assure you that the dots will connect just like one Steve Jobs said. A downtime is simply a state in which you are incapacitated to directly contribute towards your activities and goals that directly connect to your biggest pursuit or vision.
The following are some of the indirect activities that you can consistently engage in during your down times:
- Challenging your physical body
- Challenging your mind
- Challenging your sphere of relationships
- Challenging your giving ability
- Challenging your immediate environment
Here is the secret in having indirect engagements in the meantime: It must be intentional, and urgent.
1. Intentional:
This means that you deliberately sit down and decide to have a time and a place where these activities will take place.
It also means that you will have set aside a length of time towards which you will be engaging in this.
It also means that you will have a general goal towards which you will be doing these activities
It also means that you will deliberately track your daily success with each activity
2. Momentum:
This is your friend. It enables your mind to be freed from the rut of being stuck. The only biggest fight you need to win in 2017 is the fight for momentum with these activities. You will find this so easy to do if you have set ground by being intentional.
“Engagement is a battle of discipline and the opponent is yourself. You win this battle, you are worth more than a degree, connections, ideas, and capital. For if you had these things and you lost the battle against yourself, success will be elusive. True story”.
3. Urgency:
This means that you give 100% to every activity set aside. When you are reading, the TV is off, the phones are off, social media is off. You get the point. It also means that all the activities that might interrupt are themselves scheduled, set aside and prioritized. This way, they will not interfere at all.
In closing, this is a battle of discipline and the opponent is yourself. You win this battle, you are worth more than a degree, connections, ideas, and capital. For if you had these things and you lost the battle against yourself, success will be elusive. True story.
