“I don’t believe in team motivation. I believe in getting a team prepared so it knows it will have the necessary confidence when it steps on a field and be prepared to play a good game.” – Tom Landry
We humans live in amazing times here in the 21st century: an age of never-ending technology, sanitation, and transportation. Anyone who can harness the power of cooperation and implement great ideas can be successful in the Silicon Age. Some people want to lead, others want to be a part of something, and some just want to enjoy the fruits of their labors in whatever way they deem appropriate. That’s part of what makes society work. We’re all human, and we all deal with the conflict between our animal bodies and whatever we define as our higher consciousness. As Bertrand Russell said, “The only thing that will redeem mankind is cooperation.” The world we live in is a random and dangerous place, awash with hurricanes, traffic, blender or table saw mishaps, and friction with those that matter the most to us. With the complexities of day to day life in our modern age, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the world, people, and the bloops and bleeps of the Silicon Age. We all have parts of life that seem junky, and often find ourselves reacting to our circumstances, stymied by the frustration of a life with the same disappointments and repeated bad plot lines with sad endings. I’ve never met anyone that has it all together. Living in human society, it turns out that relating to people is the key to success and joy. No matter how many layers of my righteousness or fear I peel away, I’ll always have the terminal disease called the human condition. And without other people, I live on an island, with my happiness and potential unused. It’s not a matter of one’s intellectual capacity, it’s a matter of thinking.
Life throws curve balls at me constantly. I get to choose which ones I think are opportunities and which ones are hassles. It is only my perception of any circumstance that gives it quality as favorable or lousy. My life is described by me with my words, and my reality becomes a reflection of those descriptions. This is why it’s possible to live an invented life. Not a hocus-pocus-feelgood-flowers-and-candy life, rather a life where I declare how life is, and it is that way for me. Inside of our meat suits, we all live private lives of thought known only to us, and occasionally others. The only guarantee we have is our lives will surely end. Ultimately, that may be the greatest gift we have. It is the very fact that the clock is ticking that drives us forward to live. I don’t know when my time will come, and I want to make the most of today. I want my unique contribution to the world, both professionally and personally, to be the fullest expression of life the way I say I’m meant to live it. Whether it’s a global organization or a BBQ club, I want my life to be rich and full of the things I love. In that, we are pretty much all the same.
Sometimes I relate to myself as an object, a thing that I’ve become based on all that I’ve lived, seen, and learned. I get stuck with past failures, frustrations, and fatigue. The open space of what is possible in life begins to shrink. When I create who I am, not as a found object locked away in a trunk, but as an act of invention, the opportunity to do anything appears. I don’t know how long I’ve got left, and now is all I’ve really got. That’s all you’ve got, too. This is one thing all human beings share. A coach is someone who is committed that you make the most of your time here, and is willing to give you the opportunity to peer behind your personal Wizard of Oz, and see the person behind the curtain.
Giving life everything you’ve got can sometimes be exhausting, and so is endless drama, frustration, and reasons why you can’t have what you want. We all have our own collections of values and commitments, and whatever yours are, you are worthy of achieving them. Living a life of happiness and satisfaction is a most noble pursuit, and it’s not purchased with achievements. My love of movies may not save the world, and I choose my movie time. We can always do better than we are now, no matter how good things may already be. When you want to take the lid off, and experience life working, it’s time to get into communication with someone who can support you in achieving those goals. You have nothing to lose.