Friday, March 14, 2014

MARCH MADNESS: 3 WAYS TO EFFECTIVELY CLOSE THE 1ST QUARTER




Get your brackets ready! It's that time of year. March Madness brings out every current, former athlete and wannabe coach and sports analyst in America. Everyone is super anxious for the field of teams to be chosen so they can enter their respective office pools in order to flex their basketball muscle and claim their spot as the undisputed bracket champion. I can't remember a year when the NCAA basketball tournament didn't live up to and/or surpass the hype of March Madness. From the cinderella teams to the dominant and storied programs, every game is critical, every possession is important, every strategy is intentional, every team has a unique story, every fan, alumni, analyst and bracketologist is hungry for victory and focused on making sure their bracket doesn't get busted. Sound familiar? It should. Imagine if we approached our lives as ferociously as people approach March Madness. 

Before the tournament starts, everyone has a formula that they use to fill out their respective brackets. Some look at stats, others look at individual scorers, strength of each team's regular season schedule, the head coach, margin of victory, etc. Whatever the strategy may be, everyone completely fills out their bracket and has faith that they will win. Imagine having faith in something that we have zero control over that's out of our reach yet we don't have faith in some of the things that are within our reach. See why they call it "madness"?

As we MARCH into the final phase of the 1st quarter, there are three ways to effectively close it and step boldly into the 2nd quarter;


1) FEARLESSLY FILL OUT YOUR BRACKET:


You want to win, right? Move up the deadline on those goals you've set and finish them ahead of schedule. As a matter of fact, add an additional goal to your original list of goals you set. Take risks on the action that will yield the highest reward for you. This is a time when you have to be selfish in your strategy. Take action that others might view as "crazy" or "overly ambitious". Let that gut instinct determine the end result that you want. This is the time when your heart and gut must be in complete agreement and are willing to stretch. Don't just write out your plans, write out your power and claim it.


2) MAXIMIZE YOUR MADNESS


When the MADNESS is at it's peak, no one misses a score update, an upset of a favored team, a landslide victory. Why? They re-structure their lives around the "madness". It becomes their priority, their focus, their obsession. Imagine if we rearranged our priorities and placed the same energy that we utilize on the "MADNESS" and place it into those daily tasks that we want to do and have to do. We would completely destroy our competition.

Become obsessed with finishing at the top, but moreover become obsessed with the fulfillment that finishing brings. Make the image in the mirror your biggest cheerleader and your most formidable opponent that pushes you to the edge of maximum competitiveness. Develop a sense of urgency, a "MADNESS", that leads you to record your daily wins and losses as you accomplish the predictable and unpredictable. Celebrate your small wins for the moment then wake up the next day like they never happened yet with a renewed and intensified hunger to go to the next level.


3) MARCH LOUDLY

As you examine and re-examine your bracket, boldly follow the path of most resistance and march deliberately toward the goals you've set. Your bracket should be the envy and wonderment of those around you. However, your footsteps should be so definite and powerful that your teammates and opponents are left in awe. Allow your footsteps to be so phenomenal that you can't duplicate them and those goals in front of you not only see you coming to accomplish them, but they tremble as they hear you approaching. Put the necessary blinders on that help you stay the course no matter how far away the actual goal is. March so loudly that all those along the way recognize the intensity and intention of your journey. No need to talk loud along the way. Allow your inner voice to be your inner victory. Your work and your footsteps will speak volumes louder than anything your mouth can utter. Allow your MARCH to be the ultimate routine for the championship run. No need to look at the time. The time is now. No need to look at your teammate(s), they're expecting you to close the deal. Well done is always better than well said. So get it done!

REBOUND. RESET. RELEASE.








No comments: