Determination: How Purpose Helps You Avoid The Drift
Life has ups and downs, and sometimes staying on the right track is challenging. If you or someone you love find getting the success you deserve is elusive, you want to check out the practical steps in this newsletter.
Drift occurs when fruitless practices become habits, and you descend on autopilot into disappointment. The longer you drift, the more challenging recovery becomes, which is part of the reason so many veterans find themselves in the rehab hamster wheel.
The drawing below shows the effects of drift. You start in a decent place, and then fruitless or counterproductive actions angle you downward. Unproductive habits may include lack of exercise, hanging out with the wrong crowd, poor emotional trigger management, distraction, substance abuse, lack of sleep, etc.
Over time, these habits become second nature. You put them on autopilot. Dismay happens slowly and then all at once.
The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.
Vince Lombardi
Determination is drift’s antidote, consisting of four things: Purpose, Priorities, People, and Accountability.
Purpose includes the impact that you want to make in the essential areas of your life: personally, professionally, socially, and service, for example.
Your priorities are your actions to advance your purpose while avoiding wasting time and energy fruitlessly. You do first things first instead of putting them off.
Take a look at the five people you spend time with the most. Are they people who give you energy? Or are they people who drag you down, suck the life out of you, or keep you trapped in a comfort zone of mediocrity? Naturally, you want to hang with the people who boost your energy, cheer on your growth, and help you reach new heights. I call these people Zappers.
Accountability means to be answerable for improving future performance. Coaches and trusted advisors, like Zappers, are terrific accountability partners because they keep you focused on your purpose and priorities and help you get better daily. Unsurprisingly, the world’s best athletes, leaders, and professionals have coaches, while the worst ones never do (at least not willingly).
Determination keeps you on the upward trajectory toward success and helps you soar to heights beyond.
A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.
Colin Powell
Did you ever notice that people focused on getting ever-better never spiral into crisis?
If you are ready to help yourself or others stay on the determination curve, here are some steps you can take.
- Subscribe to this newsletter for more practical action steps on the ever-better path.
- Take the 22-Day Trigger Mastery Challenge to seize control of your responses to emotional triggers.
- Watch for our Ever-Better Growth program coming in 2024. You’ll get videos and actions that help you master each step of Purpose, Belonging, and Well-being.
Gold medals aren’t really made of gold. They’re made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts.
Dan Gable