Did you know that it’s harder to play life at 75% versus 100%? This is because people spend 25% of their energy making up excuses, attaching blame to people and circumstances believing this is what kept them from not finishing what they set out to do.
The more someone uses these excuses, the more they start to believe them—they can’t understand why they keep coming up short, or why life seems to be so hard. Sometimes embarrassment or shame creeps in to haunt them with the question of why they can’t seem to get where they want to be in life.
The biggest burden of only playing 75% is the time spent feeling bad about not finishing the race, or not keeping their word—to themselves and to others. What they may not realize is that this behavior raises a red flag, signaling others to stop trusting them. Based on past results, they don’t believe this person will play 100%, so they lose faith.
Keeping our word is crucial
Have you ever done this?
Told someone you would meet them for lunch at noon.
Sprint through the door at 12:15, apologizing profusely.
Go on to report, “Traffic on the freeway was bad.”
Isn’t traffic on the freeway always bad? Even if it wasn’t your intention to make them feel like their time is less valuable than yours, do you ever wonder if the person waiting on you secretly thinks just that?
Or, what about the folks who tell their staff to be on time no matter what, but walk in the door 10 minutes late? What is the message being sent there?
Playing 75% is often offensive, showing a lack of leadership which has the potential to be hurtful and misunderstood. Why would we take a chance of sending the wrong message when we are only 25% away from excellence? Why would we risk the possibility of someone losing their respect for us—or even worse, their trust? This just flat-out sucks.
Playing 100%
Here is the great news: playing 100% is a BLAST!! It defines us as extraordinary, not ordinary. It builds trust in our self and others, bringing a new exuberance and excitement to life. The power of playing 100% has all eyes on us, giving us the title of “Super Star.”
Have you ever stood back after you challenged yourself to play 100%, especially if it wasn’t easy, and the feeling of AWESOME poured over you? At that moment, you got to give yourself a “way to go,” knowing that you accomplished what you set out to do. You stood a little bit taller knowing you deserve to be trusted.
The cool part is that once you start playing 100%, your bar gets raised: you begin to see yourself as worthy, and doors start opening to make your dreams come true.
So, let’s start playing 100% all of the time, getting rid of “this sucks” and replacing it with, “THIS IS LIVING!”
Loved this! Makes so much sense and just requires some extra effort