Me, Myself and I > Really?!

It isn't a secret - I LOVE people. A whole lot.

I love seeing people let love into their lives and getting to the " next level of the art of living". Hence why I am in the process of becoming a certified life/executive coach very soon!

I am firmly convinced that when people are connected, they are the at their strongest and more apt to succeed. It takes a lot though - The most important piece would be self-sacrifice and trust.

It almost seems counter-intuitive, you know, to let go of our selfish ambition and allowed others to help us achieve our goals, encourage and share life with us...but in order to create sustainable success, the legendary kind, the people on your team are vital.

What I'm really saying is : Check your ego at the door - We need each other to make it to where we want to go.

A wise woman who recently went on a life-changing trip to Nepal, learned from a 30+ day (unglamourous and at times very trying) trek through the mountains with a team of individuals, how successful they became once they decided to become interdependent.
Their team alliance was "Be happy for others first". Can you imagine the power in that?

Hiking through the Himalayas isn't an easy feat. She told me that everyone had a bad day(sick day, injured day, fatigued day..etc) here and there but as a team they agreed to sacrifice their emotional responses to the crap they faced and made a quality decision to be happy for the others first then think of themselves.

This wise woman also told me that some days, that is self-sacrificing happiness for others was her strength that propelled her through the hours of hiking when it was her turn to have a "no good, very bad day". That is the power that human connection.

Social Media, I believe, is popular because it connects and re-connects people and is a means for us to let others in - in a non-committal way. They can peruse our Facebook pages and read our Tweets and feel as though they are "in the know".
I can't help but smile whenever I hear the phrase "I was Facebook-creeping and I saw that....". Some are genuinely curious and interested in being aware of what is going on in your life! Well....rather..what you choose to share and market yourself (but that's a different topic for another day).

In the past year and a half I've undergone a significant change in friendships and have realized that not everyone who is in your life isn't necessarily "on your team". I was recently 'dropped' from a ' friendship circle' that I had valued a great deal and that, for me, was the catalyst for change.

I realized that for many years I had invested vulnerability, openness and trust to people who weren't doing the same for me.

A few weeks ago I learned that in any partnership/connection (whether professional or personal) there are three entities. There is me, the other person and our relationship forms the third part. This third part is what you need to be aware of. You need to, nurture, respect, fix and honour that part.

My sister calls it the Love Bank from which you deposit and withdraw others call it the Love tank that you can gauge to be full or empty - whatever you name it- be aware that it makes or breaks a relationship.

I got it that day....putting others' needs ahead of my own fuels them to get to achieve their goals and vice versa.

A wise man said the other day to me " What if everyone showed up....ready to meet other people' s needs?" he leaned in and whispered : "Guess what?! That means someone would have my back for me" (Sorry PMo...I paraphrased).

I thought about that one long and hard.

In the movie Akeelah and the Bee , a little girl achieves her dream of winning a national spelling bee competition. Towards the end of the movie as she prepares for the climatic event she realizes that her success up to that point in her journey rested on the support from the 50 000 coaches that she had. Her coaching team, that included her mother, family, friends and community members invested their time, energy, love and hope in her and prepared her to take a daring and bold chance at the spelling bee.

50 000 coaches. The number sounds outrageous...but I get it. There are so many people past and present who have self-sacrificed


Who is on your team of 50 000 coaches? I challenge to you today to three things:

1. Stop, think and thank God for the people in your life who have contributed (and are contributing) to who you are today.

2. Look around and see who is actually spending their time (aka their most valuable asset) with you or for you. It may be an occasional text, call, Skype chat, email, IM/BBM - though it may not be what you want it to be or your love language - individual contact, these days, counts a LOT.

3. Acknowledge and thank those who are in your life and " on your team" - In whichever way you can. Just let them know, that you know and want them to know that they are on your team and that you appreciate them! Maybe a text, an e-card, an actual telephone conversation - just do it.

Have a WINNING day and make the most of your time - it is your most valuable asset!