Are you living life on purpose or by accident? By design or by default? The most successful and purposeful people I know live their lives in what I call 5G. Right now, telecommunications companies are building a 5G (fifth generation) network that will provide a more robust online experience. Committing to the following 5G’s will provide you with a more robust living experience.
- Gratitude. It starts with gratitude. The most important hour of your day is the first hour. Start your day right with your gratitudes. Giving thanks puts you in a positive energy state. You have a positive vibe and “your vibe attracts your tribe.” Harvard psychologist, Shawn Achor, notes that when you are positive, you have a “Happiness Advantage” and are more successful in everything you do – especially sales.
- Goals. Goals are your rocket fuel that motivate you to work hard and keep going. Your biggest goals are called your “Why”. As Mark Twain said, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you discover the reason why.”
Unfortunately, many people don’t have goals. They are drifters. They take life a day at a time and tend to focus on being entertained. They are living on default. As a manager, what can you do if you have drifters in your company? Help them discover their “Why” using Motivational Interviewing – a psychotherapeutic approach that attempts to move an individual away from a state of indecision or uncertainty and towards finding motivation to making positive decisions and accomplishing established goals. - Grit. Grit is “the ability to carry through on a commitment long after the motivation in which it was made has left you.” How often do you read a book, hear a speaker, or come out of a class all fired up to do something? Do you act, or do you lose your enthusiasm?
If your goals are important enough to you, you will most likely have the grit to take carry through on your commitment. The key is to get started. As Friedrich Nietzsche says, “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” - Grace. Grace has many definitions in the religious traditions. However, the dictionary definition is “a polite and thoughtful way of behaving.” In a world that’s increasingly polarized and uncivil, being gracious is a very unique characteristic – and a skill of most successful people.
A study by Thomas Corley, and documented in his book Rich Habits, notes that wealthy people have a filter with only 6% of them speaking their mind. In contrast, 69% of poor people don’t have a filter and tend to speak whatever is on their mind. As Corley says, “Would your rather be right or rich?” If you want to build relationships with diverse clientele, hold your tongue, and stay out of emotionally charged debates. Napoleon Hill calls it having an “attractive personality.” Be polite and have a thoughtful way of behaving. - Giving. In their book, The Go-Giver, Bob Burg and John David Mann make the case that “Our true worth is determined by how much more we give in value than we receive in payment.” This is often called “adding value.” Money flows to those that create the most value. As a result, “the more you give, the more you have.”
Live your life in 5G and you will be living on purpose. Help others do the same and you will change lives.
