Hey, this is an issue that I'm going to give a couple different applications to the core concept. Some of it might make people uncomfortable, but I've just had a lot of experience working with it, so I'll share with you pretty quickly and let you get on with the rest of your Friday before you get to enjoy the weekend.
The idea I'm asking you to think about today is "you can't get to second with one foot on first." In other words, you can't be in two places at once. You can't be committed to two practices, or two jobs, or two relationships. You've really got to be fully committed to get the best value out of those opportunities or those circumstances that you'd like to get.
If you're going to try to stay safe by not taking your foot off, you're probably not going to be able to stretch yourself all the way out to second base without letting go or getting disconnected from where you already are.
Look, in my career I've had plenty of people come to me and say, "Charlie, I really need a new job. What should I do?" My first answer is the one that kind of shakes everybody up. My first answer is "quit your existing job." Now, that sounds kind of absolute, and maybe to some of you it even sounds irresponsible, but what I have found in my history of helping people relocate or get reconnected, the people who cut it off, burn the bridges, jump off the cliff with a leap of faith, are the ones that end up getting new jobs sooner and they get a better job, with more reliability, than the people who try to stay employed and still look for a new job.
Two things happen. In one case, in one side of that conversation, the people that you're interviewing with get the sense that you really haven't made a commitment to leave and it makes you an unattractive candidate. The second thing that happens is once you let go and disconnect from your current employer, you have a really, really intense urgency to do the things that it takes to get a new job.
If you stay employed where you are before you let go, you're like, "I can't let go of this paycheck. I don't know what will happen." So you don't really put the full effort and energy that it requires to get to the next best place. You always have divided time and attention, and when the best product you're ever going to sell, which is yourself, doesn't have the opportunity to show its best, you really dilute the opportunity that you may have for someone to see you as the best chance as a candidate for them.
So look, if you cannot stomach the idea of letting go what's safe, you aren't going to see the real opportunity of what could be because you're always going to be worried about what if. Let go of what if, let go of first base, have a passionate belief in how great it would be to be standing on second with a better chance of scoring than you ever had staying on first and place a bet on yourself.
Place a bet that you can go out and do the work, and prospect for opportunities, and interview like a fully committed candidate. Not a candidate that's unsure, maybe if it's perfect, perhaps this is a good opportunity. Get rid of all that half in - half out BS that stops you from really giving yourself the best opportunity. Let go and go get what you want.
You can't get to second with one foot on first. If you don't believe me, I understand, but I'll stand on the results that I've seen. Take care everybody. Have a great idea of where you want to get to and be fully committed to getting to it. Growth Dynamics is here to help If you need it, take care.
