Have you ever put all your eggs in one basket? Have you ever had so much riding on one big break that if it didn’t happen you would have to move down to the zoo and live off of kudzu and stump water? If you have, you’re playing desperation life!
Desperation Life = Trouble Before You Start!
If you’re playing desperation life, then you didn’t do something right early on. Being forced to go for the big break could almost be a good definition of failure. You’re hoping for a last ditch effort to pull your dream out of the muck.
Sometimes a last ditch effort is all you need; most of the time, you’re playing Russian roulette. If the big break is your conscious plan then your strategy is sucking wind already.
The steady as she goes planning will increase your odds of success tremendously. You’ll find that your planning and strategy will fit the game plan very nicely as there will not be nearly as much pressure on you.
Success Begets Success!
Planning for the success of a project is much better handled when you are planning your strategy in bits and pieces. Small steps along the way will make huge strides. It’s like the question, “how do you eat an elephant?” One bite at a time.
Far too often, we try to take giant steps toward the goal line to speed up the process. And, then in the process, we end up farther behind because the faster we go the behinder we get.
Big breaks can just not be planned or forced. They just happen. Big breaks come to everyone at some time or another. If you think you’ve never had a big break, that’s not true. You might have not recognized it, but they do come around to everyone at times, sometimes very camouflaged but, there nonetheless.
Throwing Caution To The Winds!
The guy waiting on the big break will bet the whole farm on his idea. He is so sure that it will succeed that the sky is the limit as to what he will sacrifice to have it. As stated, these ideas work sometimes, but it’s the exception rather than the rule.
The pursuit of the big break is not wrong in and of itself. It’s just the approach to the big break that causes them to fail so often. We put just one strategy, plan, technique, or method into play and that’s all we got. If that one method doesn’t work, we’re up the dirty creek without a paddle.
By the same token, if we put together a bits and pieces plan to approach this situation, then we’re really not depending on the big break. We’re using the techniques that will increase our odds of success.
Too Tired To Sleep!
The big break then often shows up and right out of the blue presents us with a nice trophy. But the most frustrating part is when we try to force it, gamble for it, or spend every waking hour in a gut wrenching frame of mind hoping for success from it.
For example: We have all heard of the TV star that got his big break. He was just walking down the street and some producer saw him and made him a star.
Then there is the person who decides to go to acting school and learn the art of acting and makes his way by small steps to stardom. Maybe this guy will never make it. But, what are the probabilities of the first guy?
The second guy is making plans in a calculated manner and does not look for his help coming by just happening to be in the right place at the right time.
An Uphill Battle!
You should understand that depending on the big break is as unreliable as it is infrequent. And, it can also do harm to your motivation. Living by the desperation of a big break can become enough of a habit that you fail to make calculated plans for success.
You will develop the jack-rabbit start in everything you do and run out of gas long before you get to the finish line.
It can cause you to completely overlook a viable opportunity when it comes your way. If the opportunity looks like a big break and it smells like a big break, then make calculated risks and turn it into a planned strategy.
When You End Up With Lemons, Make Lemonade!
It doesn’t necessarily have to be avoided. It just needs to be approached with a different attitude than someone would approach the big break. I.e. The big break mentality.
If you consider the big break as an accidental occurrence, then life does not become a series of desperation attempts. Surprisingly, big breaks can be helped by natural occurrences that happen accidentally.
But, the worse thing you can do is to always be looking for one magic pill that will create a big bang and bring instant success. Living for the big break will be a sure recipe for disaster.
Brink Of Disaster!
Big breaks will come around in a natural response to the project you’re trying to complete. Take advantage of them as they come naturally; just don’t set up yourself for depending on them in a nick of time.
You might find out your “nick” is on the brink of disaster.
How do you know if you are waiting on the big break? Ask yourself, have you analyzed the upside and downside? If you have and can see what the risks to reward are, then you are not waiting on the big break.
You Won’t Suffer From Stress, You’ll Be A Carrier!
If you find yourself wringing your hands, hoping against hope, in fear of disaster, you’re playing with fire. And, the proverbial fat lady is just about ready to sing for you.
