Sunday, December 18, 2011

Pulling the trigger....

Eminem posed the question – “If you had one shot, one opportunity, to seize everything that you have always wanted, one moment, would you capture it or just let it slip?"

An excerpt from Mind of a Hustler (Source) 

...Now this post isn't about rap or rappers. It just goes to show that everyone recognizes that there are times in life where you make a decision to move and make moves or stay where you are and let the moment slip.

The challenge to this scenario, in grabbing this opportunity when it presents itself is that we don't usually see the opportunity until it has passed.

How many times have you been driving and look back just in time to see you have missed your freeway exit? Happens to me all the time (usually because I am on the phone or singing). I have my mind on other shit and I end up wasting time heading to the next exit to flip around to head back to the right exit. Once this happened to me driving from Los Angeles to San Francisco. I missed the 99/I-5 split. I had to double back. That minor mistake cost me an hour of lost time or 1/6th of the total trip time.

Instead of being on the freeway you are bumping through life. You are sweating the husband, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, parents or whoever. You have your head up your bosses ass to get a raise or your own trying to figure out how you are going to spend your weekend. You have your eyes crossed while trying to take a U-turn – whatever. You have so much going on that you forget where you are going. Sometimes you are so focused on where you are going that you miss the detour signs telling you that you are heading for a dead-end.

You have to be focused, but not too focused. You have to concentrate, but not so much that you block everything else out. You have to move quickly, but not so fast that you can’t make a turn if a dog runs out in front of you.

Your brain is powerful enough to take in a lot of information if you teach it to filter out the bullshit.

There are people around you who want you to fail. I have touched on this before. These are people who have their own motives. Sometimes their motives are even hidden from them. They don’t know they are sabotaging you. They tell you things like:

    * Hey, slow down and smell the roses.
    * All work and no play…
    * You are going to work yourself to death!

Are they right? Only you know for sure. You have made the decision to get on that road, put the keys in the ignition, and start the car and go. It is your foot on the accelerator. You determine how fast you want to go. The question is – how soon do you want to get there?

I like driving at night. People are out of my way. Roads are clear. I can go faster. But then I hear

    * But that’s when the drunk drivers are out!
    * But no one is on the road; you are more likely to get pulled over.
    * What if you fall asleep, crash or have an accident? No one will see you!

But for me, those are minor risks that I can prepare for. I can drive without speeding (too much). I can keep an eye on traffic – fewer people on the road allow me to be more maneuverable in avoiding accidents. I can take a nap before I drive away. I can have all my fluids and tires checked for safety. All those things that they say to stop me from going are relatively preventable. The gain is that I get to my destination 2 to 4 hours faster (depending on L.A. traffic).

The benefit outweighs the manageable risks.

So, I’m going to keep this one short. Here is my point. If you have something you want to do or somewhere you want to go then pull the trigger. Make sure you have extra gas in the tank. Make sure you check the tire pressure and fluids. Make sure you are rested and ready. Make sure you have your course plotted and planned and an alternate route in case there is trouble along the way. When you have done all that – smash on the accelerator.

It is the only way you are going to get where you want to go before everyone else, with time to spare....

Keep Hustling

2 comments: