Career Progression Spins Around your Head - by Paul Cook

The energetic airstream rushes violently through the unsuspecting lungs, limbs turning to lead, head thumping whilst defensive adrenaline pumps and the cyclic rage of the elements force oxygen and gravity into one confined yet terrifying moment. It was only a micro second before that the balmy autumn breeze had bought calmness and serenity into its world which had then been crushed by the selfish actions of another.  This terror, this self-seeking action maintained purely to gain an outside chance of mystical futuristic financial success, is not based on science, but pure superstition. Yet it did know that if unlucky it, or other members of its family, may experience such an event two or three times in a lifetime, the linyphiidae or more commonly referred to ‘money spider’ is routinely and randomly spun around one’s head three times in attempts to brighten up the fiscal future.
 

There are of course other ways of progressing financially and generally these traditional approaches do not involve arachnid manoeuvres.  You could win the lottery, inherit a fortune, invent something that everybody wants, have a risky punt on the stock exchange or bet your house on a rank outsider.

All commendable and achievable (not without some external risk factors) of course but I want to explore the more commonly used system of ‘getting promoted’.

Our neuro pathways have the astonishing ability to tell us things that are not true; ‘you are not good enough for this’, ‘the competition is better than you’, ‘you don’t deserve this’, and others which can be only tailored to you.  And as I have mentioned many times in previous blogs these barriers are sometime known as limiting beliefs.  So add a couple of other factors.  Other people also have the astonishing ability to add to your own limiting beliefs; some of these naysayers start on you when you are about five years old; they don’t mean to  they just think they are helping; ‘don’t do that you might get hurt’, ‘don’t look down’, ‘you’re not good enough for that yet’.  As advice progresses through into adult life we hear gems such as ‘look them in the eye’, ‘the competition is tough this year’, ‘don’t move your hands around’, ‘sit up straight’ and my favourite, ‘make them laugh’ (the latter is of course extremely good advice if you are prepping for a job at the circus).

Now let us add these excellent approaches to what your body can also achieve.  You can become the money spider, lungs filling, heart pounding, adrenaline pumping, limbs failing and blood sent to everywhere apart from where it’s needed.  A very good friend and ex colleague of mine who I shall call JK described one of his interview experiences thus; ‘all of a sudden the clock got louder, the furniture got bigger, my legs got shorter and I started to swing them like when I was a schoolboy’, which, he had become!  Even when he tried his best line to add comedy value whilst looking the chairman in the eye he actually saw the dry tumbleweed root cartwheeling across the carpet.  The formula for this is now known as:

Bitter experience+ poor advice x limiting belief = JK aged 7 ½

There is a much more effective and highly successful method to progression and success.  This method is unique because it is only available and tailored to you.  Click on the image for more information.

Reference articles:
National Geographic
Spiders do not have lungs or need interview technique to survive
Medellin Cartel (Colombia)
There are other ways to make money

“The only thing limiting your aspiration is your imagination.” ― Stephen Richards

Every Silver Lining has a Cloud by Paul Cook

1984: ‘As they round the third and penultimate lap the lead runner quietly and gently moves across the arena and allows Sebastian Coe through for his all-important moment of glory; years of sinew stretched training, hour upon hour of regulated self-disciplined drill, planning, observing, and marking the competition.  This is it; he crosses the line, glimpses at the crowd and basks in his merited glory leading to a future of success in everything upon which he lays his hands.’

1992:  ‘The highly tuned and beautifully engineered Mercedes AMG thrust to all extremes of its energy efficient tarmac hugging superstructure manoeuvres determinately across the red hot tarmac track, dragged behind it a stream of sleek low slung pursuers eager to take up pole and fame; at bend 13 AMG respectfully bows out waves to his champion; Nigel Mansell accepts the nod guns, the F1 and strikes through the remainder of the race to become the new world champion applauded for years thereafter.’

At this point I am tempted to stop and continue a new career as a sports writer for which I have always had a secret ambition (feedback to Zest inbox please), however the reason I think I wax lyrical about Nigel Mansell, Seb Coe and could have done so for many others is simply because the thought of such success always charges me up to motivation level 10; you see it’s all in the language.  To stand alongside someone or a group of people and radiate motivational, forward, positive thoughts is vitally important and I guess that the majority of humanity get that.  And I select the word majority as there are always exceptions; I mean who in their right mind would want another person to think anything other than positively?  Who would want self-doubt to creep into a talented soul?  What would make you want your employees to believe anything other than a progressive future?  

Then I thought about a few recent personally observed illustrations.  My good friend and golfing partner Steve who recently told me I wasn’t getting any younger!  A young mum telling her agile and dextrously confident son not to look down ‘cos it really hurts if you fall!  A senior manager explaining to his team that the 3 year strategy probably won’t work but they’ve had instructions to give it a go!  The careers advisor impressing on the 13 year girl old that she might as well be realistic!

All these comments may have honourable intentions (apart from you Steve), so what about the formula for success?  My brilliant colleagues at Zest like to think of this as towards language.  State your intentions in the positive, identify and remove any limiting beliefs, look at all your options, clarify your goals, identify what resources/skills/training you need, take your first positive step. Coaching to high performance.

http://www.zestbusinesscoaching.co.uk/executive_business_coaching.php

Oh, and back to Seb Coe, Nigel Mansell et al.  You may care to add; these people are brilliant at what they do and passionate about the end result; everyone in the world will have a brilliance within them in whatever world they are in; finding it and developing it is the skill.  What was missing from my earlier striking narrative (plug sports commentary skills) is the pace runner standing aside, the pace car moving over and both at exactly the right time for the champion to finalise that victory.  This is what excellence is in coaching; we are your pace runner and pace car; that is our passion.

I have changed my mind about sports writing, I’m not getting any younger you know.

“Sometimes you climb out of bed in the morning and you think, I'm not going to make it, but you laugh inside — remembering all the times you've felt that way.” ― Charles Bukowski