Pick yourself and stop waiting for someone to pick you.
I’ve spent most of my life waiting to be discovered. I was certain someone would hear my cry: “Pick me! Pick me!” But the only time it ever happened was as a 10 year-old kid when choosing teams for Red Rover. I was picked first for this game because a 200 pound fat kid was devastating.
Can you identify with this? Has your entire life been spent waiting for someone to pick you?
- Maybe the boss will see how hard you are working and give you a raise?
- Perhaps the competition will ask you to work for them?
- Maybe an editor will pick you to write for their new book?
- Have you been waiting for approval from friends before moving ahead with your plans?
Waiting to be picked is a form of bondage. As long as you wait for someone to bless you, choose you, pick you, or approve of you then you are not free.
Part of the ReFIRE process is to become free to make the rest of your life the best part of the journey. You cannot succeed in this goal as long as you are waiting to be picked.
For many years I’ve wanted to publish a book. I studied how to submit a book proposal to various publishers. The theory was that if you submitted a killer book proposal the publisher might pick you. Screw that. I’ve decided to pick myself. That’s why I’m going to self-publish. My book Tom’s List: 50 Commandments to Transform Your Life will soon be available on Amazon for sale.
At this point in the journey, if your dreams are to come true, you must make the decision to pick yourself. Stop waiting for your ship to come in or for someone to notice you. Forge ahead, daring to believe you will succeed. The power of the gate-keeper is fading.
Regardless of the area in which you pick yourself, there are 5 strategies you must employ to succeed.
Here are 5 proven pick yourself strategies for success.
Pick yourself strategy #1: Remind yourself that waiting to be picked usually doesn’t work.
How has this strategy worked for you so far? You might be able to point to a few instances where you were picked. But when you consider the number of years you’ve walked this planet, you will recognize the futility of this strategy.
Can I be honest? For many of us waiting to be picked is our secret way of not taking responsibility. If we are waiting to be picked, then it’s not our fault if we do not succeed. If we believe a gate-keeper must open the gate for us to succeed then we are off the hook.
Waiting to be picked is a strategy of failure.
Pick yourself strategy #2: Recognize the amazing power in choosing yourself.
Once you decide to pick yourself then you can get to work. If you continue to wait, then you will continue to wait. “Someday” becomes “every day” and you keep on waiting. If you wait for those in authority to tap you on the shoulder they have the power and you remain stuck in a rut.
You unleash power when you embrace the truth that success is found inside yourself and not in the hands of someone else. Stop sucking up to the one you think can turn your life around. Save your breath. Divert that suck-up energy into making yourself a success. Unleash the power!
Pick yourself strategy #3: Use your experience to decide what’s really important.
At this point in your life, you have a sense of what is really important. If you are going to pick yourself, make sure it is in an area which really matters. In your younger years you may have foolishly invested time and energy into chasing things of no real substance.
But now, with years of experience under your belt, you are able to examine life and go for things which matter. Pick yourself to do things which change your corner of the world. Choose yourself to make a difference in the life of someone less fortunate than you. Tap yourself on the shoulder and accept the responsibility to change your legacy so you become a role model for your future generations.
Pick yourself strategy #4: Leverage technology to your advantage.
Years ago, before Steve Jobs and Bill Gates changed the landscape, success was more difficult. Before Jobs and Gates the power people reigned supreme. If you wanted to cut a record, publish a book, appear on TV, produce a film series, or give a speech to a thousand people you had to bow before the gate-keepers.
Poof. The world has changed.
We now live in a world where the grip of the power-brokers is slipping. You no longer need anyone to do the things mentioned above. Thanks to the power of the internet and the technology surrounding it, you can pick yourself and succeed. Figure out what you want to do and then leverage technology to make it happen. Technology is waiting to do your bidding.
Pick yourself strategy #5: Accept the importance of doing your best.
To choose yourself is to choose the necessity of doing your best. When the gate-keeper chooses you it might be possible to succeed by riding the coattails of the one who picked you. But when you stick your chest out and give yourself permission to succeed, then you better deliver. The monkey is on your back.
Being mediocrity will not bring success. You can, for example, pick yourself and publish a book, but if it sucks you’ve laid a rotten egg. Accept the fact that skirting the power brokers doesn’t negate the need for quality work; on the contrary, it increases the need for your work to be the best you can do.
NOW is the time to choose yourself. Stop waiting for the sky to open and opportunity to fall into your lap. These 5 strategies are proven to work. How did I “prove” them? Next month, when you see Tom’s List for sale, you will have your proof. If you want to read of someone else who picked themselves and became successful, THIS article by Prosper Otemuyiwa is a good read.
Warning. When you pick yourself, be prepared for the boo-birds to nest overhead. They will criticize and tell you it can’t be done. If you need help in handling the critics, I encourage you to read my article titled 4 Reasons It’s a Mistake to Listen to the Negative Criticism of Others.
If you want to read a one-page summary about the need to pick yourself, check out THIS article written by marketing guru Seth Godin.
Excellent post, Randall. I have been enjoying your articles.
Thanks George. I see you write about Boomers and retirement at http://www.understandingxyz.com Perhaps some of my readers will check you out. I’m grateful to know you are a reader!
Oooohhhh yeah, can so relate. You and me Randy … from the same mold!: “I was picked first for this game because a 200 pound fat kid was devastating.” Through grade school and into high school I was always chosen last. As the fat kid, I dreaded that well-worn strategy.
I still wait at times. But, as you shared as a strategy for failure, I’ve also found that it’s fear that helps me wait determine my fate. If something doesn’t work out or come along, then it must’ve not been the right thing. Or even worse, I can blame circumstances on others and situations. Let’s me off the hook. No risk.
Ouch. “Someday” becomes “every day” Wow, that hit me in the gut!
Time to get and keep on moving! All great info as usual Randy!
Thank you!
Yeah. I was always picked last at recess for any game unless it was Red Rover. It was humiliating to be picked last; especially in those times when the “captain” looked at me as the only remaining choice and said my name with disdain. I appreciate your kind comments. You have chosen yourself for success and you ARE succeeding!
Great article! If you were picked last, I might have blazed the trail for the last guy picked. Sometimes on a good day in PE, I was next to last or on a really good day-2 or 3 were left! You know what- all of it was meaningless, looking back. There’s probably no one alive today who remembered who was last!
It’s true. I hardly even remember much about those school days!