by Irene Becker,
Certified Coach, Speaker and Writer http://www.justcoachit.com

Some people eat fast food and ask, “Where is the beef?’ I embrace and
devour every blessed moment of this fast life and ask, “What is the
value?" In my career as a success coach it is the focus on the value that
my client is trying to create in their life, their business, their
career that fuels the mechanism and the modus operendi for passionate
engagement and success.

It is easy to jump on the bandwagon of the latest economic or personal
fad that promises to propel your life or your business to the apex of
purpose, potential and success. Easy does not mean better. Easy does
not mean cheaper or quicker. Life is not easy by definition, and
neither is achieving success. It is time to be circumspect and recognize that
there are no quick fixes, and that success is never achieved alone. We
need to look inside and outside to understand what we can do for our
selves and for our constituency.

While we cajole our epidemic sense of uncertainty with attempts to
control that which we cannot, or try to find quick fixes when there are
none; the solution to our problems starts with each one of us taking
personal responsibility for our self and stretching out of the comfort zone
to feel a sense of responsibility for our family, our friends, our
colleagues and our world. It is our ability to balance personal advantage
and collective advantage that will determine the breadth, depth and
sustainability of our success.

A sense of responsibility does not mean that we are responsible for the
mistakes of other; but rather, that we do our best every day and every
way to engage OUR best self, do our best work and to do unto others as
we would have them do unto us. It means that we expect to make mistakes
and to fail, but that when we do we take responsibility for our mess
and ask our self two questions. Two simple questions that need to
preclude the concept, process, goals and execution in our lives and our work:

1) How can I use this mess to create value for myself and others?
2) What is the value for myself and others in what I want to
create?

When our intention is focused on VALUE the answers as to how we will
create a foundation of prosperity, abundance, satisfaction, meaning,
momentum unfold. If we can get stuck on the perks and bells and whistles
that are part and parcel of value (i.e. personal, financial, positional
and competitive gain) to the exclusion of a focus on the true bottom
line of value; we may have our cake but it will be gone before we have
had a chance to eat and digest the whole thing. All that is centered in
the abyss of our ego is destined to fall, crash and burn.

You can reach past the rising tide of inertia and mediocrity by
starting every day with the intention to do your best, be your best and live
and work your best day. If you make a mess, remember that life is
inherently messy, and that the only person who can clean up YOUR mess is
you. If cleaning up the mess requires seeking help, find the help you
need.

Many of us grow up too soon and too fast, or too slow and get to old to
remember our dreams, our vision…the ‘what’ of our life or our career.
After all, it is hard to reflect on “what” when we are surrounded with
noise, stress and responsibilities that undermine our focus. If you
are walking around your office, your home and your life with a sense of
personal or professional despair, anger or inertia; know that only you
have the power to effect positive change in your life and your work.

Until we can reach a personal page in the book of life and work where
we start each day with the intention to create value in our life and in
the lives of others; we may tread water but we will never swim as far
as we could do with the right intention.
The secret to success does not start with the how, or the why or the
where…it start with the what.

Yours in service and joy, Irene © 2007 Irene Becker