Are You Getting the Role You Want?

Auditions

Photo Courtesy of wetwebwork.

A few weeks ago I wrote about casting your own life and auditioning people for it.  After I published it I received a message from my magician friend Basil.  He mentioned that we are always trying to be cast ourselves in our dream role and that we never know which small part we are given by someone else might take us to our next level.

I loved his thinking here.  Not only are we auditioning other people they are auditioning us.  We want to play a role in their life because we want them to play one in ours.

Next time you run into a stranger treat them with dignity and respect.  Whether it is a customer in your business or someone you are running into randomly during the day, you never know what that person may hold for you or how much power and help you can give to them.

Several years ago I was selling a camera to a gentleman.  I took time with him and answered his questions.  I made sure he had all the information he needed to make a good decision.  Immediately after finishing the man hands me his business card and tells me if I was ever looking for a job to give him a call.  While I never took him up on that offer what if that card would have opened to doors to one of my dreams?

Cast Your Life

Clapper Board and Reel

Image Courtesy of M4D Group

Think about your life as a television show for a moment. Season after season (year after year) you are the director, producer, editor, and caterer. You are the star and you get to control just about every aspect of what goes on. But would you like to know what your most powerful job is? You get to work in casting and decide who gets a spot in your show!

You get to choose the people who play a lead roll and those that are the extras in the background. Each role is your decision. You are the boss when it comes to casting and this task should never be given to anyone else. While characters will be introduced by other people you have full authority whether to give them a spot.

Choose carefully who you add into your life show. Audition those that you are considering for your cast and think about the role they will play carefully. Be gentle with those that you won’t be allowing to return next season and always keep open the possibility of a return spot if circumstances change.

And remember, give an award winning performance that you are proud of!  Your life show is your legacy for other generations!

Make the Call

Last Call

Photo Courtesy of eefeewahfah

You have to decide. Right now you must make the decision to decide. Decide what exactly? Well, what decision have you been putting off?

Everyone has to make choices and decisions. The important point is actually making them. We have all put a decision off and then proceed to make excuses as to why we can’t make a choice right now. The longer you put off a decision the harder it becomes to make — you must make the call.

Dan Miller suggests giving yourself a timeline. Give yourself a few days on the important decisions, consult those you need to get input from, and you make the call. You put a date on the decision and when the day comes you make it – no excuses.

Or you can try the Dave Ramsey way. Think about the worst possible outcome that your decision can have. Can you live with it? If so, then go. Many times the worst case scenario is not as bad as we imagined it once we actually think about it.

We all have hard decisions to make from time to time. The important thing is to make them.

Indecision

IndecisionHave you ever had a hard time making a decision?  Has the delay in making one cost you something (time, money, job promotion, etc)?  In my job I have seen it cost all of these things to people and it was simply because they could not make up their mind.

Indecision can effect you and your loved ones, cost you opportunities in your home and work life, and keep your mind occupied so you cannot focus on tasks.  No matter whether your need to make a career decision or what to eat for dinner a delay can cost you.

Dan Miller in his book “48 Days to the Work You Love” says that he and his wife limit themselves to a two week window to make any kind of decision.  To help make their decisions they have a 5 step process:

  1. State the problem.
  2. Get the advice and opinions of others.
  3. List the alternatives.
  4. Choose the best alternative.
  5. Act.

And just like your third grade teacher telling you during those standardized tests that if you don’t know the answer 100% to take the first one that came to your mind, that can be good advice here.  In many instances your first thought of the right answer is going to be what is good for you.  Don’t make your decision based on your first assumption but look at that as a really good starting point and work from there.

Being able to make a decision is just as important as having goals and dreams.  If you have a dream and cannot decide whether or not to act upon it then where does that leave you?

Photo courtesy of spaceamoeba.