Surround yourself with people that share similar goals

One of the keys of a continuous tenacious rhythm towards accomplishing your goals is to make sure you are surrounded by people that have your similar views and do not fall into the category of "misery loves company". I have taught myself to ONLY surround myself with people that have my similar views and philosophies of life which can be summed up as "living life to the fullest by dominating each and every day." With that being said…my good friend called and said he had a great post for the Enlightened Graduate...I read it and loved it...and here it is…

I’m a family friend to the Vetter’s and share the same Modus Operandi: Dominate everything you do in your life. My first post kind of piggybacks on some of Greg’s posts; Dialed In, Getting’er Done & Spider Monkey… I hope you enjoy.

Competitive Greatness

I am a college football Coach. I don’t get a day off from August 2 till sometime in late December. I work 100 hours a week (usually more). I miss all types of events (weddings, parties, etc.) due to my schedule. I am behind on current events. There are times when I know more about what’s going on in a recruit’s life than with my own family members. I have become a bad friend because of my personal job requirements. I might go weeks without a solid night’s sleep. I sacrifice, forfeit and surrender the majority of my personal life for my job.

With all of that said; I LOVE MY JOB. Football is my passion. I get up in the morning excited to go to work, everyday. When I’m not working I am reading about coaches and football. I am just like a lot of other guys who can’t wait to get out of the office; then I can go watch football. I am an addict and football is my drug; I can’t get enough of it. While football is a major part of my life, it is not my life.

The best way I can describe my commitment to my job, as well as my life, is to borrow Coach John Wooden’s (former UCLA basketball coach & 10 time NCAA Champion Coach) philosophy on Competitive Greatness. Competitive Greatness is not whether you win or lose your contest. Competitive Greatness is rising to every occasion and pushing yourself to the limit; mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually to reach your God-given potential. This immediately makes me think of the wonderful Vince Lombardi quote “I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, his greatest fulfillment of all he holds dear, is the moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious.” It’s important to understand that your life is the ‘field of battle’ and you have an opportunity to be victorious in all facets of your life. Even writing this journal entry I’m getting excited for my next opportunity to compete.

I am sharing all of this with you to ask you a few simple questions that I ask myself every week. These are questions that only you can answer: What are you doing in your life to reach your Competitive Greatness? What are you doing to develop your spiritual life (your relationship with God)? Are you taking care of yourself physically (eating right, exercising), emotionally (developing relationships) and mentally (educating yourself)? If you ever find yourself unmotivated or searching in your life, than you need to re-center and refocus, answering these questions will help you do just that. Ask yourself these questions and write down your answers. Spend your next week focusing on what you wrote down. At the end of your week ask yourself these questions again, write down your answers and compare your answers from week one to week two. You will find a tremendous difference in how you prioritized your life, how you spend your time and you will find out what is missing and how you need to prioritize.