MY PHILOSOPHY:
CONSTANT ELEVATION
Life is beautiful. Everyday is a chance to fulfill your dream with massive action. My actions have me speaking with people that are passionate about helping others. I'm connecting to amazing people through referrals and "listening" to signals across LinkedIn and Twitter. One such individual is Betsy Pridmore. Betsy's LI profile declares"my goal has always been to get people to really think about their potential and how they can chart a path towards success." What a fabulous goal! I wanted to talk with Betsy, so I did.
After hearing my love affair of books, Betsy asked me if I was familiar with Win Forever by Pete Carroll. I had not and after Betsy's description I was ready to get my hands on the book. As a football fan I knew of Pete Carroll's success but not aware of his approach. What struck me was his idea of crafting a personal philosophy. Carroll's Win Forever model is based upon competition. The idea of competing against yourself to be the best you. It resonated and made me stop and think, What's my philosophy? I loved the challenge, so giddy up and let's get to it.
The first obstacle was identifying an overarching theme. I think Win Forever does a terrific job of peaking your interest of wanting to know more about what the philosophy is. I recently attended an extremely helpful workshop, "The Coaching Habit", by Box of Crayons. It reinforced the importance of showing up everyday for your team, leading with compassion and gratitude. One of the stickier sayings coming out of the workshop was "drip irrigation beats a flash flood." I'm far from a green thumb but the message of incrementally providing value and showing up felt like a home run. I thought this is my philosophy! On my date night with my wife I told her about my new philosophy of drip irrigation. Maybe it was the wine talking (not likely) but she thought I was nuts. She exclaimed that "I know nothing about actual drip irrigation and to associate your philosophy is just plain silly". She was absolutely right (which happen quite frequently). What came next was her suggestion of creating a philosophy based upon a unique experience or a passion in my life. I loved this idea. So what to do? Gotta break out the golden era hip-hop.
Instead of listening to my usual podcasts I threw on my golden era hip-hop mix on Spotify. Music has always been so inspiring to me. I'm more of a beat junkie but always found myself drawn to emcee's with a sick flow and lyrical content that made you think. After listening for an hour nothing was talking to me. I was 5 minutes away from the office when "I Know You Got Soul"came on. In the first verse Rakim tells us to Pump up the Volume. That spoke to me! Yes I want to pump up the volume on life. Dream bigger. Live bigger. I thought of my mom as she always pumps up the volume when listening to music in the car. I was on to something but I knew there was more. Then the 3rd verse kicks in and Rakim says "constant elevation causes expansion, I write my rhymes while I cool in my mansion". I stopped dead in my tracks. Now I pulled to the side of the busy NYC streets and replayed that line 10 straight times. A huge smile came to my face. This is my philosophy. Constant Elevation. I damn near cried at the moment.
So what is Constant Elevation? It's the idea that evolution is the greatest force in the universe. We strive to be better in all parts of our life. My desire is to always be learning and experiencing life. My actions are the foundational keys to my success. To see more details about my philosophy check out the image at the top of the post. I promise to be truthful to myself and keep on constantly elevating my game.
ABOUT ME
Resourceful. Goal-driven. Obsession with Value. Need for Growth. Being bold and making mistakes. Yearn to Learn. Help people achieve their goals. These are my MUST that I won’t compromise on.
"A man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances"- James Allen
Skills
Education
HUNTER COLLEGE, NY, NY
B.A. Media Studies, 1998