Your Are The Decisions You Make

I recently did a keynote presentation for the Farmers Illinois symposium.  This presentation was in front of just shy of 300 Farmers Agents and District Managers.  One of the topics I discussed is how our decisions lead to our success.  Who you are now is a result of all the decisions that you have made in your life up to this point.

When I was in college I played two years of football.  During my two years of football I sustained a knee injury that I did not fully recover from, therefore my playing days were over.  In my last two years I had the opportunity to coach at Western Illinois University.  At WIU I coached under one of the most successful coaches in 1AA history, Randy Ball.  The first year we were ranked number 2 in the country and made it to the semifinal game of the playoffs.  The great story about Randy that sticks in my head is what he used to say to the team before every game.  Randy would come in and say this is the toughest game you are going to play in your career.  The funny thing is that you believed him every time.  He then went on to say today we are going to play about 140 plays and this game is going to be decided by 3 or 4 of those plays.   The thing is you do not know which 3 or 4 plays are going to decide the game.   That means whether you are on offense, defense or special teams you have to play every play like it is the play that is going to decide the game.  When that play comes you want to be the victor not the victim.

See I believe life is a lot like that metaphor.  When you look back on your life you will see that your life ultimately was decided by 3 or 4 decisions.  The thing is you do not know which 3 or 4 decision.  Therefore, you have to play hard and stay focused each and every day to make sure you come out victorious. 

Prigogine’s Postulate states that all of life’s big decisions are made at what he calls a bifurcation point.  Prigogine states that we walk through life with all our body’s biochemistry supporting us in good order.  Then entropy sets in.  As entropy sets in we approach a bifurcation point.  At this point we either elect to carry on to more entropy or we select a new order.

A couple years ago my position was eliminated at AXA.  At the time unemployment for my type of job was moving toward 40%.  I had a conversation with one of my bosses at the time Mike McCarthy.  Mike stated that if I am as good as I think and as good as he thinks there will always be a job out there for me.  See I could have pulled the covers over my head and went on to more entropy, but I decided to heed is advice and carry on to new order.   The last couple months of ’08 and the first couple months ’09 I had 4 interviews.  Two of the interviewers I had to sell over the phone to even see me.  I went on to get an offer at two of those companies, while 40% of my buddies were sitting on the sideline.  The only difference between me and them is I made a decision that I was not going to be a victim of circumstance.  Are you ready for when your life’s biforcation points arrive?  Play each day like it is the day that is going to decide the outcome of your life.