No Way Out and the First Simple Steps
Imagine if you will you were faced with no way to win, no way out, and overwhelming odds not in your favor. What would be your next action or step?
In the world that surrounds most of us that thought, that circumstance scares us from even thinking about it. Most of us would avoid that situation all together. Few people have the presence of mind and guts to consider … what would I do?
The concept of the no win scenario however is a concept winner solve on a constant and consistent basis. People who shy away from the concept of looking at the no win scenario … lose. And of all the things successful people do that sets them apart from the rest is simply to put themselves openly in no win scenarios as a means to find a way.
Do you do this No win scenario in your physical life, or your learning journey? Do you engage in the no win scenario at work, or in your relationships that count, or pursuing your spiritual goals?
To a different degree of attaining success, another point of failure is the no way out situation. Imagine if you couldn’t avoid what was about to happen? What if that confrontation was going to happen no matter what, what if that stock was going to tumble or has already tumbled and you had to deal with it? What would you do?
Having to confront the excruciating pain that always comes with all out physical effort, having to stay up 24 hours to prepare for a test, having to endure the down turn of a market or a business decision gone completely wrong, having to deal with a divorce or the loss of a loved one, having to encounter your severing of the connection you once had spiritually is no way out situation that all of us must face. Actually if you want to succeed you must face the no way out situation often. Face the music and dance is very hard to do.
Playing in a game of overwhelming odds is the third needed adventure in your life. Beat the odds. Beat them. Be outnumbered 35 to 1. Play a long shot when others play it safe. Risk another try when you have failed 100 times before.
This topic is near to my heart because it matters that you deal with all three. Great people deal with all three and never run from them. It matters because of the life you will most surely have after you deal with the three horsemen from hell.
In SEAL training, in the training of men to become SEALs who will thrive in any environment, the instructors know they must give each student all three of these on a daily basis. Because it matters.
Let me explain in the best way I know how. Anyone any where can win if winning is guaranteed. If you have unlimited tries (like video games, like sports where everyone wins, when there is no competition), then winning is guaranteed. However, in reality unlimited attempts doesn’t exist and just showing up really doesn’t win a trophy.
If there is a way out of a race so that you can go take a nap then come back and start where you left off; if there is a way to get out of dealing with a bad relationship by just not dealing with the real issue yet still having a great relationship; if there is a way to hit an easy button or a do over button in business when you wreck a contract, then like the saying goes (if Ifs and Buts were candies and nuts we would all have a merry Christmas). However, there is rarely a way out of the reality you face.
Imagine, too, if there was always a way to have the odds in your favor, or if there was always a way to ensure that girl would say yes, or if there was always a way to invest in a stock and it always make 25%, then life would be easy and grand and everyone would be happy. But, alas, in reality you cannot always have the odds in your favor. Eventually you will have to face overwhelming odds.
These three situations all have things in common. If you can flesh out what I am about to say then you will be well on your way to succeeding in your life no matter what your age is.
The first thing all three hellish situations have in common is they are all guaranteed to happen in your life. You will face a no win scenario, you will have to deal with reality at some point, and you will be overwhelmed. Since you know these three situations are coming your way then prepare for them. Prepare now. Prepare often.
The second thing is actually rather cool to realize. But few actually get what I am about to say. Here is the fun part, most of these situations cause you to deal with them emotionally rather than to take action. So most often what happens in the no win, or no way out, or bad odds, is that people don’t take any simple action at all. Do something. Make a move. Best to make a move that you have been trained to do, and to keep doing that basic skill or action until the situation changes. Simple decisive, simple practiced actions will win. They always do. But no one takes any actions. But the winners are the ones taking simple actions when the loser are emotionally fixated on what they think will happen.
The final thing that all these situations have in common is the most perfect realization of all. Here is the best thing to realize. You are there. You. You are the common aspect of everything. You can work through this. Don’t run. Don’t burry your face in the ground. You are the solution. Get really good at all aspects of YOU. That may sound esoteric but for gods sake you are the solution.
Know yourself.
Practice your basic skills often.
Don’t be so emotionally transfixed on losing that you don’t act.
Don’t look for a way out look for a way through.
Don’t look at the 1000 objections or opponents to you, do basic tasks no matter what.
Here are some things I have learned in the past 30 years:
Running 100 miles isn’t that hard, because you really only run one mile at a time and keep adjusting. Never look at the totality just the next step.
Sales is a volume game. You really have to make 50 calls or have 50 touch points a day in sales to succeed. However, you must only make one call or touch point. Just make the one, then make the next then make the next. Don’t think of how many you have to make just make one.
Raising kids is a long process. It takes 25 freaking years, maybe more to raise your kid to an adult. The process cripples the human being because we remember. We remember the baby who couldn’t zip a zipper and we recall the 100 days of not wanting to go to school or practice. We remember their imperfections and rarely start each new day optimistically for them. Adults need to let go of what they remember about their kids and start over every moment like their kid is the next best thing in the world.
Loss in temporary. A failed mind set is permanent. Everyone loses. Everyone falls apart. So what. The only easy day was yesterday because it is over. Get over the notion that things are supposed to be easy or hard and just do shit. Take action. Sleep can happen when you are dead. Forgive peoples bullshit and demand better. Demand better every day.
There is always a way to win.
There is always a way through even though you cannot get out
There is always a way to attack at least one of the enemy hordes coming at you.
Be bold be Brave be Unbreakable.