Have you ever driven in a car that has taken a few too many pothole and pavement knocks?
With alignment and balance both out, the ride will never be a pleasant one.
Fortunately we have sophisticated engineering equipment to right this scenario.
But, what happens in real life when ones PERSONAL LIFE – PERSONAL BRAND – has taken on a few too many pandemic knocks?
South Africans are renowned for our very high levels of resilience and ability to always bounce back stronger, yet, many will admit that they are feeling the effects of “pandemic fatigue”.
Investigation reveals that globally people have been able to ride the Covid waves in a very different way – driving what can be termed:
“Exponential Stories of Sustained Success & Significance”
Nobody more so than South African born – Elon Musk.
We could argue that during a pandemic – one has to be in the right place – in the right industry – at the right time.
However, further investigation reveals that the pandemic has created many exponential opportunities for those who position themselves right – those who engineer their PERSONAL BRANDS for:
“Performance, Growth and Contribution.”
Human greatness leaves footprints, and the study of all the great champions of life reveals that they share common traits as to how they go about keeping their professional and personal lives optimally aligned – and optimally balanced.
Let us take a closer look at the PERSONAL BRAND of ELON MUSK– knowing that a PERSONAL BRAND has two distinct building blocks, namely:
“OUTER IMAGE and INNER IDENTITY”
Elon Musk has certainly had his outer image scrutinized by many, but little is understood about his inner identity – the inner part that fuels human greatness, defined as:
“Sustained Success and Significance.”
It is important to note that Elon Musk’s seemingly overnight success, has actually been a long time coming – the Tesla journey going way back to 2004 – whilst his Space X journey began way back in 2002.
It has been a while.
By taking heed of what the great champions do with “Alignment and Balance” – we can better engineer our own lives to do life better in 2022 – and beyond.
How ALIGNMENT plays a key role in driving human greatness?
Studies reveal that the great champions of life all engineer their lives:
- They set up right.
- They align their professional and personal lives.
Alignment means achieving a very high level of congruency between ones Purpose , ones Priorities and ones Performance goals – the 3 critical P’s of a high level personal brand .
Hence :
“The greater the level of congruency = the greater the level of Performance, Growth and Contribution .”
P # 1 is your PURPOSE:
Musk’s outlook on life reveals a man on an unrelenting mission – he is constantly striving to find out what is going to affect mankind the most in the foreseeable future. His aim is to find out what is not working – and to fix it.
Elon Musk is a man inspired by his mega powerful purpose in life :
“ TO ELEVATE HUMANITY”
He needs near zero motivation to get out of bed in the morning.
His vast personal wealth is a great resource to have – but it has little to do with what internally drives him– as you will see with his priorities shared below.
P#2 is your PRIORITIES
Research shows the great champions set up their ‘BIG FIVE’ priorities in hierarchical order, whilst average people often find these difficult to articulate.
The priorities of the great champions of life, will commonly look like this:
- Priority #1: YOURSELF – invest wisely in yourself to be able to help and give to others.
- Priority #2: YOUR PURPOSE – invest wisely in your purpose as it is what will inspire you to do more.
- Priority #3: YOUR FAMILY & FRIENDS – invest wisely in your inner circles.
- Priority #4: YOUR HEALTH & WEALTH – invest wisely as both of these are a great resource – and both can so easily be lost.
- Priority # 5: YOUR LIFESTYLE- invest wisely in your desired lifestyle to ensure that you refuel yourself to be able to vigorously pursue your purpose in life.
Consider the following wisdom from Bob Bulford:
“Champions recognize that self-interest is central to one’s human design, but count the greatest gain as the goodwill of fellow humankind.”
Through their relentless focus on their hierarchical priorities, the great champions empower themselves to do more.
P#3 is your PERSONAL GOALS
Performance goals must be very closely aligned to Purpose & Priorities.
This ensures that they will be achieved.
The primary focus is placed on the process – not the results.
The focus and congruency of Elon Musk’s 3Ps is the key driver for his exponential ride of sustained success and significance.
How BALANCE plays a key role in driving human greatness?
The most powerful universal principle of balance reads as:
“Too much or too little of something – for too long – will create a state of imbalance (a state of disease called illness) – as opposed to a state of balance (a state of ease called wellness).
Most of us usually think of balance as in the form of work / life balance.
But, it is much more than just that.
Think of balance as creating and maintaining a state of ease – called WELLNESS.
We as human beings only have ONE ENERGY WELL – and it comes with three vital energy buckets.
At any given moment in our lives we are either filling or draining our own human energy well – via the three buckets.
It is our task to make sure that these three buckets are optimally managed – so that we have the optimal amount of energy to fulfill our purpose.
Here they are:
- Bucket #1 is the physical energy bucket: (what we put into our bodies)
We are pretty good at this one. We know how much sleep, exercise, etc that we need and we usually find some form of optimal balance most of the time.
- Bucket #2 is the chemical energy bucket (what we put into our mouths)
We are normally pretty good at this as well, as our bodies are quick to tell us what they do not like through our mouths.
If we habitually or unwittingly do not achieve an optimal acid/alkaline balance via the chemical bucket, we soon find ourselves in some kind of trouble.
- Bucket #3 is the emotional bucket: (what we put into our minds)
This one presents a far greater challenge for us as human beings, and it is also the bucket which has come fiercely into play in driving “pandemic fatigue”- and numerous stress related illnesses indirectly linked to the pandemic.
We need to guard the door to our minds if we are to maintain balance via the emotional bucket.
There exists what can be called the “THE BIG FIVE” negative human emotions, namely:
HATE, RESENTMENT, GUILT, CRITICISM and FUTILITY (aka SELF PITY).
Most people have little or no idea how these five highly toxic emotions – if and when held long term – can and will self -sabotage ones best made plans for success and significance in life.
Fortunately, “THE BIG FIVE” positive human emotions are far far more powerful – and will emotionally empower YOU to drive your own Performance, Growth and Contribution in 2022.
They are;
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE, GRATITUDE, ACCEPTANCE, FORGIVENESS & JOY
Elon Musk knows this.
The great champions of life know this.
They play the game right.
They steer well clear of all the “pandemic potholes” – by optimally aligning and balancing their PERSONAL BRANDS at all times.
You could say:
“They MUSK it.”
GO GREAT in 2022
ROB
If you would like a complimentary copy of any of my published eBooks – including my eBook on PERSONAL BRANDING – please CLICK HERE to read more and request your FREE copy.
Email to : robopie@thegameplan.co.za
Read more : www.thegameplan.co.za
Rob Opie is a Brand Strategist, Keynote Speaker, Author, Performance Consultant to Business & Sports Teams – and Life Coach to those on a journey to self-actualisation.
His game- changing THE GAME PLAN METHOD, is helping both teams and individuals throughout South Africa to achieve their greatest potential.
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