Hello second half, I am so ready for you!
Have you ever found yourself wondering exactly what happened during half-time when the game you were watching became a completely different game in the second half than it was in the first?
I love half-time. Not because of the entertainment, or the ability to refresh with food and drink, but because there is something going on behind the scenes that only the players and the coaches know for sure. I always wonder. The mystery of how the coach is going to inspire the team to keep going, to push harder or step up to the seemingly impossible. Whether the players can shake off mistakes, make the necessary adjustments, focus on the goal and pull off a victory.
It’s never over at half-time. It’s just time to get ready for the second half.
Half-time requires inspiration and mental preparation, but the real work at half-time occurs in the changes that people make in their plans of attack. The same is true in business! Regardless of where you stand right now against your budget, quota or p/l, here is some half-time advice that should leave you saying;
“Hello second half, I am so ready for you!”
Now is the time. Now is the time to prepare yourself for the second half.
It requires the right mindset and the right actions to win the second half. You can win if you draw on the Four Cornerstones of Success®. Attitude, Personal Accountability, Perseverance and Habit.
Mentally you will need to have the right Attitude to take on the second half and more importantly to take Personal Accountability for where you are right now.
You must have the Attitude that you will win the year. And it begins with the attitude of winning the day, every day. Adopt the attitude that you will do whatever it takes to win the day; to beat your daily goals. That’s it. Day by day.
In Any Given Sunday, Al Pacino’s half-time speech wasn’t about winning the second half, it was about winning inches. It was about being aware of every opportunity to win – looking for inches on every play and winning them. He summed it up by saying,“It all comes down to today, inch by inch, play by play, until we are finished.”
Knute Rockne said, "Today is the day we are going to win" to motivate his Notre Dame team. Not the season, but the day. Today!
Personal Accountability is also needed to ensure your mind is in the right place to win the second half. Take stock of what have you been doing that got you to where you stand right now and list the adjustments you plan to make for the rest of the year.
Whether you are the coach or the player, it’s time to get your game plan solidified and your commitments made for the second half. We have a budget, a p/l, a quota - and at the end of June we find ourselves in one of three positions: we are beating it, we are holding our own right at the goal, or we are behind.
Know this - you are winning or losing because of your actions, and also know this - you choose to do nothing different or choose to change. If you are not winning, choose to change.
Change requires action. While great speeches make great stories, it’s the change of behavior that makes things happen. Employ Perseverance and the right Habits, and you will be on your way to winning the second half.
There’s nothing better than a story about overcoming the odds. (Rocky, “Rudy”, "Unbroken”) and the common theme is that it’s through perseverance and staying in the habit of winning every play, every day, that odds are overcome.
Ask any athlete who has been in a locker room at half-time and they will tell you that the mind makes it possible, the actions make it real.
I have to be honest with you; it’s up to YOU. You are the only one who can put in the effort and make it count.
In the words of Ray Lewis:
"Forget everything else. … We get one opportunity at life, one chance at life to do whatever you’re going to do. So lay your foundation. Make whatever mark you’re going to make. Whatever legacy you’re going to leave, leave your legacy.”
Make the second half your legacy! Are you ready?
Purchase the eLearning course, The Four Cornerstones of Success® here and have your own personal half-time coach!