If You Snooze You Lose

If You Snooze You Lose dan skognes motivation blogger speaker leadership development

 

That is usually said to someone who missed out on an opportunity.  The job offer went to another candidate.  The contact went to a competitor.  The guy you were interested in went out with another girl.  What happened?

Sometimes we get blind-sided by that phrase.  We never saw it coming and were totally caught off guard when we realize that what we wanted is gone…sometimes forever.  So how do we prepare ourselves and keep from getting blind-sided?

  • Don’t take things or people for granted.  If you are in a relationship, keep the fire going.  Let them know how much you love them, admire them, and appreciate them.  If you are pursuing a contract, don’t think the deal is done till you have been paid.  Many a contact has gone sideways because someone assumed the deal was done and just got lazy.  If you are pursuing a job, make sure you are continuing to court your employer as you would a future spouse.  Don’t assume your credentials are selling you.  They may open the door for you, but you have to keep it open.  Stay in touch and show continued interest.  You don’t want to be pushy, but you don’t want to come across as complacent either.  It is a fine line and a lot of that will depend on the temperament of your potential employer.
  • Time is a precious commodity for everyone.  Respect that.  Be on Lombardy time.  Be early for appointments and don’t overstay your welcome. Respect the time of everyone you encounter and they will be more likely to respect yours.
  • I personally hate snooze buttons.  It gives you a few minutes more of sleep, but the reality is we don’t necessarily need MORE sleep.  We need better quality sleep.  Most people can get by on a lot less sleep if they just learn how to relax and quit worrying about everything.  If you go to bed fretting about life, guess what?  You probably are going to be VERY tired tomorrow regardless of how much sleep you get.  Learn to manage your stress, or it will manage you.

Some of the greatest regrets people can have is the “What could have been” decisions. Hind sight is 20/20, but there is no reason we can’t learn from the lesson and not make the same mistake over and over.  Don’t live a life of regrets.  I love the Latin term: Carpe Diem.  It means “Seize the Day!”  We have only 24 hours in this day.  How are you going to live it?  Will you hit the snooze button, or will you seize the day?  My hope is that you live today as if it were your last…for after all, we have no promise of tomorrow.

Shalom!

Dan Skognes

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