Source: Reuters.com: NHL Stanley Cup 2010 Winners - Chicago Blackhawks
I just finished watching the Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup Finals.
For those of you who aren’t hockey crazed (or Canadian), the Stanley Cup is the Holy Grail of Hockey, the National Hockey League’s most salivated after prize in the Hockey world. Ever. Not counting the Olympics.
Ok, WHAT am I doing talking about Hockey on this blog?
Bear with me just a minute.
(Apart from the fact that 5 of the team players from the Hawks are British Columbia boys and more than half the team is Canadian) – It’s something I heard Rocky Wirtz, the owner of the team, say.
When asked whether he knew that the Hawks were going to win or how he knew that, he said something like:
“If we had set the bar low, we would have met it. So we set the bar high. And we met it.“
(Creative liberties may have been taken with the wordage.)
That’s 49 years of a winless drought, leading to a spectacular, hard fought win. Summed up in these 2 sentences.
It reminded me of a post where fellow coach Jeannette talked about Sean McHugh being laid off by the Detroit Lions & being picked up by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
He said there was an expectation when you become a Pittsburgh Steeler that you’re going to win. Something he hadn’t felt in his old team.
Which was evident in how those two teams became the worst and the best in the Football World Cup NFL series in 2009.
Ever heard the saying “reach for the moon, for if you do you might reach the stars”? You can see where I’m going with this, right?
You see, you get what you expect.
When you set an intention to be the best, to go for Gold, to win, you are setting yourself up for success.
People often rise (or fall) to the expectations we have of them.
If you’re a parent who tells your child he’ll never be good at math just like his mama or hasn’t a creative bone in her body, guess what’s going to happen?
On the flip side, if you look for the best in someone, you’re going to find the best in them.
How many times have you looked at your partner / boss / friend / employee and wished there was something they’d say or do differently? And the more you focused on what you didn’t like about them, the more they seemed to perpetrate that action.
Till the day you decide to stop noticing what you don’t like and start paying attention to what you Do like. And lo, presto! It’s reflected in their behaviour, almost overnight, af if by magic?
Now, let’s turn this inwards to YOU.
What do you expect to have happen in your life? What about on a daily basis?
I’m not talking about being the best or winning or being hard on yourself with “unrealistic” expectations to be perfect.
This goes beyond “just winning” (although I’m sure the Blackhawks feel differently about that and I sure was over the moon when Canada won Olympic Hockey Gold in February this year!).
This is about awareness.
About setting intentions.
About believing in yourself.
In your worth, your ability, your deserving-ness to live the life you want..
Being daring enough to think big, not letting the yeah, buts & fears stop you.
If you don’t dream big, what chance do you ever have of making those dreams come true? If you want a no holds barred life and you’re busy focused on the ways in which you’re tied down, how do you expect to fly?
A good test to see whether you’ve been dreaming powerfully is to look at your life right now.
- What about it do you love?
- What do you wish was different?
- What do you believe you can have?
- Is there a limit ie, have you got a set point where you stop dreaming?
- What have you done about it?
If you want more than you’ve allowed yourself to dream or have, whose permission are you waiting to get? You need no one to tell you you can have it all. No one but you.
If you’ve allowed other people to tell you what you can or cannot achieve, if you’ve been playing small, squishing your dreams and resigning yourself to never having everything that you want, I want you to stop right now!
STOP it, stop it, stop it.
Stop setting the bar so low. What makes an NHL or Olympic winning team so very different from you?
Natural talent and physical prowess aside, none of these teams would have gotten to where they are if they didn’t DREAM big, intend & visualise their dreams coming true and take Inspired Action to make them happen.
Action without Intention is a misguided missile.
Start creating the life of freedom, happiness, abundance, love, travel, connection, joy and clarity that you want and deserve.
Start by setting the bar high, to what that means for you.
Not what someone else wants for you, but what YOU want for you. No one’s laughing, no one’s judging.
Reach for the moon, the stars, the top of the trees, reach for what your heart truly desires!
You have permission.
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LOL thanks! Yeah it’s a strange topic to be writing about on a Blog about Inspired Action, Intentional Living and Law of Attraction but then again, it’s the perfect topic 🙂
Playing small was my biggest problem. Now I’m playing BIG and the world has become my oyster! You are SOOOO right, Ms. T!
xox
You’re definitely one to watch Dianne! I’m watching you (and coming along for the fabulous ride that you’re on). People could sure learn a few things from you on dreaming big and playing all out.
I like that attitude.
“If we had set the bar low, we would have met it. So we set the bar high. And we met it.“
I think I rephrased the 2nd sentence a little 🙂 Still, the intention was loud and clear and thrilling!