Two Sundays ago, we talked about the three types of living: living lost, living low and living large. We have said that living large is what we are ought to live. It is what we were born to live for.
Today, we are to answer the question, what are the drivers to living large. What pushes people to live large? Is it wealth, power or fame? No. These could be incidental returns but not the drive.
The three drives to living large are attitude, ambition, and action.
First, attitude.
It is important that we begin with a winning attitude. We cannot have big ambitions and determined actions if we don’t think we will win in the first place. Attitude is how we view things in life. Do we tend to see what is good or do we tend to see what is bad? Do we tend to say that life is unfair or do we tend to say life is beautiful?
Our attitude sets the fundamental mood on how we act in our daily lives. Losing the right attitude is like believing that dogs cannot bark and cats cannot meow. Without the right attitude is like thinking that eagles cannot soar or that birds cannot chirp. Losing attitude is like predicting that the caterpillar will not turn into a butterfly.
It is very important to reclaim that winning attitude so that all our ambitions and actions are set on the right foundation. This is winning even before we begin the race.
Second, ambition.
“Where there is no vision, the people perish…” Ambition is like a vision. It is what we dream and aspire to accomplish, to be in. Without ambition, we are left drifting, not knowing where to go.
It is like sailing a ship without a determined destination. It is like sailing wherever the wind lead us instead of sailing and adjusting the sails to lead us to the destination we have planned.
Without ambition is like courting a girl and telling her you don’t really know if you like her. It is like playing basketball and shooting the ball in the air and not necessarily into the basket. It is like playing darts and throwing the pin to wherever the wind pulls it in.
It is important that we have an ambition to have a direction.
Third, action.
Anything of good attitude and good ambition will never suffice unless accompanied by action. In fact, without action, attitude and ambition is as good as nothing. It is written, “Faith without action is dead.” It goes the same with attitude and ambition.
In other words, we cannot say, we have this winning attitude and huge ambition if it is not seen in our action.
We don’t have to win immediately, but are we doing the little things that will eventually lead us to win. We don’t have to achieve the huge accomplishment immediately, but are we climbing each step of the stairway to that huge ambition that we have.
Action has to complete the equation that begins with the attitude and ambition.
These three drives should always go together. These should flow in alignment. When we have these three drives, we will push forward to a lifestyle of living large. This is going to be a daily choice. It requires discipline. Have them in mind. In case we fall short in some days, begin the day with a renewed hope and faith to go back on track and move forward to living large.
(Chris Dao-anis, as an author and speaker, helps aspiring and young professionals become better communicators and leaders. His first book ‘The Gift of the Ordinary’ is available at Mt. Cloud Bookshop, Casa Vallejo, Upper Session Road, Baguio City and in Central Bookstores in Cebu and Metro Manila. For talks, seminars and speech coaching, email him at chrisdaoanis@ymail.com. You can also help him publish his third book by pre-ordering your copy. Visit www.chrispoweracademy.com/livinglarge. Pre-orders closes by midnight of July 31.)
