The trouble with coasting

The downside of coasting is that sooner or later, we run out of hill

A few years ago a friend of mine put a set of CD’s in front of me and said, “Have you heard these yet?”  The CD set was entitled, “Wild at Heart” by John Eldridge.  Thinking that it was some kind of over the top “Pump you up” doctrine, I said no I hadn’t heard it yet, and was willing to have left it at that.  Well, he convinced me to at least listen to it, so that I could understand what it was about, and am I ever glad that I did! 

The next day, as I was driving, I plugged in the CD and from the very first quote I was captivated.

The opening quote by Teddy Roosevelt was the one I was familiar with that perked up my ears and created an interest: “It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.  The credit belongs to the man in the arena whose face is marred by sweat and dust and blood, who strives valiantly, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause. Who at the best, knows in the end, the triumph of high achievement and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat.”

To me, the whole message was about the comparison of the choices that we make in life to stand up and fight for ourselves and to do what we know is right, against criticizing the one doing it while we wait on the sidelines in safety. It was about being willing to risk who we are, to create in our lives what we desire.  It was also about faith, and the incredible heights we can rise to when our faith is firm and grounded in something bigger and more worthy.  It was about doing something with our lives rather than waiting for something to happen.  It was about driving through life rather than coasting through life.

For a couple of years, I had been coasting in my life.  It had reached a point of redundancy and it was controlling my thoughts and actions.  It had gotten to the point where every day was just a repeat of the other, and I was even having trouble knowing what day it was.  They would go something like this: wake up, go for a run, drive to work location, go to work, drive to class, lead a class, drive home, and collapse into bed, repeat.  Because it had gotten so routine, I had gotten to the point where I wasn’t even looking for a challenge any more and because I felt that I didn’t have time to see it through anyway, so I wouldn’t bother.

Since coming out of the routine that I was in, and looking at it objectively, I noticed that I had some bad habits that I was doing that were common with people who are just coasting through life. While studying this idea, I have discovered that there are other symptoms that are common of “coasters”, here they are:

1. Coasters tend to be very cynical of people who are ambitious.
2. Coasters seem to never volunteer for anything.
3. Coasters, when asked “what’s new?” will respond with something negative.
4. Coasters resist change.
5. Coasters make up excuses for why something won’t work without getting or listening to the facts.
6. Coasters want more, but won’t give more.
7. Coasters are more of a loner rather than a team player.
8. Coasters are not accepted by their peers.
9. Coasters arrive late and leave early.
10. Coasters never take ownership of a problem, they blame someone else.

There are probably many other commonalities; I have just collected a short list here.

So, what have I done about it?  Well, for starters, I have committed myself to taking the vision that I have written, and executing it, point by point, line by line. It is not enough to just have a vision if we aren’t courageous enough to follow it through.  Vision without action is like just thinking about fitness while refusing to get off the couch:  We feel good thinking about what we will look like, but we get heavier every day.  Success means making tough decisions and living with the consequences.   Success means being accountable for our position in life.

I wish I could say that it will be easy to move forward, but I can’t.  Mistakes WILL be made.  But, if we are prepared to face up to them, and strive everyday to improve on them, then we will one day be the person that we envision that we can be.

Let’s make the decision today to start our engines, and be the drivers of our own lives, rather than a passenger.  Refuse to just coast.

Make this the year where you make an Impact.

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Paul Kearley is a professional leadership, communications and sales coach for businesspeople who are taking command of their career and making an impact. He has worked as a business coach and trainer, Virtual Trainer, and speaker since 1985.

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