Since March many of us have been living on the defense.
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Defending ourselves from an invisible virus. Defending our beliefs and values. Defending our right to live our lives the way we choose and even our freedom to express it.
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When we take on opposition from a defensive strategy we aren’t setting ourselves up for the best possible outcome. We are just trying to survive the circumstances. Often we try to pinpoint the oppositions strength and try to break it. Breaking through or suppressing our oppositions strength doesn’t make for the best outcome for ourselves.
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Taking actions from an offense strategy takes planning and coordinating. We strategize for a win. We plan with the intent of the best possible outcome. We control the actions and we have a very specific end in mind.
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Modeling behavior that reflects our beliefs and values that we want to see reflected in the world is a great place to start. We can’t expect change in others that we don’t model ourselves.
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Here are a few tips to start living on the offense rather than the defense.
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Have zero expectations. Don’t try to control the outcome. Put in the action and let go of the result. The real payoff is who we become while living on the offense. 💪
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Stop blaming others. We can’t blame others for not thinking or acting like us. If we are upset, angry, fearful or laying blame all the time how can we expect others to want to model back the behavior we want to see. Nobody wants to be upset, angry or fearful all the time. Being confident in our actions is powerful and breeds courage in others.
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Have the hard conversations. Seek to understand before being understood. Ask questions and don’t accept general statements as answers. Truth comes with facts and data. Just because someone says something doesn’t make it true. Be brave and push for answers that have explanations. Make asking questions acceptable again!
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Say yes to doing things that intimidate you. Do not take the easy way out. The easy way does not produce the results we want. It will not create more of the behavior we want to see in the world. The easy way will not empower us. We are not empowered when we live outside our values.
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Bring back the HUMAN in humanity. Looking people in the eyes when we interact is so important. Many times we are told “ I’m just doing my job”, “it’s not my rules”, “I can’t do anything about it”. Common decency does not just go away because overlords have dictated protocol. We are personally responsible for our own actions. We will be judged accordingly. A business does not get to bypass natural law because it’s their business. We don’t get to steal people’s wallets inside businesses that have declared they won’t prosecute theft. We don’t get to inflict our beliefs upon others.
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It is easier to stay quiet when peers are discussing things and we hold opposing opinions, but it is not healthy for people to believe everyone holds the same viewpoints they do. We don’t all hold the same viewpoint!
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We’ve been living on the defense way too long. Somewhere along the line emotions have taken over common sense and we feel like it’s rude to disagree with other people. Especially people we like. The truth is its not rude, it’s normal and we can still be civil with each other when we disagree.
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We have to start operating from the offensive. If we don’t do it now we will likely lose the right to ever again. Others will determine what our beliefs and values should be. Get reacquainted with your values and beliefs. Put together a plan that will enable you to model them. Be a walking example of what you want to see in the world.
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