CAN'T PLAY THE GAME ANYMORE? …JUST CHANGE THE RULES! Recently, I sat down to play a Chutes-and-Ladders-type game with my 7 little niece. It was fun to see her little mind at work, but she had one annoying peculiarity: she was continually bending the rules, reshaping roles, changing the boundaries, reversing strategies. Everything I took for granted, she challenged. Cheating? I don't think so. When we decide that we are in competition, we implicitly agree to play the game the way it has always been played, to abide by the formal and informal rules and roles, as well as the unspoken rituals. Although competing can be fun and exciting, it is not very creative and definitely limits the imagination. I have concluded that competition encourages conformity. When you compete head-on, you are just agreeing to play by the old rules... to conform to the way it has always been done...to stay in the lines! Once you make the decision not to "compete", but to define your own style, you can find solace in the fact that you don't have to "re-invent the wheel" to be successful. Approach life with the mind set that you are simply going to find new ways to present what you already have. Look at what has happened in business with airline frequent-flier programs. What was once a very unique, innovative idea now has been copied so many times that no airline has the advantage in this arena. As a matter of fact, I would venture to guess that there is many an airline executive who rues the day that the concept of frequent flier bonuses was ever developed. It would be naive and foolish of me to say "Don't compete". Though you will gain some small, often one-time "one ups" on your competitors by facing them head-on, competing will never present the breakthroughs that you are going to need to really move ahead of the pack nor the staying power you need to really soar through life. Start asking yourself, "How can I present my life ‘experience’ differently than anyone else or than differently than what is expected of me?" By changing the rules to the game, we can expect to be uncomfortable and we can either accept the challenge or get left behind. Wayne Gretzky, one of the all-time greatest hockey players of our time, was once asked by a reporter how it was that he always managed to be where the puck is. With much thought, Gretzky replied, "I'm not always where the puck is. I am always where the puck is going to be!". ARE YOU WHERE YOUR LIFE IS, or ARE YOU WHERE YOUR LIFE IS GOING TO BE??? Helen Keller once said, "The most pathetic person in world is someone who has sight but has no vision". Rather than looking at the competition that IS, why not start to create what ISN'T? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jeff Tobe is the Primary Colorer at COLORING OUTSIDE THE LINES in Pittsburgh PA and is the author of the new book, "Coloring Outside The Lines". To contact Jeff, visit his website at www.jefftobe.com. or call 1-800-875-7106