In his book entitled, “Mojo—How to Get It, How to Keep It, How to Get It Back If You Lose It,” Marshall Goldsmith has a chapter entitled, “Change You or Change It.” I love the way that Goldsmith describes what Mojo is:
“Mojo is that positive spirit toward what we are doing now that starts on the inside and radiates to the outside. . .Mojo is an expression of the harmony, or lack of harmony, between what we feel inside about whatever we are doing and what we show on the outside.”
Goldsmith emphasizes that Mojo “starts from the inside” so finding and determining where it is at is an exercise in self assessment. No assessment is "right" and no assessment is "wrong" because only you know what you are feeling inside and only you can "score" yourself. He also emphasizes that Mojo "radiates to the outside" validating the cause-and-effect relationship between how we feel inside and how we manifest those feelings externally through our behaviors toward and relationships with others.
In the “Change You or Change It” chapter, Goldsmith challenges us as his readers to discover and accept that in spite of whatever circumstances we might have experienced previously in our lives or be experiencing currently, we're still in control of our life and destiny—that we have power to create significant positive change in our lives. How? By changing how we think, how we feel, what we say, by how we choose to respond.
The “It” that Dr. Goldsmith refers to is "any influencing forces" in your life and mine that are not "you", that are not "me". Everything! It's a battle we all face, "me" vs. “It.” It‘s a battle between who we are and our life situation. The reality is that ". . .If you cannot change You, Mojo is influenced by your relationship to It. If you cannot change It, Mojo is influenced by your relationship to You. It's our choice! If our Mojo is suffering, no one can make the "me" vs. "It" decision for us. After all, it's our life.
Brian Tracy and his colleague Campbell Fraser write, "Your ability to think, plan, decide and take action largely determines the course of your life. The better you become in each area, the better will be each part of your life and the faster you will achieve your goals." Are you getting the kind of results you want from your work or from your life? If so, a hearty congratulations to you! If not, then I challenge you to a call to action and encourage you to ask yourself,
"What specific activities or actions are you going to engage in each day, starting today, to change those results so that you become the person you want to become and achieve the goals you want to achieve?"
Let's take this journey together. We'll explore ideas, actions and lessons learned from others who have found ways to create clarity in their purpose and success in achieving their goals. Remember, finding that "harmony" between what we feel inside and what we do and show on the outside is about our choices, and it remains our responsibility.