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What are your limits in 2020? Maybe none

I was walking around the house the other day looking for my walker. I asked my wife if she knew where it was. “It looks like you don’t need it” was the reply. Lynnda is partially right. I gave up the wheelchair for the walker two weeks ago. I can walk without any support easily for short distances. I’m still using the walker for going to the grocery store, the movie theatre or church. Things progressed rapidly on my recovery when I could finally put weight on my legs three weeks ago. One of many things I have learned from this injury is, we are more capable than we think we are.

The doctor who was instrumental in determining my real problem, told me my age was a factor in the injury, then added, “Never let anyone tell you that you are too old for anything. There are no limits” I believe he is right. I saw a story on the evening news tonight about a 98-year old woman who is a world champion swimmer. She started swimming at age 65. Alex Trebek at 79 has hosted Jeopardy for over 30 years and 8,000+ shows. He starts work at 5:30 a.m. and just finished remodeling part of his house. He has a passion for what he does. Age is just a number whether you are young or older. It doesn’t say much about your limitations. That is up to you.

Over the years I have been blessed to coach young people. I have been a regional manager and a sales manager coaching my team members. I learned people can achieve much more than they think. They just need a little encouragement and someone to believe in them. Once they believe in their own capabilities incredible things happen like winning state championships, quadrupling sales revenues or achieving zero accidents and injuries. In all these cases I didn’t need to teach a lot of new skills.

My daughter believed I could run a half marathon before I did. Her belief in me and encouragement got me through the training for the first race. That is over 40 half marathons ago. People have to believe the goals they want are achievable for them. When I was in physical therapy, the therapists told me they have a pretty good idea what their patients are capable of. The challenge they say is convincing the patient. Once the patient believes success follows.

At Shale Crescent USA, our Team knows the goal is creating high wage jobs and raising the standard of living for people in this Region. We know it is a marathon not a sprint. We expect success. We just sent out New Year’s greetings to our prospects and leads here in the USA and around the world, with an excerpt of a recent article. We wanted to touch them all one more time in 2019. Many of them took the opportunity to respond to us. We created a positive dialog. We expect 2020 to be a very good year for the Region.

I have written goals for all areas of my life. Our children and grandchildren all live out of state since they couldn’t find jobs here. One of my written goals is a specific number of quality visits. We have a planned vacation with each family, otherwise we have no idea how most of the visits will happen. We have been working to bring a foreign company to our Region that turns plastic waste into a pellet. The pellet when added to concrete makes it lightweight and stronger. Lynnda and I traveled to New Jersey to see a pilot project and to meet with the CEO and his chief technical officer. It was a beneficial for us to understand their process and to know that it works. We have an important meeting with them this month. They will bring good jobs to the Region and reduce plastic waste.

Our youngest son and his family live in Maryland on the way to New Jersey. We left early to have dinner and spend the night with them. As a bonus one of our granddaughters happened to have a riding lesson. We had the rare opportunity to watch her ride. Knowing we want to spend time with our children and grandchildren it is amazing how the opportunities present themselves.

What are your expectations for 2020? What will your life or your organization look like a year from now. Do you expect to be successful and happy or miserable and a failure? Why not aim high in 2020 and expect happiness and success. When we aim high we don’t always reach the ultimate goal but even if we fall short we are still in a much better place than expecting the worst.

I challenge you for 2020 to think about what my doctor told me. There are no limits except those we choose to put on ourselves. What would you do if you knew you could not fail? If you took action what is the worst thing that could happen? What is the best thing that could happen? If you can live with the worst and if the best moves you closer to your goals why not go for it.

Over the years I have seen individuals and teams do incredible things. It all started with the belief that they could. Why not you? I believe you are capable of the incredible maybe even the impossible. Believe in yourself.

You may be surprised. You are better than you think.

***

Greg Kozera, gkozera@shalecrescentusa.com is the Director of Marketing and Sales for Shale Crescent USA. He is a professional engineer with a Masters in Environmental Engineering who has over 40 years’ experience in the energy industry. Greg is a leadership expert and the author of four books and numerous published articles.

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