Survival vs. Success

I always keep a pad and pen near my bed as sometimes I wake up with some very good ideas. My latest one deals with how people and organizations can often fall in two one of two categories. Either they are in a state of survival or success.  It can apply to personal or professional life.

In survival, you are going from one emergency from another.   You find yourself rushing to get a lot of things done, like paying your mortgage at the last minute.  While you're always on the go, it doesn't seem like you're making much progress.  It's like trying to run up an escalator that's going down.  No matter how hard you work, you only continue to experience the status quo. It's all about managing a new crisis every day.  

Success is all about taking steps that can get you out of survival mode.  You take stock of your strengths and weaknesses and then build upon the strengths.  You'll still be busy but will see progress in your business or life.  You've picked a direction, made changes, and then further build upon those efforts.  Your life becomes more about possibilities than a weight of obligations.