Getting Your Game On with Bianca Chatfield & Leigh Russell!

In their new book, Game On, star Australian Diamonds netball defender and ex-Vixens Captain, Bianca Chatfield, and Leigh Russell, leadership specialist and high performance coach, join forces to bring readers their no-nonsense handbook for success.  In this short extract Bianca and Leigh ask if you know where you are heading, what you define as success and give some helpful tips on defining what you want... 

WHERE ARE YOU HEADING?

When people come for career coaching, they often look to us as experts. The first thing we say is that they hold the answers; we don’t have a crystal ball. With a somewhat confused look on their face, they listen and probably wonder what they are paying us for. But there isn’t any point in us acting like experts, because we are not. They are. You are.

DEFINING YOUR VERSION OF SUCCESS

Real success starts with defining it in your own terms. It’s the first thing you need to tackle when you are thinking about where you want to go, because your definition will dictate the path you take. But defining what success means to you doesn’t happen by chance; you’ve got to do the work. Reflect, pay attention and tune in to those thoughts that you are too afraid to say out loud. Dream up what a big life would look like for you. Some people steer away from using the word ‘dreams’, likening them to fantasies. And they probably will be fantasies if you don’t do anything about them. Think of dreams as calls to action. Your dreams are made up of your purpose, your passion and the stuff that you can’t stop thinking about. Dreaming big then defining success for yourself gives you a plan worth working towards.

What are your beliefs about success?

When it comes to success, nothing matters more than your beliefs. What do you believe? Do you think that success only happens for a chosen few, or lucky people, or that there is a time frame for it? Do you believe that every situation is an opportunity to learn or that there are failures and successes, and nothing in between? Do you believe past experiences predict future ones? Beliefs define your reality. What reality are you choosing for yourself?

What is your definition of success?

We were taught to worry about what we wanted to do when we grew up, so it’s no wonder that when we start to focus on defining success for ourselves, job titles are the first place our minds go. We want you to dig deeper than that and define who you want to be rather than what you want to do. The being comes before the doing.

Try the following exercise to define your version of success:

Your definition of success can (and should) change

What is important to you when you’re 20 may not be so important when you’re 40. Your definition can change over time, particularly as you learn more about yourself and what you are truly capable of. Be flexible enough to recognise opportunity (don’t say no to something because it doesn’t fit your rigid criteria) but know your core non-negotiables.

And while the meaning of success can change for you over time, having a definition of it gives you an anchor point. Your definition then acts as a filter to determine whether you are on the right path or not. This can be challenging, as others may try to encourage you down different paths, but remember that you own your definition; they have no claim on it.

This is an edited extract from Game On by Bianca Chatfield & Leigh Russell published by Hardie Grant Books RRP $34.99 and is available in stores nationally.