My children and their friends often play a game called Red Light /
Green Light (abbreviated here as ‘RLGL’) which has a lot of
important lessons to teach both you and I.
One child person stands at one end of the playing field, with the
rest of the players at the other end.
The “it” child turns their back to the others and calls out “Green
light!”
The players then run as fast (start) as they can towards “it”.
At any time, “it” can face the players, calling out “Red light”, and
the others must freeze in place (stop).
If anyone fails to stop, they are out or must return to the
starting line.
So what exactly does a kids game have to do with you and your
daily results?
Quite frankly–a lot, and if you stick with me on this one, you’ll
learn a number of important things you can do to improve your
overall performance.
Red Light–Stop, Green Light–Start
The first half of 2010 is now history and this provides you with
a wonderful opportunity to inspect your performance and to adjust
behavior and strategy accordingly.
- I want you to look in the mirror and examine what you see.
- I want you to take a flashlight to your soul and examine yourself
for commitment, integrity, and resolve.
- I want you to ask yourself what you must STOP doing right now,
and what you must start doing with a massive sense of urgency.
Now I’d like you to do me a favor.
Actually you’ll be doing yourself a big favor.
Take out a piece of paper, draw a line down the middle and place
the words STOP and START on each side.
Now begin to examine of all of your daily activity, right from the
moment you awake in the morning and determine exactly what you need
to STOP and START DOING.
Your Stop list may include:
- stop hitting the snooze button
- stop checking email first thing out of bed
- stop being late for school or work
- stop operating without a clear plan
- stop eating late at night
- stop saying one thing and doing another
Your Start list may include:
- start exercising first thing every day
- start placing deadlines on all activities
- start setting a better example for my children
- start being more proactive
- start being part of the solution
- start making greater contributions in your meetings
Red Light Green Light is more than a silly kids game, it’s a simple
and highly effective change management system that you can use to
dramatically improve your results and achieve every goal you desire.
Create a New, Better Version of You!
