Why I Compete In Squash

I was at the Australian Masters Championships this week… If you know me well, you know I am a competitive squash player, if you’re just getting to know me, now you know about my squash addiction. I wanted to take this opportune moment to talk about lifestyle, concentration of focus and ‘purpose’ today.

Too many people equate success with money.

There’s a famous ‘joke’ that sums it up quite nicely:

Two friends are at the third friend’s funeral. The first asks the second “how much did he leave behind?’ The second replies “All of it.”

Your purpose in life is not to leave as much behind as possible, killing yourself in the process. Your purpose is to live your destiny – all facets of it.

In my case, I play squash competitively. I have a squash court in my building and I play squash every single day I’m in Sydney. I compete as often as I can in tournaments.

When I am on the court, it’s all fun and games. Even though I am focused, driven and applying my 1 Percent Improvement Doctrine, it’s “playing” for me.

Literally and figuratively.

Do you remember what it was like to play in the sandbox when you were a kid?

That’s what squash is like for me.

It’s a total escape into a ‘world of enjoyment’ that is without compare. The day I lose that excitement is the day I will retire.

So what’s the point?

The point is simply this. I practice what I preach. Without naming names, I know too many spruikers, promoters and charlatans out there who sell, promote and push products and program from stage that (1) don’t work and (2) are not holistic. What I mean by holistic that is that they don’t contribute to the lifestyle that deep down you really want to be living.

A big part of the problem is the person promoting it. Many of them are on the multi-speaker promotional tour, some are on the tour every weekend – in a different city and hotel every week – what kind of life is that?

Would YOU be doing that if YOU were financially independent?

That’s the first sign there’s something wrong with the picture.

The second sign there’s something wrong is the uni-dimensional approach some of these people take as if we are singularly focused in our lives.

We’re not.

We’re constantly juggling multiple aspects of our lives – professional/corporate/business, health, financial, personal, romantic, social, athletic, community, family, hobby and leisure…

Without a holistic approach, you’re nowhere.

That’s why I share with you some of my personal life and activities so that you can see for yourself that I am the real deal, living my own destiny and purpose in life to continue to live and expand my dream empowering others to discover and life theirs.

I’ve been doing this for over 20 years – way before I ever stood on a stage.

I’ve helped people transform their lives because it’s a really cool thing to do, not because there’s money in it.

In fact, the most powerful and valuable things I do are the least economically feasible – yet I continue to do them BECAUSE it’s what I love to do.

That’s what I want to focus today’s blog post on – LOVING what you do.

The day before I left for Melbourne, I watched a few hours of squash videos – Jonathon Power, Former World #1, a Canadian and one of the most prolific players on the circuit BECAUSE he was one of the first to be professionally coached from a young age, systemising shots that appeared  ‘amazingly lucky’ to a first-time spectator.

I watched his training videos and then a few tournament matches to see his practice IN ACTION. What an interesting, fulfilling and motivating way to spend a couple of hours in anticipation of my tournament this past week.

I have a great lifestyle BECAUSE I’ve designed my life this way. I do what I love and love doing what I do. I work only with the best people who are constantly pushing the envelope in business, the Internet or in their professional careers.

Like at the squash tournaments I compete in. Everyone’s fit, healthy and POSITIVE. They are real ‘sportmen’ – both men and women – playing for the purity of the sport, competition and challenge.

It’s an incredible environment to be in – if ever you are feeling down and out – join a sports team or group and you’ll soon have the supportive environment you need to raise your bar.

With that in mind, I’m going to let you go and just say that I’ve had a great week pushing myself to the next level and enjoyed sharing it with you. In closing, you might want to start considering joining me on a journey in 2010. I have created a brand new ‘system’ that’s a 12-month subscription to hold you accountable to your New Year’s Resolutions. I’m just finalising it now, for the launch in December. I’ll keep you posted. It’s something special that I’ve created to develop my Personal Mastery content – for people who want to become Champions in their lives and live it to the fullest.