Retribution

There have been a lot of come backs in 2010. Tiger Woods emerged from the darkness of his Gigolo soul to play the worst golf of his career. Michael Vick did time in Federal Prison only to present himself as an MVP candidate. Brett Farve seemed to have another season in him but he should have hung it up while he was ahead.

Yesterday Kanye West dropped My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. I expected a self-realized apology to the little girl he beat up at the MTV rewards show. I got no explanation but an unapologetic mission statement: I am who I am and if you don't like it....

Tiger, Mike, Brett and Kanye all have faced the unenviable task of acknowledging their mistakes. In some cases like this people seek revenge: who called my bluff? After their resistance subsides they do some internal analysis, realize the human tendency to make mistakes and take accountability. They get back to work and seek to redeem themselves. Retribution always works better than revenge. In the midst of our shame we get sick of hearing ourselves talk, lace up the cleats and get back to playing ball. We shut up and let the results speak for themselves. We slowly get back to who we are. We curse ourselves, learn from our mistakes and vow not to repeat them.

A friend recently told me he was at the lowest point of his professional career. To which I explained to him that he was the perfect consultant to any company:
How can I understand your challenges if I have not been challenged myself
How can I propose solutions if I have not been burned and risen from the ashes

Brother and Sisters, we are going to make errors in judgement! We may forget our phone at home or do something more extreme. The worst thing we can do in light of our errors is blame others or make excuses. The best thing we can do is admit we screwed up, apologize and move on. People are disappointed by excuses. People are encouraged by results through redemptive effort.

Celebrity misbehavior aside, we have to acknowledge that it is better to take action and learn from the practice than to sit back a criticize others. We love reality TV because we like to see people do stupid things and criticize their actions....and for once it is not us who is on the spot. We love to see celebrities fall because we can point fingers to the fact that no one is perfect...and go on being imperfect.

This Thanksgiving instead of superficial reflection your 'luck', reflect on your short comings and set a course to retribution. The key to perfection is learning from your actions without repeating your mistakes. It is time to move forward with grander expectations by being accountable for the results. Better to know how to find success than to look at your failures and 'hope' to get back to success. Luck becomes less significant when you have discipline....a process, a strategy, initiative and the ability to carry out the plan.

"...the plan was to drink until the pain was over but what's worse: the pain or the hangover..."
- Kanye West

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave