Who are you with

Who are you With If you have an allegiance anywhere in life where does that allegiance happen to be? In other words who are you with? True allegiance is the closest thing possible to guaranteed success. When you are close to a person or thing that thing becomes the very fabric of your own being and you become one. When you are one you will do whatever it takes to prevail in that thing because you will guard it according to your own sense of survival. This term originated with gang members and I have heard it often from the time that I was in the military. Troops were so proud of their units that they would challenge troops from other units on sight. The challenge would be about which unit was considered to be the best and many times fistfights would ensue. The military likes this attitude because this is the attitude which causes units to win battles. It is known as unit cohesion. Cohesive units are units in which the members identify closely with each other. Troops in cohesive units won’t hesitate to go the extra mile in the defense of their comrades. Troops in these units may perform amazing acts of heroism. These acts are not necessarily for the love of this country but most times are to save their comrades from immediate danger. This works for the military as long as it accomplishes their purpose so they promote it. I had a boss once who tied my rating scheme into his. He sat down with me and showed me the contract that he had drawn up with his boss. We went through the things which needed to be done and the goals that we wanted to accomplish and he made sure that mine were the same as his. This was a brilliant move on his part because it tied us together in purpose. If he succeeded I would succeed. His success was directly dependant on my performance and my success was dependant on his. This gave us the same purpose. Since we were working together and I was working for him our purpose had to be the same. We had to be united in our effort in order for us to succeed. His success also meant the success of his boss so we all had the same thing to either lose, or gain. I have heard the motto used by several college football programs recently which says “Are we all in?” In other words are we all on the same sheet of music? This is a concept which was introduced by a smart coach and quickly adopted by others. It indicates a team mentality and purpose. The only way to win is to have oneness of purpose. On a personal level you have a greater chance of success in life if you commit yourself to the thing that you pursue. The reason that you pursue it should be because of your commitment. Would you risk all that you have to pursue your dream? If not maybe the dream is not worth pursuing. Maybe it is not a dream at all but a hobby, or worse yet just a passing thought. Don’t commit yourself if you are not going in all of the way. You have to be emotionally attached to your dream and willing to go down with the ship. When you have made it to that point you are ready to win. Committed people do not allow any other thing to come between them and their commitment. They are driven 24 hours a day in that thing. Committed people are workaholics and will frazzle the nerves of those who are not as committed as they are. Committed people can’t understand a lack of commitment in others. Neither will they tolerate it. These driven people are responsible for so many of the good things that we have in life. If it wasn’t for committed people we would not be able to enjoy the good life that we enjoy today. The Good Life