by The opening scene of the first Iron Man movie tells us alot about the main character, Tony Stark.
He was cocky, self-absorbed, driven by money and those attributes guided every decision he made in business and personal life.
We all make decisions to suit our own desires once in a while and there’s nothing wrong with that, but if we constantly base our decisions on what’s in it for us, we’d soon be out of friends.
Our guiding principles and underlying world view significantly influence our thoughts and actions. In Tony’s case, he was the center of his world view and every decision he made stemmed from his desire for fame and fortune.
I don’t know very many people who are that self-absorbed – in fact, I can’t name one and, really, it doesn’t matter.
This article isn’t about self-absorbed people as much as it is about forming a world view that we can use to build a set of guiding principles for success.
It’s a huge topic really…not one I will cover in a 200 word article.
Changing our world view isn’t easy, some of us have had years building it, and it isn’t easy to teach an old dog new tricks.
However, it IS possible to change if we choose to…as long as there is a big enough reason to do so. I can’t give you a reason, nor do I feel it’s my job to convince you of a particular world view.
As a coach, it’s my role to challenge my clients. One way to do that is to ask questions. So, assuming you just hired me to help you achieve success, and believing that our world view is crucial to success, here are some questions we might discuss:
- What are you missing now that you want?
- What do you think is holding you back?
- Who is at the center of your world? Why?
- What do you believe your purpose is? Why are you here?
- What happens when you die?
You know, it took a series of disasters to alter Tony’s guiding principles, but once he altered them – man, did he ever make a difference in the world.
So what about you? Is it going to take a series of disasters before you become Iron (Wo)Man?
