If you've ever overheard a team sports discussion, you've heard the term "playmaker" when describing a given player.
The "X-factor."
The focal point.
The difference-maker.
The one whose play determines a win or loss.
The one that sets the tone, flow, and energy of the game.
The one who puts their team on their back, time and time again.
The one who leads their team to victory from the jaws of defeat.
The one player that every other player loves to play with, but hates to play against.
People talk about this type of player all the time, but rarely aspire to have that type of impact on their day-to-day affairs. People have made careers out of critiquing and picking at every action or inaction the playmaker takes.
Quick question. Who would you rather be?
The Commentator who just sits on the sidelines, observes and speaks on what is in front of them, conveniently distances themselves from the real action, continually finds explanations or excuses as to why something cannot be done, feels most accomplished when expressing opinions, and lives their dreams through others?
OR...
The Playmaker who is always in the mix, getting their hands dirty, coming up for air only when they run out of breath, competing until their time is up or something forces them to stop, learns from the painful losses, is not satisfied with a single victory, and relentlessly works until their goals become their reality?
Commentators consume value. Playmakers produce value.
Those who consume the value, look to the producers.
Those who produce the value, dictate the flow of their life and lives of those who consume their produced value.
Everyone can be a Commentator; most people never leave this designation.
Everyone makes a play on occasion, mostly out of necessity.
Only a few people can be a full-fledged Playmaker.
Everyone has the potential to be a Playmaker.
However, without the persistent effort to push it, and the knowledge to guide it, potential is, and forever will be, nothing.
To drive this concept home, let me paint a picture for you.
You're sitting down at your job, the same job that barely pays the bills and doesn't stimulate you mentally, but you have to stay there "for now".
You're surrounded by the same semi-interesting characters around you, but dreading hearing about another one of your co-worker's pet stories.
You're using Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram during your down time to escape your current surroundings and live vicariously through Richard Branson, Kate Middleton, or (insert celebrity/athlete/absurdly rich person here).
Your manager isn't giving you more hours, or a raise, and is riding you for missing an assignment.
Upper management sees you as interchangeable, and has already had you training a potential replacement.
The highlight of your week is the end of your shift on a Friday and hitting a bar for a couple of drinks. Your Saturday is spent binge watching a whole series on Netflix, and ordering food to watch a movie with a friend or beau. Sunday is laundry and cleanup day. Monday morning hits you like a ton of bricks, and you drag yourself back to the job.
Lastly, you've given a lot of yourself for your employer, but don't feel valued in your position at all, you feel that your talents are going to waste, and you don't know how to change your fate. You feel like a rat running in a wheel; no matter how fast you go, you feel like you're not making any progress.
Am I hitting home yet?
I see the potential Playmaker in you, I hear your hopes and aspirations to do and be more than your current self, but it takes much more than a motivational blurb on the Internet to help align yourself with your ideal self.
Enter The Playmaker Project.
The Playmaker Project aims to provide individuals who want to bring out their best selves with a guided series of reading materials, content-filled webinars, online courses, and practical daily routines to continually push yourself towards your personal goals.
By entering your email in the field below, you'll learn via weekly email newsletters that all you need to be a Playmaker are a keen eye, a baseline amount of know-how, an open mind, and indomitable spirit.
When it comes to change, inertia is the toughest force to overcome. Taking the first step will lead you towards the life you've only dreamed of.
You're still reading? Well thank you! Enter your email below so you can get to work bringing your dreams to reality.
Your Fellow Playmaker,
Rob Ofoedu
