Monday, January 10, 2011

Ted Williams: Finding His Self-Defined Success


If you don't know who this man is by now, you either don't live in the U.S. (which a surprising number of you reading my blog don't), or you've been away from any form of media over the last week.

It was just a 7-8 days ago this man burst upon the scene in a YouTube Video that quickly went viral. This one-time radio personality turned small-time crook, druggie, and alcoholic turned homeless man begging on the roadway is going through yet another transformation. Thanks to the local cameraman and the mystic tides of the world wide web, he's now he's being offered jobs and homes from companies including Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and NFL Films.





He's appeared on numerous news programs, and has reportedly received 500 job offers. We love our underdogs, and our redemption stories, don't we? Just look at the resuscitation of Michael Vick's career with Philadelphia in the NFL this year. Or the hopeful looks aimed towards Tiger Woods as the 2011 PGA Season begins.

Many people have said he's "lucky". Others wonder why they can't get a break, when they've never broken the law or had the problems Mr. Williams has battled with. Others just scoff, believing this is just another internet fad that will burn itself our, a la Pants on the Ground.

The way I see it - this man is a Champion of Choice. At least the Choice he made to make the sign espousing his God-given talents, and find a busy intersection to beg at, and be willing to be filmed. His Choices before that may be suspect, but how many of us have never made a suspect choice? Or an outright BAD Choice?

The key is that he changed the Choices he was making in an attempt NOT just to survive from day to day, but to draw attention to his talent, which he knew could lead to his Self-Defined Success. What I doubt he realized was that his end-result would be his goal multiplied by such a large degree.

It's not over for Mr. Williams. He has many Choices ahead of him, including Choices that, if poorly made, could take him back to his old version of Self-Defined Success - drugs and alcohol. For his sake, I hope he's figured it out after all these years.

What about us? What can we do? What small Choice can we make that God, or You Tube, can multiply by an nth degree? Without a doubt, to achieve your success you must choose to do so. Even 'The Voice' would still be a voice in a cardboard box without making a Choice to step towards his resuscitated Self-Defined Success.





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