Very often, you will hear motivational speakers compare the game of life to the game of football. After all, to win in either game requires preparation, commitment, focus and teamwork. Yet, life is unlikely football in one very important respect – the action never stops.

In football, when one team achieves success in the form of a touchdown or a field goal, all action ceases. Often, the players take turns dancing in the end zone. The band plays a song. The cheerleaders perform a routine on the sidelines. The fans high-five one another and run to the refreshment stands for more hot dogs and beer. Meanwhile, the coaches on the sidelines prepare their players to go back onto the field and resume play sometime after the drinking Gatorade and mouthing “Hi Mom” to the camera.

As you know, life doesn’t work this way. Life doesn’t come to a standstill when you score a touchdown in business or in your personal life. In fact, you’ve probably noticed that it’s just the opposite – the pace of life increases. You get a big promotion at work only to find that your responsibilities have increased even faster than your income. Likewise, you make a breakthrough in your relationship with your spouse to a deeper level of intimacy, sharing and passion only to find that your careers and social obligations leave you less time to spend together.

If life is like any sport, it is like basketball. In basketball, there is no time to celebrate your past successes. You can make an incredibly tricky reverse layup or sink a fall away 3-pointer, but the game doesn’t stop to allow you to time to take a bow for the crowd or relive the moment over and over again in your mind. This is because as soon as the ball falls through the net, the other time is making its way up the court in an attempt to even up the score. Therefore, celebrations are usually limited to a high-five or a wink and a nod and the scorer gets back in transition to play defense.

I’ve recently found that the need to get back in transition doesn’t just apply to the likes of Shaquille O’Neal or Labron James. It also applies to DASHers like you and me. For example, as you know, for the last two years, we at DASH Systems, Inc. have been plotting and planning an informercial to bring the DASH System to the public. Well, last week, the infomercial finally began to run on stations across the country. The early results have been phenomenal. In just a matter of days, we have been able to add countless people to the DASH family.

Now, I must confess that it would be tempting for us to run around the office with our hands raised yelling, “We’re #1! We’re #1!” Yet, the truth of the matter is that we simply don’t have the time for that. We need to get back in transition to play good “defense” against our competitors. Now, that we’ve done our part to share the benefits of personal coaching, many of our competitors will be looking to capitalize on this increased consumer awareness. Therefore, we must make every effort to maintain the most effective and efficient coaching programs in the industry.

As you can see, we simply don’t have the option of celebrating our past victories and neither do you. No matter how well you did on your last sales call or in that presentation to the Board of Directors, you don’t have time to pump your fists in the air and do the Icky Shuffle. The same is true for your victories at home or in the community. Instead, you need to hurry back in transition to get ready for the next challenge coming your way. And trust me; it’s coming.

“I consider my ability to arouse enthusiasm among my people the greatest asset I possess, and the way to develop the best in a person is by appreciation and encouragement. I believe in giving people incentive to work. So I am anxious to praise but loath to find fault. I am hearty in my approbation and lavish in my praise.” Charles Schwab