Up the ante should be the success mantra of every enterprising soul. It should ring like a bell in the consciousness of any individual who wants to have a rewarding and fulfilling life. With this consciousness, such an individual is well-disposed to raise the stake or standard of the game. It fires you to always go the extra mile and stretch your capability in every value-adding venture. You will do everything to get exceptionally good because people are looking up to you for inspiration.
And to illustrate this is a story of Mr. Dave who returned from the office at about 8 pm one fateful night. It happened that there was no light in the neighborhood as a result of the power outage. So after dressing down, he went outside to put on the generating set but it was not responding. As he bent down trying to fix the generating set his little daughter touched his biceps. And in consonance, she said, “My daddy is the strongest daddy in the world”.
Immediately, Mr. Dave was stunned beyond his imagination. He was immersed in deep thought. He has to reason within himself that even though he may not be the strongest man in the whole world, to his daughter he is. In her own little world, her father is the hero. This random incident taught him a bigger lesson in life. From that moment he resolved never to look down on himself since someone was looking up to him. He also resolved to up the ante, and succeed in order to make his daughter proud.
Someone’s Role Model
Understand that there are people looking up to you. Without mincing a word, you are someone’s role model that is the reason you up the ante. You must not look down on yourself for you not to disappoint them. One reality of life is that no matter your level in life there are still people who look to you for direction. To these people, your life or achievement has become a source of inspiration. And the only way not to fail them is to up the ante in everything you do. However, to do this you must try harder, and never give up or quit. Also, it is required that you abide by the principle of consistency of purpose. In addition, you must improvise. In other words, you must be fantastically sophisticated in your approach to capacity building and the quest for success.
Aim Higher
One major way that you can up the ante is to aim higher. You must always evaluate your performance within a given time frame. Then raise the standard or goal to build your capacity. Don’t settle for a life that is lesser than the one you are capable of, set higher standards and goals.
There is no passion to be found in playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living – Nelson Mandela.
Obviously, this is a golden rule of success. Life is in phases, and every phase in life has its own corresponding capability. So, to up the ante, your capability must match the current phase of your life. Do everything possible not to settle for anything lesser than your capability but rather go beyond your capability.
Another way you can up the ante is to unleash your talents. One fact about success is that there is a network of destinies connected to your own if you can up the ante and succeed in life. I did say earlier that a lot of people are looking up to you as their mentor, hero, and role model. Therefore, unleashing your talents will endear them to you because through your talents you will be able to reach out and touch their lives in a unique manner. Moreover, through your talents, you will wield a strong influence over them.
It is interesting to know that before people can look up to you they must have seen an overwhelming or unique (talent) or quality that will attract and compel their loyalty to you.
Self-Confidence
Self-confidence is also another way you can up the ante. You must possess this attribute within you or no one will repose their confidence in you. So, for people to look up to you, you must earn their confidence. And the way to do it is by exhibiting an attitude of self-confidence. Carry yourself with an air of confidence around you. People must know your ability or capacity to handle challenges and handle them well as they come. You must understand that no one will repose or mortgage their confidence in you if you are a person of low self-esteem, or bedeviled by an inferiority complex.
Like Dave, you must boost your self-esteem. It is your self-esteem that will inspire people to admire and look up to you as their mentor or role model. Finally, let me close with this
If the ante is lower, then you’re going to play hands you probably would not play – Ken Clemmer.
Endeavor to raise the standard in your approach and quest for success. You must increase your effort to rise above the challenges of life. And in every phase of life, you find yourself up the ante if you don’t want to play the second fiddle.