If you don’t watch this CBS television show then this article isn’t for you but if you do, you’ll notice the show provides some great life lessons:
1. In most cases, we can handle more mentally and physically than we think we can. As humans we aren’t naturally inclined to put ourselves in difficult situations to test our capabilities but it’s in those uncontrollable and uncomfortable moments in life that we learn more about ourselves and raise our personal standards for achievements.
2. I grew up in church and heard my pastor said on many occasions some very wise words and that is: “Judge not lest you be judged.” Some players on the show get so irate when someone is caught lying but the fact is, it isn’t against the rules of the game.
I’ve not seen a single player in all my years of watching the show that didn’t lie (or mislead through misinformation), in one way or another in order to get ahead. But for some reason, maybe human nature, they don’t hold themselves to the same standards that they require of everyone else.
The Bible has a story about equal scales and measures with the message being: It isn’t moral to tip the scales in your favor. Basically we shouldn’t judge people on a moral scale that is rigged in our favor because in the end, our faulty scale will be replaced by God’s and if we don’t want a rude awakening, we should be honest with ourselves now. The good news is that we sure can have better personal and professional relationships in our lives if we acknowledge this truth.
3. I’ve seen examples hundreds of times where one of the reasons someone got voted out was because they were looking too far ahead and lost focus on what was happening around them. It’s okay to look towards the future and of course to visit our past, but to truly be happy and successful most of our focus should be on the here and now.
4. The show is a great example that in life we must be trustworthy to have great relationships and that we should apply more logic over emotion when placing our trust or we might get burned.
Many times contestants have been burned on the show because they “felt” like they could trust the person. Often times when trust is broken it’s not just our heart that gets hurt, it can lead to some bad consequences in our personal and professional lives.
Unfortunately there’s no perfect science to ensure we’re putting our trust in the right person. I think trust is such a hard objective because for it to truly occur we must be vulnerable and let’s face it, vulnerability isn’t a human trait that comes naturally for most people; especially for a lot of men.
5. I’ve seen contestants get voted out because they were too competitive. It’s certainly great to give 110% at the things we do but we must keep in mind that pushing hard all the time doesn’t exactly lead to great relationships in life.
On Survivor, it’s the players who not only push hard in competitions but also work on their social game, that typically win. We need to know when to take our foot of the pedal because the fact is being a winner means little when others don’t share at least some in our excitement. Is a winner without friends, actually a loser?
I guess it depends on the person and whether he or she is okay with a lonely existence. One thing I do know is that when we get older, we care less about our accomplishments and more about the relationships we formed over the years.
I guess if we can’t help ourselves and have to give 110% at everything we do then let’s make sure we put 110% into our relationships as well. Is it worth getting the big promotion and making six figures if we lose our spouse and children in the process?
Of course in the end life’s not a game. There’s no keeping score. There’s no finish line with the exception of when our lives are over. We need to keep this in mind as we go through each day.
1. In most cases, we can handle more mentally and physically than we think we can. As humans we aren’t naturally inclined to put ourselves in difficult situations to test our capabilities but it’s in those uncontrollable and uncomfortable moments in life that we learn more about ourselves and raise our personal standards for achievements.
2. I grew up in church and heard my pastor said on many occasions some very wise words and that is: “Judge not lest you be judged.” Some players on the show get so irate when someone is caught lying but the fact is, it isn’t against the rules of the game.
I’ve not seen a single player in all my years of watching the show that didn’t lie (or mislead through misinformation), in one way or another in order to get ahead. But for some reason, maybe human nature, they don’t hold themselves to the same standards that they require of everyone else.
The Bible has a story about equal scales and measures with the message being: It isn’t moral to tip the scales in your favor. Basically we shouldn’t judge people on a moral scale that is rigged in our favor because in the end, our faulty scale will be replaced by God’s and if we don’t want a rude awakening, we should be honest with ourselves now. The good news is that we sure can have better personal and professional relationships in our lives if we acknowledge this truth.
3. I’ve seen examples hundreds of times where one of the reasons someone got voted out was because they were looking too far ahead and lost focus on what was happening around them. It’s okay to look towards the future and of course to visit our past, but to truly be happy and successful most of our focus should be on the here and now.
4. The show is a great example that in life we must be trustworthy to have great relationships and that we should apply more logic over emotion when placing our trust or we might get burned.
Many times contestants have been burned on the show because they “felt” like they could trust the person. Often times when trust is broken it’s not just our heart that gets hurt, it can lead to some bad consequences in our personal and professional lives.
Unfortunately there’s no perfect science to ensure we’re putting our trust in the right person. I think trust is such a hard objective because for it to truly occur we must be vulnerable and let’s face it, vulnerability isn’t a human trait that comes naturally for most people; especially for a lot of men.
5. I’ve seen contestants get voted out because they were too competitive. It’s certainly great to give 110% at the things we do but we must keep in mind that pushing hard all the time doesn’t exactly lead to great relationships in life.
On Survivor, it’s the players who not only push hard in competitions but also work on their social game, that typically win. We need to know when to take our foot of the pedal because the fact is being a winner means little when others don’t share at least some in our excitement. Is a winner without friends, actually a loser?
I guess it depends on the person and whether he or she is okay with a lonely existence. One thing I do know is that when we get older, we care less about our accomplishments and more about the relationships we formed over the years.
I guess if we can’t help ourselves and have to give 110% at everything we do then let’s make sure we put 110% into our relationships as well. Is it worth getting the big promotion and making six figures if we lose our spouse and children in the process?
Of course in the end life’s not a game. There’s no keeping score. There’s no finish line with the exception of when our lives are over. We need to keep this in mind as we go through each day.
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