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Work Mode with Brown Uzoukwu: Playing the Trump Card

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dreamstime_m_44184978I used to be an addicted gambler. There was nothing I didn’t gamble on—card games, soccer, table tennis, table soccer, dice, naira notes, you just name it. Okay, hold your horses! This will be a gist for another day. And I promise it will still be hot by the time I serve it in full plate. But for now, let me drop two lessons I learnt from my gambling escapade.

Lesson one: Always seek out an advantage and when you get it, exploit it to the fullest.

Lesson two: Use the power of surprise to destabilize or disorient the other player to your own advantage.

Now, let’s just take a further look at the first lesson. One fundamental thing I found quite interesting about gambling is the whole dynamics and intrigues of seeking advantage over the other player(s). Each player knows that if he must win, then he needs to not only play his cards right, but also know how and when to pay his trump card. And the dexterity of a gambler is hugely tied to how well he deploys this simple but powerful rule. Interestingly, this same rule, what I call the rule of trump card, still applies to the game of life.

Pardon my metaphoric inference, but the truth is that every man holds a trump card—something that gives him an advantage to control his unique space and make the best out of it. Unfortunately, while some play their trump card wrongly, a good proportion of others just leave theirs in the reserve bench of procrastination, fear, faithlessness, contempt, imitations, or limitations. Consequently, with the passage of time and event, this trump card gradually begins to lose its value in the pack and the table is eventually turned against those holding them.

In life, just like in the game of gambling, you don’t win by hoarding your trump card in the deck of cards. You win by playing it. So the big question is this: What are you presently doing with your trump card?

There is a unique advantage you have in your life that you can apply to your career or business. You need to identify that advantage and start exploring to become a better you. It may be your unique optimism, passion, or vivacity towards life. It may be your unique aptitude or deep knowledge of your marketplace. It may be your unusual ability to bring in sanity, serenity, or solution to your workplace. It may be your enviable ability to nurture a healthy relationship with friends, acquaintances, and strangers. I don’t know, but whatever the advantage may be, there is a clarion call for you to use it the best way possible.
Don’t hoard it. Don’t disregard it. Don’t reserve it. Don’t use it to feed your fanciful appeal. That’s not why you have it with you in the first place. You have it to play it, and that you should, nay, must, do so. Because, seriously, your winnings are hugely tied to that move.

There is no better time to deploy your trump card other than now. Life is a gamble. You don’t know what it will throw to you next. But you have been endowed with whatever it is that you will need to succeed in this life.

You have within you, all you need to go through this recession and come out bigger, better and smarter. I can’t tell you what it is, but look around you, you will observe that some persons are already deploying theirs.

You too can deploy yours and the time is now.
Have a great week.

Photo Credit: Stockyimages | Dreamstime.com

Brown Uzoukwu Educates and Inspires Young Professionals to Pursue their Dream Careers and Thrive in a Challenging and Positive Work Environment. He Provides Training and Coaching solutions for Schools, Small and Medium Organizations, Youth Forums and Individual Professionals. E-mail: [email protected] Phone: +234 (0)813 3514 781

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