You are responsible for everything in your life. That doesn’t mean that you are to blame for everything, but if you want to get yourself out of a hole or a dark place, it’s ultimately up to you to do something about it. It’s not up to anybody else to make your life better. Yes, you can ask for help. You can hope someone comes along to make the path a little less treacherous. But you need to be the hero of your own journey – not the victim. Be the person who overcomes struggle and hardship. Let your experiences help you grow.
Author: cbarney.45
Don’t be the reason you don’t achieve your dreams
We all will fail in life and the secret for many people’s success is that they’re willing to fail more often and more quickly than those afraid of failure. They understand that failing is a natural precursor to success. You have to try new things – different things – if you want to improve your life. Sometimes, you’ll have great intuition and choose the right action to propel you towards your goals. Sometimes you’ll get lucky. But almost always, if you fail to take action (or if you do the same thing over and over and expect a different result), you’re going to be stuck in the same place. So even though it may not look like you’ve failed from the outside looking in, is it true? Sure, you don’t have one moment to point to where something didn’t work out. But isn’t the end result of not achieving your dreams a bigger failure than swinging for the fences and occasionally striking out?
There are a lot of reasons why people don’t achieve their dreams, many of which are outside of our control. We can accept that because if we try to control everything (even things we have no power over), we will be fighting a losing battle. But what we can do is control our thoughts, words, actions, and attitude. We decide what we read, who we listen to, who we hang out with, and how we talk to ourselves. We decide what words to say (I can, I will, how can I?) and what words to not say (I can’t, I don’t know how, I give up). We decide whether we want to get up each morning when we say we will or whether we hit the snooze button and sleep in, or whether we follow through with what we said we would do. Are we generally happy and not complaining? Are we putting out positive vibes where others want to be around us or are we so negative that others actually feel worse after hanging out with us?
Don’t be the reason why you don’t achieve your dreams. Live intentionally. Plan your next steps and follow through with them. Think big and act big. You need to take enough action and occasionally swing for the fences instead of always playing it safe. If you don’t ever reach your lofty goals, that’s fine. But when you think back, have no regrets over why you didn’t achieve it. Give it your all, do it ethically and in a way that is true to you, and go from there.
Going through the motions only gets you so far…
Part of success and of achieving goals is being consistent. Taking consistent action is the foundation for nearly every successful person. Do you think Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Michael Jordan, or LeBron James would only work out or study tape when they felt like it? Or did they do something to improve themselves mentally and physically everyday? Their consistent actions of going to the gym everyday helped to get their body right and watching tape helped them understand defenses and get their mind right.
But just because you go to the gym everyday doesn’t automatically mean you’re going to get the results you want. That is part of the equation (a big part), but it’s not the only thing. But if you go to the gym and talk to people for a half hour then leave, are you going to achieve the physical goals that you set for yourself? Or if you are just “going through the motions,” and you don’t ever push yourself by trying to lift more weight, do more reps, take less rest period, or complete your routine in a faster time, are you really going to improve as much as you want?
Being present is great. It’s better than not being there. But don’t trick yourself or fall into the trap thinking that you’ve accomplished your goal just by being there. That’s part of the equation to success, but once you’re there, you need to put in focused, intentional work to achieve the results you want.
What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger
“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
Keep pushing through. Where you are today is exactly where you need to be. Sometimes you need to suffer. Sometimes you need to get knocked down. It will serve as motivation to get you to where you need to be. Get back up, learn from your past, and start chasing your dreams.
Freedom from self-imposed chains
When Rousseau said that man is born free but lives in chains, he knew that most of those chains are self-imposed. We feel like we are a slave to so many things…to money; to expectations of family, friends, or bosses (or our perceptions of those expectations); to what we think we need for a “normal” life. Free yourself from those shackles. Do not be bound by doing things for others’ satisfaction. Learn to say no. Say no to material objects, to projects you don’t want, or to people who do not build you up. Surround yourself with positivity and a can-do attitude. You are more free than you think. You just need to act on it.