“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” – Nelson Mandela
Everyone experiences fear. Many times, we fear what we don’t understand. We make something out to be far worse in our minds than what it will actually be like in reality. But, usually, things aren’t as bad as we make them out to be. Most of the time, the thing we feared turns out to be just a small bump in the road, but once we’ve driven over it and experienced it a few times, we hardly even notice it.
Brave men and women still experience fear. But the difference between them and cowardly men and women is that they are willing to face their fears. They will try to conquer their fears. And they realize that most actions we take in life, even if we fail miserably, will not cause us irreparable harm. If we try something and fail, or if we look dumb, that’s part of the process of getting better. But if you never try anything at all, you’ll always be afraid.
“If everyone would strive to be captain of their team as opposed to the MVP, there would be a lot better teams.” – Derek Jones
“If everyone would strive to be captain of their team as opposed to the MVP, there would be a lot better teams.”
How true is this? Instead of trying to be the superstar, trying to be the center of attention, trying to go viral, trying to produce highlight reels, trying to get recognition from others…just work on being the best teammate you can be.
Respect others, care for them, and do things the right way. Everything you do, do intentionally. Take pride in your work. Share credit with your teammates and take accountability for your faults. Be positive. Communicate clearly to those you work with. Always try to improve – not just yourself, but your team as well. The more you can be a team player, even if that means that you lose out on some of the glory, the better your team success will be.
“Day by day, what you choose, what you think, and what you do is who you become.” – Heraclitus
What you think about and what you do on a daily basis is who you become.
Are you thinking positive thoughts or negative ones?
Are you surrounded by optimistic people who lift others up or people who gossip and only talk about what’s wrong in their life?
Do you walk around with a smile on your face or do you mope around like Eeyore?
You get to choose who you become by controlling your thoughts, words, and actions. You can’t change what you’ve done in the past, but you can make a decision to do better today and, more specifically, start with your next action. Live intentionally and you’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish/who you can become.
“The journey of 1,000 miles begins with one step.” – Lao Tzu
How often do we look at success stories and either become envious of the person who “made it” or think to ourselves, “I could never do that.”
The truth is, we are more capable than we think. Everyone has to start somewhere. Sometimes, our starting lines are staggered, as some people grow up in better/worse environments, with more/less natural abilities, resources, and privileges. But that doesn’t mean that we should give up before we even get started!
Start where you are. Put blinders on. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter where you start versus where anyone else starts, it only matters that you start AND that you keep going. Because the situation is what it is. You can’t do anything to change the past – whether it’s your past actions/inactions or your parents’ past actions/inactions. You are where you are and the only thing that can change that is you. You can choose to make your life better or you can make excuses for why you can’t do something.
The key to any great story though, is that the hero of the story got started. It started with a single step. And the best stories – the most compelling ones – aren’t the ones where everything comes easy to the hero. The hero often will have doubts and have to go through trials and tribulations. But the reason we know about these heroes is because they overcame the difficulties they faced and persevered. Whether you think about Frodo Baggins in the Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, or even Jesus Christ. They all started somewhere. They all had challenges they needed to overcome. But to get to where they needed to be, each of them kept taking the next step.
So take a look at your life. Are you where you want to be? Are you proud of the story you’re writing? We are each the heroes of our own journeys. Refuse to play the victim, the villain, or a passive character. Be the hero! Take the first step and keep on going.
If there is something that you heard about, but don’t know what it is, look it up.
If there is a vegetable that you’ve seen but never tried, buy it and look up a recipe on how to cook it.
If a friend asks you to go to some new place/event and you’ve never experienced anything like it before, go for it.
Do not be afraid of trying new things. Most of the time, the economic cost is minimal. But to live a life to the fullest by experiencing as much of what it has to offer as possible? That’s invaluable.
