People have always expressed to me that I am destined for greatness, made for greater things. I have often heard from people that I respect, “You could write you own ticket.” I have come to joke that they did not tell me that I would have to build the railroad and each rail car from the ground up.
The admonishment is well meaning and encouraging. But, it is also unsettling and anxiety producing. Or, it could be. I have immensely appreciated and benefited from those wonderful, insightful, and capable individuals who have explained beyond the admonishment to outline the path. I value most those rare individuals who can provide the sometimes hard-to-accept truth of the struggle and obstacles as well as the potential for triumph. Make no mistake, any achievement will require work.
I offer this week’s motivation to explain some of the common admonishments that you will hear. I provide an outline of the work to be done. My hope is that you find comfort in the explanation. I hope you benefit from my value as a person who explains the struggle, the obstacles, and the potential triumph. Above all, I wish for you to achieve exceedingly beyond what you can think and imagine. Twitter, as always, seems to be with me on this.
1. Know Your Path
The easy way is typically not the most sustainable way. As you orient to the path that takes you to your desired destination, you have many considerations to account for. You cannot predict all the obstacles, but you can do three things that act as shock absorbers during the process. First, Organize ahead of time with a clear goal in mind. Second, Plan for the obstacles that you can predict. Third, Meditate to maintain a balance of emotion and reason such that no one event throws you off course, or more specifically, off your center of energy.
If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere. – Frank A. Clark #leadership #quotes
— Leadership Cures (@LeadershipCures) August 9, 2015
2. Be Changed Not Diminished You will find yourself rigid and irrelevant over time if you do not grow. Yet, your instinct is valid seeking not to be reduced, diluted by your experience. You can maintain your passion and insight even while changing. First, change in response to and in integration with new information (not just changing to be “right”). Second, seek information from multiple sources not holding any one source as ultimate truth. Third, anxiety and fear of time are passion leeches. Take the time to accomplish tasks in a way that is systematic, verifiable, collaborative, and repeatable even if that means it takes longer.
I can be changed by what happens. But I refuse to be reduced by…~M. Angelou #ThinkBIGSundayWithMarsha @marshawright pic.twitter.com/10l7xJHY6v
— Dark Diamond (@ddctalent) August 9, 2015
3. Get Magical
Some occurrences, challenges, obstacles, and outcomes will just not make sense. Some situations will throw you off your game momentarily. But remember, you prepared for this. Get back to basics–the fundamentals. First, check your mental habits to ensure that you are focusing on positives, savoring each moment, and pointed in a clear direction. Second, check your energy to assess what you are attracting, repelling, and vibrating. You will get what you vibe. It’s on the same frequency. Third, utilize faith as an ability to count with certainty on the unseen. Know that your only job, after the first and second steps, is to continue consistently.
If we are to have magical bodies, we must have magical minds.
— Patty Lobert (@PattyLobert) August 9, 2015
4. Understand Your Relevance We all have small parts to play. The size of your part does not matter in this equation. Every part is vital. For a number of reasons, you will feel insignificant or helpless or powerless at some point. But you are needed to listen, to sit still, to question, or something else. First, center you by reminding yourself of the actions you have done or have planned to do. Second, place those actions in the context of your action plan over time. Focus on the importance, even drudgery, of the list of tasks you must complete. Third, do the next step in this context of relevance. It is (the collective, ultimate, and right now ITs all in one) up to you.
Never accept being tagged irrelevant, as large as a ship is, its a simple small wheel that controls its motion.#ThinkBIGSundayWithMarsha
— Je’ Suis Piero (@il_phenomen0) August 9, 2015
5. Create Hope
Stop holding back the positive and authentic. Today, it has been muffled by political correctness and the need for everyone seem impersonally personable. They say, “Don’t take things personally. Don’t respond personally. Leave ego out of it.” That is just not what HUMANS do. Our gift and curse is that we struggle with ego, balancing the id’s impetuousness with the superego’s moral compass. The ego is not the problem. When you frustrate or obscure the ego, you get into trouble.
In diminishing the ego, you diminish hope by bleaching out personal identity. You lose the ability to be that one who challenges the status quo with a belief in the power of one. Take it personally, and resolve it quickly and authentically. First, recognize your need for information, growth, and new perspectives. Second, formulate a development plan complete with a schedule. Third, identify people who can provide genuine support and authentic role models. With these steps, hope springs eternal no matter the challenge.
Where there is no hope, it is incumbent on us to invent it. ~Albert Camus #amwriting #willsaveMike
— ☮Kathe Messina☮ (@NidaPeabadly) August 9, 2015
