Showing posts with label believe in yourself. Show all posts
Showing posts with label believe in yourself. Show all posts
Saturday, August 10, 2019
Friday, October 5, 2018
Have a Little Faith in Yourself - Transforming "I Can't" Into "I CAN"
"As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live."
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Have you ever actually heard yourself complaining about how you can't do something?
I have... and it wasn't pretty. But it certainly made for a funny story!
In fact, I created a presentation based on said funny story and delivered it recently at a women's networking event. The talk was well-received (and everybody laughed at the funny part) but I rather surprised myself in the question and answer period afterwards.
My presentation was called, "The Electric Jello Story - Turning I Can't Into I Can... and I Will."
The first part of my talk was a rather sordid tale from my party days about a bachelorette gone awry. I had overindulged in some electric jello shooters and had been sent home from the bar early. But when the girls tried to awaken me from my drunken slumber in the wee hours of the morning (so that I could buzz them up to the apartment) I wanted no part of being woken up, thank you very much.
Nor could I seem to figure out which button to push on the silly intercom to let them in the foyer.
Unfortunately, my repeated wails of "I can't" (in the most whining and pathetic tone imaginable) was recorded on the answering machine. Much to my chagrin, the girls played the tape back to me the next morning.
It was awful. But to this day, I can still hear how dreadful I sounded!
Anyway, in the second part of my presentation, I told the story of the conversation I'd had with my husband the day before he died. I'd said to him: "I am so scared I am going to wake up 20 years from now and still not have finished writing a book."
To which he'd responded: "You're probably right about that... just as long as you know that will have been your choice."
Tough words, yes. But in all fairness, after 12 years of being together, I think the poor guy had run out of patience listening to me whine and complain about not having the time or money to write. For more than a decade, I'd used every excuse in the book as to why I couldn't make my writing a priority.
"I'll show him!" I'd said to myself, after dropping him off at work that night. I promised myself I would wake up early the next morning and do an hour of writing before going into work at my clerical job.
But when the alarm clock went off the next morning, what did I do? I pushed snooze. "I can't get up," I told myself (in a whiny, pathetic voice). "I'm too tired to write."
When I finally hauled my butt out of bed, after pushing the snooze button multiple times, there wasn't any time to write. In fact, there was barely time for me to get to work.
And when I did arrive at work, my whole life changed in an instant. John died that day. And I got the wake-up call of all wake-up calls about the danger of waiting for a tragedy to awaken us to the importance of achieving our dreams.
Two weeks after his death, I started writing what would become my book, A Widow's Awakening. It took me 8 years to get it - and me - where it needed to be. But I did it.
After I finished my presentation at the women's networking event, we had an impromptu Q&A, and the host asked me this question:
"If there was just one word to describe what you think is THE most important thing in terms of transforming "I can't" into "I can," what would it be?"
I thought about this for a moment and then a single word popped into my mind.
"Faith," I heard myself say to the group. "But not faith in the traditional way we often think of faith, as in having faith in some sort of divine guidance or a religious belief."
"I'm talking about faith in one's self." I continued. "I think it is absolutely imperative that we have faith in ourselves and our ability to achieve what it is we really want to achieve. Because if we don't have that, then all the divine help and spiritual guidance in the world can't help us."
Likewise with our mortal supporters.
John believed in my potential as a writer and did everything he could to encourage me to take concrete action towards meeting my goals i.e. get my butt in the chair and WRITE.
But at the end of the day, taking action was my responsibility. That was a very difficult life lesson to learn in the wake of such an immense loss.
If we don't have faith in ourselves that we can - and will - step up to the plate, each and every day, and do the work that needs to be done, then the support and encouragement of our loved ones, as well as any sort of divine guidance we may believe is available to us, won't be of much use.
And for the record, I DO believe there is a tremendous amount of spiritual assistance just waiting in the wings to help guide us... sending us all sorts of signs and signals. We just need to a) pay attention and b) take action. I suspect, however, that those other forces don't require our faith.
Source
Wednesday, July 25, 2018
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
Luck has nothing to do with it
That’s right: Luck has nothing to do with it, as some allegedly "fortunate" people say. And in this case, "it" doesn’t just mean confidence.
It means life. Life as you'd like it to be. And the life that we see someone leading, when we immediately consider them "lucky".
See, whenever someone seems to reap all the rewards in life, we tend to think of them as "fortunate" or "lucky", yeah?
Well, would you believe me if I told you that ascribing "luck" to anyone or anything is potentially harmful to us?
What exactly is luck anyway? Many people would probably define it as something like, "when things coincidentally fall out to your advantage". But is it really just that?
And more importantly, would we need more than merely coincidence to receive the gifts of life?
When Michael Jackson recorded the "Thriller" album, did it sell millions because of "luck"? Or was it because he had spent his entire childhood and adolescence working his derrière off, meticulously honing his craft and gathering a hugely talented team of producers, songwriters and A&R people behind him?
When Steve Jobs released the first iPhone, did it become hugely successful because of "luck"? Or was it because he dared to take chances, push the envelope, fulfil the needs that his customers had -- even ones they didn’t realize they had -- and amass an army of professional developers and marketers behind him?
Sure, Michael Jackson was probably as close to being the proverbial natural talent as they come. And Steve Jobs, according to many, was a natural visionary who simply thought outside the box and dreamt big.
But what good would that have done them if they hadn’t put in the work, insisted upon their dreams, and kept at it for years and years?
Luck has nothing to do with it because "it"doesn’t happen without taking action.
Here’s another thing:
Forrest Gump, our titular protagonist, is clearly slow-witted, but likeable. And he somehow manages to walk through life and attract all kinds of success and fortune as he cluelessly goes along. Only he never realizes it. Because success and fortune simply doesn’t resonate with his humble mind.
Let’s pause here for a moment. Now, think about your own life.
Have you ever learned a new word, and then in the following days and weeks you saw and heard that word everywhere?
Or have you ever been unemployed and looked for jobs, and all of a sudden job applications are everywhere?
I know, right?
The key word here is awareness.
Forrest Gump doesn’t consciously experience fame and fortune, because his awareness is on a different level. When we’re consciously aware of something, we’re gonna find it.
Not because there’s more of it, but simply because we’ve become aware of it. Like a hunter who deliberately ignores anything but the potential sights and sounds of his prey.
Luck has nothing to do with it, because what good would all the coincidence in the world do us if we weren’t aware of it?
"But wait a minute! What was that thing you said about how ascribing luck to anyone could be "harmful"??"
Yeah, see, that’s because it’s something that non-fident people tend to do. Which is rarely beneficial.
It’s when we’re non-fident that we tend to think in terms of "luck" — and "bad luck". Specifically, we tend to think that other people get all the luck, and that we’re victims of unfortunate circumstances.
This is a conveniently easy way of thinking, because it takes the responsibility for our lives out of our hands. And for the same reason, it’s also a dangerous way of thinking.
Some people might be born with certain advantages, yes. But imagine how many people never put that advantage to any use. Either because they never see the possibilities and/or because they’re simply too shy to act on it.
And now, think of all the famous media persons who obviously wouldn’t recognize talent even if it came out of nowhere and took away all their limelight.
Think of all the wealthy corporate leaders who got where they are by being uncompromising, cold as ice, playing the game and doing what’s best for the company no matter what.
Think of all the powerful politicians, all the Frank Underwood’s of the world, who got to where they are by lying, manipulating, and probably worse.
Really, luck has nothing to do with it. But being aware of our opportunities, and taking consistent action towards them has everything to do with it.
ACTION ITEM:
This week, take up learning something new. Something you've been wanting to get into, only you couldn't find the time (or whatever excuse you made for yourself).
Set aside 1/2 hour every night, monday through friday, for working on that thing only. Nothing else. This means, turn off your phone. No phone; no social media or other distractions. Just you and your new challenge.
Getting into this sort of habit will eventually prove to us that luck has nothing to do with it. -- And that practice, consistency, and focus are the keys to accomplishing pretty much anything.
It means life. Life as you'd like it to be. And the life that we see someone leading, when we immediately consider them "lucky".
See, whenever someone seems to reap all the rewards in life, we tend to think of them as "fortunate" or "lucky", yeah?
Well, would you believe me if I told you that ascribing "luck" to anyone or anything is potentially harmful to us?
What exactly is luck anyway? Many people would probably define it as something like, "when things coincidentally fall out to your advantage". But is it really just that?
And more importantly, would we need more than merely coincidence to receive the gifts of life?
(SPOILER ALERT: Yes. Yes it does.)
When Michael Jackson recorded the "Thriller" album, did it sell millions because of "luck"? Or was it because he had spent his entire childhood and adolescence working his derrière off, meticulously honing his craft and gathering a hugely talented team of producers, songwriters and A&R people behind him?
When Steve Jobs released the first iPhone, did it become hugely successful because of "luck"? Or was it because he dared to take chances, push the envelope, fulfil the needs that his customers had -- even ones they didn’t realize they had -- and amass an army of professional developers and marketers behind him?
Sure, Michael Jackson was probably as close to being the proverbial natural talent as they come. And Steve Jobs, according to many, was a natural visionary who simply thought outside the box and dreamt big.
But what good would that have done them if they hadn’t put in the work, insisted upon their dreams, and kept at it for years and years?
Luck has nothing to do with it because "it"doesn’t happen without taking action.
Here’s another thing:
Have you ever seen "Forrest Gump"? If not, it’s a fine movie, and you should see it at least once.*
Let’s pause here for a moment. Now, think about your own life.
Have you ever learned a new word, and then in the following days and weeks you saw and heard that word everywhere?
Or have you ever been unemployed and looked for jobs, and all of a sudden job applications are everywhere?
I know, right?
The key word here is awareness.
Forrest Gump doesn’t consciously experience fame and fortune, because his awareness is on a different level. When we’re consciously aware of something, we’re gonna find it.
Not because there’s more of it, but simply because we’ve become aware of it. Like a hunter who deliberately ignores anything but the potential sights and sounds of his prey.
Luck has nothing to do with it, because what good would all the coincidence in the world do us if we weren’t aware of it?
"But wait a minute! What was that thing you said about how ascribing luck to anyone could be "harmful"??"
Yeah, see, that’s because it’s something that non-fident people tend to do. Which is rarely beneficial.
It’s when we’re non-fident that we tend to think in terms of "luck" — and "bad luck". Specifically, we tend to think that other people get all the luck, and that we’re victims of unfortunate circumstances.
This is a conveniently easy way of thinking, because it takes the responsibility for our lives out of our hands. And for the same reason, it’s also a dangerous way of thinking.
But when we allow ourselves to go for the life we want, consistently taking action and raising our awareness will make sure that we get it.
Some people might be born with certain advantages, yes. But imagine how many people never put that advantage to any use. Either because they never see the possibilities and/or because they’re simply too shy to act on it.
And now, think of all the famous media persons who obviously wouldn’t recognize talent even if it came out of nowhere and took away all their limelight.
Think of all the wealthy corporate leaders who got where they are by being uncompromising, cold as ice, playing the game and doing what’s best for the company no matter what.
Think of all the powerful politicians, all the Frank Underwood’s of the world, who got to where they are by lying, manipulating, and probably worse.
Really, luck has nothing to do with it. But being aware of our opportunities, and taking consistent action towards them has everything to do with it.
ACTION ITEM:
This week, take up learning something new. Something you've been wanting to get into, only you couldn't find the time (or whatever excuse you made for yourself).
Set aside 1/2 hour every night, monday through friday, for working on that thing only. Nothing else. This means, turn off your phone. No phone; no social media or other distractions. Just you and your new challenge.
Getting into this sort of habit will eventually prove to us that luck has nothing to do with it. -- And that practice, consistency, and focus are the keys to accomplishing pretty much anything.
* Yes, I know it’s originally a book. So are a lot of great movies.
Saturday, May 12, 2018
Friday, May 11, 2018
Put God First - Denzel Washington Motivational & Inspiring Commencement Speech -
Awesome - needed by all!
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