Are you considered "successful"?

 

"In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure."

-Bill Cosby

 

"A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him."

-David Brinkley

 

"Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it."

-Bruce Lee

 

Few quotes today... Loved them all so I decided to share them.  So this word... success... what is it?  Everyone talks about how when they grow up they want to be "successful."  We also tend to classify others on the fact that they are "successful."  I guess on a statistical standpoint maybe you could judge this, but even then, who gets to decide where that line of success really is.  Here are my thoughts on the matter...

 

Do I really care if, according to other people, I am classified as a successful man?  No.  I care about how I feel about myself as well as the day I will stand before God.  That is what is important to me.  That is what I will strive for.  At the end of the day, if Sally says I did a really good job on my test or on my workout, but I don't feel satisfied, I will be grateful for the wonderful compliment, but I am going to work my tail off to make sure I will feel satisfied with my results next time.  On the flip side, if Bill says I need to work harder to help get the unwanted pounds off or to make more money, but I am extremely satisfied with my results, I will not let that be the reason I beat myself up and put myself down.  At the end of the day I want to look in the mirror and know I tried my absolute hardest.  I want to know I left nothing in the tank and I gave it my all.  If I do this, there is no possible way I will ever consider myself unsuccessful.  I may not bench press the amount I was hoping for or I may not score the 98% I was hoping for, but if I give it my all and don't hold back, whatever my results may be... I will be happy.  I will be successful.  Best of luck, my friends.

Do something today.

"I need to be doing something. If I am sitting down, I feel like I am wasting time, and someone else is doing something. If I am not working, someone else is, and someone else is getting better... and I can't have that."

-Rich Froning

 

Whether you decide to get up and do something today or not, I can promise that someone else is, and they are getting that much closer, that much better.  Now your dreams may not involve anyone else... it may be you against you... but if you do not get up and go do something to get you that much closer, who is winning?  How can we win if we are not willing to get up and do something, anything?  So your challenge today... go do something!  Best of luck, my friends.

Spot checking our attitude.

So...  you might be seeing a trend in the last few posts.  Attitude.  Outlook.  Point of view.  However you want to word it...  On a daily basis we will not be able to make the progress that we want to see unless our outlook on life is in a position to let us progress.  So before we can continue on this journey, let us take another opportunity to check ourselves and make sure we are not hindering our own progression.  Let us also keep in mind that this should not be the only time we evaluate our attitude.  This should start to become a very common thing.  Best of luck, my friends.

It's not just another day.

Was today just another day?  Feeling like you are just stuck in a routine and nothing new ever happens?  It doesn't have to be that way.  A little while ago I talked about waking up every day and deciding if you were going to have a good day or a bad day.  This is a very similar concept.  When you are just having "another day," don't focus on that.  Find something that was different or open your eyes to find the amazing little small things that we pass by every day. 

 

Here is an example for you: I drive 30ish miles to work in the morning.  This means I have to wake up a little earlier to make sure I have enough time to get there with morning traffic.  I use to find myself silently grumbling about this every morning and how I wish I could just sleep in.  I was put in a situation where it didn't really matter what I thought, I still had to get up and go to work.  One day I happen to notice how amazing the sunrise was that morning.  I then thought to myself, "have I been missing this every day???"  From that point on I now think of my drive as I chance for me to admire how beautiful this earth is and it now gives me a chance to reflect on my life and even connect with God.

 

You will be put in routines and situations where you don't have a lot of control.  The only thing we can always control is our thoughts and our point of view on our particular situation.  Try this tomorrow, see if you can tell a difference.  Best of luck, my friends.

It's all on you.

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined."

-Henry David Thoreau

 

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me'.

-Erma Bombeck

 

"Throughout life people will make you mad, disrespect you and treat you bad. Let God deal with the things they do, cause hate in your heart will consume you too."

-Will Smith

 

It's all on us.  God gave us agency, the gift to make choices for ourselves.  Now in life, things will happen that we don't have control of, but agency gives us the ability to choose how we will react.  Whether you have a bad day at the gym, your test didn't go as good as you were hoping, or maybe you even had a family member pass away before you thought it was their time.  All we can do is bounce right back.  Had a bad day?  Well make tomorrow better.  We have to strive to make each day better than the last.  If we at least strive to do this, we cannot fail.  Best of luck, my friends.

Minor setbacks.

"I'm proud of the way I've dealt with setbacks. It's hard when you feel down and you think, 'Why is the world doing this to me?' But you have to pick yourself up again. That's what makes you a better athlete."

-Jessica Ennis

 

How many times in life do we get frustrated with ourselves when we either fall short of one of our goals, or make some stupid mistake in life?  The frustration that follows can be beneficial in the sense that we recognize our mistakes or obstacles in life.  This same frustration can destroy our progress if we continually dwell on it.  I truly believe the quicker we can learn and move on, the better off we are.  I guess the trick here is truly learning from it.  Let us all strive to be better today than we were yesterday.  Let us all strive for our dreams and not let minor setbacks destroy all the progress we have already made.  Best of luck, my friends.

You have to try.

Enjoy the ride.

Accepting personal responsibility.



"Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else."

-Les Brown

 

We could come up with all the excuses in the world to why we are not where we want to be in life, but that is all they are, excuses.  When we, as humans, make excuses, we often blame other people for our own failures or shortcomings.  Just because Billy Bob didn't meet you at the gym like he said he would, doesn't mean you get to just go home and take a rest day.  Best of luck!  Keep that smile on, my friends.

Creating your own inner strength.

"Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy."

-Norman Vincent Peale

 

Do you believe in yourself?  Do you truly believe in what you are fighting for?  If you do not, how can you expect to find that drive deep inside you?  When times get hard and you begin to truly be tested, how will you fight through?  If you know without a shadow of a doubt that you are doing what you are meant to do, I can promise you that when times get hard you will have the inner strength to fight through and become successful, become happy.  Remember why you are fighting the fight.  Best of luck, and keep that smile on.

An emotional attachment.

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched -  they must be felt with the heart."

-Helen Keller

 

So today is short, sweet, and to the point.  Every dream, every goal, everything we strive for needs an emotional attachment.  I personally believe that the stronger the attachment, the better.  When you are setting small stepping stone goals, and you hit them, the drive and motivation that will come from that will blow your mind.  When you have this attachment it also helps for a much better personal evaluation of where you are in life, and where you are going.  Feel good about what you are doing.  Enjoy life, and most importantly... keep that smile on!!

Creating good habits.

"Successful people are those with successful habits."

-Brian Tracy

 

"Our character is basically a composite of our habits. Because they are consistent, often unconscious patterns, that constantly, daily, express our character."

-Stephen Covey 

 

Habits.  This is a subject I like to talk about often.  In one word it describes what I mean when I talk about "daily" as one of the seven D's.  So I was surfing the web learning about how habits are formed.  One of the most common statements I found was that it takes 21 days to form a habit.  Now whether this number is super accurate or not, I don't really care.  Here is my challenge to you: Go find out!  Take the next 21 days and focus on one small daily action that will help you get one step closer to your dreams!  You do not have to make it some huge task that will take you hours and hours to finish each day.  Something small.  Reread yesterdays post, that may be that one small thing that could help you out.  Just go try something!  Best of luck, my friends!

Treat every day as if it were the last.

"Stop acting as if life is a rehearsal. Live this day as if it were your last. The past is over and gone. The future is not guaranteed."

-Wayne Dyer

 

"Every man dies - Not every man really lives"

-William Ross Wallace

 

I remember several months ago, maybe even a year ago, I decided to try something.  I decided I would wake up every single day and verbally ask myself if I wanted to have a good day or a bad day.  Now this may seem completely ridiculous, but it worked.  Now yes, while going through life we are going to have things happen to us that are just completely out of our control.  This is a fact, but it is also a fact that we get to decide how we are going to respond to any given situation.  I honestly have no idea why in the world I stopped doing this...  I guess I just got lazy.  I promise you it will help when life starts to seem blah and we start to just go through the motions.  Life is good, enjoy it.  Live every day as if it were your last.  Best of luck, friends.