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.