Tough Days

Some days are just going to be tougher than others. It matters how you handle these difficulties.

No one cares what you can get done when things are going well and everything is lined up for you. People will notice what you can get done when the shit hits the fan, nothing is working properly, everyone is under pressure, the tension is palpable and everyone wants to run away and hide. What you do during these moments really defines who you are. The tough days make us the people we are.

Embrace the tough days. You will learn more about yourself when things are tough than you ever will when everything is working properly.

Simple Questions

What are you doing to make today better than yesterday?

What are you doing to grow in to the person you want to be?

What are you doing to help others reach their potential?

How much more can you do?

What's stopping you?

Simple questions, but not so simple answers. What would happen if you actually answered these?

Easy To Say

No one is going to give you everything you need. No one is going to push you as hard as you will push yourself. No one is going to show you the way. No one is going to give you permission to lead or create or make art or do important things or be happy or make your life the life you want. No one is going to make you do what you know you need to do.

Take control. Figure out what you need. Start working. Create something amazing. Start again.
(So easy to say, but so very hard to do.)

Do What Needs To Be Done

This is one of those times when the pictures says it all. Don't wait for someone else to do what you can do. Get out there and do what needs to be done.

Stop waiting for the right time or the right place or the right people or the right anything. The right time is now. You are in the right place. You are the right person. Do the work and make your world exactly what you want it to be. 

Live the life you want to live and build the things you want to see. It's not always going to be easy, but with hard work and belief in yourself, you can do anything.

What is Possible?

The human mind is crazy. For many of us, we are full of doubts. We constantly think we can't do something and then put less effort in to it because of this mindset. We have a hard time believing we can accomplish amazing things, even when we see others doing it. They must be different or just better or genetically superior. When we don't believe, we can't do everything possible to succeed. The problem is we will never really know what we are capable of doing until we do it.

To achieve amazing things, we have to push ourselves in ways we never though possible. Our minds must remain open to possibility and we have to allow, yes allow, ourselves to push harder than before. We have to believe we can do anything we want to accomplish, no matter what anyone else says or does. There can be no doubts or fears, only belief and drive.

Many people thought it impossible a human could run a 4 minute mile. Roger Bannister didn't listen to them and in 1954 did the impossible. This has now been done by many more people. What was once impossible is possible. Many people never thought a human would stand on the summit of Mount. Everest. This was before  Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit in 1953. This has also been accomplished by many people since. What was once impossible is possible. We've put people in space and on the moon; we've created machines allowing people to stay under water for months; we can speak with anyone in the world instantaneously; we can fly; we can bring people back to life after death. All of this was accomplished because someone believed it could be done.

Creating amazing things isn't easy. Not everyone will do it. Most of us will never push ourselves beyond what we we think we can do. We won't really know what our limits are because we will never test them. Without pushing these limits, we won't do the impossible. What do you want to do? Besides your limiting doubts and lack of belief, what's stopping you? Stop doubting and start believing. Start doing. Your goal may not change the world, but getting there will change your world. What are you actually capable of doing?

Happy Independence Day!

Today, in the United States, we celebrate our Independence Day. Two hundred and thirty-six years ago, Thomas Jefferson wrote we have the "unalienable right" to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Many of us won't be thinking about the Declaration of Independence or the meaning behind today's celebration, instead spending out time cooking, drinking, BBQing, socializing with family and friends and shooting off fireworks. There is nothing wrong with any of these things, in fact, I hope everyone spends today relaxing and doing the things they love to do.

We will probably never know all the intentions of the Founding Fathers (though we like to believe we do), but we can be certain they risked their lives for our freedom. The same can be said for the men and women (and dogs) who have served in our armed forces in the many wars and conflicts we have had since the Declaration was signed. Spend a few moments today thinking of the sacrifices countless people have made, seen and unseen, to allow your celebrations today.

No matter where you live or who you are, you have the chance to do something meaningful with your life. The choice is yours to do what you can to put your stamp on life. You can do little and sleepwalk through life or you can make the choice to do something great. This greatness doesn't have to be appear great or even be understandable to others. It only has to matter to you. We all have our own paths to follow, but the choice is yours to blaze a path that means something to you. A small group of people came together 236 years ago and started on the path to create a new country. They risked everything for a belief and we celebrate their bravery today.

Most of us probably won't have the opportunity to do something so monumental, but what we choose to do today will matter tomorrow. We have the ability to help create a better world for generations to come and leave a mark that will be remembered. The choice is in all of our hands. Do we continue to do the minimum required to get through life or do we want to celebrate life and actually live it? When we are older, do we really want to look back and say I made it through without taking many risks and without getting hurt? Or, would you rather look back and say I grabbed hold and lived my life and did things I never imagined were possible?

The choice is yours, but I urge you to spend a little time today to think about the life you are living. Think about all the sacrifices that have been made by others to give you the life you have. Find what really matters to you and do it. Figure out what sets your soul on fire each morning and do more of it. Dream amazing dreams and then chase them. Create amazing art to share with the world. Be who you want to be and don't let anyone else pull you down. We only have this one chance to get things right...what do you want to be remembered for doing?

Routines

I like change...when I am controlling the change. I like to shake things up and try new things. This is probably why I was a bit of a nomad when I was younger. New places and new ideas always excite me. I get bored when I have to do the same things over and over and over again, which is why looking at my resume, I have been a bit of a job hopper. I have bounced around trying to find something that sets my soul on fire and I will keep hopping around until I do. Change is interesting. Change keeps things fresh and new and forces you to learn something new.

Even while liking change, I have found I also like routines. These aren't mutually exclusive ideas. We have the ability to make changes in our lives where we want. We also have change forced upon us from outside forces and we can either roll with it or fight against it. For me, I try to embrace this change while keeping a routine for the things I don't want to change. When I fall out of this routine, I have found life to be a little more difficult. I find myself being short with people (including the lovely Leila), becoming frustrated way too easily, having a harder time being positive and just having less fun with life.

These routines are not ways to plan out each and every day, but are the things I do that allow me to remain focused and be me. We all have things we should do for ourselves, exercise, yoga, meditation, write, etc. These are all things that allow us to release energy, both positive and negative, and allow us to be more focused in our daily lives. By building these as part of a routine during the day, we are much more likely to actually do them. This is why I get up earlier than I need to write each day. We often say we don't have enough time to do the things we need to do or want to do, but if we look closely at what we spend time doing, we can find ways to do anything. We just have to build in routines.

From time to time, we are not going to be able to follow our routine. Something is going to happen that isn't going to allow it. This is okay. But, if we start to get lazy and really not follow the routine we have developed, we can start to lose the good that comes from it. This is when I start being short with people and become easily frustrated. I lose focus and I am only able to really get it back when I reestablish my routine and have a release valve for the energy that builds up and causes me to lose my patience. We all need to be able to release this energy in a constructive way and building routines is the best way to do it.

Daydreams

We live in a society where we are always hustling around trying to get things done and doing as much work as we can possibly accomplish. Daydreaming has been frowned upon since we were children. We were always told we shouldn't sit idly by, imagining what we want to imagine as nothing can ever be accomplished by daydreams. I disagree. I think we should not only be allowed to daydream, but encouraged to do so.

The world in which we live is changing at a rapid pace and creativity is an important asset for everyone to have. We have to be able to imagine things yet to exist and come up with ways to make them and use them. One hundred years ago, it would be nearly impossible for anyone to imagine the world in which we now live. It took people who thought differently to bring in to our lives the things we now take for granted. We have come forward in so many ways, but we still do not encourage each other to take time and imagine how they would like things to be. Creativity is valued in some circles, but in many still, we want our workers to be cogs, we want our students to do well on standardized tests, we want people to do what they are supposed to do and nothing more.

Is this really the world we want? Or do we want people to dream of a better place? Our imagination is limitless. We can develop amazing things, but only if we can envision them first. Sitting idly by and letting our mind wander can bring new ideas and new products and new ways of doing things. There will always be struggles and there will always be failures, but daydreams help us overcome and see things in a different way. Our imagination can take us anywhere, but only if we let it. Where do you want to go?

Impossible

I recently read Impossible: The Manifesto by Joel Runyon and many parts of it have been stuck in my head ever since. Joel was like many of us, doing what he was told and expected to do and waiting for the payoff that never came. Many of us do what we are expected to do, go to high school and get good grades, go to college and get good grades and then send out tons of resumes to get the job we are expecting since we did the previous two. For many of us (and for Joel) this didn't really happen. Joel's life changed when he asked himself two interesting questions:

1. Are you telling a good story with your life?
2. Would anyone want to read it?

Constantly waiting for something to happen to us is a terrible way to go through life. We have to get out there and make things happen. We have to create and challenge and just do as much as we can. Our life is precious and short. Why do we continue going through life bored and unhappy? We are in control of our destiny, we just have to have the courage to grab hold and steer. Life is never going to be easy, but it is also never going to be as hard as we fear.

No one is ever going to give you a blueprint to happiness and fulfillment. These are personal and the direction we take depends on who we are. Impossible isn't going to show you how to tell a good story, but it will challenge you to figure it out for yourself. Take a little time and read the manifesto (and then read it again, if necessary). This could be the jumping off point for the story you want to tell. Stop waiting for things to happen; do what you dream, be it big or small. Start writing a story others will want to read. Start living with purpose.  

Turn Off The Television

Yesterday, I wrote about the importance of relaxing to revitalize your body and mind. While there are some people you know who seem to have endless energy and never need a break, I know most, if not all of us, need to take the time away to recharge and refocus if we want to create beautiful work. We have our own talents and skills and we have to find a way to connect these with what we want to do. Everyone has dreams. Everyone has goals. We start to fall short in reaching them when we don't understand how to leverage our talents for the greatest good.

Many people work in jobs where they are unable to (or have yet to figure out how to) use their talents and skills. They continue to toil away at this job to pay the bills and haven't connected the dots to figure out how to utilize what they offer to create a more lasting impact. In many cases, what we do outside of the daily job utilizes these skills and talents in ways we could never do within the work. We live in a society where we label each other based on what we do for a living. We have titles and ranks that may have nothing to do with what we can actually offer the world if we were using our skills and talents.

Many people feel stuck by their place in life because they are afraid to let go of what they have to try something different. They see their pay or their benefits and wonder if it is worth giving them all up to do something "crazy". This is a personal choice. But, it doesn't have to be the only choice we have. Many people create beautiful things while working a job to pay the bills. It's a good way to start, but requires motivation and dedication because it involves working outside of the work we do to pay the bills. It requires reorganizing your life and giving up some of the things we do after a long day (or in my case before a long day) of work.

We may hear this a lot, but turn off the television. Many of us spend so much time glued to this box watching things that don't really bring anything in to our lives. I used to be this person. I would DVR tons of shows and then spend my downtime catching up on the latest episodes of House or Survivor or anything else that looked good at the time. I would veg out in front of the television and the next thing I knew, I had been there for hours with nothing to show for my time except I could talk to other people who did the same thing about the shows we watched. I wasn't really growing or becoming a better person by doing it. I'm not saying you have to remove television completely from your life, but take control of the remote and spend some time creating instead of watching.

You have the ability to bring some beauty in to the world utilizing your skills and talents. The world deserves your creations. What if we could do something that brings a lasting impact, even if it is for just one other person? How would we feel? We have this ability. We just have to do instead of watch.

Keep Pushing

Because it's the way it has always been done. It's how everyone does it. This is how we have always raised money. This is what we do. These are all terrible reasons to do anything.

Think differently. Think bigger. Push boundaries. Try new things. Come up with new ideas. Be creative. Be different. Be daring. Be special.

If you aren't going to keep pushing, then you should pack up and go home. We need better than there was before. We need new ideas and new ways to do things. We need to strive for great, not good enough. You are never going to be the best of the best by doing what you have always done. You aren't going to be remembered for doing things the way everyone does them. Your crazy idea might just become industry norm in a couple of years. Keep thinking and pushing and changing until you come up with what you are looking for. Once there, start thinking and pushing and changing again.