Tag Archives: inspiration

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My Only Competition

So many times we compare ourselves to others and we see ourselves in competition with others. I’m a competitive person and I’ve been that way for as long as I can remember. I want to win at all costs. I don’t like losing and I do everything in my power to prevent that from happening. While I am competitive, I know that my biggest competition is myself. I can’t compare myself to others because they aren’t me. At the end of the day, we all have to live with the decisions we make. I have to remember to not worry about what other people are doing and to focus on what I need to do. I’m competing against my doubts, memories of failures, and thoughts that I can’t accomplish my goals. Because at the end of the day, I have to compete with myself and win.  And I will.
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Excellence is never an accident

I feel like I’ve been exposed to multiple speakers and actual people who have been talking about being successful and being a leader lately. This has happened multiple times per week and has come from a variety of different sources. One thing that has really hit me these past few weeks is the fact that excellence doesn’t happen by accident. Greatness is a product of intentional decisions made over a span of time. I’ve heard people say that who you really are is determined by the sum total of your day to day decisions. The truth is that while we all may not be in the same place, we all have the same 24 hours to be successful. One of my pet peeves is when people don’t respect my time. The reason for this is because time=opportunity and I could be doing something more worthwhile than waiting on people. That being said, I think that it’s so easy to become trapped in the familiar. Change is hard and making the changes to become an exceptional and successful individual is even harder. If it was easy, more people would do it. But I want to challenge you (as I’m challenging myself). To look for opportunities around you and to pick something to do each day that is directly relevant to where you want to be in life long-term. Carpe diem!

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Graduation

Tis the season of graduations. They mark the end of one journey and the beginning of another. I recently attended a college graduation and it brought back so many memories of my own graduation. Education can be such a funny thing. In college you take classes that you will most likely never use again. You take notes and then basically regurgitate the information back to the teacher to prove that you’ve learned it. Then at the end of this several year ordeal, you graduate–hopefully. Graduation can be a very important milestone but at the end of the day, there’s no guarantee that you’ll be successful because you’ve finished your degree. When you graduate, you have finished your course of study. You have fulfilled all the necessary requirements and you are ready (hopefully) to transition into the next part of your life. However, the act of graduation does not change your mindset. While you may have graduated, your perspective may be unchanged. Sometimes we can’t keep certain people in our lives because in a sense we’ve “graduated” from them. They’ve served their purpose but they continue to be a representation of the “pre-graduation” mindset. I heard someone say today that your life with resemble with those whom you assemble and I think that that is very true. Everybody can’t be your best friend. The road to success is not always paved. Take some time to honestly think about the people in your life who you’ve outgrown. Maybe some changes are in order.

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Rejection thoughts

Rejection sucks. Point blank. Having experienced a fairly significant portion of it in several aspects of my life this week, I’m reminded once again why I hate it so much. It’s a hard reminder that you can’t control everything in your life and that things just happen. It’s even worse when feelings get involved and you’ve been involved in multiple rejections. Rejection can make you more self reflective but you can also experience frustration, anger, and sadness as a result of it. I think that we feel rejection more acutely when we have been optimistic in hoping the situation would turn out the way we wanted it to. But at the end of the day, life goes on regardless. It’s crazy to live life through the lens of what should have  or could have happened. Rejection is an opportunity for one to grow stronger in the face of adversity and I’m taking that opportunity. 
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It’s all talk

We all know people with good intentions. They make elaborate plans and make promises that sound good. However they NEVER. FOLLOW. THROUGH. Back in the day, someone’s word meant something. When they said it, you could count on it. You knew that they would follow through and do what they said. Their actions would match their words. In this day and age, following through is a nice concept but rarely ever happens. People make promises all the time that are broken quicker than they were made. Expectations have lowered as well. Learn to recognize the people around you who never follow through and don’t put high expectations on them. Surround yourself with people whose actions match their words. You’ll avoid a lot of frustration and disappointment.

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Re-evaluation

So many times it’s easy to get caught up in the mundane. We do things out of habit without taking the time to think about what we really want in life. Or maybe we haven’t taken the time to even think about what we want. Life is what happens when you least expect it. However, many times we spend the majority of our time in reaction and survival mode instead of planning mode. But what if we were able to take a time out from life? What if the reason why we never make 5 or 10 year plans is because we don’t take the time to reflect on what we want to accomplish in life and what is really important? Why not take some time this week to re-evaluate where you are in life? You might discover something new. 
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Don’t be a Tryer

Don't be a Tryer

I saw this picture posted on Facebook and it made me think. First of all, is “tryer” really a word? I can already see some children’s show character singing to children “be a tryer.” But are tryers really winners? Obviously you have to try in order to win or you’ll lose by default. But I don’t think that the action of trying automatically makes you a winner. I heard someone say that people are not remembered for what they avoided, but for what they’ve overcome. Being a tryer puts you ahead of the non-tryers but it doesn’t guarantee success. Nobody remembers who came in 6th, they remember who won. Being a tryer is a good thing, but you can’t get caught up in the fact that you tried. Make greatness a goal because tryers aren’t winners, but winners are tryers. 

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Security vs. flexibility

Security vs. flexibility

Security. We all want it in some way or another. We all know a little kid who keep a blanket or some item with him or her all the time and it serves as a source of security. I think that as we get older, we look more for relational or financial security because we see it as important. One thing that I’ve noticed about myself more is that while I really appreciate and enjoy flexibility, security and stability are slowing climbing the list of my priorities. And it seems as if life is throwing me the curveball of extra flexibility. My mind is always going and I always have ideas but I tend to stick to what I know sometimes instead of venturing out into the big black unknown. But I feel a change coming as I start to plan going to a higher level of flexibility–or even something different. I tend to over-plan and analyze because I have an attraction to the concept of security. However, it’s time for me to crawl out of the box of my comfort zone and to experience more of what life has to offer. We’ll see how it goes….

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Get Rich or Die Tryin’

This motto has honestly probably affected a lot of people in some way or the other. It was the name of 50 Cent’s album that he released in 2003 and was certified platinum eight times. I think that I can identify with this statement in the sense I can’t even put into words how much I ABSOLUTELY hate not having the money to do what I want to in life. Now, being alive beats being dead. However, I think that there’s a marked difference between being alive and having a LIFE. I’ve noticed that the people telling me that “money isn’t everything” usually don’t have it. In NO way am I saying that if you don’t have money, you might as well be dead because that would be stupid. But I AM saying that having money can improve one’s quality of life. I’d bet a lot of money that there are millions of people who would quit their jobs if they suddenly became independently wealthy. They would travel, buy houses, go on vacations and do all the things that they’ve always wanted to do. Yet they’re trapped living paycheck to paycheck at a job that they hate with bosses they can’t stand. I don’t want that life. There’s something inside of me that refuses to be part of the mainstream. The choice to do better starts with a desire to do better. I’ve been able to meet a few people whose ambition I admire. They’re gone against the grain and worked hard to be successful. It’s easy to be mediocre but it takes work to be great. Why not take the time to surround yourself with people that are doing better than you? You only have one life to live and it would really suck if you wasted it doing things that you hated because you stayed in “survival mode” for decades. There’s something about someone’s drive to succeed that is very motivating. Excellence never happens by accident. There’s always a strategy involved. “Get Rich or Die Tryin'” or “Stay Broke and Live Survivin'” The choice is yours.