Over the past few years I have enjoyed watching my children participate in sport, dance, music, and much more. The experience of seeing my children succeed is one that I will always remember and cherish. In watching and observing the hard work they put into each activity, I have also noticed a glimpse of waiting to perform as well. I see this in myself at times as well. What do I mean by waiting? Waiting for someone else to pick up the slack.
We live in a very competitive world, one of which teaches us to either push so hard we may break or wait for everyone else to do the work you could do yourself. Where do you see yourself? Or are you somewhere in the middle? I find people going back and forth between these two. My goal is to help you become more aware of the waiting mentality in you and then provide some habits that may increase your methods of action.
1. Know who you are! Take time each day to move a desired goal forward. The only way any goal is going to be completed is if you make time for it to grow. You are worth every penny a company invests in you, any amount of time family or friends spend with you, and most of all, you are worthy of God's love. The recognition and acceptance of my divine potential has changed the very way I think, and look forward to my future potential. Knowing who you are does not mean you are arrogant. In fact, it means the complete opposite. Knowing who you are represents a greater power inside each of us, it means striving to become, it means not being okay with staying too comfortable. This is what it means to know who you are.
2. Make Lofty Goals! For most of my life I have been told to limit how lofty my goals are, because of the risk of failure. I have never seen someone grow, succeed, become wealthy, influence family and community by making mediocre goals. Mediocrity is created by not managing my first point, knowing who you are. Many times, lofty goals or any kind of goals are not set because we don't believe we can accomplish that thing. Goals are meant to push us, push us to accomplish our dreams.
3. Dream Big! Why are you not dreaming? Was it too much pressure from family, friends, or bosses? If you want to fly a plane, make plans to do it. If you want to travel the world, make it happen. The only person who is standing between you and your dreams is you. Speaking minimizing works to yourself or having a limited mindset does not determine the amount of potential you have. You are the only one who gets to decide the impact and duration of each thought, make them worth while.
I am living my dream today. That does not mean everything is perfect, and I don't have to worry about anything. Hard work, commitment keeping, love, and development of myself all have made my dream real. Yes, I fail and have to change every day, but I know I am capable now.
4. Stop Comparing! Each time you compare yourself to another person the motivation to move forward and act is limited. Comparison is everywhere, it happens in our conversations, social media, work, and so much more. In sports, comparison is very common. The comparisons I saw on the field this past weekend prevented some boys from stepping forward and letting other players do what they could do. I could see the thoughts in their heads, "well if they are going to go get the ball then I don't have to".
Have you ever been running on a treadmill at a gym next to a person and you kept adding speed just to be faster than the person next to you? Stop comparing, do you!
Each time you allow someone else to do the work for you, you miss out on the reward of success and joy. I am not saying to push so hard you break, I am saying to push yourself to your hard and then be real. Overworking yourself will not develop a relationship with your kids. I Have never heard a father say, "I sure am glad I have a really good 20 minutes with my son." Never! It is always a wish that there was more time spent with those they loved. Don't sit back to creating your dreams. Don't sit back and allow others to accomplish your dreams. Take back your dream and live them.
Take action today, be involved, and bring back the joy!