Posts Tagged: motivation

The Journey Beyond — No Comments
15
Jul 10

Forgetting Reminders

I don’t know about you but I forget things… important things.  I get caught up in the routine of life and some of the most important things tend to evaporate from consciousness.  I have not lost them in my heart, just in my head.

“The most important thing,

Is to keep the most important thing,

The most important thing.”

-         Stephen Covey

There are all kinds of important things that if not careful get lost in the side eddies of life not by intent but by default.  The really sad thing about it is that I have placed reminder objects around me to keep these important things front of mind.

But like anything else they become part of the landscape of my life and pretty soon they are lost as they blend into the surroundings.

What brought this topic to mind is that I noticed a nicely framed message that hangs on my office wall.  I hate to admit it but it has been hanging in my office for over ten years and I rarely look at it.

The sad thing is I put it there.  I wrote the message, printed it, and framed it to be a reminder of things I need to remember.  The message in the frame is a list of core philosophies of life for me to live by as I go about my day.

These are key points that I developed for me to help me become better at what I do.  These were not off-the-shelf messages but points that I knew were important.

Here is what I framed. (full disclosure again… uuugh!)

Challenges & Personal Learnings

“Then he said, ‘Take the arrows,’ and the king took them. Elisha told him, ‘Strike the ground.’ He struck it three times and stopped. The man of God was angry with him and said, ‘You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times.’”                    II Kings 13:18-19

Side Note: This scripture challenged me to be willing to push the limits and not set my expectations low.

  • Be Bold
  • Go against your tendencies
  • Don’t Do – “Just Enough”
  • Abandonment NOT Tentativeness
  • Do the best you can
  • There’s always time to do nice things
  • Be professional and gracious
  • Make it happen but don’t force
  • Above all – “BE FAITHFUL”

It’s humbling to look for the first time again at a framed message that has hung on my wall for over ten years .

These are important messages for me personally.   What have you forgotten that you need to remember?  Look around and I bet you’ll see something you need to be reminded of.

See you Monday.

The Journey Beyond — No Comments
4
Mar 10

A Sack of Rocks

Nice to see you again.  Hopefully my last few blog entries have encouraged you to take the step you have been reluctant to do take.  If you didn’t, maybe today will be that day… no pressure.

But if you for some reason decided not to step out into the risky unknown (or you took a small step and didn’t continue) I offer you a caution from personal experience.

Usually when we seriously contemplate a step in a new direction it is because something has stirred us and we feel compelled to move.  But then something happens, we decide not to step out or we quickly stop.

We then tend to feel pretty crappy and caulk it up as another missed opportunity.  Now this is where it gets dicey, if not careful we end up tossing another rock in the sack we carry on our backs as a souvenir of our perceived failure.

Sack of Rocks: This is a bag that we all carry.  It is loaded with rocks that we have accumulated from life experiences, failures, tragedy or anything else that tends to weigh us down.

Everyone has a sack but the load carried depends on whether or not the person decides to put the rock in their bag.  It’s tough trying to march up a mountain with a load of rocks on our backs.

You probably notice that I use the term perceived failure.  I will drill down on this in a moment but first we need to be honest with ourselves.  Sometimes we do fail.  It’s not a perceived failure, it is a legitimate failure.  I mean… we have all really done some stupid stuff.

We make big mistakes in our lives and the consequences are pretty clear.  We cannot (must not) make excuses for some decisions or actions we have made.  The reality is, some things are just wrong and we need to stop and change our behavior.

“You can’t talk yourself out of something you acted yourself into.”

– Stephen Covey

aaa

Back to the “perceived failure” topic.

As mentioned there are things we do that are wrong and they are pretty clear.  But there are a lot of things that occur where we feel we have failed and… yep you guessed it… we throw another rock in the sack because we feel like we deserve it.  And on our journey we have accumulated a sack of rocks so heavy that it makes it difficult to try anything new or anything again.

I have come to believe that what we perceive as failure many times is in reality a part of the process of our growth.

Allow me a metaphor about a butterfly.

I know what you’re thinking… oh brother… that’s all I need, a cheesy little story about a sweet little butterfly.  Stick with me it’s actually a pretty good illustration.

The transformation of becoming a butterfly is in the hidden confines of the cocoon.  There is a divine transformation occurring and no one sees it.  After the butterfly has developed to such a point internally, the transformation work then transitions into the open.

The butterfly struggles and pushes to be released from the confines.  The butterfly could beat up on itself for having such a difficult time… for trying and stopping for a bit.

But here’s the miracle.  The struggle is part of the process.  The pressing and pushing is the very thing that is forcing life into the wings.

For too long I beat myself up for my perceived failures.  I carried a lot of unnecessary rocks.  Life’s tough enough the way it is without carrying extra weight.  I don’t know about you but I am unloading rocks.  I’ve got a more to unload but I can tell already that the climb this mountain is much easier.

Don’t believe the lie that you need to carry the rocks.  Go ahead… take one out and toss it.  Just don’t throw it in my direction.

You can keep throwing rocks in your sack or you can STOP IT!

I love this video.  It’s fun but more importantly there is a lot of truth to it.  It is a simple truth that we need to take to heart.

gg

YouTube Preview Image

rr

By the way, you’ll need to lighten your load because we’re getting ready to climb a pretty steep portion of the mountain.

The Journey Beyond — No Comments
4
Feb 10

The Vacant Look

The page is blank and I face the screen with this dazed stare.  The same kind of void look you only see in the eyes of zombies in “B” rated movies.  Or a better example is the completely vacant look of the young cashier who must make change manually because the electronic register has crashed.  No one home!

My mind is empty and creativity no where to be found.  I guess you might say I am resting on a rock.  I know that sitting on a rock sounds weird but it makes a little sense if you have been following the trek I have been on.

So I guess today my mind was tired and decided to stop for a rest.  Maybe I needed it after the weighty stuff we have been talking about in the past couple of blogs.

Pretty sad if you ask me…  nine entries and I need a rest already.  I need the rest because writing is not an easy task for me.  I don’t feel very competent at this writing thing so the energy expended is greater.  Have you ever notice how much energy it takes to do something that is so easy for some other people.

Let’s face it.  When a person is naturally gifted at something they tend to wonder why it is such a challenge for someone else who is struggling.  I do the same thing.  I have a few talents that come so easily and naturally that I believe it should be easy for others.  In fact, I’m sorry to say, I’ve gotten frustrated with people because I thought they should know how to do something so simple.  Guilty as charged!

Question: (for those who have children)

Which do you value more regarding your child,

  • Success or effort?
  • Comfort or risk?

Someone told me one time that most people are talented enough to be mediocre.  It’s true.   Most people have enough going for them to get by.

I don’t know about you but I’m tired of getting by.  But making the decision to step out is risky.  The world around us will try (not maliciously) to keep us where they are comfortable.  Weird… our change makes it uncomfortable for them.

There are two important lessons here for me.

  1. Step out (which I’m doing with this blog thing)
  2. Give space to those around you who want to step out.  In fact encourage.

I ran across this poem a few years ago that to me sums up the need to encourage.

The Average Child

by Mike Buscemi

I don’t cause teachers trouble;
My grades have been okay.
I listen in my classes.
I’m in school every day.

My teachers think I’m average;
My parents think so too.
I wish I didn’t know that, though;
There’s lots I’d like to do.

I’d like to build a rocket;
I read a book on how.
Or start a stamp collection…
But no use trying now.

’Cause, since I found I’m average,
I’m smart enough you see
To know there’s nothing special
I should expect of me.

I’m part of that majority,
That hump part of the bell,
Who spends his life unnoticed
In an average kind of hell.

So I am stepping out.  And I am not going to let anyone discourage me.

Anyway… at least I can make change if the electronic cash register goes down!  So there!

C U Monday.