Why do we do anything? Why did the colonists declare independence from Great Britain? Why do inventors invent things? Why did we want to send men to walk on the moon? If you are a follower of my blogs or follow me on social media then you know that the WHY is the most important thing to me when taking on any challenge. The WHY is what gets you out of bed in the morning, it gives you the courage to face even the greatest challenges, and it is the one thing that will keep you going when you want to quit. Everyone’s WHY is different. Your WHY has to be big, bigger than any reason you could think of to quit. Your WHY has to be emotional, it has to invoke a feeling deep inside of you. My WHY is that I want to help millions of people live better lives. I want to give them hope and spark a fire within them that anything is possible. It does not matter how long it will take, success doesn’t wear a watch.
My youngest daughter was helping me set up my social media pages yesterday and we were talking about why I wanted to start an online business. I told her that I will help millions of people. She then replied with that age-old saying, “if you help only one, then it will be a success.” I told her that was a saying that people tell themselves when they want to feel good about failure. If I only help one person, then for me that isn’t good enough. I will be happy for that one person but I will know I didn’t do enough to make my dream of helping millions come true. Helping one person is not emotional, it doesn’t require hard work, it is not a big enough mountain to climb. Helping one person is a start, the first step on my journey to help millions.
Is your reason, your WHY, big enough? Are you where you want to be in life? If not, are you at least heading in the right direction? Do you have dreams, goals, or plans? I can give you all the tools to get you everything you want out of life. The one thing I cannot give you is a WHY. Your WHY is personal. My WHY won’t get you out of bed in the morning or keep you going when things get hard. Your WHY will. I was having this discussion with my daughters the other day, and I told them that I could give them everything they needed to be successful in whatever they wanted to do. I just couldn’t or wouldn’t do it for them. They would have to do that for themselves, whether they succeeded or failed was up to them. When I’m on my deathbed, I will look at my family and know I have done everything possible for them to succeed. I will have no regrets because I will know I have done everything I could do during my time on earth to help as many people as I could.
I was listening to a speech that Denzel Washington gave at a college graduation, which I provided a link to. In this speech, he talked about his life and his many failures. When you go from failure to failure to failure you can begin to think of yourself as a loser. He said, “you are not a loser, you just haven’t figured out how to win yet.” If things aren’t working out for you, it’s not you, because you have greatness inside. You just haven’t figured out how to pull that greatness out and win. Find somebody who has accomplished the same thing you want to accomplish and do what they do. Search through YouTube, take an online course, or hire someone with the knowledge to help you. Just don’t leave that greatness inside of you.
Like your greatness, 90% of the iceberg is not seen.
Success is like a radio dial and you have to tune it to the right frequency. Before cars were computerized and had a wide variety of entertainment options for us, all we had was the radio. You had to turn the dial on the radio to find the exact frequency of the station that played the music you wanted to listen to. In between the stations all you heard was static. To hear the station clear, you had to make very fine adjustments to dial it in. When we would drive across country, we could go hours without being able to dial into a station. It was only when we got close to a town with a radio tower that we could dial in the right frequency and listen. Sometimes you could only find one station and you had to listen to whatever genre of music they played. If you stopped turning the dial before you reached the right frequency, you never heard the music. If you stop what you’re doing right before you hit the right frequency for success, then you will never experience what it feels like to win. Take a good hard look at what you’re doing, if you’re not having success, you need to change something. It might be your mindset, your habits, or your plan. It might be that you’re almost on the right frequency and just need to tweak it a little. I heard a story once of a football coach who took over a losing team and he told the team that the reason they weren’t having success was because they didn’t know how to practice. Most players just go through the motions during practice and don’t give it their all. Players on championship teams practice like champions. Everything you do, do it like the champion you are. Don’t just go through the motions.
Photo by Will Francis on Unsplash
If you’ve read any of my past blogs you know that I’m not in my 20s, not particularly skilled at writing, and pretty much out of my comfort zone dealing with anything that has to do with computers or the Internet. This is new to me and I’ve taken it upon myself to educate myself. I read the blogs that I follow and they teach me something new every day. The terminology is different and I’m constantly having to look up words and phrases I’ve never used before. Computer code and analytics are foreign to me. I just keep hacking away until I get it right, it’s a slow process. Building any kind of business can take time and you can’t worry if things are not happening fast enough. As long as you don’t quit, eventually you will be successful. Just concentrate on your WHY and don’t worry about the time. Success does not wear a watch.
“This Train Is Moving ON, You Can Get on, You Can Get off, But the Train Keeps Moving ON! We Are Going to the TOP of the Mountain!”
I believe in the power of sharing. If I read a good blog that really speaks to me and I believe it will provide value to others, I will share it. I have linked four books that I believe have value. In order to change you, you first have to change the way you think. Leaders Are Readers!
I still enjoy sitting by the pool or on my sofa with a good book. I read all kinds of books, fiction, history, biographies, and motivational. I enjoy the quiet time I get with just me and my book. But we live in a fast pace society today where sometimes we need to combine our tasks. Do you find yourself short on time? Are you constantly saying, where did the time go? You are not alone. I believe that we all feel like we don’t have enough time to get everything accomplished and what usually suffers is me time. A shortcut that I have found helpful is my Audible Membership and Kindle Unlimited Membership. I listen to books on audible while I’m doing other things. I can listen while getting dressed, while I’m working out, and even while I’m preparing dinner for my family. It is a great way to get my reading in even when I have a full to do list that I have received from the Mrs. She doesn’t take kindly to me ignoring her to do list while I catch up on my reading. With an Audible Membership it’s a win-win for both of us. I can download great books on this and listen to them with my AirPods. I use my AirPods every time I exercise. They don’t fall out and the sound is great. With Kindle I can download books, magazines, and my daughters can even download their college textbooks. This is so much easier than carrying a heavy backpack full of textbooks around campus. The books can be downloaded to any device and read with the Kindle app.
Both the Audible Membership and Kindle Unlimited Membership are currently offering a 30 day free trial. You can sign up by clicking on the links and give it a test drive for 30 days free. If you find it’s not for you, simply cancel your membership before your 30 days are up and you won’t be charged.
Do you know someone who is always in a hurry and can’t seem to take time for themselves? We all do. I would suggest checking out giving an Audible Membership as a gift. It is a great gift idea for someone who is always on the go.
The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. A book that will change your life. It answers the question, Why do some people have everything and others struggle? The answer is simple, they know the secret. It has changed my life and can change yours.
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. This is an oldie but goodie that is full of relevant life lessons. It is a book that you hear speaker after speaker refer to. Successful people all have the same mentality and know you have to change the way you think to be successful. Only one percent of people set goals.
Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind And Defy The Oddsby David Goggins. I really enjoyed read this book and I found it very relatable. If you want to become more than you are today, read this book. After you finish there will be no excuses. David is just an ordinary guy who made the decision to be extraordinary and was determined.
The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. A must read for anyone wanting to change their habits. A great book for managers and leaders. Covey teaches you how to transform your thoughts to not on help you but also to help others. These are 7 principles to definitely incorporate into your life.
I appreciate every like, follow, comment and share. Keep’em coming.