Who you are and how you are directly affects how long you’re at it.
Yeah, I liked that one better, too. That has a little sizzle to it. Much more than the stuffy, “Personality directly affects persistence.”
“Yeah-yeah. Like #gagmewithatoiletbrush.”
“I beg your pardon? Who invited you?”
“Who, me? Nobuddy. No-o-o BUDDY. Like I need an invitation? Nyunh-uh. I always invite myself. That way I’m never late! Cool, hunh? You gonna eat all th—“
“The door remains open because you seem unable to exercise the concept of closing it. Try inviting yourself out. Good-bye.”
“Hey, quit shovin’. I just got here, man. There’s coffee, there’s food, there’s—-“
“The door. The place already reeks from the stench of your idio—-“
Excuse me for a moment.
Gentlemen – and I use the term under extreme unease – would you mind taking that act on the road? Hope and Crosby made a rather tidy living from a whole series of movies based on arguments as inane and completely useless as yours always seem to be. I am a writer. I am in the process of writing. You are distracting me.
“There. You see, Gummi-brain? You’ve hardly the level of refined creative input he needs to—-“
Both of you are distracting me. The door? And don’t sla– (Sigh…)
This is a continuing journey through 28 Ways To Absolutely NAIL “Tremendous”! Since we’re on number 13, that might mean there are 12 previous ones you might’ve missed. They’re in the 2nd Cup archives; feel free to go back and check ’em out. You’ll find them entertaining and maybe even a little helpful.
Now–where were we? Couple of deep, cleansing breaths. Few leisurely sips of a hot, fresh second cup of … Oh, right. You got that part.
Okay. Title. PROVE IT BEFORE YOU TRASH IT. We’re all going through different ideas in our heads, considering the year ahead, making plans and setting strategies to attack those plans. It’s easy to put some out there, then recoil because they don’t look like they’ll work. Or maybe they’re a weird cousin of another plan that didn’t.
Tempting to just toss ’em. Right? Step over ’em and move on.
Hold on – not so fast. It may not all be the plan or series of plans. Some of it could be you. Back to the title. Be willing to get creative and try a different approach or two. THEN if it limps, go ahead and 86 it. But sometimes just looking at things differently can, well, make a difference. Let me explain it this way.
Time and life experiences reveal personality.
Ever notice how some people tend to quit before they ever get started? It has a lot to do with personality. Thought patterns and emotional habits direct more of your life than you realize. Yet you need to know the best part: They can change.
You can alter your thought patterns and emotional habits.
I just gave you a real mind-full right there. I want you to get it.
Your biggest issue is quite possibly with yourself.
Denis Waitley says, “There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.”
He’s right. No one else is going to do anything about changing your circumstances or the conditions of your present life as they exist. In other words, trying a totally different plan with the same you will usually have the same results. It might not be the plan; it might be you.
People care; in fact, those who care most are likely to listen to you and say things like, “Okay, if I’m hearing you correctly, you feel that—” several times so you know they know where you’re coming from. Then they offer some thoughtful suggestions as to a possible strategy to stop, turn around and head back toward making 2015 your servant instead of a jockey riding you with sharp spurs on its boots.
They may or may not offer some short-term poultices to draw out the sepsis of past hurts – some if not most of which are usually self-inflicted. What they do not do is step in and do it for you. None of us learns much that way and you are no exception.
Stop asking for permission to excel, to follow your dreams. To do that, you may need to get a little abrupt with yourself.
Poring over past mistakes, sorting through them like pawing through a Folgers Coffee can partially full of used, bent nails in hopes of finding one more or less usable is a silly habit. Someone said in a New Year’s email that, “I refuse to reminisce about the past year unless it’s in a ‘BEST OF’ format.”
Point? Sometimes sloppy, undisciplined and poor thought patterns – mental habits – are the real culprit. It isn’t a timid, backward or even cowardly personality at all.
But if you’ve fooled yourself into thinking you’re cowardly and can’t compete when everything inside is screaming, “NO! I’m NOT cowardly and I CAN not just compete, but WIN!”? Well, you can see how there’s a constant uncivil war going on inside you.
- “I AM talented, able, smart and worthwhile.”
- “My opinions DO count. People DO pay attention to what I say.”
- “I CAN lead and succeed. People WILL follow me.”
If you have that bouncing off your spirit’s walls while you’re busy trying to stay pitiful and play “BIGGEST LOSER”, you can see trouble, right?
On the other hand, true peace comes from what you believe and how you live being the same thing.
Think about it. Introverted is not the same as timid. But it is possible to con yourself into thinking you’re cowardly and timid. And that gives you a recurring excuse to stay underwhelming. Mediocre.
You don’t want to be those things; in fact you may want to be just the opposite. And it eats at your peace of mind that you’re not.
I know. I’ve probably messed with your cover; messed up a perfectly good career of just getting by. Trouble is, you’ve known all along you’re no coward. You’d just let your dream fizzle and you quit. I’m not saying you need to let someone else pressure you into following their dream. There’s a lot of truth in this: Follow YOUR dream. If you don’t, someone else will soon have you helping them follow theirs.
Today’s TREMENDOUS encouragement is to PROVE IT BEFORE YOU TRASH IT. Show some initiative in trying your overall plan in several different ways, from different points of view. Quit looking at everyone around you for their approval or their suggestions. Make the time to get alone with God and reestablish what is YOUR dream. And be willing to take a good look at you while deciding how to tweak your plan for 2015 Then, friend, comes the fun part:
- What are you doing with that awareness?
- How are you changing how you do things to get the results you want?
- How are you improving yourself for the better?
- What are you willing to do different to let that hungry, decisive person trapped inside who wants to do more have top billing and be in charge?
Mm-hmph. You thought that foolishness in the intro about #gagmewithatoiletbrush was just – well, foolishness, didn’t you? Wait until you start letting the real you that’s down inside take charge and see what interesting conversations you’ll be having with yourself.
Sure – I’d love to hear about them.
© D. Dean Boone, January 2015