We live our lives around others. What we do may directly or indirectly impact those around us. And our reach can grow and spread widely depending on the "amount" of influence we have. But that also works the other around. People may do or say things that directly or indirectly have an impact on our lives.
Of course, this is quite obvious. However, just because we are aware of this fact, doesn't always mean that we take precautions against it. Or better yet, use it to our advantage. To help us in our efforts in making progress toward what we care about most.
Let me explain.
One of the most effective ways to discourage someone from pursuing their goals is to bombard them with negativity. Or to use fear to manipulate them into not taking action that could lead to forward progress for them. And this doesn't necessarily need to be orchestrated with much effort. Sometimes it is done subconsciously by the people around us.
For example, while still employed, I remember I would sometimes participate in conversations with colleagues about how those who decided to leave employment and go into business for themselves would often struggle. How it was much harder than having a stable income that was more or less guaranteed if you are employed.
I hope you believe me when I say that these discussions were not campaigns to hex or curse those that got out of the job market and went into business for themselves. No. Instead, they were thoughts that we were subconsciously leaking out that didn't focus on the many possibilities and opportunities new entrepreneurs had to find success.
Why? Because we simply didn't know what that life was really like. I, at the time, had no hours of experience being a full-time entrepreneur or business owner. And instead of trying to think of how amazing it could have been if I was one... I thought of only how scary it may have been in general.
Not only that... but because these are thoughts we often share in conversations we have with others, we are also sowing the seeds of doubt in them as well. Again, not with much effort. But the seeds of doubt do not require all that much to firmly embed themselves in the minds and hearts of those they are planted into.
Imagine for a minute, the exact opposite of this.
Imagine if instead of talking about people's hardships as they pursue goals very important to them... we talked about their courage to begin. We talked about the small yet extremely significant progress they made. We talked about their slow but sure transformation.
Conversations like that tend to have a different impact on the people engaged in them.
Knowing that someone you know is trying to steer their lives in a specific direction that aligns them to the goals they want to attain... could be inspiring. There is probably something we could learn from it. It may not be the exact secrets to success... but it could be the secrets to making the first steps.
We easily forget that there are steps before you get to whatever a person's version of success is. It is not a single event that leads to it. It's a series of events, choices, actions... that eventually add up to that success.
I always used to think that the quote, "A journey of a thousand miles, begins with one step" was about just how long pursuing a goal is.
But it's not just about the length of the pursuit.
It's also about making decisions that are bold and courageous. Decisions that scare you half to death yet seem so insignificant to those not having to make them at that moment.
These are the "steps".
That quote is about change and just how difficult it can be to make one seemingly small choice... that could actually put you on the path to a life more aligned with what you truly want out of this life.
Look...
I see a lot of folks struggle daily with the efforts they put into trying to make progress toward their goals. I see people struggle with indecision on whether or not they should even consider pursuing a life centered around what they're most passionate about. I see people who are clearly aware that their choice to pursue their goals, has left them alone without support and in some cases... with people actively campaigning to have them fail.
Our thoughts and words are extremely powerful. Not only can we use them as a way to shield ourselves from outside negative influence.... but we can use them to protect, nurture and support others in similar pursuits.
Be mindful of how you think. Be mindful of what you say. Be mindful of what you project. Because at any one time you are actively telling the story of your life. What you think becomes your law for that moment. And if you persist with thoughts that continuously tell stories of fear, impossibilities, and negativity... it will be solidified into a habit. A habit you may never realize that you strengthen year after year. Making you see almost everything through one lens.
I hope what I'm writing makes sense to you.
I'm simply saying that every moment spent looking at how things will never work... is a moment not spent on focusing on what progress could have been made.
The facts about our capability to make progress towards our goals... will ALWAYS and FINALLY be determined by what we choose to believe in most.
Are we destined to fail... or are we destined to get better?
We decide.
#makeProgressNotExcuses
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