Your assignment today is to look at the bed you made. What is your present situation? What actions did you take to get where you are today? What can you change in order to improve your life?
DAY
83
“Refuse to be average. Let your heart soar as high as it will.”
— A.W. Tozer
You are not average. There is no one on this earth exactly like you. You are unique, and you have special gifts to share. Are you letting your gifts out of the bag, or do you hide them from everyone—including yourself?
It is comfortable to fit in, to not stand out in a crowd, but that is not what you were made for. You were made to soar as high as you dare. You are uniquely qualified to bring your special talents out and follow your heart, but it feels risky to step away from the group. It’s frightening to fly without a safety net. You must have the courage to refuse to be average. You are throwing away your innate gifts if you fit in with everyone else.
Let your heart soar. Open up and follow your instincts for success. It is a thrilling experience to reach for new heights and test your abilities and strengths. Do you have a desire to experience that adventure?
Today try stepping away from the crowd. Journey out on your own and attempt something you have never done before. Do you have a special skill or aptitude that you have never really explored? Right now you must refuse to ignore it. Try it out! Take a class, join a club that focuses on the skill, or find a mentor who is willing to guide you. Aren’t you curious to see if it will bring you joy and success? You will never know if you don’t swallow your fear and try it.
Refuse to be average, and give your heart the opportunity to fly.
DAY
84
“Nobody can do it for you.”
— Ralph Cordiner
For the last several days, we have been concentrating again on personal responsibility. We will continually come back to it, because it requires constant attention. It also carries more power than you realize. If you want to achieve success, you have the opportunity to do it right now, but you have to take charge of your destiny.
Go back to your journal today and write about success. Compose your own personal definition of the word. Then write down some specific ways that you imagine you will be able attain your goal. Review the ideas you write down today and any previous material you find in your journal about attaining success. Take a look at what ingredients will be needed to follow through. Make a list of those ingredients.
Now, review that list. Cross off anything that you have delegated to someone else. Nobody can do this for you. For example, if you have “get a loan from my dad” on your list, cross it off. Your dad is not responsible for your success. This is your baby. What action can you take to get the money you need? Can you get an extra part-time job? Can you cut out some of the extra expenses in your life and save some cash?
This is not one of those jobs you can hire out. If you don’t like to clean, you can hire a maid (if you have the money). However, if you want to achieve success, there is no one you can call to do the dirty work. You have to roll up your sleeves and do it yourself. You can learn from others, but the effort must be all yours. Stop looking outside of yourself for the key to success. It lies within you.
DAY
85
“Learning to deal with setbacks, and maintaining the persistence and optimism necessary for childhood’s long road to mastery are the real foundations of lasting self-esteem.”
— Lilian G. Katz
You will experience setbacks on the road to success, but always remember that they are only temporary. You are on this journey for the rest of your life. You must build a strong foundation using the tools of persistence and optimism, and you will succeed.
Think about how marathon runners train for a big race. They spend months conditioning. They start with a manageable distance and increase it little by little. Every step they take builds their self-esteem. They set milestones and celebrate each achievement. Their success with smaller goals propels them to increase their drive and push to the next level. Sometimes injuries set them back a day or two or even longer. They attend to them through rest and rehabilitation, and then they get back on track. They are optimistic that they can achieve their goal, and they have the persistence to keep working until they do.
Are persistence and optimism words that describe how you travel on your journey through life? Compare your life path to training for a marathon. First, acknowledge your setbacks and deal with them. Then, dig up some optimism that will start to build your self-esteem. You don’t have to lie to yourself. Find something that is true, even if it is not very exciting. For example, “I am healthy today” may provide you with a dose of optimism on which to build. Finally, never give up. You are not running a short race. This is a marathon, and you have the time and opportunity to build your self-esteem and reach success.
DAY
86
“Success isn’t how far you got, but the distance you traveled from where you started.”
— Proverb
For the next eight days, you are going to have a chance to take an in-depth look at success and failure and compare these two very powerful words. Let’s start with the upside and dive a little deeper into what success means to you.
Read the proverb above. Does it coincide with your idea of success? Have you ever thought about success as the progress you make throughout your life instead of the end result?
Write about success as a journey instead of a finish line. You have the opportunity to be a success every single day if you take even one small step forward rather than remaining complacent or regressing. There are so many opportunities for you to thrive and to help others along their journey. Are you taking advantage of any of those opportunities right now?
The second part of your assignment today is to write about the distance you’ve come thus far. How are you doing? Where did you start, and where are you now? Have you gone forward or backward, or has it been a combination of both? Grab some markers and draw a graph of your journey toward success so far. What does that graph look like? Does it have huge peaks and valleys, or is it a steady climb? Maybe it was a steady climb, and then a particular event in your life caused a drop-off. Chart your success and imagine how you would like it to look from today forward.
DAY
87
“Success doesn’t come to you, you go to it.”
— Marva Collins
Do you truly want to be a success? Then get moving! You will never achieve success by waiting for it complacently, like one waits for a bus or Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. You must go and seek out success.
Think of success as a crafty little wild animal. You catch glimpses of it here and there, but for the most part it remains elusive. It will never come right to you and curl up on your lap. You must look for it in remote hiding places and eventually coax it out of its lair. You have to give success a reason to stick around by providing food to sustain it, a comfortable place to sleep, and plenty of attention.