DAY
154
“You are the embodiment of the information you choose to accept and act upon. To change your circumstances you need to change your thinking and subsequent actions.”
— Adlin Sinclair
You may remember way back on Day 2 you considered the fact that you are not a victim of circumstances. Your choices landed you right where you are at this moment. Personal responsibility is not the easiest road, but it is the most rewarding. Take responsibility for your actions, and your chances for success will multiply exponentially.
You have no control over what people say or do, so you can stop worrying about trying to change others. You have absolute control over what information you choose to accept and act upon. If someone tells you that you are stupid, you can choose to accept that information, or you can choose to throw it away as useless and false. It is not the fault of the person who uttered those ridiculous words. It is your fault if you believe them.
Think about what information you accept and what information you discard today. Dig deep and ask yourself if you have bought into any statements that are blatantly false. Don’t feel bad if you have. You have the opportunity to discard those untrue statements right now and collect information that is more conducive to your success.
On the other hand, sometimes the truth hurts. If someone tells you that you are not qualified for a particular job, do they have a point? Maybe it’s time to take a class and get qualified. Remember that you are the one who gets to decide what is true and what is false. You pick the information you will act upon. What information will you choose to collect and act on today?
DAY
155
“Just don’t give up on trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.”
— Ella Fitzgerald
Are you afraid to do what you really want to do? Why? Do you think if you fail you will have nothing left? Consider this: if you don’t do what you really want to do in life, what kind of life are you living?
Ella Fitzgerald provides a wonderful message in the quote for today. The final results really don’t matter. If you do what you really want to do, if you follow your heart’s desire, then there is love and inspiration involved in your actions. When you have those two things, you can’t possibly go wrong. The process is just as important as the end result. Life is short. Do what you really want to do.
Let’s say you really want to be a singer. You’ve been listening to Ella your whole life, and you want more than anything to sing like she does. But you’re afraid. What if you find out you’re no good? That doesn’t matter. Do you love to sing? Then give it a shot. Take voice lessons, join a choir, or go to karaoke night at your local tavern. Experience what it feels like to let your pipes make a joyful noise.
You might be a horrible singer. The people at karaoke night might start throwing pretzels at you and boo you off the stage. Who cares? You did it. You did something you really wanted to do. Check it off the list and sing in the shower from now on. Maybe you’ll discover that you’re pretty good, and months later you find yourself on TV in front of millions of people on American Idol. You won’t know the answer unless you do it.
DAY
156
“Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.”
— Don Marquis
Ann was the queen of procrastination. She actually thought it was a good strategy. She let herself believe that if she put things off long enough, either someone else would do them for her, or she would find a way to get them done in a shorter amount of time because she was under the gun. She enjoyed the adrenaline rush she got when a deadline was looming. Never mind the fact that half the time Ann had to ask for an extension. She was happy with her strategy, but her boss was not thrilled at all with her performance.
Ann may have been comfortable with her plan, but it was not a good one. She spent all of her time catching up, and therefore she had no opportunity to get ahead in life. When she was constantly working on yesterday’s tasks, she never had the opportunity to reach forward for success.
If you want to have a successful life, you should be so far ahead of the pack that you are making news rather than reading yesterday’s news. Success comes with responsibility, and you have to be willing to work a little harder to get to the front of the line. Keeping up with yesterday is worthless. To achieve success you have to create the future.
Your assignment today is to stop procrastinating. If there is any part of your life right now where you are behind, take the extra time you need to catch up. Don’t start anything new until you complete old business. You will get a huge amount of satisfaction out of tying up your loose ends and taking responsibility for completing your jobs. Then you can move forward and focus on the future uninhibited.
DAY
157
“Never forget: This very moment, we can change our lives. There never was a moment, and never will be, when we are without the power to alter our destiny.”
— Steven Pressfield
Do you think that you’ll change your life after something else happens? You want success, but you envision it happening down the road a ways. The conditions need to be just right. You’ll start that new business after the kids go off to college. You’ll talk to your boss about a raise right after you complete a project. You plan to start dating again . . . after you lose ten pounds.
Stop waiting. This is the moment for change, and you have the power to do it. You control your destiny. Thousands of choices are made every day—by you—that lead you toward success or away from it. It is true that you are completely powerless over other people, places, and things, but you do have the power to alter your own destiny, and there is no point in waiting. Work with or around or over or under the circumstances that you face, but never lose sight of your destiny.
Your job today is to do something. You have no excuse to wait until tomorrow. Take this moment to change your life. Don’t even open your journal today. Your assignment is not to write about your goals and dreams. Your job is to get out there and start working toward them. What can you do to use the power you have within you to change your destiny today? There are a number of actions to take. Pick one and take action. You have done a lot of writing about things you can do to achieve success. Now you have to stop dreaming and start doing.
DAY
158
“Tomorrow, every Fault is to be amended; but that Tomorrow never comes.”
— Benjamin Franklin
Tomorrow I’ll eat better; tomorrow I’ll go to the gym; tomorrow I’ll sign up for that computer class; tomorrow I’ll apologize to my spouse for the way I treated him or her; tomorrow I’ll work more and surf the Internet less. Sound familiar?
Tomorrow never comes.