Friday, September 22, 2017

Dream Different

Before our less-than-imaginative media made dreaming a commodity, the concept meant more than just a right to work. It seems even in addressing the most important Human Rights, we look for labels and fence-sides. This way, everything is black and white.

To dream means to innovate... to disrupt.... to challenge the norm.... to put a dent in the universe!

Being bold enough to dream can be met with disdain; the result of an envy prompted by one's own lack of ambition. Once an unproven concept produces success, the doubters become adopters.

...because that's what most people do.....

Laugh at those bold enough to try until following them takes no courage.

There is a difference between being risk-adverse and bold. If you are going to live an inspired life, you are going to have to stop relying on statistics to make decisions for you.


Your mom probably thought your dad was annoying before he worked up the courage to exemplify his true being. That time you and your friends from the neighborhood beat the first place team would have never happened if you let the bullies intimidate you. So many great songs are written in response to somebody who positioned our humble narrator as lesser. There is a romance in being the underdog.... when you lose the underdog mentality, you become just like everyone else.

Plain

Safe

Boring.......

What's the use of strapping on your shoes if you aren't going to use them to kick some ass?

I hate the macho mentality and the hate it breeds. Parents who play placate gossip usually raise their kids to be assholes. If you've never stuck up for yourself, dared to dream, challenged authority or risked being unpopular; you have not lived a day.

You have the rest of your life to change your life, why not start now?

Here's The Thing.....

From the first time you compromise your personal integrity to be part of something you do not believe in, you begin the war of looking yourself in the mirror.

Would your son be proud to know that you spent every day of your life prostrate to people who are less intelligent than you?      

Would your wife love you more if you had done the safe thing? (or would she see in your action that you hate your job)

Every time you say it's just a job and do what you gotta do..... the younger you gets his ass kicked on the playground.

The Exception is Becoming an Expectation.....

And then that guy who tried 55 times and failed, became a millionaire. He donated every cent he made to charity because proving that the underdog had a fighting chance was the only thing that was keeping him alive.

And then the guy who had everything lost everything. He stood on the shoulders of those greater than he and manipulated those lesser, until it caught up with him.

Far worse is the person who never tried anything and died without ever knowing the extreme romance of walking the tight rope without a net underneath him/her.

If you didn't know what would happen tomorrow, would you be stressed out or enthralled?

Quit Pretending

Your suit will not make you more intelligent. You will seldom find interesting people in a room of assigned seats. If you think you are smarter than your boss, you probably are... do something about it!

Anyone can play in a cover band.

Anyone can plagiarize.

The only thing worth giving up on is that which you do not believe in. You (and everyone around you) will be dramatically surprised how freeing it can be to drop the anchor.

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave 

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

The Fruits Of Our Labor


I don't know who makes the schedule but I must commend him/her on their placement of Labor Day!

Labor Day comes at a perfect time: The weather is changing, the kids are getting back to school, the tarp is pulled over the pool and beach chairs are put away. With the distractions of summer put aside, it's time to buckle down and get laser focused on professional success!

In my 20 years of professional existence, I've found that our success can suffer unnecessary diversions. The key is to allow oneself enough space to breath while keeping your eye on the prize.

When you sucked down the final poolside Corona, what questions came to mind:
1. Do You Like Your Job?
2. How Are You Spending Your Free Time?
3. Are You A Person of Value?
4. If You Could Do Anything, What Would That Be?

 

Would The Younger You Like You?
What did you want to be when you were in 4th grade: A Fireman? A Professional Athlete? An Astronaut? I bet the aforementioned prospects didn't come with any trepidation. You most likely looked at any profession with a sense of ambition and creative desire.

We all have points in our young lives when we learn tough life lessons; those times when infinite possibility is met with probability and statistical reality.

If a fourth grader asked you if she could become President of the United States what would you tell her?

Are you a person who fuels ambition or who uses probability to deter dreams. 

When Did You Give Up on Your Dream?
Do you remember the first time you compromised? Maybe it was a class you elected not to take.... or a sport you stopped playing.... or the girl you thought not to talk to for fear that she might be out of your league.

The inertia of motivation swings like a boomerang.

When you experience victory, you yearn for more.

When you give up, you forever open yourself up to that option.

  
What Would It Take to Change Everything? 
Are you completely fulfilling your potential? Do you work as hard as you can? Are you challenged to think differently every day? Do you listen to people who are less-experienced than you? Does your life have a direction beyond the work you do?

Don't wait until 2018 to make a resolution. Resolve every day to:
a. Work Harder
b. Be Creative
c. Try New Things
d. Find Alternative Resources

Wake up an hour earlier, exercise, take on new projects, look up available jobs in your field, ask about open positions in your organization, get to the office a little earlier, leave early to find a place to do your work in a different head space.

Create something every day.... even if it doesn't apply directly to your workload.

Strike up a conversation with a stranger, dump your deadbeat boyfriend, find a new hobby, buy a new book, listen to some new music, start exercising, get up from your desk, ask the girl at the coffee shop about her life (but only if there is not a line behind you).

The way companies control effort is by convincing you that you have no other options then use consequence to keep you in line.

Have options.

Find alternatives to help you consider whether or not you are willing to be controlled.

Life is profoundly easier when you don't have all your eggs in one basket. Decisions are easier to make when you don't have to compromise. Your possibilities are limitless when you don't put limits on yourself.

Don't Forget to Remember,

Dave