Chapter 3: Marvelous Work, Motivation and Success
“Find your passion, whatever it may be. If you put in the work doing what you love, the money will always follow. Become your work and let it become you, and you will find great things happen for you, to you and because of you. Also, be sure to always leave enough time in your life to do something that makes you happy and satisfied. That has more of an effect on economic well-being than any other single factor.” – Anonymous
Successful people reject rejection and see success as a process. They create goals, affirm confidence, and fuel their ambition daily by seeing what they wish to attain, mapping out how they plan to attain it and relentlessly applying themselves to the action it takes to reach those goals. The tiny bits of action that you put into a dream are like grains of sand. Each one by itself may not seem like it is very special. Yet over time, those little actions add up, until you are walking on a beautiful beach of possibility. If you let someone else create your world, they may create it too small or not with the same purpose in mind. You don’t ever need to ask other’s permission to create a world beyond your wildest dreams. If you can’t find a way, create one.
Starting the process to attain the success that you wish to acquire is usually fairly easy. However, getting the motivation to actually finish that same process, can be incredibly difficult, even for people who are successful. The difference however, between a person who reaches their goals and someone who simply dreams about them is the ability to follow a simple guideline…
START>FOLLOW THROUGH>FINISH STRONG
START: As stated before, starting is usually the easiest part of the process, especially for individuals bursting with inspiration and passion. However, the same individuals who find it very easy to start things also have compulsive issues with starting a process, getting distracted by starting another and another and so forth. For those who have difficulty starting things in the first place (the relapsing procrastinators, if you will), it helps to not actually think about trying to do the process while you are trying to do it. Removing inhibition from that critic in our head is a difficult process; Yet upon realizing that no one will see what you are doing, until you let them, it makes it much easier to start something without fear.
FOLLOW THROUGH: Now that you’ve got that fire burning, it’s time to throw some extra logs in there and keep it going through the night. Warning! Those with incredibly active minds will have a difficult time with following through. Following through requires an immense amount of focus. In order to continue with your game plan for success, you have to be able to prioritize, practice endurance and ease your mind away from distractions. Oftentimes, people with very distinguished qualities like loyalty and reliability in their friendships, find that following through with things is just a second nature. Although, for the person that over plans and is easily distracted, or is just plain stagnant, following through can be the most grueling part of the whole process.
FINISH STRONG: The last part of the process is both the most satisfying and scariest part of the process for anyone who had any bit of difficulty with the first or second part of the process. For those of us (yes, that includes me), who have ever had difficulty finishing anything, it is usually rooted in either doubt or fear. It either can be used as a weapon against our own potential or a tool for success. However, the wonderful thing about fear is that it is really just the shadow of possibility. So, the bigger the fear that you experience, then the bigger the possibility waiting behind it! Being able to look beyond the fear of the “what if’s,” and culminating all your negative emotion into the driving force to complete a task, is what will allow you to separate yourself from the people who wish for success and achieve the goals you have set for yourself.
The greater the feat you desire to achieve, the greater the mental preparation required.
Your career will only be as abundant as the effort put into it. True success happens when preparation and opportunity meet your desire and determination.
MANTRAS
I will stay positive.
I will think success not failure.
I will see problems as opportunities.
I will live my dreams, one moment at a time.
I will use good judgment supported by wisdom and discernment, not assumptions.
I won’t just talk about it; I will BE about it.
If I can dream it for tomorrow, I can work toward it today.
I will stop making excuses. Now is the time to shine…
I will seize the moment, live in the moment and be prepared for the next.
QUOTES TO LIVE BY
“If you’re not having fun at what you do, you’ve got the wrong job.”- TV Commercial
“It is when you no longer feel the need for something that this something will come to you… the feeling of needing something comes from the thought that you don’t have enough, and so you continue to create not having enough of this something.”- PEJ
Only you can solve your own problems.
“A year from now you may have wished you started today.”- Anonymous
Plan for the worst, hope for the best.
“I was staying in when they were having fun… So please don’t be surprised when they announce I’ve won.”- Drake
Step by Step, Day by Day. Fresh start over, a different hand to play.
“Be of good cheer. Do not think of today’s failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles. Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost.”- Helen Keller
“Talk is cheap. After all is said and done, more is usually said than done.” – Unknown
Actions speak for themselves.
“Discipline yourself to do what you know is correct and important, although difficult, it is the high road to pride, self-esteem, and personal satisfaction.” – Anonymous
“Maybe the hardest part is: If you teach, you have to live your teaching.”- Maya Angelou
“Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.” – Arthur Schopenhauer
“If your ideas and goals don’t sound absolutely ridiculous to everyone but yourself, go find some new ones.” – P. Burke
“The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high, and we reach it, but that it is too low, and we reach it.”- Anonymous
Dream as if you will live forever, live as if you will die tomorrow.
“I believe when you dream it and conceive it;
You can have it and achieve it- and that’s what’s going to happen.” – Oprah Winfrey
“It is not what happens to us, but how we respond that counts.”- Chris Brady and Orrin Woodward
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work.” – Thomas Edison
“I believe we should continue working even when we don’t know how to do something.
Work with what you think you know; truths reveal themselves as needed.” – Unknown
“Everything I need I already have, and everything else will come once I’m ready to receive it.” – Anonymous
Necessity is the mother of invention.
“If you want to be somebody, if you want to go somewhere, you’d better WAKE UP and pay attention.”- Whoopi Goldberg
“Instability within personal lives may reflect upon our professional life.” – Charles W. Smith III
“A minute of thought, is worth more than an hour of talk.” – Dare to Dream
“Think, Speak, and Act your dreams into existence! Believe in your dreams so much, that they have no choice but to manifest.” – Charles W. Smith III
“Anyone who knows the good he ought to do but doesn’t do it- sins.”
– James 4:17
The journey of a thousand miles begins with ONE STEP.
“See what you give is what you get, I know it hasn’t hit you yet – EVERY cause has an effect.”- Lauryn Hill
“Never measure the height of a mountain until you have reached the top.
Then you will see how low it was.” – Dag Hammarskjold
“From here on, you need to understand that every move you make matters!”- Charles Smith III
“Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the prices to make them come true.” – Cardinal Leon J. Suenens
“Faith without work is like a song you can’t sing.
It’s about as useless as a screen door on a submarine.” – Rich Mullins
Sacrifice now for prosperity later.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an action, but a habit.” – Aristotle
You can spend a lifetime not getting done today what you say you’re going to do tomorrow.
“Whenever you see a successful person you only see the public glories, never the private sacrifices to reach them.” – Greg Evans
“If you think no one cares about you, try missing a couple payments.” – Anonymous
“I never won anything without hard labor, the exercise of my best judgment, careful planning, and working in advance.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Rome wasn’t built in a day, but eventually it was completed and admired, so stay focused.
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
Keep working because there’s little rest for the best.
“Whatever you are thinking or feeling today is creating your future.” – The Secret
“Great achievements are always located beyond the door of inconvenience.” – Anonymous
“Great acts are made up of small deeds.” – Lao Tzu
If you chase two rabbits you will lose them both.
“You can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance doing what you love.” – Jim Carey
“The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for.” – Maureen Dow
One of the hardest things about business for most people is minding their own.
The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.
“In order to manifest the life, you’ve imagined, one must understand that there’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when it’s convenient. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses; only results.” – Kenneth Blanchard
Work smarter not harder. When all else fails take a nap.
“Align. Destroy the idea that you must be constantly working or grinding in order to be successful. Embrace the concept that rest, recovery, and reflection are essential parts of the progress towards a successful and ultimately happy life.”- Unknown
“If hard work equaled success, this country would be run by Mexicans with leaf blowers.” – Bill Maher
What comes easy won’t last, and what lasts won’t come easy. Sometimes you are delayed where you are because God knows there’s a storm where you’re headed. Be grateful.
As I un-clutter my life, I’m free to answer the callings of my soul.
“Your work is not to drag the world kicking and screaming into a new awareness. Your job is to simply do your work sacredly, secretly, and silently; ‘Those with eyes to see, and ears to hear’, will respond.” – Anonymous
“Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” – St. Francis of Assisi
If you can’t find a way, create one. Go the extra mile, it’s never crowded.
A man must make his own arrows.
“Momma may have, Poppa may have; but God bless the child that has its own.” – Billy Holiday
“Do or do not, there is no try.” – George Lucas
“You can do anything, but not everything.” – David Allen
“The new age challenge of the writer is not to finish his work; he shall finish if it is true. Though he will feel full and utter dedication to his work, sacrificing other liberties to undertake its painstakingly creeping tediousness. The challenge is to not collapse into existing wholly for the self, he must be active in the world of the others and give his help as he may. Rather than collapse into self-absorption he should take stead in the faith that his work will progress, and mayhap that very enlightening he needs to finish the challenge comes from his deployment and services in work outside of his own. Then and only then will his work be completed, and it shall reach at least one soul, inspire and enlighten.” – Brady Snow
“Excellence, in all physical and artistic sciences, is defined by a rigor and an integrity that doesn’t cut corners, that remains true to the original vision of the question, or task, at hand. It doesn’t mean perfection. It does mean not letting go of the project until you are sure you can believe in it.” – Anonymous
“Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch you habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.” – Unknown
If you’re slacking, another person is on it. Remember that.
“Be careful what your water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success.” – Lao Tzu
“You’re not stuck. You’re just committed to certain patterns of behavior because they helped you in the past. Now those behaviors have become more harmful than helpful. The reason why you can’t move forward is because you keep applying an old formula to a new level in your life. Change the formula to get a different result.” – Emily Maroutian
“I can’t tell you when, but I can promise you, it will get better, it will get easier, and it will all be worthwhile. Just promise me you won’t ever give up.” – Anonymous