The benefits of adversity in your life.

I believe those that have not had much adversity in their lives are at a handicap compared to those that have.  Adversity makes us believe in ourselves and raises the bar for what we know we can handle.  We will try tougher things and have greater self-confidence.

“Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity a greater.” – William Hazlitt

It also teaches us what we do not want to deal with again and for us to steer clear of that situation in the future – we become smarter.

“Adversity in immunological does have its uses; more than it crushes.” – John Updike

What adversity have you been through that over time, you can see made you stronger, better or smarter?

…if you take care of you for me.

“I’ll take care of me for you, if you take care of you for me.” – Jim Rohn

If everyone took care of themselves and their families well, a lot of problems would go away.

Agree?

What are you doing today?

What is your big goal?

What are you doing today to move closer?

The WILLS and the WILL NOTS

I was walking at a fall fair and I saw this guy with a T-Shirt that said: “I will when others won’t”.

The guy was jacked.  He obviously spent a lot of time in the gym.  Good for him.

Life is an opportunity – especially in this age in this place.  It’s all available to us.  

Unlike most of human history, nothing is being kept from us – we all have the same opportunity thanks to a long chain of events and people that came before us that we had nothing to do with, our Constitution and free-market capitalism and the standard of living and opportunities it causes others to bring to us for experiences and goals in all areas of life.

There is such abundance available, you can’t do or experience it all.  However you can choose an area or two or three to be excellent in; or you can choose mediocrity, victimhood, and/or sloth.

The guy’s T-shirt was right.  It’s not the “have’s and the have nots”, it’s the “wills and the will nots”.

You can’t complain.  Your choice.  Your chance. 

How are you intelligent?

I’ve talked about how everyone has a superpower or two or three.  My superpower is not the same as yours.  We have to find out what it is and do something (career, hobby, project) where we can use it and develop it further so we can do great things.

The question isn’t “are you intelligent” or “how intelligent are you”, but “how are you intelligent?”

What’s your superpower?

Two of mine are perseverance, and the ability to see nonsensical complexity (in my area of expertise) when everyone else sees a system they are working in, and then to ultimately fix it.

You?  Tell me with the orange button.

Today is all we've got.

Today is yesterday’s tomorrow, and it’s here now.  Tomorrow never comes because when it gets here, it’s today.

Days are the building blocks of a life.  A great day is a building block of a great life.  The more great days, the better the life.

“Each single day is all we have.  Single days experienced fully add up to a lifetime lived deeply and well.” – Alexandra Stoddard

How are you going to make today a great day?

Smile, have a vision and a positive expectation, take steps to move toward something worthwhile that you desire, and experience it with others.

Have a great day!

Overcoming adversity

“Any adversity overcome is self-doubt removed and an important advance in self-esteem.” -Dr. Mardy Greothe

I’ve had plenty of adversity in my life, and when I look back now I see it made me stronger and who I am today.  In fact, I HAD to go through that to be here.

“He knows not his own strength who hath not met adversity.” – Ben Johnson

What effect has adversity had on you?

Tell me with the orange button, and we’ll talk more about this next week.

Hang around smart people

“To live for a time close to great minds is the best kind of education.” – John Buchan 1875-1940

Who do you/have you spent time around that is smarter than you in some area of life?

Who can you try to be around more that you can learn from?

Try, and try again.

“Nothing works.  At least not the first few times.” – Charlie Jones

Don’t give up after one or two tries. 

It’s in the failure that we learn and get better.

Clarity

The greater clarity you have on the problem you want to solve or the situation in your life you want to bring about, the easier and faster you can solve it.

What’s your problem?

Before you try to solve it, spend time thinking about it, defining it, determining what it is and what it is not.

Get a pen and spend a few minutes right now…