Set yourself on fire

That project you are doing (or dreading); the chore you’ve been putting off; that challenge you think you’re not quite prepared for…

Why not embrace it?  Instead of just getting through it, why not see if you can do something really cool – really great, different and/or masterful with it?

Even the stuff you’ve been doing day in and day out for a long time – why not take it to the next level and show your genius though it?

“The most powerful force in the world is the human soul on fire” – Ferdinand Foch

Health should be a priority

You don’t think about the brakes in your car until you have none.  You may not think about your health until one day…then it’s too late.

So, eat right, sleep enough, move that body at regular intervals.  

Make your health a priority.  If you don’t, not much else matters when you lose it.

Your finest hour?

One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.

You aren't responsible for your childhood…

You are responsible for your adulthood.

How’s that going?

Positive response to change

“It’s not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change”. – Charles Darwin

What (traumatic, scary, big thing) happened? 

How did you respond?

The courage to succeed

Success takes desire and discipline.  But it also takes courage.

The courage to risk the usual.  The courage to step out of the crowd at the risk of making a mistake and looking foolish.  The courage to challenge our self-concept and the voice in us that is telling us to play it safe.

If you are trying to be more and do more, you can feel those moments when it takes courage. 

Do it anyway.  

Thought into decision

Thought.

Thought plus action = decision.

What decision do you need to make?

The Courage to Challenge Your Identity

Some people will wrestle a crocodile or bungee jump off a high bridge or ride an angry bull.  That’s courage.

But the courage we all need is the courage to face our own mental constructs of who we are – to fight our ego and break the bonds of who we think we are to become something better.

There are many people who have shown physical bravery but won’t face the inner battle squarely, and others who won’t climb a ladder, but are the most courageous people among us.

Capture the Ideas

Ok this is freaky – On June 2, 2019 I got to bed late – about 2 am.  I was in the San Nicolas Hotel in Ensenada BC, Mexico.  You see, I had just finished the Baja 500 in 19 1/2 hours.  I was really beat.  But I only slept 5 1/2 hours. 

I woke up with my mind obsessed on the underlying theories about how humans ascended to be the dominant species; ambition, self-interests, free markets and capitalism and how innovation and standard of living improvement have gone vertical and why.

What?  Seriously?  Yep.  My brain was in the zone. 

I woke up and wrote notes in my journal which I take everywhere – even to the Baja 500.

Ideas are slippery things.  They are vaporous and fleeting.  You can’t control when you’ll do your best thinking, but when it comes, you have to go with it and write.

Capture the ideas. The palest ink is better than the best memory.

Talent, Skill and Performance – not need

When I rolled my motorcycle up to the starting line facing 800 miles of hostile terrain and a time limit of 34 hours, I don’t say to the challenge “I need this”. I can only present talent, preparation, skill and performance.  That’s all that matters.

You don’t present need to opportunity.  Your need doesn’t matter.

Bring your skill up to the challenge.