Make Others Become Great

"Really great people make you feel that you, too, can become great"  ~Mark Twain

This is an interesting quote to think about. It is true if you think about it. Who in you life do you feel is a great person. It might be a teacher or a boss or someone else who you think does amazing work. Why do you think they are great? Usually it is because they have made you feel like you yourself might be great as well. That teacher prods you to do well on a test or compliments something you have written.  The boss tells you that you have been doing a good job and instructs you in ways that will make you a better boss.

One of my favorite examples is when we read authors. We think they are great. They don't know us. They have never spoken to us. They may never speak to us. Somehow, though, they are able to make us feel like we are someone great. I don't know what it is. Maybe because we get the opportunity to read something in their world, become part of that world. We get to see a small part of what is inside them.

We all strive to be great in some way. We all strive to be like those who we admire. The ones who, in our eyes, are already great. In that way we try to me more like them, making even the slightest bit of greatness. What we don't always see is that those we see as great once saw someone before them as great, someone who made them want to be better, to be great themselves. Soon you will have people looking at you wanting a little bit of your greatness to rub off on them. All you can do is be as great as you can be.

Ignore Your Limits

"Know your limits, then ignore them" ~John Mason

Sometimes it is good to not know how far you can go. Then you will surprise yourself by how far you can go. Lets say that you are invited to run a marathon. You say yes knowing you have never run that kind of distance before. You get on the starting line and start running when you hear the signal. You will be pleasantly surprised how far you can run without stopping. Then you will be surprised that you are able to walk the rest without stopping. Then you will be able to tell everyone that you have completed a marathon. It may take you 6-8 hours to complete the marathon but that is OK. You did it, and that is all that matters.

Now that you have an idea of what it is like to run a marathon, you know what your limits are. You will know what it takes to get yourself to the next level. Now all you have to do is train yourself to get past those limits. You start running everyday. You start to rat better, making sure you eat things that will give your muscles the nutrients they need to take the punishment you intend to put on them.

Instead of waiting for someone to invite you to run that next marathon, you start searching for the next one you want to run. You make plans to be at that marathon, and you set goals to get you to the point to run that race. When the day comes you start running, and are amazed when you pass the 5 mile mark without feeling too much strain. You keep running till you can't run anymore. Then you walk the rest of the way. When you finish, you find you have shaved off two hours off you last marathon. Now you know what your new limits are and you can plan for the next one.

Don't Walk Backwards

I walk slowly, but I never walk backward - Abraham Lincoln,16th U.S. president

Always take steps forward. You may have to tread slowly to make sure you are moving forward, but moving ahead slowly is better than having to move backwards. I think that is what our great leader was trying to say.

There are so many of us who are so used to taking two steps forwards and one step backwards. We try so hard to move up in our lives that we end up falling down and having to pick ourselves back up. Sure there are times in our lives when we should take chances to get ahead, but there is no reason to fall if we can see the obstacles ahead of us. If we can move a bit slower, we will move forward faster even though we are taking slow calculated steps.

I think the easiest example I can think of to illustrate my point is relationships. Think about this a minute. Let's say you meet someone you like and you ask them out on a date. You have a nice time, but you are so anxious to be in a romantic relationship that you push a kiss on her within the first hour of the date. You start holding her and hugging her and making her feel very claustrophobic. The next thing you know, she's not feeling good and asking you to take her home. Then there is no second date.

What if instead, you let things happen on their own. You go out on a nice date, you maybe hold her hand, you have wonderful conversation and have fun. Then you walk her to the door and ask her for a second date. On the second or third date, when you know that she is enjoying the time she is spending with you, you close in for that kiss. She returns the kiss and the relationship becomes what you were hoping it would be.

You will get a lot further if you let things happen in their own time. If you rush things, then things will change, possibly change for the worse. You can take advantage of the opportunities, but make sure the opportunities are there to be taken. If you jump the gun, you might have to start all over again.

Your Opportunity Dressed in Overalls?

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” -Thomas Edison.

Hindsight is 20/20. That is what they say. Have you ever looked back at a circumstance and realized that you should have done something that would have made you successful or at least gotten something that you have wanted for a long time? I know I have. Just look back at my Lotto Story. A lot of times we don't realize that we missed a good opportunity until it has long since past. I think that is what Edison is talking about in this quote.


We should be looking for those opportunities that are not quite so obvious. Most successful people out there are successful because they took advantage of an opportunity that was more about how to help someone else than it was about making money. If you want to hear about a number of these kinds of stories, you should find a copy of "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill. This book was written in the early part of the 20th century. Hill talks about a number of successful people of his time; people like Thomas Edison and the Wright Brothers and Henry Ford. It is probably one of the best books about success that I have ever read. 

I have a simple way for you to figure out what opportunities to look for, even the ones that are dressed in overalls. It will take about ten to fifteen minutes everyday to sit down and write a few sentences in a notebook. personally I like those little composition books the teenagers get for school. They are bound nicely and will put up with a little abuse. You can get them for a dollar at the dollar store or you can wait till right before school starts and buy about a dozen of them at once when they are on sale. I found them this year at walmart for 40 cents each.


Set you a timer for 15-20 minutes. I like taking 20 minutes because it usually takes me a few minutes to start writing ideas. If I can get them started, then more ideas will start gushing out after them. All you have to do is start writing. think about your day. What happened in the last 24 hours that might shed light on an opportunity that you could use to your benefit. I don't care how small the idea is. The whole point of this exercise is to get some ideas down on paper. 


If you can do this everyday, just sit down and write, you will find all kinds of interesting ideas will come to you. I don't care if you are writing the same ideas everyday. If you do, that means you mind is working on the ideas. That means your mind is working out a way to make your ideas successful. That is all you need to do. You need to make yourself aware of the opportunities. Then you will naturally start to work out a way to profit from those ideas. 


Go try it.

How Your Destiny is Shaped

"It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped." ~ Tony Robbins

Do you know how to make a decision?  Are you someone who continuously has to think about something over and over and over pounding his own brain trying to figure out what the outcome of each decision might be? Well I don't think that is any way to live.

I have found that if I sit there and think about a problem for hours before I make a decision, then not only do I become a tortured soul, but so does everyone else around me.

Have you ever sat at home with your loved one and tried to decide what you want to do for dinner. You all know you want to go out for dinner, but you can't decide where. You bounce ideas back and forth but neither of you want to make the final decision, sometime because you want the other person to be happy with the choice; sometime because you don't really have a preference. Whatever the case, you spend more time trying to figure out where you want to go than the actual time it takes to get there and eat.

I think the best thing to do it to lay out the best things about each decision down on the table, then make a gut choice. Just choose the one that feels right. If they both feel good, then it doesn't really matter which one you choose, just pick one randomly.

After you have made that choice, stay with it. Once you make the choice, it is too late to go back and change your mind. See that choice through. Whatever the case (unless you foresee something horrible happening) do not change you mind. Just move forward and enjoy the choice you made.

Don't Miss Your Sunrise

"Opportunities are like sunrises....If you wait too long, you miss them" ~Unknown

Have I ever told you my Lotto story? I don't tell it often because I don't really condone gambling. But I will still tell you about it. I was working for a grocery store back in the 90's. I was a photo lab tech when there was such a thing as photo labs. I guess you still see them around now and then. Most of them were put out of business because of the digital camera.

Every once in a while I would take part in the lotto pool conducted by a number of our stockers and baggers at the store. We would all put in two dollars and a bunch of lotto tickets would be bought for the group with the understanding that if we ever did win, the winnings would be split up evenly between all who were in the pool.

This one week the boys asked me if I wanted to be in that weeks pool. I made it a rule that if i didn't have the extra cash in my pocket, I would not play. So I told them I didn't have a spare dollar that week to play, but thank you for asking.

Needless to say when I came to work that weekend, I found out that the group of 8 people won $7 million dollars. That meant (after all the taxes and lawyer fees were taken out) they each got $20,000 each year for the next 20 years. Every time I think about that day I kick myself. It was a missed opportunity.

Now here is my disclaimer. I have not played the lotto but maybe twice in the past 5 years. I ran a work lotto pool for a while before that, but we never did win. I don't think anyone should play the lotto if they expect to win a lot of money. The odds are against you and it is a bad investment. But I do think if you just want to have some fun with friends, playing the lotto can be a fun game to play. Just don't spend money that should be spent on food, rent and other bills. If it's not extra money, then don't spend it.

If you do see an opportunity, a way to move up in your career that helps everyone around you, a car you have always wanted for a cheap price, a girl you've had a crush on who has just smiled at you. Take that leap and find a way to gamble on that opportunity. If something comes of it, then you will be happy. If it doesn't, then you will learn something from it.

Make Your Better Your Best

Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best. - Tim Duncan

You should be striving to do better than you are right now. I don't care what you are doing. I don't care how well you are doing it. I think there is always room for improvement and you should have a goal to find ways to better yourself.

If you believe you are good at something, that is awesome. You should be good at it. Don't settle for just being good at it. There is probably someone out there who is better than you. Lets say you are a pretty good tennis player. You have found there is no one in your circle of friends who has been able to beat you in years. You may think you are good, but if you have the opportunity to play someone who is on a national circuit playing professionally, then you may find yourself getting beat by someone who is better than you.

That is OK though. When you lose, you have the opportunity to learn from the experience. Lean what it was that tennis player did differently to best you in the match. Befriend that player and ask lots of questions. Then you might be able to apply some of those techniques to your came to become better. Who knows, the coach of that player might have taken the time to watch you play and feels you have a potential for greatness. He might just ask you to join their team and drive around the country and give you the opportunity to play the best tennis players in the world. If that happens, you have the best opportunity to become better at the game.

If you feel you are better than you used to be and can beat most of the professional players around you, you still have the opportunity to continue to learn and to become the best tennis player of all time. The only way to do this is to keep playing till you can make your way to an international competition like Wimbledon. If you can beat every other Tennis Player in the competition, then you will be the best.

Don't settle for what you are doing in you life. Always strive to be better. If you are better, why not strive to be the best. Along that journey, make sure you are enjoying yourself. If you are not having fun becoming the best, then it is not worth the struggle. Only be the best if you enjoy what you are doing.