“We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.”
~ Marie Curie
What’s your dream career? What is the one thing you’d do even if no one paid you?
For me, it was training and development work. I spent 10 years teaching people how to find, keep, and move up in their job. In addition to this, I taught “soft skills” and how to provide excellent customer service. When I entered the field I had no idea how much I would love it.
Then I left. There were good reasons for me to leave at the time. I’m sharing this with you because sometimes, we have to take a few steps away or back so that we can see the big picture.
In 2003, I started a tea company from the ground up, became an expert, and enjoyed teaching people about tea and tisanes. But (I bet you saw this coming!) after several years I realized something was missing. It wasn’t until I made the decision to return to school for a master’s degree that I finally figured it out.
I’d walked away from my mission and I felt it in my soul.
What are you walking away from? What’s the gift that you have to share with everyone at whatever cost?
You won’t be content until you return to what your heart is telling you to do.
Will it be easy? Maybe. Will it be challenging? Probably. Will you feel deeply satisfied every time your head hits the pillow because you’re “walking your walk, and talking your talk?”
“Doing just a little bit during the time we have available puts you that much further ahead than if you took no action at all.”
~ Pulsifer, Take Action; Don’t Procrastinate
Oftentimes we read or watch something that includes the message that we only have 24 hours in a day to accomplish what we want, so we need to get moving, we need to go after “it.”
That number is wrong.
We have the moment we’re in. That’s it. We choose how to spend each of our moments, and if we’re fortunate they add up to a full day.
From this perspective, “it” can’t wait until tomorrow or the next day. If you want to achieve a goal, you have to focus on it in as many moments as possible.
Most of us juggle a variety of commitments. That’s life. But if we really want to achieve the extraordinary for ourselves, we need to remember to include baby steps toward that end throughout the seconds, minutes, and hours we have.
The bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists.
Japanese Proverb
Finish this sentence:
Resilience is ______________________________.
In Rick Hanson’s book, Resilience: Find your inner strength, he outlines 12 primary inner strengths that can be developed. As you grow in each strength your resilience increases.
He categorizes how we fulfill our needs into four areas and identifies three strengths we can nurture in each in order to meet our basic needs for safety, satisfaction, and connection. They are:
Recognizing (compassion, mindfulness, learning)
Resourcing (grit, gratitude, confidence)
Regulating (calm, motivation, intimacy)
Relating (courage, aspiration, generosity)
Being resilient doesn’t involve superhuman powers, a particular skill set, or a high IQ. It does require something Jaime Escalante so eloquently expressed in the movie, Stand and Deliver (1988).
Do you have the desire?
And, it certainly helps if you cultivate a healthy sense of humor.
References:
Hanson, R. (2018). Resilience: Find your inner strength. London: Rider
Movieclips, (2017, June 27). Stand and Deliver: All we need is ganas scene. Retrieved December 27, 2018, from https://youtu.be/A2yqIm58ULo
“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”
~ Maya Angelou
We don’t know who we are until our metal has been tested. Challenges we experience every day are our test.
When we get knocked down, we all know by now that whether we get back up is what matters. Sometimes, getting back up time and again is exhausting. But this is one way we build our resilience.
“Never limit yourself because of others’ limited imagination; never limit others because of your own limited imagination.”
~ Mae C. Jemison
This is sage advice from the first African American woman to travel into space. When she was selected for the NASA astronaut training program in 1987 she was one of 15 out of about 2000 (Biography.com, n.d.) and the first African American woman.
One thing we all can learn from her experience is that giving up on your dream only hurts one person — you. Ultimately, everyone else around you will adjust, or in some cases, not even care. But when we give up on a dream a piece of us dies inside.
Jemison never gave up. She came from humble beginnings, worked her butt off, and didn’t take her eyes off her prize.
What’s your prize? Where are you trying to go? How do you plan to get there?
You need a plan before you can persist and then prosper.
No one can hold you back from achieving your dreams except you. There are many examples of everyday people accomplishing greatness for themselves (not for fame or fortune, necessarily.) If they can, why can’t you?
If what you want to do costs money that you don’t have, make a plan for increasing your income. Make a budget and stick to it. Give up a few “wants.”
If you’re surrounded by unsupportive people, change your environment. Is this easy? Nope. Do it anyway.
People don’t succeed in a vacuum. We all need support from someone else, even if that support isn’t direct. Think about the garbage collector who ensures all your garbage is picked up so that you don’t have to haul it away. That’s a time saving support, right? (This is a simple example just to show how interconnected we all actually are.)
Jemison had supportive people in her corner. Some she saw, some she probably never met — but all of them were there.
Here’s a plan to jump-start your process:
Step 1. Write down your dream in detail. Draw pictures if you want.
Step 2. Believe in your dream. Act as though you’re already there.
Step 3. Surround yourself with a supportive crew.
Step 4. Review your dream daily. Make one stride toward it every day.
Step 5. Read everything related to your dream.
Step 6. Find people already doing what you want to do. Study them.
It’s a simple, but effective plan that won’t cost you anything but time and attention.
Kid, you’ll move mountains! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So get on your way!
~ Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You’ll Go!
Reference:
Biography (n.d.). Mae C. Jemison. Biography.com. Retrieved December 25, 2018, from https://www.biography.com/people/mae-c-jemison-9542378
Seuss, Dr. (1990). Oh the places you’ll go. New York, NY: Random House
