Alive Pt. 4

"Most people take the limits of their vision to be the limits of the world. A few do not. Join them." - Arthur Schopenhauer

Johann Wolfgang von Goeth, "Desire is the presentiment of our inner abilities, and the forerunner of our ultimate accomplishments."

The progressive killing of the soul, passion, desire, and the muting of the one thing you want to do with your existence first began with our obsession of “normal”, “accepted”, “conventional”, “safe”, “praised”, “popular”. For some its become so dominant that your desire, your passion, your individual giftedness is completely lost. Why do you think children dream so vividly and wildly?

What might have happened had the “greats” succumbed to convention?

Mozart chose to be a blacksmith

Einstein accepted his teachers’ description of “learning disabled”

Lincoln had not silenced the critics and became a farmer

Jesus chose not to confront the religious status quo

Martin Luther King accepted his lot and stayed in the pulpit

Ghandi did what was popular

Columbus listened to his critics

These individuals were all deemed either “crazy”, “insane”, “unreasonable”, “naive”, “unsafe”, “abnormal” and “unpopular” - They became known as geniuses only after they reached acclaim.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Envy is ignorance. Imitation is suicide.” & “A man must consider what a rich realm he abdicates when he becomes a conformist.”

Ayn Rand, “Anything may be betrayed, anyone may be forgiven, but not those who lack the courage of their own greatness.”

Marcus Aurelius reminds us not to worry about the opinion of other people who don’t even have a good opinion of themselves! He tells us: “The approval of such men, who do not even stand well in their own eyes, has no value for him.” & “You should banish any thoughts of how you may appear to others.”

Seneca, “Away with the world’s opinion of you, it’s always unsettled and divided.”

Mark Twain, “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”

What might happen if you just ran your own race? Some do

Alive Pt. 3

"Most people take the limits of their vision to be the limits of the world. A few do not. Join them." - Arthur Schopenhauer

Bestselling author Robin Sharma once made a rockin’ observation, “Wear your passion on your sleeve. They might call you different or weird or even crazy. But please remember, every great leader (or visionary or brave thinker) was initially laughed at. Now they are revered.”

Dial down on what makes you come alive and ignore the naysayers (both the internal ones and external ones).

“Here’s to the Crazy Ones”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USn5t5nQWU8&feature=related

The following is the transcript of the video above.....

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Alive Pt. 2

"Don't Ask Yourself What the World Needs, Ask Yourself What Makes You Come Alive And Go Do That....Because

What The World Needs Are Men And Women Who Have Come ALIVE!" - John Eldredge

Abraham Maslow, the chap most of us pondered in college conducted some interesting research on the highest achievers in history (e.g., Albert Schweitzer Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt) in an attempt to determine the common characteristics that makes the “successful” exactly that...“Successful.”

From this work, Dr. Maslow went on to create his conception of “Self Actualization” in his now famous, “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs”. He admonished his readers: “If you deliberately plan on being less than you are capable of being, then I warn you that you’ll be unhappy for the rest of your life.”

In a similar work, a Dutch psychologist attempted to determine the difference between Chess Masters and Grand Chess Masters - so he conducted a battery of tests on them - IQ test, Spatial Reasoning. He found no testing difference between them. The only differentiator discovered was that Grand Chess Masters had a greater commitment and love for the game. PASSION IS EVERYTHING. The most significant predictor of success is a strong passion and heart for the work. Aptitude or ability is great, but it doesn’t hold a candle to a love and passion for what you do.

To repeat Maslow, “If you deliberately plan on being less than you are capable of being, then I warn you that you’ll be unhappy for the rest of your life.”

Seems that one burning thing, desire, will never go away. Nor is advisable...

Alive

"Don't Ask Yourself What the World Needs, Ask Yourself What Makes You Come Alive And Go Do That....Because What The World Needs Are Men And Women Who Have Come ALIVE!" - John Eldredge

Charles Garfield, author of “Peak Performance”, documents ground breaking research on top performers. In his work, he studied N.A.S.A. astronauts, Olympic athletes in hopes of discovering what a makes a “GREAT PERFORMER” and the necessary prerequisites for success.

Garfield discovered the most significant predictor of success is a strong passion and heart for the work, their vocation. It is far more important than aptitude or ability.

Passion, enjoyment, and being ALIVE in your practice is a far better predictor of success than ability or experience.

What is it that you are passionate about and makes you come alive? Find a way to make a living doing that and according to our friend Charles Garfield, you may just dig the result.

Going into 2010, How Do You Make A Living Doing What You Love and Makes You Come Alive?