Dissociate yourself from people who have the same mentality as you.
Go for those that have a bigger dream, bigger vision. Make friends with not necessarily those that are well-to-do, but with those that know how to turn a dustbin into a gold mine.
Believe it or not, some people are so full of themselves and, more often than not, ego don’t let them open up. Others would keep on telling you what they would have done if they had money, how they would get money for so, so and so things. Game changers would be telling how they want to make the money, taking all necessary steps and risks to bring it to fruition. The difference is‒wishes versus action. Failures always go for the former‒many wishes, no action.
I remember a friend telling me that he couldn’t go for apprenticeship, rather he would be struggling on his own to make it one day; that he couldn’t imagine answering others “SIR.” This friend of mine was too wishful and egoistic that he forgot that the easiest route to the throne is through the servant’s room. Even the scripture tells us that Elisa served Elijah. Christ himself served the people so that he ended being the greatest being that has ever existed. A professor was once a student. An expert was once a novice. Being adamant to associating with and learning from others would make one end up being nothing in this world‒unexploited, unexplored, unfulfilled, and unnoticed.
In essence, unwillingness to learn from others boils down to two things:
- Thinking that we can make it all alone without the help of others, and
- Being afraid of change
Even if you were born a genius, with all the knowledge beyond human imagination, your genius (talent) is not enough to initiate a breakthrough. You need to develop those talents. You need to widen your horizon by learning from others. To develop those talents, you need a mentor to guide you on the right way to explore the “You in You.” Associating with like minds or even bigger and better minds will positively impact your imagination and creative ingenuity. The extent of your imagination and creativity determines how far you can go in exploring your in-built genius. Your ability to combine your talents with what you have grasped from others in a positively disciplined manner, determines how far you can make it in life.
“Where there’s a will” said Marcus Tullius Cicero “there is a way.” While this is a fact, if all you have is the “WILL” it will take you no way. You have to learn, develop your “WILL,” review your “WILL,” refine and make changes to your “WILL” as you travel along the way to the euphoria of ultimate greatness.
There’s a dire need to change the old, outdated kind of “WILL” crested in your mind; you need to make amends, so as to be able to change with the realities of the world.
That old thought of “work hard and harder” has to be changed. You should start working “smart” and “smarter.” It is not the amount of time or energy (WILL) that you invest in your work that will make you rich. Rather it is the amount of time and energy that you spend on the “vital few” of your work that will redefine your destiny. That “vital few” is what you need to concentrate on, and not wasting all your time and energy on the “non-vital many.” The non-vital many will only derail you and sap your energy and resources and, yet you can’t break through success. The “vital few” is just like a gold mine; once you hit it, you will explode. Imagine someone who spends all their time and resources learning how to become a typewriter in this computer age, where you could talk to your computer and it converts your speech to writing. Many years back, learning the art of typing was considered a good job, but such is no longer the case, not in these days. The same goes to spending your precious time and resources learning how to configure a router, where almost all the routers now are plug-n-play, and so many other examples. Understanding how these tools work is enough to do your job. Instead of learning how to become a typewriter, focus your attention on how to better the user experience “convenience.” Think of what you can do to stand-out of the crowd and not occupying your mind with same old ideas.
Many people are afraid of the unknown, afraid of what will happen if the status quo is changed, afraid of what will happen if others come to know that they know nothing. They are afraid of others taking the driver’s seat‒afraid of not making it in life if they reveal their secret to others. You must understand somethings: there’s nothing like a secret. A thing is only a secret to those who don’t know about it. Whether you like it or not, the status quo must be changed. If you delay changing it, another person will come and change it, and then you will become frustrated with yourselves that “someone came and did what you could have done.” This is the beginning of self-hate, failure, and enmity. First, you would hate yourself, secondly you would want to prove to the person that brought the change that you knew it but just wanted not to do it. No one cares about your thoughts or imaginations that never came to light.
“If you do what you’re afraid of” Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “the death of fear is certain.” Now is the time to start coming out of your shells and start re-defining the status quo. Start with changing how you block your mindset with negative thoughts. Add just a bit extra to how you do things at present. Don’t imitate others; if you try to imitate others, Zig Ziglar says “you limit yourself.” Just a simple imitation is enough to rob you of your pristine idea, as you would focus your mind on trying to preserve what you imitated, instead of using the power of your imagination to stamp you authority.
The time is now. Just take care of one fear today!
Explore the raw drop of greatness within you!!
