I'm not sure about you, but I'm a little tired of hearing about how great 'they' have it.
There are a few things that I've always tried to keep in mind when viewing others in order to keep a check on reality: We all have good days and bad days. We all have days where we wonder if we can continue on. As silly as it may be ... we all go to the bathroom the same way and have some of 'those' days. We all brush our teeth at night (hopefully!) before laying down for bed.
We often put people on pedestals that no one could really ever live up to. We tend to create these false realities in our heads about others, then we talk to our friends and family and spread those false reality as though they are facts. And then we start to believe that Michael Jordan really can fly. Sorry to disappoint...he can't, but he was an incredible ball player that practiced unendingly so that he would be the best at what he did. Or how about Lady Gaga? Don't you think she...the first time heading out to perform...maybe thought, "what are these people going to think of me?", but she went ahead and for all intents and purposes, made a fool of herself. But look at her now! I still shake my head at some of the "works of art" she turns herself into, but no one can argue the fact that IT'S WORKING FOR HER! Other artists: Prince, Elton John, Boy George (from back in the day)...were these people talented? Absolutely, but ask yourself how much of it was talent and how much of it was choices that they made. Lastly, how about Steve Jobs? Look at what this man has done for Apple...incredible...but he is still human. These people, however successful, are still just people. My boss, and yours as well, are still just people.
So, what is it that is so different between the ordinary and the extraordinary? What keeps you and I from being as great as we believe these others to be? If they were able to achieve the incredible or seemingly impossible, why can't the rest of us? There really isn't much standing in our way except for the choices we make and the way we think about the world around us.
One simple choice that I'm making, beginning today as I write this, is what time I choose to wake up. I've always looked at the weekends as the time to get caught up on my lack of sleep...I don't know about you, but going to bed around midnight and getting up at 5:30am catches up with you. But you know what, I won't get to where I want to go without making some sacrifices. So where I used to sleep in as late as I could on a Saturday (not much past 8am if I made it that far), I'm gonna shoot to be up no later than 6:30am, if not earlier.
John Maxwell says "There is a surprisingly small gap between ordinary and extraordinary. This gap can be narrowed daily by doing a few small things consistently." The only difference between ordinary and extraordinary is just that little bit extra. So, if we simply do what we already do, but also continually push ourselves to do a little bit extra...we will be on that path to being extraordinary.
So, think about it. What small 'extras' are you going to set in place to change the course of your life?
~Kevin
