Winning the Rat Race

Life is sometimes referred to as a “rat race” and for good reason. For many upstanding Americans, the description fits all too well. You are encouraged as a child to work hard, turn off the TV and video games, and to do well in school. Why? Because if you do well in school you can go to a good college. If you do well in college you’ll get a valuable degree and with a valuable degree you’ll land a good job. If you have a good job then you can earn more money. If you earn more money you might be able to save enough of it to quit that job to retire … and sit around watching TV. Yes, the goal is to quit the same job you got with the good degree, from the good college from doing well in school as a kid. Does that cycle seem a little meaningless and empty to you?

It’s a slog each week, Monday through Friday, just to make it to the weekend where you get a short reprieve and do it all over again. That’s exhausting! It’s no wonder people are depressed and angry. If the prize at the end is basically getting to the same place you were when you were in kindergarten – no responsibility and plenty of free time, albeit with more aches and pains so less ability to enjoy that free time – why go through 60 years of effort and hassle from five to sixty-five?

You’ve been trained put aside passions and pursue practicality. However, practicality with no passion is an empty endeavor. Pragmatism does have its place, don’t get me wrong, but we can’t allow it to choke out our true gifts and callings. Making a positive impact in this world is never practical. It won’t happen ritually punching a time clock for sixty years until you can finally afford to quit.

You only get one shot at Life so you must make it count. Be willing to raise the stakes and pursue a greater purpose. Reach for a higher calling. This world needs people to step out of line and follow an inspired path with vision and determination rather than follow the herd around them. Why were you put here on this earth? Even if it takes you your whole life, do everything in your power to find the answers. Seek out passions that wake you up every morning. Search for purpose that challenges you and compels you to improve who you are. Impact the lives around you. Leave the rat race behind.

Comments

Toxic Humility

We have all seen false humility: the guy who tries to hide his arrogance with feigned modesty. It’s usually pretty obvious and always obnoxious. But there is also another variation of false humility out there: toxic humility. This is often displayed in self-deprecating talk and a lack of self-confidence, belittling or undermining one’s own talents and abilities. The danger in this kind of behavior is twofold: it is too often accepted as true humility and like a virus, it spreads doubt and disbelief. To clarify, it is not that the bearer of this toxic humility isn’t honest about his view of himself. That is the very issue: he absolutely believes he has little value or utility. He thinks downplaying his own worth is humility but I disagree. CS Lewis said it best when he wrote, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking about yourself less.” His point being, true humility is not an ever-present raincloud of self-doubt that follows you around. It’s a focus on

Glutton for Punishment

I’ve learned over the years that being comfortable can be a dangerous thing. I try to find paths to discomfort to push me out of my realm of “safety.” However, I have noticed my ability to develop comfort zones amidst discomfort. I’ve found ways to be comfortable in uncomfortable circumstances. I wonder, do I need to be stretched beyond those areas as well? One of the areas in which I have adapted to the discomfort is the gym. I don’t go to the gym to exercise, to get stronger or even to be healthier. It’s grown beyond that. Now, I go to the gym to clear my head by testing my will and resolve. I do it to see how hard I can push my limits and I strive to outwork everyone else there. I may not be the strongest, the fastest or the fittest. I may not lift the most weight or even do the most reps – I can’t control any of those variables – but I can control my effort. So one of my goals for each workout is to unleash more effort than anyone else at the gym. But along with this

Commitment

You know what the problem is with a lot of goals and grand plans? They are mostly fueled by emotion rather than commitment. It is why most New Year’s Resolutions are long forgotten by now and many aspirations quietly fizzle out over time. True commitment is sticking with the effort even – if and especially when – the emotion has diminished or disappeared. Emotion can be a great initiator of action, like kindling on a fire, but it lacks staying power. Commitment is the logs that keep the fire burning long after the kindling is consumed. The butterflies after falling in love, the best intentions of waking up at 4:30am every day to work out after you join a new gym, the excitement of your first day on campus, even the sleep-deprivation induced euphoria of a new baby: all kindling. But it is commitment that keeps you working hard on the marriage twenty-three years after “I do.” It is what causes you to keep going when you do not want to make one more sales call, do one more presentat

Mindset Matters

Search This Blog