Waiting for the Right Time

A lot of people can identify changes they would like to make in their own life. Whether it’s beginning an exercise program, switching jobs, starting a family or getting on a budget, change – especially true progress – is almost never a convenient undertaking. We understand making the adjustments won’t be easy, so many sit and wait for an ideal or opportune time to begin the journey.

Unfortunately, convenient and ideal circumstances for making positive changes are like unicorn-riding leprechaun sightings: they are pretty rare events. If you are waiting for the optimal time to develop and grow, you will likely remain in your current state forever. Big or small, many or few, the obstacles will always be there. Don’t wait for the barriers to be removed, find a way to overcome them.

True commitment is blind to circumstances. Commitment is choosing to do what you can, when you can, regardless of the current scenario or mood of the moment. Ready or not, it’s deciding to act and move forward. You shouldn’t feel like you have to get in better shape before joining a gym or become a “better” person before attending church. Along those same lines, it’s never the wrong time to do the right thing. Accept that it won’t be easy and there will be always be challenges, but choosing the right path is worth the sacrifice. Just don’t make the mistake of waiting until that road is smoothed and paved – the leprechauns still have the maintenance contract so it won’t be happening any time soon.

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...

The Art of Intentionality

“Intentional living is the art of making our own choices before others’ choices make you.” – Richie Norton I am not even sure who Richie Norton is, but I love that quote! I imagine a ship drifting out to sea, pushed around by the wind and the waves. No course of direction, yet the captain is frustrated when the ship ends up dashed against the rocks, trapped on a sandbar or marooned on an inhospitable island. It is easy to complain when life takes us where we do not want to go. But who is really to blame if we have never set our sails to align us along an appropriate course? Do we blame the waves, wind and the weather? Or should we blame the captain of the ship? It is our life and our ship. We must set our sails with intentionality and determined choices. Otherwise, we are doomed to aimlessly drift along according to the choices and decisions of others.

The Hungry Lion

Early in my career, as I was struggling to both build up my clientele and provide food for my family, someone tried to encourage me by saying, “remember, the hungry lion hunts best.” At the time, that made sense to me. And it probably even provided some much-needed reassurance. But I have since come to think differently. I was a starving lion, and I learned a few things from the experience. Hungry lions get fatigued. They become desperate. They cut corners. They make unforced errors. But fed lions have their own issues. Their satiety can turn into selfishness. They get comfortable and then complacent. These lions do not hunt well either. I believe the lion who hunts best is not the hungry lion nor the satisfied lion, but rather the lion who hunts not for himself and his own hunger, but for the pride of lions around him. His drive is not his own need for nourishment; it is the hunger of those around him that motivates him. Our world is a hurting and hungry place. Not just ...

Mindset Matters

Search This Blog