Sunday, August 23, 2009

Why it's so easy to be Regular?


How come people don’t strive to reach their highest potential?

I was listening to the great Earl Nightingale, and he asked, “Why is the gas station attendant, only a gas station attendant?”. “Why is the guy in the donut shop, only the guy in the donut shop?”. This a question that I have asked myself thousands of times. The answer is simple, that’s all they see themselves as being. Seriously. They might have dreams, but they treat their dreams as such. Have you ever seen the manager of a fast food restaurant during rush hour. His job is 10 times harder then many middle managers that I’ve worked with who make six figure salaries. The employees he deals with are much ruder, less educated and sometimes more dangerous then white collar workers, but yet he only makes $26,000 a year. Why? Because that’s all he thinks he‘s worth . If he thought he was worth more, he would go and get more. This way of thinking doesn’t just come, you have to train yourself to think this way.

Our brains are trained to steer us away from pain, heartache and defeat therefore we settle and take the easiest way out.
We don’t like doing certain things because we are not good at them. Why do some people like math and some hate it? Because they aren’t good at it. Think of something that you hate doing, and then try to become proficient at that activity and you won’t hate it nearly as much. Turn the pain into pleasure.

Think of some really obese people you know. You look at them, and they are the neatest, self conscious people on earth. They have their hair and nails done, pedicures, lip gloss, but they are a 6 piece Mcnugget away from bursting. Why, because the nails, the hair, the make up…that’s the easy stuff. It’s an easy victory. Losing 100 lbs and keeping it off, now that’s the hard part.
We can’t fault them because we are the same way, and do the same thing. That’s why we stay at jobs we don’t like. We are like the fat lady. Our jobs are our hair, and nails and our cute “Fat Girl” outfits. Thinking we look cute, is like getting that little paycheck at the end of the week. It’s easy, safe, and you are not disappointed. You do the easy work, you get a little payout. Losing 100 lbs and putting on a bikini, that’s like starting to work for yourself and getting rich. Why doesn’t every one do it? Because you can put in a lot of effort and only lose 20 lbs, or 30 and gain the weight back, which is just like starting something and failing. But if you don’t try and lose the weight you are guaranteed to be fat.
Think about it, that fat chick doesn’t fail until she gives up. You don’t fail until you give up, and succumb to a life of mediocrity.

You become what you think about the most. Period. It’s true. Your mind starts to pick up opportunities that it didn’t see before as you zero in on your goals. Your subconscious starts to help your conscious focus on your goals. It’s powerful!

Example: Notice when you buy a car, how many cars just like yours are on the road. Those same cars were there before but since your subconscious wasn’t zeroed in on it, it didn’t pick up on it. That’s how the brain works on what you think about the most. It will begin to work on a conscious and subconscious level, thus doubling your mental efforts and making sure that no opportunities pass you by.
…….and we all know, that when opportunity knocks, you better be ready to get the damn door.
Holla at your boy.
-MJL

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

You owe it to yourself, Work harder!

Ok, so now I’m in Connecticut and have finally fallen into my routine….and when I say routine you know that means work, working out, and planning to work. Which also means more consistent blogging.

In hindsight getting let go from my other company was the best thing that ever happened to me. Yeah, I moved away from some good friends but you will do that three or four times over the course of your life anyway. If they are good friends then they will always be good friends. Right? There’s 100's of different ways to keep in contact so it’s just up to me to make sure it happens.

Now it’s apparent more then ever that multiple streams of income is needed for any kind of mental stability. You can no longer count on your 9 to 5, but I know we already knew that.

As I said in an earlier post, when things are going well it’s time to work harder, smarter, and give more of yourself to reach your goals. I can say, I worked my butt off over the past 16 weeks looking for a job, living on the tightest budget, and moving cross country on a dwindling bank account, so now I'm going to take it easy......but that wouldn't be smart. That wouldn't be how I roll. How I roll is: I take it easy for one night. Treat myself to a nice Olive Garden dinner and then kick it into overdrive. If I could work that hard with no resources, imagine what I can do now.

When you look at those less fortunate then you, you should feel that sense of responsibility that makes you want to go all in, everyday. When you drive to work and you see the guy working a job that just sucks a$$.......Wait a minute let me clarify, as to not offend anyone.........."sucks a$$" is relative. The high powered exec going to power lunches everyday, with a personal assistant, playing golf, making deals, looks at a middle management position like "that sucks".

The guy in middle management looks at the new guy doing grunt work and says, “That sucks”.

The entry level guy goes to Dunkin Donuts and is getting served by a 30 year old with 3 kids and says "boy that would suck".

The 30 year old with three kids passes by a bum begging for money as he gets on the bus to work and says, "Man I'm glad I'm not him". So "sucks A$$" is relevant.

OK, where was I? ...Oh yeah, we should all work our a$$es off at whatever we currently have with what we currently have, and compare your present situation to what you want for your future.
GOT IT?

You owe it to all of those who don’t have what you have. If you have a job, you owe it to those who are unemployed and truly looking. To owe means going into work and appreciating and working the hell out of your current job even though you hate it. That should only be one part, it should extend to all aspects of your life. You owe it to those who are not as healthy as you are, to work out and maintain your health. Enjoy the physical wealth God has given you and maintain it. Don’t take it for granted.

This extends to your mind; nurture it for all of those who can’t think as well as you can. For those who can’t pick up a book and just read and learn. When you think of the world like that, how could you not want to do more, or be more.

One last note…..

You know I had to mention or boy, Tiger Woods. He just picked up PGA victory 69 and 70. This is a true testament to how great someone can become if they do everything they can to be the best they can be. Week after week. He misses the cut at the British Open just to win his next two events. Imagine what he did after he missed the cut. Imagine the work, the attention to detail, the dissecting of his drives, the amount of practice putts, equipment checks, you name it. He makes it look easy but you better believe it’s hard. He knows that he deserves everything that is due to him, because he’s earned it, and continues to work for it. He is proof that you can stay on top week after week, year after year if you just work!


Let’s go earn ours. It’s time for us to be great. We owe it to God for blessing us with what we have, we owe it to all those who don’t have and want what we got, and most importantly we owe it to ourselves.

Time to go all in.

-MJL.