“We are what we repeatably do. Excellence, then is not an act, but a habit.
-Aristotle
Hello all.
There are major changes happening in my world, and in the world of many other people. Seems like keeping up to speed with these new changes can be a struggle for people. These changes often come in the form of inner struggles we must face head on. I remember when I used to have struggles living back home in Cali, with my family and things of that nature. Struggling really with the pressure that I put on myself, to make everyone “happy.” But at the end of the day, just feeling drained from trying to be everything for everyone. I can remember thinking to myself, “Damn, there is a lot of people around me, is it my job to lift everyone up?” This was such an overwhelming process for me. I put a lot of pressure to make people see the good in life, because I felt I was so blessed to have naturally seen the world through my positive lenses. It started to take its toll when I realized I couldn’t take this on all myself.
But was it really a valid excuse to not take action towards living up to my true potential? Was I using other people as my reason to not excel at the speed I truly knew I was capable of? At the time yes, it felt like a valid excuse. Looking back, with a clear mind, today I don’t feel those were valid excuses. I was mistakenly making the excuse that other people were the cause of the problem, instead of me taking action on what I really need to do to get my own personal growth to where I knew it could be.
When I moved out here to Arizona on my own, the theme for me was responsibility. However, it was not responsibility in the sense of drudgery or hard work per se. It was responsibility for my thoughts and me being in alignment with my true self.
What this means, was to begin to say no to things that didn’t resonate with me, and say yes to things I resonated with. One example is working on my own personal development. A lot of times the courage to say “No” to things that no longer serve you, may take a lot of time and energy on your part. But people living in higher levels of positive vibration and live a beyond successful life are willing to make this life changing leap.
The truth is that as human beings, it is very natural to find a wide range of excuses that prevent us from growing in the direction we feel we really are destined to grow. This may come in the form of hanging on to the negative habit of procrastination, staying stuck in a physical location that hinders our growth, or maybe trying to ignore the need to personally grow all together. These can manifest by spending too much time watching television, or gradually developing other unproductive habits.
Furthermore, it is very easy to get in the habit of blaming other people, (consciously or unconsciously) for the reasons we are not living up to our true potential. However, by placing our energy towards things outside of our own control (in this case other people) we slowly begin to dis-empower ourselves. We start to react to situations instead being proactive. We become more of a victim to circumstances instead of the victor.
To get a better understanding of my own personal struggle and challenges, I have included the top 3 things that I’ve courageously given up. By me clearly defining what I’ve given up, you can see that the way I live my life today, can no longer be filled with excuses that prevent me from living up to my true potential. It is safe to say that giving up these 3 things in particular for me, has empowered me to continue to lead a beyond successful life.
The top 3 excuses I personally have let go of recently, that have made a positive impact on my own personal development
I. The “Watching Too Much Television Excuse”
( NO! Let’s not see what’s on tonight.)
I also made the conscious choice to not watch television anymore. Back home in Cali, I used to watch television from time to time, it wasn’t like heavy duty television watching, but it was enough to get me hooked. I wasn’t told that the real reason why it’s called a television “program,” is because it is a meant to program you in the way it wants to. Do you really want to leave your life up at the chance of what mainstream television is trying to program you towards? This scares so many people the idea that I don’t watch television, but I’ve had some really positive benefits result from this. I eliminated watching television, so that can no longer be an excuse for me.
Top 3 Benefits of NOT Watching Television
1. Think for yourself. If you are an independent thinker like me, you have a difficult time allowing other people to control your beliefs. SO why would you spend more than 1 hr watching a television program? The ideas being presented on a television set are not your own, they are thoughts of someone else that really just wants to control your way of life. You may not see it directly, but indirectly the truth is evident in how you live your life.
2. Keeps you disciplined. If you are like most people and sit in your very comfortable couch and just let the television unconsciously effect you, than practice not having the television on for 7 days. Instead use that time you would have normally used watching television, into something that can make a difference in your personal development, read my book, or write out your feelings in the form of journaling. The discipline of having the television turned off for 7 days will allow you to focus your attention on more important things for your own personal development.
3. Enhances Positive Thinking. Not watching television allows you to start thinking positive. A majority of the ideas and beliefs express in most television programs are negative. These negative images can become your reality if you watch too much television, because these ideas enter into your unconscious mind. When you stop watching television you get to choose your thoughts and you have the choice to think more positive, and create your reality with what you intend to see, and not be at the mercy of a television program to design your life for you.
II. The “I don’t have enough Money Excuse”
(No! Let’s not glorify being broke.)
I’m not going to act like I’m struggling financially when that’s not really the case. I come from a well to do family, and I worked a Real Estate deal awhile back that covers me for a few months, and I just always have more than enough money. I have books for sale that are going to continue to sell well, and I make money off of royalties. This is not something I say to brag, it’s just my thoughts about abundance and money are so in alignment with who I really am that money is not an issue for me. So I would be straight lying to my readers if I came across as a broke “hustler” trying so hard to make a dollar by doing what I love. There’s nothing cute or clever, about glorifying being broke.
Look, I do what I love, I have more than enough money, I’m working towards passive income streams that pay me whether I work or not, and that’s the end of that story.
So on the money tip, not having money is not an excuse. I continue to live my best life and do what I love, and fully enjoy this process because of my mindset and my business skills I’ve developed over time. I’m the Baker I gets my dough.
This more than anything is an abundance mindset. I eliminated glorifying scarcity and lack, so this is no longer an excuse for me.
The Benefits of the Abundance Mindset
1. Allows you to focus more on your passion. You get to focus on more of what you love versus what you hate doing. Your abundance mindset allows the resources to flow to you, money and otherwise. This mindset allows you to spend more time doing things that makes a bigger positive impact on society at a larger scale, without the fear of lack.
2. More play time. The beauty of having an abundance mindset is that you have a lot more play time and less work time. As a matter of fact, there becomes this very thin line between work and play. Confucius once wrote, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
3. Respect. With money comes respect. People really do still look up to the person with the money. People with this respect from others, consequently have way more responsibilities placed on them, but on the flip side they can also pay other people to handle the technical stuff that they have a hard time doing, so at the end of the day it works out fine.
III. The “Drinking and Partying Up Late Excuse”
(NO! Let’s not get “Messed Up!”)
I want to mention that I used to drink alcoholic beverages and have fun on weekends. I gave this up, the same day that I was rushed to the E.R room because of drinking too much alcohol. If you ever had ulcer pains in the stomach, you know what I mean. This pain was probably the worst feeling I’ve ever experienced deep within the pit of my stomach. This was a lesson, I’ve learned the hard way. I guess it really is just something that comes with maturity, and responsibility.
So from that point on I stopped drinking alcohol. I’ve given up the excuse, and find more creative ways to have a fun time. I’ve given up drinking too much alcohol, so this is no longer an excuse for me.
Top 3 Benefits of non-alcohol use
1. Finding More Creative Ways To Have fun. You are forced to find activities that bring about the same enjoyment that alcohol would normally bring out, and you get more creative with how you spend your fun time. Ironically, you will begin to see that you never really needed alcohol in the first place to have fun. There is fun inside you, just be creative about it.
2. You stand out from other people. The people drinking at the party may have a lot of fun, but deep down that inner knowing that you are consious and can have fun without alcohol is pretty empowering feeling. As you develop this inner confidence that your doing the right thing for you, you begin to feel a lot better about yourself.
3. Saving someone’s life. If you are in scene with other drinkers, and you are the only one not drinking alcohol, maybe that can raise some red flags to someone who is using drinking as an escape mechanism, instead of trying to deal with their real life problems head on. So you being the non alcohol drinking example may actually make a real difference in someone’s life.
I hope that by outlining my personal examples of the 3 excuses that I’ve put away with, gradually you can see what areas in your life that you are just making excuses for to cover up what really needs to get done, to live to your true potential. By giving up a negative habit that prevents you from your own personal development, that excuse can no longer stop you from being who you have to be, to get to where you want to go. I hope this post was useful and served value for you. You guys have a wonderful and blessed day.
With Positive Vibes,
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