When I was little, I heard the phrase, “You are what you eat.” There is truth in that statement. If you eat a well-balanced diet, then you are likely to be a healthy person. Eating healthy is not the only thing required to be healthy, but it is a great start; and it is also likely that you have other healthy practices.
We occasionally set up family adventures. Our most recent adventure included an event called the American Adventure at the Durham Museum in Omaha. We were given a board that helped us track our Health, Food, Wealth, and Life. We walked through a maze that gave us choices, like those that faced the first visitors to what we know today as Jamestown. According to the choices we individually made, we would receive or lose points in one or more of the four categories. If you lost too many points on your life line, you were dead. The ironic thing was, out of our group of five, I was the only one who didn’t survive. I only had three “health” points, and I spun the wheel (just like the wheel of fortune) and lost nine points. All by chance. This is not unlike the life experiences the colonists faced that were ruled in part by chance. Well, since I only had three points, and I lost nine, that meant that I “died,” just like many of the original colonists.
In the same manner as you are what you eat, you are what you think about. If you think positive thoughts, you are likely to be a positive person; and if you think negative thoughts, then… Well, you may find that not many people like to spend time with you.
I have been working through a study with one of my mentors on the Napoleon Hill classic Think and Grow Rich. One does not have to think of only financial gain to be considered rich. (I consider Mother Teresa to have been a “rich” person. I bet she would have as well.) Nevertheless, the financial perspective is one of the easier methods to consider in this study. The book focuses on the element of DESIRE as the key to one’s success. One must determine a goal, set forth a plan, and be fully focused and determined to do what is necessary in order to realize that goal. Then, they must be PERSISTENT in achieving it.
Let me be clear—nowhere is there any suggestion that one must take advantage of others to attain one’s goal. This is not a win/lose situation. It is about the DESIRE and PERSISTENCE that one must have in order to achieve the goal.
Most people do not have this level of determination. Many people have excuses as to why something cannot be accomplished. It is for this reason that many people do not attain their dream—or worse yet, they stop dreaming altogether.
What is your dream? What are you willing to give up, of a lesser value, in order to grasp your more valuable goal? In what ways are you looking to grow?
At Leadership Harbor, we are ready to help you use your DESIRE and PERSISTENCE to reach your next level of success.