The voices

I've spent a lot of time talking about my fears, dreams, and the BHAGs, or Big Hairy Audacious Goals, and I look at the things they, my fears, have kept me from doing. I've wondered, "why does it stop me so?" It isn't as though they can harm me, or it isn't as though they are new voices either. It's the same voices I have heard for most of my life. They are echoed in my head every time I attempt to do anything meaningful.

I have decided to write down what they are telling me. Perhaps it'll be in a vlog that I do them all, or perhaps here. I haven't decided yet, but that's something to decide later, but for now; here's the first and most dominant today:

"Who are you?"

This isn't a question of who am I and what have I become, but "who are you to say you can do x, y, or z?" "Who do you think you are to accomplish this goal?" "what right do you have to do anything you think you can accomplish?" Then, they go on. "When you fail, that's right, when you fail, it's going to happen like all the other times before. You're going to start on something and get far, but because you don't own the right to do anything like this you cannot complete it. Who are you?"

What are the voices saying in your head? And how do we address them?

I think the best way to address this is a 3 prong attack.

1. Have, or add, positive people in your life. I don't know about you, but I have so many Nay-Sayers in my life that I don't have enough hands to count them and so few positive people that less than half of 1 hand can be used to count them, and in case you are wondering, it's 2.
2. Listen to positive speech. Be it blogs, podcasts, vidcasts, audiobooks, books, or audible, take time to listen to some great speakers with a Positive Mental Attitude, or as Zig Ziglar calls it a PMA.
3. Be happy. Yes! Be happy. Some people are so  grumpy they light up a room by leaving it. That shouldn't be you, and it should be me. Smile, it fools people all the time , keep your head up high, it gives you confidence, and great people with a giant and honest "HI!"

Zig will also tell you to use positive talk, but I just can't bring myself to do it, so I'll leave that to him and his people.

How do you attack the negative voices in your head? I'm going to write mine down and I'll bring them back to share with y'all in future posts.

Yesterday's over...

I often get caught up in yesterday. I forget that today's a new day and it's filled with new opportunity; both good and bad. Regardless of the luck of the day, I still have the opportunity to make the most out of it.

I was reading Great by Choice by Jim Collins and Morton T. Hansen, and one of the lessons they speak about is return on luck, or ROL. It is exactly how it sounds, and the crazy thing is, you control the ROL. Yes, there are things out of your control, and beyond your limit, but as I've always enjoyed the saying, "Luck favors the prepared." ROL is not the same as luck, but what you do with the cards you have been delt.

Depending on the day, that could mean anything. A botched meeting, a kid falling down and injuring themselves, and so much, much more! Today, I plan on taking luck by the horns and get a good ROL by preparing in the best way I can

1. Reading helps with my preparation. I will read.
2. Listening to good things: I often find myself listening to, or watching things with negativity or false truths or hopes. I will input positive things into my mind.
3. Don't waste my time. Honestly this is the hardest for me. I find myself spending hours watching an anime, or movie and don't realize the night is half gone.
4. Sleep! Yes, there's an exclamation mark because I don't sleep, or don't sleep well. It's hard to stay up if your mind is half down.
5.Use my time wisely, Budgeting is a huge part of my life, and why should I budget my day and my time? I've talked about time budgeting in a previous post and I'm sure that if I had things budgeted, even if my day goes completely wrong, just short of my house falling down, I can handle whatever the day might try to dish out at me.

That last one is a doozy for me and I have high hopes that I can manage it as well as I think I can.

Crossing the line

I often think of "crossing the line" as crossing the finish line, but that's isn't the only line you cross when running in a race. There's also a starting line. The line that you can visually see, but without a doubt you must cross it before you can finish...

Before you can cross the "Start" you have to be prepared. You can just get up to the line and begin running, but with out that training, you won't have the edge you could have or the endurance to finish. There is preparation that must go into it before beginning, but just because you should prepare before you begin, it doesn't mean you don't ever begin. 

"You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great." - John Maxwell

Don't get caught up and never start the race. Too often we look at the task before us and dream up a terrible run, a run we cannot hope to finish, and never begin. We over prepare and allow our fear to paralyze us, leaving you stilled in your footsteps. 

Begin. Don't hesitate. Start the race at a good pace and don't give in and own it!

I goofed!

I forgot to make a post about the Kickstarter when I launched it! X-D
Here it is:


Let me know what you think and if you're wanting to try it out, there's a link to the free print to play so you can give it a shot before you decide whether or not you want to back it. Just hit this link and you'll be able to download and print the entire 90 cards that make up the games.

Another Riddle

It's been a bit since I've done a riddle, so lets see how this goes.

I open,
I close,
I'm left,
and I'm right.
I can reach into the sky,
and yet fall by a side.
What am I?

Any guesses?

Unsure

You ever had that feeling that you did something wrong or could have done something different to make things proceed better than they are our could? That's how I feel right now. My guy is telling me, "you done goofed" and I can't help but feel like I did indeed do something wrong.

I normally have buffers in place so that it isn't as impactful as it is right now, but really there wasn't anything I could have done differently. I can only wait and hope things work out for the best and continue with my march regardless of the outcome.

Momentum...

I feel like right now I have a lot of momentum, but I'm dialing it back. Why? Because I don't want to be like a giant ball rolling down a hill or mountain. Still, why? Why would it be a bad thing to have so much momentum that you're rolling down a hill or mountain?

Hills have ends, as do mountains. Sometimes you aren't always just rolling, but there are some hurling that goes on as well. Bouncing, and bang-ups and snags, but still rolling until you hit the end of the mountain. Then, you either stop, or you keep going until you crash into something.

I don't want to crash. I want to keep going like a runner that is persistent and takes intentional steps. Methodical and going at the right pace to not burn out and run out of gas, but to persist long enough to reach the goal regardless of the place you become. Sure, you want to win, why wouldn't you? But is it important to win and push yourself so hard that you burn out and quit, or is it better to finish and get your product out?

I'm working towards the latter. I have so many projects that I want to work on, but I don't want to burn myself out. Which is why I'm pacing myself and not barreling headfirst down a mountain.