“A sky scraper went into space, returned to earth, and parallel parked” – Sylvia Smith
A seven story tall, 10 meter wide, 250 ton object was guided safely onto landing arms after rapidly returning from space. Incredible!
If this doesn’t inspire you to achieve anything you can dream of, I don’t know what will.
SpaceX, Elon Musk.
Have a vision of your future. Have three if you find it hard to decide. Then make progress on your vision (s) every day.
Some people love to strive. You can see this in many children. Just place the honey on a higher shelf. It’s like saying, “How high can you reach?”. Then watch that child stretch, climb, extend and exert themselves until it is safely in their grasp.
The honey is part of their vision for a better life. They know that the sweet taste and sugar high is just beyond their here and now. Many children carry on with that zest to follow a better vision. This is often in exchange for a little adventure, struggle or sacrifice.
Just like when a child is climbing and reaching, sometimes the outcome isn’t ideal. They may slip. Or they could fall. Sometimes they may reach their goal only to have it slip from their fingers. In their worst case scenario, the glass jar slips from their outstretched hand and breaks into a gooey mess on the floor.
Children learn to carry on and try again. Often they recall the lessons but not the pain of any previous failed attempts. Selective memory can be helpful.
Find a vision that excites you enough to stretch for it. Choose something that will fill you with joy and delight on the path, not just at the destination.
How high can you reach?
I find it fascinating watching people discuss a topic. Often they will use facts and reasonable points but reach different conclusions. How you see things is a massive determinant in your life.
The US initial jobless claims have been announced by the US Department of Labour. It noted that the weekly claims were down about 110,000. It was roughly 1 million last week. This week it was 880,000. The comparable week in 2019 was circa 179,000.
So some people have noted that there is a downward trend in the weekly jobless claims, which there is. Other people noted that, compared to last year, the jobless claims are about 4.5 times higher, which it is. Both parties are right but they choose different data to make their point.
Some people will emphasise that things are getting better. They may want the incumbent President re-elected so promote the good news. Or their business may depend on the economy improving so they are sounding optimistic in the hopes others will be too. The opposite is also true. In addition, if you want or need more government money, you may highlight the negative numbers.
How you see things is not always clear cut. You often see things to suit the narrative you have in your mind already. With a cloudy vision, you can make decisions detrimental to your future.
People tend to have an interpretation of things and they usually have an opinion on them too. I do. Seeing things without vision, because of myopia, is unfortunate and so easily improved with a little practice.
Some people aren’t able to see differently, and others choose not to. I enjoy discussing subjects with anyone who can offer an interesting angle and has put some thought behind it. I may challenge the points, and even disagree in the end, but it is worth the discussion to expand my realm of thinking.
Recently, I’ve been quoting a saying about hammers and nails around the house more frequently. It summarises my thought on why it is easy for people to be seeing things without vision. It is also difficult, without practice, to see from a different perspective to the one that popped into your mind first.
I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.
Abraham Maslow
I love a curious mind. One that is willing to challenge their own thoughts and programming. I challenge my own thoughts frequently and try to learn why, when and because of whom, that I think certain thoughts. It can be difficult to stop, think and enquire, but it is a great exercise to get to know yourself better.
Frequently people stop because something is uncomfortable. People will often shy away from a challenge because it is socially uncomfortable (what people might think or say if you tried), physically uncomfortable (a challenging skill or strenuous) or mentally uncomfortable (trying to solve a difficult problem).
If only people remembered that you always have to get through that uncomfortable stage before you can get to the unstoppable stage.
If you can remember, you were usually uncomfortable when you started doing anything for the first time. It could have been putting your hand up in class, or speaking in a meeting (social), learning a new sports skill (physical) or learning your times tables (mental).
The trick to remember is that it always gets better and easier if you put in the effort and accept greater guidance from someone who knows how. Then if you keep trying, practicing and developing, you will start to be quite good at it (witness anyone progressing through times tables or solving a Rubik’s Cube).
Then if you practice even more, you can become unstoppable. What a great feeling that is. To know you are one of the best in a certain endeavour.
That period of being uncomfortable is the way the Universe checks to see who really is interested in progressing further.
To progress from Uncomfortable to Unstoppable, you need Action Not Words.
Go do it!
