Tag: motivation

Positively habit forming.

“Excellence is not a gift but  a skill that takes practice. We do not act ‘rightly’ because we are ‘excellent’.  In fact we achieve ‘excellence’ by acting ‘rightly’.

Plato

Acting rightly is never the result of flipping some internal switch.  You do not wake up one morning to find yourself transformed into the epitome of excellence. 

And yet, you do house some of the infrastructure that can become the mechanisms needed to learn, develop and hone this particular life skills set. As long as you can follow direction, accept input, both externally and internally driven, and handle some of the disappointments that come your way, you should be in a good position to assemble a diverse and deep array of habits.

You see, achieving excellence is all about acquiring habits. 

Habits that can last a lifetime.  Habits that create a positive and lasting impact on you and those around you.  And for a habit to take firm hold in your life, it needs reps.  Not one, two a dozen or a gross.  The habit acquisition process needs to be constant and committed.  Certain and ceaseless. Ongoing and unremitting. 

Self-discipline is an invaluable friend, confidant and ally throughout this process. Enabling you to follow directives, both external as well as internal.  It reinforces the assembly process as you create the personal mechanisms that lead to the creation of excellence. 

Self-discipline keeps you with and on the program.  Finishing “this” before you start “that”. Holding you right “here” in the present while shedding just enough light on what may lay ahead as to keep your head up and eyes down that path. Focused on the here and now, inspired by what is yet to come.  

If you have the right mindset about this venture, then there will be nothing burdensome about the effort and journey whatsoever.  Its purpose is to lead you.  To create the trajectory that will direct you to become what you were meant to be and where you were meant to go. 

In time, your actions will rightly lead you to excellence. 

One of the best versions of self-inducement.

Positively habit forming.

Inspirare.

 “To breathe into.”

The things you think, say, do and pursue on a daily basis do not exist in a secluded environment. 

Somehow isolated from the outside world and everyone that inhabits it. You can be sure that there are always some unknown quantity of ears straining to hear your words. Eyes abound that are trained on your reaction, response and conduct in all manner of circumstance and situation. And the seeds bearing the example of your character in action are being planted within others.  

Inspiration breathes life into all. 

In some fashion, whether you realize it or not, you are delivering your own brand of inspiration to others on a daily basis.  Moment upon moment. In flesh and bone.  You can choose to be an exemplar of constant, committed and caring words and action. Intended to encourage greater effort, enthusiasm or creativity.  

You can be the embodiment of the type of  inspiration that moves others to improve, grow and strive to achieve beyond their present limits into what they were meant to be.  Able to awaken a particular feeling in another no matter the situation or circumstance.  

“To breathe into.”

It is well within your capability to be positive, persistent and passionate about your pursuit.  Genuine in your example.  Loving in your approach.  And willing to give up yourself in doing so.  

Lean into these aptitudes and fully embrace a deeper investment. Realize that you will be  raising-up far more than just some abstract  audience.  

Your thoughts, words and deeds respect no physical boundaries.  

There is no shelf life. 

Your persistence, positivity and passion ripples out in all directions.  

And some portion or particle of your  committed and loving efforts will touch many others.  

Breathing into all.  

Inspirare.

Inches 2.0

Football – like life – is a game of inches. 

Where your foot lay at the line of scrimmage Friday under the lights or Sunday evening during sprints in the fieldhouse. Where the mesh can produce a drive sustaining gain or series ending fumble.  How a sharp break on a route can stymie a defender instead of providing an interception opportunity. Why pad level and leverage will always overcome size. And precise pursuit angles eclipse an explosive offense.  

One would think that given those game changing possibilities, more personal focus and investment would be granted those details.  

The inches. 

I can say with the utmost certainty that if you cannot attend to them now, in the present, you will never be able to call upon them when you choose to define yourself in that one moment.  

So to better understand the inherent gravity of details, I challenge you to consider this:

If a detail by itself is but an ounce – then embracing one, mastering it, incorporating it into how you live and finally making it a part of your being –  becomes a pound.  Not just in terms of pure weight.  But mass.  How you increase your width, depth and breadth.  As an athlete. And as a person.  

In effect, the mere ounces you choose to carry, overcome and own will in time translate into pounds of impact, pressure and “want to”. 

 A force for good that you can exert upon a challenge or chosen endeavor. To the extent that you can essentially roll over a challenge.  Capture a goal.  

Or, crush an opponent.  

Now this assertion has absolutely nothing to do with any known math or science; only the inversely proportional and lasting impact experience has shown me to be true.  

That creating the self discipline to attend to the details will in time assure the success of one’s pursuits.  

On the field.  

And in life. 

Both of which are games of inches.

Tradewind

“We can’t direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.”

― Thomas S. Monson

A simple yet poignant bit of wisdom on how to navigate the currents and wind that take you through life.

During a discussion earlier this week, aspects centered on responses made when an event blows in and makes its presence known in your life. Whether it was an externally generated circumstance making itself known over time or suddently – or – one generated from within. No matter the origin, how we choose to respond makes all the difference in the world.

You see, regardless of its conception and incumbent inception into your existence, what will ultimately follow hinges on how you choose to respond.

Should it happen to be a positive occurrence, perhaps the response is to make your self “as one” with it to then follow a path of fulfillment, affirmation and growth. In situations such as those, perhaps Mr.Monson’s offering, “”For maximum happiness, peace, and contentment, may we choose a positive attitude.” applies.

But what if the event that presents itself, externally or internally, appears as a gust. Carrying with it utter calamity, the potenial for loss, harm and destruction? Perhaps not where you think you chose to be. Or worse yet, the application of poor choices, self-centered behavior and a penchant for dishonesty brought with it an ill wind.

Some time ago, a mentor fervently espoused that “adversity is never an if proposition, but always a when event.” And despite the readily negative connotations, adversity also always carrys with it the grace of opportunity. Though it may not be readily apparent, if we open ourselves and “…may we choose a positive attitude”, it will become visible.

As we moved along towards closure of the discussion, the analogy of the wind and sails was offered and with it, produced a profound and lasting resonance.

You may encounter a trade wind of sorts, beckonging you to employ a varied deployment and orientation of sails so that you may capture all of the good it brings so that you may end up where you chose to be.

Or, perhaps the contrary occurs and you find yourself colliding with a potentially self generated gale or worse. There is nothing you can do to counter that wind and force of nature other than choose to adjust and change course.

It may come to represent a pattern of gales of adversity you have had to endure, or have created, through out your life.

And therein lay the opportunity.

So choose to adjust.

Seek the tradewind.

And embrace where it takes you.

It just is.

“I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.” 

— Leonardo Da Vinci

At some point, action is required.

It just is. 

And you must “do.” 

It is a trait of leadership to be able to not only recognize this vacuum but pour yourself into it. That singular  moment that must be met and filled. With effort. Commitment. And character. 

There is no manual, class or team dinner game sheet that will tell you when. 

You just have to be fully embraced in it, be aware of it, and respond. 

You may fail once, twice or ten times. 

But simply knowing when the moment arrives and knowing what to do will not suffice. 

It is not enough. 

You must simply do. 

It just is.