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Cheers,

Beethoven: Composed some of the world’s greatest musical compositions, many of which were created after becoming completely deaf.

Dr. Seuss: Rejected dozens of times before his first book, And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street was published.  He has since written over 60.

Gandhi: Helped carry a nation of 300 million people to independence through peaceful resistance.

Abraham Lincoln:  Rejected over 5 times for offices in Legislature, Senate, and Congress before being elected president.  He is since known as being one of the best presidents in history.

Hannibal: Famous for responding “We will find a way or make one,” when the Romans said his plan to lead a herd of elephants through the Alps couldn’t be done.  He did it anyways.

From all walks of life from all over the world, these people achieved something great in their lives.

What was the secret ingredient to their achievement?

Persistence.

“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fall.” -Confucius

You fall down, you pick yourself back up.  Persistence is indispensable for achievement.

Had Beethoven given up composition at the loss of his hearing, his famous 9th symphony would have never been created.  Had Abraham Lincoln given up politics after being defeated, the United States would have never had one of it’s greatest presidents.

In other words, if you give up, you’ll never know what great things might happened.  You’ll never know what great things you might have achieved.

Because there are always opportunities.  And those who pursue them and persist are much more likely to achieve then those who don’t.  It just becomes a matter of time.

Now is the time to lean forward and don’t look back.

What have you achieved in your life because you persisted? Respond in the comments below.

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When someone tells you to do your best it is supposed to motivate.  It’s supposed to help bring out your best and inspire you, but without too much pressure.

Only it doesn’t do any of that.  The problem with “do your best,” is that it doesn’t motivate. In fact, it’s pretty terrible at it, and here’s why:

It’s too vague.

What is your best, exactly?  Imagine you are managing a fundraiser and you’ve asked a group fo volunteers to help you.  It’s really important that you raise as much money as possible, and it’s also a lot of work.  So you tell your volunteers, “Guys, do your best.”

But what is their best, exactly?  Do they know what their best is?  Would anyone know what the best woud be?  No.

The fact of the matter is that, when people hear “do your best” they don’t think, “I will work really hard until everything is perfect and can’t be improved on anymore.”  Instead, it’s more like, “I will do just well enough to make the other person satisfied.  No pressure.”

Not very motivating.

Ironically, instead of producing the best results, “do your best” contributes to results that are far from being the best.  It’s basically saying, “do mediocre work.”

So what can you do instead?

Set specific and challenging goals.

Countless studies have shown that goals that are spelled out clearly and have the bar set high are far better than goals that are vague and with the bar set too low.  In fact, even just writing them down will help.

Why are these types of goals better at motivating you to really do your best?

Having something specific is pretty self explanatory.  Having everything drawn out plainly removes the possibility of settling for “just good enough.”

If you have something too vague, suddenly boredom, tiredness, and feeling discouraged are allowed to slip in.  But if it’s specific, it’s either done or it’s not.  And if it’s not, the only choice is to work harder in order to succeed.

Then comes the challenge part.  No, you aren’t setting up yourself for failure (unless you are setting unrealistic goals).  The key is challenging but possible.

When the goal is challenging, you increase focus and commitment to achieving it.

So stop trying to do your best.

And start setting specific and challenging goals and watch yourself rise to the challenge.  You may be surprised to see what “doing your best” really is.

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You know there is a hole in the bucket, but you have nothing to fix it with.

What do you do?

Each second that passes, the fire gets larger.  You tell yourself that as soon as you can get the bucket completely filled you will start to put out the fire.  But each time you try to fill the bucket, the water starts to leak out again.

You try and try and try, but somehow you are never able to get the bucket completely full.  And fire grows larger.  You haven’t thrown a drop of water on it.

Because the hole letting the water leak out of the bucket is stopping you from putting out the fire.  Or is it?

Wouldn’t it be possible to begin to put out the fire even if the bucket was leaking?  Wouldn’t it be possible to put out the fire even if most of the water had leaked out and you just threw the last few drops on it?  Probably.  At the very least you will have started, and the fire would be smaller.

Because it’s not the leak that’s the problem.  It’s you acting like the bucket has to be full that’s the problem.

Have you guessed what the enemy waging war against your achievement is yet?

Perfectionism.

“When you aim for perfection, you discover it’s a moving target.”  ~George Fisher

If the fire is growing larger every minute, do you really have time to get a perfectly full bucket of water out of a leaky bucket?  No.  You do the best that you can with what you have to get the job done.

In fact, if it really came to putting out a fire, probably the last thing you would be worrying about would be a hole in the bucket.

But most people don’t have that sense of urgency.  Whatever it is in their lives that allows them the time or the illusion of time to pursue perfectionism only lets that fire grow larger.  And sooner or later, they get burned.

So why continue to pursue perfectionism at the expense of your own achievement?

Water in the bucket is water in the bucket, whether the bucket is full or not.  There is always time to work on the leak, but at all costs, tame the fire first with whatever you have.

In other words, take action now and don’t worry about being perfect.  You can always improve.

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Their team has put together an online initiative and writing challenge that encourages you to look within and trust yourself, and my (small) part was to contribute one of the writing prompts for the challenge.  That challenge starts today and goes every day for 30 days.

The initiative is in honor of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 208th birthday and his essay, “Self Reliance,” which is being republished by The Domino Project.

Emerson’s essay is still powerful and relevant today, urging you to avoid conformity and trust yourself and your instincts.

Through following your instincts you can…

Create original work.
“Insist on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life’s cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another, you have only an extemporaneous, half possession. That which each can do best, none but his Maker can teach him.”

Be a nonconformist.
“Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself and you shall have the suffrage of the world.”

Take genuine action to happiness.
“A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best; but what he has said or done otherwise, shall give him no peace. Do your work, and I shall know you. Do your work, and you shall reinforce yourself. Your genuine action will explain itself, and will explain your other genuine actions. Your conformity explains nothing.”

Create your own path.
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

Listen to yourself. “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.

Bring yourself peace. Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.

Be YOU.
“Insist on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life’s cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another, you have only an extemporaneous, half possession. That which each can do best, none but his Maker can teach him.”

It all starts with you and your self reliance.

Ready to look within and trust yourself?

Go to ralphwaldoemerson.me and pledge to take the challenge.

p.s.

I’m seriously excited about this and if you’re reading this site, you should be too.  After all, looking within and trusting yourself is basically what this site it about.

Also, my prompt for the challenge goes live on June 26th, so be sure to stick around.

Join me?

What’s in it for you?

For one, it’s an easy way to get in contact with me and connect with the rest of the group around here.  Plus, I’ll be taking feedback for future content here on Life Ignite.

Just click here and then click “Like” at the top of the page.  It’s really easy.

Thanks!

Eva was a carpenter from Germany, and 2 1/2 years into a 3 year trip around the world as an apprentice carpenter.  All she had were the clothes on her back, a bundle of food for the climb strapped together with leather straps and a sheet, and a walking stick.  Carved into the stick read the quote,

“Where your treasure is, your heart is also.”

As we met we instantly connected.  Suddenly, we were climbing Mt. Fuji together.

Although Eva had very little possessions or resources, she would offer freely to share her food, a jacket, to help someone up a steep climb.  She opened herself to the world, giving freely as if she had the world to give.

“Does everyone have enough food?,” she would ask.  ”Do you want an apple?  Here, take mine.  Do you need anything else?…I’ll wait and rest with you.”  Her generosity stunned us.  After all, we had only just met a few moments ago.

As we continued the climb we grew to know each other.  It was clear that Eva beamed with life and happiness at the opportunity to pursue what she was passionate about.

Eva was fully living her life in pursuit of her passion.

But what was it about her that made it seem so easy for her to pursue her passion and succeed at doing it?

Generosity.

Generosity is the key to pursuing your passion.

For Eva, by being generous and giving freely of everything she had, new doors were opened.  She made friends wherever she went and always had a place to stay because she gave freely without expecting anything in return.

Being generous influenced Eva’s outlook on the world.  As she was open and generous to the world, so was the world to her.

Eva lived by the quote carved into her walking stick.  ”Where your treasure is, your heart is also.”  She understood and lived by the importance of following your passion and the key to doing it.  Generosity.

Think of the possibilities.

By being more generous, the world literally opens itself to you.  You have more chances of success of pursuing your passion by being generous than you would if you did not.

Be being more generous, connections are made and doors are opened that bring you closer to pursuing your passion than before.  You don’t have to give away your life savings or anything particularly drastic.  Even the smallest gestures can have great impact.  So, think about it. What can you do?

What are some ways you can be more generous in your life?

Post your answer in the comments below.

 
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How to find those hidden strengths:

Take a moment to imagine yourself at your favorite restaurant.  You are hosting a dinner party and you’ve invited your 3 superheroes.  Your superheroes are the people who have influenced you the most- past or present.  Who are they?  Imagine them entering the room and sitting at your table.

You all start talking and you remember just how much you admire these people.  For each person, what is one quality they have that you admire about them?  Think about each of these qualities.

The qualities you admire in these people are qualities not yet released within yourself.  These are your hidden strengths.

You have everything you need within you.

Now that you’ve identified your hidden strengths, what can you do?

After identifying these strengths it is important to be constantly aware of them.  Display them, write them down, and constantly remind yourself of them.  Strive to incorporate these attributes daily into your life.

Bonus: Inner strength worksheet

I’ve also created a worksheet for you to print and work from for this exercise.

Right click the following link and choose ‘save as’ to get the hidden strengths worksheet.

 
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“If you could put a note in a cookie jar to be read by your children’s children, what would you share as the most important lessons you have learned about life?”

My own advice would be that there is no better time than the present.  Seize the day!  It is better to do something now than to do something later.

Take a minute to think about it yourself.  What advice would you leave in the cookie jar?  Are you following your own advice?

If you do follow your own advice consistently, then bravo for you!  However, most of you probably think that there is more you could be doing to follow it.  so in comes the real question…Why don’t you follow your own advice?

What you say may not be aligned with what you do.

Take for instance, Paul.  I used to work with a man named Paul, and we would talk about all sorts of things going on outside work.  One time, I was talking about my upcoming trip to China when Paul mentioned that he thought everyone should travel, but wished he had the money to travel.

“But you can save the money to travel.”

You see, Paul and I had the same job, and because he got paid more than I did and worked full time (I worked part-time then) I explained that there was really no reason he couldn’t travel if he wanted to.  I even used the ever popular example by Chris Guillebeau that you can save as little as $2 dollars per day and would have the money to travel most places within 2 years or less.

Paul said that he wanted to travel, but his actions did not reflect it.  Deep down inside, traveling was not the priority Paul claimed it to be, so he did not follow his own advice.

You may have a fixed mindset

When students, for example, have a fixed mindset about school and learning, they believe that they are born with a limited supply of knowledge.  In their minds, other students get better grades than them because they are naturally equipped with more knowledge than most.  To them, knowledge is static and cannot be added to.  They are threatened by the success of others.

With a fixed mindset, you may truly believe your advice is important, but ultimately something that isn’t attainable because you don’t already naturally follow it.  Deep down you don’t think it’s possible to grow to achieve it.  The good news is if you work at it you can change your mindset.

You have the ‘sometime later’ attitude

Ever try getting a kid to dutifully do their homework all the time?  Most likely their common response to you is that they’ll ‘do it later.’  To them, there is all the time in the world to do something, but just not now.  They lack a sense of urgency and sense of relevance in their lives.

Following your own advice may lack a sense or urgency.  You may feel less motived because you don’t see the immediate benefit of following it.

You are afraid… of success.

Yes, you may be afraid of success.  Assuming your advice is good advice and you would benefit from following it, think of all the things that would be better in your life because of it.  Terrifying?  Of all the fantastic things you can accomplish in your life you may find that you are afraid of what would happen if you actually did accomplish them.  Consider this quote by Marianne Williamson,

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.”

Part of following your own advice is having the courage to follow through and accept with what succes may come.  Success is really a good thing.

Now, think to yourself again, ‘Why don’t you follow your own advice, and what can you do about it?

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“What would you do if you knew you would not fail?”

While it’s nice to have hypothetical questions such as this, it’s somehow always hard to come up with an answer.

It’s a great question, but..

It still uses the word, fail. Psychologically speaking, seeing the word fail, even through it is talking about the act of not failing, brings negative feelings.  Teachers are wise to this phenomenon, and adjust their classroom rules accordingly.

In classrooms today, new teachers are encouraged to use classroom rules like “Respect others,” instead of “No talking while others are talking,” for this very reason.  Students subconsciously have a negative feeling towards the rule that is telling them ‘no.’ Or take for instance signs in bathrooms asking patrons not to graffiti the stalls.

I read in a book recently which featured a story abut posting a sign politely requesting people not graffiti the bathroom stalls versus posting a sign that demands there be no graffiti.  In the end, the sign demanding no graffiti consistently got more graffiti.  Interesting, huh?  It’s all because of the wording, and in this instance, using negative words instead of positive ones.

Not to mention, it’s unrealistic.

How could you do anything without failing?  In the history of the world what significant thing has been done without failing at least a tiny bit?

Thomas Edison failed over 9,000 times at inventing the lightbulb.  Whoopi Goldberg dropped out of high school, lived on welfare, and worked as a bankteller, and a licensed cosmetician.  Napoleon Bonaparte applied for a position on a naval expedition led by explorer Jean-Francois do Galup  in 1795 to the Pacific Ocean, made the initial list, but ultimately failed to be chosen for the voyage.  Yet to this day these people are considered to have achieved great success in their lives.  A great success built up from failures along the way.

So, I propose an amendment.

I propose we cut out the part about not failing and replace it instead with SUCCESS.

We are talking about the same thing in each version.  Success.  But this one is realistic.  Because you know deep down that success is built up upon tiny failures along the way.

So my question to you is,

What would you do if you knew you would SUCCEED?

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