If you’ve ever seen the film The Social Network (the one about the creation of Facebook), you’d be correct in assuming that Mark Zuckerberg’s big idea became an overnight success. However, in reality this wasn’t the case at all; as Zuckerberg put it during a speech to a group of 8th graders, “it couldn’t be further from the truth.” He also pointed out that it takes years and years of hard work and practice, and that a lot of building a company or product like Facebook is just about determination and believing that you can do it. “There’s no shortcuts.”
If you want to do something worthwhile, whether it is a relationship, a business or life in general, it is so important to see it through and never give up, no matter what obstacles come up. Of course you can look at ways to make it more efficient and create avenues to get you to where you want to be. However, you’ll find that most success stories that appear to have taken off overnight will have taken years of dedication and commitment to get it to that point. It’s the blood, sweat and tears that make anything of any real importance worth it in the end.
In any area of your life, it’s so important not to sell yourself short, so I’ve put together a few pointers on what shortcuts you’ll want to avoid taking.
Settling for an arranged life.
Who wants a boring, mediocre life? This is what happens if you settle for just about anything, like your job, your relationship and your life. We’re all here for a pretty short period of time, so why waste it doing things just because that’s how it is.
I’m guessing you don’t want to look back at your life and wish you’d done it differently; hopefully you’ll want to glance back in wonder and amazement over what you have achieved. You’ll realize that the best things in life, the worthwhile things, took guts, determination and hard work.
It’s not about fixing something; it could be about creating something new and starting fresh. Sadly life can become a bit of a habit, doing the same old thing, day after day and until one day it dawns on you that you’re not really living at all–you’re existing. As the great man Anthony Robbins once said “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” So grab life NOW and don’t settle.
Are you a Tiger or a Sheep?
At school, you’re taught a certain way in life, to go to college, university, get a job, get married, have kids and live happily ever after. There’s nothing wrong with that, but try looking at it differently. Why do what everyone else is doing? Why do what’s expected of you just because there’s some unwritten manual in life that everyone else seems to be following?
Each of us was born unique. We were all created to be who we were and that’s being YOU. There’s no one else like you on this planet, so why are you trying to be like everyone else? Find the courage to be yourself and follow your heart. Don’t be ashamed of how you feel. Go out and do it, and you’ll inspire others to do the same. And remember, “a tiger doesn’t lose sleep over the opinion of sheep”–so what are you, a tiger or a sheep?
Taking the “easy route.”
Life can be a struggle, but if you are settling because you are afraid of what it might throw at you, then don’t! It’ll throw stuff at you anyway! If you give up on yourself and your dreams, you are giving up on life, and what a waste that would be. It’s so easy to take the “easy route,” except aren’t you worth more than that? Don’t you think you’ve got something more powerful inside of you, more capable at beating all the odds if it came to it?
Each struggle is a chance to learn and provide you with a great new experience. If you want an awesome life, adversity will be around every corner, but that’s what makes it so wonderful. Remember sometimes you’ll have to take a step backwards to take 100 steps forward; it’s that journey that makes it all the more worthwhile. Never give up on yourself.
Forgiving people instead of ignoring their existence.
Forgiveness isn’t about letting the other person “off the hook.” It’s more about ending the suffering for yourself. Forgiveness provides you with peace of mind, a way to move forward and provide yourself the gift of freedom. Without it, happiness can be limited. When you forgive someone else, you are giving yourself permission to forgive yourself, which makes healing your own life that much easier to do.
People come and go in our lives. They each teach us something about ourselves. Whether someone hurt, betrayed or loved us, each provide a valuable lesson to learn from.
Putting things off until tomorrow.
This is something most of us can relate to and let’s be honest, when we say, “I’ll do it tomorrow” we usually mean, “I can’t do that” or “I don’t want to do that” and it rarely ever happens. But if you want to make an immediate impact on your life, this is where you need to pull your socks up and take some action. Choose one thing that you’ve been putting off for months and do it today. Roll those sleeves up and really dive in. You will feel wonderful once you’ve started, and imagine how you’ll feel once it’s completed!
“Actions speak louder than words” which is absolutely true here, if you put things off they’ll only come back to bite you later on, so why not just get it done today. It’s a choice you have to make, the choice to live by your word, and you’ll be amazed at how those around you will follow suite. If you start each day being intentional, you’ll become a lot more productive and heaps happier!
Leaving everything to chance.
When you get up every morning, what do you dedicate your life to that makes a difference to the world? If you’ve no idea what that is, then you need to work out what it is you want. Once you work out your true feelings and desires, and take action in line with that, you’ll end up getting more from life than you ever expected. Opportunities and possibilities will start flowing your way, as long as you’ve known what it is you want.
You’ve got to have some kind of plan for your life or a purpose. Then you’ll know that what you do every day is aimed towards that. Don’t just wait for life to happen to you; make it count, because once it’s gone it’s gone, and you’ll want to leave some kind of legacy for the world to aspire to. Make sure every moment counts!
Keeping quiet instead of speaking up.
If you’ve ever experience unrequited love, you’ll understand why sometimes the fear of rejection will stop you from saying those three important words. In life, there are no guarantees, and if the fear of saying “I love you” outweighs the fear of not saying it, then you could be in for one of the biggest regrets of your life.
You know people will come and go from your life, some quickly taken from you and some because you realized they were worth your time. Try not to take important people for granted; you’ll never know how long you have got them here for. The best gift you can give is your full attention. Be present at all times and always say how you feel. There is nothing worse than wishing you’d said something when you could, so always remember to speak up.
So what shortcuts have you taken in your life so far and are you willing to give them up?
