This is a guest post by Zac Parsons. Enjoy. – Erich
Seriously. Think about that question. Maybe first you need to look at how you define success, but that’s easy because the only person that this question matters to….is YOU! Maybe you define success by how much money you make. Maybe its how many people respect you. Perhaps its how close you feel to God. We all know of a place in our lives or a state of being that we wish we were at. Something that we are working towards. The closer we get to there, the more successful we feel.
So, maybe your parents didn’t teach you the right things, or did teach you the WRONG things. Maybe you didn’t have the best teachers growing up, or you couldn’t afford the right kind of schooling/training after high school. Maybe your friends just don’t have the tools or attitudes that you need to move closer to “success”. Is your town the right place you need to be in to achieve that success?
Ok, now think about how many of those things are in your control. How many of those problems are based on choices that you have made or continue to make? Ok, so the parents doesn’t really seem like a choice. But, if you can identify that some of the things taught to you were right and others were wrong, then you are close to identifying what you need to add or subtract in order to reach you closer to your goal. Then, once you have identified those things, you have to ask yourself the question: “How do I assimilate those things into my life?” So, once you answer that question, it is a matter of choosing to follow it or not.
Laziness
It is nearly impossible to find a successful person that is lazy. Now, there are some people that work HARD, and are not successful in the way that they say they want to be. As we all probably know, the key is working SMARTER. Creative thinking, and understanding WHAT you want are key to being successful on your terms. But, once you have developed some ideas, you have to DO them! This is where I have tripped myself up in the past. Sometimes I call it fear, but a lot of the times, I know that it is just laziness.
I have to understand and believe that I have the power to change the situations around me. I live in freaking America in 2009! I have the opportunity to change my location, my vocation, my education, my social compilation, my sexual orientation, and ANYTHING ELSE! Who’s stopping me? Who’s stopping you? Quit being a victim. Go change the world. Start with yourself.