“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

One of the coolest things about this life we’re living is that it’s up to each of us to determine the outcome of; what we will do, who we will become, the impact we’ll have, the people we’ll touch, the legacy we’ll leave. That’s also a very scary thought, that whether you rise or fall, sink or swim is up to you and you might mess up at critical moments.

One success secret of high achievers is they narrow their vision. The idea of everything being on me all at once is overwhelming and debilitating. However, to gain self awareness to the degree that I am able to see what makes my heart beat, what things I would like to contribute, what attributes I would like to develop and the legacy I would like to leave and then narrow my vision, goals and actions to work within that tunnel is manageable. I can also drive deeper within that particular scope.

You don’t achieve your dreams through vision alone, nor do you achieve big things by simply putting in the time. You achieve big, difficult dreams by having a clear vision with defined goals along the path, focused consistent work with radical self awareness and the willingness to change in order to become the person required to achieve that dream.

Randy Garn says “seeking clarity is the #1 habit of high performers. I often go to the mountains to write and seek clarity. Life makes sense to high performers because they take time to understand that everything happens for a reason and they have complete control over the choices they make and the life they are creating. They want to feel like their effort is helping them or others create a life greater than themselves and that their life has a great purpose.”

Something I realized about myself is that I used to say I want to be a musician, I want to play pro ball overseas, I want to be an influential leader etc… but I never really did what it takes because I cared more about the fear of failure and other people’s perspectives of me than I did about my wants or dreams. You won’t go very far until you decide that you care more about your goals than your fears and excuses. Fear of what other people think, fear of failure, fear of success, fear of significant change in your life just to name a few. 

The book True Believer explores the idea that people frequently don’t want to be responsible for their own success and or failures, and that’s why they’re often so eager to join a mass movement particularly when faced with hard times. If they can associate their current state of despair with external influences and put their hope of a better future in a group led by some charismatic leader, they no longer have to feel that burden of responsibility for their own fate. It’s emotionally easier to join a group and follow a crowd.

The challenge then to each of us is, getting ourselves to the right mental and emotional state to accept responsibility, to care more about our own goals, dreams and happiness than we do about our excuses.

Brendon Burchard created the following:

Steps for seeking clarity:

1. Envision the future you want.
2. Determine the feeling you are after.
3. Define what’s meaningful.

Passion+Growth+Contribution=Personal Satisfaction

I’ll end with a quote from my man Ray Dalio but first, if you like the content you’ve read and find it helpful please follow on us social media and subscribe to our Youtube and Podcast channels. That will go a long way in our effort to reach more people.

Also I mentioned a fabulous book The True Believer; Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements by Eric Hoffer if you’re interested in purchasing that book from Amazon please click the link, which is another way you can support our cause.

“By and large life will give you what you deserve and it doesn’t give a damn what you like. So it is up to you to take full responsibility to connect what you want with what you need to do to get it and then do those things.” - Ray Dalio