“Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow. We strut across the stage like fools.”
William Shakespeare
What Choices Are You Making Right Now? (Part Two)
If success is the result of a few simple disciplines practiced daily, then why isn’t everyone successful all the time? There are two reasons:
1) Self-delusion and
2) Neglect.
Sometimes we give ourselves license to continue undisciplined behaviors and we tell ourselves, “This is the only area where I allow myself to be weak,” OR “It’s really not that bad,” OR “It’ll go away if I ignore it.” This is the beginning of self- delusion because it opens the floodgates that lead to breakdowns. We then establish a subtle tendency or a behavior pattern that, over a period of time, will seep into other self-imposed disciplines and cause them to erode. Failure is not far behind.
Neglect – People don’t have what they want due to a lack of money because we are fortunate enough to live in America, the land of opportunity where there is more than enough money to go around to all of us many times over. It is not due to a lack of education, because the libraries are full of books, courses are available to everyone and the Internet has more information than you could ever digest. It isn’t because of lack of support because there is an abundance of counselors, ministers, advisors, leaders, etc. Everything we need to become rich, powerful, free, alive, joyful, loving and successful is within our reach. However, we neglect to take the daily, simple, necessary actions that we need to take in order to reach success
Listen. Listen very carefully to the voices within. One is telling you to let things slide, you can get by, it’ll be different tomorrow. It’s a voice that tells you to avoid . . . resist . . . ignore . . . delay . . . deny . . . justify . . . and blame. It’s a voice that is sometimes easy to listen to because it’s the easy-way-out-for-now. But the consequences are waiting. Then there is another voice. It’s a still, small voice. See if you can hear it now. This is the voice that says, “Go for it! You can do it. You do know what to do. Do it now.” It’s the positive voice of possibility. It’s the voice that knows the inner truth. It’s the voice of action, courage and commitment. It’s the voice that tells you to take full personal responsibility and accountability for all of your results as well as the environment around you. It’s the voice that knows success/failure is completely in your hands… for you, your family, your team and your company.
Be careful you don’t become part of the “mediocre drift,” a growing group of people with passive intellects. In fact, we are rapidly becoming a nation that neglects educating and disciplining ourselves. If you doubt this, just look at the number of white-collar crimes, the number of children on drugs, the resources that are wasted, the many who mistrust, fear and have lost passion. As Thoreau said, “Most (people) lead lives of quiet desperation.” The results are the by-product of poor thinking habits, a disconnection from our values and decisions that are made with no connection to what inspires us. Poor decisions follow.
We cannot become stronger people, a stronger team, a stronger company, nation or planetary community until we each make a commitment to fulfill our own full potential and support others to do the same.
What are the actions you need to put into place, today, to make a difference in your own life. . . to create the kind of environment you want to have . . . to make a difference? What habit do you need to break and what discipline needs to replace it?
Some of you will take action today, some of you will continue to wait. And this is the curious part. Why would someone who seems to be serious about making important changes, still wander around and not take action?
Perhaps it’s because we already have so much that we settle for so little. We either lack the overwhelming desperation or the incredible force of inspiration to drive us into action. Recently, I was asked to give a speech to a group of extremely successful business people in St. Louis with the challenge to inspire them to take action to better their community. I wondered what I was going to say to these “successful” leaders to stir them to step out of their “comfort zones.” I got up to the podium and was immediately struck by an awareness of something. I started off by saying, “As I look out here, I see good news and bad news. The good news is that you are very successful men and women. The bad news is that you are very successful men and women.”
Of course, my point was they weren’t desperate enough to enforce some badly needed changes, but they weren’t inspired to do so either. The more comfortable we are, the more oblivious we are to the clicking clock. How many of us live in “the comfort zone” where there are no real lows and no real highs, where nothing is all that bad, but also not all that fantastic, either? It is here we neglect to realize change happens because I make it happen. It is here that we think we have forever. “There’s always tomorrow,” you may hear yourself say. “There’s no need for concern today. Everything is OK for now. Besides which, I always have tomorrow. Tomorrow, I’ll get up early and exercise . . . tomorrow, I’ll clear up things with my co-worker . . . tomorrow, I’ll get started on the project . . . tomorrow, I’ll change my habits . . . tomorrow, I’ll be more disciplined . . .tomorrow, I’ll make a difference . . .”
“Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow. We strut across the stage like fools”
as Shakespeare so aptly put it. My friends . . .
Today is yesterday’s tomorrow
What will you do today to change all of your tomorrows?
