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I ran into this from a friend.  I love it!  It goes back to the previous post, “Sick & Tried of Being Sick & Tired,” and how you have to get into a state where you’re uncomfortable with where you’re at in order to improve.  Are you comfortable with where you’re at?  This many not be for you.  But for all those who want to improve or just want something better, then take a look.  Read closely and let it have some application in your life!

I use to have a comfort zone where I knew I couldn’t fail;
The same four walls and busy work were really more like jail.

I longed so much to do the things I’d never done before.
But I stayed inside my comfort zone and paced the same old floor.

I said it didn’t matter that I wasn’t doing much,
I said I didn’t care for the things like diamonds and such.

I claimed to be so busy with things inside the zone,
But deep down inside me, I longed for something special of my own.

I couldn’t let my life go by just watching others win.
I held my breath; I stepped outside and let the change begin.

I took a step and with it found strength I’d never felt before,
I kissed my comfort zone good-bye and closed and locked the door.

If you are in a comfort zone afraid to venture out,
Remember that all winners were at one time filled with doubt.

A step or two and words of praise can make your dream come true,
Greet your future with a smile, success is there for you!

Annon.

Have you ever had one of those days where you just want everything to go away?  Wondering why life isn’t better for you?  Wondering if it’s something that you did wrong or if it’s just because that white corolla didn’t signal when he cut you off on the way home from work?  I mean, whose fault is it really?  The guy driving 30 down the highway on a scooter or you for being in such a hurry?

I’m talking about one of those days (or weeks, or years) where you just can’t do anything right.  Where you may be trying to please everyone, but end up pleasing no one.  What then?  You’ve wasted your life hoping, even expecting, to please others so that one day you will be happy, but it all ends up backfiring.  Can you really please everyone around you?  Is it possible?

Have you ever woken up to the same routine that you told yourself last week that you were going to leave behind?  The same thing for breakfast, the same to-do list, the same way to work, the same time for lunch and then you try and add some spice to your life by driving home a different way just because?  Yup, I know you have.  I have too.

So how have I decided to get out of this?  I’ve decided to stop tricking myself into believing that I’ll change if I keep trying to do the same thing over and over.  The definition of insanity is to repeat the same thing over and over and expect a different result.  Are we really naive to believe that hoping for change will actually effect the change?  Gandhi may have said it best, yet so simple,

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”

It’s true.  You have to change before you can see the change in others.  You have to give more for others to be able to give more.  You have to be who you say you want to become for others to be who they want to become.  The cold, hard truth, is that it starts with YOU.  And you are the only one that can do it…not only that, but the only one that should do it.

Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired?

If you gotta start somewhere, why not here?  If you gotta start sometime, why not now?  If we gotta start somewhere, I’ll say here.  If we gotta start sometime, I’ll say now. – Toby Mac, City On Our Knees

Man up.  Stop whining.  And please don’t wait for someone else to fix themselves or fix you.  Do something different.  Do something different today.

WELCOME TO THE NEW DUSTINGTAYLOR.COM – New re-design, new blog, new future.

I recently heard an interesting quote…so simple, yet struck a chord near to my heart.  It went something like this:

“Whether you realize it or not, you’re self-employed.”

Isn’t it true?  Aren’t we all self-employed?  Aren’t we all interested in ourselves?  We may think that our employer will actually look out for us when the hard times come.  They probably won’t.  In the roller-coaster like economy of today, you don’t know where you will be in a year, in a month, or even in a day.  So why put your entire life in the hands of others, continuously believing that somebody else will do what you can’t seem to do for yourself?

Why not jump ship from those around you telling you that you can’t do any better.  That you must wait until the economy gets better because “it’s just hard right now,” and “when the economy returns back to normal, I’ll be ok?”  Why not choose for yourself TODAY that you will stop waiting to be acted on, and act for yourself?

That’s the question I keep asking myself.  We are all self-employed, whether we realize it or not.  We are self-employed in developing the skills, talents, relationships, connections, and rights that will put us in a position to succeed no matter what happens around us.  Most people would call this freedom.  A freedom for which they deeply yearn.  At the same time, a freedom they think is impossible to achieve.

This is a freedom, like any other thing of worth in this life, that takes work to obtain.  This is a freedom that requires effort, stability of mind, and a determination from the heart, coupled with a motivation with roots that go beyond the surface.  This is a freedom that for some could be a free weekend every seven days.  For others, it could mean being wealthy enough to travel.  Still, for others, it could mean being able to just get rid of the stresses of trying to please someone else every day of their lives for something of little worth in the long-run: money.  The opposite of freedom is fear!

“Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed – else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die.”  – Dwight D. Eisenhower

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” – Zig Ziglar

This is a freedom that must be renewed every single day.  Don’t let another day pass you by without finding what makes you free.  Finding what sets you apart from everybody else.  Finding what makes you happy.  That, in turn, will make those around you increase their freedom.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” – Marianne Williamson

What are you afraid of?  You truly are self-employed in your own future.  Step up to the plate today!

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is one of the most famous phrases known to Americans.  Most will immediately recognize it as coming from the United States Declaration of Independence.  The final draft of the Declaration, which was adopted on July 4, 1776, reads,

“We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

I find it interesting that those three rights are bundled together.  What would one of those be without the other?  Everybody on Earth has Life, but may not have Liberty and may not have a choice to pursue happiness by their own individual definition.  Some may even have Life and Liberty, but aren’t given the choice to pursue their dreams.  What makes the United States of America great?  The inclusion of all three, bundled together in the greatest blend ever created.  Life and Liberty are not complete without the right to pursue happiness!  Nobody can tell us how to do this!  Only YOU can tell yourself what makes you happy.  I’m not talking about a limited time only happiness, but I’m talking about a forever happiness…one that doesn’t go away.  For some people, that’s spending time traveling the world, seeing new cultures and taking the good from all of them.  For others, it’s in the neighborhood they grew up in, helping improve the community that raised him/her.  For another, it may be to simply help others with their pursuit of happiness.

If you have ever seen The Pursuit of Happyness with Will Smith, then you’re probably familiar with the movie clip below.  However, if you have not, the background is that the little kid and his dad (Will Smith) are up shooting hoops and the kid pretends like he’s in the NBA and is going to go pro in the future and Will Smith basically tells him that he was never good at it and since he’s his kid, he probably shouldn’t set his sights on that either.  The kid is rejected, his dreams are crushed and he sulks over and puts the ball away…then this happens:

Imagine the difference in what the kid sees in his future.  “People can’t do something themselves, they wanna tell you that you can’t do it.”  How often is this true in our lives?  We have a dream, somebody, even sometimes somebody close, tells us that we can’t do it…that it’s impossible, that we should play it safe, etc.  I don’t care how close somebody is to you, but they should NOT crush your dreams!  The power of your dreams lies within your own belief that you can accomplish them, not in what other people think.  Please don’t let others limitations put a ceiling on what you can or cannot do.

If you want something in life, go get it.  Period.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about why so many people don’t get what they really want in life.  It’s hard to think about because there are so many close friends of mine that fall in to the trap that somebody or something else will solve their problems on a dime.  Like it’s a magic potion you drink and then BAM! you’re fixed.  I’m sorry, but it doesn’t work that way!

Many of these peers rely on tapes and books to fix their problems.  In my mind, the worst thing to rely on is the other ‘higher up’ people who promised that if you just believe in them, they will make everything right.  They will fix all your problems.  One good example of this is the government!  YOU are the government.  They are there to help you, but you must be willing to act, not simply be acted upon.  Tapes, books, and other people are NOT the answer to your problems — YOU ARE.  What ever happened to each individual taking responsibility for their life, their actions, and their relationships with others?  What ever happened to YOU being YOU and not what everybody else wants you to be?

Don’t get me wrong here…tapes and books are useful to get you looking in the right direction, but YOU are the one that has to take each and every step down that path.  You are the only one that can and will.  If you want life to be different tomorrow, do something about it TODAY, not tomorrow.