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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!

I just wanted to share this great article I just read.  I’m sick of people using excuses to avoid anything and everything.  The video at the bottom accentuates the article very nicely!  Enjoy!  Don’t forget to let me know how you feel about the topic in the comments!  I love feedback!

We all make excuses.

But the successful ones are those who can kill the excuses like the miserable maggots they are.

I’m too tired. I don’t have the time. I don’t feel motivated. I’d rather do nothing. I don’t have the money, equipment, space. I can’t because …

We’ve all made the excuses. Here’s how to kill them.

1. See the positive. Excuses are usually made because we don’t feel like doing something — we’re accentuating the negative. Instead, see the fun in something, the joy in it. And maintain a positive attitude, or you’ll never beat the excuses.
2. Take responsibility. Excuses are ways to get out of owning up to something. If we don’t have the time, money, equipment, etc., then it’s not our fault, right? Wrong. Take responsibility, and own the solution.
3. Find a solution. Just about every problem has a solution. Don’t have time? Start with just 5-10 minutes. Make the time. Wake earlier. Do it during lunch. Don’t have a gym membership? Workout at home or in the office. Don’t have the energy? Do it when you have higher levels of energy. You’re smart. Figure out the solution.
4. See your goal. This is your motivation — your reason for doing it. Sure, you could just lay on the couch, but if you think about why you really want to pursue a goal, you’ll be motivated. Visualize that goal and just get started.
5. Be accountable. Have a workout partner, a project partner, a team, someone to report to. If you have to meet a coach or partner, you’re more likely to do something.
6. Go ahead and make your excuses. Then do it anyway.
7. Watch this. Then go and do it.

-Leo Babauta, ZenHabits

“Never be bullied into silence.  Never allow yourself to be made a victim.  Accept no one’s definition of your life, but define yourself.” – Harvey S. Firestone

Have you ever been around those people who can never blame themselves for their difficulties in life?  Those who always have an excuse for their problems and why they are there EXCEPT for the simple and usually true circumstance that they just didn’t perform or just didn’t do it themselves?

That’s what this post is all about.  I’ve been wondering why so many times in my life and possibly in your life, we have made ourselves victims all the while blaming those around us for our problems.  Why not take control of your own life?  The only way to do that is to take responsibility for our actions and the consequences of those actions.

“If it’s never our fault, we can’t take responsibility for it.  If we can’t take responsibility for it, we’ll always be the victim.” – Richard Bach

If you want to be physically fit, then stop eating junk food and start exercising.  If you want to have financial and time freedom in your life, get past American Idol on Tuesday at 7 and start taking the steps necessary to do so.  If you want to get out of debt, then please, oh please, stop blaming the credit card companies for abusing you and stop using their services.  If you want to do well in school, then put in the work to do it.  I don’t mean to be harsh, but you create the life you want for yourself.  The way you’re living now affects the way you’ll be living tomorrow.  Fix it today and live up to your own expectations.  Everything you want in this life is achieved by you and only you.  Create your future by taking responsibility for where you are at today and where you will be tomorrow.

“Accept fate, and move on.  Don’t yield to the seductive pull of self-pity.  Acting like a victim threatens your future.” – Unknown

Life is good, only if you make it so.  Live, love and laugh!

I’m a little behind on this considering my birthday was last month (January 14th), but I wanted to just have some fun with a little list of 23 things that I’ve learned and grown to love in my 23 years.  As you’ll be able to tell, I’ve still got lots to learn!  Considering my love for quotes in general, I have attached a quote that I’ve happened upon recently to each item.  Here we go…

• Love life and life will love you back – AKA – what goes around, comes around.  –

“Love life and life will love you back. Love people and they will love you back.” – Arthur Rubinstein

• If there are two ways to take something that a peer says or does, always choose the best one. –

“Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it.” – Anonymous

• Do what you really love, not what you’re supposed to love.  –

“To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.”  -e.e. cummings, 1955

• Dream.  Don’t let others limitations reflect where your dreams start and stop. –

“The world needs dreamers and the world needs doers.  But above all, the world needs dreamers who do.” – Sarah Ban Breathnach, Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy, 1996

• Dreaming and wishful thinking is only the beginning, action is where dreams become reality. –

“You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do.” – Henry Ford

• The day is simply better when you take time to put the Lord first.  Reading the scriptures and praying in the morning starts the day off right. –

“At … moments of crisis and challenge, some choose to abandon faith just at the time when it most needs to be embraced.  Prayer is ignored at the very hour when it needs to be intensified.  Virtue is carelessly tossed aside when it needs to be cherished.  God is forsaken in the all-too-human yet mistaken fear that He has forsaken us.” – David S. Baxter, “Faith, Service, Constancy,” October General Conference 2006

• School and work should teach you to think, not tell you what to think.  Be careful which you choose. –

“An educated man is not one whose memory is trained to carry a few dates in history. He is one who can accomplish things. A man who cannot think is not an educated man, however many college degrees he may have acquired. Thinking is the hardest work anyone can do, which is probably the reason we have so few thinkers.” – Henry Ford

• Exercise, but do it in a way you love. –

“An hour of basketball feels like 15 minutes.  An hour on a treadmill feels like a weekend in traffic school.” – David Walters

• Stressing over inevitable things will NOT make them go away.  Simply take them as they come, one-by-one. –

“The field of consciousness is tiny.  It accepts only one problem at a time.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

• First impressions are important. –

“Everyone sees what you seem to be, but few know what you are.” – Machiavelli, The Prince

• Faith is a principle of action – nothing gets done, no matter how much you believe it, until you punch your time card and put in the work necessary. –

“Action alone is not faith in the Savior, but acting in accordance with correct principles is a central component of faith. Thus, ‘faith without works is dead’ (James 2:20).” – David A Bednar, “Ask in Faith”

• It’s easier to think, focus, and feel the Spirit when your home, car, clothes, etc. are clean. –

“Cleanliness is indeed next to godliness.” – Christopher Morley

• Always serve for no other reason than because you love and want to help others. –

“You cannot live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.” – John Wooden

• Plan. –

“Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan.” – Tom Landry

• When all of your plans fall through, laugh. –

“Laughter gives us distance.  It allows us to step back from an event, deal with it and then move on.” – Bob Newhart

• Money is a means to an end.  There’s a difference in having money and counting your money.  Money is the means, NOT the point. –

“Men for the sake of getting a living, forget to live.” – Margaret Fuller

• Know your priorities, set specific goals to help with your highest priorities.  Achieving those goals bring joy and a sense of success no matter the size of the goal. –

“When we are motivated by goals that have deep meaning, by dreams that need completion, by pure love that needs expressing, then we truly live life.” – Greg Anderson

• Always do what you say, when you say you will do it.  No exceptions. (See next point) –

“Promise only what you can deliver.  Then deliver more than you promise.” – Anonymous

• Legitimate excuses are few and far between.  Just do your best. –

“Anyone can carry his burden, however hard, until nightfall.  Anyone can do his work, however hard, for one day.  Anyone can live sweetly, patiently, lovingly, purely, till the sun goes down.  And this is all life really means.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

• Whatever you do, do it with your whole heart and your best self. –

“Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” – Confucius

• (Almost) Every bad thing starts with an attitude of laziness or desire to get something for nothing. –

“In this age, which believes that there is a short cut to everything, the greatest lesson to be learned is that the most difficult way is, in the long run, the easiest.” – Henry Miller, The Books in My Life

• Say it how it is in the most loving, honest way possible. –

“If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything.” – Mark Twain

• If you don’t love life, you’re doing something wrong. –

“Life is good, if we live in such a way to make it so. [...] A ‘good life’ comes as a result of the way we do things, of the words we choose to say, and even of the kind of thoughts we choose to have. [...] ‘Wanting to’ is the determining factor which leads us to lay hold upon the word of God and be happy.  Perseverance in making correct decisions is what leads us to happiness.” – Benjamin de la Hoyas, “True Happiness: A Conscious Decision,” October 2005 General Conference, Saturday Afternoon Session