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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!

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.

The majority of people in this life are not happy with their current job, their current situation, their current lifestyle, their current relationship, and the list goes on and on.  Why is this so?  Have they really given up on life, not ever wanting to find their passion, not wanting to take their life to the level they want?  I don’t believe this is the case.  People simply do not know HOW to get to where they want to be.  Let me explain my reasoning…If you ask someone if tomorrow they could do whatever they want with no regards to finances, social pressures, and current commitments, most would not do what they do today.  Most would change their job, buy the car they’ve always wanted, spend time with the people they keep thinking, “I need to catch up with him!”  I submit that most people still have dreams, dreams that they still believe in deep down, but that haven’t been fulfilled in so long that they no longer try to live them.  So how do you and I find those dreams and put them at the forefront again?

Here are a few suggestions on how to find your passion in life again:

• Stop worrying about the people around you who have already found their passion.  You will never win when you compare yourself to others.
• Do NOT put money into the equation.  What I mean by this, is do not simply believe that the thing that you may be good at or that other people say you’re good at is your passion just because it generates the highest income for you.  If your daily actions are controlled by whether or not it generates more positive income for you, you’re headed in the wrong direction.
• List the things that you do when you have nothing else to do.  What happens on an idle Tuesday at 4:00pm when you have done all of your work, your homework, your house chores and whatever else you have to do or need to do…what do YOU do when nobody tells you what to do and when nobody else is around?
• Be happy with where you are in life no matter where you are.  Take it one day at a time.  Do the things you don’t want to do today so that tomorrow you can do the things you want to do.
• The way it is now is not the way it has to be tomorrow.  If you want something different in life, DO something different.  Insanity is continuing to do the same things over and over and expecting a different result.

I admit, it’s easier said than done.  I recently read an article on a blog titled Slacker Reform, and it ended with the following:

It isn’t a wake-up one day and count to ten and poof you’ve got your purpose.  Finding your purpose isn’t a ten step program, it’s an infinite step program.

Each step is often small.  Minuscule even.  The leaps and bounds that get touted as sparks of genius or inspiration are an accumulation of hours of minuscule steps both forwards and back.  They’re the moment you can put what you’ve been feeling for years into words.

It’s about living as an experience, a process, which aligns with your very beliefs as a person.  With your core self.  With your soul.  Or ego.  Or heart or whatever word you choose to bandy about.  But all the same it is what you would create a revolution about.  It is your purpose.

What would you create a revolution about?  What is your purpose?  Start living today.