It’s nearly June, and I know you’ve made promises to yourself that reach as far back as four, five, six months, or even years. It is possible that at the time you made them you weren’t ready to commit. After all, most everything is easier said than done. Everything that’s worth anything anyway. Success in a field filled with pitfalls, developing confidence within yourself, finding your version of the truest love and most enriching joy known to man. The list goes on. As we grow and evolve trying to discover who we are and what our dreams truly represent, we learn that two things are for sure:
1.) Time waits for no one.
2.) There is no result (for most) without action.
I know you’ve experienced an irksome occurrence where something has practically fallen into the lap of a person you know, or have heard of. Whether they deserved it, in your mind, or not. You find yourself suddenly feeling like giving up on any hope you ever had. You wonder, “Why, no matter how hard I work, do I never get it?” Well, for some it is true that you do work relentlessly toward your goals, but others only imagine they have. I know it sounds a bit strange, but I’ve witnessed it myself. It’s a form of lack of faith and laziness intertwined as one, intermingling within an otherwise passionate heart. This behavior leaves me room to address the “relaxed dreamer” and remind the “relentless doer” to read Grounds for Optimism.
Now, to those of you who wish harder than you work, odds are…you feel alone. You have this thought lingering in the back of your mind that the reason you have no moral support is because you don’t deserve it. The greatest people doubt themselves the most. It’s when they overcome it…that everything becomes…unbelievably astounding. You’ve got to know you aren’t fighting alone. That some hidden power is waiting for you to realize that you are entitled to your dreams. That power that I have mentioned in a previous blog, runs deeper than I described. It is the link of energy that connects through the heart and into your soul. It’s what you have to call on to keep the faith. Carry that, and allow it to overcome your obstacles. To awaken the confidence lying dormant within the ones you love. The credence you seek to fulfill your goals. Eventually, your actions will become your conviction.
You’re still wondering. You’re contemplating a scary truth. What if no matter how much faith you put in yourself, no one ever values it as much as you need them to? What if regardless of the positive energy I release, I still get nothing back? For most of us, this is where we wind up. No, I’m not contradicting or disregarding any of what I’ve written to this point. I’m just stating a belief in “two sides to every story”. In this scenario, you take the reigns 100%.
1. Be certain of yourself and your abilities. There is no room for sulking, slacking, or attacking yourself. You are your biggest fan, your best soildier, and your worst critic wrapped up in one. Listen to the first ego, but remain humble.
2. Seek inspiration in every single day. Surf the web even, but ground yourself in your craft. Study it, live it, breathe it, consume it. Be in competition…with yourself. Yes, competitors exists, I’ve told you this, and you already knew this, but the toughest contender is you.
3. Keep things simple and focus on a few progressions at a time. Don’t overwhelm yourself believing that you can conquer it all within a day, a week, or even a month. Break it down, and take it easy on yourself. By take it easy I do not mean relax, and put your feet up. I mean focus on two, maybe three things at once, not thirty.
4. Be consistent. This is something life forces us to struggle with. The conditions we each live in or the jobs we take on seems to steal our days away. Don’t let it steal your dreams.
5. It isn’t easy to pursue anything without support. That’s a truth some people are not willing to admit. As I said earlier, sometimes you are your support system. But you’ve got me, you’ve got your friends, just be open and honest. We’re always listening. That contact page is for us all.
Remember that complaining is not helping you, but it is hurting your certainty. The moment you neglect yourself is when you start to further doubt yourself in a world that already leaves you doing that. Stop wasting your own time feeling bad about the work it takes, and actually do it instead. You can increase your own motivation if you would engage. Face this fact, chances are things will never just fall into your lap. That shouldn’t determine whether you follow through with your goals or not because what you may end up doing for yourself, or anyone else in the world, could be beautiful. It is possible you were born to inspire with your struggles or setbacks or just with who you are. So give yourself and the world a chance to enjoy you. I am aware a lot of you out there are artists, and we as artists are sometimes underpaid and undervalued. I can remedy that. Show them your value, demand your respect. Show your greatness, believe in it, and see that it takes you farther than where you’ve remained.
