Unlocking Your Highest Potential: Feed Your Environment to the Fishes

Happy Monday, March 11^th! I hope that you’ve been well and feel ready to conquer whatever comes your way. I know I feel that way, although times have been difficult and tiring. The most important thing is not to lose faith, stay strong, and know that better times are coming if you believe. Sometimes, I wish I could transport myself to a relaxing island where I can have some time alone to sort out my feelings, heal my mind, and soul, but of course the thing about wishes is that they’re disappointing and sometimes leave you feeling worse because you’re powerless to make them come true. The only thing you truly have power over is your mind, your attitude, and your reaction to your environment. Now, if you’re like me and have a less than ideal external conditions or are bound to them by forces beyond your control, you have to learn to feed your environment to the fishes. My circumstances have taught me that when I’m in a rough place, the most important thing I can do is live comfortably in my mind instead of trying to force my environment to bring comfort to my mind. Today, I want to share a few things I do to overcome my environment.

Go forth and conquer the obstacles to your dreams!

Draw and Invest Strength and Hope from and into Your Ideal Future

This is not just going to your happy place, nor am I suggesting that you live in the future, but rather that you give and receive power in the future you know you want to achieve someday. I’ve learned to nurture my dreams and trust them without question. Whenever a horrible situation comes up or I feel discouragement tugging at my chest, I draw strength from thinking about how my present situation does not reflect entirely who I am and who I will be. I know where I’ve been and I know where I’m going, so I don’t need to be afraid, lose hope and give up. On the contrary, I face the now with fierce determination to work hard on my current projects and not doubt about whether they’ll pan out or not. I see victory and its inevitability. Doing so helps me a ton!

Brush Aside the Excuses and Limiters

Excuses, excuses, excuses! If people adhered and believed their excuses, nothing great in this world would have ever been done. Or will be done. The same is true in our lives. I have a mountain of excuses and statistics and odds that chirp louder than birds in the morning:

It’s too difficult.

You don’t have time.

The competition is too high.

Failure is unavoidable.

The economy is too rough right now.

There are no more opportunities.

All the doors are closed.

You need a better occupation.

You should settle down.

You’re crazy. Stop before you regret it.

You need stability.

And blah blah blah blah

It’s actually quite easy for me tune this out; especially when it comes from loved ones. All I hear is Charlie Brown’s teacher when all these excuses, put downs, or negative points pour like acid on my dreams and ambitions. They’re the small fry distractions that you have to learn to brush aside and rise above from with no looking back. Excuses do not have your best interest in mind. They exist to stop you from reaching greatness, but don’t let them. You were meant to be great. Believe it, work it, and watch it happen. 

Make a Nice Home in Your Mind

I’ve said this often to myself: you can go far and wide in the world, but you cannot leave yourself behind. Since you’re stuck with yourself, it makes sense to make a nice home in your mind. Are your thoughts encouraging or aggressive? Are the conversation partners up there pleasant or vindictive? Are you served cookies with a warm blanket or given clamps for your feet and hands? Is your mind a paradise or a dungeon? Several years ago, my mind was the latter of the two. I hated living in my mind along with my environment so that made for a very unhappy life. However, now that I’ve managed to see the illusions of my negativity, open my eyes to my unlimited potential to make my dreams come true, along with trust my God-given abilities to make a good life for myself, I can say without too much doubt that I’ve made a nice place for myself in my mind. There’s still much cleaning and rearranging to do, but I must stay it’s a whole lot bearable than what it was last time, and it’s one of the main reasons why I can overcome my environment. I live in two places: the physical and mental. As long as my mental space is pleasant and I can laugh and make fun of my physical place, I can gather strength to weather my tough external situations.

So, how about you? How do you feed your environment to the fishes? Or do you? I’d love to hear your thoughts about how you overcome the outside world.

Thanks for reading,

Sammy :)

P.S. Be Brave. 

     

Unlocking Your Highest Potential: Don’t be Afraid or Embarrassed by Your Dreams.

Hello Folks!

I chose this topic to be next because it’s something that I personally need to tackle, and it addresses a problem surrounding mindset as well. The mind is pretty powerful because it puts into motion our habits that in turn influence our future. 

"Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions, they become habit. Watch your habits; they become characters. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny." ~Lao Tzu 

via thinkpositive30.com

SO, our heroine Amy talks to someone for the first time at some function or other, and this person decides to the pop the question. No, not that one. This one. “So Amy, what are your dreams?” Amy chuckles nervously, widens her eyes, and torments her brain for an answer that won’t elicit a laugh, look of puzzlement, or snort from her new neighbor. 

“Possibly start my own business?” comes her reply with a shrug and little side eye glance. She smiles but knows deep down that her dream is more than to start a business. She desires to start her own media company that will enlist a slew of great, inspiring female artists from all backgrounds and walks of life so that they can be a more prominent voice in the male-dominated mediaverse.

So, why doesn’t she tell the whole truth instead of serving up a tame version? Maybe it’s the possibility of rejection. Maybe it’s the possibility that the person will throw down unsupportive words, take her dream apart and point to the holes and obstacles, or even feel uncomfortable hearing such grand proclamations. 

But it’s a stranger, why should she care? It’s surprising to discover the great lengths we take for people, sometimes people we don’t know, to accept us, to not fear or reject us because in reality, we really are that amazing, fierce, and powerful. The human spirit, once properly harnessed, is a frightening force that can achieve whatever it desires.

But how about the people we care about? Ever notice how parents, family members, and sometimes even friends hardly ask us what our dreams are? We usually get questions like:

“What’s the next step?”

“What are your plans?”

“What kind of job are you looking for?”   

“What career are you thinking about?”

“What’s your priority move right now?”

Or this awful statement:

“Here, let me tell you what you should do.”

We get these questions if we’re lucky because other times family and friends want to prescribe their own life plan for us or tell us what we should be interested in without even asking for our input, which is the worst.  No wonder we’re so embarrassed or afraid to talk about our dreams. It’s just not a topic that comes up as often as it should within our circles. Is it possible that we’re also afraid of asking other people what their dreams are? Sometimes people dodge hearing about other people’s dreams because it reveals something lacking in their own dream setting attempts. And the minute people start talking about dreams, everyone’s favorite phrase of death always manages to creep in. “Be realistic.” John Eliot says, “As soon as anyone starts telling you to be ‘realistic,’ cross that person off your invitation list.”

I don’t take his words to mean to completely cut off those who don’t support our dreams, but rather to give them some well needed space. Celestine Chua offers similar words of wisdom and encourages that we stay away from the naysayers, the doomsday proclaimers, and all around negative soul suckers.  That’s not to say that our lives should be solely driven by blind, unintelligent passion. It helps if there’s a sound structure and plan to our dreams, of course.

The most important thing is not to feel discouraged or shirk from dreaming big because we can’t see the whole picture of how it all comes together, especially in this horrible worldwide economy of ours where jobs are scarce, opportunities appear bleak, and hope is close to running on empty. However, it is particularly in these dark, depressing times that we dare to dream the biggest, boldest, and most ambitious. Instead of allowing our insecurities, weaknesses, and other people’s opinions influence our actions, we should challenge, and yes, even scare ourselves into supporting our dreams and sharing them without shame. I see my dreams as children, an extension of myself that I want to protect.

Now, that's what I call courage. via icanhasinternets.com

Remember, the results, success or failure, don’t matter right now. What matters is the now, the process in getting to where we want to be. Because it’s when we focus all our energy in doing instead of fearing and analyzing that the achievement part happens, sometimes without us realizing. So, to end, the next time we’re asked about our dreams, we can let the words slide out without fear or shame because who knows? Maybe sharing your dream might just help another person embrace and share his or her own dream too.

How about you? What are some ways that you gather courage for your dreams? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Next week: Be Honest with Yourself.

Thanks for reading,

Sammy :)