Ask anyone who has achieved any measurable level of success and they will likely tell you they had to find the courage to follow their convictions and to embrace the resolve to be different.
Success, by most measures,
is typically identified as the slow and steady progress toward a worthy goal.
As vague as the definition may at first seem to be, one thing is certain—most
of us clearly recognize success when we see it. We rarely see the struggle, but
we always see the results.
We admire the
results.
We envy the results.
We judge the
results.
We do this because we have
no idea whatsoever of the sacrifices and…the courage most successful
people had to embrace to get where they are in life.
It’s all good though. Because most successful people don’t
give a damn about what other people think. It’s what sets them apart. It’s what
makes them…different. It's what makes them courageous.
What about you? Are you
in pursuit of success? Are you following your convictions so strictly that
you’re demonstrating the courage to be different? If so, you already know you’ve
had to have to tap into your own source of courage in order to do whatever it
takes to achieve and sustain your version of success.
When you follow your
convictions, people notice. When people notice, your path becomes abundantly
more evident to others (and certainly to you as well) because your success
begins to take shape. When that happens, the seeds of your vision take hold and
become firmly rooted in your convictions.
The decision to take the
first step in your journey demonstrates your courage and is driven by the
belief you have in yourself, your ideas, and your motivations. The results reflect
a personal transformation, manifested by the courage to follow through and
pursue your dreams.
One of my dreams was to be a published writer. I spent
nearly three years writing my first manuscript. In order to
accomplish that, I had to have the courage to be different. I had to
become personally different if I were to have any hope of finishing my
novel. Writing had to become the priority around which the rest of my life
revolved. The decision to write was the easy part. The follow-through and
consistency would challenge me from time-to-time. But my convictions and
beliefs provided the motivation to push past temporary distractions in order to
complete my goal of finishing my first novel. My rewards were always there,
patiently waiting just beneath the surface of self-discovery. And those rewards
were beyond anything I could have ever imagined.
I began to experience
personal growth with each writing session. As an artist, I discovered that I
had a gift of being able to see things through the eyes of my characters.
Details sprang forth as I typed the words onto the page. I began to see
storylines unfolding before me in settings I had never before seen nor
imagined. Writing became a personally-satisfying, almost spiritual experience
for me. I had, in essence, become a writer!
They say if you want to be
a writer then you have to write. Sounds simple enough to apply to most anything
I can imagine, really. If you want to be an artist, then you should
probably pick a paintbrush or pencil and then have the courage to start
painting or drawing. Want to be a musician? Pick up an instrument…you get the
message. My point here is that, if you have a desire to do something new,
refreshing, different, unique…then tap into the courage to
acknowledge it and demonstrate the determination it’ll take to drive through
the obstacles and distractions that will inevitably find their way into the
path of your goal. You can do, be, have, or become anything in life, as long as
you’re willing to demonstrate the courage it takes to be different.
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