"To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can perform."
-- Theodore White
"One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth.
Growth must be chosen again and again;
fear must be overcome again and again."
-- Abraham Maslow
It has been said by many that you cannot succeed by yourself. I agree with this and agree even more now than ever that success is a shared activity. At the same time, making the decision to be successful is a lonely task, for it is you and you alone that make that call. And, sometimes that is the hardest call of all. Why? Because you may have to 'go against the dominant thinking of your friends,' risking potential and real criticism from many.
Why? In order to grow and change, you have to expand your area of comfort--your comfort zone and the dominant thinking of the group will find this challenging to say the least. Some will encourage you, many will not. Why? They are comfortable with things the way they are. In that comfortable group there is likely little or no growth, but it is comfortable.
Deciding on growth has risks. It also has rewards and my findings have been that the rewards outstrip the risks many times to one. Getting out of bed in the morning has risks, so all of life entails risk. Will Rogers was famous for saying, "You've got to go out on a limb sometimes because that's where the fruit is." So it is.
To grow, you've got to face fear. The biggest one to face is the first one to come along: fear of failing, looking bad, not succeeding. Get over it--the fear, I mean. That is just worry and it is a misuse of imagination. Plan on failing instead. Heck, you can fail your way all the way to success. If you aren't failing, there is a serious problem. Failing is not a problem, it is a learning experience. It is your guidance system in action.
Of course you'll face fear--and often. So what? The more you laugh at it to its face, the less it likes being around you. Fear has no courage. Fear has no substance. It is only imagination. You control your imagination, not anything or anyone else unless you specifically allow it.
So go on. Live. Try. Do. Be. Enjoy. Build. Speculate. Share. Create.
The joy of this is beyond compare. Create your own dominate thinking.
I Am A Growth-Oriented, Creative Person. I Can't Help Myself--Nor Should I. It's What I Live For.
Spread Some Joy Today--What's the difference between doing what you really love to do, so that time is insignificant, and doing what you feel you have to because you're supposed to? Life.
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