Daily Inspiration 12-26-19

"The defining factor is never resources; 

it's resourcefulness."

-- Tony Robbins 

New: Audio version

[Classic post from 8-6-15]

I just watched a TED talk by Tony Robbins from 2006 again. I love this talk and highly recommend taking the 20 minutes it requires to watch it. It is called, Why We Do What We Do and you can see it here. You can also access the transcript if you like.

In the early portion of the talk, he says, "We've got to remind ourselves that decision is the ultimate power. When you ask people, have you failed to achieve something significant in your life? [They will say, yes.] But if you ask people, why didn't you achieve something? Somebody who's working for you, or a partner, or even yourself. When you fail to achieve, what's the reason people say? What do they tell you? "Didn't have the knowledge, didn't have the money, didn't have the time, didn't have the technology. I didn't have the right manager."

He continues, "What do all these have in common? They are a claim of missing resources, and they may be accurate. You may not have the money, but that is not the defining factor. The defining factor is never resources; it's resourcefulness."

That is such a fascinatingly true line. It is never the fault of not having the resources, it is the lack of resourcefulness.

This caused me to think of my father-in-law who just passed in the last few months at 90 or 91, I can't remember. I heard all sorts of stories about him growing up during the depression in the '30s and how they lived and how he was able to do so many things because of his resourcefulness. All his life, from that early time of needing to be creative, he found ways to get what he wanted and needed for himself and his large extended family. He found a way. He never sat around complaining about resources. Instead, he created the resources out of his head.

I know in my business, Upward Trend, it is not the resources that have helped us make it this far, it is our resourcefulness. The resources we needed were created out of thin air much of the time. There are tens of thousands of businesses that are only here for the same reason.

The idea of having all you need to get a job done exactly the way you want it done is a fantasy. I certainly agree that it would be nice; however, I know from personal experience that this may not be the best thing for the growth of the business anyway.

In the talk, Tony talks about what he calls, six human needs. The first he says is certainty. We all need certainty. We know what causes what, we know what to do, we know what to expect. Certainty is something we need in our lives. Then, he says that the second need is uncertainty. Yes, we need pluses and minuses both. We need to count on things and we also need to experience the unknown. It is the uncertainty that causes us to know what we want.

It is never the resources; it is resourcefulness. It is nice to have certainty and we need it, but we equally need uncertainty. Interesting points of view, don't you think?

Watch the talk and let him fill in all the spaces, but even without that, these thoughts might get the juices flowing.


There's Always A Way For Those Who Know Lots Of Ways. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by simply enjoying yourself. Practice it often.