hard work
Connecting the Dots, Steve Jobs, Justin Bieber & Dreams
While trying to drift off to sleep last eve, or should I say around 2am (because of a massive creative attack), I thought of a
speech that Steve Jobs gave at Stanford University. He spoke of how one can only connect the dots when looking backward, never when looking forward. Meaning...if we try to piece everything together before it happens, we waste valuable time.
Will my dreams come true?
Will my family be happy and healthy?
Will I finally be able to own my dream house?
Will I be able to travel the world?
What about work...will I be able to keep my job?
If I completely dislike my job and decide to quit...will I be OK? Will I starve?
If I leave my dysfunctional relationship, will I ever find love again?
The list goes on and on...
The truth as Steve Jobs so eloquently put it...is that we simply can't know. We can only make wise/bold decisions in the present moment and have faith that the dots will connect in the future. One moment will lead to the next, no matter what we do. Time cannot be halted until we figure it all out.
The key is to stay focused on what we can do in the here and now. Begin writing before we worry about finding publishers. Start running for a while before we become concerned with whether the pounds are coming off. Do our best each second to create healthy relationships with the people we love...not try to connect the dots toward forever.
We must be the task...whatever it is...otherwise we push people away, we don't focus on the actual work that needs to be done to build our dreams. I was thinking today about Justin Bieber. That poor kid has so many haters and critics. But I'm going to tell you something...
he's doing it...
he's putting himself out there while...
well...while many people are sitting on their arses doing nothing. Staring at the TV with their mouths open...allowing for
their minds to grow soggier by the moment. Laugh all you want...while he's singing and dancing his heart out...and traveling the world to boot.
It's not that we all have to become fans...but really we must respect those who are out there experiencing and pushing the limits.
If you have a dream...or a hope...just put one foot in front of the other and begin to create something.
The dots will connect while we're doing our work...
- Jen Engevik
Project BE Bold
A Hard-hitting Fact on Achievement
“It’s lonely at the top. Ninety-nine percent of people in the world are convinced they are incapable of achieving great things, so they aim
for mediocre. The level of competition is thus fiercest for ‘realistic’ goals, paradoxically making them the most time- and energy-consuming… The fishing is best where the fewest go, and the collective insecurity of the world makes it easy for people to hit home runs while everyone else is aiming for base hits. There is just less competition for bigger goals.” - Tim Ferriss in The 4-Hour Work Week
Warm Glow of Happiness by Edward Young
I had looked for happiness in fast living, but it was not there.
I tried to find it in money, but it was not there either.
But when I placed myself in tune with what I believe to be the fundamental truths of life . . .
when I began to develop my limited ability, to rid my mind of all kinds of tangled thoughts,
and fill it with zeal and courage and love . . .
when I gave myself a chance by treating myself decently and sensibly,
I began to feel the stimulating, warm glow of happiness.
—EDWARD YOUNG
Thoughts on Excellence - March 11, 2010
"The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to
excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor." - Vince Lombardi
"People who have accomplished worthwhile work have had a very high sense of the way to do things. They have not been content with mediocrity. They have not confined themselves to the beaten tracks; they have never been satisfied to do things just as others do them, but always a little better. They always pushed things that came to their hands a little higher up, a little farther on. It is this quality of life's work. It is the constant effort to be fist-class in everything one attempts that conquers the heights of excellence." - Orison Sweet Marden
"The kind of people I look for to fill top management spots are the eager beavers, the mavericks. These are the guys who try to do more than they're expected to do -- they always reach." - Lee Iacocca
Olympian Snowboarder Shaun White on Motivation - March 1, 2010
There is much we can learn from the amazing Olympians that have captivated us for the past couple of weeks. Many of us watched with wide-eyes, wishing that we could only possess the discipline and passion it takes to accomplish such a feat as winning a gold medal... or becoming a company leader or owner, an innovator, an official dream follower...
Gold medal winning US snowboarder Shaun White shares what motivates him in a recent interview on askmen.com. He may appear goofy and all smiles when in the public eye, but it is this 23-year-old's ability to throw his heart and soul into his work, when very few are watching, that allows him the personal permission to beam:
"If I’m learning a new trick I get up because I want to learn it, and get through the frustration. It’s like if my whole day is wrapped around one trick and if I haven’t landed it by the time I leave, my whole day is shot. My whole day has got a big cloud over it and I’m just pissed.
But if I go out and stick that trick, everything is that much brighter. Even food tastes better. Everybody talks about these sports in terms of fun, but you can only have so much fun in a certain sense. It’s fun, but it’s also fulfilling to have a victorious day.
That’s what it’s like, but it’s on your terms. You don’t have to wait for the boss to give you the big corner office. You just go out there and earn it."
White's words provide THE blueprint for what it takes for you and me to live our dreams.
It takes pouring ourselves into
all that we do. It means living and breathing what we love. Hard work breathes life into our souls and allows for us to sleep well at night.
Now, we dare you to go now and live your life like an Olympian!! Don't sit on the sidelines and watch.
- Team Project Be Bold
Click here for the full Shaun White interview on Askmen.com
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Imagination - February 20, 2010
"Imagination too can work either to our benefit or to our detriment. It is 
undoubtedly the greatest gift to human beings. But the Sanskrit word vikalapa also means fantasy or delusion. Without steady application, even the most inspiring flights of imagination must remain impotent, devoid of reality. If a scientist has an idea, he may have to labor for years, experimenting, analyzing, and checking in order to bring it to fruition, to make it concrete. A writer may dream of plot for a new novel, but unless he applies himself to pen and paper his ideas have no value. A callow youth once said to a great poet, "I have a marvelous idea for a new poem." The poet replied cuttingly, "Poems are about words." The true poet had his feet on the ground. Never mind the idea, write it down!"
From Light on Life by B.K.S Iyengar - pp. 156-157