I am thinking about limitations today. When do your limitations get the best of you? How do you push them aside and go for something nobody believes is possible?
I always have loved the quote, “when we argue our limitations we are stuck with them.” What does that mean to you?
Be Excellent!
Andrew
What is the point of being good if it means that I will not be happy. Good choices lead to happiness. Poor choices result in unhappiness.
Be Good and You Will Be Happy
Do you think being good precludes you from being happy?
Andrew Thorn
760-559-3548
athorn@telioscorp.com
The people who take risks are the people who find out just how satisfying life can be. Playing safe is boring. What will you do to raise your own personal bar today?
Happy New Year.
Andrew Thorn - 760-559-3548
Yesterday, I finished a contract with one of my trusted clients. Like everyone, they are feeling the budget crunch. The current economic conditions make the opportunity for future work a little confusing right now. I am under a new contract now, but there are hesitant feelings around how it will be implemented.
My work with this company spans over four years. My relationships with the people there are very strong. I love them and I enjoy working with them. I do not want to let go because I can still see that I am needed, especially during this troubling time. The people I work with don’t want to see me go, but they must first figure out the new structure of the organization, the new budget and how they can best use me. There are new rules and before we can continue, we must all figure them out.
The experience of saying goodbye seemed very strange to me. As I look at the organization, I can see the impact that I made while I was there. I brought a lot of value in a short time. Now, as I leave I feel irrelevant. I can see that the value that I brought was really just a wrinkle in time. The organization recently celebrated its 63rd year in business. I often think about the successes it enjoyed before I was there and always knew that it would survive long after I was gone. Now that I am going, I want to hang on – despite the fact that I know I must let go.
My contribution is just a drop in the bucket of contributions many individuals made over the years at this company. Many more will make even greater contributions, as this company will continue to grow.
In my work, I sometimes forget what Benjamin Zander called Rule Number 6 in his book, The Art of Possibility. Rule Number 6 states – “Don’t take yourself so doggone serious.” As I look back on my work, I can see that I made a difference, and I can see that I elevated that difference to be more important that it actually is in the grand scheme of things. This does not diminish my contribution. Recognizing this helps me put something more important than my work in perspective; Life.
Over the course of our lives we work hard to make a difference. We often fail to see the big picture; that our time on this planet is extremely short. We think that we can actually do something that will be remembered across the centuries of time.
Consider this. Without consulting Wikipedia or any other source, please identify who the President of the United States was in 1908. Now, please tell me who wrote the songs in 1908 that made people fall in love? Now, who were the great entertainers/celebrities of that year? Do you know who was most hated during that time? Do you know who was most feared in 1908? My guess is that you cannot tell me anything about 1908 unless you live in Chicago, then you will definitely be able to tell me that it was the last time our beloved Cubs won the world series.
My point is that in 100 years no one will remember me or you. It is possible that a very small number of my posterity will remember my name, but details about my life will be hard to find and difficult to interpret.
I know some of you are thinking, “Hey, what happened. This guy is usually inspiring and now he is telling me that my life doesn’t matter.” That is not what I am saying. I am simply saying that sometimes I forget to remember that my greatest impact will be felt right now. I must shine now because my light will soon fade and even go out. It was designed that way. It was only meant to shine long enough for me to learn what I need to learn from this life experience. I can and will help others along the way, but life holds the same fate for me as it does for everybody else. No one gets out alive.
Understanding this actually liberates me. It helps me see that I can really screw up and no one will ever remember. That means I can take risks and go for what I really want. I can be passionate about who I want to be without worrying about what other people will think. Like me, they will be gone too. I can be who I am and that is exactly why I am here; to be the very best me. The great work of life is figuring that out and learning that our individual experience is merely a fragment of our collective experience.
What I do with this experience we call life will only be important to me and a very few others. If I die today, life will go on. Of course you won’t have this great blog to read, but you will find something else to do with your time and I will be forgotten soon enough.
Still I write. I write because it helps me process what is going on around me, and it helps me remember not to take myself so doggone seriously. What are you doing to help you process what is going on around you? How do you make meaning? Do you know who you are and why that is important? If you don’t, then get on it right away. There is a lot of meaning to be made in this life and making meaning is far more interesting than achieving success. Without the meaning making exercises every success is hollow.
Shine Brightly! – And I’ll leave my light on for you.
Andrew Thorn
760-559-3548
athorn@telioscorp.com
