Inspirational Monday (2) - Get a Role Model, But Do Your Own Thing

We hear it all the time...

• If you want to be successful, surround yourself with successful people.
• Get a role model and copy his/her actions to become successful.

This is good advice, but one fact is often overlooked. And that is the importance of remaining yourself and not under-estimating yourself.

Live Your Own Life

Decide what you want to do with your life. Don't allow other people to dictate to you what you should do. What is important to one person is irrelevant to another.

You might be a hard worker and climb the ladder of success in the company you work for. But you also might end up suffering from stress and depression, no matter how "successful" you are.

So the question is; Are you working so hard because that is what is "expected of us"? Or do you really have a passion for what you do?

Maybe you desire to live somewhere on a secluded island, studying nature... Then why don't you try to figure out how you are going to do that?

Success doesn't always have to be measured in monetary value... What will make you happy? What will give you fulfillment? Are you adding any value anywhere? Are you providing a solution to any problem?

Sure, be responsible. We need to take care of ourselves and our loved ones...but making a fortune is not a priority to everyone.

Don't do things just to satisfy or impress other people. Do what you do because it is important to you.

Get A Role Model But Don't Lose Your Own Identity.

Have you ever thought of someone else and thought..."wow, if only I can be that good"?

It is easy to think of our own results as inferior and to admire the results of someone else. But maybe that "someone else" has ten or twenty years more experience in what we want to achieve.

But have you ever stopped and paid attention to those with less experience than you? Those who are admiring you and your results the way that you admire your superiors.

You are someone else's role model, you just haven't realized it yet.

You have power. You have talent. You have the ability. You just need to (1)realize it and (2)keep on developing it. And that developing phase, the growing...it never ends.

Do not under-estimate yourself.

Pay Attention To What You Are Thinking.

There is tremendous power in visualization. With many years of professional involvement in sports, I've seen this personally many times over.

When any athlete needs to learn a new skill, move, technique, or whatever...If he can visualize himself doing it perfectly, he is 50% there.

It has been proven, that if you keep feeding the mind with any information, you will physically start acting it out without even noticing it. This goes for either positive or negative information.

This is just as applicable in business as on the sportsfield.

Please, this is not based on positive thinking, where you get told to repeat some positive thoughts 10 times per day or something.

If you aren't convinced and you don't believe it, you can repeat it one hundred times, it won't make any difference.

You should focus on replacing negative thoughts with positive ones.

It is physically impossible to think two thoughts at the same time.

So, if you are consistently concerned about something that you cannot do...next time when you get frustrated about not being able to do it, stop. Then start thinking of ways how it should be done and try to visualize the desired result in your imagination.

Then try to visualize that image consciously as often as you can. Eventually, the body will follow and start acting accordingly.

I recall reading "THINK and GROW RICH" by Napoleon Hill many years ago.

He mentioned a real-life example of a gymnast who complained to his coach about a certain move he couldn't master.

I can't recall the exact words, but the answer was something like..."Visualize the move. Then first throw your mind over the bar, the body will follow." The result was a success.

Conclusion

I hope this will give you some inspiration for the week ahead.

• Live your own dream. Live your own life.
• It is good to have a role model, but in the end: Be the best you that you can be!
• Pay attention to your thoughts. You become what you think about.

Have an awesome week. I wish you all success.