Noteworthy Education and Motivation for Achievement

Great Expectations

I’ve eaten roughly 20-dozen raw eggs in my lifetime and have never gotten sick from it. I don’t expect to either. Does this make me an idiot or just skeptical? I completely understand the numerous health risks and reasons people will give me against eating raw eggs or meat or whatever it is. Salmonella this, E. coli that. It just doesn’t worry me. I’ve got bigger fish to fry. (no pun intended, really!)

Many people worry about certain things so much that they tend to attract whatever it is that they’re worried about into their lives. A great example – I know many folks who will repeatedly tell horror stories of how some ethnic restaurants will re-use sauces and dips leftover from previous tables. Now, I’ve never worked in any kind of establishment that would actually do that, and I’ve never seen it with my own eyes, but some people will swear that it happens! And, no joke, the SAME PEOPLE who I hear it from are the same people who get sick!

Ladies, Listen up.

Let me ask you somethin’. Do you think that thousands of years ago when our ancestors were chasing down saber-toothed tigers and throwing spears at woolly mammoths that their main concern was how to cook the meat once they killed it? HELL NO! They were hungry and just wanted to eat. Just like us most of us guys these days. (Not much has changed in that aspect.) We don’t want to be badgered with baked, fried, grilled, broiled, steamed, and all that other stuff. This aint Bubba Gump’s Shrimp we’re talkin’ about here. A hungry man is an angry man. If you want us to be happy, keep us happy by filling our guts as often as possible.

Back to what this article is really about

We get what we expect

When’s the last time you told yourself “Gosh, I’m always late…”

How about “Jeez, I can never get a good parking spot!”

Or “Why are all the snow birds assholes!?” (they are)

and even “The service is always slow here.”

I won’t lie, I’ve been known to talk negatively to myself. I probably do it fairly often without even noticing it. What’s interesting is that when I absolutely believe in something, I usually get it. I expect to get it! As soon as I started saying “Man, I always get the perfect parking spot”, I get it. Whenever I told myself “This drive will be easy”, it was, 95% of the time. It’s all about expectations.

*An idea* Start paying attention to what you say to yourself on a daily basis. When you start talking negatively to yourself, stop, laugh about it, and remind yourself that “We get what we expect.”

Also… Avoid using “extreme wording”. Look back up at some of the common phrases. What do you notice about all of them? They all use extremes – “ALWAYS”, “NEVER”, “ALL.”

What do you want?

What do you really, really, really want? Physically, mentally and spiritually. Think about it for a minute. So often we focus on what we DON’T want. We often get it too, don’t we?

Want change your life? Change the thoughts you think and the words you speak – both to yourself and to others. Expect only great things.

Picture from http://theboomerangkid.com/expect-expectations/

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Assume Responsibility

A strong character assumes responsibilty. If you want to be a leader you must assume responsibility for whatever happens -whether you have to or not. It’s like being at the helm of a ship: you are responsible for everything that takes place on your watch.

As a leader, you’ve got to own responsibility for preparing subordinates for the challenges they’ll face, and if the result is not successful, YOU have to except responsibility for not having prepared them adequately. An offshoot of the “I didn’t mean to do it” excuse for evading responsiblity is the “I wasn’t my self at the time.” excuse. I know what it’s like. Well all know what it’s like, and what it’s like is excuses. Evasion of responsibility–>acting like a child–> refusing to grow up. You can call it whatever you want, but it doesn’t really matter what you call it.

“I slept and dreamed that life was beauty, I woke and saw that life was duty…” 

Most people want to be good, they want to be ethical and successful in every way; they want to fulfill their full potential but they think it’s something that’ll just happen by itself. They don’t see that there should be a concious, on-going acceptance of responsibility for what you do and who you really are.

If you want to be really in control of your life, and if you want other people to be able to depend on you and look to you for leadership, you must wake up from the dream that somebody else will handle the pressure.

Accepting responsibility doesn’t mean that life can’t be fun, but it does mean opening your eyes to the reality that a successful person not only accepts responsibility, but eagerly desires it. It means making a concious decision to grow up…to let go of the depending needs of childhood and recreate yourself as somebody other people can depend on. It means wanting the ball when the game is on the line.

Choose the standard you want to live by and follow through on it.

Photo courtesy of Usman Sheikh at http://www.usmansheikh.com/success-factors/taking-responsibility

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