Be Brave Not Safe

As a teenager, considering my next steps after high school, I never considered the military. Instead, I chose the path of attending college. Since then I’ve often wondered what it would have been like to be in the military. And, more specifically, doing something hardcore like becoming a Navy Seal. It may be a little late for me now as I just turned 50 🙂

I truly enjoy the real-life stories we hear and see about their “special operations” and what they accomplish. Amazing! Our country should be proud!

My Dad recently sent me an email containing a link to a video of the Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command (a Navy Seal) giving advice to graduates. His theme: Find the courage to change the world.

I found this to be an amazing inspirational speech that everyone can benefit from. In a nutshell, it outlines the mental fortitude one must have to achieve their goals and dreams. Once you’ve viewed the video you’ll know why this post is titled “Never Ring The Bell!”

Hope you enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend! And, God Bless America!

Can someone with little (formal) education become one of the most prolific inventors – OF ALL TIME?!?

Why, yes they can.

“Thomas Edison dreamed of a lamp that could be operated by electricity, began where he stood to put his dream into action, and despite more than ten thousand failures, he stood by that dream until he made it a physical reality. Practical dreamers do not quit.” ~ Napoleon Hill

If you’d like to learn more about Thomas Edison’s humble beginnings visit the site dedicated to his biography.

In a nutshell (highlights from the above referenced website):

• He did not learn to talk until he was almost 4 years of age.
  
• At 7 his teacher lost his patience with the child’s persistent questioning and seemingly self centered behavior. Noting that Tom’s forehead was unusually broad and his head was considerably larger than average, he made no secret of his belief that the hyperactive youngster’s brains were “addled” or scrambled. In today’s world Tom would have probably been deemed a victim of ADHD and proscribed a hefty dose of Ritalin.
• At 11, Tom’s parents tried to appease his ever more voracious appetite for knowledge by teaching him how to use the resources of the local library. This skill became the foundation of many factors that gradually caused him to prefer learning via independent self instruction.  
• His mother home schooled him, and he taught himself mostly everything he knew about science and technology.
• Ultimately, he became totally deaf in his left ear, and approximately 80% deaf in his right ear. 
• Fast forward: He earned 1,093 United States patents, a record number for one person that still stands. 

Got dreams? Go for it! Got challenges? Go for it anyway.

Is there REALLY a secret to success, and failure? Absolutely! In a nutshell, it is 6 simple words:

“We Become What We Think About“ ~ Earl Nightingale

The biggest challenge is in our mind. NOT in the world around us. We all (each and every one of us) have at one point or another setup false barriers to success (in our very own mind). We don’t think we’re good enough. We might fail. What will THEY think? We look around and see the accomplishments of others and want it RIGHT NOW. And, because we can’t have it right now we become disheartened and go about our daily grind.

It does not have to be this way!

Name the challenge (the obstacle that is seemingly preventing us from achieving our goals and dreams) and we can easily identify someone much worse off who knocked it out of the park.

We must realize that NOTHING happens overnight, by luck or some voodoo magic.

Once we define our goals and dreams, we must simply take daily action to continuously and never-endingly chip away at it – until! Until we achieve it. It may seem at times that progress is slow (or not happening). Just keep going. Many people quit on the precipice of success!

And, to keep us going we need a constant (daily) shot in the arm!

Earl Nightingale is a legend in the field of personal development. I recently found a 3-minute video that shares more about the secret to success (and failure), which happens to be an introduction to his timeless program “The Strangest Secret.” I have listened to the complete version of this program dozens and dozens of times and it has truly been (and continues to be) an inspiration in my life.

“Where you will be five years from now will depend on the books you read, what you listen to and the people you associate with.” – Dave Johnson

Programs such as this can make a big (HUGE) difference in terms of where we will be in 5 years.

So, the question: Where will you be in 5 years? Closer to your goals and dreams? Or, looking back wishing…It is only a matter of action! The time will pass anyway…