Aim higher
Read time: 8 minutes
Whoever you are, chances are you are no aiming high enough.
You may think you do, but I have a quick exercise to prove otherwise:
It’s really simple.
Ready?
Put your finger in the air!
As high as you can!
As high as you possibly can!
Done?
Good.
Now go just a bit higher than that.
Did you now get on your tiptoes, went on a table, jumped?
That’s the same way we treat are daily challenges.
We may consider we are doing as much as we can, but chances are we haven’t gotten close to our true potential.
It’s already a cliché to say that human beings have a nearly limitless potential, yet history proves it time and time again how true that actually is.
Don’t live in the graveyard
“The graveyard is the richest place on earth, because it is here that you will find all the hopes and dreams that were never fulfilled, the books that were never written, the songs that were never sung, the inventions that were never shared, the cures that were never discovered, all because someone was too afraid to take that first step, keep with the problem, or determined to carry out their dream.” – Les Brown
We’ve all read one of the studies regarding what people on the brink of death regret most.
I remember reading one this week and I found the wording really appropriate.
The number one most cited regret was:
“I WISH I LIVED MORE”
That is a person on the brink of death saying they don’t regret making a fool of themselves, come from failing horribly in their pursuits of accomplishing some huge goals.
No, no.
The biggest regret is that they haven’t LIVED.
They haven’t dared go after that which was important for them.
They dared not be outrageous enough in their asking of life.
They were so preoccupied with living, that they forgot to REALLY LIVE.
The real tragedy in life comes from achieving everything you set out to do, yet realizing you have not dared set out big enough goals, you dared not aim for an outrageously surreal life.
“I suggest that you become obsessed about the things you want; otherwise, you are going to spend a lifetime being obsessed with making up excuses as to why you didn't get the life you wanted.”
Opportunities = Will * Focus
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.”
― Anais Nin
“But that’s ridiculous”, I hear you say.
“I can’t focus my efforts on what I really want in life because [insert generic excuse]”.
Obviously, you can’t accomplish what you want.
You are focusing on the excuses instead of the solutions!
I’ll prove it with a simple exercise:
Look around the room you are in for 10 seconds.
Try to find EVERYTHING that is red.
GO!
Done?
You sure?
Great.
Now tell me everything in your room that is brown!
That is the exact approach when you refuse to focus on the solutions.
You obviously can’t afford to focus on the big goal if you are looking for the excuses.
You obviously can’t spend the time working if you spend the time procrastinating.
You first need to focus your efforts on something very particular in order to achieve a great thing.
“You are what you think about all day long. You are also what you say to yourself all day long. If you say that you are old and tired, this mantra will be manifested in your external reality. If you say you are weak and lack enthusiasm, this too will be the nature of your world. But if you say that you are healthy, dynamic and fully alive, your life will be transformed. Words have remarkable power.”
― Robin S. Sharma, Daily Inspiration from The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
You can do something only if you believe you can
Bill Gates said, “Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.”.
Henry Ford is quoted to have said ““Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right”.
Is it useful in any way for you to BELIVE you can’t?
Really.
If you have a dream that is truly important for you, would you really be better served by believing you can’t?
I’m not saying, ‘be irrational’.
It’s obvious that if you barely moved in the last month, you won’t be able to finish a triathlon tomorrow.
Obviously, you have to keep being connected to reality.
You ought to assess and understand your current situation.
Although, I would ask you not to accept your current situation!
If you put a goal for yourself to be able to run 5 km, go run 20km!
If you want to lose 3 kgs, lose 40!
If have a goal, push yourself harder than you believe you can… because you most definitely can push harder!
David Goggin, one of the most influential people on the matter, said in an interview “when you feel like you’ve given everything you have to give, you barely gave 40%”
Just think about that!
When you gave it your all, you just barely scrapped the surface!
Go aim for (un)reasonable goals!
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world.
The unreasonable man adapts the world to the world.
Therefore, all progress in the world is made by the unreasonable man"
- George Bernard Shaw
The road to accomplishments is paved in failure
Now you may be thinking:
“That’s just unreasonable.
I cannot accomplish that.
That is way too huge for me to accomplish.”
Maybe you are absolutely right.
Maybe that is truly unreasonable to ever be achieved, but guess what.
If you aim for the stars, you give it your all and fail, you still arrive on the moon.
Nobody and I mean it NOBODY that has ever done something great in the history of this world has been able not to fail.
We will all fail.
Why not risk failing at something that really excites you?
Failuare is fleeting.
It will be the greatest teacher and your best friend.
Seek out failuare and learn from it.
“If I had to live my life again, I’d make the same mistakes, only sooner.”
~ Tallulah Bankhead
If failure is possible, regardless of effort, why not risk winning?