Don't judge a book by its cover. Not everybody fits the part

It has been far too long since I have posted on here so I thought I would take a moment and post something. Two times today I have thought to myself that I don't have the time to do something and realized we always can make time for anything.

I just received an email from my brother with a link to a youtube video and a confession that he is an X Factor fan. My first thought was "how does he have time to watch X Factor?" ( I am assuming DVR) And my second thought was "I don't have time to watch this 9 minute clip, I need to get a lot of work done." But for some reason I decided to watch the clip...and I am glad I did. The clip is of a guy named Chris Rene and his audition on X Factor. I don't know who this guy is and I don't know what will come of him. However, his story and this clip really touched me. As you may know, I love success stories and inspiring topics. This story also taught me once again not to judge a book by its cover.

Here is the clip if you'd like to view it:

As I experience more in life and continue to add to my family, I realize more each day the value that each individual brings into this world. My father as my greatest fan and teacher once (or thrice) told me that "God has invested a lot in you and knows your potential. It is up to you to realize your own potential." Not only are those incredibly inspiring words but there is a lot of wisdom in them as well. We all have a lot to offer and I hope I can remember that not everybody "fits the part". But that doesn't mean that they aren't right for the part.

If somebody tells you that you can't accomplish something or that something needs to be done one way. Reply to them "Who says?" My father's words of wisdom make it possible for us to create our own reality and I believe that this is the purpose of life....to reach our potential even if we don't "fit the part".

Daydreams or not...they become reality

I have been thinking recently about how unique we all are and how much we all have to offer the world. It doesn’t matter our background or past accomplishments, we all have huge potential. I think the thing the world fails to teach us is that there is always a way to accomplish dreams and goals. It doesn't happen overnight and it may come in the form of a non traditional vehicle...BUT there is always a way.

I remember many days even as a young child where I would dream of doing incredible things instead of being confined to a classroom. One day in particular sticks out in my mind. I was in 6^th grade and I was staring outside through the windows while the lesson was going on. I felt the playground calling me and I felt like I was there as I stared intently out the window. Some people call it daydreaming but I felt alive while in those dreams. I do admit I became a professional daydreamer throughout Junior High and High School and reached my peak in College. This was until that kid inside of me, the one that was staring through the window at the playground, decided that enough was enough. I will never forget the day I decided that I was going to make something happen in my life, one way or another. I was 22 years old and pulled out of the driveway and headed west.

This leap of faith led me to Los Angeles where I met my amazing wife. Her belief in me made me realize I could do anything I set out to accomplish. So many times in my life I have felt scared that I wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything or provide for a family. I realize now that we need to draw on hope, courage and belief from any place we can. For me it is from my faith, my wife and kids and yes…even from my dreams. Whatever it is for you, find it and use it.

I don’t write this to make myself sound like a success, because I believe success is a never ending process. Success to me is simply the consistent pursuit of a worthy goal. I write this because I have met many people recently that have experienced some things that I couldn’t imagine experiencing and I see them gain strength from many places… and that makes them a success.

There is a story I love about when Disneyworld was completed and they had the opening celebration to celebrate the great accomplishment. Walt Disney had already past away at this point but Disneyworld was a dream of his so it was a significant occasion. Someone turned to Walt Disney’s wife and said “It’s too bad Walt wasn’t here to see this.” Walt’s wife responded with “Oh Walt saw this long before any of us ever did.”

Dreams become reality. If you want something enough….go and get it! Even if it means taking the road less traveled.

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
and sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
and looked down one as far as I could
to where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
and having perhaps the better claim
because it was grassy and wanted wear;
though as for that, the passing there
had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
in leaves no feet had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less travelled by,
and that has made all the difference

Success is a choice

Success is ours…if we want it. I just finished typing an email to my team in preparation for a life-changing event we will attend this week in Utah. I have made my way up here to Salt Lake City, Utah a few days early for various meetings before the event. As I was typing the email a quote popped into my head that I hear often and that has a moving effect on me each time I hear it. This is a quote by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe who lived in the last half of the 1700s and into the 1800s. You may recognize his name from the film, The Secret. He was obviously aware of the Law of Attraction and it’s effects on our lives and teaches it well in this one quote alone.

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back-- Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now."

My heart skips a beat when I hear that and resumes beating at a much faster rate…ah adrenaline! If you have read a previous post of mine then you know I believe emotion is what moves us. I am filled with some emotion when I hear this that confirms to me that we can in fact accomplish anything we set out to accomplish. The Law of Attraction translated simply promises that we can have or be anything we hold in our mind and pursue…not because we have everything available to us, but rather that as Goethe states, “Providence moves too.”

So is the ability to succeed determined by your current skill level, beauty, economic situation, race or any other factor? No, it is in fact not an ability at all…IT IS A CHOICE! The moment one definitely commits to oneself is the moment when lives change.

Read the quote again and if you want to change your life then take Goethe’s advice and “Begin it now”.