A Creative Outlook On The Economy! What Is Stopping You?
Last month I wrote a post on ‘A Creative Outlook On The Economy! Are You Ready?’ to engage our readers to start thinking from a creative perspective. This week I am going to place focus on the fundamentals so that you can setup your lifestyle that is enriched in creativity.
But, before I start my post let me point out a few things. There is a lot of fortune out in this world with those who are seeking it out through creative means. There are also those who sit on the other side that follow the lead of others by cutting back or seeking out other means to a fortune. Fortunately, all of that can change. It doesn’t come overnight – all you need to do is change your mindset. You are required to do only three things:
- Become a positive person.
- Think creatively.
- Stop being lazy.
If you cannot commit to doing all three of these steps above actively, then you won’t succeed no matter how much you believe that you are trying. In fact, you will feel your life is moving in the ‘same’ circle only because you refrained from practicing one of the aforementioned principles.
My Journey
It started with teachers who didn’t believe in my potential, and therefore, never took the time to inspire me to reach greater knowledge. No one would dare to say I was the brightest kid on the block. The more I failed the less motivated I became, and every passing day I would be moving closer towards dropping out of school. Luckily, my parents never let that happen, but I felt like a drop out. It took many years before I started to get my life on track and it all came from self-discovery. Like they say, once you hit rock bottom, you have nowhere to go but to the top.
I learned that in order to know where you are going, you have to come up with a goal in reach. Not the typical goal that society wants you to achieve: ‘Graduate from college, get a job, make some money, and buy a home.’ It happens for most but not for everyone, or even in that same order. I am talking about a tangible goal. As in where you see your life in two years, five years, ten years, and even in twenty years. If you don’t have a clue what your goals are, it is time to stop and re-evaluate what you are doing. Success is measured by what one achieves based on time. You can achieve many things in your life – but true success is what you achieve for yourself in a certain timeframe, and that comes from personal goals.
So What Is Stopping You?
The vast majority of people have goals that range from money to family; there are varying degrees to goal setting. But why is it that many people will never reach a personal goal? It isn’t that they don’t want to achieve it; the fact is they are mentally and physically lazy to pursue their goal. The truth is if you are afraid to stand up and go after your dream, you will never accomplish what you truly want in life. You have to better yourself and not let your consciousness get the best of you. Eliminate all of life’s distractions that make you lazy and unproductive. If that means you cut the cable for a month – then I suggest you do it. Laziness is the single most identified reason that stops people from achieving success. Have you wondered what separates you from people who achieve their goals? How many times do you hear them say that they are bored or have nothing to do? One simple observation is watch successful people walk. They walk naturally at a quicker rate. Why, because they have places to be, things to accomplish, and understand the value of their time. If you are lazy – find the means to not be. Only you can make yourself work hard, and only you can achieve your goals for yourself. Bottom line — no one can do that for you.
Take Action
At this point, be honest with yourself. Identify which category you belong to - lazy or active? If you fall into the category of becoming lazy - things can change and here is exactly what I did.
Overcome The Laziness
Let me start by saying, nothing in this world is impossible. If there is someone else who has achieved the same goal you are after, it could be possible that they just beat you to it.
Step 1: Evaluate Your Life
I took a hard look at myself and figured out why everything was wrong. You have to be brutally honest with yourself otherwise this won’t work. I realized I was nothing but a troublemaker and party animal. It took time but I realized what kind of person I had become, and that is not how I envisioned my future. Things had to change, immediately.
One thing in particular I realized during this time is that I was truly afraid to take a chance on myself. I had everyone around me, thinking I was life’s biggest waste of oxygen (it’s true) – and I was afraid that I wouldn’t ever make it – so why even try? That attitude made me lazy and that laziness gave me an excuse not to try at all.
Step 2: Let Things Go
Success is based on your mindset and where you place your focus. You have to learn to forget the past – and I am not saying forget everything, but certainly things that are negative. Keep them out of your life and never speak of it negatively. Grudges, personal issues, all of it – you must let it go. Believe me I did it and it was not easy.
You must find all positives in all of your negatives. Once you do – you will find closure and make room for success. Remember, successful people know how to overcome things that life throws at them. They pick themselves up overnight and figure out a solution. They don’t dwell in problems because it is time and energy that is wasted. It is best to channel that energy towards your goals and accomplish something that will benefit you. You have nothing to loose but lots to gain.
Step 3: Lifestyle Changes
It is time to discipline both mental and physical aspects of your life. One of life’s biggest lessons I have learned is time does not wait for your convenience. Because time does not wait – there are no excuses on why you can’t accomplish anything. Your current situation is relative to your perspective. Keep a positive outlook and you will always find the means to achieve what you set out to do – no matter what happens. Trust me it can be done if you don’t allow yourself to make excuses for lack of effort. After all, excuses are the cause laziness.
In addition to these changes, you must give up things in life that are the cause of your distraction. I used to play endless hours of videogames and watch a lot of TV. Now I will be lucky to catch two hours a TV a week, and maybe one hour of video games a month. I would love to pursue my hobby of videogames and lazily watch TV, but I have my personal goals that I must prioritize. After all, it is my dream and I am willing to sacrifice a few items that I indulged in my whole life to realize those dreams. I am sure that I will be able to take a nice breather once I achieve what I have set out to do. By eliminating these distractions I found that I am working twenty additional hours in my workweek. Imagine what can be done with that spare time? I can read parts of a book to gain knowledge, talk with a friend and get some advice and the list goes on from there. Disclaimer: I am not saying get rid of things completely, but I made that sacrifice for myself and I have no regrets.
Step 4: Take Action
If you make it to this step – you have come a long way and I commend you for taking action. Now it is time to take corrective action by avoiding common problems. One common problem is, you know your goal but don’t know how to achieve it. That is okay, because the real fun starts here. And this step my friends is what makes ‘Lifestyle Change’ easy. When you start working towards your personal goals – you feel accomplished. As you keep pushing yourself, you feel more confident in your undertakings and the laziness disappears.
Here is what I do to solve my problems: I get creative. Every Monday, I open up a simple document. It lists out my goals and I read them over as a refresher to remind myself of what I have set out to do in life. I know what they are, but reading them gives my week a greater purpose. I then simplify my goals by breaking them down into what do I need to accomplish this week to get one step closer to achieving those goals. Some weeks it may require that I need to make a new contact, or it will require I seek mentorship from a friend. Your network is the single most effective way to achieving your goal. I can guarantee that if you don’t know how to do it, a friend of yours probably does or knows of where you can find the information. All you need to do is learn to seek out the opportunity by creatively thinking things through.
If you need ideas on how to effectively brainstorm – read through some popular posts to help jumpstart your creativity. Here are some of my personal favorites.
10 Ways To Get Inspired
10 Greatest Mistakes While Brainstorming
Learn to Think Intuitively
Creativity Stop Where You End It!
I wish you all the best in achieving your goals. I understand that it is difficult to stay positive, but remember, those thoughts alone move you towards success. Do not give yourself the time to brew negative thoughts! As Walt Disney said ‘Keep Moving Forward’.
Best Wishes,
Mitesh Solanki
July 29th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
Mitesh what a remarkable post and touching story. I could reflect myself within your post and the mistakes I am making parallel some of what you point out. This was truly inspirational and absolutely your best post. Thank you for taking the time to write this.
July 29th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Very remarkable and inspiring post my friend. Great work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 30th, 2009 at 12:12 am
Truly inspiring post mitesh. I loved it!
July 30th, 2009 at 2:33 am
Just stumbled onto your blog and loved this post. It is remarkably blunt yet inspiring.
August 16th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
[...] Solanki presents A Creative Outlook On The Economy! What Is Stopping You? posted at Invent [...]
September 8th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
This post has really hit home for me. I am about to graduate with my BA very soon and then go get my PhD. It took me 8 years and I’ve had a hard struggle with school since the 4th grade. But it is important to me and I’ve managed to push forward 1 day at a time and reach beyond my wildest imagination..
I am about to post my inspirational true stories blog carnival and I wanted to let you know that I will be adding your post here.
September 8th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
[...] presents A Creative Outlook On The Economy! What Is Stopping You? posted at Invent [...]