It sounds really strange, that after I posted about your having a choice, I’m back again just the second day to give yourself no other choice. Even I am amused at the paradoxical nature of both statements. I think you can find the clue in the last line of the last post though. Yes, you have a choice, but success demands that you quit yourself of all other options but one most of the times. When a goat is chased to the wall, it bites. When you are flat on your back and are are your lowest point, usually, the only other direction to go is up! I don’t know if you have been there, but there are some heights you will never experience until you have taken some major plunges.
Most people live in their comfort zones and never really get to tap into their real potentials. I know people whose brains only started functioning well when it became a necessity. You have stuff you are made up of that will only come to light when you give yourself no other choice! The fragrance and quality of the teabag is only known in hot water, raw yam is food only for goats. Gold is purified by fire!
I had always wondered what one of my mentors meant when he always told me he had no choice but to succeed in his business. He always said it, but I never really understood it, perhaps, the student in me was not ready! When I eventually told him an experience I went through, and how I had come to discover that you need to come to a point of no choice to succeed, he smiled! He then went on to explain to me, that he had not wanted to rush me. I had told him about mouth watering job offers and he had counselled me in line with my requests, silently knowing that I still engaged the mindset of having options. When I told him I wasn’t willing to look at any other option, he smiled, he then told me that the student in me was finally ready, and I was ready for success.
So, over to you. Are you enjoying what you are doing? Are you happy with yourself today? Are you taking daily steps that when put together will take you into the life of your dreams? Do you really desire to succeed? If you do, give yourself no options. Give yourself no other choice. Move forward and shut the backdoor. Put your back against the ropes…and feel it! Move your life to a sphere where you are involved in the activities that will make you live the life of your dreams. Excellence is not an act, it’s a habit!
There are two stories that have to do with Julius Caesar that typify the attitude I’m advocating here. Julius Caesar and his Roman soldiers were said to have burnt their ships and bridges in invading a particular country. This for them was a gesture to ensure that all the hearts and minds of all the soldiers were in one place, conquer or perish! The human potential has always been known to rise to the occassion during challenges like this. Burn your bridges. Give yourself no options. Shut your back door, sorry-slam it! (at least in your mind). The other story was what was converted into the English saying “Crossed the rubicon” – This means to irrevocably commit to a course of action, make a fateful of final decision. This he did when he crossed the Rubicon River when the senate had put a line in the sand that crossing that river would be seen as an act of war.
Are you serious about achieving your dreams? Are you serious about success? When the seed enters the ground and dies, it’s at a point of no return. Till then, its lip service!
