Don’t try to shoot for greatness. Don’t aim for goodness. Don’t try to find success. What!? Yes you read that right. Meaning or greatness do not come when you focus on them as theoretical entities. In fact the more you focus on them the more you will miss them. To be great we need to do more than talk about it.
When people tell me “have a good day!” I respond, “thank you, but why don’t we make it one!” Lets take life by the throat and make it good, at least for today. Most people’s lives are the results of the choices they make and how they react and act toward the circumstances in their lives. There are exceptions to this, but over all the how you choose to respond to your circumstances day by day makes your character and ultimately your destiny. Why should we be victims of our circumstances. Most of us have what it takes to shape our own lives but we live in fear. Living a mundane or mediocre life is not an option for one who seeks to make a difference in the world.
Being great isn’t necessarily being better than other people, that is narcissism, but to be in a position to empower, inspire and motivate other people, is greatness.
1) Cultivate Great Thoughts: In life, you will find that the greatest opponent or obstacle you have is yourself. Thinking in great ways can revolutionize your life. A trained mind can think more rapidly and also more accurately. At the same time the person with the ready mind is more apt to express themselves coherently and persuasively.
2) Read Great Authors: Reading great books is like sitting in the living room with Martin Luther King, or having coffee with Abraham Lincoln. Change your library, change your life.
3) Develop Great Friendships: You are the sum total of the people you spend the most time with. Who are you letting into the oval office of your mind? Who is whispering negative or positive or life giving words into the windows of your soul? The people you spend most time with can transform or deform your life.
4) Germinate Great Habits: What you do daily, without thinking about it, is renovating or corrupting your life. A teacher with productive habits can think logically, eat healthy and tasteful foods, devise means to overcome obstacles a discard the irrelevant, complete their work quicker and more effectively.
The great people of the past, from Einstein, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Augustine, Martin Luther, and more recent people like Steve Jobs followed this path.
Viktor Frankl wrote these profound words from deep within his experience in a Nazi concentration camp:
Don’t aim at success — the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one’s dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long run—in the long run, I say!—success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think of it.
After reading the four pillars of true greatness, it gave off such a self-empowering vibe to be great. It’s such a good reminder that instead of just talking about it, it’s even better to do something about it. People should empower others as they empower themselves. Although, not many can, due to envy, greed or depression. Those with depression should seek out help, but to refrain from medication, if possible. I feel the four pillars of greatness (Think in great ways, read great authors, cultivate great friendships, develop great habits) is the best way to start to becoming great.
Thinking in great ways would be having a positive attitude/mentally. Aside from that, one should think of ways to help others in need. It could mean the smallest thing to you but may mean the most to them. Reading great authors is also a great way to start. Nothing but positivity that can influence you in your daily life. It might even improve your lifestyle, by improving the mindset. Being great also involves friendships. People you can go to for advice, activities or anything you need. The bond of friendships should be a strong bond like family. Even though some may not be true friends, and those who aren’t does not need to be a part of your life; no one needs the negativity. Last but not least on becoming great is developing great habits. Developing great habits could start out small such as, watching what you eat (no junk food), giving yourself enough sleep, and exercising. As you slowly turn the little things into habits, you can start moving into bigger ones (like a yearly goal etc.). You can start travelling the world, learning new things, experiencing different cultures/lifestyles (even if they scare you).
Although, these four pillars of true greatness is only a guideline, you should never give up and should always continue to grow and believe that being great starts with you.
I had to share this! It seems like since I became concentrated on finding my true path in life it was centered around success. When I didn’t find success or receive the success I wanted , I was disappointed. This was a breath of fresh air and confirms my present thoughts of how I’m changing my approach to just simply being me and walking my path. I’ve stopped caring about what others think, say, and do to focus on me, hoping that in the process I will inspire others to be true to themselves as well. The only success to me is knowing yourself.
I agree that we should do more than just talk about success. Meaning, we should do actions that can target our dreams to success. These four pillars to true greatness can help us as a guide to improve higher chances to succeed. In the first pillar, it states that a person who cultivates great thoughts is more prepared to change their lives. I believe this to be true because it’s all about having the mindset to achieve greatness. You can’t obtain greatness with having a mind that thinks you’re not self-worth it. The second pillar explains that you should read great books from excellent authors. I like this because books are sources that contain great information for us to improve in our lives. For example, if I want to learn more on business, then I should read great books on marketing. Doing this, will make me become more knowledgeable and follow their footsteps to become a great businessman. The most important pillar I think is more helpful is developing great friendships. In this pillar, it states that you’re the sum of the people you surround yourself with. For example, hang out with positive minded people because you’ll think positively too. Don’t hang out with friends that bring negativity in your life because it can bring you down with them. Also, I agree with your last pillar that says you should develop great habits. I think this to be true because developing great habits can change your drastically. For example, I had a bad habit of wasting my time doing unuseful things. In my free time, I would watch TV, YouTube, and be on social media. These bad habits were dragging my life down. I had to change these habits by doing more useful things in my life. I started by reading books, exercising my body, and developing a passion. Overall, I think these pillars can change a person’s life by achieving greatness in their lives.