If it ain’t broke, Fix it Anyways

No matter how old or how young you are, there will come a time in your life when you will feel like you are not growing or going forward. You reach a point in your life where you just feel stagnant and like there is no life in what you are doing or pursuing. Some people experience this on their jobs where they feel that they have reached a career plateau. While others may even feel this way in a relationship, where there seems to a lot of inhaling but no exhaling. Stagnation can come in many forms and mean many things to just as many people, but what will you do when you feel like there is no movement in your life and there is no outflow for your inflow? Some people like the status flow and they even live by the motto “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. But I have come to challenge you into thinking differently about your life and your current situation. Just because it ain’t broke doesn’t mean it is working right. Fix it anyways!

When life seems to be stagnant and your pathways don’t seem to be producing the results that you once thought that it would, you need to look at your strengths and not accept mediocre or settling anymore. You need to become your own niche’ product and become the best in what you do. That may mean that you have to go back to school or get additional training but it is well worth it. You have to be continuously evolving if you want to avoid stagnation. You will not become stagnant if you continue to learn something new, and each day that should be one of your goals. If you stop learning, you stop growing. You need to challenge yourself! You need to reinvent yourself! You need to cultivate yourself by pushing the bar further than you ever imagined it could possibly go. If you want to see more you have to be willing to do more. And if you want to do more, you cannot settle. You allow stagnation to set in when you decide it ain’t broke.

Are you valuable to people? Becoming a valuable resource to other people will keep you on your toes and keep you from becoming stagnant. People should be  coming to you for advice all the time for your expert or professional opinion.  When you position yourself to be an asset to people instead of a liability to them, you are showing that you are able to fix what is broken in their lives. You become a resource of knowledge that can turn into speaking engagements, raises, books and other opportunities. In other words, you become a leader and expert in your area and other people will value you because of what you know and who you know. This can only occur by being proactive and not reactive all the time. Becoming proactive will increase your visibility and may expose you to risk, but if you are sick and tired of being stuck in a rut, and going through the motions without any results, you will risk it all so that you can have it all. I heard it said before “be willing to do the things today that others won’t do, so that you can have the things tomorrow that others won’t have”. However, you won’t take calculated risks if you think that it is already fixed.

No matter what, you cannot be afraid of change. Many people stagnate because they are afraid to let go of their comfort zone, even if they are not really happy with the job they do. Change is almost always good for you. Learn to embrace opportunities for change.  People are stuck in ruts all the time, spinning their wheels going nowhere fast. Don’t let this be your testimony. Don’t let this be your life’s story. Stagnation will steal you of your drive so it is important that you recognize it, change your direction and plow full steam ahead. You may think that you have everything going on in your life. You may think that there is nothing in your life that needs to be fixed, but you and I both know that is a lie. Don’t let stagnation keep you from what you can become. If it ain’t broke, still look for ways to expand yourself, even if it means adding value to others, this will help you to stay fresh. Jewel Diamond Taylor said “Champions aren’t made in gyms, Champions are made from something they have deep inside them –a desire, a dream, a vision.”  Make yourself a 30 day challenge and go for it! Write me back and tell my how you did and all about your new adventures.  It’s never too late or too early to start. Even if it ain’t broke, fix it anyways!

Eric Smith

Where is your Passion and What is your Dream

So what are you waiting for? Go get started making your passion your new reality, get to making your dreams come to pass now! The year is off to a great start and there are only 358 more days to make this year all that you want it to be. Don’t start this year off paralyzed by what you didn’t accomplish last year. Don’t let another day go by wishing upon a star and thinking about ‘wish I would have, could have or should have’. There is nothing that you can do to change what you did last year. It is done, over and never to come back again. Put the past behind you and pursue your passions ahead of you. If you keep dwelling in the past and your failures and missed opportunities, you will miss out on your chance to watch what used to be a dream come to pass.

Your passion and your dream should be connected at the hip and should be calling you forward, pushing you onward and motivating you past your limitations. Let the thought of ‘ what is the possibility of this thing coming to pass, up against my current condition’ be a catalyst to make this your day, your time and your moment to shine. If you let this moment pass you by, if you let another day go by where you have put no effort to doing what is inside you to do, then you run the risk of making the grave the wealthiest place on earth. In other words, the grave will claim your dream and your passion because you did not do what you had a mind to do. Don’t let your dream die without being fulfilled. Don’t let you passion die without letting it drive you into success. The whole world is waiting on you to write that book, pen that song, paint that portrait, create that idea. Don’t deprive us of what is inside of you.

People may not believe in your dreams this year, so what. Don’t let their doubt deter you from your dream. You’ve got to make it a priority to make your dream a priority to you. No one is going to want to accomplish your passion more than you want it.  So no matter what you want to do, go for it! What do you have to lose except to lose your passion for it. No one knows your story or what you have been through or why you want to accomplish this goal. No one knows to the full extent of your desire to bring this idea to pass.  You have got to make it a priority to push past the haters, dream-stealers and motivation-zappers. You need to go ahead and throw yourself a bonfire before the world throws a wet blanket on your dream, and tries to put your fire out. Whatever you passion is or your dream is in 2013, you must have something on the inside that is bigger than the opposition you may face on the outside. Because life, circumstance and bad timing are coming to steal your dreams, kill your dreams and destroy your dreams. What are you going to do when they tell you that you can’t make it and you might as well just give up? What are you going to do when no one wants to give you any money to fund your dream or give you an opportunity, even though you don’t have everything together? You have got to know that what you want to do this year is not going to automatically happen so you have to give it your all and not make a Plan B. Plan B is not an option so don’t waste your energy or time planning for it.

Your passion and your dream is what the world needs. Each of us adds something unique to this life that we live. We don’t need anymore copycats, imitators or cookie-cutter individuals. We need some original thinkers, some creative innovations, some extraordinary people like you who are not afraid of risk, afraid of no or afraid of not now. Whatever you do this year, don’t give up on your dreams. Cultivate your passion. like i always say, feed your faith and starve your doubts. We are counting on you to bring forth what our eyes have not seen and what our ears have not heard. There is greatness and potential inside of you and all you need is the courage to step out and live your passion, live your dream!

Eric Smith