Motivation & Giving Up.

We as a society want things to come too easily. We are too content to sit at our desks during the day at our jobs and expect promotions and new opportunities to fall into our laps. We lack motivation, drive, perseverance, and instead rely on upon the world of social media and living vicariously through TV shows and movies to replace the good vibes that occur ONLY with the results from hard. work.

I read a book a while back called Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. The book is all about how some people are predetermined for greatness, and certain circumstances have led them to be this way. While I respect that opinion, I'm calling bullshit. There is nothing we cannot do, nothing we cannot achieve, no goal we can't reach. Genetics aside, "free" time aside, opportunities aside, economy aside, war aside, when will we understand? There is not a single thing on this earth that can hold you back from what you want to achieve. All you have to do... is want it bad enough.

At the end of "Outliers" Gladwell talks about young students in school, and how over the years the amount of time we are willing to spend attempting something has gotten to be less and less. You see, in school we are taught that if we don't know the answer, all we have to do is wait and it will be given to us. What kind of lesson is that!? What kind of world are we setting up our children for? And we wonder why people struggle so much to succeed, to keep on their diets, to exercise regularly, to do anything that requires an ounce of motivation: Because we are trained to believe that if we can't do something right away, that we can just wait and it will come to us.

Here's your wake up call:

That's not how life works.

In the words of motivational speaker Eric Thomas, when you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, THEN you will be successful.

The time we have on Earth is so limited. Break it down to a decade, a year, a week, a day, an hour. Why not start now? Why not make the most of it? Honestly, what have you got to lose?

It's easy to be positive when everything is going your way. A steady job, good family relationship, steady girlfriend, loving wife, regular paycheck, gains at the gym... but that's not the point. It's what you do when you are kicked down that makes the difference. Because most people are content to sit and wait for things to get better instead of getting out there and doing something about it. After all, that is what we have been trained to do! Now imagine if every person who has given up decided that they wanted to keep. On. Trying. Imagine the resulting world we would live in!

There is no reason why you can't start working on your dreams today. There is no reason why you shouldn't be able to motivate yourself. There is no reason for you to EVER give up, and friends, there is no time like the present.

DO something with your life. Settle for nothing. DECIDE that you are going to be better.

And then just fucking DO IT.

Getting on Track .

I am determined to get on track for the rest of the semester. I took a little bit of time tonight to make myself a schedule that I can fill in each day. My Dad always used to rag on me to make schedules, and you'll know exactly where your time goes. You'll also begin to figure out exactly how much time things really take up. Unfortunately, I can't really leave myself a ton of time for fun stuff, but I still fit in things like checking blogs and writing on my own. There is job stuff to do and studio stuff to do and perhaps I'll end up sacrificing some sleep for it. But the important thing is, I'll know exactly where I'm spending my time, and where I should spend my time. If I can keep myself on track, focused, diligent, and efficient, I can do great things. Easier said than done, but I'm feeling motivated and positive.

By the way, a buddy of mine just started a blog, and I have a feeling it's going to be a good one. Figured some of you avid blog friends of mine might want to check it out. The name alone gets me intrigued: Inner Ramblings of a Fellow Human Being. So if you feel so inclined, go check out the first post from The Humble Gentleman.

If you're interested in my schedule template, let me know -- I'd be happy to email it to you. As for now, I'm off to bed -- with an alarm set for 530am!

random search .

I opened Blogspot tonight not having a clue of what to write about. Nothing hit me today, and so I took to Youtube to randomly click through some videos and see if anything inspired me. It's quite rare that I don't have something to write about, what with the quotes I receive daily, daily devotionals, and other little tidbits that get emailed to me or thrown my way. I found this video, a trailer by Red Bull for a video called the Art of Flight, featuring Travis Rice.

tough losses .

I'm currently typing this as the Discover Orange Bowl is going on. To say it's miserable is an understatement. I can't even imagine how the team is feeling right now -- deflated, kicking themselves, angry, just wanting the game to be over, just wanting the ass pounding that we're getting to be over. We're losing 63 to 20. I've never witnessed such a terrible game. WVU is breaking all kind of records, whether they are point records, or whatever else. There is no chance of winning, it's all for pride now, or for the sake of making sure you're still on the field when the clock runs out. Somewhere along the line, we lost our focus. But that's clear in hindsight. So we're in this hole, everyone's deflated, at the lowest point they can be at, and you think, where could we possible go from here?

how far will you go .

Are you a spontaneous extrovert? Or an analytical planning type. What is reasonable in terms of how far ahead in your life you plan? 1 year? 5? 10? Or maybe only a few weeks. Some people have found it works to live day by day. I don't think I could ever do that. There are way too many important choices to be made. And without a destination in the back of my mind, what would I be striving for? Day by day goals are nice -- work out today, bike 20 miles in under an hour, write a song. Read part of a book, have a healthy meal. The possibilities are supposedly endless.

every man for himself .

Over time I have come to the conclusion that perhaps I was meant to just do things alone. Sometimes dealing with people is just stressful and annoying. This may come off as very callous, though I assure you it is more of a personal refinement than an attempt to ridicule and alienate the general population. Allow me to explain.

a touching story .

Every so often you come across something that just really touches you. Well, today was one of those days and I couldn't help but watch this video about Josiah Viera with tears streaming down my face for the majority of the second half.

The video is here: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=5788144
I recommend watching it before you keep reading.

what keeps you going .

If someone ever asked you what kept you going: fear, or love, what would you say? Do we constantly have those nagging fears that push us towards our goals? Or is it more complicated than that? Do we simply love what we do so much that life moves by without a hitch? I know I'm presenting a ton of questions here. But just bear with me, and maybe take a moment to think about it before clicking the 'read more' button.