Why Not Be Great?

What did you do in the noughties?

How will you answer this question fifteen years from now?

Will you be like the many who answer: "I spent my time waiting, whining, worrying and wishing"?

Or will you seize the opportunity to do something remarkable?

Seth Godin says that in hindsight, the 1990s were the good old days. Yet so many people missed out.

Why?

"Because it's always possible to find a reason to stay put, to skip an opportunity, or to decline an offer. And yet, in retrospect, it's hard to remember why we said no and easy to wish that we had said yes."

I am reminded of all the courses and training I've yet to do because I kept putting them off for one reason or another.

There was always a reason not to.
Not enough money.
No time.
Too hard.
Too much trouble.
What if I don't like it and end up wasting my time/money?

"The thing is, we still live in a world that's filled with opportunity. In fact, we have more than an opportunity - we have an obligation. An obligation to spend our time doing great things. To find ideas that matter and to share them. To push ourselves and the people around us to demonstrate gratitude, insight, and inspiration. To take risks and to make the world better by being amazing."

I can truthfully say that in the past 3 years, I've gradually but surely changed my mindset from "can't do/won't consider" to "why not?"

I have found ideas that matter - and I am passionate about sharing them, because I believe that shared great ideas can change lives and change the world.

I have found my own small way to encourage the people around me to live with greater awareness, gratitude and inspiration.

I have taken - and continue to take - personal risks (intellectual, financial, emotional) because I believe they will help me be better, stronger and wiser, and a more credible helper to those who have not yet found the courage to follow their dreams.

"You get to make a choice. You can remake that choice everyday...It's never too late to choose optimism, to choose action, to choose excellence. It only takes a moment - just one second - to decide.

Before you finish this paragraph, you have the power to change everything that's to come. And you can do that by asking yourself (and your colleagues) the one question every organization and every individual needs to ask today: Why not be great?"

I am reminded of what Stephen Covey says about how his life completely changed when he realized that there is a gap between a stimulus and a response.
Between the moment something happens to you (stimulus), and the moment you react to it (response), there is a gap.
In that gap lies a choice.
A choice about how you want to respond to what has just happened. Your response is not a given.
You don't have to react with fear, or anger, or negativity.
You don't have to follow the script passed on by your parents, peers or teachers, or walk in the path of past destructive habits.

To those of you who struggle with unfulfilled dreams and suppressed desires for greatness and achievement, who feel trapped by fear of risk and fear of the unknown:

You have a choice.
You can remake your life this very moment.
You can choose to be great.
Why not be great?