Want to be a 20-something world changer? Me too.
A 30-something digital nomad? Yep.
A 40-something online entrepreneur? So do I.
A 50-something that defies standards? When I get there, yes.
Then you need to get busy, especially if you’re, ahem, not 20-something.
If you ARE content with your life at this moment in time, that’s brilliant, cool and simply maaaaavelous, but please stop reading right now. This post isn’t for you, because you’re already busy living.
But if you have a dream. If there is something you truly want to do, but haven’t done it, you SHOULD be reading this.
Today I only want to encourage you to take that first step, which is more like a life-changing leap. If you have a strong desire for success but are not making IT happen, the only thing stopping you is that pesky, old reptilian brain of yours. Those Primal emotions are part of our makeup and they always sneak in when THAT moment arrives.
The lizard brain doesn’t like dreams. Please don’t let it dominate your life.
Nervousness, apprehension, and anxiety are part of our complex chemistry. There’s no way around it and those feelings don’t go away; but we can work to tame the fear and get on with life. And why not get on with life in a big way?
My story
As a kid, I was a fat bundle of emotion and lived a solitary existence. I did dream big though. All. The. Time.
When I was a teenager, I had visions of great things, but they were more like fantasy. School was like a penitentiary and so was social life, but I was happy in my own little dream cell, a prison of it’s own.
I tried to be cool in my twenties, but was antisocial. I pretended to care, but was only superficial. I tried to be someone I wasn’t and instead of moving, I lived in a state of stagnation. I was a daydreamer who never acted. My big ideas never came to fruition.
The thirties brought in a tidal wave of regret. Dissatisfaction for never pushing through. Bitterness for not standing my ground. Anguish for never speaking up. I was a tough guy, but a doormat at the same time. An actor, playing a part. A dreamer who didn’t act.
Around 41 something kicked-in and I wanted to toss aside that big pile of regrets. I had a Peter Finch moment. An “I’m Mad as Hell and I’m not going to take it anymore” moment.
Ever have a moment like this that lasted?
Ever feel like you’ve had it up to here, but instead of cowering you decided to stand up and be strong?
Ever feel like taking on the world, finally?
Ever feel like vaulting into the unknown?
On the wrong side of 45, I feel a tidal swell that’s a firm 180 degrees from where I was 10 years ago. And it’s gone way beyond the “I’m not going to take it anymore” stage.
Are you at that stage? If you’re not, figure out what is stopping you, kick whatever it is in the sorry old ass and say, “I’m not going to take it anymore!” Get some fire in your belly.
That first step is really more like a major league power slide. A spring to action that is oh so empowering.
What’s your story?
If you have always wanted to change, but have never acted on it, I would say it IS time to make things happen.
If you’re young and don’t have a ton of responsibility, but do have a ton of ambition, well, get busy.
If you’ve acted before, but took a fall. Get back up, brush yourself off and use that experience to make it all go better this time.
Big dreams are extraordinary, but mean nothing without action.
Hop skip and jump directly into uncertainty and give it a karate chop.
Let discomfort know it can no longer mess with you.
Tell them both to take a flying leap. Not next month. Not next week. Not tomorrow. Now!
Make that first move that’s more like a gymnastic vault to the other side of potential.
Feel the pins and needles, embrace those nervous butterflies, push through and kick that old lizard brain in the chops. A 102-year-old I know says if you simply do IT over and over, soon those butterflies will fly in formation.
You want that, right? Well, what’s stopping you?
Want to amp yourself up for change?
Rock your own world?
To stop dreaming and start doing?
Well make that jump; and don’t look back!
What is that special something you want to do?
Are you content with your life at this moment?
If you’ve turned dreams into action, what is your formula for success?
{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
thank you for the motivating and inspiring post
Hi Farouk,
Thanks for coming by again. Appreciate it!
I have many motivating and inspiring posts coming. Stay tuned!
I’m in an interesting position in my life where I have absolutely nothing to lose os so it seems. It’s only taken 10 years, and a bunch of jobs I hated to get me to this point. But there’s a certain beauty in being in this position. Taking big, bold risks is the only option to make big change. What stops most people is a fear the unknown. You always here people say things like “if knew what know now”, but the funny thing is they would never know what they know now without the experiences they have had and the mistakes they’ve made.
Srinivas recently posted..How a Tumultuous Career has Led me into the Pursuit of a Better Life
Hey Srini,
One of the reasons I want to speak to younger people (mainly twenty-somethings) is because they don’t have a ton of responsibilities. I have a business and family to support. I have a mortgage. I have clients! I need to balance all this stuff. It’s a crapload of work, but I’m still loving the trip. Now I want to get into the heads of individuals without all those responsibilities. With all the amazing tools at their disposal, the sky’s the limit!
With that being said, there is no perfect time to take big risks, there is only now. AND like you, I’m using all those years of experiences (man they’ve accumulated!) to make changes now.
So, here comes the other crowd I want to reach …
People like you and I. Srini, I have more than a coupled of years on you
but I think we both have the “I’ll just do what it takes” attitude. I love that attitude. I want to meet more people with that attitude and I want to spread that attitude!
Thanks for the great comments!
Hey Craig,
I’ve got more than a couple of years on both you and Srini, but I have the same “enough is enough” attitude and I would love to get to know you better and maybe collaborate on somethings.
Came through Srini’s blog. I see I have a lot to catch up on and I will in between what needs to be done. Keep it up bro.
BTW, thanks for the kind words on Srini’s blog. I am in the process of revamping my blog, so you won’t find much there, but a whole lot is coming soon.
Rasheed
Rasheed Hooda recently posted..One Day at a Time
Hi Rasheed,
Thank you for stopping by today.
Good to know I have something in common with you, Sir. I’m looking to get out and speak on a lot of the topics I write about, so would love to discuss that, but am open to talking about just about anything.
Glad you found me through Srini, and you are very welcome. Love what you had to say over there.
Thanks for the kind words and I look forward to what is coming over at your place.
Thanks again!
Thanks Craig. I have taken some steps to fulfill my passion and purpose. The work has only begun. Really appreciate you writing this inspirational post and for all your support and encouragement. Nothing like a kick in the butt on Monday morning. Yes sir. Take care brother and keep up the great work. Hope to speak soon.
Al
Al Smith recently posted..Let’s Go – Join the CARE-a-van!
Hi Al,
I know you have, and I love hearing about it and want to continue to hear about it!
My next set of posts will be similar to this one, but I also want to focus on “doing the work!” There is a reason I’ve read Steven Pressfield’s books over and over and over. Because the guy speaks the truth and you know what? It’s all about doing the work. No fluff.
Glad I gave you a kick in the butt. I don’t think you needed it, but what the heck.
Speak to you soon and thanks!
Ok, MLK I’ve got a dream……
In sales, we want to get to a point where we have ‘walk away power’. If it’s not a good fit, you have the sense and ability to just walk away, regardless the ‘size’ of the deal. Well guess what? That is where I feel I am in my life right now; I am content……
That’s not to say I still don’t want to achieve something spectacular, but with my walk away power attitude I can pick and choose.
See, if you set your sights low enough you will never be disappointed…….:).
I do some volunteer work where I do have the ability to impact somebody one on one; that is what has meaning for me. I’ll let you tackle world peace……
I truly am just happy to be here.
Bill Dorman recently posted..Time to move on Brian Meeks*
Hi Bill,
If you have a dream … act!
If you have that “walk away power” and you are content, that is great. But I think there are many who are not content with the standard boilerplate for life and really need a push (read me).
I like the term, “walk away power.” I guess you could say I’m working on that. Not that I want to walk away from anything in particular, but I do think that practicing what I’ve written above gives you a bit of freedom and the power to pick and choose down the road. Oh, and it brings some contentment.
I know about your volunteer work and I think that would be a great post, really. I know you’re a self deprecating kind of guy and don’t want to draw that type of attention to yourself, but I for one would love to hear about it, AND I think it would inspire others to do the same.
Glad you’re happy. One less person I have to motivate!
Hi Craig,
I don’t have a formula for success that is anything more than just put one foot in front of the other. Some of my goals are things that I speak of out loud and on the blog and others are just for me.
But in every situation the thing that I see slowing me down is not taking that first step. If you don’t push past the fear of failure you never have the chance to succeed. It is part of why I created a separate blog to try and write my book.
That was an active step towards fulfilling something that means a lot to me.
Jack@TheJackB recently posted..When Bloggers Sing- Technical Difficulties Edition
Hi Jack,
Well, is there a better formula? It comes down to doing the work and part of that is simply putting one foot in front of the other. It took a while for that to sink into my thick skull. But the first step is never easy, that’s for sure. It’s a good thing you and I have blogs, so we can speak out loud about our goals and have others give us a gentle nudge every once in a while. Some do it more often than others, but I appreciate that.
It’s great that you created a separate blog to try and write your book. I don’t picture you as a guy who needs to be pushed too hard to make things happen. You’re doing it yourself and took that first step. It’s so true that the things that scare you the most are usually the things you want / need to do.
Thanks, Jack!
Ok, I am not content! I never was and I never will be… really, people talk about finding contentment and I wonder how they feel that “this is it”. Ok, maybe you can be living a fulfilled life but there will be something you will be wanting to do – grow as a person, learn more, have some experiences and the only way to do that is to get up, get going and get it done.
As I see it, I feel that yes we are capable of living our dreams, but fulfilling one dream doesn’t mean you can’t have other dreams. Like I am 26 now, and I still believe I can totally change the world. Lots of people before me have believed it and lots of people younger to me are thinking the same; not to forget the other 26′ers with the same dream; some of us are trying, some of us are waiting for that change to happen. Maybe I won’t be able to change the world, but maybe I can start somewhere, at least instill the belief that change is a possibility!
I do sound like a 20 something out to change the world… eh?
Hajra recently posted..Will they call you over for a bloggers party?
Hajra,
Well then, you and I are in the same boat.
I agree that there is something you will always be wanting to act on, and we should always strive to learn more, but there is often that one thing (or two, or three 
). Call it your passion, your craft, whatever. Many don’t act on that and they sure miss out on a lot of fulfillment in their lives. That thing could be volunteering, becoming a nurse or starting a landscaping company.
I don’t subscribe to the notion that you have one specific calling, but you can certainly discover something that gives you THAT feeling along the way. It could certainly be more than one dream or vocation too … great point!
When I wrote that first line I was thinking of you.
Maybe you won’t be able to change the world, but maybe you will! Like you’ve written, at least you’re starting and you do believe that change is a possibility.
I say, go get ‘em, Hajra!!
So glad you stopped by to comment.
She sure carries the tune. “Live your dream, do not dream your life” is my favourite mantra. Go, Hajra, go!
Barbara recently posted..Vogel Gryff or To Whom The Bell Tolls
Thanks Barbara! You are just following me around everywhere! And did I mention how much I love you
Hajra recently posted..Blowing My Trumpet… Loud!
Shake your mane and let me hear you roar, Leo!
Barbara recently posted..Vogel Gryff or To Whom The Bell Tolls
I have a long black mane! And I love roaring
But I ain’t a Leo… a true balanced Libra!
Hajra recently posted..Will they call you over for a bloggers party?
Here’s to shaking your mane and roaring!
I’m seeing Hajra everywhere and I always love her comments.
[What is that special something you want to do?]
+ Start a movement or two. Make a difference. Do stuff that matters. Build a business around helping others put the screws to business-as-usual.
[Are you content with your life at this moment?]
+ Pretty much. Anything I might be lacking in my life is due to my not wanting it badly enough to go after it. Those obstacles in my path too big to go over can still be gotten around. Subvert the dominant paradigm.
[If you’ve turned dreams into action, what is your formula for success?]
+ Waking up to thinking about passion not in terms of WHAT, but WHY. That’s the first step to HOW. 2+ years into Gearbox, we just launched another beta. Scares the shit outta me, but we’re rolling with it. And it’s going to be awesome.
Brian Driggs recently posted..Chris Barba on Perspective
Mr Driggs,
So nice to see you here.
“Putting the screws to business-as-usual”
Sounds great to me.
“Those obstacles in my path too big to go over can still be gotten around.”
Love this even more.
Great point! Thinking in terms of WHY has helped me immensely. When you focus on your WHY things do start to come into place, and you’re often surprised at what springs forth … things you never thought of.
I wish you nothing but success with Gearbox. I’m not a gearhead by any stretch of the imagination, but I do enjoy auto sites quite a bit and have seen nothing like yours.
It’s obvious you are very busy!
Hey Craig,
Inspirationla as always. “Getting the butterflies to fly in formation”. Now THERE’s an image. Ha, love that one.
I see you have met your dream head on. Good on ya, man!
Funny thing is that when you were describing your life a bit somehow I can relate to the 20 and 30′s part. Weird but true. Maybe it was a pretty common attitide for kids born in the late sixties (yikes, that sounds OLD). Anyway, sometimes it doesn’t seem to be going fast enough but maybe that’s just ’cause I am north of 45 and probably half way up the hill already. “If I only started sooner” has now been tossed aside for “get your ever-loving ass is gear” and move.
Thanks again. Keep it real, dude!
Ralph Dopping recently posted..The CATastropy of a DOG’s (or God’s) world
Ralph,
I’d love to take credit for “Getting the butterflies to fly in formation,” but that was indeed 102-year-old Mr. Henricks! Now you want to talk about a wise old man.
Taking it on every day. The most fun I’ve had in years!
“If I only started sooner” has now been tossed aside for “get your ever-loving ass is gear” and move.
–I love that. I obviously have the same attitude.
I also like what Srini said in the comments:
“You always here people say things like “if knew what know now”, but the funny thing is they would never know what they know now without the experiences they have had and the mistakes they’ve made.”
But … “get your ever-loving ass is gear” works pretty damned well!
Thank you, Sir!! Keep at it!
Tnat Srini is one wise dude.
Ralph Dopping recently posted..The CATastropy of a DOG’s (or God’s) world
He is! Plus he’s interviewed the best.
Hey, Craig,
This post is an eye opener, great! While reading it occurred to me how much we delegate in our life to make things happen: to school, to family, to jobs, to doctors, to circumstances. As if life owes us something.
I wish I had known somebody like you when I was 20 but maybe I would have listened but not heard?
Thanks!
Barbara recently posted..Vogel Gryff or To Whom The Bell Tolls
Barbara,
I like writing eye-opening posts!
You alone are responsible, that’s why I keep linking to Mr. Hendricks. If you have a chance to talk to a 102-year-old, what do you do? Listen and you’ll have a new perspective on life
About starting whenever, I love what Ralph said above:
“If I only started sooner” has now been tossed aside for “get your ever-loving ass is gear” Has a ring to it!
You know Craig, each time I come to your site I feel like I’m connecting with a long lost friend of mine. Your articles are so REAL… I enjoy reading post that speak to a persons spirit versus their pockets. I love to read post that causes the human spirit to want to do better… to be better. It’s also the reason why I have such long comments whenever I do leave them. These type of post do something within me that makes me have so much to say… with that being said, I’ll make this as short as I can.
(Yeah right, who am I kidding… this was GOOD STUFF!)
I grew up feeling like a nobody, I didn’t really have any friends and the ones that I did have were there only out of convenience. Meaning, they stuck around with me, until someone better came along. This did absolutely nothing for my self-esteem. I tried my best to stand out and even tried to fit in, but the crap never worked for me in the way I desired for it too. Instead, it made me even more of a outcast/class clown. That’s probably around the time I realized I was pretty good at making people happy when they were around me, I figured that would work in my favor eventually. (Cure the wrong answer buzzer sound here) It did nothing for my popularity. My positive outlook, jokes, and lack of things it took to be cool, seemed to just make matters worse.
I went through most of my youthful existence trying to fit in. Which never really made sense to me, because I’m SO darn lovable. “How could they not like me? C’mon”
After many failed careers, ranging from a stint in the Navy and ending just three years ago as a flight attendant, I figured now was a better time as any to go after a lifetime dream of becoming a writer. I never attended college, and had convinced myself that I couldn’t be a writer until I was trained to do so. That was my excuse… and dang it, I was sticking to it!
I wanted more out of my life. I was thirty-three, had just lost my mom, and seriously unemployed with absolutely no prospects coming in, and plenty of applications and resumes going out. So yeah, I had time on my hand… too much actually. I would sit in our home in the woods at the time an just think. Where is my life going? Where do I want it to go? What do I want it to produce? Questions that I simply had no answers to kept popping up and causing me to have one of those “Peter Finch” moments you referred too.
I hate being idle. My mind goes too much with too many ideas floating around up there to be idle. So what I did first was become honest with myself and answered one of the questions that was bombarding me the most, “What’s actually holding me back from doing what I want to do?” The answer shocked me and disgusted me, all at the same time. What was stopping me, was me… Me, and all the crap I had been carrying around with me in invisible trash bags in my mind and thoughts. I’d talked myself out of goals, dreams, and ideas, that could have very well changed my life had I just acted on them.
In answering that question honestly, I realized that I needed to drop a lot of my old way of thinking and begin to retrain everything I knew about my own ideas, beliefs, behaviors, and habits. Everything about Deeone’s normal practices had to be reexamined and if they were keeping me from what I wanted, it had to change.
Today, because those things took place within me, I’ve done more in a year than I’ve ever done in my entire life. I’ve learned more than any school could have ever taught me. I’m happier and more confident in who I am because I dropped the blame game and took responsibility for my life. The BEST thing about all of this is that I’m just getting started, and I am constantly coming across post such as the one you’ve written that fuels my determination. So thank you for the encouragement and motivation, my friend! Very empowering post!
Deeone recently posted..The 7 Keys of Greatness: What makes the Great great?
Hi Deeone,
I’m glad you feel that way … and I guess I do bring out quite the commenter in you.
Very cool that you’re inspired and I do appreciate the fact that you do have so much to share here.
I grew up feeling very much the same way you did, so totally understand the feeling of trying to make others happy, laugh, whatever and just not quite fitting in. Strange how we can try so hard to fit in during our youth and be cast aside so easily. No matter how old you are, that hurts. It’s not until we get older that we understand we don’t have to fit in, really. We just need to find others who can relate.
It can be tough when we finally come to the realization that we can be our own worst enemy, huh? And carrying around all those feelings is quite the burden. It also strengthens the old reptilian brain it seems. Be afraid, be very afraid it says. And it is so easy to let all those goals and dreams just slip away because of the trepidation.
Just glad you came to a realization about your life and your self-limiting beliefs … and then dropped those old thought patterns.
The BEST thing I’ve read here is that you are just getting started. That is great to hear and it means we can expect plenty more from you this year! Great, man.
If I can motivate and encourage, I’m a happy man. Heck, you’ve motivated me!
Thanks! Really appreciate you sharing all this.
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