Month: April 2013

I can sit back and wait for the universe to align and provide me that magical opportunity to make it or I can decide my own fate and seek out opportunity. What simply matters is my willingness to do. Am I willing to leave the comfort of familiarity for the unknown in hopes that the decisions I have made will be the right one? Am I willing to settle for mediocrity knowing that there could have been more? Ultimately, am I willing to live the rest of my life wondering what could have been had I just stepped out of the known. Over the next few weeks I am going to do things that I have never done before. I will either succeed or fail along the way, but I won’t know unless I try. I have ambitions to design and build, to learn and grow. But just how far am I willing to go to see the dreams come alive?

It is so easy to become complacent. But for what? If I don’t like my current situation, why am I willing to settle? And to what length will I go to at achieve what I want? I can sit here and talk about doing. Or ponder ideas of making something work. But unless I am willing to put “pen to paper” nothing will happen. I get that everything takes risk. And in order to achieve I must be willing to sacrifice what I have now for what I want in the future.

Like I said over the next few weeks I will make changes in my life towards what I want. No longer will I sit idly by and let chance decide my fate. If any one will be responsible for my successes or failures it will be me.  A responsibility that I whole accept.  

What are your goals? What are you willing to give up to achieve your goals?

Have you every wanted to do something and never made work? Had time just slipped away from you and the next thing you know, years had gone by. Well why? What caused you to put off your goals? Did you find that your day was filled with too much stuff? That work was too daunting or stressful and zapped all your motivation to do? Is your family life hectic from day to day in such a way that all your time is taken attending to certain matters?  

But is it? 

How much of our time is wasted doing so much of the mundane activities that we have lost sight of what our desires or goals are? Think about it. We spend time at are jobs getting worked up over matters that honesty don’t matter. We stress financial matters simply because we have spent more than we make. Or to look at it another way, we spend out time consumed with nonsense. Time is spent in the car s we travel to and fro. Time is spent on the internet looking up whatever it is we do. Hours are spent updating status or getting upset because we didn’t get the invite. 

But why? 

If none of it really matters in the end, why do we put off what we desire simply to be? If our time is so costly, why is it that we neglect spending time doing the things we enjoy? We need to manage our priorities better and allot the bulk of our time to the good times spent with our family or enjoying our hobbies. 

So step away from the computer, put down the gadget, and spend that time doing, enjoying life before its too late.

-Matt

Well it has been a few days since I have written something. And of the past few days I have been thinking a lot about commitment and fear of failure.

So here is what I have gotten so far:

I often wonder what would happen if I committed to the things I want to do. How would my life be? Would I find fulfillment in the things I do? 

Honestly, what’s holding me back? Is it my own preconceived fear of failure? Am I afraid to leave my comfort? In the end, is the failure so extreme that all will be completely lost. I was listening to a podcast recently and the host was talking about a similar situation. They suggested “that the worst any given situation would become would be him sleeping on his in-laws couch eating their food while he looks to rebuild his life. ” (Johnny B Truant and Joel Runyon.)

How true is this? Very true. My family wants me to succeed. And if I happen to fail, they will support me. So why am I still failing to commit? It basically comes down to me. I must act. I must commit to something. If I am going to be successful under my own terms, I have to step away from the known and into the unknown. And even then, is the the unknown really the unknown? Maybe I fear what I can not control. Is the business that I start going to be successful? Are the products that I am creating desired? And you know what, even these questions are relatively known. If I create a product that no one likes, I am bound to fail. If the business does not create repeat customers I am going to fail. 

So over the course of the next few weeks I am going to commit to several things. Eventually, they will be posted here. The idea is to motivate. Motivate you and I to commit to something and to go through the process together. 

Here are two questions you should ask yourself;

What are you willing to commit too? and, What fears cause you to second guess your own commitment? 

http://biggerbetterstrongerfaster.com/3/ – “How To Play The “Worst Case Scenario” To Put Your Problems In Their Place.”

“Bad people will fail because you ask too much of them. Good people will successed because you have given them enough.”

Man this whole writing thing is difficult. Sure, I knew coming into it that it would be difficult coming up with things to talk about on a regular basis. But so far so good. I have started to become more active on twitter, @matteveland, so follow me if you would like too. I also created a page where I am going to start posting photos that I have taken. I figure if I enjoy them you may as well.

-Matt

Today I spent the afternoon walking about the city. We checked out a few shop and even had lunch. It was a great day over all. One thing did strike me however. This one thing was to just relax. I didn’t have a care in the world this afternoon. Nothing could have been better. I wonder why it can be like this all the time. 

Why do the events of life seem to take such a toll on our happiness? It’s not as if the world is out seeking our demise. So what makes us get so caught up in the things that surround us that we look sight of what we enjoy?

I hear a lot about sphere of concern/influence and only try to control what we can. Some even go a step further and suggest that ever event is a direct result of our actions. I don’t see this as true. Sure you can change your immediate surroundings. and you can influence those you interact with. But there are somethings that are naturally going to fight the system. Actually, there are those things that are the system. I mean, the institutions that we have created in our society, workplaces, and even homes impact our environment and attitudes more than we tend to think. These areas work in such as was that rules and regulations begin to dictate everything that we do.

There is no longer room for creativity. Your opinion becomes moot. Eventually, the very institution that you have accepted, voids you of all worth. But yet people are full of ideas and creativity. People have given us what we have today and they still continue to progress into the future. Almost as if the universe was separating the world into those that work and those that create. And those that work allow those to create. 

There needs to be a balance. I would love to create. I would love to explore the world and experience all that it has to offer. But I need to survive, I need to support my family.

So, I will continue to do is play both sides. I will work until I no longer have too. And I will create until thats all I become. 

-Matt

Motivation is was drives us to perform. Motivation convinces us to act. But are we motivated for the right reasons? What motivates you to succeed? Is the pursuit with the reward?  Does the gratification of knowing push you? What about the challenges to achieve the outcome?

The comfort of the known, cultivates stagnation.

I for one enjoy the things I know. I do not like to venture from the known out of fear of losing my safety netting. What I have is great. But what I desire is so much more. I often think about what could have been if I just took the risk. If I would have just let go of the handrail. Well in part this website is exactly that. For many years I have been telling myself that I should do it create or design something. And for years I have been putting it off. But not now. I am leaving my familiar environment and stepping out. So far this is my third entry. And this site may never get the following of others. But you know what matters? I am doing it. I am seeking what it is I want to do. And in the future I hope to venture out further into other areas. Yes, there are risks of failure and embarrassment. But I am willing to forgo those to do what I want too. To achieve what I desire. And to become more than I am now. 

Even within the very infancy of this site I have already began to find some challenges. Challenges like actually creating the site, determining what I am going to write about, or finding the time to write out my ideas. So far I have been doing extremely well, but the site is still young.

Here is to the future and all that it may hold.

I thank you got stopping by. Leave a comment if you would like. if you have any questions or concerns you can contact me via the contact page.

-Matt 

Have you ever wondered what your full potential could be? You sit there thinking what could have been if only you had done something different. If only you had the resources at your disposal, your life would be completely different. I view the world as having three groups of people. There are those that are simply great. Those that have to work at it. And finally, those that do nothing. To achieve what you want in life takes time. And more important than time, it takes effort. Your life will only begin to change when you genuinely seek change. And it begins when you change your attitude from woe is me mentality. No one is going to look out for you. Why? Because you don’t matter. Let us be honest, you don’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Your time here on earth is merely fractions of thousands of seconds in the colossal comparison of time.

You can choose to sit there and sulk over whatever is keeping you down or you can step out and seek betterment. By seeking to challenge yourself, you grow. This growth is not some imaginary concept. It is real. You find what allows you to perform better. You find what drives your motivations. And ultimately, you determine what it is your great at. And it is at this point that you define yourself. You have stopped being the careless. You worked passed those that work simply to work to be. And now you are one of the greats.

If you want to be destined for greatness don’t listen to those that will hold you back. They want to watch you fail because they themselves can’t achieve. Don’t become stagnant. Seek challenges to motivate yourself until you find what drives you. And when that time comes that you have found your drive, push until you are simply the best. 

-Matt

Imagine you’re working at your job. Your boss tells you that this hot new task needs to be completed within the next two months. You gladly accept it, thinking to yourself, “I have all the time in the world to complete this.” You over the next few days you get to some of it here and there, all the while thinking, “two months is a long time for this.” A few weeks go by and you have done about a quarter of what it is you need to completed. You still have time. You show up to work on morning, all excited to complete you task. You boss walks in and ask you this question, “Why haven’t you completed that task I assigned you two months ago?” “Crap how did he know.” You say to yourself. Your mind races with all the things you did instead of this task. You seek answers. Then you blurt out, “Well if so-and-so would have helped me I would have done it by now.” So at this moment you have just blindsided your co-worker. Or to use another term, you threw them under the bus. In this brief instance you have saved yourself. The focus is now off of you and on the other person. Your boss leaves intent on speaking with the second person. You sit at your desk thinking, “Wow that other guy is screwed. I’m glad I’m not him.” you go back to doing what it was you did for the last two months, nothing.

Do you see a problem with this? You have failed to own your failures. You cast fault on to a second unsuspecting person who probably did nothing to warrant this action. The sad reality is that all the blame rest solely on you. You simply failed to complete the task.

This is what I do not understand. Why can’t you own your failures? You missed the opportunity, blame yourself. You missed a deadline, blame yourself. Sure there are things outside your control, like the speed at which the bureaucracy moves. But you can plan for it. You can adjust for its limitations. But you don’t.

All I ask is this, please do not throw me under the bus so you can save face.

-Matt