You Don't Get a Pass nor Should You Want One

     You don’t get a pass and neither do I.  Neither of us has reached the level of success we desire. In your day to day dealings you see many other successful people.  These are the people who are living their dream.  They are sought after for their expertise, unique abilities or amazing charisma.  They have achieved some of their goals and are well on their way to achieving many more. You are happy for their success but you long to have yours too.

     This is where the discussion gets tough.  Do you know the reason you haven’t achieved the success you desire?  It is the lack of money?  Have you not had the opportunities others have been given?  Have you given your best effort and it just wasn’t good enough? All of these questions could be true but they are not the reason you haven’t achieved your success.  Those are just symptoms.

      The real reason you have not achieved the success you desire lives somewhere within you.  

      “How can I say that?  I don’t know you.  I don’t know your struggles.  I don’t know what you have or you haven’t done.  I’m just guessing.  If success was so easy everyone would have it.  I think I know so much but in reality, I don’t know jack.  I’m just sitting behind this computer typing in judgement.”

      This is the typical thinking when someone outside of you says you are the reason you have not achieved success.  Yet regardless of your response it is still true or at least you should accept it as true.  The reason you should accept it as true is to avoid giving yourself a pass.

      Do you want to be successful?  If the answer is no then you can close the tab and stop reading now. If the answer is yes, which it must be if you are reading this, then you must accept responsibility.  When you don’t accept responsibility and give yourself a pass, you diminish the power you have within.  What you need to realize is that in order to have your success your power cannot be diminished.  You must know that what you want can and will be achieved.  There is nothing that can stop you.  However, giving yourself a pass can definitely harm you.

    There are two ways that you can give yourself a pass and both are equally detrimental.  The first way is to stand in judgement of your own self.   You do this by beating yourself up for making mistakes.  You do this by having fear that you aren’t enough and success may not be for you.  You do this by not having faith that your success will come if you just keep working on it.  This is the “I am not enough pass”.

   The second way you can give yourself a pass is to play the victim.  This is when you blame all of the outside circumstances as the reason you haven’t achieved your success.  You have so many other responsibilities that have kept you from being able to work on the things you want to do.  You weren’t raised in a household that taught you how to be successful.  You were blocked from your success because of your race, gender or sexual orientation.  You just aren’t as smart as the competition.  This is the “I am a victim pass”.

     The reason you don’t get a pass because neither of those passes is true.  You are more than enough and you are no one’s victim.  You should never want to believe you are not enough.  You should never want to believe you are a victim.  You don’t want either of those passes because both of them diminish your power.    

      Do you know how powerful you are?  Most likely you do not.  You most likely have plenty of examples where you were powerless or so it seemed.  Whether you are 20 years old or 70 years old you have great power within you.  Do not let your past or current circumstances define your power.  Regardless of your circumstances your power is still there.  You may have this power but that doesn’t mean you have figured out how to tap into it.  Tapping into it is the reason you were born.  Tapping into it is your life mission.

    The list of things you can overcome with your power is infinite. With your power you can find the right opportunities.  With your power you can get better every day so that today’s efforts will always be better than yesterday’s.  With your power you can take a failure and turn it into an improvement.  With your power you can put in the work and find people to work for you or with you to gain the level of success you seek.  Your power is vast and you must embrace it as the only path to your success.      

     So how do you tap into this great power from within?  That answer will be uniquely different for each and every one of you. However, there is a great chance that one of these 5 suggestions will help you determine your answer to unleashing the power you have within.

1. Believe in Your Power

• Affirm it
• Be grateful for it

2. Remove Beliefs that Limit Your Power

• I am not enough
• I am not worthy
• I don’t know enough
• I can’t succeed in this environment
• I can’t handle the workload
• I don’t have enough time
• I must be perfect

3. Take Action

• Create powerful habits
• Try. Fail. Improve. Try Again. Repeat.

4. Open Your Mind

• Learn from others
• Get out of your comfort zone

5. Take Responsibility

• Search for ways to improve
• Never play the victim

     This is your life and you must live it.  If you want to live it to the fullest you must decide today that you will not take a pass.  If you aren’t achieving the success you desire you must take full responsibility for it.  This will not be easy as there will be extenuating circumstances you can point to as to why you haven’t achieved that success.  

     However, you have too much power to allow any of those circumstances to stop you.  If you take the pass you will diminish that power.  Therefore, you don’t want the pass.  Tell them they can keep it.  Your power is undeniable and you will do everything within your power to succeed. What you will find is that when you access all of your power it is more than enough to do exactly that.  As always, I wish you the best and remind you to enjoy the journey.

With Gratitude,

Drew