The Greg V Miller Blog Spot

I had big plans this weekend to work on the website for my business and go out and get some other things done, but did any of that happen? Nope. I was home hoping my head didn’t explode because I wasn’t feeling well. All day Saturday I lay on the couch drinking tea, eating soup, and blowing my nose. I wasn’t able to focus and I felt so unproductive. Set backs are a part of life, but you have to learn not to take them too personally. Just get up and keep moving forward. So you didn’t get to do what you wanted this weekend. It shouldn’t take away from you achieving your goal.

Always See the Bigger Picture

Whether you’re trying to launch a blog, start an IT Consulting company, or write a book (i’m doing all the above). Each one of those things have individual components that make up the whole. It’s not frustrating that I didn’t get to do one of the components, it’s frustrating that I can see the bigger picture and my lack of inactivity didn’t help to getting closer to it. On the flip side of that, knowing the bigger picture is what will keep you motivated to keep going and pursuing your goal.

Know Your Limits

Could I have pushed myself to work despite the running and stuffed nose, despite the muscle aches and headache. Probably, but I don’t think I would have been as productive as I could have been. Then again, I’m always reminded that if Jordan was able to play a game with flu like symptoms, I should be able to sit here and work on a website. Now thinking about it, it actually feels like I’m just making excuses for myself.

Don’t Beat Yourself Up

Even if I really could have worked although I was not feeling well. I can’t beat myself up over it. I just have to continue to focus on the big picture, recognize my limits, and keep moving forward.

How many of you didn’t get to do what you wanted this weekend? Or this week?

“Look in the mirror ask yourself who are you, if you don’t know who you are how can your dreams come true” – 50 Cent

I can specifically remember being in high school and the importance that teachers and my guidance counselor put on setting goals in life. Now at the time I thought it was all bologna. It wasn’t until after I was out of high school that I understood exactly what they meant. Part of the reason I probably had a hard time understanding the concept was because I didn’t know who or what I wanted to be in life.

This concept of knowing who you are is probably why it takes some people years to get their stuff together. Why people in their 30′s, 40′s, and yes even 50′s have not achieved the things they thought they would achieve or are struggling day by day to survive. When you understand who you are, when you can look in the mirror and say “this is me”, it does something. There is a confidence behind you, a swagger that you’ll have. You put yourself in a position where you can move forward and put one foot in front of the other without skipping a beat. Knowing yourself is knowing what you want out of life, seeking out the knowledge and understanding to get those things, and then letting nothing stand in your way. Once you have reached that point, you can set goals for yourself to achieve and start to build upon the benchmarks of success.

Dictionary.com defines success as “The achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted.” Our desires and passions are tied directly to who we are. Confidence allows us to have the mindset and belief that we can achieve our desires. Once we’ve achieved them success is the end result. There’s a logical order to this

1. Know who we are

2. Have confidence in who we are

3. Go after what we want

4. Achieve success in our desired endeavors

So I guess the real question is how do you learn who you are? Is there a process or steps that you can take to figure this out?

I wasn’t very confident with leaving home and going to college to study Engineering. Mainly because that wasn’t who I was or where I wanted to be. When I actually figured out that I wanted to learn more about computers and go into IT, I was on the road to discovering who I was. While there is no blueprint for figuring out who you are there are some tips I would like to offer.

- Think about the times in your life that make you the happiest. The people, the places, what you were doing. Sometimes small events are clues to uncovering what you like.

- What strikes your curiosity? What is it that you want to learn about and drives you to find out more of?

- When you are somewhere you don’t want to be, what is the first thing that comes to mind? It is probably where you would rather be.

- Take a break from everything. Even if just for 10 or 15 minutes. Find time for yourself without the distraction of television, work, or anyone else. Sit quietly and contemplate on your present mindset and what you like or dislike about it.

Our success in life is directly tied to who we are. Once we figure that out we can actually set goals for ourselves. Achieving those goals is what allows us to grow as individuals.

Have you discovered who you are and set out to achieve your goals? I’d like to know.

I remember when I was in second grade and was asked what I wanted to be when I grow up. I immediately knew I wanted to be a scientist. What kind of scientist or what exactly did that entail? I had no idea. When we’re that young we may say we want to be a fireman or a musician or maybe even a professional athlete. In reality at that age we don’t yet have a true concept or understanding of what being those things entails.

As I grew and up and experienced different things, I no longer wanted to be a scientist. Honestly all through high school I had no idea what I wanted to be but there was always a strong push towards engineering. Growing up I was one of those kids who loved building planes and cars with legos, creating paper airplanes, and yes I even had an Erector set. My guidance counselor, teachers, and classmates all said that this is what you should be and to me it seemed like the logical career choice for me to take.

So what happened? I made it to college, stayed on campus, made some friends, and then I left. I hated it. I realized when I got there and my back was up against the wall that I didn’t want to be an engineer. It’s funny how when you’re somewhere you don’t want to be you immediately are able to figure out where you should be. And at that moment I set forth a plan that if you were to connect the dots would ultimately lead from that moment 10 years ago to me writing this post.

When asking the question, what do you want to be when you grow up, we all immediately think that it’s only a question you ask a child. What i’ve come to learn is that it is a question you will ask yourself at different points in your life. Sometimes when you reach your goals and have fulfilled that question, you have to ask it again. That is where I am at in life right now, still in my 20′s and asking myself once again the timeless question. And once again I am setting forth plans to get me there. And who knows, 3 years, 5 years, 10 years from now. It may be time to ask the question once again.

What did you want to be when you grew up and how is this different from where you are today?

I’m pretty sure most of us can recall our academic experience probably from kindergarten all the way to, well for me college. I was always a good student. A’s and B’s on my report cards and honor roll every marking period. You know, one of the kids most of you probably didn’t like. As I think back to those times something that stands out is that I never felt like I was ever giving my full 100%. I was always able to do well with what to me I considered minimal effort. And with that I never understood why school was so hard for some and not for others.

So I guess the real question is, how much effort do we actually put into our activities and our daily lives?

How many of you out there feel like there’s so much more. As if your potential has yet to be tapped or tested. As much as we hate scrutiny and bad circumstance in life, isn’t it those tests, those moments of resistance that help us discover who we are and guide us in the direction of who we need to be, not who we want to be.

What result has minimal effort yielded for me? A modest income, financial independence from others, the ability for me to pay my own rent, buy my own things, a wife. I guess what I really should be asking is if minimal effort has helped me to get the things I want, what will maximum effort yield for me?

Maybe it’s about time that for once in my life I find out. I’m taking a leap. A leap that i’ve only talked about, read about, and played with for the past year or so. It’s a leap of self discovery, a journeydown a new road, and an adventure I hope not to regret. What i’m talking about is tapping my potential through creative pursuits such as writing, blogging, and starting my own business venture. It starts with this blog and where it ends is going to be up to my imagination.

We all get to the point in our life where minimal effort is not enough anymore and we have to discover for ourselves what exactly we’re capable of. The world is changing and complacency in the corporate world and in our lives is being phased out by the evolving of people wanting to be themselves and arranging their work around their life as opposed to the other way around.

This is my journey, and this is my story and I welcome all who want to be apart of it to come aboard and also, share yours.