24 Jul Happiness and initiative
I hope you enjoy the following happiness related article from the newsletter of Jon Gordon. Jon is “the energy guy” and energy is obviously important for happiness so if you’d like to find out more go to www.jongordon.com.
I remember, as a high school athlete, being frustrated that college football recruiters were not calling me or sending me letters to come to their school. Turns out I was a good football player but not good enough to garner national attention. So instead of waiting for them to contact me I put two VCR’s together (there wasn’t any digital editing software or even DVDs back then) and made a highlight tape of my best plays and sent the tape to several coaches. I had never done something like this before, after all I was only 17, but just figured out how to do it and did it.
About a month later I started getting letters and calls to visit schools. My highlight tape worked and coaches wanted me to play for their teams. Ironically I wound up going to Cornell to play lacrosse instead of football but this experience taught me the importance of initiative.
I learned that positive actions have positive consequences; that initiative transforms potential possibilities into more likely probabilities; and that we are the co-creators of our destiny. I believe we all have a purpose and a destiny but our action is required to fulfill them.
I think too many people sit around waiting for things to happen… thinking that if it’s meant to be then by some spiritual osmosis it will happen. We wait for God to do something while God is actually waiting on us. We are a significant part of the equation. Without initiative we will never become the people we were born to be and we will never do all the great things we are here to do.
Now this doesn’t mean we should force things or take action just for the sake of doing something. Initiative involves mobilizing and focusing your energy (thoughts, words, choices and actions) to attract something you desire.
Thus the first question you will want to ask is, what do I desire? What am I feeling called to do? Would I like to attract more clients? Get a promotion? Have better health? Enhance my professional or financial success? Find more joy and peace? Start a non- profit? Forgive someone who wronged me? Just begin by identifying that one thing that has been really been stirring within you… that one thing that is calling you to action.
Then you will want to ask yourself, what is the one thing I could do to realize my desire? What initiative do I need to take? Instead of waiting for something to happen what is the one thing I could do to help make it happen now. What fear has been holding me back that I need to let go of and turn over to God in order for me to trust and take action today?
Then with all the positive energy you can muster, TAKE ACTION and let go of the outcome. Initiative doesn’t always create the exact outcome we want but I believe it leads to an even better outcome than we could have imagined for ourselves. When we take initiative we become a magnet for all the people, synchronistic events, good fortune and life lessons that guide us towards our destiny. So what are you waiting for?