Reflections on chapter one.
With the start of the new year, I was reinvigorated into improving myself in all aspects of my life. This book was highly recommended by my wonderful husband, Steve, and I have finally set aside the time to read and study this particular book.
I plan on taking it pretty slow, a chapter a day, in the morning’s before work. I start work at 6am, which means I’m CHOOSING to get up between 5:00am and 5:15am every day to read.
I began Part One: Unleash Your Power by reading chapter one: Dreams of Destiny. Robbins spends most of this chapter introducing himself, outlining the purpose of the book, and giving readers a taste of what is to come and welcoming them into discovering themselves and their potential in a whole new way.
On page 19, Robbins talks about how his past frustrations and failures actually helped build the foundation for him to truly understand a different level of living he will enjoy. In a matter of a dozen years, he went from being a janitor to the man he is now. I don’t know a lot about him as a person or his journey, but from point A to B is impressive.
I’ve been focusing a lot on my goals, how to accomplish them, and what over the years has gotten in the way of me achieving these dreams. The most common answer I discovered? Me. Yes, you read me right, I get in my way.
Let me tell you a very short story. A few years back I missed a single day of blogging after three months of blogging every single day, and I let that one failure propel me into giving up completely for the remainder of the year stating, “well, maybe next year!” If you’re anything like me reading this now, it sounds pretty ridiculous.
How is this year different? I will forgive myself. If I miss a day (I don’t actually plan on blogging every single day), it’s okay. It’s not the end of the world. I just need to pick myself up and do it tomorrow. The same goes if I miss a day of walking or I have that craving for ice cream that overcame me.
On page 21, Robbins states to not “major in minor things.” What I got out of this is to set my standards high. To work for what I really want, and not settle on lesser because it is easier. I actually want my journey to be difficult. I want to feel struggle. I want to fight for my future.
To Robbins, “for changes to be of any true value, they’ve got to be lasting and consistent.” (23) I am currently in the stage of building many habits. Right now, it’s not about running for an hour (a task that sounds terrible to me), but about creating the discipline for the hard work to build on—to build my foundation. So for the month of January, my fitness goal is to walk for at least 10 minutes a day. Both days I have done this so far, I have exceeded the time limit. That 10 minute minimum is more for days when I don’t feel like walking at all (or the rain will not cease). The same goes for my daily writing goals of 15 minutes a day. In the greater scheme of things, but this foundation I am building now is meant to last, and I need to be consistent.
“You see, in life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know. Knowing is not enough, you must take action!” -Tony Robbins, Awaken The Giant Within.
I know what to do, and I am executing it. I am taking each day new, letting failures and frustrations build my foundation for the life I want to live. This is a call to action, and I am answering the call.
Here’s to a better future, starting from within.
In the immortal words of Julie Andrews from The Sound of Music, “Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.”
She Thinks 