Are you the best possible version of you? Are you the person you want to be? Are you being the you that is fulfilled and happy? No…? Well why not?
So many people spend time waiting. You might ask, “What for?” And the honest answer is I don’t know, and most likely, neither do they. If you ask the question, you will get an answer, but it won’t be a real answer. Think about it – what would your answer be? Until you feel ready, until you’ve studied enough, until you’re good enough?
Do you think a great artist only ever created masterpieces? Is a talented musician a hit from the start? And even those that have achieved greatness in their field, do you think they always knew they were great? Of course not, but you can keep putting it off until you’re perfect and getting it right every time, at some point you have to just begin, but do so with the end in mind.
Start being the person you want to become. Walk the walk and talk the talk, and hold yourself to a higher standard as you continue to evolve. As you become happier, wiser, calmer, focused, whatever it is, notice how others around you change the way they behave towards you. When you behave as the person you strive to be, people will begin to treat you accordingly. Do you think Richard Branson or Steve Jobs clinched their first deal by behaving as if it was their first deal…?
Continue to ‘be’ that person even when no-one is around, especially when no-one is around. Live the life, walk the walk and talk the talk. You do not need permission from anyone to be the best you, the confident, funny, charming you. Just ask yourself what would that version of me do in different situations, cultivate and nurture the attitude and mindset of that ‘you’. Of course, you must also develop the ‘substance’. No-one wants a surgeon who looks and talks like a surgeon, but knows nothing about performing surgery, you must also have the knowledge and skills to back up the person you are becoming, otherwise you are just faking it.
You must be consistent though. Do you think Van Gogh or Beethoven took days off from being creative geniuses? They may have taken time off from the act of composing or painting, but they were still geniuses, and would have conducted themselves us such, even when they weren’t creating, and so must you if you want to make it happen for you! Brush your teeth like a millionaire, order your coffee like a spiritual guru, make dinner like a saint, answer the phone like you are already the best you, but whatever you do, whoever you are going to become, START NOW!
And that can be a little scary, because you’re venturing in to unknown territory because you’ve never been the person you will be. But then if no-one has ever been the best you before, how can you get it wrong? You can’t! In fact, there is no-one better qualified for the role than you, so just get out there and do it, but remember to pay attention and take feedback and adjust accordingly. So often we get wrapped up in ‘what could go wrong’ that we don’t wonder often enough, ‘what could go right?’ But for all of this to happen, you have to start…