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I sincerely hope your day is filled with adventure.

Better adventure than this one.

I hope it ends better, too.

image via Brain Pickings

OK, listen. before you hate…

In fairness, I can’t recommend Pessoa’s writings or endorse his philosophies. They just don’t line up with my world view or beliefs. At all.

But… this one isolated quote is great.

Potential is a beautiful thing, but it will remain potential unless it is leveraged to make plans, develop strategies and turned into actual work. Potential will never turn to success unless there is effort applied.

Potential is a deposit. A down payment. An investment. Potential is the beginning.

The question is, “What will you do with your potential?”

The question is, “Are you willing to take some risks?”

The question is, “What will you do to develop your potential?”

It’s easy to blame shift and come up with excuses for our own inability to develop in our giftings and abilities. The truth is, it’s on us. Nobody else. God has invested in you. He’s placed in you a deposit called potential. He placed it in you for you to develop it and grow it. He placed it in you to give you an opportunity to make an amazing contribution to this world. One that only you can make.

… I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’ “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’

(Matthew 25:25-27 NLT)

Don’t be that guy. Do something with your potential.

Turning your potential to success is your “water to wine” miracle.

It’s a set-up. A good set-up.

You can do this.

I believe in you.

I think we are far too concerned about things that don’t matter. Things like wondering if doing what you do will really make a difference in the world. Or sometimes, wondering if anyone will notice that you’ve done it. These kind of things are fairly well off-point for us. It really shouldn’t matter if what you do is world changing or life changing. It only matters that it’s what you do best.

Some days we just need to be thankful for doing something we’re good at doing. That should be good enough. Even for me. Even for you.

I’m pretty sure that Shakespeare had no idea the effect that his work would continue to have on the world centuries after his final breath. However, his art has continued to be the focus of countless hours of reading, study and conversation even into our generation.

He was like you. He had no idea.

I’m sure like all artists with egos, he wanted to change the world. He probably had days, if not years, of self doubt. Days he didn’t “feel” like writing. Days it would have been easier to go back to sleep. Days it seemed pointless to add any more words to the library. Days when the point of it was elusive.

The next time you have one of those bouts with trying to find the courage to look for the point of doing what you do, remember this: you and Shakespeare are two peas in a pod.

Shakespeare had no idea. Neither do you.

Have you ever wondered where some of our modern phrases originated? Below is a short list of phrases that are a part of our everyday conversations that all have something in common. Look them over carefully. Remember them.

The common thread?

Shakespeare gave them to us. I bet some of them even came out on days when he wondered if his work could ever make a difference.

• Knock knock! Who’s there?
• Heart of gold
• So-so
• Bated breath
• In a pickle
• Seen better days
• Wear your heart on your sleeve
• Full circle
• Green eyed monster
• Dead as a doornail
• The world is your oyster
• Wild goose chase
• Too much of a good thing
• Be all/ end all
• Vanish into thin air
• Naked truth
• Break the ice
• Makes your hair stand on end
• Love is blind
• A piece of work
• Brave new world
• Come what may
• Laughing stock
• Fight fire with fire

All of these phrases, still in use today, from one man doing what he did best.

Thank you, Mr. Shakespeare. You had no idea what an impact you would have on our world almost 400 years after your death.

Now to the rest of you:

There’s something to be said about doing what you do best. You should do that… and let the work take on a life of its own.

That’s what it does best.

You can do this.

You almost have the gorilla beat.

He’s getting so tired he can hardly stand it.

Success is yours.

It’s closer than you think.

Hang in there.

You got it!

Cheering you on today!!!

According to Dr. Math it would take you over 30 years to count to a billion.

“Counting non-stop, at one number a second, it would take you 31 years, 251 days, 7 hours, 46 minutes, and 39 seconds to count to 1 billion. Here’s how I came up with that figure: To count to 1 billion would take 999,999,999 seconds, because the timer would start as soon as the person says “one”, one second would have passed when the person says “two,” and so on.”

My initial thoughts:

Who counts a billionaire’s money to verify they actually have that much?

Does it take 30 years to verify a billionaire’s status?

By the time they get done counting it, wouldn’t their net worth have changed several times?

What if you lose count somewhere in the tens of millions?

I think about these kinds of things.  I suppose now you do, too.

You’re welcome.

You can get the rest of the story here.

We all like to know the deep secrets of the universe, ESPECIALLY if there’s a shortcut involved.

A headline like this really builds anticipation, right?

So, are you ready for the life-changing content the title promised you? Are you sitting down? Brace yourself. Here we go.

Amazing shortcuts to greatness… don’t exist!!!

That’s right, there are no amazing shortcuts to greatness, or anything worth your aspirations. Sure, there are those who are “”struck by lightning” or become “overnight sensations,” but the they are very few and far between and are mostly short-lived stories of too much too fast and a recipe for shipwreck. To put it simply, shortcuts short-circuit the process that makes us the real deal.

You do want to be the real deal, right?

Sure you do.

I don’t think anybody decides they want to be a fake or a sham or a pile of hype, but looking for shortcuts opens the door for you to be deluded – deluded into thinking that there is an easier way to get where you want to go, but people just don’t know about it yet. Anything worth doing, anything worth aspiring to has a price tag attached to it.

Let’s be real for a moment. The price of becoming may just be more than we want to pay. The life you desire is a series of steps. Some of those steps are bigger than others, but there is no quality life outside of the steps it takes to get there.

I used to joke with my kids when we were stuck in traffic that someone should invent a helicopter car for just such times. Feeling stuck or trapped will cause you to look for workarounds or shortcuts, and there may be some available to you. They always have a price tag, too. Usually a hidden one.  Usually a big one. Usually bigger than the price of actually taking the necessary step to be the real deal.

Becoming the real deal is a recipe that includes hard work, desire, passion, hunger, resolve, and patience. It includes a commitment to a lifetime of learning, growing and becoming better all the time. It includes staying focused on doing whatever it takes to be the real deal – whatever it cost, however long it takes, no matter how many steps are involved in the process.

The next time someone tries to con you into thinking you can skip important steps, remember this illustration and chuckle to yourself:

Enjoy the steps.

Enjoy the journey.

Take joy in getting there.

No shortcuts, ok?

“Often the difference between a successful person and a failure is not one has better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on one’s ideas, to take a calculated risk – and to act.”
~  Andre Malraux  (French Historian, Novelist and Statesman, 1901-1976)

I talk a lot about risk. When I do, I’m not referring to the gambling kind. That kind can needlessly endanger your life, ruin relationships and set you up for failure. To me, that isn’t risk – its stupidity. That kind rarely counts the cost.

What I mean when I talk risk is the calculated kind – the controlled experiment. The confidence to do what you know you can do, regardless of who else believes. Daring to reveal something to us that we might not know we need, want or like yet. That kind of risk is harder, because the risk is internal.

If it was easy, everyone would do it. That’s why everyone doesn’t.

Many dreams, plans and talents are aborted because there is no courage to take action. Face it, if you can’t find the courage to believe in yourself why should we? It all starts with you. It starts with a vision, a decision, a step – all of which are controlled, calculated and purposeful.

You must decide that the personal internal risk is worth it. The risk of trying and failing has far less consequences than allowing fear to kill your contribution before you ever offer it.

Make a decision. Believe in yourself. Take a calculated risk. There is no other path to real success.