Attitude is everything. You’ve heard it said time and again, and it’s absolutely true. Your approach to life today actually decides what future you create.

While it’s certainly fulfilling to release your potential, it is much more important what kind of attitude you uphold in the process. Think for a moment. Is your approach to life creating a bigger and brighter future, or crashing the seed of greatness within you?

In today’s blog post, you will find a reason to pursue a great life.

You are Extraordinary

Although great people in our various domains inspire and motivate us to pursue greatness in our own lives, they also intimidate us, arguably. Thus, fixating on the vastness of their present achievements could leave us feeling so insignificant to the end that we contemplate the relevance of our own ambitions. We virtually forget we’ve been fashioned with distinct Purposes.

But as you may be all too familiar with, you were created for a unique assignment; this assignment necessitated your being and distinguishes you from the lot. Unquestionably, there are hundreds of thousands of great people in every single sphere of influence; but your assignment makes you relevant because no one else gets to impact the world as you’ve been created to.

As you read this post, remember that nobody started life as a great person. Obviously, some of us had greater advantages and environments that were more conducive to achievement. But we all have a single similarity, to say the least: each one of us started life as a baby with closed eyes and no knowledge at all. The cold, hard truth, however, is that by our decisions, some of us have developed less impressive lives than others. The good news is that by our decisions, as well, we could exhibit the greatness latent within us.

Irrespective of your goal – from learning a new skill to building a fortune – if you’re indeed bent on hitting top notch, three basic rules cannot be downplayed.

Rule 1 commands: ‘Do not despise your beginning;’ Rule 2: ‘Do not despise your beginning;’ And Rule 3: ‘Do not despise your beginning.’

What then does it mean to despise? The American Heritage Dictionary enlightens:

Despise: to regard as unworthy of one’s interest or concern

To better understand such a strong word as despise, let’s consider what it’s not: to admire, to cherish, to love, or to esteem.

In today’s bustling world, it’s quite easy to despise your life without even realizing it. Simply put, you despise your life when you do not release your potential.

You may be despising your beginning by not creating, and not living by a concrete plan; by not applying the knowledge you’ve gained over the years, or perhaps by not making any conscious efforts to impact lives.

The crucial role ‘cherishing your beginning’ plays in the path to greatness can be clarified by the inspiring story of Abraham Lincoln, one of the greatest orators in American history. A sound description of Abraham Lincoln’s formally uneducated background wouldn’t exactly portray that he could become a successful politician, let alone arguably the greatest president in US history:

Born to an illiterate father who eked out a living on one dirt farm after another, Lincoln grew up in the backwoods of Illinois in a cabin that was initially doorless, floorless and bedless. When he was nine years old, his father disenrolled him from school so he could work on the farm.

Lincoln then had to educate himself. He walked long distances across the countryside to borrow books from people, then read them in his few spare moments.

As a child, Lincoln was praised for his exceptional feats of memory – but they did not come to him naturally. He had to put considerable effort into memorizing things – copying out whole passages from books multiple times, for instance.

He did this without external support; indeed, if he was caught reading when he was supposed to be working, his father would sometimes beat him and destroy his books.

Leadership: In Turbulent Times(2018)

As Lincoln’s story illustrates, hope in the face of daunting life circumstances ought to fuel us to reach for greatness.

You Need a Solid Foundation

Every beginning is of inestimable value – it’s quite unfortunate that few people discover this truth.
Your beginning serves you an opportunity to establish a strong foundation; your foundation determines how far you go in life.

Just as it would be suicidal to raise a skyscraper on a two-storey foundation, success in life depends on what foundation you build.

Foundations specify strength.

In your beginning, you get to develop such fundamental traits that fortify your foundation: Responsibility, Resilience, Courage, Focus, Adaptability, Positive belief systems, Passion, Persistence, Planning, Relationships, Balance, Generosity, Integrity, and Wisdom.

You get to build strong convictions and values and acquire knowledge.

In your beginning, establish a strong foundation. In your beginning, define your life.

Vision is Progressive

Timing is fundamental for fulfilment. In time, the world is framed, and so in time, we get to release our creative powers. In time, we appropriate all progress and change. Our response to time decides what we see in our lives, and as beginners, it’d save us a great deal to recognize this truth.

Your Vision, however great, cannot be achieved in a single day. It takes time. It is worthy of note, therefore, that the fulfilment of vision results from a series of goals accomplished over time.

Thus, you must understand that however BIG your vision, its accomplishment resides ardently in your daily progress.

One profound way to measure a man’s commitment to a vision is to assess his daily goals.

Those baby steps really matter. Do something daily to move your dreams forward.

Mastery is a matter of choice.

Recently, I came across a quote that struck me:

“Mastery takes as long as you want it to take.”

I chose to believe this quote, and it’s wonderful what great heights it inspires in my life, particularly in the areas of personal development and skill acquisition.

Mastery takes as long as you want it to take. In the same vein, the fulfilment of your goals takes as long as you want.

One thing is certain: there are some factors in the environment that may affect your progress, but these should not hold you down.
Decide what you want in your life, and pursue it with all diligence.

“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you whatever keep moving forward.”
– Martin Luther King Jr.

Before you go….

Think for a moment. Wouldn’t you take crucial steps to develop a better you if you had a new beginning in the parts of your life that matter the most? I bet you would!

What can you do today to make your life better? What new actions and routines can you initiate to build a strong foundation?

This is your time to do exactly that! Instead of worrying about how unimpressive your present is; instead of focusing on the resources you lack today; rather than fixating on the BIG picture of your future, zoom in, and tune in to the present. Focus on today. Make the most out of it.

Decide to heighten your life today! Take Ownership of Yourself!