Have you ever heard something that flipped a switch inside your brain that sparked ideas and insights that created a powerful sense of enlightenment? A comment that someone made that lit a fireball of ideas inside your body that created an internal necessity to take action?
I still remember the moment this happened to me. Sitting at home surfing the television like, Kelly Slater, and then all of a sudden sensing this gravitational pull that stopped my finger from hitting the channel up button. I was looking for a sports game, but suddenly found myself attentively zoned in on an interview featuring Will Smith. (Yes I realize I use him as an example all the time, but the dude is a complete stud).
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_qe10cOWVI[/embedyt]
“If you are not making someone else’s life better, you are wasting your time. Your life will become better, by making other lives better.” – Will Smith
This advice rang through my ears, as I ran to my room and in a Jerry Maguire-like mindset created my “memo” a children’s Inspirational Children’s Book. Read about how this came to fruition here: How Will Smith Inspired Me To Write A Children’s Book
While this advice created a tremendous action that played a monumental moment in my life to create something that then sparked my love for storytelling, there was still something missing. I could not identify what it was, but I continued to push forward with my mission of sharing my story as a basketball player and cancer survivor in efforts to impact the lives of others. I started traveling to schools to share my book, providing inspiring talks at events, and going all in on creating my basketball club, Passion4ball. I was doing exactly what Will Smith had said, yet still I had this fear of failure and depression that just wouldn’t go away. I was dumping so much energy into other people, but I felt like I was still falling apart.
It wasn’t until I took my Pursuit of Passion Trip that I realized that there was a vital piece to this advice that was missing. While I 100 percent believe in the power of helping others, and I know that our lives can absolutely become better if we provide service to others, we still need to be intentional about improving and making the most important person in our life better, our self.
While driving through the Blue Ridge Expressway in beautiful North Carolina jamming out to lectures by Marianne Williamson, yes I was jamming out, I realized that there was no way I could impact the lives of other people in a powerful way, If I didn’t focus on improving my own life first. I found that missing piece that was stopping me from reaching my full potential and making the impact that I knew I was put on this world to make.
If you are not making someone else’s life better you are wasting your time, by making their life better you will in return make your life better & if you are not making your own life better you are wasting your time, by making our own life better, we will in return have the power to make other people’s lives better.
I will leave you with this golden nugget. It is not selfish to focus on yourself. It is actually absolutely imperative you focus on you and take the time to develop and grow. By taking this action you will in return create the energy to have a stronger impact on all those who come in contact with you.
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