Most remarkable people are people of action, and for a good reason: if you don’t take decisive action, nothing will ever change. But this first step is entirely mental. It calls for a clear decision to rise above the culture of mediocrity.
And then, of course, it does call for action.
How do you decide to be remarkable?
1. Stop making excuses. Just stop. No one wants to hear why you couldn’t do something, so make a conscious decision to stop talking about it.
2. Take responsibility. This is the opposite of giving excuses. Take responsibility for your own success, and take responsibility for the success of projects you work on. When something goes wrong (it usually does), take responsibility for that too.
3. Start questioning rules and expectations. Always ask questions and pay close attention to the answers you hear back. Some good starting questions are: Why is this rule in place? Who benefits from this rule being followed? What are the consequences if I don’t follow this rule or meet this expectation? What is the worst thing that could happen if I don’t follow this rule?
4. Find work that you love and do it well. Depending on who you are, this requires up to two big changes in your life: first, you have to find work that you love, and second, you have to do it well. Do it better than expected and people will be amazed.
5. Begin living your own life. This is what it’s all about—the life you were meant to live. If you don’t know what that is yet, start looking for it. Why would you want to live someone else’s life?
6. Take it up a level. Take what’s already working well and exponentially add to it. Grow your business 300%. Apply for the position of CFO when you’re the Accounts Payable Clerk. Visit five countries instead of one on your next trip (or if you want to explore one place well, stay three weeks instead of one).
Beware of Excellence
But watch out: being remarkable is addicting. It’s like regular exercise or healthy eating. When you first start a new exercise routine or diet, the adjustment is hard for a while. But after about 3-6 months of following it consistently, you build up a natural addiction to it.
Once you get used to regular exercise, you’ll feel bad when you’re not doing it. The same is true with being remarkable: do it once, and it’s scary. Do it a few times, and you love it. Stop doing it, and you’ll get depressed.
Many remarkable people deal with depression and anxiety all the time because they see the world differently than average people do. Their own failures and perceived failures are magnified. When others say, “Don’t worry about it,” they can’t understand why someone would think something like that. For this reason, a lot of geniuses throughout history have been chronically depressed.
Those are the hard things—and you also have to think about the critics, the skeptics, and the competition. We’ll come to those later. On the other hand, there are some great benefits to being remarkable:
HELP FROM A COMMUNITY
As you proceed with your plans for world domination, or whatever you want to do, you’ll be naturally drawn to others who have made the same decisions to be different. Even better, they’ll be drawn to you. You’ll learn from them and vice versa.
HELP FROM THE UNIVERSE
You’ll find help in all kinds of unexpected places and from people you never knew before. No one really knows how this works, practically speaking. It’s okay; just accept the gifts that are given to you. They are given for a reason.
The Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho put this best:
When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it.”
All you need to do is 1) start something, and 2) stick with it long enough to see results.
Enjoy................
http://chrisguillebeau.com/3x5/the-decision-to-be-remarkable/
