Mikes Blog

Step up
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You’re at the bottom of a deep hole, in a foreign country, where you don’t speak the language. A man comes along and starts shoveling dirt into the hole.

You yell up to him, asking what he’s doing, but he doesn’t understand you and you don’t understand him. He just keeps on shoveling.

So what do you do? You step up.

As each fresh mound of dirt lands at the bottom of the hole, you step up on top of it. Dirt is continually shoveled in, the bottom of the hole rises, and by stepping up you rise along with it, until finally you’re able to step out of the hole.

It doesn’t really matter whether that dirt was intended to bury you or to save you. What matters is your response, your choice to step up, to take action and successfully deal with the situation at hand.

What situation in your life is throwing dirt on you at the moment? Step up, take whatever’s coming at you, and put it to positive use.

— Ralph Marston

If you were to empty the garbage from your mind, what would that process look like? If you were to let go of all the thoughts that hold you back, what would take their place?

If you were to rise above the pettiness of your ego, what would you do in the next moment? If you were to make this time and place a little better, what small factor would you work to improve?

If you were forever free of anxiety and envy, how would you employ your increased energy? If you were to fully realize how good you have it, in what new ways would you choose to give of yourself?

If you were to give voice to difficult truths, what would have inspired you to do so? If you were to give up a desirable but destructive habit, would it really be so painful?

If you were to be more honest with yourself, which of your own excuses would you no longer tolerate? If you were to tackle your most difficult challenge, what’s the first step you would take?

If you were confident of success, what would you relentlessly work to achieve? If you were to live the life you always dreamed of living, what would you do, starting right now?

— Ralph Marston

Choose your perspective
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In any situation, you control your perspective. You decide what to notice, what to care about, what to allow inside your head, what to keep out.

One quick thought, one small but meaningful reminder, can completely alter your perspective. What can you tell yourself, right now, that will give you a more positive and powerful outlook?

A well-chosen perspective keeps your thoughts, words, actions, and feelings in line with your best interests. Whatever the external conditions may be, your perspective enables you to make beneficial use of them.

Life is often noisy, complicated, unpredictable, and downright bewildering at times. A strong and steady perspective enables you to thrive, to achieve, to create real goodness in the midst of the maelstrom.

Ask yourself now, and often, what do you really care about? Establish and maintain a perspective that inoculates you from the turmoil of the moment.

Choose a perspective that shines a brilliant light on your best possibilities. And give yourself the power to bring those possibilities to life.

— Ralph Marston