Every one of us has been given certain abilities. But in life, if we are to ever stand above the crowd, we must take those abilities and develop them if we’re ever going to make a significant contribution to the world in which we live.
I must admit that I have come across individuals more talented, more intelligent, more handsome, more connected, more capable, more financial, more able than myself who have failed to reach their full potential, because they have never fully developed or even used those abilities to benefit others.
And yet I have observed others who lack the charisma, the charm, the opportunity, and all the things that one would consider necessary to live an influential life, and yet they have soared. They have turned their limited abilities, in the eyes of others, into what I would call ‘poss-abilities’.
And what is required to take the ordinary and turn it into the extraordinary?
Here are just a few courageous qualities that I have identified in those who live lives filled with ‘poss-ability’.
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I read this obituary the other day that brought a smile to my face. How good would it be to die, and in your death you actually inspire those who are living.
Here is one example of exactly that…
For a late starter, the career of award-winning Hollywood producer David Brown took an extraordinarily successful course. The former journalist produced some major hits that not only became classics, but also made him – and his sometimes employer 20th Century Fox – plenty of money. They included Jaws, The Sting, Chocolat, A Few Good Men and Driving Miss Daisy.
He was a partner with Richard Zanuck in the early 1970s – when they produced the blockbusters Jaws, The Verdict and Cocoon – before Brown started his own career as a film and theatrical producer.
Brown was still producing movies such as Chocolat well into his 80s, including supervising filming on location.
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I recently replanted my organic vegetable garden when we moved house. I had let it go to rack and ruin some months preceding the move. For as we knew that we were about to move, there didn’t seem to be any point in planting during those last days. The result of that inaction was a garden overtaken by weeds.
Inaction has that effect on our daily lives as well. That’s why I believe that action cures fear and that faith with corresponding action attached produces beautiful results in our lives.
Anyway, once I moved my vegetable patch from one address to another – yes I shoveled, with the assistance of a dear friend, the entire garden’s soil into a large trailer and transported it to its new home. That dirt had been tended lovingly for years, and I wasn’t going to part with it. For in that soil was life. In that soil was held the secret of all my past planting successes, and the success of all future plantings.
The very first weekend that the garden was re-established, new seedlings were purchased and planted, and within a four to six week period following the move we were once again eating the fruits of my labours – fresh, green and delectable. What I’d sown we were now reaping. And reaping is always accompanied by much rejoicing.
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If there is one word of wisdom I can offer you today it’s this: stop comparing yourself to those around you.
The days of keeping up with the Jones or the Smiths are dead and gone. Stop looking at the other guys car, because if you knew the truth of it all, you’d probably be glad to know that you don’t have to pay his monthly lease bill. I have seen it time and time again – especially in tough economic times – the shedding of top end vehicles and multi-million dollar mansions because the vehicles and properties were never owned by the occupants in the first place. They were owned by the bank. So stop comparing yourself with others and their stuff.
The only person you should be comparing yourself with is you and your last week, month or year’s performance.
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In a recent newspaper interview, best selling recording artist Tina Arena was asked the secret of her success. She responded, ‘There is no secret. Half of it is in the discernment to surround yourself with people who have good intentions. That’s something that’s taken me a long time, but now I finally feel the people I choose to go to battle with are all wearing the same armour.’
So when it comes to surrounding yourself with a winning team, let’s have a look at the two ingredients that make up the qualities of those team members.
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