Dan Waldschmidt's Blog, page 41

Nothing Happens To You.

Nothing happens to you.

Bad news, bad circumstances, bad situations – they don’t happen to you.

Bad things happen.

And sometimes it seems like you didn’t do anything wrong to deserve those bad things to happen.

You feel slighted and taken advantage of. Angry, confused, and frustrated.

Nothing happened to you.

That bad circumstance you’re going through doesn’t just impact you. It affects a lot of other people.

It’s not pointed at you. It’s not intended for you. It’s just life and the nonsense the comes along with the day-to-day grind.

Stop playing the victim.

Stop pretending like no matter how hard you work you’re always going to get an unlucky break. You’re just like everybody else.

Big goals demand big people with big hearts.

Willing to exert massive amounts of effort.

There isn’t any secret agenda or unlucky talisman working to derail your grand ambition. It’s just the journey we call life.

And maybe, if you do find yourself extraordinarily unlucky, it is a result of your own poor choices.

Maybe it’s your fault.

Maybe the bad circumstances that stand in your way are the result of your own bad decisions and negative thinking from your past.

Maybe you can’t get ahead because you won’t stop hurting yourself.

You’re your own worst enemy.

Instead of improving, evolving, and working to fix your future you would rather just blame other people, make excuses for where you are, and pretend like you are the world’s biggest victim.

Nothing happens to you. Life happens. You happen.

If you don’t like where you are, maybe you need to do something differently.

The post Nothing Happens To You. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...

Choose Better.

Everything is a choice.

You have limitless decisions. They range from the insane to the mundane.

You get to decide when you get up in the morning and when you go to bed, if you go to the office and what time you leave to get there.

You could walk or drive or run, skip, crawl, or hitchhike to work.

What you eat each day is a choice. How you handle criticism, how hard you work, and if you tell the whole truth — these are all choices that you will make today.

Thousands of options. Thousands of decisions you get to make.

Most of them you won’t even think about.

You’ll do whatever comes naturally or whatever seems to cause the least resistance with those around you.

Some decisions will take time to think about. You’ll prepare and plan and ponder.

The small stuff — like how much water you drink each day or how much sleep you get each night — you’ll most likely ignore.

You’re too busy scoping out the big decisions.

Never forget the big successes most often start with tiny choices.

How you feel factors into how you make decisions — and how you feel isn’t an accident.

It is influenced by what you eat and how you sleep, your hydration at the time, your mindset, and dozens of other factors.

All of which are caused by the decisions you make each day.

It’s all a choice. Everything. All of it. Just a series of choices that you make each day.

And when you add those choices up you get where you are right now.

So if you don’t like where your life is right now, you should spend less time blaming other people and things being out of your control, and start taking ownership of the choices you’re making.

If you want something you have never had before, you must do something you have never done before.

Choose better.

The post Choose Better. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...

The High Road Is Full Of Losers.

You’ve been told to take the high road.

To deal honestly with others. To bring class and dignity to your craft — even at the expense of quick gains and self-serving manipulation.

Make no mistake, the high road is a tough pathway to walk. While others get away with underhanded tactics, your code demands more from you. Your calling necessitates something different.

Honor. Dignity. Honesty. And candor.

You’re committed to doing the right thing, even when it hurts.

It’s always the right thing to do the right thing. There is no excuse for taking shortcuts or stepping on other people to get to where you want to be.

That sort of behavior is short sighted and always comes back to hurt you in the long run.

But just taking the high road isn’t good enough.

Honesty isn’t all you need to be successful. Doing the right thing isn’t enough to make you a winner.

The high road is full of people losing. Full of people being honest and delivering value honorably — but stuck in a miserable, dark and lonely place.

The high road isn’t good enough. You need the hard road.

That’s the path you need to be pursuing if you want to be successful. That’s the journey you need to put yourself on.

A place that’s usually abandoned. Wide open and ready for conquest.

It’s a place where every step forward is a painful one. A place where danger and panic loom at every decision.

You’re never as prepared as you want to be.

Your weaknesses are more exposed than ever before. Your resolve is tested without abatement. Your courage is proven without finish. Your energy is demanded without limits.

You have to want to be there to stay there.

A place that is usually avoided at all costs.

All of your excuses compel you to stay away. To turn around. To go back.

Logic defies you being there. Critics, skeptics, friends and allies — all watch on with horror at your madness.

The only reason to take the hard road is if you want desperately to achieve greatness. If you demand more from yourself than just being better than a few other people around you.

If you want to change the world and live a life unparalleled an accomplishment.

You can’t win big and avoid the hard road. It’s the only sure way to get to where you want to be.

Stop avoiding it. Find it. Stay on it.

The post The High Road Is Full Of Losers. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...

They Won’t All Like You.

You can’t get magnificent things done and make everyone happy at the same time.

Not everyone is going to like you. Not everyone is going to give you a fair break, a second chance, or the benefit of the doubt.

Even if you do everything right and have the best intentions, you’re going to make people furious.

Ridiculously upset.

And when that happens you are going to be tempted to stop doing what you’re doing in order to make sure they feel better about you.

It’s going to feel uncomfortable and frustrating to feel so right about something and yet unable to make everyone understand. Unable to get everyone to give you a chance.

That will break your will if you let it.

The toughest challenge you might ever face is the loneliness of believing in yourself when no one else does.

The quiet fear that your critics might be right after all.

If you listen to the voices in your head, you’ll never get anything of value done. You will never accomplish anything that really changes the world.

You’re life won’t matter.

You’ll be busy doing things — but bashful doing the things that matter most.

That’s what kills dreams. That’s what derails world-changing innovation.

You believing the people who are unhappy with you. You believing in the skeptics when they tell you that what you’re doing won’t ever work.

You won’t be awesome without haters.

You won’t accomplish anything of value without frustration and doubt. To be successful you have to protect your mind. You have to guard your thoughts.

You have to wake up each morning and be deliberate about maintaining your positive outlook on life.

You have to find great mentors and develop discipline for doing hard things. Work on perfecting the details — evolve, resolve, and fight for what matters.

Face it — they won’t all like you.

The post They Won’t All Like You. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...

They Won’t All Like you.

You can’t get magnificent things done and make everyone happy at the same time.

Not everyone is going to like you. Not everyone is going to give you a fair break, a second chance, or the benefit of the doubt.

Even if you do everything right and have the best intentions, you’re going to make people furious.

Ridiculously upset.

And when that happens you are going to be tempted to stop doing what you’re doing in order to make sure they feel better about you.

It’s going to feel uncomfortable and frustrating to feel so right about something and yet unable to make everyone understand. Unable to get everyone to give you a chance.

That will break your will if you let it.

The toughest challenge you might ever face is the loneliness of believing in yourself when no one else does.

The quiet fear that your critics might be right after all.

If you listen to the voices in your head, you’ll never get anything of value done. You will never accomplish anything that really changes the world.

You’re life won’t matter.

You’ll be busy doing things — but bashful doing the things that matter most.

That’s what kills dreams. That’s what derails world-changing innovation.

You believing the people who are unhappy with you. You believing in the skeptics when they tell you that what you’re doing won’t ever work.

You won’t be awesome without haters.

You won’t accomplish anything of value without frustration and doubt. To be successful you have to protect your mind. You have to guard your thoughts.

You have to wake up each morning and be deliberate about maintaining your positive outlook on life.

You have to find great mentors and develop discipline for doing hard things. Work on perfecting the details — evolve, resolve, and fight for what matters.

Face it — they won’t all like you.

The post They Won’t All Like you. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...

When You’re Stuck Being Stuck.

You’ve been told countless times to make time for what’s important.  To do things that matter.

Why is it so hard then to be confident in what you’re doing?

You’ve been there before.

Maybe you’re there right now.

You have an idea in your head about what you want to do. You have a dream about where you want your life to end up.

You have goals and aspirations and challenges to overcome.

And then you turn around in the middle of your work and start to wonder if anything you’re doing really matters.

That’s just a scary, lonely feeling.

You’re not confident enough to run full speed ahead, yet you’re self aware enough to know that you should be doing something.

And whatever you’re doing you should be committed to seeing it through. All in.

The hard truth about success is that we all get stuck.

Whether it’s for minutes or weeks or years, you’re going have to face the challenge of making progress when you’re not sure what progress really is.

That’s a tough place to be.

That’s when you know it’s time to get back to the basics.

Time to ask yourself the hard questions about what really drives you.
Time to eliminate anything that’s a distraction, even with distractions that are fun.
Time to change up your daily pattern and add time for exercise.

Successful people are better than everyone else at getting unstuck.

They know what to do to get themselves out of a funk and back into an environment where they feel confident and productive.

Ready to take on the world.

Maybe you need to go for a walk to clear your mind — or just hit a punching bag.  Maybe you need to hire a coach who can help you see your situation differently. Maybe you need to sleep less, drink less, and work a whole lot more.

What works for you will probably seem crazy to everyone else — so don’t bother trying to fit in.

What matters is that it works for you. That you get unstuck.

And know what works so you can do it again the next time around.

The post When You’re Stuck Being Stuck. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...

Maybe It’s Time To Tear Up Some Shingles.

Until you’re willing to do whatever it takes, you’re never going to be successful.

You might get close. You’ll probably end up with a story to tell. But you will never realized the magic of breakthrough until you’re willing to do the hard things that you make excuses to avoid doing right now.

You have to stop making excuses and start getting busy.

In the Bible, there is a story about four friends who had a companion who was dying of an incurable disease. As his body became weaker and weaker the four friends became more desperate to do something that would help him.

They brought their friend to doctors and skilled surgeons — but none of these physicians could do anything to stop the slowly creeping agony that was killing him.

He was dying and they couldn’t do anything about it.

And then they heard about this wise teacher named Jesus who was traveling through the country preaching words of wisdom and healing sick people by talking to them, touching them, or even just looking at them. Despite how unbelievable that must have seemed to them at the time, they were willing to try.

They heard that Jesus would be in a village close by to them and rushed into action. Carrying their friend on a stretcher, each friend grabbed the pole at each corner and made their way anxiously to see if this Jesus character could do what no one else had been able to do.

Even if it didn’t work, it was something they had to try.

As they came close to the village where Jesus was supposed to be speaking, they were quickly disappointed. Continuing down the road was impossible.

Thousands of their friends, family, and fellow countrymen were gathered around the house where Jesus was inside speaking. There was no way for any one of them to get through the crowd — let alone four of them holding a stretcher with a sick person on it.

It was impossible. Not hard. Not difficult. Impossible.

Frustrated, they laid their friend down on the ground and begin to talk among themselves about what to do. Clearly, there was no way to make their way through the crowd.

One of the four friends realize that the back of the house appeared to be less crowded. From there, their plan became even more unbelievable.

Leaving their sick friend lying on the stretcher on the ground at the back of the house, the four friends climbed up the side of the house and onto the roof.

It was time for radical behavior.

Putting an ear to the top of the roof, they could hear someone speaking below and knew that it must be Jesus.

Moving quickly, before Jesus would finish speaking, the four friends began to kick at the shingles on the roof. One by one they began to break apart the shingles, tar paper, and roofing that separated them from the person they believe could help them below.

They didn’t care about looking stupid or getting in trouble.

Pieces of shingle and roofing began the fall on the crowd inside the home who were surprised at what was going on above them. Someone was destroying the house.

Once a hole had been chopped into the roof to about the size of their friend lying on a stretcher, each of the friends took off their long shirt and wrapped it around each of the four corners of the stretcher. Through the hole in the roof that they had just vandalized they slowly lowered their dying friend right next to Jesus.

They had done the unthinkable and accomplished the impossible.

Jesus stopped speaking and looked at the sick man now inches from him and then at the four friends whose faces and arms were visible, dangling inside the hole that they had just torn in the roof.

Speaking to the dying man on the stretcher he said to him in words of admiration: “The belief and dedication of your friends has healed you.”

They had gone “all in” and it worked.

Instantly, the sickness was gone from the man’s body and he was able to climb down off the stretcher, still held in the outstretched arms of his friends above.

They were willing to do whatever it took to be successful.

For them that success meant the life of their friend. For you, it’s something different. Success might mean money or work or your job, your kids, paying off debt, or trying to get back in shape.

Maybe it’s time to get in the “tearing up shingles” business.

Maybe you need to get down on your hands and knees and start tearing through the obstacles in your way.

The sad truth is that you’re not willing to do what is outrageous and extreme in order to turn your life around.

And that’s a shame. Because just like those four friends, impossible is nothing when you’re committed to being awesome — no matter the cost.

The post Maybe It’s Time To Tear Up Some Shingles. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...

Manage It.

Success isn’t an accident. It’s a journey you have to manage carefully.

Manage your money. — Save more than you spend. Avoid debt. Live financially fit.
Manage your momentum. — Do one thing each day to get you closer to where you want to be.
Manage your motivation. — Stay away from negative people. Read more. Watch less TV.
Manage your motion. — Hire a coach. Gather mentors. Find ways to do the details better.
Manage your modesty. — Develop humility. Be the type of person others can reach out to.

Manage what matters before it destroys your hopes and dreams.

It’s actually that simple.

The post Manage It. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...

All You Can.

Learn all you can.

Dream all you can.

Laugh all you can.

Create all you can.

Forgive all you can.

Listen all you can.

Work all you can.

Recover all you can.

Invest all you can.

Save all you can.

Adapt all you can.

Believe all you can.

Study all you can.

Improve all you can.

Love all you can.

Be as awesome as you can.

Life is to short to aim for anything less.

The post All You Can. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...

The Sad Truth About Why You’re Failing.

You’re most likely to fail because you can’t figure out how to manage your money.

That’s the sad truth about attempting to achieve success.

Most of the time you’re not going to fail because of anything that anyone else does to you.

You’re likely to fail because you’re broke.

You don’t know how to spend money, manage it, or make more of it.

Money is what makes things happen.

It is the fuel the drives progress.

The more money you have and the smarter you use it the more progress you’re going to see.

It’s as simple as that. Money matters. A lot.

It’s a lot harder to make than seems reasonable. You can quickly use and lose all you have of it.

It’s the oxygen behind your dreams.

The sustenance behind your journey. The catalyst behind breakthrough.

It’s uncomfortable and deeply personal to examine the money you make and the avenues in which you spend it. So you don’t do it.

How you spend your money demonstrates your most intimate priorities.

It reveals what truly matters to you. Lays bare your soul.

Fix your finances.

Start now:

Deliberately set aside time each month to review your budget and how you spend your money.
Use smart tools like Mint.com and Betterment.com to develop discipline around saving and investing.
Always be looking for new opportunities to turn hobbies into more revenue for yourself.
Figure out how much your dream will cost you and develop a plan to get you there eventually.
Force yourself to wait at least 48 hours when you decide that you just have to have something.

It’s not about getting rich. It’s about living enriched.

You’ll keep failing until you figure out your finances.

That won’t happen by accident. It’s something you have to take seriously.

Start now.

The post The Sad Truth About Why You’re Failing. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...