Cubes are so Square

by rbenns on August 30, 2010

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Mastery of any anything is a long and arduous process.  The truth of the matter is that you will never completely master any subject, you will only find better ways of doing it.  Long before most people get to the mastery stage they will quit and option for a much easier path.  Mastery is only a path that is fit for a true champion who is ready to weather the storm – and there will be storms (lots of them).

It has been my experience that most people would rather hide somewhere in a cubicle and complain how paltry their social “security” check will be if they live long enough to draw on it.  They have succumbed to the lure of humpback Wednesdays and TGIFs.  They see all of the abundance around them but somehow think that these things are for reserved for others.  Cubes (short for cubicles) as I call them are easily recognized because they often begin their sentences with “someday.”  Someday I’ll be rich, someday I’ll win the lottery, someday I’ll go for my dreams, someday a rich man/woman will sweep me off my feet, or someday my rich aunt will die and leave me her fortune but that day never seems to arrive.

Why do these cubes never take the first step?  There are many reasons but too many to name here so I will only site a few of them.  One of the main reasons is that have been conditioned to be underachievers.  No, they don’t do this consciously but it happens nevertheless.  Parents, television, radio, newspaper, church, friends and co-workers have dripped low-level thoughts on them for so long that they’re now second nature.  In fact, the stinky thinking is so strong that many of those who suffer from it will not be able to comprehend what I’m saying if and when they read this post.  Programming can be so strong that when you see a pink elephant in the room you won’t even be able to see it much less identify what it is.

Another reason why cubes don’t take the first step is out of fear.  They fear looking silly, they fear not being able to provide for themselves and their families, they fear not being totally incompetent about their new adventure, they fear being ridiculed and made fun of, they fear success and they fear failure.  Fear is paralyzing and when you couple fear with years of conditioning it’s a tough row to hoe.

The last reason I’ll mention here why cubes don’t take the first step toward a more robust life is complacency.  When you’re in a groove, whether it’s taking the world by storm or being the ultimate couch potato, it’s tough to get the tide flowing in a different direction.  Complacency is the nemesis of creativity.  The only way to step outside of the world that you’ve created is to believe that another world exists and that you are capable of stepping into that new world.

It has been my experience that you have to put in about 3 – 5 years of consistent effort.  If you’re not willing to put in this amount of time and be consistent about it then you may as well not begin the task.  You will look and feel silly at times because it will feel that you aren’t making any progress.  Others will look at you with glassy eyes and mumble to themselves how much a fool you are and why don’t you just get a regular job.  Just smile and know this is a real indication that you are on the right path.

Just be sure that you are seeing incremental improvements each month no matter how small and whatever you do – don’t give up and don’t quit.  In fact, the best advice that an astute businessman once gave me about success in the form of two words as he gently closed the door – Don’t Quit.

There are many people that I’m inspired by but one person that comes to mind is Gary Vaynerchuk.  Chances are if you love wine, building a brand or marketing online that you heard of him.  Gary started Wine Library in 2006 and shot his first video on February 21, 2006 and he was virtually unheard of at the time.  Fast forward a little over 4 years and now he’s all of the Internet, has his own radio show, has written one New York best selling book and working on another one.

The point I wish to bring out is what is possible when you don’t quit.  What would have happened if he had given up after shooting his 2oth video?  Who knows but you can be fairly certain not much in the way of success would have occurred.  Check out his first video shot more than four years ago at the link below and compare that to his 909th video immediately following it.  There’s no comparison as you will see but most people are not willing to be bad long enough at anything until they look good at something.

Gary’s 1st Video

Gary’s 909th Video

It’s you’re life and what you make of it is your business.

That’s my spin on it.

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You Humans Are So Funny….

by rbenns on August 28, 2010

Sometimes I just sit back and laugh profusely when I interact with humans.  I say sometimes because there are times when I allow myself to get caught up and I get angry, I defend, I project, I appease, I acquiesce, I move away from, I judge and I call you names.  But when I’m doing those things I just laugh because you’re all so funny.

Just the other day I was talking with a human and they mentioned something about someone not getting to heaven and living in eternal regret in the dreaded place called hell.  I thought to myself, oh this human doesn’t actually believe what they are saying but I was wrong.  Let me explain why this is so funny to me.  Whenever a human uses the word “forever” with another group of words the statement will always be fundamentally flawed because the universe is always in a state of flux – it’s always moving.  If something is always moving how can it be any one thing forever?  It can’t.  If you read this post and you leave and come back to read it again you will not be the same person who read the post earlier.

If you happen to be one of those humans that feel regret about anything and there are a lot of you out there, you’re doing yourself a huge disservice.  If you feel regret more than a few seconds, regret has done its job and its time to move on.  Regret is a fleeting experience just like life and its only purpose is to help point the way, not for you to wallow in it forever.  Why would you regret anything that you’ve done anyway?  Who does that serve?  If the universe found sameness to be so valuable then it would have chosen that as a core path of evolution rather than constant change.

You are so funny because you really think that you know what you should be doing.  However, everyday out of the mouth of babes is uttered profound wisdom that you marvel at because what they say is closer to truth than what you are currently living.  You say funny things like “lying in the grave are people with their music still in them.”  How do you know enough about anything to make such a bold claim?  You don’t but yet you still make those statements as if it were the gospel truth.

What happens is what should happen because it’s happening.  The truth is that it’s happening and the lie is you feel that something else should be happening in its place.  You wish for things to be other than they are and this causes you a lot of pain but you still won’t release and let go.  Isn’t it funny to you as well that when someone is in pain they still hold onto the thing that’s causing them pain?  That’s so damn funny to me.

All songs get song.  All books get written.  All lives are lived just like their supposed to be lived.  I marvel at those that are brave enough to take on the things that I don’t possess the courage to do.  You know the people I’m talking about, the ones that die in wars, civil rights leaders that are assassinated, babies that die young, people who die in tsunamis and tornadoes just to name a few.  In fact, we are all champions to other people no matter how small.

I want you to think about something today.  I want you to take a look at your life, no matter how great or pathetic you feel that it is and know that your life at it’s best or worst is fleeting.  It’s changing moment to moment never to exactly the same as it was the moment before.

The next time you run into a human that says something funny like the things I talked about in this blog post, I want you to have a barrel of laughs on me.  If you go to church on Sunday chances are you won’t have to wait very long to meet one of these hilarious humans.

That’s my spin on it.

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Drop Your Story

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Each day there are two worlds before us.  There is the real world (what’s really happening) and there is the made up world (what we believe is happening).  The real world just is – it is what it is – neither good nor bad.  The made up world is colored by our beliefs, our judgments, [...]

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A Nation of Quick Fixes

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What Does Bill Gates Know Anyway?

July 15, 2010

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Self-Improvement is a Myth

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If you were to head over to Amazon and type the words “self-improvement” into the search box it would return more than 25,000 results.  Long have authors been trying to come up with the steps, the methodologies, the systems to help you to self-improve.  What I have come to realize is that you and me [...]

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I Want To Win The Lottery and Never Have To Work Again

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When Does God Not Know Better?

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Stay On The Mat

June 8, 2010

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The 20/80 Rule

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Meme Rhymes With Creme

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The Numbers Don’t Lie

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Money, Love, Sex and God

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Manifesting A Life Partner

May 18, 2010

Who do you need to become in order to create or manifest everything that you desire? Your dreams don’t come to you just because of the actions that you take; they come to you as a result of who you become – the actions that you take simply help you grow into that person. Who [...]

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What Does Baking A Cake Have To Do With Earning Money?

May 10, 2010

Earning money I’ve discovered is very similar to baking a cake.  Essentially to bake a basic cake you need the following ingredients, utensils and equipment: Butter Sugar Eggs Flour Milk Vanilla Extract Cake pans Mixer or spoon Oven Heat (about 350 degrees) Now if you have all of the above ingredients and combine them in [...]

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P.A.C.T.

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Have you ever gotten into an argument with someone and then you left the scene of the crime feeling that you had won?  Each of you yelled and screamed trying to be heard.  Some expletives were exchanged and some very hurtful things that were said.  But in the end when all the dust had settled [...]

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You Know More Than God Knows…..

May 7, 2010

You know more than God knows…or so you think.  If you’re saying to yourself “what are talking about Rickey, no one knows more than God knows.”  I would agree with you but that’s not how we act most of the time.  If we agree that God is omniscient then why aren’t we grateful for all [...]

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A Lesson In Love

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Perfect and Powerful

May 4, 2010

Do you believe that you are perfect and powerful?  If you don’t believe would that in anyway invalidate the truth?  For belief you need evidence but Truth doesn’t require any proof.  There’s only a few things that creates the fragmentation within you and that is when you label anything as hurtful, damaging and wounding.  Everything [...]

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Let The Dead Bury The Dead

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Do You Spend 8 Hours In A Dark Place?

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When You Get Better…..

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We’re embarking upon another month, another opportunity for renewal.  We have the opportunity to renew our minds, our bodies and even our souls.  We no longer have to accept the way things are.  Sandra Bullock recently filed for a divorce to her husband Jesse James and she’s adopted a new baby.  Nanice recently said, “The [...]

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Do You Want Your Lion To Be A Cub?

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Divorce Is A Copout

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What Have You Done For You Lately?

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You’re either blossoming or you’re wilting.  You’re either ripening or spoiling.  You’re either growing or dying.  What’s really killing you is that you believe there is a middle ground.  You believe there’s a way to straddle the fence.  You believe there’s a neutral position. Here’s a simple litmus test for the last 30 days of [...]

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