The Stone Cutter

News
No new updates for this week.

I decided I wanted to share a story with you this week.

Story

The Stone Cutter

There was once a stone cutter who was dissatisfied with himself and with his position in life.

One day he passed a wealthy merchant's house. Through the open gateway, he saw many fine possessions and important visitors. "How powerful that merchant must be!" thought the stone cutter. He became very envious and wished that he could be like the merchant.


To his great surprise, he suddenly became the merchant, enjoying more luxuries and power than he had ever imagined, but envied and detested by those less wealthy than himself. Soon a high official passed by, carried in a sedan chair, accompanied by attendants and escorted by soldiers beating gongs. Everyone, no matter how wealthy, had to bow low before the procession. "How powerful that official is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a high official!"


Then he became the high official, carried everywhere in his embroidered sedan chair, feared and hated by the people all around. It was a hot summer day, so the official felt very uncomfortable in the sticky sedan chair. He looked up at the sun. It shone proudly in the sky, unaffected by his presence. "How powerful the sun is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the sun!"


Then he became the sun, shining fiercely down on everyone, scorching the fields, cursed by the farmers and laborers. But a huge black cloud moved between him and the earth, so that his light could no longer shine on everything below. "How powerful that storm cloud is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a cloud!"


Then he became the cloud, flooding the fields and villages, shouted at by everyone. But soon he found that he was being pushed away by some great force, and realized that it was the wind. "How powerful it is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the wind!"


Then he became the wind, blowing tiles off the roofs of houses, uprooting trees, feared and hated by all below him. But after a while, he ran up against something that would not move, no matter how forcefully he blew against it - a huge, towering rock. "How powerful that rock is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a rock!"


Then he became the rock, more powerful than anything else on earth. But as he stood there, he heard the sound of a hammer pounding a chisel into the hard surface, and felt himself being changed. "What could be more powerful than I, the rock?" he thought.


He looked down and saw far below him the figure of a stone cutter.

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Have a phenomenal week.

Do You Have a Dream?

News
No new updates for this week.

Quote
"Martin Luther King gave the I have a dream speech, not the I have a plan speech."
-Simon Sinek

My Thoughts
The above quote comes from a TED talk given by Simon Sinek. It's an excellent talk and I highly recommend watching it. It's called "How Great Leaders Inspire Action"

It can be found here:
http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html

How many times have you told yourself I can't do it because I don't know how? Maybe you get all excited about an idea, but then you start thinking I don't know how to do it, or you think of all the obstacles you will have to deal with and you are not sure how you will overcome them.

No one has ever achieved anything great by knowing each and every step on how to get there. But we often think we need to have this brilliant plan in place before we start something. The truth is you often will try and fail, try and fail, try again and maybe see some success. This is why passion is essential if you want to be successful in any area of your life. Martin Luther King Jr. was incredibly passionate about civil rights and he believed in his cause; so much so that he died for it. Think about that for a moment, he traded his life for something he believed in.

As I write this to you I am sitting in my office and the time is 2:30am. Am I sitting here right now for the money? Or in hopes of becoming famous? Or both? No, not at all. The reason I am sitting here is because I truly believe that these weekly messages will touch at least one person and inspire that one person to rise above mediocrity and live to their fullest potential. Maybe that one person will then inspire someone else to do the same, and so on, creating a ripple effect.

It's the passion for doing what I do that drives me. For example, I practice a minimum of 20 times before delivering a speech, seminar, or workshop. If that is a one hour seminar that means at least 20 hours of practice before I deliver it. While I am practicing I usually have no idea how many people will attend. There could be 50 people the day I deliver it or there could be 5, but I know that I've put in my best. It comes from passion.

Everyone of us has something that we would love to achieve. Most people may not immediately recognize what it is because it may seem ridiculous. There is a saying that if the why is big enough the how doesn't matter. So if you have a big enough reason for doing something you will overcome any obstacle. If you're pursuing your passion you know you will know why you are doing it. Because you love it.

Imagine telling Eric Clapton or Jimi Hendrix, when he was alive, to stop playing guitar. How about telling Pavarotti while he was living to stop singing, or JK Rowling to give up writing.
The idea is ludicrous. Why? Because they all love what they do.

As I mentioned before it is not always easy to pursue your passion. Most likely you will meet with many setbacks before you start to see some success. But I can tell you that it is all worth it.

I too have a dream and so do you. The question is what is preventing you from living your dream?

Have a wonderful week.