Step Out of Your History to Create Your Success

I'd like to start this post by telling you a story.

A man feared his wife wasn't hearing as well as she used to and he thought she might need a hearing aid. Not quite sure how to approach her, he called the family doctor to discuss the problem. The Doctor told him there is a simple informal test the husband could perform to give the doctor a better idea about her hearing loss.

Here's what you do," said the Doctor, "stand about 40 feet away from her, and in a normal conversational speaking tone see if she hears you. If not, go to 30 feet, then 20 feet, and so on until you get a response."

That evening, the wife is in the kitchen cooking dinner, and he was in the den. He says to himself, "I'm about 40 feet away, let's see what happens."

Then in a normal tone he asks, 'Honey, what's for dinner?"

No response..

So the husband moves closer to the kitchen, about 30 feet from his wife and repeats, "Honey, what's for dinner?"

Still no response.

Next he moves into the dining room where he is about 20 feet from his wife and asks, "Honey, what's for dinner?"

Again no response.

So, he walks up to the kitchen door, about 10 feet away.. "Honey, what's for dinner?"

Again there is no response.

So he walks right up behind her... "Honey, what's for dinner?"

(I just love this)......

"Ralph, for THE FIFTH time, CHICKEN!"

How many times have you projected your own assumptions and self-imposed rules onto situations? How many times have you continued down a path not seeing that your own beliefs and perceptions were taking you miles off course?

The fact is that most of our lives are spent reusing the information collected in our formative years. Thus, when anything new enters our arena we immediately go to the past to try to make sense of it.

The reality is that we each live in our own self-invented illusion. We each see our world through some really heavily tinted spectacles. And far too often we act as though we are a hammer and everything that comes in front of us is a nail.

The problem is this: Trying to solve TODAY'S problems with YESTERDAY'S solutions will just keep you STUCK with YESTERDAY'S problems.

So here are a few things to consider:
Are you treating your current employer the same way you treated your past employers, but expecting them to treat you differently?
Are you making your current love relationships pay for the mistakes of your past love relationships?
Are you managing your money the same way today as you did years ago?
Are you assuming that the other person is the one with the hearing problem when YOU are actually the one who's not listening?

How do you find out what you were brought onto this planet to do if all you can do is respond in the same way to whatever is put in front of you?

As Howard Schatz, the famous New York dance photographer, stated in one of his books:
“I told each dancer that when it was easy, it had probably been done before, probably many times. I explained that only when it was so hard that it was nearly impossible were we perhaps close to getting something unique and extraordinary.”

You will BE all that you desire when you start applying new, more effective solutions to the problems and challenges that come into your life!

So I challenge you... I implore you... I beg of you... STEP OUT OF YOUR HISTORY!

Anytime you have a thought that is limiting you or makes you feel bad...
QUESTION IT!
STEP OUT OF YOUR HISTORY!
BE YOUR EXTRAORDINARY SELF!

Here's to your great Success!