You know what’s the worst thing in the world to be? Stagnant. Still. Running in place. Spinning your wheels. It’s a sad day when you come to the realization that despite all your efforts, you aren’t any closer to those goals that you set for yourself awhile back.

Stagnation is a cunning and ferocious beast, but it can be defeated.

Stagnation is a mental state more than anything. Of course there may be real physical, social, and class barriers that are blocking you from “moving on up” in the world, but stagnation most often results from looking too hard at the trees instead of seeing the forest. When we are stagnant, it is because we are trying to break through a concrete wall instead of climbing over, going around, or digging under it. We put too much effort into “doing it our way” and not enough effort into “getting it done”. Fortunately, the smelly stench of SUCK can be Febreezed away with the right tactics. I will show you 4 methods you can use to break the cycle of stagnation and move your life forward.

1) Minimize

We live in a world filled with so much extra excess fattening life-clogging bloatage that it becomes impossible do get things done. We live in the age of THE DISTRACTION, where “wants” are turned into “needs” by clever persuasion and marketing. The unsatisfiable chase to “keep up with the Jones’s” is leads you away from what your real goals. To get moving, you must the shed the weight. Release yourself from the unnecessary burden you bear. Donate or sell off everything you don’t use regularly. Cut off friends that are constant energy drainers, doubters, and negative thinkers. Cut out time-wasting activities that bring you no joy and create no value. By trimming your life down, you become more mobile, nimble, quick, and creative.  Until you get that extra weight off your back, you will continue to find it difficult to make moves.

2) Define your OWN happiness

Your happiness is your happiness. Not some marketer’s idea of what happiness is. Not some television show’s idea of what happiness is, just yours alone. Stagnation is a result of one lacking the passion to progress. They key word is passion. Your passion. Find what makes you tick, what gets you excited, what makes your stomach turn, what burns inside of you. Chase that, and you will find energy, creativity, purpose, and strength.

3) Reinvent

Do not be afraid to re-invent yourself. Successful companies are always coming out with new products, new features, new slogans, and new causes. Why should you be different? No one uses Windows 95 anymore; there are better choices out there. Are you living your life on an outdated operating system? Are you using outdated tactics? Do you need to upgrade your thought process to version 3.0? Knives go dull. Metal begins to rust. Skills degrade. The only way to stay on the forward path is to be constantly learning, adapting, and reinventing. Maybe it’s time you took out a piece of paper and wrote yourself a new mission statement for your life.

4) Live for the Experience

Learn the only real way to learn is to experience. We learn by putting ourselves out there and making an attempt. We learn by trying, failing, gaining knowledge, then trying again until we succeed. After that, we start trying and failing some more. The WIN or FAIL is not what really matters, all the fun comes from the challenge of DOING IT. Do not be afraid of defeat. Do not fear failure. Those conditions are temporary, and only serve to contribute to your growth. Any lesson learned in defeat is ultimately worth more than the loss itself. Being stagnant is a result of not having the courage to fail. You’re trying not to FAIL instead of just living to WIN. The logic is that if you never truly “go for it” you will never fail. This approach is seen by many as the “safe” choice in life, and maybe it is. However, it’s certainly not my choice, and since your reading this, it’s not yours either.

I choose to fail because I choose to WIN.

You can’t have one without the other.  In the end, it all comes down to how bad you want it, how hard you go, and how creative you get. Life, BRING IT ON.

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Tagged with: connections, FAIL, failure, motivation, stagnation, success, take control, WIN