If you didn’t get to quest for success this week – look no further! Below we have this week’s 5 quotes, a little teachin’ and (non-religious) preachin’, and 5 quick-to-do quests! Miss our voices in your ear? Catch up on all the episodes HERE!
Quote the first: “The time is always right to do what is right.” -Martin Luther King Jr.
The Teach & Preach: Talk about timing…In celebration of MLK Day, and we shared a quote from the man himself (Martin Luther King Jr.)! An easy one to grasp, but, much harder to live out.
Because doing the right thing, and the hard thing, are sometimes the same thing and we can all agree that doing the hard thing is…well… HARD! Think about the change we could make, and the example we could set, if we did what was right – right on time.
Could we help reverse climate change?
Could we help set up the next generation for success, instead of allowing them to follow in our own mistakes?
Even if you have done wrong in the past, there is still time to do what is right. Don’t know left from right, or right from wrong? (Cue – “Morality is subjective man…”) We hear you! Try looking for physical and mental cues such as…the anxious waves in your stomach when you’re doing something that might be wrong, or that fiery, excited energy in your belly when you’re motivated to do what is right!
The Quest: Do an intentional “right thing” today – big or small! Pick up the phone and make the apology, finally send the email you’ve neglected for 4 weeks, practice patience, or maybe just hold the door open for someone…whatever you choose to do right – the time is RIGHT NOW!
Quote the second: “Look closely at the present you are constructing, it should look like the future you are dreaming” – Alice Walker
The Teach & Preach: We are so happy to talk about a quote from Alice Walker today, as she was such an influential woman in the Civil Rights movement, in addition to being the author of The Color Purple.
Alice illuminates the idea that when we are building future goals for ourselves, it is just as important that we reflect on the present life we are living. Asking questions like: What is the reality of the present around us? (And) Are we doing today, what our dreams of tomorrow require of us?
In order to bloom in the future, we have to be willing to plant seeds today…Not to worry – we’re not talkin’ huge hunks of seeds, we’re talking some itty bitty sunflower sized guys – Baby steps people!
We want to focus on just being the type of person that belongs in our future dream. What type of person is required to attain the dream we desire? Once we know that person, we can start building credibility of character – thus embodying the person fit to achieve our dream!
The Quest: Dream of your future, and bring one thing from your future into your present. If you want to run marathons, start out with a jog around the neighborhood today! Whatever that vision or that dream is to you, take action on it. Bring a part of who you imagine the future you to be, into your present life today.
Quote the third: “All good men and women must take responsibility to create legacies that will take the next generation to a level we could only imagine.” – Jim Rohn
The Teach & Preach: So, you guys, Jim Rohn is a direct mentor to Tony Robbins – who is a (in)direct mentor to us. Meaning: Jim Rohn is literally living out this quote in real time. The impact he is leaving on his students, and then his students students, and then his students-students-students…Are you with us here? It’s a pretty profound legacy! Lives that haven’t even been born yet, will be saved by Jim Rohn, and we think that’s pretty impressive.
Although thinking about leaving legacies is cool, it is also sometimes difficult to think outside of ourselves (we are our own reality after all)! But building a legacy doesn’t always have to be on a grand scale. Building a legacy can also be on a community level, family level, or even a personal life level. The trick is asking this: Where can we impact people in a positive way that may last beyond the here and now of today? What is going to be best for the big picture, long-term reality of our world, our community, or our families?
After reflecting on these answers, we are able to take the steps to making change today!
The Quest: Pass on a piece of advice that’s been helpful for you. Take something that has been given to you by someone else, or some other form of mentorship, and re-gift that to someone new!
Quote the fourth: “Everything you want is uphill.” – John Maxwell
The Teach & Preach: When John Maxwell tells us that everything we want is uphill, we lace up some freaking hiking boots and hit the road. Kind of depressing to think we have to apply effort, and potentially struggle, for the things we want? Sort of! But also kind of liberating. It’s all about the climb…right?
Realizing that no one ends up at the top of the hill by accident means that if we want something, we have to work for it. We must set the intention to do the damn thing, and apply the disciple needed to see it to the top. And – as we learned from MLK earlier this week – the right thing and the hard thing are often the same thing.
But, nevertheless, we want to do what’s right, and we want to take that hike. Because, no matter what we want to achieve, it will be uphill, so we might as well face the music and go for the thing we truly want (and maybe even catch a lil sweat while we’re at it)!
When it comes down to it, it’s all about realizing:
Hard. Does. Not. Mean. Bad. (Insert hand claps here)
The Quest: Identify a difficult area in your life (just one), and ask yourself: If this problem weren’t “bad”, and instead possibly just challenging or full of surprises, how might you approach this difficulty differently with a new meaning assigned to the current issue? Today, assign a new meaning!
Quote the fifth: “Be pretty if you can, be witty if you must, but be gracious if it kills you.” – Elsie de Wolfe
The Teach & Preach: We love this quote from Elsie de Wolfe because it really helps us break down what it is to be gracious. The dictionary definition of gracious includes words like courteous, kind, and pleasant, and we often imagine a gracious person as someone who is able to emulate these characteristics in the face of difficulty.
But how do we apply graciousness in our own lives when good things are happening? When faced with compliments in our everyday lives, we often get…well, we get weird. By “weird” we mean nervously look away, laugh awkwardly, or straight up deflect the complement. Why do we get so weird? We may think that in order to be humble, we should hold off on acknowledging compliments all together. When really, that’s the exact opposite of the case.
Being gracious means that when we have an achievement – we don’t belittle ourselves! Instead, we give the gift of accepting the complement, and honor the love being shown to us.
When we realize that the (figurative) spotlight of achievements will continue to go around, we begin to graciously accept any 5 minutes of fame we can get!
The Quest: The next time someone hands you a compliment, take it graciously, and simply say, “Thank you”. Own it, accept it, and don’t deflect it!
Don’t forget to catch up on all the greatness the Mentorship Quest has to offer here!
