Seven Reasons You Might Fail to Become the Best in the World

Seven Reasons You Might Fail to Become the Best in the World
by Seth Godin

1. You run out of time (and quit).
2. You run out of money (and quit).
3. You get scared (and quit).
4. You’re not serious about it (and quit).
5 You lose interest or enthusiasm or settle for being mediocre (and quit).
6. You focus on the short term instead of the long (and quit when the short term gets too hard).
7. You pick the wrong thing at which to be the best in the world (because you don’t have the talent).

By “you,” I mean your team, your company, or just plain you, the jobseeker, employee, or entrepreneur. The important thing to remember about these seven things is that you can plan for them. You can know before you start whether or not you have the resources and the will to get to the end. Most of the time, if you fail to become the best in the world, it’s either because you planned wrong or because you gave up before you reached your goal.

Even worse than quitting in the first six cases: not quitting. Settling. Sticking with it but not succeeding.

Is it possible that you’re just not good enough? That you (or your team) just don’t have enough talent to be the best in the world? Sure, it’s possible. In fact, if your chosen area is the cello, or speed skating, then I might even say it’s probable. But in just about every relevant area I can think of, no, it’s not likely. You are good enough. The question is, will you take the shortcut you need to get really good at this?

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/the_dip/2007/04/the_seven_reaso.html

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Wow, may I never decide to quit, may I never accidentally quit. If I run out of time I will reset my clock. If I run out of money I will beg. If I get scared I will turn on the lights. If I am not serious about it then I will recast my vision. If I lose enthusiasm or interst I will try a new cuisine, possibly a cultural delicacy. If I focus on the short tem goal instead of the long term goal I will look up, if that short term gets too hard I will stop take a breath, a good drink of cold water then look up and go. If I pick then wrong thing because I am not talented I will surround myself with anyhing, everything, anyone and everyone that can help strengthen that talent. I WON'T QUIT, EVER!!!!

I am, I will be a speaker, advocate, lobbyist, activist for the God I believe in, not the Christianity that has been created through ideologies but through the mere understanding of his greatness.

Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised' Hebrews 10:35-36.

God has created me to be who he wants me to be. What ever part of the world in space and time that he wants me to affect I must fulfill. I mut be confident in who God has made me to be. I can't throw that away. Just like in the 7 reasons we fail, without perseverance we are useless. God can't use me if I am not available to be used. If I quit I have limited God and his ability to use me in this place and time to affect my world. Perseverance is in a simplified definition; continued pursuit. Will I pursue God, will I pursue his passions, will I pursue his desires, will I chase his wants? Will I? I must, I have to, I must pursue everything he has for me but not just selfishly, I must pursue him as a living sacrifice. To take up my cross daily is to sacrifice it. God's promises are coming, they are on the way to interact with us in the intersection of finishing the race and doing it with confidence and not quitting. That is the life I want to live.

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Your (you are) Genius (Genie-in-us)

Every single person has in them what it takes to be something, to be someone.

You must take courage to find your genius, when you find your genius you will see that it comes out of your environment.
Have the courage to find your environment where you rub your magic lamp and your Genie-in-us comes out. God gave you the magic. What God gives never comes back in void. God is faithful in everything he says. He has equipped us to be something someday. Our soul for being, our heartbeat for existence is not to settle with mediocrity or to simply be comfortable. Once we know our environment we can begin to take it over. We will simply begin to master it and learn its features. When we know our environment well then we begin to over come it. Michael Jordan was a beautiful genius in his environment. He was the magic to the Chicago Bulls. He was the best person to ever touch the court. Because of his ability and agility to overcome his environment, his courage gave him the MVP and the title of the best player ever.

The saddest thing is that we limit ourselves so much by not believing in ourselves. We hold back our full potential. Maybe somebody one day, one time came down on you or told you that you didn't amount to what you were up against and that took everything you thought you were and it was crushed. You never picked up the pieces and put them together. You stayed there, became stalemate and let the environment overgrow you. IF we don't master our environment the environment begins to take over. I have never in my life seen a garden keep itself weed free, I have never seen a clean house stay clean, or let alone a bedroom. Nature goes bad, our courage to overcome yields its control. We need to step up, take courage and be strong to fight for control over our environment. Then we can be the genius that has been in us the whole time. Our untapped magic is there in everyone, when we see people that are a genius over their environment we think they are a miracle, a perfect package. It is not a miracle, it was one who showed courage over their environment, then the magic comes out and we become a genius.

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God and Our Lack of Worship

Today was a good day. I began to look into some deep philosophies of worship for our youth X/perience:worship: series coming up in March. In one essence I was freaked out, in another I am very excited. God is amazing and as I studied what worship is I learned that worship is initiated with God. Yeah, crazy. He created us in His image to worship him. Him creating us in his image began that worship experience, the initiation process. I think about the students in our youth ministry and see the shallowness, my very own reflection on the shallow pond. Chris Stapley said that it used to be a narrow and a mile deep and now it's a mile wid and an inch deep. I thought about it and thought about it. It came to my mind that our students aren't getting it. They are not getting that God has created them in His image and initiated the worship experience. How/Why/Won't we go after God? What stops us from chasing, pursuing, not stopping until we have caught God and wrap our arms around him and not let go, we say, "God, I'm not letting go until I have X/perienced everything from you."

I imagine it and see it in my mind already. I am not even a father yet. Chez being 3+ months pregnant and already seing me as being a father. I can also picture a father and his young child. The child begins to chase after daddy and he steps back each time as the child is going to grab him. Of course this is an impossible reach for the young child. One step of the father is equal to ten or so steps for the child. The dad also knows that he can run away and hide and the child after a minute will most likely give up, sit down, and quickly be distracted by something and forget all about dad. WOW, is that where our teens are? Could it be that they have lost sight of God, may God have gone too far away and now they have gotten distracted? Well the father knows this and knows not to get out of sight and make the game impossible. Every once in a while the father will stop and allow the child to catch him and the child is exuberant and excited to finally catch his dad. Now I have experienced God in such a real way where he, for what ever reason has allowed me to catch him and I had such an amazing experience with Him. So has God hidden form the teens and they have missed him and found something else? I don't believe so, I believe that the difference between us and toddlers is that as Jesus said, "Suffer not the little children to come to me", then he blessed the child. As adults or even teens we are much more carnal and more self-centered. I truly believe that our reasons for not X/periencing God is because of our self-centered mindset. The psyche of our mind says my needs first before what God wants. Maybe some of us, the teens, have began to focus on themselves and forgot the need and obligation of our being is to worship the One who created us. So maybe I can begin to focus on the reason of my being.

My prayer: How do I convey to a group of teens that God is so worthy of our sacrifices?

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Not Forgetting God

I have been moving out of one house into a new house and it is amazing how many things I have found that I didn't realize I even had. Every time I cleaned out an area I found more and more stuff. Some junk and some forgotten things that brought back memories. I realized that I had to throw out a lot of junk and clean a lot of things up. I realized how many things I forgot about. How dumb am I to forget about so much.

Then I realized that memories never "leave" our brain. Everything that we have ever heard or seen or known is in our memory. In psychology you learn that your memory is literally infinite. So you never "forget" you just have "memory recall failure". It's like going to a door and trying to get in and you have tons of keys on your ring and you can't figure out which key it is. Our problem is linking the memories. you just have to get the right link. I realize sometimes vital information or good memories get put on a shelf or behind that door and what was only suppose to be for a moment becomes "lost".

My question to myself is what does it take for people to really want to experience God. What holds us back? Why are we so calloused to the spiritual things of God? Some guys asked Jesus once, “Which of the commandments (or laws) is the most important?” In other words they were saying that they knew there was no way they could uphold all of the laws with perfection. So which one should they definitely try to nail? Jesus replied, “You should love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hinge all of the laws of the prophets.” Maybe our calloused hearts began one day when we put God on that one shelf. You know that shelf that is right by your door. Maybe you said to yourself I will pick it up later. Later never came, and now we are comfortable without him. God became irrelevant because we lost focus on him. He just began to collect dust and was meaningless to us. Not because we don't need him but because he isn't the first and primary focus in our life. See after we put God on the shelf only intended for a moment it turns into a day, then a day turns into a week, then he gets covered up and forgotten. That's Jesus' challenge to us, to never put him on a shelf. Jesus knows that if we love our God with ALL of our body, soul, and mind we would never forget him. Furthermore if we love him first then love others all other things fall right into place.

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forgiveness defined

is forgiveness a bitter sweet
must it tinge your breathe a ghastly sour
your tongue claims forgivenss
yet your heart shows ill motive
the past was a sacrifice by a vow
you revive what was dead
your forgiveness is set aside
but only to be picked up again
you hurt me with past arrows
yeah God can forget, maybe you can't
but can you fair to let go
let go to a vanishing point
a point so far that yay remembered
but not desired to pull it back
if you can then I can too
no sense for one of us
if both don't hold true

:forgiveness lets define
turn your head to look aside
my mistakes of rampage and hate
let go to an eternal abyss
don't look back or all is guilt
look forward to future sun
yesterday is dark, gone
farewell

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forgetful hurting memories

i never meant to leave you for so long.
friends reminded me of your absence.
my disclosure was for no reason.
im still here may i never depart.
thanks for sending messages to my friends of our memories.
would i of ever came back without them.
possibilites are endless.
chances are taken, some regretted some lived with exceptions.
this was one too long without.
to write you letters in a line to spell the word love.
never stop that for me, i too will return again.
parting always brings such sweet sorrow.
returning brings tears of joy.
i weep joy for you this day.
im here, i remain, till i can write again.
.peace.
.goodnight.

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reformed to end

you can't rewrite history
you can't rewrite your wrongs
begin to start again
from the start repeat herein

i am no boar in the vineyard
truth lives, truth stands high
in the advent of crosswinds
let my stake stand vert
am i just an invasion to the wronged?
or am i an outcome to the caused?

take to the streets, fire brings warmth
lies bring death, burn the fire bigger
more lie filled paper to kindle heat
the flames stand a test of time

i tell you fear the rod and cry softly
am i a brand plucked from the burning?
i stare out of the second story window
the house is in flames, burn to the ground

you've convinced me of absolute impossibility
can i live at half mast, doubted part way
i will catologue my weakness
establish rules to overcome them

i went to them to convert
but whos here to convert me
lost by my own words
lifes great mystery is my own pit

its a quarter till nine
i feel my heart grow strangely warm
im saved from my pit, my sin, my own death
this unparalleled energy is my assurance

is my rebelliousness to tyrants obedience to truth?
im led by the cloud and fire above
most assuredly im justified
i take the sword to swing lifes end

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redemption satisfaction

yeah you feel bad for all the inconsiderations
not because how i feel but because you forgot
it's natural to cover up the ugliness
whitewash the dark to coverup the scales

don't you know that makeup washes off
under the mask all is dirty
the rain falls day after day
the tears of pain of times forgotten

the rain washes the paint off
the makeup slides off to show the underside
my tears are cleansing in the undertide
im letting go of what is remembered

there is no capacity to radiate the dark
night falls too low to shine above the horizon
a new day of cleansing comes, it's to come
breathe of forgiveness comes at a new dawn

tears of anger brings tears of joy
where death ends life may begin
walk together into a new era of life
era that brings redemption satisfaction

these puddles are ours to watch
to see the relection of tearing eyes
dry up there weary child, look up
dawn has peaked, the sun as broken the horizon

redemption satisfaction has cleared my palate
i speak words of love, of deliverance
our hands hold, soft embrace of deep love
let us tie this day into sweet lullabies

goodbye my darling, walk into new eras

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Better off

too bad you dont own me any more
slavery has been abolished in times past
my slavehood is my choice to live now
let the chains fall beneath my feet

i will no longer be a slave to the law
i am a slave by choice to the one who calls my name
his voice is silent yet beautiful
deep enough to break my hardest feelings

you can't control me, i know its hard letting go
it must be harder saying good bye, sweet smiles
this must be the end of our long road
my hands are blackened by soot, you led me down

im choosing to follow he who leads lovely
one till the end of hopes of a happy ending
this is my good bye, must be sad being you
my smiles never were so big to say goodbye

pressures release to find new life
too bad you couldnt hold on any longer
but believe me, we were better off apart
you bound me, we struggled to see eyes

i am better off without you
oh i am so much better
see me to the door, it will be a soft ending
i am better off with out you

peace will never enter your lips
how can hell even suffice your evil
care for a glass of water, ah ah ah, be gone
this life i choose to live shall live me free

im better off without you
im so much better
oh see me, i am so much better now, oh ah ohhh
i am better off with out you

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fake pageants

as she steps out of the limo
her high heel strikes the puddle
elegant red dress glistens tonight
hair in perfect form, princess

makeup three layers thick
pageant to place first is the hope
a heart so shy to feel suppressed
yet stands with a smile ear to ear

lets rewind to the beginning
a long road to obtain what’s grasped
clinched in hands weaved with practice
not to let go, it has cost everything

beginnings, lets observe
self worth at a low
cant keep what’s down for the sake of Barbie
waiting for her Ken to come at whatever cost

mirror bought at a carnival
in her mind distorts the picture present
mirror, mirror on the wall tells lies without words
she can’t see the beauty hidden by lies

just to hear Ken tell you how special
live illful to please him, a special man
he whispers passion, you hears lies
no one will win till you lose

give it away let beauty enter in
take what is given on the outside
make it perfect on the inside
a heart, a mind of acceptance

see what we see
a molded beauty
don’t go too far
till it’s too late

don’t go under the knife
fake is not beauty
anyone can mold clay
only some can mold oneself

you are beautiful beyond words
what can I give
what can I tell
till you believe?

fake pageant
beauty skin deep
real acceptance
beauty a hearts depth

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bleed the end

selfworth, degraded below sea-level
standing tall i'm shorter then lying flat
crush my walls to my ill heart
i bleed through holes of pity

pressed and squeezed so tight
i dont think i can fight
everday its always me thats not right
will i ever have light in my sight

rubbage, its like yesterdays recycle
i want away, to escape my mind
you dont understand, you can't
quit wasting our time saying you do

it's not the same in my head as yours
i mean well but i lose even better
time will tell i'm just an empty shell
what will end it, bring it down

life is long, shorter if ended
but maybe shorter well spent
night after night i reflect
i'll drown in my own pool of tears

contemplating to break it
shattered bulb begins the end
stumbling in the dark
will i ever see again?

or traverse still dying everyday
they call me foolish but i meant well i swear
take it or i'll brake it
i cant be in control

if i lead i'll probably end it
ill give it to you
take the reigns, take the lead
if not, tonight im going to bleed

i'll bleed the shorter end
i'll bleed at the shallow bend
take the lead or i'll bleed the end
take the lead or it'll be the end

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Slashdot | Microsoft Says Firefox Not a Threat to IE

Microsoft never ceases to amaze me at there stupidty of brilliance. Once again M$ makes public fools of themselves...
Slashdot | Microsoft Says Firefox Not a Threat to IE: "'A CNET article claims that 'just days after the launch of open-source browser Firefox 1.0, Microsoft executives defended Internet Explorer, saying it is no less secure than any other browser and doesn't lack any important features.' It's also interesting to note that these statements made by Steve Vamos, Microsoft Australia's managing director, come with no knowledge of what Firefox has to offer as he admits not even installing or using Firefox.'"

Only pure brilliance would say diss something without trying it, nah, don't think so.

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reformat to end the old and bring the new

shut down the power strip
turn off my pride
is it all about me?
shut me down, hard reset

programs are open
pride speaking through digital mainframe
reset, no need to do this right
if it formats all is ok

it's not about me
my window only reflects myself
i've created a mirror out of my glass box
give me a hammer to break out

my prison is myself
held in by boasting
i’m truly empty inside
puffed up by emotions

surrender these broken shards of glass
to be broken is to live again
if i die, ill breathe again
reborn is better then the sight in these mirrors

powered down, i’m done with myself
reboot me and reformat with anew
breathe a breathe of fresh air
i’m new without the old

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destination home

trees at seventy miles an hour
hundred and thirty three miles to go
eighth of a tank wont get us there
stopping in the bitter cold

fill this empty tank up
my heart will get filled at the destination
stark night at two a.m.
we will get there before dawn

fog on the windows
defrost can't quench the bitter cold
headlights turn to beams in the fog


mile markers fly by
countdown till our destination
one by one we continue to subtract
well be there before we know it

these destination streets are right
we follow these stripes home tonight

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broken treaty

i signed the treaty
yet you wage war
must i fight
or shall i retreat

after the fight
we all called peace
we know it wasn’t right
yet you still wanna fight

after all is said and done
lets sit to talk
every time you always run
maybe we can go for a walk

dear lets not despair
not everything has to be fair
i lock my lips
i'll end it this time

throw your hands in the air
clenched fists gets no where
stand to turn around
lets meet face to face

your anger turns to factions
create your militias
destroy battle grounds
fight the war, the treaty is broken

you bleed hate
i bleed fear
you want away
i want closure

sit to talk
pen in hand
sign the paper
the peace is safer

to run out is broken disaster
we can sign the treaty
friends till the end
we can hug, kiss, and make up

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falling away

your convicting eyes threaten me down
below cascading tears of sorrow
your convicting eyes push me down
to the ground my face down

shards of glass penetrate my heart
your thrusting stabs are convincing me
you change my mind without my commitment
its all fake, pain has changed my mind

but what i want to know
but what i need to know
will you be there tomorrow
will it be another day of sorrow

your convicting eyes hold me down
face down in the mud
your convicting eyes beat me down
face down im gonna drown

the tides change
to my feet i regain
you can fight my restrain
whats left is not even a stain

i beat you down, you are nothing
i suffer your plythe
you're absence is only a memory
like that you are gone

now whose face is in the mud
weasel yourself to be a worm
dwell in the mud, eat it you filth
live there for ever

my hate for you grows to a lot of faith
fate of hate is how the love should of started
my love for you is gone, be dead to me
i'm letting go
falling away
falling away
falling away

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the parades end

masterpiece of fingers all pointing towards the tiger
lets get up and finish the circus, the parade is almost over
untrimmed hearts of flesh, cold and all dried out
we are what we wanna be, the best of the worst till today

rowing on, lets move down, we can go, finish strong
i know where we are suppose to be, we missed the approach yesterday
if we try today then maybe we can finish it tomorrow
one approach a day, set the gear in the path

get the tiger on, we mustn’t waste now
this time if we miss it were through
we are wasting time, the tiger is waving us down
he is directing us on the right flight path now

surrender to his negotiation, he knows what is right
we can see and sense his splendor is in sight
land the plane, pick him up
if we don’t get him our lives are far stuck

let him fly, lets take his course
he’s flown before, we jumped out on him
its our turn now to depend on him
he’s a friend to take us to the end

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iscariot's bitter demise

are you you, or are you a fake?
i need to know, i have my doubts, they've told me
you are not who u say u are, tell me is it lies
i need to know now, i’m dependent on your answer

if you are not who u say u are then what is this
if i’m not dependent on your offering, then what’s it worth
i get it, some money will buy me out, i can betray
life will go on, money will fix it all

i kiss you goodnight on your cheek, peace
you are collapsed and bound now
was it right, is anything right?
am i to determine this? we sat at the table to dine

we ate and u offered to buy, does that mark my doomsday
i shouldn’t of given in, am i to blame?
i’m going to run out on this one, you have heard the last of me
good by and good night for the last time...

good bye for eternity
good night

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neglect to reflect

i see you staring at me, i’m staring right through you
wont you come hold me, come be with me
tonight will never end, we can romance under these stars
what is life without you, nothing, wasted days

i don’t want to waste it this time, too much idle time
lets make this worth it, we can begin again
lets put what’s behind us behind
lets put what’s ahead in its place

i see you staring at me, i see you, we meet eye to eye
i want more, i desire to know you deeper
i don’t want this time to end, will we do this again?
if i waste it this time it becomes nothing, wasted days

time and time again i reflect
missed opportunities
plans unfinished
regrets grown large
despair in focus
time and time again i neglect

lets do this right, lets take a stab
i know its worth it
we can walk on clouds not needing anything
i have you, its all sufficient

we’re at the end of the road
where choices are made
lets do this right
ill go with you tonight

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bridges fall, buildings collapse

ok here we go, can we do this for the first time
its a matter of chances
we'll nail it soon
its a matter of chances

nothing is alright
does anything seem different
same questions yield same answers
why waste our time

here we go, lets do this again
its a matter of choices
we got it, its right
its a matter of choices

if we do what we know then all is right
everything will lead to something new
bridges fall, buildings destroyed
aftermath in the break of new dawn

are we in the wake of disaster?
the walls are crumbling on me
light broke through
i see the ram on the other side

attacks are desperate
everything is a cess pool of carnage
i cling to rubble to stay up
you wont take me oh death, i have an avenger
where is your sting, be gone
come together my past

walls are aligning themselves
dust has returned dormant
rocks fit tight again
am i writing my wrongs

light has shown down again
there is no strength in disaster
strength is to rebuild again
i will stand on the mountain that was destroyed

here we go, lets do this again
its a matter of choices
we got it, its right
its a matter of choices

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