As creatives, how many times do we measure our success by comparing ourselves to others? And how often can we really create something worthy to call our legacy if we are not willing to take small risks...and sometimes fail?
This morning I enjoyed reading an article written by Todd Henry that gave me a good Monday morning boost. The following is an excerpt from his writing—most of which I also copied into my journal for this week so I would see it every day.
From the article:
The key to finding your voice is to begin to take small risks to express yourself each day. Don't try to be someone else, and don't fall into the trap of taking shortcuts that ultimately cost you more than you gain. It is a kind of poverty to spend your life chasing the limelight.
We need to do the things for which we are qualified, and ignore the things for which we are not.
A list of things for which you and I are profoundly unqualified:
- Determining our legacy. (This will be backward engineered after we are already fertilizing daisies.)
- Choosing our times. (We must deal with the times we are handed.)
- Making others like our work. (You can't do it. You will always have people who hate it.)
- Ensuring safety. (No matter how hard you try, there is no such thing as perfect safety.)
- Making something, now.
- Contributing value, now.
- Speaking up.
- Learning something new every day.
- Taking small risks instead of retreating.
- Refusing to allow the opinion of others to control our life.
- Refusing to ignore wise advice from others.
- Emptying ourselves each day.
Here's to fully emptying ourselves today!
xoxo-E
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