Be the Man in the Arena
One of my favorite poems and blog posts here – The Man in the Arena by Teddy Roosevelt. Let me read it out loud to you.
So it is that – to not be a critic of what others are doing. Be the gladiator in the arena. Instead of saying “wow, Mike could do a better job, why is the quality of his work so under par?” – take that energy and that focus on critiquing others and use that for your own personal development and growth.
As I said in the previous video – push your limits. See how far you can get, and you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish.
On the negative side of this poem, I think it makes someone like me a bit too aggressive. I make it feel like it is a fight in an arena. I like the competitive spirit, and competition is what pushes us forward, but at the same time we need to have an abundance mindset. There is enough resources for everyone – so what we should take from this poem is:
MAKE IT HAPPEN FOR YOURSELF.
Don’t wait around and complain that things aren’t going your way. Don’t blame someone else that an opportunity didn’t come to you. There are so many excuses and reasons we can give ourselves as why something didn’t work out the way we wanted it to – but to truly develop as a human being, we should reflect on ourselves. What could WE have done to make something better?
Every single day, I have a night journal – and I put in there what mistake I made that day, my biggest mistake. I reflect on that, did I lose my patience with someone in a certain situation – that often is my biggest mistake. Be reflective and learn from your mistakes. And if you didn’t get picked for that new job opportunity, think of how you could have done a better job getting the right impression, or having the right credentials. Ask them, and hold your tongue if they are brave enough to tell you the truth. List those things down and improve yourself.
This has been the most valuable part for me – to realize that I have no one else to blame except for my own abilities and decisions in life. Once I realized this, I took all that negative energy and time looking at others – and instead applied that to making myself and my projects better.
I realized how much of my mind space was taken up thinking about other people and what they were doing.
So be the “man in the arena”. Be willing to make mistakes, to get scarred up in a battlefield, to get criticized. But while it may hurt, realize that you will only get stronger as you do it more – and those critics will not be as loud in your head.
Another good quote
The brave may not live forever, but the weak never live at all.
So I’d rather burn out in flames and crash than to worry about bumping into the race track walls a bit in this game called life.