The false peak

It's a painful discovery, maybe even overwhelming. You struggle. You sweat. You devote large amounts of time, energy, maybe even money, to reach a desired end, a mountain top. You do the work, you make the sacrifices, you reach the summit, only to discover it's not the summit at all. 

The first thing you see when you stand up, eager to take in the results of your dedication, is another peak, still far off, and even taller than the one you just climbed. 

This can be a bitter moment. 

Quick as you can, adjust your perspective. Do this by turning around and looking down at the ground you've covered. There's a lot of it and you're to be congratulated. The peak you just climbed has given you the gift of expanded vision. Now you know more about who you are, what you can do, and what you're really trying to achieve. 

That distant peak may not be the end, but it's your next objective. And maybe it has to work this way. Maybe you're true desired end is so big you can't even imagine it unless you've done the impossible time and again.

Ever forward. 

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Mindcage

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Try not to keep death waiting

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Truthshine

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Real passion is a fact-facing, cold-blooded willingness to endure failure in the quest for a desired end

It's hard not to get emotionally invested in an opportunity. And that can make disappointment all the more bitter. But it's vital to stay passionate and excited about a prospect if it really lines up with who you are and what you want. That energy can't be replaced in the striving for a successful outcome. 

Positive attitude keeps you moving, keeps you sharp, and helps you recognize and respond to opportunity. But it's easy, when that opportunity arises, to suddenly become nonchalant, distant or "detached" in an effort to dampen the blow should things not turn out as you hope. 

This is the wrong approach. It was your passion that got you to this point in the first place. 

Of course you don't want to fantasize or start building an imaginary future. That's just an effort to avoid the fear of disappointment. Instead, face that fear, accept the possibility of failure. But also factor in the possibility of complete success.

Above all, stay invested, excited, eager. Walk in with your chin up even if it means getting clocked. This could be the very thing that sets you apart from the competition and you should carry it with you into the prospect, express it to the decision makers. 

 

Real passion is not delusion. Real passion is a fact-facing, cold-blooded willingness to endure failure in the quest for a desired end.

Ever forward. 

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How to find your dream

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What kind of fuel do you burn?

Negativity is like fossil fuel. It doesn't burn clean, it's bad for the environment and there are limits to how far it will take you. Using it it creates conflict, but it gets you through the day. 

Positivity on the other hand is like solar power. It's abundant, clean, and highly efficient when properly tapped. Using it tends to create a sense of harmony. 

It's harder to achieve positivity because it doesn't make use of the old, entrenched processes. Instead it requires innovation and change. But as it turns out it also makes both of these things easier to pull off.

Ever forward. 
 

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On positive thinking

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"Let it be true." A new cartoon from the Ever Forward blog

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Do it even if you'll never make a living at it.

So much divides us from our talents, and therefore from our dreams. A huge part of living well, of thriving, is gaining access to your talents. For some, just doing that much can take a lifetime, but doing that work is every bit as praiseworthy as pulling off a best selling book. 

It's just not as noticeable to strangers. 

In fact it might be a greater accomplishment because of the seeming thanklessness. And you find yourself really appreciating the little steps forward. It's a grueling process filled with struggle, failure, revelation and little victories. But it's how you become you.  

Develop your talents. Endure the frustration. Build your dream. Do it even if you'll never make a living at it. 

It's who you are.

Ever forward.

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Who are you when you're not looking?

A world view is more than a belief system or an agenda. It's what comes out of you automatically—when you meet a person different from yourself, when you're exposed to a new idea. It's what makes you angry or sad or afraid or happy. Your worldview is so present you don't even know it's there most of the time. It's what you really think, beneath all your efforts to think a certain way. 

It's who you are when you're not looking.

By observing your responses to things, without pretending they are anything but what they are, you can uncover your worldview. Some parts of it are reliable and trustworthy. They help you thrive. But other parts of it are in serious need of repair. They stand in the way of your happiness. 

It's vital work trying to learn the difference between what you really think and what you've been told to think. 

Ever forward.

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"Cult of the Round Hole." A new cartoon from the Ever Forward blog

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Religion is useless to you if you reduce it to a moral code

Religion is useless to you if you reduce it to a moral code. You don't need religion for that. All you need for that is a todo list. (Or a todon't list.) All the "you need to live this way" or "you need to believe in this" parts of religion are just people putting their own spin on the information. 

Any worthwhile religion is trying to tell you that there is way more to being alive than meets the eye. 

We have all these capacities and possibilities that we don't pay much attention to, but which we can access and incorporate into our daily experience with just a little bit of work. Illustrating that work and pointing to those possibilities are what religion is really for. If your religion can't or won't do that for you, find a new one.

Ever forward.

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Love constantly raises the bar, rejects mediocrity in all its forms and opposes the status quo.

Real love is very hard to do. It requires that you overcome your limitations and that you require others to overcome theirs. If you're not working to overcome your limitations, you're not loving yourself. If you're not requiring it of others, you're not loving them. 

If your idea of love is sentimental or wimpy abandon it. Remember that it's love that drives a mother to die for her child. Love constantly raises the bar, rejects mediocrity in all its forms and opposes the status quo. 

If you have a dream you're trying to build, or a goal you want to achieve, there is no fiercer weapon in your arsenal than real love for the world around you. 

Ever forward.

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Fear and doubt come from certainty.

Fear and doubt come from certainty—the certainty that what you're doing will not work, that your chosen road leads to failure. But this amounts to predicting the future. To tell yourself that the future holds failure is no less a lie than telling yourself that success is assured. 

You simply don't know. 

That's why they call it the future. 

For some reason, for many of us, the default lie—the one we choose to tell ourselves—is the negative one, the "it won't work" one. The fix is to train your mind to believe that anything is possible. 

Anything.

To do that you must be willing to accept the possibility of outrageous success just as willingly as you accept the possibility of disaster. 

Ever forward. 

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Staying positive is a skill

Staying positive is a skill. It takes reflexes and endurance. It also requires the suspension of disbelief—the same ability that allows you to enjoy a science fiction film or book. 

You need to be able to reject the so-called realism with which you have been programmed. Instead of saying "that could never happen" you have to be willing to let it be possible. 

Think big. Dream like the wind. Do the work it takes to make your dream happen. But above all else, believe it is possible. 

Ever forward. 

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Death and resurrection is more common than you think.

Death and resurrection is more common than you think. You might already have done it a couple of times today. Each time you push yourself beyond your limits, you die a small death and rise to slightly new life. It happens when you weather hesitation and do something risky, like asking for a raise or saying "I love you" for the first time. Regardless of the outcome, you've just become more than you were before. 

You can engage in this process on purpose every day. On the job, ignore office gossip, or better yet, change the subject in an undeniable way. Send a shock wave of positivity through the room. You'll become a beacon for others who secretly feel the way you do but won't take the risk. In your relationship, don't ignore chances to be helpful and supportive, no matter how you feel. Let yourself show the little affections that keep the air clear. Counter bad moods with gently persistent positivity. 

In all situations, read your hesitation as an opportunity to take a chance. 

Be bigger than the possible failure. 

If you do this enough you will be happy. 

Ever forward.

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New cartoon from the Ever Forward blog

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New cartoon from the Ever Forward blog

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New cartoon from the Ever Forward blog...

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