“Think of all the times you’ve upgraded certain aspects of your life.  All of this is the power of what it feels like to continuously evolve and view life through a higher lens.  Life’s number one skill that you need to develop is programming you..deciding what outcomes you want, setting goals,” Rob Dyrdek.  Rob shared this wisdom after telling the story of how he bought his first ’93 Honda Civic and knowing that he overextended himself.  He said he overshot the mark.  But he shared this in the respect that he was upgrading his life and that he needed something a little beyond reach to keep him moving forward.  To get bigger you need bigger goals and bigger vision.  You need something to keep you growing.

I never enjoyed the kind of pressure of taking on a project I knew couldn’t be achieved.  I mean I had an outright aversion to it.  Plus I had a chip on my shoulder about being the kid who did the project all those years in school—if I didn’t want a bad grade I had to do it myself.  Ironically, even though I have this aversion, one of my favorite quotes is from Eleanor Roosevelt, “Shoot for the moon, even if you miss you’ll still land amongst the stars.”  I love the idea behind it, but I secretly always knew I would hit my mark—if I wanted the moon, that’s what I would get.  I wanted more but I settled for mediocre so I wouldn’t get stuck with something I didn’t want long term.  Putting the idea of going for something just out reach into context with Rob’s quote, I understand the point because if you aim for more than what you have and more than where you think you can go, you will get further than you would have with a smaller goal in mind—even if you don’t get the exact goal.

For me it was a matter of fear—fear of judgment or other people telling me I could/couldn’t do something.  I didn’t want to make a big production out of it because of the fear of failure.  And believe me, I always had a contingency plan.  I always knew what I would do if I failed—I would make it not my fault saying so and so needed me or I was supposed to do x and when those things didn’t come through I could say it wasn’t my fault.  I was scared of the task, I was scared of success.  I didn’t know how to listen to my body or my mind or my soul—it was all outside influences and fear that directed me.  Now I want to set the bar a bit further ahead because I don’t want to stay here.  I don’t want my progress contingent on what other people do.  It isn’t so much about the pressure, it’s about learning what we are capable of.  If we tell ourselves we are only capable of x, when we hit x we will stop.  So go for y.