Top 5 Lessons I learned in 2014

Hope the New Year Brings you tremendous blessings.  As the hour approached to midnight, I started thinking about all the lessons I had learned this year and this is what I came up with.  Make this year an amazing one!

Top 5 Lessons I learned in 2014

1) I'd rather stay myself and lose everyone then become someone else to please everyone. Be careful who you back because often they'll turn theirs and even if you had their best intentions at heart, they will become a direct reflection of your integrity. Set boundaries, rise above the noise and choose carefully.

2) You'll stand up for people, you'll back them, heck you might even pour your whole heart into someone and they may just walk away like nothing ever happened. That's ok though because if it offends you, it was always about you in the first place. Let them go. Wish them well in your heart. You did what you could while you had the chance. You learned a lesson and you just may have changed and inspired a life forever.

3) You'll stand alone often if you stand for something. And you will be tested. No doubt about that. It will sometimes feel like the world is crashing down on you. Really your strength is being tested and your character is developing for a greater mission you don't understand in the present, but you will in the future. You'll be slandered against, criticized, but in the end the only question that matters is: At the end of the day and when you wake up, Are you happy with the person staring back at you in the mirror?

4) Faith is just about the most important thing we have. It guides us forwards and it's often the only thing that understands us. It's the light when all that surrounds us is darkness. It's what carry's you forwards when circumstances are tough. Lean not on your own understanding. Trust in something greater than you.

5) We are not in control of everything. We never were. We are only in control of ourselves, of our own choices and our own actions. If you aren't happy, change. You have the opportunity every single day. You don't always have to explain yourself, but it's always important to be yourself. Let faith win that battle and let fear take the back seat.

Quote to take you into 2015

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. It somehow already knows what you want to become." -Steve Jobs

Cheers to 2015! Make it the best damn year ever.

Semper Fi. Stay True.

- Jeff

Conformity. A True Disease

 

Conformity. I believe it's a disease of the weak minded.  Most people may never go on to discover their greatest gifts only to fulfill the desire to fit in, in every crowd they ever encounter.  

I got to reading this today and I had some real thoughts as I read this, as I believe it's the number one cause of many of life's difficulties and it will often lead to an unfulfilled very empty heart...

So first...

What is conformity?
 
Conformity is a type of social influence involving a change in belief or behavior in order to fit in with a group.

This change is in response to real (involving the physical presence of others) or imagined (involving the pressure of social norms / expectations) group pressure.
 
Conformity can also be simply defined as “yielding to group pressures”

Group pressure may take different forms, for example bullying, persuasion, teasing, criticism etc. Conformity is also known as majority influence (or group pressure).
 

The term conformity is often used to indicate an agreement to the majority position, brought about either by a desire to ‘fit in’ or be liked (normative) or because of a desire to be correct (informational), or simply to conform to a social role (identification).

 

This is the very reason I find it hard to stay in most groups for extended periods of time.  As soon as they learn who you are and that you think different, the group usually tries to force you into conformity, often times labeling you with stupid nicknames, treating you like crap, pressuring you to act a certain way, cracking jokes about you, and externally lashing out at you just cause you won't conform to the ways of the crowd.

For one second just look at all the great entrepreneurs and leaders throughout history (Steve Jobs, Ghandi, Dr. King) they all share something unique. They stayed true to them-self throughout the whole process, refusing to conform to anything outside of their heart, their vision, and often times what was right for the greater good of society. That's why in 2014 we still bring them up long after they've departed the earth.

Isn't it funny how usually we name the same people over and over who have made a significant impact on the world? That in itself will show you how popular it is to conform. 

One of my favorite quotes is about our deepest fear as humans.  In that quote it says.. "Your playing small does not serve the world.  There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so other people won't feel insecure around you." This quote I believe speaks volumes.  How often do we yield to pressure just to be accepted?

In conformity, people lose track of the most important thing and that is their-self. All of their individual creativity, their thoughts get thrown out the window.  They become just like the group in order to feel comfortable, to fit in, which in response your telling your own heart no.  

What I find funny is the conformist spends so much time on external conditions, everything outside of them-self... world affairs, what he said, she said, the economy.. etc. because I believe it's an amazing escape and avoidant behavior to discovering your true identity.

Just too darn afraid of their own their own self, to learn their own value.  We all know it's easier to fit in every single time. To walk in the room and talk about someone else, then it is to believe in yourself. To dress, look and act the part and your good to go. Maybe on the outside, but I can assure you, not on the inside.

Why would you ever have an amazing idea and say no to your own heart? One word- Conformity. 

It just may be the greatest individual action that truly shows everything you need to know about a person's character. An individual that conforms will abandon anything they start from the heart, to take on an identity to please the crowd every single time.

I challenge you to look in the mirror, listen to only your voice, stand alone in a time of adversity and see what you'll learn. The answer to many of life's issues all start with you, internally, not externally.

Don't ignore your heart, it always tells the truth.