Saturday, May 4, 2013

"Have To's" & "Want To's"

I will never forget what Denzel Washington said about life. He said, "You do what you have to do, so you can do what you want to do." That makes so much sense to me. Once, this guy said to me, "Rodney, I do not want to work at this job, it is wack! My response was, "Well, you do not have to!" He would go on to tell me that working at his current job was a necessary evil because he had bills that needed to be paid. I understand!

There are some things we "have to do" in life such as paying taxes and dying. We have to do those things. You may feel you "have to" work on a dead end job. You may feel you "have to" stay in a crappy relationship. Most of the things we feel we "have to do"-we feel forced to do them. What about your dreams and goals? See, when it comes to your dreams, you are working on your own time. There are no penalties for not calling potential clients. No one cares if you do it or not.That is up to you! 

The sercet I have learned is that when you get to the point when the thing you "want to do" becomes the very thing you "have to do",your life is going to change forever. No joke! Let's take this a step further. When the "have to's" become your "want to's" it will become a whole new world. Stay with me.

See, if you are like me, you love working out. However, it was not always this way for me. Only on, after graduating from college with my BA, I "wanted" to workout. I did it sometimes and sometimes I didn't. Also, my diet was suspect at best. I was downing Big Macs and Whoopers whenever. Here was the tipping point, when my workouts changed from "want to's" to "have to's"- Ooooo wee! I changed the game. Yep, my body composition changed, my eating habits changed, and my body weight changed. That's real! When your dreams become you, you bring them to life.

While working as a sercuity guard at a local high school in 2004, I felt beat by  life. I needed the job, but I did not want this one. For goodness sake, I had a BA in Broadcast Communication. Now, I was making sure high school kids were not skipping class? Really? Here was the tipping point, when I transformed a job I needed into something I wanted! Do you get that? I made that job the greatest job a graduate from college would ever want! I coached basketball, worked with teachers and administrators, and mentored students! I changed the game, folks! I made it necessary for me to show up and show out!

Listen up, I will leave you with this-your "have to's" and "want to's" are all part of your success. There will be things you "want to do" and "have to do." It is all part of the achievement process. The closer you can bring those two together, the better your chances of briniging your vision to life! Simple!

Stay Hungry! Stay Foolish! Let's Get It!

-Rodney S. Lewis, Ed.D.