Cultivate GREATNESS | Personal Development

by Josh Bickford

It can be quite a scary image you’ll see if you focus on everything bad that is going on in the world. All it takes it turning your tv on or visiting an easy to reach website and your eyes are filled with images of poverty, war, oppression, death, injustice, starvation, genocide and every other bad thing that one can imagine. Choosing to focus in on these things can really put a damper on your attitude and your outlook of life.

I’ve had several people contact me and ask me whether or not it’s even worth reaching for magnificence in a world that is just so bad.

All of the bad things about the world are exactly why you MUST strive for greatness! It’s not a question of why you should or should not exert the effort to do something great with yourself, it’s how quickly can you do something great to help the world become a better place.

I’m going to ask you a few questions. Let’s assume (I know what happens when you do that!) that for the sake of these questions we are all broke, doing nothing, and striving to do nothing with our lives. Let’s imagine that we all have made the choice to reach for nothing.

Who of us is in a position to help those that are starving?
Who of us will lead us to a better tomorrow?
Who of us is going to develop new medicines to eliminate disease and improve the quality of life for everyone?
Who of us is going to stand up for the oppressed?
Who of us is going to develop the technologies and products for us to improve our future?
Who of us is going to entertain, educate and enlighten us?
Who of us is going to be the example, the one that stands up and stands out as living proof that we can do something great?

If we make the choice to do nothing, it’s not just ourselves that we affect. We rob the world of our greatness, and of the purpose that we were created for. We take food, shelter, medicine, leadership, motivation and encouragement from those that need it most.

If you spend your time focusing on the bad things of the world you will certainly have a view that everything is bad. However, if you focus on the other side of things…….

Two of the worst events in US history have happened in the last 5 years. In September of 2001 the most horrific terrorist attack to ever occur happened in New York. Nearly 3,000 innocent people were killed because of where they lived, and how we believe. Four years later the Gulf Coast of the US was nearly destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. That disaster left millions homeless, jobless and killed hundreds more.

When you focus on these terrible events, you see something very bad. But you’ve missed the best part. Each of these events brought out the best in people. In 2001 we gave so much money to the victims of the attack that the Red Cross still hasn’t distributed all of the money given in donation. After the hurricane American’s opened their homes up to complete strangers, and others bought new houses for people that had lost everything.

While most people see the bad in events, I choose to see the good. I also see that none of this good would be possible if each and everyone of us chose to reach for nothing and we spent our life seeking nothing. Which is exactly why we need to give up that idea, get off our duff, and make something great with ourselves.