My Reality Check Bounced! - Jason Ryan Dorsey [18]
Towel Point 10:
Not talk with your family or friends for one whole year?
Towel Point 11:
Cut off all your options for retreat, so you have only one option: success?
What level would you go to on this scale before quitting on your most meaningful, powerful, personal dreams? Most people get to Point 4. That’s a good start, because it allows for enough progress to get a sneak peek of what you’re capable of achieving. However, if you’re really dreaming big, you’ll need to push yourself much further than Point 4 to get there. Remember, the bolder your dreams, the more resistance you will likely have to overcome to reach them.
SUCCESS IS RARELY A STRAIGHT LINE
Want to know the biggest enemy to your success that you can’t see but is always with you? Self doubt. It whispers in your ear, creeps into your mind, and then spreads through your body—eventually turning your muscles into mush. And only one thing can conquer it. Passion.
Passion overrides self-doubt by spreading from your heart to your head. With passion fueling your resolve, you can go through, around, over, or under any obstacle to get where you want to be. In fact, each time your passion forces you to take a stand for your dreams you will feel more in control, alive, powerful, and resilient.
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INSTANT MESSAGE
Passion is inside you, but you must look for it to find it.
Your why feeds your will, which leads you the right way.
Refuse to throw in the towel, and move from spectator to participant to hero.
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BOUNCED:
I’m just not motivated.
CASHED:
My passion is my motivation.
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ONLINE: See awe-inspiring pictures from Global Youth Service Day at www.myrealitycheckbounced.com/book
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4
UNLEASH OPPORTUNITY
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When you see opportunity, you see the future you can create.
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REALITY-CHECK MOMENT—
I FEEL STUCK BUT I CAN’T SEE A WAY OUT.
For some twentysomethings, finding their Future Picture is not the hard part—many have known what they wanted from the time they were young or have a very clear, specific vision for themselves. What’s tough is when they achieve that Future Picture, or fall short trying, and realize it’s not what they thought it would be. They become challenged, frustrated, lost, and disenchanted. They have so blinded themselves to seeing in only one direction that they can’t see an escape route.
When Denise entered college, at age eighteen, she believed she had only one option: take classes that would lead to a high-paying job in business. She was the first and only one of eighteen cousins to attend college, so big expectations rested on her petite shoulders.
At first, she found her business classes interesting. But after a few weeks, her mind was wandering in the ninety-minute lectures. She got so bored, she began skipping classes to hang out with friends. By the time she realized how far behind she had fallen, it was too late to catch up. Her first-semester grades arrived by mail during Christmas break. When she saw her low GPA, she cried.
Feeling depressed and alone, she phoned her mom, Elida, at work. Elida listened patiently as Denise shared her frustration. She knew that Denise was smart. She knew that Denise was motivated when she wanted to be. She knew that Denise could have the world at her feet if she just figured out which way to step. So Elida told her eighteen-year-old baby girl that she was too talented to give up on herself. One bad semester should not sideswipe her entire future. She convinced Denise that maybe it wasn’t college that was wrong for her, but rather studying business. She told Denise that one unexpected dead end doesn’t mean other paths will turn out the same way.
TAKING A DETOUR
Denise listened to her mom’s advice. Maybe she did need to try studying something else—even if it led to a lower paying job. The next day, Denise changed her entire schedule for the upcoming semester. She decided to enroll in a variety of classes, including ones she would never before have considered taking,