Читать книгу A Head Full of Everything - Gavin Oattes - Страница 10

I reckon people are a bit like belly buttons. Some of us are introverts (innies), some of us are extroverts (outies) and some are somewhere in the middle (inbetweenies).

It doesn't matter who you are, where you're from or what anyone else thinks of you. You are allowed to believe in you. You are allowed to be confident in you. You are allowed to step out of your comfort zone and when you spot an opportunity that looks and feels right, grab on with two hands, keep your feet on the ground and run as fast as you can.

If you don't then one day you might just look back and wonder, what if?

Just one thing. You are also allowed to be scared. It's normal.

So to the Innies, Outies and Inbetweenies, all of you, you're all wonderful. And beautiful. And weird. And magical.

Yeah, all of you.

Life goes by in a blur. We need to stop the navel‐gazing and go make things happen.

I can remember teachers at school telling me to get my head out of the clouds. I think children should be encouraged to get their heads back in the clouds. Teenagers need to get their heads back in the clouds too, I need to get my head back in the clouds and the chances are you need to get your head back in the clouds. And start dreaming again. Like, proper dreaming, not sleep dreams. Actual proper big dreams that excite you and get your heart racing. The kind of thing that gets you out of bed with an extra spring in your step.

The problem most of us have in achieving our dreams is our thinking. Our thinking helps us to quit, to not try. We've all felt it.

But it's our thinking, and only our thinking, that will help us to succeed.

So, what about you? Did you wake up this morning feeling THIIIIIS much excited?

How often do you wake up on a Monday morning pumped, buzzing and raring to go? Are you waking up every single day energized, happy, driven and oozing passion?

I'm not talking about some days or most days, I mean EVERY SINGLE DAY! If your answer is ‘No’ then there's a word for people like you: normal. It's absolutely normal. It's normal to not wake up every day genuinely pumped full of energy, buzzing, raring to go. When you go to school it's normal too. And when you start working, it's normal there as well. It's normal for a school to NOT have all their young people waking up every morning fit to burst with excitement at the prospect of Pythagoras’ Theorem. If you skip into school ‘oozing with passion’, someone's going to be making you a doctor's appointment.

Think about this for a moment. It's normal. You're normal. It is now the norm to NOT have people waking up energized, buzzing and raring to go to school or work. To go do the things they have chosen to do, every single day. I'm going to say it once more. It's normal. And it doesn't sit well with me.

Question: Do you want ‘normal’?

I'm willing to put money on it that every single one of you reading this book absolutely categorically do NOT want normal. I'm willing to wager that you are in fact looking for, working for, hoping for, striving for, dreaming about something absolutely extraordinary. Something exciting, engaging, purposeful, colourful – even a little bit scary? Something that makes a difference. Something that makes you feel THIIIIIS much excited. And that dear reader, makes you not normal.

Question: Are you putting in the effort to achieve it?

Can you imagine what would happen if you woke up every single day with the same fire in your belly for the day ahead that you had when you were 4? It would be extraordinary. Abnormal even. But can you imagine what you'd achieve? And how you'd feel? And the impact you'd have on the normal? It's a mix of frightening and enlightening, but in the most beautiful way you could ever imagine. Moreover, it's a mindset. A choice. And it costs nothing.

“I tried to be normal once.

Worst two minutes of my life.”

—Anon