A friend just shared a YouTube video of the actor Will Smith with me. In it, Will tells us about his philosophies on living a happy and successful life. All I can tell you is that, from now on, whenever someone asks me what MY philosophies on living a happy and successful life are, I’m gonna say, “…the same as Will Smith’s!”
I wasn’t going to write a blog today. I’ve really been trying to get my novel, The Watchman of Ephraim out of my head and onto paper, but the video inspired me so much, I thought I’d share the high points with you: (If you want to watch the video, it’s here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HQIzgXiSDU)
According to Will… (and g)
- You should love living - it’s something you can’t fake.
- “Greatness is not something only the special among us will ever taste; it exists in all of us.” Will says that it’s very simple, “This is what I believe …and I’m willing to die for it!”
- Where you were (the past) isn’t as important as where you’re going to be (your goals in life) because you intend to become something greater.
- “The difference between talent and skill is that talent is something you have naturally. Skill can only be developed by hours and hours of ‘beating on your craft.” Will doesn’t view himself as particularly talented. Where he says he excels is in his work ethic (see “willing to die for something” above).
- Talent can fail you but your skills and your dedication to personal improvement won’t.
- “You don’t set out to build the biggest, baddest wall – you don’t start there. You say to yourself, I’m going to lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid – and you do that every single day …and soon you have a wall.”
- His Grandmom told him, “If you’re going to be here, there’s a necessity to make a difference!” You have a spiritual responsibility to make every group you come into contact with, better.
- The world should be better because you were here.
- “Your life, your work, your family should mean something. If you’re not making someone’s life better, than you’re wasting your time. Your life will become better by making others’ lives better.”
- “Represent an idea that - you really can “make” what you want (in life)”. One of his favorite books is Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist – he really believes the message of the book - that we can all create whatever we want to create with our lives. (B/t/w …I’m a huge Paulo Coelho fan myself)
- “The first step is that, before anybody else in the world believes it, it’s you have to believe it! There’s no reason to have a Plan B because it distracts from Plan A.” (this is something I used to tell my Dad when he always used to tell me that I needed a “contingency plan.”)
- “There’s a certain delusional quality that all successful people have to have. You have to believe that something different can happen then has happened in the past.”
- “Confucius said, ‘He who said he ‘can’ and he who said he ‘can’t’ – are both usually right!” (preachin’ to the choir Mr. C!)
- “Being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocrity!” (This brought tears to my eyes …I’m the most Unrealistic person that I know… haha!)
- “Our thoughts, our feelings, our dreams and our ideas are physical, in the universe! We can alter the universe!”
- “Decide who and what you want to be …and the universe will get out of your way!”
- “In order to achieve what you want, you really have to focus with all of your fiber and all of your heart and all of your creativity!”
- “You can’t be scared to die for the truth …the truth is the only thing that is constant!”
- “Never let anyone tell you …you can’t do something!” I’ll add …never let the limitation of others, limit you!
...and one last thought before I get back to living my dream…
“Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero” – "Seize the day, trusting as little as possible in the future"
Peace,
g
I wasn’t going to write a blog today. I’ve really been trying to get my novel, The Watchman of Ephraim out of my head and onto paper, but the video inspired me so much, I thought I’d share the high points with you: (If you want to watch the video, it’s here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HQIzgXiSDU)
According to Will… (and g)
- You should love living - it’s something you can’t fake.
- “Greatness is not something only the special among us will ever taste; it exists in all of us.” Will says that it’s very simple, “This is what I believe …and I’m willing to die for it!”
- Where you were (the past) isn’t as important as where you’re going to be (your goals in life) because you intend to become something greater.
- “The difference between talent and skill is that talent is something you have naturally. Skill can only be developed by hours and hours of ‘beating on your craft.” Will doesn’t view himself as particularly talented. Where he says he excels is in his work ethic (see “willing to die for something” above).
- Talent can fail you but your skills and your dedication to personal improvement won’t.
- “You don’t set out to build the biggest, baddest wall – you don’t start there. You say to yourself, I’m going to lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid – and you do that every single day …and soon you have a wall.”
- His Grandmom told him, “If you’re going to be here, there’s a necessity to make a difference!” You have a spiritual responsibility to make every group you come into contact with, better.
- The world should be better because you were here.
- “Your life, your work, your family should mean something. If you’re not making someone’s life better, than you’re wasting your time. Your life will become better by making others’ lives better.”
- “Represent an idea that - you really can “make” what you want (in life)”. One of his favorite books is Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist – he really believes the message of the book - that we can all create whatever we want to create with our lives. (B/t/w …I’m a huge Paulo Coelho fan myself)
- “The first step is that, before anybody else in the world believes it, it’s you have to believe it! There’s no reason to have a Plan B because it distracts from Plan A.” (this is something I used to tell my Dad when he always used to tell me that I needed a “contingency plan.”)
- “There’s a certain delusional quality that all successful people have to have. You have to believe that something different can happen then has happened in the past.”
- “Confucius said, ‘He who said he ‘can’ and he who said he ‘can’t’ – are both usually right!” (preachin’ to the choir Mr. C!)
- “Being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocrity!” (This brought tears to my eyes …I’m the most Unrealistic person that I know… haha!)
- “Our thoughts, our feelings, our dreams and our ideas are physical, in the universe! We can alter the universe!”
- “Decide who and what you want to be …and the universe will get out of your way!”
- “In order to achieve what you want, you really have to focus with all of your fiber and all of your heart and all of your creativity!”
- “You can’t be scared to die for the truth …the truth is the only thing that is constant!”
- “Never let anyone tell you …you can’t do something!” I’ll add …never let the limitation of others, limit you!
...and one last thought before I get back to living my dream…
“Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero” – "Seize the day, trusting as little as possible in the future"
Peace,
g
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