Change your shoes!

Walk a mile in someone else's shoes ... yes, for sure!  It's important to see their perspective and to know why they are doing the things they are doing and making the decisions they are making.  In my business I am reminded of this every single day.  People evolve into who they are and their habits/actions have evolved right along with them.  So yes, walk a mile in someone else's shoes before you judge them or offer them advice.

But ... and it's a BIG BUT ... you can and perhaps should change your shoes.  For the most part you picked them!  Just because you are where you are and you are who you are, doesn't mean that you always have to be that way!  Today you can say "I am {insert career or personality} ... and today you can also choose to say "Tomorrow I will be {insert who you want to become}" by "reading this book  ... attending this class ... connecting with this person ... going to this seminar ..."  If you take a look in the proverbial mirror and don't like who you are then you need to shop for some new shoes!  Walk a mile in some different shoes and become who you want to become!

Here are two examples of life's path for two separate individuals:

Hypothetical example number one (but if I spent ten minutes searching the internet I could probably find ten 'real life' examples):

   A child grows up in poverty, is a minority, struggles with sickness and dyslexia throughout his school years ... yet grows up to be someone very special and influential! How does that happen?

Hypothetical example number two (don't have to research this, it's all around me):
   A child grows up in the majority, with common beliefs, common philosophies, gets average grades, goes to an average college, apparently has average dreams and (go figure) ends up pretty average.  How does that happen?

Someone changed their shoes while they were growing up.  They took off their loafers and put on some hiking boots and started to climb!  It was probably a choice that their friends ridiculed them for.  They were probably told "you'll never make it."  But they no doubt said to themselves "I surely won't make it if I don't try!"

Here's one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite bands that I've been dying to use in one of my blogs and I'm squeezing it in here (I think it's appropriate):
            "She never had dreams ... so they never came true." J. Geils Band from "Angel in Blue"

Have a great day!