As we slowly crawl out of this economic downturn, there is room for a new mindset.  People can be separated into two groups.  There are those who sit and wait for things to happen and there are those who will themselves toward success.  Since we have lived inside the information age for over 10 years, everything you can imagine is at your disposal.  There really are no excuses for the lost and the lazy anymore.

I was having a discussion on this topic a few weeks ago with a friend.  He asked me if I thought there had to be the lost so that there could be the found.  If there had to be darkness so we could identify the light.  Or even, if there had to be failures so we could discern those who have triumphed.  It makes sense to me that the world was set up this way – somewhat of an orchestral arrangement aligned by the cosmos.  But lately I have been begging for a different angle on this topic.

You have seen it in some movies where the guy fails miserably in the beginning and spends the remainder inching to figure it out.  Part of the drama of real life is the moment in which we play the protagonist and figure it out for ourselves.  People all over the world are screaming for initiative whether they know it or not.

There is a commercial airing that I keep seeing and can’t get it out of my head.  A male voice serves as the metaphor for the theme saying, “the hotter the fire, the stronger the steal.”  It’s dark, aged and rugged and mentions that success can sometimes be measured as lines upon a face.  You have to take it, you have to go and get it, maybe even  suffer a bit,  because in the end, it will be worth it.  I wish I had cared about this sort of thing 10 years ago.

The friend I was talking about this with recently went back and got an MBA online.  I guess this came up because his mindset had changed drastically from when he was an under grad.  He was well aware that he couldn’t go back in time, instead he was very appreciative of his recent experiences to help him move forward.  A few years ago, he became under the influence of all the possibilities he had within his own power, grasp and control.  He acknowledged that he could in fact take it if that’s what the world was offering.

We have the internet.  We have smart phones. Bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees are clicks away, literally.  If you want something and do not like where you are at, you have the ability to take it if they are offering.  There is so much being offered.  It is up to you to recognize it and take it because no one will give it to you.