Phree to have your cake and eat it too

I love Thanksgiving. Not so much for the food, but for the dessert. Everyone knows I patiently wait for the table to be cleared of turkey, mac and cheese, collard greens, yams, cranberry sauce and the like for the dessert. Well, this week we have some dessert for you, bought to you by a guest writer, Garron Gibbs of Concete Cakes. Take a read below, feel phree to have your cake and eat it too.

"They say we should shoot for the stars so at the very least, we’ll land on the moon.
But how many of us follow this advice? How many of us start our day with a plan to take concrete steps towards having our cake and eat it too? How many of us just go through the motions?

I meet intelligent and talented people quite often and it always amazes me that many of them have such strong doubts in their own abilities. For African Americans, this doubt comes from centuries of being brainwashed into believing in self-inferiority. Even the most confident African Americans show subtle signs of having an inferiority complex through their actions and assumptions. We assume Caucasian businesses provide better customer service. We assume our natural hair is not good hair. We assume Asians are smarter. We assume that our hard work won’t be rewarded before we even start. These deeply rooted feelings of inferiority dictate our actions and in turn prevent us from winning the race before we even take our mark.

So what do we do about it?

I’m a huge believer in preparation as a means to overcome doubt. The first step is to create a plan in order to be prepared. The first step in preparing for high achievement is to figure out what we want to achieve in. The best choice is usually the thing we think about the most, the thing we would do for free. Once we have an inkling of what that is, we need to figure out the best way to package that interest. For example, if you love to take pictures you should research how many industries and outlets you can take advantage of as a photographer. Businesses use fine art photography to add to their aesthetic and blogs are in constant need of stock images to accompany posts. These are just a couple profitable outlets. The purpose in researching these outlets is to feel confident that your work has potential rewards.

Once you have an idea of where your talents can take you, the next step is to develop those talents. Everyone should consider themselves a lifelong student because the path to perfection is an asymptote; a place we can get infinitely close to, but never touch. This also means someone else can always get closer.

“But I don’t have time to develop my skills.”

We all have the same 24 hours in a day, the goal is to use them as effectively as possible. Often times we undervalue the time we do have. Take an objective look at what you do on an hourly basis and I’m sure you’ll find a few occasions where you can steal some minutes. Start stealing those minutes consistently. Develop your skills and create an action plan.

Once you have a plan, select a team. It’s important not to pursue your goals alone. The power of a group of talented intellectuals, working towards a common goal is unyielding. We get so caught up in the false notion of the “self made man” that we willingly try to take on the world by ourselves. If developing your skills is step number 1 in your plan, surrounding yourself with like minded people is step number 1.5.

If it seems like I’m over-simplifying the process of high achievement, good. We complicate our lives enough as it is. So what do you have to lose by aiming high?"
Better yet, what do you have to gain?

For more about Garron and his cakes, follow him on twitter @Concrete_G.