Today is March 29 and the Navigate the Chaos question to consider is “What have you done lately to hammer and forge yourself into a character?”
The word forge is defined as 'making or shaping a metal object by heating it in a fire or furnace and beating or hammering it.'
This heating and forging metal is akin to taking the steps necessary for you to achieve your goal or dream. It takes tremendous effort to translate dreams into action and blacksmiths provide an example of those who forge metal into their vision.
You need to have the right tools for the job. You need to have a vision of what you want to design.
You need to couple heat with striking the metal with tools hundreds of times to translate your vision into reality. In other words, forging metal into a specific form requires a good deal of effort. So does creating your life.
Dr. Russell Grieger, a licensed clinical psychologist and author of Developing Unrelenting Drive, Dedication, and Determination: A Cognitive Behavior Workbook believes that “Insight is necessary but not sufficient,” and helps his clients understand “that, to get better, they need to work hard, really hard, not only during our sessions, but also in the days between our sessions…The measly forty-five minutes you spend with me each week pales in comparison to the hours you spend with yourself, unwittingly rehearsing and practicing your irrational thinking and dysfunctional behavior. I'll do everything in my power to teach you what to do, but, if you don't work your therapy every day, you could very well come to our next appointment next week worse than better.”
Grieger’s words echo those of the adage "You cannot dream yourself into a character. You must hammer and forge yourself one."
As you go about your day consider asking yourself what have you done lately to hammer and forge yourself into a character?
This Navigate the Chaos post is part of the Stand category that includes the following entries: