In a video I saw today on one of my new favourite blogs, Will Smith (yes, the movie star/rapper) had some very profound things to say about success and living a joyful existence. So many pearls of wisdom were contained in the video that I’m certain I could write a year’s worth of blogs just on the ten minutes I watched. However, one of the quotes that stayed with me was this:
“I think that there’s a certain delusional quality that all successful people have to have. You have to believe that something different than what has happened for the last 50 million years of history… you have to believe that something different can happen.”
How many great people, when first presenting their ideas to a friend, spouse, loved one or potential financial backer, have been told that they are delusional? How many have been told that it can’t be done? Before someone tells me that question can’t be answered, I know, it’s rhetorical. 
In the same video, Smith mentions that the idea of walking into a building, flicking a switch on the wall and having instant light must have seemed delusional at one stage in our not too distant history. Thomas Edison didn’t think so. Speaking of sitting inside a few hundred tonne of metal and flying across oceans, indeed to the other side of the world, would have been grounds for admission to an asylum (or burning at the stake?) just a few hundred years ago. The Wright Brothers and others disagreed.
Internet? Motorcars? Space travel? Keeping meat preserved and healthy 6 months after the kill? Lunacy at some stage! Hell, not too long ago even the idea of being able to live in the one place without moving with the seasons would have been ridiculous (and maybe still is.;) )
My point is, if you wish to break the mould, if you want to achieve something that no one else has, you cannot be afraid to be thought crazy. Every great mind at first met resistance before begrudging acceptance and begrudging acceptance before commendation.
Do you have an idea that seems too big? Too insane? Too unlikely? That’s exactly the kind of idea you need to run with. But first, do the following:
Close your eyes.
Visualise it.
See it. Taste it. Smell it. Make it real.
Do you believe it?
Do you love it?
Does it make you tingle?
Are you prepared to risk everything to make this happen?
Would you die for it?
If you can answer those questions affirmatively, then make the decision right here and now that you will make it so. Once the decision has been made, it matters not if you know the details of how to make it happen. Once you believe within your soul that you will make this your reality, nothing will stop you.
But stay focussed. The price of greatness is unwavering commitment, hard work and unshakable passion.
Good luck.
Live vibrantly!
Joe
Hey Joe! Love your take on Will’s philosophy.
I agree, integrating this “delusional” idea is incredibly empowering. If we want to create something extraordinary, we simply can’t let our mind be bound by the current limitations of the world.
The world is constantly evolving no matter what, but it begs the question: do we want to be one of the people who help create this positive change, or one of ones who stand on the sidelines and wait for it to happen.
Sky is the limit if we dream big, fully believe in those dreams, and take daily action to make them happen.
Good luck on your journey & thanks for the “shout-out”!!