Live Uncomfortably

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After reading my friend Mike’s blog entry on heroes, I was inspired.  I have recently been pondering the importance of ‘living differently’ in order to encourage change.  While I think it’s extremely important to ’live differently’, I also think it’s good to try to live like your heroes.

Although this seems like a contradiction, it is not. The people who we admire are different. In most cases, these people have achieved their goals by being different.  They have exceeded average standards and attained at least some degree of excellence (I’m assuming your heroes are not average in comparison to you). 

I’ll use three quick examples from my life to demonstrate why we should emulate our heroes.

• There was a long stretch in my life where I wanted to be a musician. I didn’t necessarily care about making millions and having sex with super models, I just wanted to make a living playing music.  Sex with regular models and a half million dollars would have been plenty.
  But during that time, I didn’t live like a musician. I lived like a college student. I went to class, hung out with friends, and partied. I didn’t study music, play shows, or do what other musicians were doing (besides the partying).
  I in no way regret having fun and chillin’ with my friends during college. It was an important time in my personal development. But I should have been honest with myself. I wanted to be a college student. At that time, telling myself I wanted to be musician was a lie. Thus, I was slightly unhappy because I was living one life and desiring to be live another. If I wanted to be a musician, I should have lived like the musicians I love.  While I was in class and studying, my musical heroes were in practice rooms and on stage.
• For most of my life I’ve wanted to be a man’s man. I’ve wanted to be a powerful presence and a person who people look up to. But, for the majority of my life I’ve been everything but. I used to rationalize and say that this is how I am and try to accept myself for who I was. But I’m not happy with this reality and I don’t want to accept it. I want to get better and live like the alpha males I know in my life.
  One of my biggest influences is my friend’s step dad. He probably doesn’t know how much I admire him, but I believe he is the epitome of a man. He is a self-sufficient business man who provides for his family and friends. He does what he wants when he wants. I want to be like him, so I am now actively trying to live like him.
• Arnold Schwarzenegger has become a hero of mine in many respects.  I don’t particuallary care for his acting but I think Arnold as a person is pretty awesome.  His work ethic is out of this world.  He became the greatest bodybuilder of all time through determination (pumping iron and eating correctly) and through intellect (Arnold used to study psychology and how the mind can overcome pain). He made sacrifices because he knew the rewards would outweigh all else.
  I have several goals in my life.  If I can replicate even a fraction of Arnie’s dicipline in my pursuit of them, there is no way I can fail.

If we want to live differently from the rest, it can’t hurt to look to those who are living the lives we desire for guidance