How Cee Lo Green Taught Me to Achieve

leedman — Sat, 14 May 2011 10:29:00 +0000

I’ve got to make a confession. On November 9, 2010, my life changed. You see I was minding my own business, watching the Colbert Report, and saw Cee Lo Green pick up the microphone to finish the show by singing his hit single “Forget You” (aka “[expletive deleted] You”).

Since that day, that song has been playing in my head non-stop…for almost 6 months now. (By the way, if you haven’t heard it yet, open up YouTube and listen before reading further). Well wait, I’ll put it right here. If you’ve seen this, skip it and scroll past the video.

With a song stuck in my head for 6 months straight I had two options:

Punch myself very hard in the face and hope a different song would start playing in my head, or
Analyze the lyrics until I learned something useful.

That’s how Cee Lo Green taught me to achieve. Let me explain…

I’ve never been all that productive of a person. You see, I’ve always waited until I was “good enough” until I started taking meaningful action. I would do tons of work trying to become “good enough,” but since that’s a pretty vague goal I tended to get stuck always preparing to take real action. I would rarely accomplish something meaningful.

Luckily Cee Lo stepped in. You see, in “Forget You” he tells a beautiful story: guy loves girl, guy sees girl in a car with a rich dude, guy gets angry that he wasn’t rich enough for her, guy says screw this. He sings, “I guess the change in my pocket wasn’t enough I’m like, forget you!” And moves on. He could have sang, “I guess the change in my pocket wasn’t enough I’m like…well, I guess I’ll get a second job, try to invest wisely, and eventually win you over.” Not quite as catchy.

The wise Cee Lo realized that it wasn’t worth wishing he had more money, or waiting until he got his Ferrari. If that girl wasn’t going be with him…forget her. Realistically, even if he did wait until he got that cash, car, and xbox, that girl still wouldn’t want him (or by then he would have been over her). So he started from where he was, not from where he hoped to be one day.

What does any of this have to do with real world achievement?

On one hand, most of us want our life to change in some way. On the other hand, most of us are waiting for something before we can really take action. We’re waiting to finish a class, get a promotion, have a new situation, or find a direction. Many of us think that if only we had that one thing in our life happen, then we could start making progress.

I need a perfect outline before I write that essay or blog post
I need the perfect work out and diet plan before I start exercising
I need the perfect website, traffic, blog, or product before I can start an online business
I need to wait for the right time before I quite the job I hate

I know what I did for the longest time is either:

work my butt off trying to be prepared enough to start making progress, or
pout and feel sorry for myself.

If only I had asked, “WWCLD?” (what would Cee Lo do?). He would have said, “forget being ‘good enough.’ I am where I am. I don’t need to wait until I’m ‘good enough’ or ‘ready.’ I am going to start moving forward from where I am right now.”

Start achieving like Cee Lo

I’m not telling you to go record a hit record (although if you do, referencing Mr. T’s catchphrase like Cee Lo does in “Forget You” is always the right choice). Instead, pick the one biggest goal you currently have in your life. Got it? Okay, I don’t care if you’re starting at zero in pursuing that goal. I don’t care how much you have to learn before you can really do it. The most important thing you can possibly do is to say “forget you” to whatever you think you need to do before you act. Figure out how to take your first step now.

Don’t be like Cee Lo was before his “Forget You” kick. He had to “borrow, beg and steal and lie and cheat, trying to keep” the girl. In the same way, you’d have to work your ass off to get to a point where you are “good enough” to start taking real world action. Screw the ideal. Start from where you are right now.

P.S. I’ve not consulted Cee Lo, but I’m pretty sure we’re best friends and he probably agrees with everything in this warped interpretation of his catchy song lyrics. Sorry Cee Lo if you’re being misrepresented here!

Written on 5/14/2011 Joey, an online business guy who loves talking about making actual accomplishments (not just theoretical personal development stuff). Check out his current project at http://findyourdamnpurpose.com. If you want your life to change, but don’t know how to get started, click to check out the 100% free video course on finding a useful purpose.

Photo Credit: Travis Hornung

Achieve Personal Potential – Are You?

leedman — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 04:26:36 +0000

Ralph Waldo Emerson once observed, “Our chief want in life is somebody who will make us do what we can.”

I remember when I was parenting young children how rules, discipline, and boundaries created a stronger sense of security for both of the boys. For a time, trying to be ultra-modern and free, we offered much more leeway and freedom. We found during that period that the boys seemed to shrivel, become uncertain, and ironically crankier. Something I’d heard previously brought us back to our senses, giving the boys a much stronger foundation that saw them flourish.

Boundaries, rules, and discipline are necessary elements of societal life, and is encountered in every adult encounter inter-personally, organizationally, and culture to culture. We don’t have it right, but if history is any judge, we are in many ways getting better. Before naming all the things that are wrong, keep it in perspective; our getting better also means we’ve discovered, invented, and implemented new tools and resources, ideas and politics, and a slew of choices that see many mistakes being made. Considering the societal norms of today versus 250 years ago, we have made progress.

With each generation we are challenged to operate in a societal culture of norms that need growth and change, amongst the tide of resistance to change. We know change to be inevitable, yet another facet of life and changes sees people resisting change as they seek to find a sense of peace and stability – maybe just to have a rest. Others, are just plain obstinate. Me too, at times.

And here it is, our biggest want, observed by Emerson, is to have someone willing to make us do what we can. We are capable of so much, and yet often find ourselves doing so little with our talent, passion, and dreams. Someone willing to make you do what you can also must be willing to assert rules, boundaries, and yes, discipline. You know what? In some ways it does feel uncomfortable, but I’ve also recognized the suck-it-up factor, acknowledgement, encouragement, belief, and empowerment that fuels my next moves.

Step-by-step, it gets better. Step-by-step, I improve. Step-by-step, I sometimes fall. Showing up each day, getting back into the fray, and communicate with those who matter with the stakes in your life. Choose, open, and grow with each challenge and opportunity to discover more of your potential. Step-by-step, my someone will still tell me when I’ve appreciated their feedback and made an invitation for more. Thank-you, I feel that force of ability to achieve my personal potential. What about you?
Have you got your someone?

One Man Can » achieve

How Cee Lo Green Taught Me to Achieve

Achieve Personal Potential – Are You?