Always Look to Yourself for the Best
After graduating from high school, my best friend Joe and I decided to take a camping trip to a nearby state park. After getting settled into our camp, we took a drive around the neighboring farms. One particular farmer had a large metal sign on a very tall post that said, “Always Look to Patterson for the Best.” I loved that saying immediately, maybe because that was my last name too. But it did more than that for me. It ignited something inside that said, ‘Look to Yourself, your beliefs, your favor to create the best for everyone in your life.’
We have good times, bad times, and difficult times, but if we are always looking inside to create the best, to be the best version of ourselves, we attract the same back to us.
When we expect the best, we are practicing a faith that we can look for something good to come out of a situation no matter what. It is a test of faith, development of trust, and higher-level thinking that we aspire. Mae Jemison has a saying that I like, “Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations.” So often, when things aren’t going as we want them to go, we see the bad, the difficult, the ‘why did this have to happen, but in every difficult situation, there is something good that can come out of it.
By looking to ourselves for the best, we hold optimism that our image, our goal are coming true. By getting caught up in the negativity and criticism from others or ourselves, we limit what can come to us.
We must guard against getting snagged into short-term behaviors that rarely, if ever, pay off for us. Henry Ford’s famous quote is a good mental reminder to pull yourself out of this thinking: “Whatever you think, you’re right.” Whatever we expect, we will get. If we wish the best for ourselves, we set a standard that becomes visible to others over time, even when it doesn’t matter. There is just a particular detail or positive energy that others see as a high standard to which you hold yourself.
Start looking to yourself for the best, like the sign says, “Always Look to (your name) For the Best.” You will find that you achieve more, believe more, are more positive to be around, and have people who want to be around you. Believe it is going to happen, and you will find it.
One way that I Always Look to Yourself for the Best, is this post The is Only Temporary – Dr. Rich Patterson (pattersonphd.com)
Here is how to bring out the best in others, another great life skill Six Habits Of People Who Know How To Bring Out The Best In Others (fastcompany.com)
Yours for a Better Life,
Rich
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