R.T.F.M.

Okay, I'm proud, stubborn and I'm a guy. I've got three strikes against me when it comes to moving toward greatness, because sometimes the ground I want to cover has already been trod and it makes sense to learn from those who have gone before. Nevertheless, good sense rarely impedes me from failing to leverage the experience of those who have gone before me.

Let's face it. I'm a guy who likes to do things himself. I like putting my stamp on everything I do. But this has a down side. Too often I struggle to learn how to do something relatively simple when I could be spending my time on something that would lead me closer to greatness.

Perhaps an example will help. Recently I had three occasions to attempt something new on our websites. Whether it was dropping a picture into a formatted article, enabling a link so people could follow our blog, or saving a blog I already started, these technological nuances took up a lot of time. UNTIL I read the directions. Yep. I wasted all that time because I just clicked and guessed at how to do these relatively simple procedures. Though they only became simple after I read the directions.

So many people have struggled to achieve or unleash their greatness that we would be foolish to ignore them. Their pathways provide an easier access to greatness than we can accomplish ourselves. However, at some point, if we truly aspire to greatness, we will have to forge our own path. I am just learning that perhaps I don't need to do it myself so early.

Throughout my life I have to be reminded time and time again to "read the frigging manual (R.T.F.M.)." I never thought it would assist my study of and movement toward greatness. But now it makes sense. Books like "Man's Search for Meaning," or poems like "The Road Not Taken," have provided me with food for thought that have inspired action. These are the "manuals" of those who have explored areas that attract me. So now I regularly read where others have gone before me and what they've accomplished. Eventually I know I will forge a path of my own, but for now, to make things a little easier I think I'll read the frigging manual.

So what are the "manuals" you have read, seen, or heard that have propelled you to attempt something new, believe in yourself more, or pursue your own greatness?