#thanksandrew

[beffungriffiths]

Dug out my old tumblr and followed a bunch of new musical blogs..

And would you believe it, it was wondering what tumblr's reaction to Andrew Rannell's boner in the Falsettos Tony performance would've been that inspired me to do it.

[harassment-sir]

I'd just like to remind everyone that Cas has had a mention in every episode so far this season

[ikmijmezelf]

kept laughing at this at the dinnertable and when i tried to explain why i was laughing to my parents i looked even more stupid. Thanks andrew.

[stephielashes]

This group had me laughing all day!!! New work with my faves @_beautybygg_ @makeupbyjessiex #newwork #stephielashes #stephiesbicoastallife #thanksandrew #beautybygg #amazon #variety #freelancelife #lamakeupartist

[stephielashes]

Left my 💙 in NYC #selfieinthemakeuproom #stephielashes #onset #promua #stephiesbicoastallife #lamakeupartist #nycmakeupartist #secretproject #goldmedalist #thanksandrew (at Quest Nutrition)

[ezysblogerinoes-blog]

Innovation that is one step away.

For centuries there has been a clear, and if not even, discriminatory distinction between the creative, and innovative-minded people separating the ‘non-creative’ plebs. lol. But what if we were to consider ‘discrimination is yours’. What if the only thing limiting your own creativity, is the mindset that discriminates you as a ‘non-creative’. Yes, this week my topic is on this idea that ‘discrimination is yours’, yours to keep, or yours to change; yours to be limited by, or to be your greatest stepping stone into a glorious future.

Creativity inspires Technicality, not the other way around. This then produces innovation.

From the creative world, lets take the art of songwriting. :) Picture a song-writing retreat with a bunch of friends writing songs together. On one particular day, reaching the afternoon of this day, the muso’s have been writing and preparing all day, reaching no finalised piece. Now here comes the chef, the master cook, who sees these amazing song writers so passionately writing from morning until all the way into sunset. Now the chef has just finished cooking but dinner is not due for another two hours, so he decides to himself write a song like them. He came to accept the fact that he is not technically great, and he realised that limitation. But he wanted to write a song, so he did. He ought not to say “I’m not a musician, so I’m not creative,” but rather he proclaimed “I’m going to use all that I’ve got, expressing it as creatively as I can, to innovate something no one has seen before (either good or bad)”. And soon enough he wrote a song, and as he stood up he showed the others and they were all in shock; absolute shock wrecked havoc amongst the musos. Why? Because they’ve been prepping all day and have yet to come to a complete song, and here we have a creative piece from the chef, whether its technically amazing that is for debate. But, was it creative? Definitely.

Toxic Mindsets

We think mindsets are how we think, but what if it were to be something that limited you from thinking right. “I’m not a musician, so I’m not creative.”  “I’m not a painter, so I’m not creative.” “I’m not business-minded, so I won't succeed in business.” “I’m not good in maths, so I’ll stay away from utilising it as a tool.” “I dont know how to pray, so I am not a prayer warrior.” “I’m not a good public speaker, so I’m not an inspirational person.” “I’m never good enough, so I am not a good person.”

Where do we get these lies from? Who ever told you that you needed to be technically great to produce something that is absolutely creative. It’s not the big stop signs in our life that actually limit us, it’s not circumstance, it’s not situation. It’s the subtle mindsets that really stop and break us away from doing what we have envisioned to innovate. There are countless examples of disabled people who compete in the olympics, and fulfil their dreams. The vision of the Special Olympic declares “Let me Win, But If I Cannot Win, Let Me Be Brave.” You are an olympiad because you have an unrelenting passion and a inspiring bravery that drove you to the peak. You are not an olympiad because you are a great sportsman, but you are a great sportsman because you are an olympiad. You aren't a trustworthy person because people trust you, because we all have friends that are utter screw-ups yet we trust them; but you are a trustworthy person because you create avenues and inspire connections for people to see your trustworthiness.

Think Big, Start Small, Build Deep.

You can’t be a person you are not, but you definitely ought to be the person you aspire to be. True observable character is founded from the depths of your heart, not the height of your success. You can’t have success until you become a person of success. You can’t have people’s trust until you grow in being a trustworthy person, and you can’t add value to people unless you are a man or woman of value. But the age old question is, “CAN WE?!” (we can... be each other’s company~) The answer is one-hunnid percent YES! But we would usually stop there, try and fail, try and fail, fail and fail, and then give up. But we never asked ourselves how. How did we try? We tried going big from the get-go and we started running before we knew how to walk. We started a ‘big business vision’ without implementing what it looks like being a fully functioning small business. We started saying ‘HEY YOU TRUST ME!’ without being a person of trust. So what do we do?

1. Think Big - The one and all pursuing goal, the awe-inspiring dream, the great vision of grandeur, our enamoured aspiration. The problem in Thinking Big is not the ‘GREATNESS’ of our dream, but the ‘WEAKNESS’ of our intention. This is because the one-thousand mile journey always starts off with the first step. 

2. Start Small - Picture a painter who paints 20-storey buildings. To get to the 20th floor you need a ladder 20 floors long, you need the tools to get up there and to paint up there, you need the courage, will and determination to commit to the climb, and you also need the foundations to be set, and to have strong and enduring ladder-holders to hold your ladder as you climb. “The ladder-holder is just as important as the ladder-climber.” But what is the emphasis here? You have to commit to the mountain, with each small, and seemingly insignificant step. One step up the ladder may not look like anything in comparison to 20 floors. But you are going up, right? Here’s John Maxwell on growth: “We really get good by being consistent,” “Growth is not an automatic process, if you’re going to grow, you’re going to have to do so intentionally,” “the secret of your success is determined by your daily agenda, it’s what I do today.”

3. Build Deep - You can’t be a person you aren't, but you definitely ought to be the person you aspire to be. We can’t live as outside-in people, but instead, to truly be, we need to live inside-out people. Who we are as people, should dictate what we do, not the other way around. Take the receptionist - just because you work as a receptionist, it doesn't mean that you care for people. But a great leader and worker, who is determined to do what they’ve been given with all they've got, who cares for people and lifts them on top of his shoulder, will definitely not just be a good receptionist, but an amazing manager, and CEO and visionary for that medical centre. “The height of your ministry is determined by the depth in your life.” For christians, this means the depth that progresses as we grow in intimacy with God.

So what does this all mean for us? (Yes this is so much more a message for myself, than anyone else) We ought not to let former mindsets restrict us and limit our capacity, but let us instead be renewed and transformed in our minds, breaking theses mindsets and pushing for the glorious future that is ahead of us. It is indeed the consistency of taking the next step that allows us to finish the race well, for in fact, innovation, is just one step away.

If you actually loved this blog, because I personally think this is my best piece yet, I have to give a massive shoutout and thanks to my mentors, and as of most recently, Andrew. If you asked me who I aspire to be, I’d truly say I want to develop my character to be like Andrew. His visionary capacity to inspire me when we share and dialog, and his humble and bold leadership to put me up on his shoulders, is truly humbling to me. To be put on the shoulders of giants is nothing short of divine appointment. So Andrew, thank you, for everything.