Other people see successful people as those who only have enough money to get by, but have built a lifestyle where they have time to spend with their kids and family. Still others see success as owning their own business, or running a marathon, or having a book published or or OR!!!! There are so many ors!!!
The thing is, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks successful is. It matters what you think. YOU! If you love sitting by the beach with your family, the water lapping at your toes, would working 95 hour weeks be success to you, even if you earnt millions? NO!!!!! If you HATE writing, and think reading is for nerds and never ever want to write a book ever in the history of the world, would writing and having a book published be success to you? NO!!! If you think success is earning millions of dollars and you do exactly that, and you have your millions of dollars but are incredibly unhappy, are you successful? NOOOOOOOO!!! It's not just about reaching goals, although that is important. It's about fulfillment and enjoyment as well. See, zombies have it right. Zombies understand success. To them, it doesn't have to be complicated. Yes, this is partly because their brains are infected mush and they can't do complicated, but that's not the point! Zombies go after a brain because it excites them to do that, it's what THEY want to do and they're driven to do it. Not only that, when they get the brain, they celebrate and they enjoy it so much. It feeds them, and not just in a gross, disgusting brain-slurping way. It feeds their soul. The other great thing about zombies and success is that they don't rest on their laurels. They achieve success, and they celebrate it like the crazy monsters they are, and then they set out on a new journey, looking for more. They celebrate and they enjoy, but they are not satisfied. They're driven to achieve more, to do it again, to continue that search for fulfillment, to get another brain, to munch it, crunch it, chew it all up. And we can learn from that. Because zombies are the best teachers ever. Success, to me, is about creating a life where you are able to do the things you really enjoy. It's about setting and reaching goals, and then setting and reaching more goals. It's about finding something that gets you excited about getting out of bed in the morning, and having a life where you are able to do that thing EVERY day! It's about friends, and laughter. It's about learning from amazing people. It's about writing every day and working on my craft so that I can be proud of every single book I put out there, but never satisfied that it's the best book I can write. I want every book I do to be the best book I've written to that point, which means I will always be looking to write a better one, to improve, to put my soul into every word I write. And then there's stuff like this. The other day I was at a school, and one of the prep girls had to go to the toilet. She came back, and about five minutes later stood up again and announced, "Oh my god. I have to go to the toilet AGAIN! You are TOO funny!" That, to me, is success. That is connection and fulfillment and laughter and joy. And the more I can get of that, the better, Have an amazing week everyone.
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See, when you're lucky enough to find your purpose, that's when you have something that gets you out of bed in the morning. It gets you excited. It makes it easier (but not easy!) to keep going when obstacles are thrown at you left, right and centre. It keeps you focused and determined (other awesome zombie traits!).
In short, it's AWESOME!!! But here's the thing. Some people never find their purpose. Or it takes them years. I think the problem is that people think too large. I have no problems with dreaming big, or aiming high, or any of that, in fact I think it's necessary, but in searching for one overall world-changing life-altering purpose, you can miss a lot along the way. Zombies have a pretty simple purpose. Catch human, break skull, eat brain, grunt and groan. But that simple purpose pretty much helps them obliterate a planet! Little things can make a difference, and they can grow at an alarming zombie virus-like speed. I think you should definitely be on the lookout for the large scale purpose/career/project, but along that journey, there are HEAPS of little purposes that will light up your and other people's lives. Want to raise a million dollars for charity? You could also donate clothes to homeless people., or volunteer at a local charity. Want to influence millions of people with your writing? Start by writing the best book you can for your best friend. I don't know, these are just things that are popping into my head, but you get the idea. Don't think your purpose has to change the entire world in one go. Start small and build up.. Look for lots of little purposes. Eat one brain. Change one person into a zombie. But if you must find one purpose, act like a zombie. If your brain was going to be mutated by a virus or parasite, so that you were totally focused on ONE thing and it would make you so happy to be doing that one thing for the rest of your life ... what would it be? WHAT WOULD THAT ONE THING BE? Then work out a way to start making that happen, but start small and always keep an eye out for other things you can do along the way. It really is about the journey. And I actually think we already all have a purpose, one that if we all focused on it and did it to the best of our abilities, the world would be a better place (HINT: Zombies are really bad at this). Be kind to each other. Seriously. It's not that hard. Treat other people how you would like to be treated. Imagine if we all did that? The world would be a different place. So on that very deep and serious note, I'm outta here! There are zombies at the door, and I have to go get my bazooka flamethrower and do something about this situation! Have an amazing week, and remember, if you really wanna live ... you gotta be undead!
James joins us to chat about celebrating your wins along the journey. He also talks about some of his awesome projects, and how he likes eating dog snacks ... or something like that! James also takes on the Zombie Inspiration Fast Question Challenge! What a trooper! He's hilarious in it too!!! Check out James in the videos below, and keep an eye out for two new books we've done together! Jackson Payne's Clumsy Christmas Spectacular is out on September 1st, and Zombie Inspiration is out on November 1st!!! WOO HOO!!!
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