I hope you all got some value out of my last post on the current conditions of the human community. I look forward to hearing all about how each and every one of you is going out there and changing the world one person at a time.

We will now get back to the ten part series that began with the brief outline of the 10 steps to becoming the greatest salesman in the world, as outlined by Og Mandino in his book, The Greatest Salesman in the World.

This is the fourth post in the series and today’s step is to embrace the fact that you are nature’s greatest miracle.

Out of the 7 billion people on the planet, there are none like you. Your mind, your heart, your spirit, your body. They are only yours and no one else shares them. They did not exist before you and they will never again exist after you. Although we all share similar characteristics as human beings, the elements of your being that shape you are unique to you and you alone.

Embrace this. Relish this. Use this.

Og Mandino says in his book:

“Vain attempts to imitate others no longer will I make. Instead will I place my uniqueness on display in the market place. I will proclaim it, yea, I will sell it. I will begin now to accent my differences; hide my similarities. So too will I apply this principle to the goods I sell.
I am a unique creature of nature.
I am rare, and there is value in all rarity; therefore, I am valuable. I am the end product of thousands of years of evolution; therefore, I am better equipped in both mind and body than all the emperors and wise men who preceded me.
But my skills, my mind, my heart, and my body will stagnate, rot, and die lest I put them to good use. I have unlimited potential. Only a small portion of my brain do I employ; only a paltry amount of my muscles do I flex. A hundredfold or more can I increase my accomplishments of yesterday and this I will do, beginning today.”

In the process of sales, learn from the masters, from those who have found success in the art, but add to those elements your own unique flavor and spice.

Make the process yours. For example, whenever I sell anything to anyone, I bring in the adventure mindset. The same mindset that took me across Greenland and is soon taking me into underwater caves in Mexico. I fill all my presentations and speeches with these stories and tie them into what my audience needs and wants. These stories of adventure and exploration make me ‘nature’s greatest miracle.”

What are the stories that make you this “unique creature of nature?”

After my last post, I left all of you with an action step to take so that you could use the insight from the post to produce lasting changes in your life.

As I have stated on the main page of this blog, Insight + Action = Results.

It is my intention to provide you with more than just insight, but a space to take action and create the results you want in your life.

So, from this point onward, at the end of every post, I will suggest an action step to take that expands on the content of the post and transports the written word out into our lives through action.

In the comments section below every post, I would love to hear not only how the suggested action worked for you, but also other actions from your own life that have generated results. This space will serve as a means to inspire the community here to stretch beyond their limits and find success.

For today, the suggested action is to do something that makes you nervous. Something that gets those butterflies in your stomach to go CRAZY!

As T.S. Elliot said, “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”

On the edge of your limits and beyond, you will discover the qualities within you that make you nature’s greatest miracle. So get out there and push your limits in whatever capacity you wish to push them, mentally, spiritually, physically or emotionally.

Three days ago, I went on a 16 mile run. Ten miles into the run, I looked up to face my next challenge. A steep hill that stood between me and mile 11. My legs ached, my stomach growled and I needed water. Taking a few sips from my camelback, I pushed onward one step at a time. Before I knew it, I got up the hill only to face the next one at mile 13.

In each step, during those moments of exhaustion I found my greatness. I know I am not nearly as fast or as strong as elite runners like Rich Roll, but at the time, that did not matter. Within each moment of suffering, spirituality and nirvana, I found myself. I discovered that I was capable of more than what my body and my mind dictated. My heart and my spirit pushed on even when the other parts of me did not want to. And in that battle, or perhaps it was less a battle than a collaboration between the four elements of my being, I saw that I, like every other human being on this planet, am nature’s greatest miracle.

So my suggested action for today is to do something that scares you, even just a tiny bit. Before every long run, I feel a bit of anxiety, just as I do before any big adventure or public speech. But it is that anxiety that makes me realize that I am doing something worthy of my greatness. Those butterflies let me know that I too have the wings to fly. For it is only when we leap into that unknown do we find access to possibility.

Go out there and do something that unites the four elements of your being. Connect your mind, body, heart and spirit. When they are in balance and you find that harmony, you will step into a higher level of your being.

Please share your journey in the comments below and inspire the rest of us to embrace the realization that we are nature’s greatest miracle.