Note: This post is part of the #Trust30 project—an online initiative and 30-day writing challenge that encourages us to look within and trust ourselves. 30 prompts from inspiring thought-leaders. Today’s prompt via Ashley Ambirge.

Most of us love a good surprise. We spend a good amount of time dreaming of accomplishing some difficult task or winning when the odds are low.

We dream of summiting a mountain, finishing a marathon, or earning our first million.

And we imagine that moment of triumph with, “I can’t believe I did it,” tumbling from our lips.

But achieving the remarkable is rarely a surprise. It’s unromantic, but true. Greatness almost always comes from planning, hard work, and consistency—not dumb luck.

The mountaineer who summits a difficult peak will feel that triumph as she watches the sun rise from atop Kilimanjaro, but she knows it didn’t happen by accident or luck. Rather, she took the hard road of planning, training, and consistency—and it paid off.

Those times when greatness is achieved through luck, and surprise is truly in order, are the much-discussed exceptions.

Note: This post is part of the #Trust30 project—an online initiative and 30-day writing challenge that encourages us to look within and trust ourselves. 30 prompts from inspiring thought-leaders. Today’s prompt via Corbett Barr.

Efficiency is baked in—it’s part of who I am. But if I had a conversation with myself from five years ago, I’d say, “Self, be efficient in all things, but be human in your relationships.”

Systems thrive in efficiency, human relationships don’t.

Note: This post is part of the #Trust30 project—an online initiative and 30-day writing challenge that encourages us to look within and trust ourselves. 30 prompts from inspiring thought-leaders. Today’s prompt via Jenny Blake.

Note: This post is part of the #Trust30 project—an online initiative and 30-day writing challenge that encourages us to look within and trust ourselves. 30 prompts from inspiring thought-leaders. Today’s prompt via Buster Bensen.

Maybe it’s stubbornness. Maybe stupidity. Possibly arrogance. But I believe I can achieve just about anything I put my mind to.

Note: This post is part of the #Trust30 project—an online initiative and 30-day writing challenge that encourages us to look within and trust ourselves. 30 prompts from inspiring thought-leaders. Today’s prompt via Gwen Bell.

Poison. There’s nothing for it, but to accept the inevitable. There is no antidote, no hope.

In fifteen minutes I’ll be dead.

The realization of this sinks in as I look to gather my family around me. Fifteen minutes isn’t long enough to reflect or contemplate. We simply hold each other and make promises to live right so we can see one another in the next life.

If I only had twenty minutes; I had hoped to enjoy one of her cinnamon rolls.