Powered By Blogger

Monday, August 22, 2011

Resource vs. Resourcefulness



Pondering regarding the lives of successful individuals is both inspiring and surprising all at the same time. As a counselor and coach, I have always been astonished by the irony when it comes to achieving greatness among human beings. 

Most of the people who seek my help do so as a result of the imminent nuisance in their lives, but once I dig deeper I recognize that the majority of these persons who find themselves lost actually come from relatively wealthy and affluent families where they had everything they could possibly demand to triumph in life. Expensive gifts, attention, best schools, all means of support, yet you see that many of them are in fact dissatisfied with their lives and continue their existence without much sense of purpose. 

On the other hand, you come across folks who have been through all sorts of crises, kids who did not have enough money to buy food while they were at school, people who have been abused in every conceivable realm growing up, and despite experiencing the type of things that make someone else cry; interestingly enough, very often these people are the ones who make the most out of their lives. 

Thus, the question lingers: What makes the difference between the lives of those who come from nothing and manage to achieve everything, and the people who start their lives amidst all the feasible assets and end up dispirited and hopeless? 

The most outstanding answer to this question was given by Tony Robbins in his historic presentation at TED few years back. He declared that what we truly need in order to thrive and flourish is not resource, but rather resourcefulness. The distinction between these two are quite transparent, while resource refers to the material advantages such as money, time, and social status, resourcefulness is all about using whatever you have in you possession so as to solve difficult problems; creativity, passion, goal, love, determination, conscientiousness, motivation , and most importantly the ability to dream are what constitute the foundation of resourcefulness. 

In the following speech, the legendary Tony Robbins clarifies what truly makes the difference in the quality of people’s lives: