You Are Now Becoming What You Are Someday Going To Be

This article is by Jim McEachern

One of the most sobering thoughts I have ever been confronted with is this. “What you are someday going to be you are now becoming.” You are now, this moment, exactly what you have been in the process of becoming all your life.

Are you now the person you dreamed about becoming? If you had written down several years ago exactly the type of person you wanted to be now, what kind of person would you have described? How close are you to becoming that person?

What kind of person do you want to be a year from now? Or two years from now? Or five years from now? Or 10? Or 20? Right now you are in the process of becoming the person you will be in a year, or two, or five, or 10 or 20 years from now. The habits you have now will determine the kind of person you will become unless you change those habits now.

What attitude would you like to have someday? The attitude you have now is a good indication of the attitude you will have someday, unless right now you begin to develop a new kind of attitude.

If you are not now doing those things you need to do to become what you want to become, what makes you believe that you ever will?

Do you have situations or circumstances that are preventing you from becoming what you want to become? Those situations and circumstances will pass but they will be replaced by new situations or new circumstances. If you want to become a better (or different) kind of person, you better get started now. You cannot wait for situations or circumstances that are just right.

Have you ever told yourself, “Someday I am going to begin to save some money on a regular basis?” Are you saving now? If you are not now, you probably won’t ever…unless you begin now. It will never be any easier, even if your income doubles or triples. It will never be any easier, even if you someday earn ten times as much as you do now. Saving money regularly has little to do with income. It relates to the decisions you make. If you want to develop a good savings account, you better begin now. In all probability, it is now or never.

Do you plan to have good “work habits” someday? Do you now have good “work habits?” If not, you probably never will…unless you are willing to begin to develop them right now. What you are someday going to be, you are now becoming.

Many years ago Spencer Hays asked me, “Jim, what kind of person do you want to be in five years? What kind of husband do you want to be? What kind of father do you want to be? I answered Spencer by telling him the kind of person I wanted to become. I told him what I wanted to become as a husband and as a father. Spencer then told me one of the most frightening things I have ever heard. He said, “What you are someday going to be you are now becoming.” Then he asked me, “If you are not willing to do those things now, what makes you think you ever will?” I resolved then to begin doing those things which would enable me to become the person, the husband and the father I wanted to become.

We are faced with a choice. We can either begin to do those things that will enable us to become what we someday want to become…or we can learn to live with regret. I would prefer to do even those very difficult tasks that will enable me to become what I want to become than to live with regret. Every time you do those things you know you ought to do, you feel good about yourself. When you do not do what you ought to do, you feel bad about yourself. Either way you are in the process of becoming what you are someday going to be.

Albert Gray said, “The secret of success of every man who has ever been successful lies in the fact that he formed the habit of doing things failures don’t like to do.” To become what we want to become requires forming the habit of doing the right things, the things failures don’t like to do. The best time to begin forming a good habit is right now.

I’ve had the privilege of hearing many outstanding success stories. The achievers of those successes invariably stated, “I decided to.” Immediately after deciding, they took action that enabled them to begin achieving that which they decided to do. It is through action that we become.

This world is littered with failures. These people did not intend to become what they are. They intended to achieve great things. They intended to become much more than average, but they waited for the right set of circumstances.

What are people waiting for? Children are waiting until they finish school. Adults are waiting until they get promoted. Middle-aged people are waiting until they can retire. Many are waiting for circumstances to be “normal.” In the process of waiting they are becoming what they are someday going to be, even though that is not what they intend to become. Life doesn’t wait. You’re, right now, becoming what you are someday going to be. What are you doing right now to become what you want to someday become?

Losers don’t intend to become losers. They become losers while waiting for circumstances to get right. Winners don’t wait. They do what it takes to become what they want to become. They do it now.