How Did We Get Here?

How Did We Get Here?

We get this all the time:

“How lucky you are! I would love to live your life!”

So how did we get here?

Vision. We get a vision in our heads and it consumes us! (Or me anyway…)

Hope this article helps someone. I don’t remember where I got this, but I have taught it for a long, long time – from the days when I was a personal and business coach…

Why vision works:

The need to grow is a basic human need. When you grow, you satisfy your highest need to accomplish and contribute. The vision is simply your own view of how you want to grow. Vision works because humans want to move forward which requires that you see where you are going.

Questions to help you develop your vision:

Answer these three questions, starting with the ones you checked. Each question is designed to help you decide what goes into the first draft of your personal vision. This process is always a “two steps forward and one backward type exercise”.

#1. Looking out 18 months, decide what you most want to accomplish?

#2. What is the purpose behind your work? In other words, why do you want to do this work and how does it align with the vision of your future?

#3. What is your core talent or talents that you are expecting to use as a part of this vision?

How do you know you are making progress?

  • You will be able to draw a picture of the future state you are moving toward
  • You will feel energized and focused
  • You will better appreciate that you are not your job and that a higher purpose is pulling you forward

People can sabotage their future by paying too much attention to what is going on around them. Rather than receiving ideas from a positive vision of the future, they get pulled, turned and wrapped up in problems of the day. They are condition driven. They are unknowingly over-invested in today’s actions at the expense of creating a future.

Why visions evaporate:

The number one reason people head in the wrong direction is because they are thinking too small. If you stay with past routines that have become habit, or process too carefully, you will underestimate your talent, your potential and your inner desire to have more. Ironically, what was a great opportunity both financially and personally never amounts to anything. By giving energy to the small things, they control your week, day month etc., the idea of possibility never occurs.

Having a vision requires that you accept things you may not now see.

And that my friends is why (and how) we live here:

Title to My Life (Sort Of)

Title to My Life (Sort Of)

Saturday someone had come over to buy one of the last things for sale – a 12 foot fence gate – when we got to talking. After I told him my last five things to sell, he wanted to see the Saab that wouldn’t run. Long story short he wanted it and went home to get more cash.

Come time to swap title for cash we couldn’t find the title for the car or the truck! Lost in the moving process I guess.

I have to throw in here that that very morning I had watched a video by one of my favorite people Nic Askew where I was reminded that instead of we the human race being humans looking for spiritual experiences -in fact we are more likely spiritual beings experiencing human life for a short time. Profound difference!

See it here if you like

In that light I was able to watch everything that happened on Monday as I went from bank to petty govt official in a whole different perspective.

When we bought the boat, we handed someone cash, and he handed us a bill of sale and we shook hands.

No govt. No banks, No tax people, no notary.

Just two people making an agreement for better or for worse.

One of the thoughts at the end of 5 hours and 120 miles of driving ( to replace two titles to two vehicles I supposedly owned) was that our actions lately make me feel like I am getting my life title back from some govt entity somewhere.

Four more days to a new life.

Leaving Ain’t Easy!

Leaving Ain’t Easy!

I have spent half a day trying to separate myself from the land. It is extremely frustrating.

I bought a chromebook (Samsung) which is pretty cool as almost everything I do for paws4people foundation is online and on google, and that with my mini ipad should work as an office!

Phone service will be sketchy at best (does Tmobile work offshore?) so the plan is to port the phones to google voice and use skype or google hangouts to communicate.

But setting up these machines to communicate is not a walk in the park.

I have spent hours just trying to get Feedburner to work on the blog. (Another google product. Hmm do I see pattern here?)

All this just to test the feed!

And then to bed! (Wish I could hear the sound of the water rippling against the hull as it rocks me to sleep!)

Life is Good VS The World Is In Trouble

Life is Good VS The World Is In Trouble

I get asked a lot  – why if you think life is so good do you post so much negative stuff?

Good question.

In my admitted small little self centered world, life is awesome. I have a wonderful wife of 27 years and counting, two great boys who are now both young men,  and we live on a beautiful horse farm in a great place.

On the other hand, I have watched the country I grew up in change in ways it is hard to believe.

So although my life is good (anyone want to buy a beautiful horse farm so I can go sailing?) – the world around me seems to be very screwed up.

It is two different things.

Does that make sense?

It does to me.


Opportunity and a bright future

Opportunity and a bright future

(Guest post – but I wish I had written it!)

Opportunity and a bright future… Land of Dreams!

America is what it is because of its dream makers. People who dared to dream and realized it through sheer hard work.

The individual flourished and the reason was because his country allowed him to.

There is always a sense of “why does the world criticize us all the time?” And that’s a valid question.

The answer is this:

The world looks up to America and if there is a small disturbance here in this country then the psyche of the world is affected. Americans are role models to countless human beings out there. This is the country which spends the most on philanthropy than any other. This is the country that provides freedom to citizens like no other.

Being the strongest and the most powerful has its drawbacks and one should accept it. There will be cynicism and the cynics will laugh at our miseries. Let them be. They are a negligible minority. To each word of cynicism there are a thousand words of love for us.

If we had gone for oil, as they cynics say, then we wouldn’t have had recession.

This is the country that glorifies its soldiers, champions its women and celebrates its secular credentials.

There is a robust media that can question the President and there are comedians who can make fun of the President.

We are a tolerant country. A rational republic.

Yes, there is problem here.

So what?

We had the Civil War, Great Depression, 9/11… But we are still here.

America is not just a country. It is an idea.

And that idea will live forever.