It's Simple, it's not easy but it's simple!!

What a month!!

I did a teleconference yesterday to our company and I normally really look forward to these calls. I see them as an opportunity for me to share the things I am going through and look forward to finding the positive direction that exists with those experiences. Over the past several weeks I have had the hardest time finding motivation to consistently do my "job". There were some things we found in doing our annual company audit that showed a past employee had falsified data that we were driving many of our decisions around. It was disappointing to think that someone you paid not only did a horrible job maintaining their workload but also went out of their way to purposely deceive and destroy something you were working so hard to build. I can remember many times of supporting this past employee and many other employees to find their failures out after they are gone. It had a huge impact on our entire team and we have all been doing double duty to clean up what one person was allowed to undermine. The angst, the fears, the frustration the anger?? I started asking myself why do I really want to jack with all of this crap? 

It took me to a low spot I had not been at in a long while and I really wanted to understand how this was having such a huge impact. I have this never ending belief system that I can accomplish anything I want to accomplish. I also have the same belief system for all of those around me. I am very black and white in the capitalist dream that all people have the opportunity to raise themselves up and be whatever they desire to be. I love the stories we all hear of people who come from the most unlikely of places to accomplish the most incredible feats. 

Non college graduates who take over the world with computer companies. 

Children born with walking disabilities who win the Heisman and go on to star in the NFL.

People born in relative poverty who build the greatest fortunes in the world like Carnegie and Walton.

I LOVE these stories because they remind me of how true our own personal freedom is when it comes to determining our lives accomplishments. It also confuses me. It confuses me to try and understand why any person who is not accomplishing what they want would choose not to do so. Why would you purposely work somewhere and not look for ways to succeed instead of looking for ways to deceive others about your failures. I know if you are honestly searching for an answer you will find one but why would someone not want to honestly search??

I have many loves in life and I have had many opportunities to experience many things I enjoy doing. I have to admit as I went through this past month my mind wandered to the things I have enjoyed building in my life that just revolved around me or perhaps me and someone close I could truly trust. When I thought of how many people I exchange with daily who say they want to be successful but yet they are not finding it, it frustrated me more this past month than ever before. I started wandering are some people just not able?

This question shook me at the core and made me want to run from the idea of leading people to find success who just may not be able! It was a horrible thought that all that I am fighting to do and teach may not be real. Perhaps I am just one of the lucky ones who works at something and succeeds? I was not born into affluence in fact quite the opposite. Lower middle class at best so why have I always been so fortunate to turn things I am given around and succeed? 

This past few weeks made me want to do less and less interaction because my faith in peoples ability to climb any mountain was in question. As I went through this period I did all the mechanics I was required to do but I was leaving out the spirit of hope and belief each day. The further I went into this tunnel the more I wanted out. If this is what life has to be in leading others to a possible false hope I want to do something where I only have to count on me. I had all of these thoughts of lack and question until last Friday when with little energy and little hope I drove to a hotel in Dallas to meet with 20 doctors who were holding a mastermind in search of hope. In search of success. In search of being who they were called to be. It reminded me that there are many people who really want this success and will stop at no barrier to get it. It revived my hope and excitement in spite of the dark cloud I had felt looming for this period of time. I shared with the people in that room what I knew to be the truths of life. The things I have learned from so many authors and teachers and business people on how to reach new heights. The same beliefs I have held in my own life when facing adversity. After two days of being present with them I felt what was really good about what I do and it picked me up some. I was reminded of my purpose in life and that life is not about mechanical process or task lists but rather about changing the lives of those around you. It was a great but brief reminder of why I do what I do.

Why Brief?

Because Monday came right after the weekend!! Monday's have always been a day I pride myself on looking forward to. I have for quite a while had such a conviction about my opportunity to help others succeed that Monday's have represented a furthering of those opportunities. Imagine knowing exactly what you were created to do and getting to wake up each day and do it! Such an awesome feeling and always exciting to begin the week doing just that. On this Monday I was reminded of my recent questions. I started my day with a text from one Doctor asking me when will people get what they are supposed to get? Do I just keep firing people until one day I stumble upon someone who is motivated and desires to be lead? On this day this question rang true because it fed my fear that maybe some people just do not have it. This was a horrible thought to think that some people are predetermined for greatness while others are set for a life of mediocrity or failure. That was the most depressing thing I could think of and it made me not want to explore solutions if there were even the slightest chance that maybe for some there are none? 

It was not long after that call that I spoke with a business owner who's business was failing. After that a leader in our company who's partnership was failing, then a discussion on future alignments that we did not see eye to eye on, then a demand by another person in our company for something they felt they deserved and I did not. These all bothered me but the last one stood out. The last one was an individual who claimed they deserved reward and respect for the tenure and investment they had made of the past. This person attacked me for not being of character due to not seeing the value of that tenure and investment. I honestly gave no value to either one. I started thinking about how much time and effort this person had put into what they were doing and I agreed they had. I started thinking about how much this person wanted to succeed and I agreed because it looked to me like they did. The questions I have been asking myself as of late came rushing back to me...

If this person wants it so bad and has worked so hard for so long why are they not getting their just reward? Is it only available to some people? Is success only reserved for the predetermined few?

Once again this mindset of questioning killed my motivation to teach others and rely upon others to build my own future and success. I allowed this questioning to frustrate me and it kept me up all night on Monday. I had a national teleconference to do for the whole company on Tuesday and I was asking myself what do you teach if there is no hope for some? How do I select only the predetermined winners to speak to on this broadcast call?

I still had a schedule to keep and so at around 4am I started listening to some of my own favorite teachers as they shared truth after truth. I listened to Ziglar tell me "you don't have to be great to start but you have to start to be great" I knew this to be true but I knew many people who have started but are still not great.

I listened to Ziglar say " you have to put something in to get something out" again true but many struggling people who see themselves as putting in.

I listened to Ziglar say " 100% of the people who will not take step # 1 will never take step #2"  again true but people taking steps often fall and fail. 

I listened to Vic Johnson say "It takes Action plus Desire plus Belief" I thought of the leader who wanted me to respect their "tenure" and "investment" and I did not feel as if I questioned if they had action, desire or belief?

I listened to Rohn talk about J.C. Penney and his quote "Give me a stock clerk with a goal and I will show you a man to make history. Give me a man without a goal and I will show you a stock clerk" True true true but I knew people with expressed and written goals who were failing.

I listened for hours looking for an answer to negativity being entertained in my head. I listened until Anthony Robbins said it takes more than Action and belief and desire. Robbins said it takes Potential to ever start to Act. It takes action to get Results. It takes Results to reinforce beliefs and it takes belief to reinforce potential. There is the word I was looking for!!

RESULTS

It does not mater what task I am given it is up to me and me alone to determine how I find RESULTS. I may need others to find them. I may need to change me to find them. I may have to beg borrow and plead to find them but it is only up to me to get RESULTS in my life. This was adverse to the garbage I was buying into then...

I listened to another talk by Jm Rohn and he said the name of the game is "RESULTS"

Jim went on to say that you can be a valuable person with great intent and have no value in the marketplace. He said the Marketplace is "REALITY" and if you are valuable to marketplace you will have results. If you are not it is your job to create that value through whatever means necessary. I started remembering that all of the success I have found over the years were not found alone but by aligning myself with the right people. I started remembering that the success I had accomplished did not come easy but rather by persistence and hard work!

I started believing in hard work again and I started finding a message I could share!!

I listened again and Rohn gave me two more killer reminders in the form of questions....

the first of which was "How long should a baby try to walk?"  The answer "UNTIL" There is never a stopping point in our search for success. It may be in this form, a different form but it is waiting for our persistent nature to determine we will not give up.

the second question also helped me in knowing when enough was enough from someone on my team who was not succeeding and it went like this... "How long should a fourth grader be given to complete fourth grade?" "ONE YEAR!!!"

Jim Rohn told me on this early morning that every human being is expected to make "measurable progress in a reasonable time". My optimism tells me ALL can do it. My realist tells me when it it is being done. There is no pessimism because it is not needed. All that is need is our belief in ourselves and  our belief in others put together with our unyielding determination to create results in a measurable time. 

It is available to all who want it if we will only remain constant in our desire and action to create results. If you are not getting results then your actions are wrong so change them. This is a message I was willing to share yesterday and one I am committed to sharing forever. Do not let yourself believe that your destiny is dependent upon someone else. It is yours for the taking but you must take the right steps to create it. 

Here are the 5 things you will need;

A goal.

A willingness to give of yourself to obtain that goal

A written plan with detail and timeline.

A willingness to read that plan every day, twice a day and modify as needed until you reach your success.

What's the 5th thing you may ask?

The most important of all is a reason to get out of bed. It is your PURPOSE. If your have a purpose then you understand when the wind of doubt crosses your life you will struggle to find the truth in order to meet head on your PURPOSE with the passion it was meant to have. It is the reason I am still fighting instead of retreating to live in a world only dependent upon me and a selected few in my life. My life was meant to be lived and searched so that I can help others from what I am learning. I am thankful to everyone of you who has read this because you just helped me fulfill my purpose and that is the reason I live. 

When my life is over, I want people to say of me that I helped them face reality and know that they were in control of their lives. I want people to find success and to lead others to finding theirs and say that I helped to create that pattern. I am not concerned as much with being liked as I am with fulfilling my purpose to grow a movement of awareness and positive impact by caring for the responsibility I have been given. It is my opportunity to make a difference and I will return to being a rock in understanding that EVERY person can have WHATEVER they want if they really are serious about it!

Have a successful day!

A Conference call link I did on this same subject......
https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/896436030

Running out of Gas??

I was thinking this past week (while recovering from altitude sickness) how easy it is to simply run out of the fuel so often needed in life. I looked back over the past month and realized some great things had been happening but as great as they were I let them take charge more than I remained in charge. As I go back in time and look forward at the month I just lived, my schedule was packed!! I had meeting after meeting, task after task and all types of masterminds and conferences to attend and then after three weeks of hosting events I would be traveling to Southern California for a conference full of new people and opportunities followed by a week in Colorado with friends and colleagues. 

Now do not get me wrong I am not at all complaining about my agenda. I am the one who is creating it in advance doing the things I love to do but there is still a challenge in maintaining control of my schedule and and not letting it control me. There has been so much change lately in life while still doing all that I try to pack into a week that it made me think of the difference between these two phrases;

Letting my schedule run my life.

Deciding for my life to run my schedule.

This just like all things is still a decision and I am the only determining factor. Each of us always are  the determining factor if we understand it. We are never bound by any circumstance unless we allow it to bind us. I think back over the past 4 weeks and realize that as good as my intent may have been and even as great as the outcome of the events may have been, that there were many days that just took over. I have found the more I let my purposely chosen life lead the way of my schedule that my energy and potency is dependent upon certain routines to feed me. My exercise, My meditation, My journaling, My reading, My affirmations, My listening to great speakers and just finding time to make me better. The stronger I am in these routines the more developed I am when I am called upon to play the role I play in my scheduled activities for "giving to others". 

I just used a term that could have been interchanged with "doing business" "building a company" "managing employees" and many other "things" that keep most people going while they are doing their "work". I purposely chose the phrase "giving to others" in order to remind myself (and hopefully a few of you) that in order for me to do great things I must be filled with purpose and accomplishing tasks does not meet that objective in my life.

I digress so to return, it's my schedule that started taking over the past 4 weeks but I am here to declare that I am back! Regardless of the chosen activity I am committing to I must remain steadfast to that which feeds me and makes me more effective when called upon to meet my opportunities. The realization I have now that I did not always have is that I can show up and be 110% ready to make change or I can show up and be 50% ready to make change. If spending one, two three or four hours per day building me is what it takes then I can actually be ahead of the game. Do the math!! If my "duties require 8 hours of my day and I am 50% effective then it will take 16 hours to do the work I needed to get done. If I spend 2 hours a day building me up to make sure I am fully present then I can, by my example above exceed all expectations in less time while still giving to me. 

It's up to us!! Whatever we want we can have if we do just one thing....

Realize we are in charge of determining our lives and the way we want to spend them. This is such a liberating thought that I wanted to share it with you today. I am sitting on a plane while writing these thoughts. I am on my way home right now. I have a friend visiting from Europe this week while he is training for the olympics this summer and I want to spend some time with him. I have an event tomorrow night I want to attend in Dallas. I have a flip house that I need to put a little thought in this week and choose some contractors. I have an incredible amount of work to do from being so out of pocket the last month. I have teleconferences, reviews, phone meetings, contracts, structural meetings, annual super conference to work on and the list could go on forever then I remember I leave town on Thursday again!!

I am excited as I write this because I know that the first ting I am doing when I get home is going on  a bike ride (exercise) afterwards a chill evening cooking some dinner and I will read, listen to some audio clips from one of my favorite speakers, journal and prepare my schedule for this week. First thing tomorrow will be to exercise, affirmation, read and start the week off by making me a better me. I will give 110% to every activity this week and I will be more effective, more potent, more determined and more successful in all I choose to do. I will do so well that when I leave on Thursday I will feel appreciative of what an awesome week this was and I hope you find the same space in your life to be who I know you want to be. 

And finally you choose for you..........

Are you?

Letting your schedule run your life?

or 

Deciding for your life to run my schedule?

Make you vocation your vacation by doing what you love and loving what you do! - Dr. John Demartini

The Start or the Finish?

I was thinking of a track and field race the other day when I was encouraged with the following stream of thought. You know what I mean a race where the stands are filled with people and a group of individuals approach the starting blocks to launch into an explosion of energy and compete against each other. The great thing about a race like this is the reality of each individual that they have spent thousands of hours training for a race that usually only lasts moments. Imagine all that effort and the pressure to come in first so that you may prove the time invested is worthy of a rewarding outcome. Imagine even more the dreaded fear that comes with the possibility that after all of that hard work, training and people who believed in you that you may not do well!

The Pressure to perform is at an all time high just as you approach the blocks and the gun is fired! How different is this from life? We spend our formative years learning what is expected of us, creating a mental image of who we are to become and then follow all the steps we are told will make us the person we should be and then off to College for an intermediary between growing up and being on your own. College years are the years in every ones life where we make choices to conform, not conform, apply ourselves, not apply ourselves, dream big, not dream at all... These are the years that everyone faces at 18-24 years old when we are setting patterns for who we will become. The real question during these years is not "who should we be?" as much as "who are we?"

I love the speech that Steve Jobs gave at Stanford's 2005 graduation ceremony where he looked upon a group of 22-24 year old's and told them that the greatest gift he could give them was to let them know that they were going to die someday. This sounds like quite a morbid thought for a college graduation ceremony, doesn't it? 

Actually if the message was heard it was the greatest liberation they could have had bestowed upon them by a man who had run the rat race and by many standards had won big!! The greatest part of his story if you have read the new book on Steve Jobs was how many of his decisions would be deemed inappropriate or not fitting the "Standard" of what society expects. I heard a quote recently by Mignon McLaughlin that read like this "Every Society honors its live conformists and its dead troublemakers" In observing Steve's life story it is easy to see how he certainly had some troublemaker in him, a great lack of conformity but still a complete awareness of the race he was in. Yes I started with the analogy of a race because whatever we put our hearts desires to becomes a race or a contest to achieve it. Run it slow, run it fast, refuse to run it at all but it still exists and its up to us to choose the way we want to use the talents we have been given. 

Imagine for a moment if you are standing in those blocks and you are feeling that pressure to become who you were destined to be.

Are you a winner?

Are you OK with just placing as long as you are not out of the medals? Is good enough good enough?

Are you so trodden down with what you have experienced in life so far that to complete the race alone sounds like a monumental task?

Here is the thought that was presented to me in the form of a question; Which comes first, The START or the FINISH? The question seems simple enough, right? I mean after all lets look at the race and it is obvious that the Start always precedes the Finish and that is why they call it the START! 

BUT

The true answer lies within our desired out come for the competition we are entering. The reality is that those who win see the win before they ever enter the race. They have played out every step and drop of sweat in their mind over and over and over. They can feel the exertion of energy from each muscle as it struggles at each turn to win the competition they set their eyes upon. They feel the reward of the trophy being placed in their hands and standing on the highest riser to receive the medal they deserve. They can hear the crowd roar with applause and praise for a job well done and ALL of this they have been through before they ever approach the starting blocks of the race. So I ask again which comes first the Start or the Finish?

If you want to accomplish your desired goals you must be able to see the finish before you begin the race. The biggest challenge returns to Steve Jobs commencement speech in which he reminded us that one day we will stare death in the face and all of the baggage we were either given or picked up along the way in life's journey will not matter at all. All that will count will be our freedom to see the very best for ourselves regardless of what we have heard from others about our chances. Regardless of what struggles we have had. All that matters is our truest belief in ourselves to be unrestricted by the expectations of others and driven by the expectations and beliefs in ourselves. 

Can you see you winning?

Do you see the finish and the outcome before you begin?

Or are you still dwelling on who you are supposed to be and the things you were taught which are preventing you from finding out who you really are and having the unadulterated freedom to chase it with all of your spirit! Wayne Dwyer has said many times "Do not die with your music still in you" This quote is one of my favorites because it drives us to consider the gifts we have been given and the way in which we are CHOOSING to use them. 

A few simple steps to success today;

Realize your Gifts and Talents

Have Dreams and Goals

Be free enough to let go of the past and chase the you of the future

Be willing to be diligent in creating the Dreams you have

Be Caring enough to help those around you do the same thing

These 5 things executed will give you anything your heart desires!!

Cookie Thief

Cookie Thief

By: Anonymous

A woman was waiting at the airport one night,
With several long hours before her flight.
She hunted for a book in the airport shop,
Bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop.

She was engrossed in her book, but happened to see,
That the man beside her, as bold as could be,
Grabbed a cookie or two from the bag between,
Which she tried to ignore to avoid a scene

She read, munched cookies, and watched the clock,
As the gustly "cookie thief" diminished her stock
She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by,
Thinking, "If I wasn't so nice, I'd blacken his eye!"

With each cookie she took, he took one too.
When only one was left, she wondered what he'd do.
with a smile on his face and a nervous laugh,
He took the last cookie and broke it in half.

He offered her half, and he ate the other.
She snatched it from him and thought, "Oh brother,
This guy has some nerve, and he's also so rude,
Why, he didn't even show any gratitude!"

She had never known when she had been so galled,
And sighed with relief when her flight was called.
She gathered her belongings and headed for the gate,
Refusing to look at the "thieving ingrate".

She boarded the plane and sank in her seat,
Then sought her book, which was almost complete.
As she reached in her baggage, she gasped with surprise.
There were her bag of cookies in front of her eyes!

"If mine are here," she moaned with despair.
"Then the others were his and he tried to share!"
Too late to apologize, she realized with grief,
That she was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief!!!!

How do you aim without a target?

Mission vs. Vision

I have often found myself in conversations with clients about the meaning and purpose of some of the most fundamental business terms — words like Mission, Vision, Strategy, and Values. It surprises me how often people on the same team have differing ideas about what these words mean, and how often I hear fuzzy thinking about these terms. The result can be significant mis-communication and mis-understandings about the direction of the organization. It is very hard to focus on what you cannot define.

I find that many leaders use mission and vision interchangeably, or think that the difference between them doesn’t matter much. Another related problem is mission and vision statements that are vague, lofty, or have little connection with the real work of the organization.

Let me suggest some definitions that have worked well and solve these problems. They are based on decades of strategy work with clients, as well as authors such as Collins & Porras (Built to Last), Steven Covey (Principle Centered Leadership), Peter Senge (The Fifth Discipline), and Kaplan & Norton (Strategy Maps). Even a dictionary can be amazingly helpful.

Mission: Enduring purpose. The fundamental reason for the organization’s existence beyond just making money. It is a direction, a general heading, a perpetual guiding star on the horizon. It does not change over time. It is generally abstract and can never be achieved, only pursued. For example, for NASA: “advancing man’s capability to explore the heavens”.

Vision: A picture of a desired future that supports the mission, or an image of the future we seek to create. It is a specific destination that is concrete and achievable. A good one engages people–it reaches out and grabs them in the gut. It should be tangible, energizing, highly focused. There can be many visions over time that support the mission. The time scale is usually around 1 to 5 years. For example: “a man on the moon by the end of the ’60s”.

Strategy: A set of actions or objectives around a unifying theme that work to accomplish a vision. It is broad and action-oriented. If vision is the what, strategy is the how. The time scale of the strategy is equal to or shorter than that of the vision it supports.

Objective: The object of a course of action, something specific that is worked toward. Good objectives should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic, and Time-bound). The time scale is usually less than one year.

Goal: This term is probably the least consistently used of them all. Usually it is either used interchangeably with objectives, or denotes a lower-order or more specific objective. Sometimes it can be on the level of vision, as in a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal).

Value: What’s really important to an organization. They are the essential and enduring tenets–a small set of general guiding principles, not to be compromised for financial gain or short-term expediency. Each value should be a piercing simplicity that provides substantial guidance to the members of the organization. They cannot be copied or dictated; they are what is authentically believed by the leaders of the organization. There should only be a few, between 3 and 6.

I think of Mission-Vision-Strategy-Objectives as a hierarchy from broadest to most specific. Values underlie them all.

Taken together, Mission, Vision, Strategy, and Values create a system of ideas forming the foundation of real leadership. They can become tools that allow people and organizations to shape their future. Setting direction and clearly communicating are core capacities for leaders.

In an organizational setting, we are impassioned by a goal that comes from a group of people working together to accomplish something that makes a positive difference in the world. On some level, we all know that there is something more important than money and what we can acquire or get for ourselves. When we look closely, we see that we all have a deep desire to contribute, to make a difference, and have an impact. When we acknowledge and define these desires, we create an opportunity to work from our passion to contribute rather than our desire to get for ourselves.

To be effective, Mission, Vision, Strategy, and Values need to be developed with large doses of dialog, communication, and collaboration to get the involvement and buy-in of people. Otherwise, they run the risk of being more management statements that don’t amount to much.

How does your organization define these terms?

I hope these suggestions help in your quest to define and communicate these critically important business ideas

Great Video by John Maxwell

A friend of mine sent this over this morning and it is a video of John Maxwell speaking to a church. If you are not familiar with John he is an internationally known speaker on business leadership and principles to live by. He began his career as a pastor and still spends much of his time working with churches around the globe. This specific message is more rooted in biblical verse than in Business verse but the message certainly translates to both sides. I really enjoyed the reminder that our problems can often be our greatest opportunities if we only choose to see them that way!

Click below...
http://www.lifechurch.tv/watch

Row Your boat

Hello All,

I have found myself recently beginning a new habit of multi tasking in the morning. I often workout to a DVD series in the mornings and since I have been doing the same workouts I have found I no longer need the instruction the entire time as much as just cues of when to change exercises. Since this routine has become very standard for me I found myself feeling like I was leaving something on the table each day in the work out time not being totally productive. The past couple of weeks I tried something new by turning off the volume while doing the workouts and listening to different speakers over audio CD's. I have been finding myself keeping a notepad close by to write down the thoughts or realizations I have while listening to many of my favorite speakers. Speakers like Robbins, Rohn, Maxwell, Ziglar, Dyer etc....

This last week there were several thoughts I heard that resonated with me so much but I wanted to share one thought by Dr. Dyer that I found to be so true. Now understand that my personality tends to lend towards the Ziglars and the Rohns of the world when being communicated to but for some reason listening to Dr. Dyer tends to really capture me even though his style is often monotone from what I typically seek out. On this one day last week I was listening to him speak of his love for his daughter and how he used to enjoy playing with her as a child in the pool or the ocean. He shared how she would often sit on his stomach in the pool and laugh and play and sing etc... He began to speak of a child's song we all know and have sang and then he opened my eyes to one of the simplest truths imaginable!!

He said when my daughter was young we used to sing a song and it went like this......Row.............................Row..................................Row

Don't speed, Don't race, Don't fly but rather ROW!!

and what should we Row???

"Your Boat"

Not your brothers boat, nor your fathers boat, nor your mothers boat but rather YOUR boat.

Now lets pause there for a moment because if this simple children's song never utters another word it has already given us incredible direction. In fact from my experience I would say a large majority of people live their entire lives without finding this truth. I see so many people "Keeping up with the Jones" trying to insure everyones acceptance of them and who they are "supposed" to be. I see so few people from my experience who simply choose to be who they really are. From the moment we are born we are essentially taught to be "good" boys and girls to do the "right" thing without really having the opportunity to determine for ourselves with cognizance what good and right are all about. I understand as children the instruction and discipline needed to protect us and teach us values but at what point in life are we taught to follow the teachings of the great thinkers like Plato, Aristotle and Socrates and search out right and wrong for our own understanding. I see many more people adopting their belief systems of how to build their lives then I do people using the Socratic method of questioning the beliefs they have heard so they can actively choose that which is right for them. In essence if we were created to be clones of each other, our parents, our culture then why were we given free choice?

As I listened to Dr. Dyer speak on this simple illustration it reminded me of how important it is that I search to understand who's boat I should be rowing!! It reminded me of how important it is to help others think of their active choice in deciding what's right for them may or may not be right for those around them. I often think of how exciting it is when my mind is working at actively determining what makes the world around me work. What do I agree with and what do I challenge. When I am in this mode I am truly alive and it makes a huge difference in each and every day and what I feel as a return on those days. On the other hand I have spent many, many days in my life looking up to realize the day has passed and I was on auto pilot for the majority of the time simply allowing it's truest opportunities to escape me.

I believe it is my responsibility to myself and those around me to remove the cruise control button and stay actively in the mode of choosing my directions, my thoughts, my habits MY Boat to row. I think it is all of our responsibility to support those around us in finding their boat to row instead of insisting that their boat look like our boat.

Dr. Dyer went on to make a couple of points further in this song about how the Row should go gently not violently, not struggling not frustratingly but Gently DOWN the stream. Not up the Stream, Not against the current of our inner direction but choosing YOUR Boat and enjoying the Row GENTLY, DOWN the stream.

I have found this year to be extremely rewarding on so many levels but this talk Dr. Dyer did for me at 5:30 in the morning last week while working out was in essence why this year has been so rewarding. I found MY Boat this year. I have spent many years attempting to shape and paint my boat as others around me have done.  I have spent years hoping everyone approved of what my boat looked like or the direction it was headed but this year was different. I looked at my 4 greatest things I love to do and I came back with Lead, Inspire, Communicate and Create. I started searching for anything that did not fit those 4 areas and began to look for ways to remove the items from my life that were not in my top 4. The more I determined this would happen the more it took shape. In fact it has reshaped several times through out this year and as I sit here ready to close the year of 2011 I am closer to being in love with everything I do than I have ever been in my entire life. I have seen people rise up from places I never could have imagined with talents in the areas I wish to removed from and I stand amazed knowing that it was my decision all along. I never understood what power there was in determining what will change and choosing to not yield to the voices telling me otherwise. I have had the same surroundings and people as many others out there who tell me you cannot leave that task you must row that boat no matter how heavy and awkward it may seem it is your to row!! All the while I struggle with their expectations and miss out on a gentle row through life. I listened to another speaker recently who reminded me that there are people who play at what you may have to work to do. Find what you love to play in and do that with every moment of your life! This year I found myself thinking a lot about my talents and things I really loved to do and I made active decisions to change course and go with the stream, gently rowing my boat, I encourage everyone who reads this today to ask yourself these questions;

Is it your boat?

Are you rowing gently down the stream?

Are you willing to know yourself well enough to make changes?

and finally.....

Are you willing to allow others to row their boats and help you play in life while they get to play as well at what you may be working to do?

It is early as I sit in a hotel lobby and the thought of getting others to experience a little of how great this year has been for me was an exciting thought this morning. After all it is one of my favorite things to do which is why I find myself waking up at 4:30 in the morning anxious to row my boat today! I wish to leave you with a simple quote today and I encourage to take 10 whole minutes and read this quote at least 4 times allowing it to truly sink in....

"Our Truest Life is when we are in our Dreams Awake"  - Thoreau

I wish you the very best year of your life in 2012 and I hope ALL of it is spent in your Boat!