Finding Your Why

We have a new year coming at us, and it will be here shortly. Think of all the possibilities. Think of all the good things waiting for you. Think of all the things you’re going to accomplish over the next twelve months. I’m sure you have a list of resolutions already prepared.

All too often, we write out our resolutions for the coming year, and file them in the garbage can shortly after the First of January. Our intentions seem to start out enthusiastic, but wane quickly with all the other things we have on our plate. We can’t seem to get the ‘how’ of our resolutions knitted into our agenda.

Someone once gave me a few great words of wisdom on this very subject. Once you determine what it is you want, figure out why you want it, and the how will fall into place. It’s one of the orders of the Cosmos.

Here’s an exercise to help you find your why. Take the first item from your list of resolutions, and write it on a separate piece of paper. You should do this with all your goals, but we’ll just focus on one for this exercise. The next step is to ask yourself why you want that item to come into fruition. Write the reason down. Next, ask yourself why that reason is. Write it down. Next, ask yourself why the previous reason is. Write it down. Do this at least four or five levels deep. The object is to get right down to the core motivation for your desire. Why do you really, really want this, and, do you really want it at all?

If nothing else, you may be surprised at what you find out about your particular desire. I was. I conducted this exercise with an all time favorite resolution, ‘I want to make a lot of money.’

I wrote down on a piece of paper, ‘I want to make a lot of money.’ In the first place, I should have specified an amount, and also specified a deadline, but that’s all another lesson for another time.

Next, I asked myself, ‘Why do I want to make a lot of money?’ I answered, ‘Because, I want to be able to pay for stuff when I want it.’ I wrote that answer down.

Next, I asked myself, ‘Why would I want to be able to pay for stuff when I want it?’ My answer, ‘Because, I don’t like being without things when I want them.’ I wrote that answer down.

Next, I asked myself, ‘Why do I not like being without things when I need them?’ ‘Because, I’ve already been there, and I’ve already done that, and I don’t want to go through it ever again.’

Next, I asked myself, ‘Why would I not want to go through ‘it’ ever again?’ I answered, ‘Because I’ve been cold, and I’ve been hungry, and I’ve worn rags, at the same time having other mouths to feed, faces to warm, and bodies to clothe, a burden on my friends and family.’

I will be honest with you, this particular exercise did conger up several unhappy memories. However, this was a small price to pay to get at the core ‘why’ of my goal. My analysis tended to indicate to me that my motivation was not necessarily to become flamboyantly rich, but to make enough money to be independent and free from excessive discomfort.

The point is, my core ‘why’ does not necessarily match my goal. I honestly would love to be filthy rich. I’d love to be able to run out on a whim and buy a brand new bass boat fitted with all the bells and whistles. Knowing my core ‘why,’ I am able to guide, and tweak it in such a direction that someday I may be able to do just that. However, for now, such activity, even on a much smaller scale, would contradict my core ‘why.’

Determine what you want from life; explore the reasons why. Fine tune your list. Get what you really want. You are spectacular.

Goals

A year or so ago I read a book. It was a book on goal setting. Most of the books I’ve read on the subject, and the lectures I’ve attended, and the people I’ve talked to give up the nuts and bolts … go get a piece of paper, write down your goals, and tick them off as you accomplish them. Some even go so far as to say to fold up that piece of paper, put it in your pocket, carry it around with you, and refer to it often. Sage advice, but not very comprehensive.

This book, written by Brian Tracy, is comprehensive. This book digs deep into the whos, and whats, and whys, and hows of setting goals. The book is called, simply, Goals!, and is very good reading. Following are my chapter notes for the book, and I thought I’d share them with you.

1. Unlock Your Potential – Remember that your true potential is unlimited. Whatever you have accomplished in life up to now has only been a preparation for the amazing things you can accomplish in the future.

2. Take Charge of Your Life – You are completely responsible for everything you are today, for everything you think, say and do, and for everything you become from this moment forward. Refuse to make excuses or to blame others.

3. Create Your Own Future – Believe that you have no limitations on what you can do, be or have in the months and years ahead. Think about and plan your future as if you had all the resources you needed to create any life that you desire.

4. Clarify Your Values – Your innermost values and convictions define you as a person. Take the time to think through what you really believe in and care about in each area of your life. Refuse to deviate from what you feel is right for you.

 5. Determine Your True Goals – Decide for yourself what you really want to accomplish in every area of your life. Clarity is essential for happiness and high performance living.

6. Decide Upon Your Major Definite Purpose – You need a central purpose around which to build your life. There must be a single goal that will help you to achieve your other goals more than any other. Decide what it is for you and work on it all the time.

7. Analyze Your Beliefs – Your beliefs about your own abilities, and about the World around you, will have more of an impact on your feelings and actions than any other factor. Make sure that your beliefs are positive and consistent with achieving everything that is possible for you.

8. Start At The Beginning – Do a careful analysis of your starting point before you set off toward the achievement of your goal. Determine your exact situation today and be both honest and realistic about what you want to accomplish in the future.

9. Measure Your Progress – Set clear benchmarks, measures, metrics and scorecards for yourself on the road to your goals. These measures help you to assess how well you are doing and enable you to make necessary adjustments and corrections as you go along.

 10. Eliminate The Roadblocks – Success boils down to the ability to solve problems and remove obstacles on the path to your goal. Fortunately, problem solving is a skill you can master with practice, and thereby achieve your goals faster than you ever thought possible.

11. Become An Expert In Your Field – You have within you, right now, the ability to be one of the very best at what you do, to join the top 10% in your field. Set this as a goal, work on it every day, and never stop working at it until you get there.

12. Get Around The Right People – Your choices of people with whom to live, work and socialize will have more of an effect on your success than any other factor. Resolve today to associate only with people you like, respect and admire. Fly with the eagles if you want to be an eagle yourself.

13. Make a Plan Of Action – An ordinary person with a well thought-out plan will run circles around a genius without one. Your ability to plan and organize in advance will enable you to accomplish even the biggest and most complex goals.

14. Manage Your Time Well – Learn how to double and triple your productivity, performance and output by practicing practical and proven time management principles. Always set priorities before you begin, and then concentrate on the most valuable use of your time.

15. Review Your Goals Regularly – Take time every day, every week, every month to review and reevaluate your goals and objectives. Make sure that you are still on track and that you are still working toward things that are important to you. Be prepared to modify your goals and plans with new information.

16. Visualize Your Goals Continually – Direct the movies of your mind. Your imagination is your preview of your life’s coming attractions. Repeatedly “see” your goals as if they already existed. Your clear, exciting mental images activate all your mental powers and attract your goals into your life.

17. Activate Your Superconscious Mind – You have within you and around you an incredible power that will bring you everything and anything you want or need. Take the time regularly to tap into this amazing source of ideas and insights for goal attainment.

 18. Remain Flexible At All Times – Be clear about your goal but be flexible about the process of achieving it. Be constantly open to new, better, faster, cheaper ways to achieve the same result, and if something is not working, be willing to try a different approach.

19. Unlock Your Inborn Creativity – You have more creative ability to solve problems and come up with new and better ways for goal attainment than you have ever used. You are a potential genius. You can tap into your intelligence to overcome any obstacle and achieve any goal you can set for yourself.

20. Do Something Every Day – Use the “Momentum Principle of Success” by getting started toward your goal and then doing something every day that moves you closer to what you want to accomplish. Action orientation is essential to your success.

21. Persist Until You Succeed – In the final analysis, your ability to persist longer than anyone else is the one quality that will guarantee great success in life. Persistence is self-discipline in action, and is the true measure of your belief in yourself. Resolve in advance that you will never, never give up!

It is astonishing that most of us tend to plan trips to the grocery store more thoroughly than we plan our lives. Reverse that practice, and start living to your fullest Human potential. Remember, you are among the most spectacularly dynamic combinations of Time, Space, Matter, Energy, and Consciousness ever to grace the Cosmos. Be that way.

Paths

I’ve been fascinated with the Law of Attraction from the moment I heard it expressed in those terms.  I understood the concepts of this Natural Law in childhood.  I knew that if I were walking in the woods and I came to a fork in the path I would either turn to the right, or to the left.  If I took the left path, those things along and at the end of the right path would not be in the direction I would be going.   Likewise, if I took the right path, those things along and at the end of the left path would not be in the direction I would be going.  If I were at my Grandparents house and wanted to visit my Aunt Betty I would not take the path that led to my Uncle Dales, nor my Aunt Lindas.  I would take the path that led to Aunt Bettys.

It seemed to me that the greater paths and directions a person may take in life would follow the same dynamic; decide where you want to go, and follow that path.  You may be compelled to stop for a moment now and then to carve your name in a tree, or to chase a raccoon through the woods, but you’ll regroup and keep moving forward.  The important thing is that you get on the path.  Reach your destination before supper is over, however, or all you get is a cold plate and a call to help with the dishes.

Till next time, remember, you are spectacular.  Even if you dilly and dally along the way, if you stay on your path, you’ll eventually get to where you’re going.

Get on the Bus

If you step out into the street in front of a speeding bus, you will get hit by a speeding bus.  You will experience a sudden, very dramatic, life changing event resulting from your own actions.  It will also result in a very negative experience.  Unfortunately, most actions intended to bring about sudden, dramatic changes in life style have negative outcomes.  Most participants in get rich schemes, of whom I’ve ever heard, at least, only wind up helping make the planner of the scheme rich; the planner having evolved the scheme diligently over time.  Most lottery winners usually wind up deeper in debt than they ever could have imagined possible within five years after the big win.

“Good things come to those who wait.”  In my observation this saying is more a dynamic than an old, irritating adage to persuade children into eating their broccoli before eating sweets.  The cake must be baked before it is eaten.  The farmer must plant the seeds and tend the field before reaping the harvest.  The baby must gestate before it is borne.

“Good things come to those who wait.”  Good things seem to evolve from optimistic attention and fostering of growth.  Bad things seem to spring from impetuous actions, the lunging at brass rings aboard the carousel.  Pick your destination, and get on the bus.  More than likely you’ll have an interesting conversation or two with fellow travelers, and enjoy the scenery along the way.  When you get there, you’ll get there, but you will have been all along the way.

Thank you for reading my blog, and remember, it’s the little things you do consistently, each and every day,  compounded over time, that make you spectacular.

City Lights

The other day I was sitting out in my sitting spot pondering.  The Sun went down and left me a nice dark sky pock-marked with shimmering points of light.  A few months ago I bought a little telescope.  I thought this would have been an ideal time to break it out and see what it cold do.

I brought the telescope outside, and set it up on its tripod.  I picked out a particularly bright star in the sky, and used the aiming device to bead in on it.  When I looked through the eyepiece, there was no star there to see.

I checked the aiming device again, and the star was dead center.  Not being necessarily a precision system, I thought the aiming device must be wrong specifically, but must have been at least close.  I gently loosened the anchoring screws that held the telescope steady on the tripod, and trolled for the star.   I couldn’t find it.  All I was getting was dark sky.

I turned the telescope on another star.  I got the same results.  Then a third, and a fourth, with the same results.  I could find the stars with the aiming device, but could not find them with the telescope.  Finally, I took the telescope off the tripod, and swept the sky with it free hand.  I couldn’t see one single star through the telescope.

I live in a small town.  On the corner by my home is a street light.  There is also a light which illuminates a parking lot close by.  It seems that the light from these sources were negating the light from the stars.  I dismantled my toy, and put it away.

Sometimes our dreams and aspirations are like the stars in the sky.  We can aim in their direction, a million miles away but still discernible.  However, when we try to get closer, the glitz, and the glitter, and the pressing problems immediately at hand negate the vision.

The next day my buddy Tom told me a story.  He’d gone fishing the night before out at one of the lakes nearby.  He’d made himself a little camp fire, and slept out under the stars.  So, I told him my star story of the night before.

Tom told me I should take my telescope out to the lake if I wanted to see the stars with it.  He said there is a kid whom takes his telescope out to the lake to look at the stars, and he has no trouble seeing them.  Tom pointed out that one can’t see stars through a telescope from under a city light.

So, till next time, don’t abandon your dreams and aspirations, nor dismantle the devices for their realization.  Remove yourself from the glitz, and glitter, and the pressing problems of day-to-day living.  Listen to Tom, take your telescope to the lake if you want to see the stars.