Do or Don’t Do At so many different times in my life I have wondered if I was doing what I really wanted to do and should be doing. I am speaking about the everyday things I do that fill my days. I still wonder what is it I really do want to do? I
What if? Doesn’t that little question put a little smile or smirk on your face? To just stop and think for a while…what if this or what if that? In the context of you and your life, what if can pose some big questions. It can open up access to an endless sea of possibilities and it can bring real change in your life and the lives of others. Many great inventions and businesses started with someone asking that little question, and then looking for the answers.
Each little question or challenge we face and overcome can bring with it an opportunity to take life in a new direction; to walk a path we might not yet have walked or to explore unchartered territory in our own life story and grow as a person. Everyone’s life is filled with so many unanswered questions and different possibilities, if we only learn to look for them and see them for what they are, opportunities for self-growth and become that person we want to be in our future years.
How prepared were U for life when U left your parents’ home and went out on your own? Maybe U went to college first, then out into the world, or maybe U went right into the workforce and started earning a living. How did U want your life story to go back then? I would guess that U have learned a lot about life and about yourself since then. Do U wish U had taken a little more time to think about your future and plan a few things before starting out? What do U tell you children about planning and about thinking and having a strategy for their lives’?
The company I founded, LifeLongU™, creates and distributes guides, workbooks and some videos which are designed to help U develop yourself into the person U want to become by helping U define who U will be as the main character in your own life story. We realize that everyone is on a path in life, but maybe not a path that includes continual self-development and improvement to becoming a better person and learning to do things they may not yet be able to do. This takes planning, usually some education or training and also some specific action.
A Secret for A Great LifeThe other day I was on one of my long walks enjoying the lake area I am so blessed to live by and saw a father cutting grass on a riding lawn mower, which by itself may not be so note worthy, I admit. However, helping him and maybe getting in his way a bit were two of his children; both kids where about 6 to 9 years old and each were also driving a small vehicle; one a small look-a-like riding lawnmower – kids version and the other a kids small ATV. The dad riding his mower had just come to the end of his cut with both kids following close behind and as he turned around they emerged right in his path and there the three of them sat looking , laughing and enjoying an intimate family situation.
I like seeing these types of things as they remind me of when my own son who used to walk next to me at about that age and push his own child version of a lawn mower as I walked and mowed our own lawn. Those types of intimate moments were great to share with someone special and great teaching moments although they never felt like I was a teacher.
Strive for ExcellenceWhat does it mean to be a man in today’s world? What do you think a woman thinks a man should be? If you are a man, what plan do you have for your life? Does it include your family? Are you looking for your perfect mate? Do you have a plan to make your life better? Are you striving for excellence?
Dr. Wayne Dyer writes that to attract the relationship you want you need to be that yourself. If what you are looking for in a relationship with another person is an exquisite sense of love, be that yourself. He goes on to say that”You do not attract into your life what you want. You attract what you are.” So what type of man are you exactly? What are you attracting? Is this what you want or need?
A Focused LifeHow often have you really sat back and took a good look at your life and wondered if you have achieved what you set out to do many years ago? Do you remember what your intentions, goals or dreams were 20 or more years ago? What did you believe your “life’s purpose” to be back then? Is that purpose still what gets you going every day? Has it changed any?
Reflecting back on your past can be a great method to help re-align your future plans. Looking back and weighing the pluses and minuses of your life, as you remember them, will help you understand more about yourself and allow you to use some of your wisdom to make better decisions about your future.
There are many types of people that approach this reflection differently and if two people had the exact same experiences with their past, my guess would be that each would reflect and remember it in different ways. Each would draw different conclusions on what was a plus and what was a minus. Each would be correct, from their perspective, but still have only one point of view, theirs. A singular point of view is not what you may want when planning your future, is it? This singular point of view, because of its singularity, may tend to blind you from other options that are in front of you and because of this singular thinking pattern, you may not see or acknowledge potential options. This is not to say that after all options have been uncovered, researched and weighed, and a plan for the future is determined and put in place, that this action plan cannot become a focus and somewhat a singular point of view. In fact, this is how big goals are achieved.
Help for Your Small Business & YouWhen you own and operate a small business or are thinking of maybe starting one the act of hiring others to assist you in defining, fully understanding and growing your vision can play a crucial part in its future success. Let’s face it, many small business owners are driven to succeed and spend much of their time in one or two areas of their business where they feel comfortable or excel at, like sales or operations. Not paying needed attention to all areas like strategic planning, marketing, process improvement, pricing, finance, accounting, matching the right people to the right job function or motivating your employees can cause your business many additional challenges that simply can be avoided.
You may have built your business to where it is today by focusing only on certain key areas, but time needs to be spent on the other areas of your business as it grows, but it does not have to be your time. Bringing in an outside set of eyes can get some of these activities done right away and bring a new perspective to you while helping your business succeed and grow to another level.
The Best Man You May Ever MeetWhen you meet any man for the first time, have you ever considered you might have just met one of the best men you may ever meet in your life? What about when they walk away after meeting you, do you think they might be wondering that very thought about you? Is it possible, did either of you just meet one of the best men you may ever meet? Have you been trying to be such a man; a real genuine role model for others? Where would you meet such a man? Would you meet him in the places you frequent? Take a minute and think about that?
I wrote this blog for my male readers, but my female readers may find it interesting as well. A genuine man needs to ask these types of questions about himself. In this day and age a man needs to have a high level of integrity mixed with strong moral values and actually live by them. This makes him who he is and is no easy task to live by. In the story of King Arthur’s court, you hear about the Knights of the Round Table and how honorable they were or tried to be? Would you be able to live up to their code of values? Can you be one of the best men someone may ever meet, a knight of the round table? Wouldn’t you like to be part of this group of men?
Who Was Thankful For You This Year?Is Thanksgiving a day of the year, a state of mind, a way of life or the start of the retail shopping season? Did you give thanks yesterday for only those blessings you have been given lately or do you give thanks for them all year around? When you give thanks, do you thank the Lord for putting someone else in your life that had a significant impact in your life? Have you made any significant impact in anyone else’s life? Do you think you were on someone’s list of what they were thankful for this past year?
There are many things we all should be thankful for. Consider if you were born in another part of the world? Say Europe, Africa, South America or Asia? What if you were born at a different point in time? Say 1655 AM1 (Anno Mundi “year of the world” or 2349 BC “Before Christ”; approximately one year before the flood), 32 AD (when Jesus Christ was 32 years old, 1492 AD (Christopher Columbus finds the new world) or 1929 AD (the start of the USA Great Depression).
You were born to live at this point of time in your current location of the world for a reason. What that reason is, only you can decide. What you do or don’t do with your time while here, only you can determine. If you are living your life and doing things with a focus to only improve your current situation, then you may need to broaden your scope of thinking and step into a lifestyle that includes doing things for others in need and next year you may be on a few more thankfulness lists.
Living “The Life” of 100 YearsThey say that hindsight is 20/20 meaning that when we look back in our life, we see much more clearly what we should have done at different points over our life; positive or negative as that may be. More times than not, I think we tend to focus too much on decisions we made that we believe were incorrect at the time we made them and if we would have chosen a different path our current situation in life would be different. Much better of course!
As we age and daily face different challenges and opportunities in our lives, the number of decisions we make piles up for each of us. The negative outcomes of those decisions around doing or not doing something correctly or incorrectly in our past may be seen as regrets; based entirely from our current singular viewpoint at this time. Regrets or disappointments about our past choices are not something we want to look back on in our life. What regrets do you have so far in your life? Are you making better decisions today about the many tomorrows you have coming up in your future? Are you using your past to make a better tomorrow for you and for your family?
The Big Cheese, LeadershipEvery organization has a leader, even the organizations you belong to. Every entity, every company, every City, County, State and Country has a leader. The leader is the person who is responsible for the direction of the organization they lead. The leader makes sure strategic direction has been defined for the organization, that precise future goals are set and resources are available to accomplish those goals. The leader is the person out in front, “the big cheese”; they get everyone to march to the same step. The leader is the one the rest of the organization sees as the one to follow and the one person the followers trust most to make good decisions improving the organization so it benefits its stakeholders, which includes the followers.
Where would you follow your leader? Are you following your leader? Do you know what your leader stands for? Do they work to benefit themselves or the organizations stakeholders? How many different leaders are you following?
Over the years many different types of individuals have held leadership positions. Some seek it out while others have it thrust upon them. Some individuals rise to the occasion and do a fantastic job leading their organizations, while others, do not.
Living “The Life” of 100 Years
Last week I posted part one “Learning Years” of a three part series called Living “The Life” of 100 Years. This week we continue with “Earning Years”, the next 35 years of our 100 year life.
Have you ever considered living a lifetime of 100 years? What does it really take to do such a life feat? What type of planning should be involved? You may think you will never live that long, but what if you do? What if the Lord blesses you with long life? Will you be ready for your golden years, mentally, physically, spiritually, financially? Have you been using your knowledge to improve your earnings in life so far, or have you simply taken a job to collect a paycheck and allow life to happen to you?
We tend to spend a lot of our time predominately focused on generating income and accumulating wealth since it is the time when most of us are at our peak earning years, from 35 to just around 70. As we enter the “Earning Years” phase many of us have completed a desired level of schooling, have an education in our intended field of interest along with a fair amount of work experience in an industry we have sought out or ended up in. In any case, as we move through our 30’s and 40’s, we have a value to offer the job market, and the job market has an amount it will reward us with. Hopefully, the job market reward is equal to or higher than our own calculated value.