Dreams are fragile things. They’re given as a spark, designed to turn into a flame. That flame should only go out if used to ignite the new dream.
That’s why I don’t want you to let career snuff out your dreams.
No surprise, but keeping our dreams alive is very hard work. More and more hard work is not esteemed. We’ve been programmed (deceived) to believe there’s an easier pathway. The reality remains, keeping dreams alive requires hard work. It’s worth all you have.
I see our dreams as brushstrokes on the canvas of our lives. We were made to dream.
The most insidious enemy of our dreams is career. Career is the ring, the untamed beast, the riptide. It can be mastered when one orders their lives. It be made to be slave if you have the courage to be who you are. If not, it will seek to be the dominate force in your life. I’ve been fighting for over ten years.
Here’s why:
I want to make God smile
I want my family to have a legacy rooted in the power of dreams
I know the BS our society spews, is just that, BS. Didn’t always see that, but now I do
Originally posted back in late 2012, it’s one of my favorites and timely considering this.
Do you have a tempest inside you? I do.
I can’t speak for you, but I’ve learned it’s the catalyst for my creativity. Pulsing and demanding to get out, I don’t fight it any longer. I used to see this, at times, as a curse. A cruel burden to carry in an even crueler world.
The tempest I write about is the one that is a gift. It’s the type that spurs on great pursuits and the impossible. Yes, the impossible stuff. It’s the evidence of authenticity and clarity.
I’ve heard many a great thinker (Seth Godin, Scott Griffin, Sir Richard Branson) who has said that future will not be kind to the doer, but will embrace the creators. Before you think me special, being a creator is in everyone. Don’t wait until your forced into being a creator. By then it may be too late. The issue comes down to the willingness to let this creativity out.
I am a man who allowed the “world” to dictate my view, and it cost me. My story is in process and it is happy. Happy, because I chose to embrace the “tempest” and let it launch my creativity.
The following are some things to consider about the tempest:
There will be failure. Get over it, embrace it, work through it, but it’s there to refine you and test you. Learn.
You will be embarrassed. You’ll pronounce your great idea or work and people will cock their head like a dog wondering what are you doing?
You will feel more things you never thought you would.
It will teach you to do things that you’d rather avoid. You won’t regret this. The end of the comfort zone.
It will lead you to the place of dreams and legacy. Most everyone wants this, I would dare say needs this.
In a lunch this past week, I rediscovered what I love about entrepreneurs. I observed an entrepreneur (other than myself) in their zone. It was a cool moment for me. Listening to his ideas, listening to the what could be dreamed, listening to what problems could be solved. I felt at home.
More and more, I am embracing the meaning of entrepreneur. Being a risk taker is the difference maker.
We all are entrepreneurs, whether we know it or not.
Have you reached that point in your life when you suddenly
realize that there are more days behind you than there are ahead of you? If you
have, then you may find yourself wondering “was it all worth it?” or maybe
even, “is this all there is?”
The midpoint of life, under normal circumstances, is an intense
transitional experience. These are not normal circumstances. The current
economic, social, political, physical and spiritual environments seem to be
more turbulent than at any other time in recent memory.
Some of us may be facing involuntary career changes. Many of us
are watching the retirement funds we so carefully and painfully saved over a
lifetime, evaporate right before our eyes.
We may have once dreamed of retiring, but now a body that arises
each day with the discovery of new aches and pains, is joined by a mind that
awakens to the reality that the rest it had been promising itself for so many
years continues to linger, like a desert mirage, just on the horizon ahead.
This is suppose to be a time when everything we have labored for
comes together for our own good as we triumphantly live into the sunset of our
legacy. Yet, as we stand on the edge of own “Legacy Cliff”, it is so easy to
think, “I can’t get there from here.”
For some, the second half of life ushers in a melancholy moment
of despair. This is because society celebrates youth and encourages us to
tightly hang on and celebrate it with the utmost zeal for as long as we
possibly can. Yet the longer we hang on the more fearful we become. For when we
live by the light of our greatest hits, we find ourselves increasingly unable
to do what we “use to could” do.
This can be a very confusing time because the first half of life
naturally calls us to define ourselves by what we do. The future calls us to
examine who we are, and who we want to be; which can be a very scary thing
Living into the future affords us the opportunity of regaining
and maintaining our energy. We must be willing to leave behind everything we
have done for the sake of living into who we are supposed to be. To be clear,
the only way we can survive the trip over the “Legacy Cliff” is to let go of
the past and live into the future.
That sounds harder to do than it is. All that is required is an
evaluation of who we want to be. To live into this defining moment we must be
willing to see who it is that we want to be before we cross the finish line of
life. Then we must allow this vision of potential to permeate our being. By
that I mean that we allow this vision to purposefully guide every thing we do.
It isn’t that we no longer do; rather we insure that our doing is
connected to who we want to be. As we look to the future we realize that we can
no longer sacrifice what really matters to the demands of what merely
momentarily matters.
The first half of life is filled with dreams. The second half of
life is filled with aspirations. Dreaming means to listen to our desires and
invent an image of the future. Aspiring means to breathe life into the deepest
desires of our heart.
As we spend our most productive moments contributing value at
work, we often tell ourselves that the day will come when we can live into our
own aspirations. That day only comes for those who go over the cliff without
any thought of looking back.
Happiness comes to those who realize that they no longer need to
worry about what they are losing as they age. Instead they see and understand
the gains that come from growing whole.
To me, growing whole means becoming the person that I was always
meant to be. It means reaching for my personal potential. It invites greater
levels of self-awareness. To become whole, I must be willing to examine every
aspect of my life. I must be willing to embrace being who I am over doing what
I do. I must be willing to learn and grow.
Wholeness inspires a constant focus on reaching for the next
level. Our eyes must always be looking to a promising and fulfilling future.
When we stop reaching for the next level, we start feeling out of focus,
disconnected, and even burnt out.
Sometimes, legacy is incorrectly defined by what we leave behind.
While most of us are strongly connected to that idea, I have come to appreciate
the probability that legacy also yields a forward-facing and future outcome.
Only a portion of our legacy is bestowed upon those who follow us. The other
portion is carried on with us as we move toward our own potential.
In fact, the etymology of the word legacy presents a convincing
argument that it was never intended to be about what we leave behind. Instead
it suggests that it denoted the continual shaping and reshaping of a future
outcome.
Thus, living into our legacy inspires multiple directions. What
we leave behind is important but the purpose of this life is to learn and grow
through our own experiences. This means we be willing to live into a bright
future. To do otherwise is to grow old and die. Yes we will cross the finish
line someday, but the notable energy levels of one who crosses in wholeness
compared to those who cross in oldness is quite remarkable.
Normally, this is the space where you get to hear all of the
suggestions an author has for you, some sort of numbered step by step list for
you to live into the things being prescribed. But this wouldn’t be your list,
so it wouldn’t be very meaningful.
Instead, I want you the reader to be the coauthor of this
article. In fact, I want you to write the ending all by yourself. It is my hope
that you will take a moment to reflect on the following questions and come up
with your our list. I am certain that doing so will allow you to fly right over
the Legacy Cliff as you identify the person you want to be. Are you ready?
Who do you want to be when you grow whole?
As soon as you get a clear picture of who you want to be in your
mind, please capture your the actions you must take to become that person. What
are they?
Now, before you leave this space please decide if you are
committed to doing those actions so that you may become that person. Be honest
with yourself. If you are not, then go back to step one and redefine who it is
you want to be.
If you gave this your full attention, then you are now free to
let go of the past by living into your future. It’s your legacy. Reach for it.
Dr. Andrew Thorn is the founder of Telios Corporation and
creator of TheTelios Experience™. He holdsa PhD in Consulting Psychology, a Masters in Personal and Executive Coaching, and
a Masters in Business Administration from Pepperdine University. Dr.
Thorn is also the author of U-wun-ge-lay-ma: A Guide to Next-level
Living and the upcoming book Who Do You Want To Be When
You Grow Whole? The Future of Meaning and Purpose. He
lives in Apple Valley, California with his wife Stacy and seven children.
Ideas are not enough in business and personal. There was a point in my entrepreneur journey, though, when I believed having a great idea was enough. It isn't.
I attended a breakfast meeting this morning sponsored by a local group, TechColumbus. The presenters were from Clarus Parners and they gave wonderful insights into the art and science of presenting your business for funding/investment.
As I sat in the meeting, I couldn't help but think about how much I've learned over the last 5 years. I'm pleased to be where I'm at today. One of the big lessons is understanding that you can't just rely on a good or great idea. Your ideas need a full-spectrum of attention. It runs from capital to advice.
Here are some notes from the presentation this morning:
Know your sales trends. Are they up? Are they down. Is the trend long or short-term in nature?
What's the real value of your idea? Warren Buffett said, "Price is what you pay. Value is what you get."
Be realistic in your projections.
Investors want to see that you've got "skin in the game." How much of what you've got (money, time, intellectual property, etc.) is attached to the idea?
What do you do after the dream? Do you revel in the possibility of what, at this point, exists in your head alone?
The best dreams, dare I write, the type that come to pass are mixed with vision and deliberate will.
I've read it many times the quote of success being able to move from failure to failure and not lose enthusiasm for what could be. I tend to agree with that, even as I live in an environment that prizes winning to the point of obsession.
I am prone to excitement. Give me an idea, a vision or a dream and I'll plug in. I never want to change that about me or lose it in age of skepticism. In the last few months I've started to move to a more patient and steady approach in how I evaluate ideas.
In many ways I would describe it as letting the story unfold.
In the past week I've started to get lift on a few projects and goals. All of these are in process. And the keyword process is important. I have made a conscious decision to let them unfold to a logical conclusion-good or bad. No predictions, just one step at a time.
For you, you might say "duh, Eric." But I am a man who is learning. Learning what is sustainable, learning what is viable and learning what I believe God is pointing to. If you're not careful, you'll miss a key step if the story is not allowed to unfold.
We all know people who are good at positioning for insincere purposes. This is probably why the word has a fairly negative connotation. But what about positioning for sincere and "right" reasons?
It could be a game-changer for you.
Whether you're looking for your next job opportunity or pitching a VC on a great business idea, positioning is vital. Consider it the backdrop for your story. If your intentions are sincere, then you should want to position the story (compelling and not like the everyone else) for your audience. Seems to me it would take the edge off of the blues we can tend to experience while pursuing our dreams.
It's worth it if you want your life to count. Understand this; if you were looking for any employer, any VC, any business partner, then positioning would be a complete waste of time. But my guess is you want it to be right. The question is whether you're willing to go through the fire to find what you're looking for.
After the fire, you'll find the place you were looking for.
Had someone tell me last week that your authentic swing is found in the "letting it flow" zone. Don't know why that analogy struck like it did, but Neal's got a good grasp on things.
Today I'm talking with a business partner and friend about the courage it takes to pursue dreams, and the courage to hold onto them when the head-winds come. This is hard work.
What I find ironic and tragic about where we're at-America specifically-is most people view dreams as some outrageous risk. In other words, something that only fools and gamblers engage in.
What if our dreams are directions to living out what was poured into us? What if the Matrix is just trying to get us off course, so we will wake up to a life of regret?
There is no doubt in my mind that the greatest security and safety is found in our dreams-the authentic variety.
Do you believe this? If it is, what are you doing about it?
