Tag: life coaching

A Glimpse Of A 2011 Growth Plan

As we've crossed over into a new year, and decade for that matter, I thought I would share some of what I'm planning for 2011.

The importance of having a growth plan is nothing new to you if you've read my work before.  It truly is the fuel behind any vision.  If you haven't embarked on this type of journey, I highly recommend you do and we can help.  Click here to learn more.

The following is my vision and some bullets from my 2011 growth plan supporting it:

    God’s destiny for me is to have and live an Epic Life.  This life will address multiple facets of living.  My life will be a motion picture that births joy and changes lives.  My legacy will be built accordingly.

    I see myself as an excellent husband and father.  Eileen, Lauren and Grant are my most important priority.  Their lives will be wonderfully impacted by my love, time and influence.

    As it relates to Influence, God intends for me to lead on a large scale and stage.  I will communicate encouragement, development and opportunity to people of diverse backgrounds. The marketplace is the arena in which He intends for me to have impact.  I see myself expanding that influence through speaking, writing, teaching and one-to-one mentoring.  I also see Epic Living as the organization focused on developing and reproducing people of influence within the public and private sector.

    My physical and mental health will be strong due to the conscious choices I will make.  I see a long an vibrant life ahead as God allows.

    I see my finances reflecting strength, knowledge and wisdom.  I will make decisions that are investor-minded versus consumer-minded.

    In His church and community, I will minister to individuals and groups by the same methods above.  My key focus areas are influence development and personal growth.  God will also use me as source of encouragement to all I encounter.

  • 30 minutes of silence to listen to God
  • Two dates per month with Eileen
  • Incorporate Yoga into my exercise plan
  • Network on behalf of job seekers in my community
  • Execute on a “stop doing list”
  • Look into natural resources investments
  • Complete second book

My vision and growth plan have more elements than what I've listed, but I wanted to give this to you as source of "example."  I hope it will stir you.

Your Life The Symphony


 

Please view the above video, it provides a necessary context for this post.  You may not be a fan of Peter Cetera or Chicago, but hopefully you can appreciate what goes into the making of art and craft.

I love this song and have for many years.  The version in the video clip captures an artist who owns the work.  Unmistakable, how Mr. Cetera delivers something he birthed in 1976.  I imagine he had some say in how the song would be arranged and performed.  I imagine he had some say in who would perform the work of art as well.  You have a lot of power when a gift is in your hands.

After I found this clip, and listened to it a number of times, I couldn't help but see the similarities in the form of a life living and lived.  It gave me urgency around living out my Epic Life.  It made me stand back in awe of what the gift of life means…what it implies for all of us.  Do you know that your life is unfolding before your very eyes?  Do you understand that this is happening whether you choose to participate or not?

I want my life to be as beautiful and brilliant (like the sun) as the sound of a symphony.  Every instrument coming together to be somehting that could never be accomplished alone.  To be a voice that, if even faint, would be missed inside of something so beautiful.

I want the above for you as well.  My mission, my movement is to help you craft an Epic Life.

The Case For Moving On To Breakthroughs

Are you stuck?

Are you in pain?

Are you frustrated?

I had a conversation with my chiropractic practitioner (his services are a part of my overall health plan) a couple of weeks ago that really stuck with me.  If you're ever in my neck of the woods you should pay him a visit.

We got to talking about people in pain and the refusal to move on to healing/progress.  His point was something like this:

You're in pain now and getting to your breakthrough means pain too.  Sadly, most people are comfortable with the existing pain/state.  This comfort paralyzes them from experiencing the pain associated with breakthroughs.

As a guide, I couldn't agree with him more.

Here are some simple acid tests to use as you move from talking about finding a breakthrough to acting on the solutions/cures:

  1. Make sure the person or organization offering you a solution is interested in you first and not what's in you bank account.  I'm not saying that your solutions/cures should be free, I'm just talking about the order of things.  If you're not sure what questions are best for finding out the motivation behind the marketing, then send me an email or comment through this post.
  2. Get settled about the pain that will be associated with moving on to breakthrough.  Do this in front of a mirror-real or imagined.
  3. Remember, every breakthrough should lead to a new life habit.  Life habits should stick.

The Limits

Limits, everyone has them.  Have you been properly introduced?  

The limits remind us of our humanity and introduce humility.  This can create an urgency like no other.  You begin to see that you don't have all that time you thought you had.  This is good.

I heard a story once of a man who lost his wife.  He gave some sobering advice:

"Save nothing for special occasions."

In other words, every day of your life is a special occasion.

Here is a post a I wrote some time ago that will unwrap this idea more.

So Many Masks, So Little Time

I've written and taught about wearing masks before, but this post (The Joy of Quitting) from Seth got me thinking.  What if we burned our masks (the type that suck away our authenticity) in some great fire?

Politicians tend to be prone to mask wearing.  Ironic as that may be, since they really are supposed to be servants of the citizenry.  This is soberly played out in the video clip link of President Nixon in Seth's post.  The pre-speech interaction and honesty is worth the view.

When you wear masks to "project" or to deceive, you are taking a poison pill.  A pill that takes life very slowly…over time.  Most would agree that it's not worth the cost. 

Have you come to that conclusion?

Here are a some stakeholders who stand to benefit when the masks are discarded:

  1. Your family.  Believe me, they are longing for you to show up.
  2. Your career.  Are you really doing what is consistent with your wiring?
  3. Your next entrepreneur venture.  The potential benefactors of your ideas are worn out from empty ideas by mask-wearers.
  4. Your customers.  Too much coming at them-everyday-for you to be anything less than authentic.
  5. Your organization.  They may see potential in you that you're afraid to face.

The Calling-Red Pill Versus Blue Pill

Came across this post (via Dan Schawbel on Twitter) from Yahoo Hot Jobs and felt inspired to include the video clip above.  It's from the Matrix.  The classic scene between Morbius and Neo, where a pill of blue and a pill of red are offered to Neo.  Essentially, stay dead with the blue or wake up with the red.

My intention here is to alert you to #5 on the list from Yahoo.  I totally disagree with the writer's assertion that not everyone is called to something.  Granted, some may not know, some might have forgotten or some may be trying to kill it.  But everyone has a calling.

Sadly, we live in a culture that stands in opposition to your calling.

God weaved the vision in you and I.  The crux is what we allow "the Matrix" to take away or kill.  Every story is hinged on this conflict.

A Gift

One of the things I've noticed lately is how often we don't recognize the gifts given that are right in front of our faces.

Yesterday I'm walking in my garden and looking at our set of roses (the Knock Out variety) and I was struck by the design, color, and the strength of the plant. 

I just stopped…

The main point of this post is to remind you that gifts are given daily.  You have the choice as to what you will do with them.

Looking In The Mirror

The following spoke volumes to me this morning:

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve;
I was made weak, that I
might learn to humbly obey.
     I asked for health, that I might do greater
things;
     I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.
I
asked for riches, that I might be happy;
I was given poverty, that I might
be wise.
     I asked for power, that I might have the praise of

            men;
     I was given weakness, that I might feel the need
of God.
I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life;
I was given
life, that I might enjoy all things.
     I got nothing that I asked for,

     But everything I had hoped for.

I am, among all men, most richly
blessed.

    -Author Unknown