What Are You Waiting For?

This morning, I received an anguished email from a good friend of mine. Her sister died suddenly and wholly unexpectedly yesterday, less than a month after their mother passed on Christmas Day.

I find myself caught between tears for her pain and rage on her behalf. As she said in her email, "Life is so unfair!" What is shockingly clear to me in this moment is that all my hesitations, fears, uncertainties, and thoughts about, "As soon as X happens, I'll be happy/be able to do Y/stop worrying/whatever," are meaningless.

A certain sense of caution is good. It's obvious that there are some things that in the first enthusiastic moment seem like a great idea, but with a cooler and more practical view become less attractive. Likewise, some of life's undertakings absolutely require risk management and contingency planning. If you have always wanted to travel around the world, that's great, but quitting your job tomorrow and booking flights and cruise tickets is clearly not the best approach.

But when things feel risky or if we feel vulnerable about doing something, we create reasons not to do them. For instance, if I'm not secure in my relationship with my manager, I'll hesitate to ask her for a promotion, even if I feel I deserve it. And I'll make up stories about why I'm not asking. "I shouldn't have to ask for a promotion - it should be *obvious* that I deserve it!"

Big dreams and big goals are subject to hesitation and delay. In part, this is because when we never try, we never face the realities of failure - or of success. Or we may simply be overwhelmed by the size of the goal or dream. But there's also that internal critic insisting that we can't do it, we'll look foolish, we'll lose our friends and all our money, and so on and so forth.

Many times, too, we feel trapped in a situation and believe there are no alternatives. With all due respect, I have to say that this is hogwash! There are always alternatives, but it often takes someone else to see them. When you're stuck, ask for help!

I wonder what dreams and goals my friend's sister had. I wonder what unasked questions she had, and what she left unsaid to friends and family. I wonder what alternatives she never saw. I wonder. If she could speak to us now, what would she advise us to do about our dreams, goals, questions, and pent-up words?

I know that I will be taking some extra risks in the upcoming weeks. In her memory, I will be stepping outside my comfort zone to make my dreams and goals become real, before it's too late for me, too.

What about you? What are you waiting for?

"We all have the extraordinary coded within us, waiting to be released." Dr. Jean Houston (1937 - ), American writer, philosopher, and teacher.

It Pays To Be A Problem Solver

The Japanese have become the second most powerful economy in the world because of one simple word. Innovation. Their ability to problem solve, to take an idea and make it even better is what has brought them to the point that they are in the world economy. You ability to be a problem solver is what will help you become a financial power house. Everything that has ever been created, everything that has ever made someone money has done so because it has solved a problem for people.

The most successful people in the world have the ability to solve problems. They are able to see something that people need fixed, be it in themselves or in their lives, and find a solution for that problem. They are able to see a problem in their business, be it in the systems of the business, or the marketing, or employee relations, or whatever the problem is, and find a solution. Being a problem solver is one of the highest paid jobs out there. Your ability to recognize a problem someone is having, and your ability to solve that problem effectively will dictate at least some of your success. There are always me too kinds of people out there, and those are the people who do what someone else is doing. But it is the individual who is first to the market with a solution that usually rakes in the most amount of money.

So where do your strong problem solving abilities lie? Where do you find yourself solving problems most of the time? Where do you enjoy solving problems? Are you the type of person who has all of your friends coming to you for solutions in their relationships, or are you the type of person who is able to look at something physical, like a car, and see what is wrong with it? What do you have a passion for when it comes to solving problems, and how can you take that ability to a whole new level and turn it into a money making opportunity for yourself?

People will always have problems, and the better someone is at solving those problems for people, the more money that person will make. I know life isn't all about money, and it shouldn't be. Life is about abundance and wealth in all areas, and money happens to be a part of that, and if you are able to find something that you have a burning passion for that you are able to make a lot of money at, then so much the better. Learn to solve people's problems, and they will not only love you for it, but they will hand you money to do it. Think about it. Cell phones, cars, houses, running water, electricity, toilet paper for goodness sakes. All of these things are things that we could do without, but we pay for how convenient they make life and how much better our quality of life are because of them. Problem solvers are some of the highest paid people in the world. Become a problem solver, and get good at it, and your financial problems will be solved for you.

Persistence Creates Success

Calvin Coolidge said, "Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race."

You can't teach someone persistence. People will become sufficiently persistent to succeed only when their desire for their goal exceeds the pain and discomfort they have to endure in order to reach it. It's simply a matter of comparison: the pain of living without your objective has to exceed the pain of paying the price to accomplish that goal. Which pain is greater? Everyone is motivated. Motivation means "A motive for action". Some people are motivated to lie in the gutter with a cigarette and bottle of liquor. That's what they want to do, that's why they're doing it. Others live mediocre lives, because they don't want real success badly enough to pay the price to obtain it.

How do we guarantee success? DESIRE. When you want something badly enough, when you are prepared to do whatever it takes to get it, you will become persistent. And when that happens, success is guaranteed. On a scale of one to ten, one being "It doesn't matter" and ten being "Nothing will stop me", how badly do you want to reach your objective? If it's anything less than a twelve, don't bother. FIND something that you want more than anything else. That desire will burn away fear, slothfulness, excuses, lack of attention, distraction, compromise, mediocrity and even fatigue. People who are seriously motivated are persistent and dedicated. They set extremely high standards and will pay the price. They LOVE their objective.

Persistence is the result of finding your true purpose and the result of persistence is massive success. To find your purpose, it's good to spend time with others who already know what their purpose is. Those people will inspire you and their energy will start to invigorate you. You will seek what they have, which is purpose. And what you honestly and sincerely seek, you will surely find.

"They who lack talent expect things to happen without effort. They ascribe failure to a lack of inspiration or ability, or to misfortune, rather than to insufficient application. At the core of every true talent there is an awareness of the difficulties inherent in any achievement, and the confidence that by persistence and patience something worthwhile will be realized. Thus talent is a species of vigour." - Eric Hoffer

You Can't Get There From Not Here

Today almost everyone is on the path of personal development. Self-help books are some of the best selling books out there. It is a very noble path to be on. The greatest enemy anyone will face is not over seas or in some other country or a follower of some other religion. The most challengin and difficult person to face is the one who stares us back in the mirror every day. But this is also the most rewarding of all journeys to be made. A journey deep within the soul and mind of yourself. Who you are, what you are, and what all of that means.

The problem that so many people run into on the path of personal development and the path of success is that they have a place that they want to go. They know what they want, usually. They have this grand vision in their mind of the kind of person they want to be. They read book after book after book. Over time, most people give up because they never seem to make any progress. This is all fine and dandy. It is essential to your success to know where you are going, however, you must also remember to take one very important step. You must evaluate where you are.

If you were to say that you wanted a thousand dollars, what would your first step be? Most people would jump right to how they intend on getting that money. That is a great idea, however, the first step you must take is to evaluate how much money you have right now and how much further you have to go. If you already have four hundred bucks sitting under your mattress, you don't have any where near as far to go as someone who has six bucks. We have to take time to evaluate where we are and what we need to get to there, where ever there is. How can you possibly begin to travel some place if you don't know where you are right now and where you want to go. Imagine trying to take a vacation and trying to get to Miami Florida, but not having a clue where you are right now. How could you possibly decide which way to travel. I guess you could jump in a car and start heading south, but then you would have to hope that you are north of Florida. That strategy wouldn't work if you were in Mexico.

Take the time to evaluate your current situation. Your strengths and your weeknesses. What you lack and what you have. Only then will you be able to realize what needs work to get to where you want to go. If you are a fast typer but you have trouble letting the thoughts flow from your head onto the computer, you aren't going to practice typing. You must know that your problem lies in how the thoughts flow from your head onto the screen. Then you can begin to practice things that allow your thoughts to flow better. If you are strong at telling stories but have trouble typing, you wouldn't practice telling more stories, you would practice typing. If you tend to start projects but only complete them half way, you wouldn't practice starting new projects. You are already strong there. You would practice finishing those things you start. The opposite is also true.

Take the time to realize where you are and what needs work. If you are already strong at something, recognize your strengths but practice and work on those things that need the work. If you know where you are going and what you want to accomplish then you should know what it takes to get there. After you know where you are, know what it takes to get to where you want to go, then you are able to work on those things that need work to make that happen. You can't get there from here if you don't know where here is. Also be sure to take the time during the journey to reflect back on all that you have accomplished. Many times we can get caught up in how much further we have to go. Especially since there keeps moving the closer we get to it. Take the time to look back on all you have accomplished so far and be proud of it. You can get there from here, just know where here is.