Vision is like the carrot in front of the donkey. Vision is what keeps us moving.
Selfish visions fade quickly. Visions that are greater than who we are last and carry us through the obstacles.
Just as an example - when I was younger, I lived in a small garage apartment. It was in Florida. The apartment was 10' x 12' and had been a photography studio, so the windows were spray-painted black. It was in a crime-ridden section of town, so there were bars over the windows and they did not open. In fact, the only outside air that came in would be through the slats of the jalousie window on the main door. In fact, this place was so bad ... we had replaced the old air conditioner from the 50s with a new one that was 1/4 the size ... not having much money, we actually stuffed the gap with old clothes. That was the entire insulation between the inside and outside around the wall unit, and of course the condensation soaked the clothes. Need I say more?
This is not a woe is me story ... it is here to serve a point. Fast forward to now.
We don't live in a million dollar home or mansion. In fact, our home in the Black Hills of South Dakota cost almost half of what our Georgia home was. It's not huge - its modest. It did come with a hot tub. It's not on acres and acres of land. We will have to get more property when we get the horses.
My point?
I was sitting in the hot tub today. It is outside under a gazebo, with the top of the mountain behind it. Looking out, I can see down over the valley that the city of Lead is nestled within to the mountains beyond. It was an overcast day, but one of those beautiful overcast days where the clouds end at the horizon and let the light creep in underneath the canopy. This creates a contrast of color that is amazing. We have a birdfeeder on our deck, so wild birds were chattering in their fun language and watching me. Oddly enough, while the temperature outside was mid 40s, it was sleeting - the altitude above us was below freezing, so these little white pellets were raining down, bouncing from the ground and then melting. A cool breeze would waft over my face. It's a quiet down - the breeze, the tinkle of the wind chimes outside of our door, and the chirp of the birds at the feeder and in the surrounding trees were the only sound I could hear.
Now, if I did not have vision, guess what? My life would go nowhere. Because I am in paradise. I don't need the big house, the fancy cars, the other material items to feel like a king. There, in that quiet space, enjoying the moment, I was on top of the world.
So if my vision was about satisfying me, I'd just say ... guess what? I've arrived. I'm here. I'm home with my family, I spend time with them, we're in the hills, it's great. And I'd be done.
But my vision is bigger than who I am. I want to change lives. Not just one, or two, or three ... but many lives. I want to share exactly how I went from the typical overweight American trapped in a dead-end job, loaded with stress, worried about the bills, unhappy in life but feeling trapped like I had to go work for someone because I had a family ... I want to share how I stepped out of that illusion and learned to truly embrace and enjoy life. And how I did it, not because I'm smarter. Not because of some hidden secret. Nope ... simply because I followed my heart, was trusting enough to join a mastermind group who could assist me with the transition, and made the change.
WOW! Life is amazing.
I never imagined I would spend my evenings with my daughter in my lap, just turned 5 years old, watching her type her own blog (she types every letter in that blog, and spells out most of the words - if she hits big words, she does it by sounding them out and then I correct her when the logical sound doesn't fit) or be able to go with my wife to my daughter's piano lessons in the afternoon to hear her play more notes than I ever was able to master.
Life is so rich with experience, and today, let's face it. People are weak. They are so weak. Hey, don't feel bad ... I'm not being condescending. I was weak. I was one of the ones shuffling in line, a follower, content to do what I was told and live vicarioiusly through the lives of others. We sit and watch the television so we can see what life is supposed to be like, the things we're supposed to be concerned about, how to get emotional, and then we go through the process we're supposed to follow - go to school, get a degree, get a job, work for someone else's vision. The 97% working for the 3%. We're so well trained that when we are faced with an opportunity to do something about it, we just do the same-old knee-jerk reaction we were taught - "that's a pyramid scheme." LOL.
Let's draw the typical corporate structure.
We start at the top, with the CEO.
Now, draw some slots for the Vice Presidents.
Okay, below them, make room for the Department Heads.
Now, below those, fill out the positions - programmer, marketer, salesperson, customer service representative, and so on.
Take a long, hard look. If that isn't a pyramid, I don't know what is. Here's the kicker, too. If you want to move UP the pyramid, guess what? There's only limited space. So someone has to move OUT for you to be able to move back IN. Have you ever had a manager or superior who became threatened when you did well at something ... because they feared for their OWN position?
Yet when someone is presented with the opportunity to earn their own pay, to choose their own income - to even do better than the person who brings them on board, what happens?
Oh, that's not me - I'm not a salesperson. (Show me a business that doesn't sell something ... what most people believe is that to receive money, we must con and connive and convince - let's get real. We're adults, we can choose what we invest our hard-earned dollar in, can't we?)
Oh, I couldn't possibly do that - I have a family. (Yeah, that's why you SHOULD do it. I've been told that time and time again - someone is stressed by their job, angry all the time, but they can't possibly change their situation because of a family. So, in other words, they'd rather pay the bills and be miserable and raise a family that is unhappy and disconnected. Here's a reality check ... I did not make CLOSE to what I was making as a Director of IT for months after I left my job. But you know what? My children thank me every day because they'd rather live on a lower income and have time to be with their parents than they ever enjoyed having the money coming in but never getting to see me, and when they DID see me, I was so stressed I couldn't enjoy myself).
Oh, I don't know how to do that. (Join the club, I had no clue, either. That's what mentors are for. Why we train people.)
Oh, I don't have the money. (Yeah, right. If I parked a $80,000 Rolls Royce in front of your house, and offered to sell it for $1,000, 9 out of 10 would find a way, whether it was beg, borrow, or open a lemonade stand on every block, to get that $1,000 because they know they could turn it around and sell it for a $79,000 profit. The issue with a business is not the cost, it's confidence that you will succeed ... if you knew you'd make a profit, you'd find the capital. What is so ironic is that this is really the chicken and the egg. You won't invest because you don't know if you'll be successful but success is a choice - it's not a crapshoot, it's something we attract by who we become).
What really amazes me in free enterprise is how this mirrors my own journey to health. Health was about stepping into the unknown and having faith that I could transform myself. I had to find mentors so that I could learn from their mistakes and gain from their experience. I had to try things I hadn't tried before. And it didn't happen over night - the weight didn't just disappear, it took time. Sometimes I'd backslide, so I had to form a new discipline and create a lifestyle.
Now, after almost a year on my own (my first anniversary of leaving corporate America will be April 16th of this year) I realize that it's the same. I had to step into the unknown and have faith in myself. I have found mentors to learn from. I've tried things I hadn't tried before. And I did not become successful overnight - the money didn't just appear, it takes time. Sometimes I backslide, so I form new disciplines to ensure this is a lifestyle.
One of the first steps I took was to analyze, study, and learn from people who were successful. And here is what I found.
They're not smarter than you.
They're not more gifted than you.
They're not luckier than you.
They didn't have a better background than you.
They weren't born with a silver spoon in their mouth.
They didn't have some special environment or access to special people that you don't have.
They didn't have genetic or inborn skills to succeed.
Nope. For all practical purposes, they were like average, ordinary people.
I say, "like," because they were not average, and not ordinary. They had one key difference. Only one, that I can find, that is consistent across the board.
Courage.
That's it. That's the secret. That's the key. That's the difference.
They had the courage to fail, and to try again, and to keep trying. To turn off the electronic income reducer, er, um, I mean, TV, and instead read a book to learn something. To turn off the constant negative news network or national public remorse and instead play a motivational CD while they were driving. To take a risk to start something that their friends and family said was crazy, that they wouldn't succeed at. To try it, and fail - not make a dime, not make a sale, not succeed at all .... YET .... in spite of that, say, that's okay, there's a reason why it's not working for me but has worked for others, so let's try something new/different and do it again .. and again ... and again ... until, suddenly, it worked. It clicked. It happened.
I'm sharing this because while I was relaxing today, I thought about people I connect with who are so stressed, so unhappy, and their language reflects the idea that they can't do anything about it.
BULL.
You CAN. You just have to have the courage to try.
Blessed be,
Jeremy Likness
