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Focusing ahead of the line means the future - the time between right now and everything that comes after this

Behind the line is the actions, decisions mistakes and successes of our past, the moments and years that existed just prior to this moment. We can’t change what is behind the line so the best we can do is learn from it and make decisions about what is ahead of the line.

We all have priorities but way too often we do not consider these when making a decision in the moment.

Right now - right here I can choose to include what is truly important in what I will say or do or I can settle for something that might look good and actually be a truly good use of my time, but if it does not help move me closer to my larger objectives or fulfill me emotionally by addressing a priority in my life then I have let good over ride great and mediocrity becomes acceptable.

A friend of mine used to sell water hoses. No he didn’t work at a hardware store with garden hoses, his hoses were part of a complex cutting machine used to cut steel and hard stone. The water was not a part of cooling the cutting blades, they were the cutting blades.  Focused high pressure water used to slice through thick pieces of hardened steel and marble.

The cutting force of the water is a result of the tiny size of the orifice through which it is pushed.

And so it is the same with us and our goals, focused activity aimed at a single object, has the power to cut through the objections of our clients, the criticism of our well meaning friends & relatives, the negative self talk, the baggage of our past, the false claims of competition, the pull of the refrigerator, the excuses we tell ourselves and the rationalizations we entertain.

Just like a sharp knife whose weighted handle and long blade give power to the finely honed edge, our clearly defined goals can slice through the things that have held us back  and take us to the top of the hill, where the tipping point occurs and success is ours!

“So it’s just water huh?” said the fool, as he moved his finger across the stream coming out of the machine. He quickly learned the lesson of focused energy as he grabbed the severed end of his finger tip. Whether it is the slow moving river that cut the Grand Canyon or the laser of water that cuts steel Your well defined goals, if they come from your heart, give you the YES you need to move mountains.

In a world filled with so many choices and options it becomes proportionately more difficult to clarify our wants dreams and desires.

As it is now not only acceptable but expected that a woman would have a career outside of the home, those choosing the position of full time mothers are looked upon oddly. And still the woman who drops her child off at a day care provider on her way to the office often struggles between her desire for success in the marketplace and her maternal instincts. The same can be said of fathers who have come to cherish their role in the nurturing process.

These difficult choices extend to seemingly less important areas of life while creating decision making dilemmas everywhere we turn. What to order in a restaurant, which toothpaste to use, where to go on vacation, which television channel to watch, whose opinion to believe, what do I want to be when I grow up?????

H ow is one to plan a strategy for life when the choices are so numerous and our ability and willingness to make decisions are exhausted and drained by the simple act of going through the day?

Getting from point A to point B is the overall purpose.

Point A is where things are at today.

(Things = income, emotions & feelings, workload, time constraints, personal and family situations)

Point B is the clear vision of the life you want to create for yourself within the framework of family, career and personal dreams wants and desires.

We must not let the burden of or the reality of Point A to hinder the development of the vision of Point B. In other words, don’t let the muck of everyday life clog the gears of your mind in developing a clear vision of where you want to be in the future nor the creative flow required to plan the course to get there.

In addition to muck is fear. Let’s recognize it and face it. Fear will often back down when faced head on.

Fear of: Family reactions

Income disruptions

Failure

Disappointment

Client reaction

Employee reaction

Personal discomfort

On one end of the scale is fear. Balanced on the opposite end of the scale is the muck of life today. True – along with the muck are all the benefits and accolades that come from providing a good life and living to yourself and your family. But it feels like muck, the continuing demands that grow each day that become toxic. Muck has the tendency to grow and spread and infect and suck you in further.

Clarifying Point B and making it so big & bright & colorful & attractive is step one

Now climb out of the muck by facing the fears

A good friend has always had the dream of raising dogs. Whether he would do this as a full time endeavor or a hobby isn’t clear, but the experience of being involved on a daily basis with the birthing and nurturing of quality dogs has always intrigued him - for years. With a full time career and an above average income this family man with home and cars and yard work and marriage doesn’t have much time for his family dog, let alone a whole pack of young pups.

But life is meant for living and enjoying and experiencing. If my friend finds himself one day, at age 60 or 65 or 70 and still has not tried his hand at dog raising there is a very great chance that he will look back with regret and remorse.

Tom was trained as a carpenter, and he was good at it. Ran his own show and was never lacking for work as word of mouth always brought new customers. He enjoyed the freedom of being his own boss and doing work that he loved. A look into the future gave Tom a reality check that his chosen profession was not the best choice for his future career. First there was the physical side. What his young 20 something body could handle his 30 something body was starting to feel. Then the freedom. Every day he took off from work was a day without pay. He recognized and accepted his lack of desire and ability to manage employees, he just did not fit into his paradigm of enjoyable work.

So —– in his early 30’s he made a switch, learned finance, followed his love of cars and now, in his 50s he is well established as the finance manager of a successful auto dealer, a career from which can retire or work for many more years. He has found time for many of his hobbies and his growing family.

John was not so visionary in his profession. A well respected and skilled painter and wall paper installer, John hired employees on a regular basis but his skill and speed at paper hanging always called for hands on work. His solid income, good reputation and enjoyment of his work caused him to never stop and consider the future. After his second knee operation and constant neck pain from the demands of the job he realized he could no longer continue his chosen profession.

Waiting until his 50’s when his body was giving out made his transition much more difficult. The need to return to school was not easy and the course work was incredibly difficult.

A strategy to prepare for the future which recognizes a person’s desires, dreams and physical realities becomes the plan to assure a fulfilled life of satisfaction and happiness rather than regret and remorse.

Over the years I have been given the opportunity to work with many different populations of people. This has been both an education and an honor. I realize from time to time how fortunate this has been to connect with people from a variety of backgrounds and cultures.

‘Variety’ is a way of saying from the full strata of economics, race, culture, education, intelligence, common sense, sense of humor, contentment, family background, criminal records, haves and have nots. These experiences and meetings have come about through managing a non-profit organization and owning a staffing business.

Currently my family is hosting a young engineering student from Spain who is in America for two months to improve his English. His curiosity led me to share that we have hosted five French students and 2 ladies from Korea prior to himself. We are also supporting a young girl in Nicaragua through World Vision and previously supported a girl in Thailand for over 15 years.

But I transgress

My point is that this exposure has shown me the importance of financial and physical fitness as the firm foundation of success in other areas of life. This goes deeper than saying that a person has to have money and be in good health.

Having money is different than managing money. I know many people who have the uncanny ability to make money. Far larger sums have flowed through their hands over the years than most average folks, but there is little to show for it. This is not to say that the accumulation of material possessions is a sign of wealth, nor large bank balances.

He &/or she who controls money, rather than be controlled by money has developed other traits and skills. Sound money management requires and develops wisdom, a sense of right and wrong, an empirical knowledge and gut feeling. Wisdom comes from above.

Sound money management develops a sense of priorities. It teaches patience as we make one choice over another, unaffected by Wall Street, Madison Avenue, advertising and peer pressure. It maintains control through learning wise decision making.

Wisdom, a sense of Priorities, good Decision Making - don’t these traits have an impact on other parts our life? If we lack these skills will this not cause a negative impact?

Physical Fitness on the surface is important as it helps us move around easier, pain free and avoid illness. A person who controls their eating habits and maintains a regular exercise routine has developed other very useful skills and sense of self. Self Discipline is the first and most obvious.

A person who can say no to tempting foods, who wakes up and goes to sleep when the rest of the world is resting and partying has developed discipline over them self for a greater purpose. The byproduct of this discipline is a strong sense of Self Worth, Self Esteem and Self Confidence - traits that bolster all other activities and endeavors in our life.

Financial Fitness leads to

• Wisdom
• Patience
• Sense of Priorities
• Wise Decision Making

Physical Fitness leads to

• Self Discipline
• Self Confidence
• Self Esteem
• Self Worth

For these reasons I focus a portion of the coaching process in these areas, building a solid foundation.

Thoughts?

It may seem true that there are a lot of choices about which supplements to take until you set certain standards, trust certain sources & stop listening to Kevin Trudeau and other television robber barons.

Marketing controls what people think which leads to how they act and ultimately the decisions and purchases they make. For this reason Centrum has become one of the leading vitamins people purchase. And yet this highly publicized multivitamin is lacking in much of what a body needs.

A telling demonstration was seeing what happened when pieces of cut apple were placed into 2 glasses of water. One of the glasses contained a crushed Centrum vitamin and the other contained Mega Anti-Oxidant from USANA.

A quick explanation (more in future postings). Oxidation is rusting. A shovel left in the rain, an apple turning brown, our body’s cells breaking down are all the negative side of oxygen. Fighting oxidation within our bodies is crucial to avoiding illness and aging.

After an few hours in the glasses the apple floating in the Centrum was just as brown as if it had been left on the counter. The USANA protected apple slice was as white as it was when it was first cut. That is true anti-oxidant protection, the same that will occur in your body.

Most vitamin supplements are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. The standards here are the same as regulating a can of peas. If it doesn’t harm you it passes. A higher standard of regulation is Pharmaceutical Grade. Items that are Pharmaceutical Grade show up in the Physicians Desk Reference. Two of the important aspects of being Pharmaceutical Grade is that the pill dissolves completely and is available to be used 100% by the body.

Nurses refer to most vitamin supplements as ‘bedpan bullets’ since they fail to dissolve and show up in bed pans in the same condition they were ingested.

A second aspect of Pharmaceutical Grade is that each lot of the product is the same as the last. In other words there in no range of quality and quantity of the ingredients. It does not vary from month to month. This is not true with most products and even some generic over the counter drugs.

USANA was the first and still one of only a handful of companies which voluntarily submit their products to Pharmaceutical Grading.

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