I've chronicled some of my struggles with the entrepreneur path before, but this post is about the often forgotten beauty of it.
My son is the benefactor here. He was born in the midst of my runnings in the corporate world. He was 4 1/2 when I left. He probably doesn't remember much about the type of man I was in those years of tossing and turning. His reference point of me is during the entrepreneur years. He may have gotten some insight into what running a business looks like. But the following is what I pray he caught:
The applause and opinion of others is really not important.
Perseverance is essential to living.
Love matters more than anything else. Anything else.
Hope springs from going through tough times.
My time and touch do matter.
I can't be certain (at least not now) if he has embraced the above list. But it's what I've modeled over the last 6 years-on purpose and by accident. And as I will certainly face times ahead where I will wonder if this path I've chosen is worth it, I will know he is.
The answer to those two questions will lead to a breakthrough. If a breakthrough is what you want. Some do hide in order to not deal with the pain and struggle associated.
The first step in dealing with intimidation is to face it or whom. Think of it as you closing a chapter for good. You can be certain that intimidation is a block and will always be a block. Forget the fear because fear is a false evidence appearing real. It is a trick to keep you right where you're at.
The first step in dealing with inspiration is finding it or whom and then never letting go.
As I make my way through my 30 Day Breakthrough Plan, I thought I would embrace some more transparency. Here are some things you might not know about me:
I have been a musician for over 30 years
I have had Type I diabetes for over 20 years
I once stated that working for a bank was the ultimate sell-out
I have been married for 20 years
Miles Davis's music was a constant source of finding my muse when writing my first book
I would do what I do for free
I underestimated the impact of my dad's passing-the good and the bad
With all due respect to the Occupy Wall Streetcrowd, you don't want what the one-percent have. Our country is so fixated on material wealth. Ironic, since it's that same type of wealth responsible for our ills (at least the majority). Material wealth is not the problem. Material wealth can be a good thing if you know how to manage it. Sadly, most do not. As the old saying goes, "we have seen the enemy, and the enemy is us."
If we stopped for a moment and took a look at the well-being of the one-percent, we might be shocked at what their true wealth is.
I am not advocating poverty. I don't want any family to do without. But I do want you to be wealthy beyond measure with your relationship with your family. with God, with your physical health, and more.
Last week I had the honor and privilege to take a group of people through the Take Time for Your Life 30 Day Breakthrough Plan. We held the workshop part of the experience at a place called Sparkspace, which I highly recommend in a multitude of ways. The second part of the experience for each person who attended is happening now and onto the achieving of a small goal in the next 30 days.
Without a doubt, I was inspired by the attendees last week. But I've embarked on a 30 day breakthrough plan myself. Somehow this makes the process much richer for me. It moves me as a learner and as a facilitator.
I understand you might not be able to fully grasp what our 30 Day experience looks like if you haven't gone through the program, so see our page on Total Life Management to gain more understanding and learn what others experienced as well.
Now for the vulnerability part:
I have set a 30 day goal is to improve my approach and presentation with prospective clients of Epic Living. I will do this by engaging them with my heart first and my head second. I will measure this by having a trusted advisor/coach attend 2 business engagements with me to observe my presentations. I will also provide examples of heart approaches versus head approaches for that advisor/coach. Doing this will help me achieve my big goal of improving Epic Living's (Me) mission performance in the next 90-180 days.
The importance of me sharing this subject with you is to help me (hopefully you too) find a breakthrough. If you're a subscriber reading this, a person who has attended an event where I was the speaker, a participant in a workshop I facilitated or some other connection, you know my sincerity and heart delivery. My block has been with those who are not currently engaged with me. In those settings I have, mistakenly, led with my head. Translated, I've used old approaches designed to induce credibility and a corporatey persona. In the spirit of giving me a greater chance to speak from the heart. As you can imagine, that way of doing things feels awkward, canned and like I'm wearing another man's coat.
So why did I choose this approach? Fear. Fear of not making the connection, mostly. I won't drone on here because I now proceed to courage and doing someithing about the block. In many ways this is a breakthrough unto itself.
Much discussion in my country right now about wealth and its creation. I'm for the new type of wealth creation. A type of creation that makes you rich beyond your dreams. Sadly, we seem to be fixated on material wealth. As if material wealth could really solve our deepest problems and desires.
You should create wealth in the following areas:
Don't believe the hype from marketers and politicians. Those in the "wealthy one-percent" often have a true wealth index at or below the poverty line. Look at the wheel again and ask yourself what kind of wealth do you really want to create.
From time-to-time I wonder about how present I've been with my kids. As a parent it's so easy to be waited down by the cares and struggles of life. You might call them distractions of the most insidious form. Whether a career moving in an unpredictable fashion or a fractured relationship with a friend. The siege guns roaring at you. They never seem to stop do they? In the end, tt doesn't matter because time just keeps moving and you wonder how you got where you find yourself.
As my kids have gotten older, my parenting approach has changed. In some arenas I'm more of a teacher. In some areas I'm just a father with no words, just listening. When you watch the change in yourself it reminds you of the brevity of this window you have to influence. And though influence never fully goes away, these are the "wonder" years. As things go, my daughter who is almost a teen, received the holiday edition of the American Girl catalog last week. When she arrived home from school that day, I asked her if she wanted the catalog. Part of me knew she would refuse, but another part of me hoped she wouldn't. Of course she did refuse and I stared at the catalog with a bit of melancholy thinking of girl that had merged into someone new.
The someone new requires flexing and change. It really forces me to move to the new, even if I'd prefer the old. This is a good thing. A way in which God uses to get me out of the land meant only for my memories. Isn't that what we're supposed to be? This unfolding story with highs and lows, smiles and tears. And so I go onward.
I have figured out and accepted that I can't slow it all down. No unhealthy levels of nostalgia. A sense that it would be better to learn how to handle riding a fast and unpredictable horse. And as I learn this art, I can love, listen and influence. And for a boy that had a father that didn't say much of anything at all, I'd say that's a pretty good place to be.
What if we awoke to a world where you had no choice but to be authentic? A flood causing your authenticity, or the lack thereof, to be easily detected by those coming in contact with you. This would have scared me to death 10 years ago. Thankfully, not the case now.
I'm struck by how much time can be spent getting back our identity from a world that seems bent on taking and counterfeiting it. Even more tragic are those who never get it back or care to attempt the feat. It's as if there's a daunting figure who scares you into giving up dreaming, giving up taking a chance, giving up the willingness to be laughed at. And then you're convinced to take the position pill of safety and conformity.
The following concert clip is from Peter Gabriel. I don't know if he ever confirmed it, but I've read that the song is about a major shift in our ability to see the authenticity in other people. And instead of me trying to explain in a half way, take a peak at the clip or read the lyrics below the video:
When the night shows the signals grow on radios All the strange things they come and go, as early warnings Stranded starfish have no place to hide still waiting for the swollen Easter tide There's no point in direction we cannot even choose a side.
I took the old track the hollow shoulder, across the waters On the tall cliffs they were getting older, sons and daughters The jaded underworld was riding high Waves of steel hurled metal at the sky and as the nail sunk in the cloud, the rain was warm and soaked the crowd.
Lord, here comes the flood We'll say goodbye to flesh and blood If again the seas are silent in any still alive It'll be those who gave their island to survive Drink up, dreamers, you're running dry.
When the flood calls You have no home, you have no walls In the thunder crash You're a thousand minds, within a flash Don't be afraid to cry at what you see The actors gone, there's only you and me And if we break before the dawn, they'll use up what we used to be.
Lord, here comes the flood We'll say goodbye to flesh and blood If again the seas are silent in any still alive It'll be those who gave their island to survive Drink up, dreamers, you're running dry.
There is no doubt, the only way you're going to have a life worth remembering is getting to (or back to) a place of being "real." For whatever hell you encounter in doing it, worth the effort is an apt response to that crossroads. My prayer and energy goes out to you.
