Your Dream Needs More Education

When my brother and I were younger, my grandfather would send us books for our birthday and special occasions. During those early ages we really couldn’t appreciate how important and great those books were.

LearnAs I got older, that love for books grew stronger and stayed with me. By high school, I had read hundred of books. All that reading lead to a love of learning, I really enjoyed school.

If it wasn’t for discovering girls, who knows, I might have been a doctor! These days the education continues, although the method and venue has changed.

We are in a time when we’re blessed with the wealth of knowledge of the entire world in our pockets if you have a smart phone.

Click to Tweet

These days I learn by reading amazing blog posts, listening to incredible podcasts, watching interesting webinars and so on. So many different ways to learn things you probably couldn’t have learned before the information age.

I had the honor of attending two Brendan Burchard events last year and one thing that he said really stood out to me: “An expert is a student first.” Wow, even with as much success as Brendan has experienced, he said he still reads one book a week.

Yes, I did say one book a week, that’s crazy!

If you want to be successful, you have to continue to learn and educate yourself. If you want to chase or make your dream a reality, you have to keep learning more about it.

We don’t know everything

I hate to be the one to break it to you but there are things that you don’t know. More than that, you can learn even more about the things that you do know.

Our dreams just aren’t that simple and if you want to be successful with them, you have to research and learn more about them.

The more you learn, the better you can get at something and reduce your chances for bumps in the road. The learning will help your planning and the planning can be a major factor in success or failure.

Take to heart what Brendan Burchard said and continue to be a life-long student, take advantage of all these amazing (and FREE) ways we have to learn these days.  (more…)

Stop Waiting To Be Picked

I don’t know about you but when I was younger, my favorite game was kickball. We would play kickball for hours and hours and loved every minute of it.

One of the best parts of kickball was when it was time to pick teams. I knew, without a doubt, that I would be one You? of the first two people picked. I was a great player and everyone wanted me to be on their team.

You remember those days don’t you? If you were picked first, life was good and you had all the confidence in the world. If you weren’t as good, you were picked last and your self-esteem was shot!

Fast forward to adult life, sometimes things still work the same way metaphorically, we’re sitting around waiting to get picked.

We think that we’re good at something or have a passion for something but we don’t pursue it because we want someone else to say we’re good to validate it.

Believe in yourself

For as long as I can remember, I wanted to write but I never pursued it, why? I never pursued it because I didn’t think I was good enough and because no one ever told me my writing was good. Does this sound familiar to you?

Jeff Goins has famously said that you’re a writer when you say you’re a writer and he’s absolutely right! If you start a blog or start writing a book, you’re a writer, you don’t need anyone to validate that you are a writing because you’re doing it.

Once you realize that, nothing will be the same. When those haters come out of the woodwork to criticize you, it won’t matter because you’ll believe in yourself and your abilities (it still will sting a little though).

You’ll have confidence in your abilities and it will affect how you go about chasing those dreams. You’ll get up to that metaphorical home plate and kick that ball out of the park.

Pick yourself

When you believe in yourself, you won’t wait to be picked, you won’t wait for permission, you’ll create “art” as Seth Godin would say! (more…)

Getting Over The Shiny New Thing Syndrome

When I first discovered that you could make money online I was blown away. The idea of creating something (book, product, etc) and make money while you’re sleeping was revolutionary.

I immediately started reading blogs, listening to podcasts and buying books that talked about making moneyIs this you? online. I wanted to make money while I slept, I thought this would be my ticket to quitting a job I hated!

In all the new-found excitement I ran into a little problem, I couldn’t figure out where to start and what I should be focused on.

I would read a blog post about ebooks and immediately started writing my ebook, I would hear a podcast about webinar’s and I would drop the writing to work on my first webinar. It was information overload!

You know exactly what I’m talking about, don’t you?

No matter what your dream is, there are a hundred things that can send you running in a hundred different directions. You might even be running down some of those different directions right now.

The problem with having a spilt focus is you never really get anything accomplished. In order for me to make my online business work and support my family, I had to focus on the right things individually.

Multitasking is just a myth

Now, I’m sure there is someone, somewhere who can actually multitask and actually do it well. I just haven’t met them personally and multitasking is something that’s very hard to do.

Some of the greats like Seth Godin, Michael Hyatt, and Dan Miller have all talked about how multitasking doesn’t work and how it’s better to do things one at a time. Besides them, I can vouch for this from my personal experience. You can even read this study

When it comes to your dreams, it’s better to get focus on one step at a time. If you want to open a restaurant, start with step one, which could be coming up with the menu or picking the location, you get the picture. (more…)

One Last Thank You

When you’re younger, there are things that you just don’t understand. When I was younger, my parents were divorced. I was four years old, my little brother was two.

I didn’t know much back then, I just knew my parents weren’t going to be together anymore and we were staying

Grandpa

Grandpa

with my mother.

During those elementary years there was a lot going on, so many new and exciting experiences. As far as my parents, I just didn’t give it much thought. My dad had a rough life, he had some things he had to deal with, so he wasn’t around much and I didn’t really notice.

During all of this my grandfather (dad’s father) and two aunts (dad’s sisters) were around for my brother and I. From time to time my brother and I would go and spend time at my grandfather’s house.

I wish I could go back in time and shake my younger shelf and tell myself how important those times would be to me and my future development.

Sometimes I would get mad at my mom because “there wasn’t much to do there.” I would protest but she was wise and sent us there anyway.

Every time we did go, we had a blast. What my grandfather lacked in toys he made up for in stories. We loved hearing stories from World War 2 and growing up during the depression and everything in between.

For every birthday and special occasion my aunt’s would call and send us a card and my grandfather would send my brother and I a book. Those books were how I developed a love for reading and writing and led to where I am today.

When you’re younger, all you think about is yourself and fun, you don’t think or realize how important some situations are to your life. More than anything I wish I would have told my grandfather thank you.

I wish I would have told him thank you for being there for my brother and I during a difficult and scary transition. Thank you for making the best out of bad situation. Thank you for taking the harder road and being involved in our lives even though our father wasn’t always. Thank you for helping shape us into the men we are today by the example of how he lived his life.

This past Friday night I got the call that my grandfather, who is 87-years-old, was about to have brain surgery. He had fallen and was confused, they rushed him the hospital and when he got there, he started to lose his speech.

They found out that he had a blood clot on the left side of his brain, the side that controls speech and such. He had the surgery and they successfully removed the clots but the doctors told us it’s going to be a marathon.

The doctors say that with his age that it’s going to be harder for him to heal and that he might never be the same. The most heartbreaking part has been seeing someone who has been so strong my entire life hooked up to all the machines that are keeping him alive.

I’ve been praying like crazy for one more chance to just say I love you and thank you. I was too dumb when I was younger to really appreciate the things he did and tell him thank you. Now I can clearly see and desperately want to thank him before it’s too late.

I wish these words could transcend reality and he could hear them in his mind right now but they can’t. I wish I just would have been man enough to say everything that’s been on my heart all these years. We get together and I catch him up on all that I’m doing but I hesitate with digging deeper and talking about the hard stuff.

I have faith and he seems to be getting stronger, so I’m hopefully that I can give him that one last thank you. Please pray with me.

Stop holding it all inside

I’ve said it a lot in the last two years and this week I have really felt it, life is far too short. If you have something that you’ve wanted to say to someone but have held it inside, let it out.

Tell them exactly how you feel, step out of your comfort zone and tell them the things you’re too afraid to admit. We’re not guaranteed anything and you never know how much time you have with someone, so let them know.

Too often we hold back, too often we’re angry or bitter and just let it build up inside. It’s not worth it to hold onto those emotions, they’ll eat you alive. Too often we’re jealous and can’t admit it, I’ve been there.

The sooner you let it all out, the sooner you can move past it and get to a better place. It works the same ways with feelings of gratitude and love.

If you have a “thank you” or an “I love you” that you just have been too shy or scared to say, just get over yourself and say it! Those people need to hear it and you need to get it off your chest.

For this point forward I vow that I won’t hold back anymore, I just can’t. I have faith that my grandfather will get the tubes out and will recognize his family. I have faith that I will be able to tell him thank you and I love you.

Can you think of one person in your life that you have to say something to? Will you have the courage to do it?

Are You Living Your Life On Your Terms?

For the longest time I was stressed about leaving the security of my day job and steady paycheck to the uncertainty of having my dream support my family.

There were a ton of times I was tempted to settle and just stay in my day job even though I knew it was time to picmove on. I was terrified and I didn’t have the courage to admit it to myself.

I was on vacation this past week. I took my wife and kids to a place north of where I live called Wisconsin Dells. It’s a small town that’s filled with nothing but water parks and amusement parks, all kinds of fun 24.7.

I went down the slides and roller coasters with the kids, every time I went down one, they were pulling me to another one. It was awesome!

During breaks though I got some much-needed time to catch up on reading. I’m proud to report to you that over the week, I read six books! I learned so much. I just love books!

Sitting there in the little beach area it just hit me like a ton of bricks, was this what I was so afraid of?

Sitting there it hit me what has truly happened by leaving that day job and a life that wasn’t “truly living,” I’m now living my life on my terms, not the systems.

Now I can’t take credit for that word “systems,” I read it in the Icarus Deception by Seth Godin.

After reading the book and taking a look at what was going on, the meaning became crystal clear. Living your life on your terms can be described in one word: FREEDOM! (more…)

Fighting the Temptation to Settle

During the last seven months of my day job, some crazy thoughts were running through my mind.

I was worried that my online business wouldn’t make enough money to support my family, I was worried that Iimages was leaving “guaranteed” income to go to some crazy sporadic income.

Everyday I rationalized, argued, begged, cried and fought with myself over leaving decent income for uncertainty.

I was coming to the end of a four-year contract and I should have been excited but I was absolutely terrified. It was the end of that contract and the end of a 12 year bread career.

Those last seven months I almost caved plenty of times, I wanted to sign a new contract and continue to work on my dream on the side until I had a super fat nest egg. I told myself it would be the “smart” thing to do.

If I had to sit down and count, there probably were thousands of times when I wanted to settle. Even to this day, after I’ve experienced some success, I still fight the temptation to get a job in something different like marketing.

Do you know what I’m talking about? Have you or are you experiencing the temptation to settle in life?

What’s easy isn’t what’s right

Settling is just plan easier, you don’t have to do all that crazy hard work, who wants to do all that stuff anyway?

It would have been easier to continue to make great income while still working on my dream on the side but if I did that, I would have been fake. I write all the time about the information age and the opportunities that it has created.

I always tell people who there is opportunity all around us to create something that gives us a life of freedom. I couldn’t write and speak those messages if I didn’t truly believe it, I couldn’t tell people to do the things I was afraid to do myself.

While it would have been easier for me, it wouldn’t have been right or the right move for my future and message. I’m also here to tell you that it would be right for you either.

Now, please don’t miss understand what I’m saying, there’s a big difference between settling and not being ready to have your dream fully support you. If your dream isn’t making the same or more income than your day job, please don’t leave yet!

You have to make completely sure your dream is to the point where it can support you and you have an emergency fund just in case. You have to make sure all your ducks are lined up right so that you don’t turn your dream into a nightmare.  (more…)

The World Needs Your Inspiration

Welcome to those visiting from Jeff Goins. Look around, see what we’re all about here.If you like what you see, sign up for updates. Great content twice a week plus a couple of cool gifts: 

Do you ever feel like you’re not really making a difference? We all feel like this at one time or another, it can be a little depressing.

Twice a week I try to give people some hope and inspiration with my posts, sometimes I feel like I hit a home run, Leadother times I feel like no one’s listening.

The other day I was reminded of something that I’ve lost sight of along the way. I was talking to a friend that’s still in the bread world and he was telling me about some upsetting things going on at his company.

We started talking about where he’s at and wants to be and I walked away with a new perspective and was completely inspired. It’s funny how those unexpected conversations can make you see things clearly.

I’m so wrapped up in my world of trying to do this and that, while others are just trying to find their way and make it through some tough situations. While I was talking to my friend, I was shocked when he told me he had bought both of my books and really appreciated the message I was trying to spread. What?

I assumed that he wasn’t in my target audience and wouldn’t bother with what I’m writing but he says it helps and inspires him. If you are reading this then I want you to know that there are people out there that need what you’re doing.

There are people who get hope and inspiration from you and you just don’t realize it. That’s why it’s so important for you to keep chasing your dreams and moving forward.

People are watching, even when you don’t realize it (more…)

I Don’t Know What My Dream Is (Part 2)

If you want to live the life of your dreams, you have to know what that dream is. For years I wanted to make a change, and truly live but I had no clue what that meant.

Even after I thought I had it figured out, it required a little trial and error to get really clear about my dream.What is your dream?

I hear it all the time and I get it, this “live your dream” stuff can be confusing but once you realize the full scope of what this all means, life will never be the same. Seriously!

If you are struggling with what your dream is or struggling with making sure something is really your dream, these posts are here to be a help. If you missed the first post, go back and get up to speed.

It might take some trial and error

When I first decided to take the plunge, I thought my dream was to be an event planner, after trying it out, I realized that wasn’t it. I went on to try a few more things and came up empty.

I pray you don’t have to try 10 things and come up short but if you do, don’t let it frustrate you into quitting. Sometimes things just work out that way but they work out that way for a reason.

As mentioned in the last post, figuring out your dreams starts with figuring out yourself. If you go through some trial and error, it might help you figure out some things about yourself that you didn’t know.

View everything you go through as a learning experience, learn the lesson, deal with what you have to deal with, then move forward!

It’s more complex then you think

So I told you a little about a 19-year-old kid. He had emailed me and said he read one of my blog posts and was inspired to quit his job. After I got done talking him off the ledge, we decided to put our heads together and figure out what his dream was and how to make that a reality.

Even though I had no clue what I was doing, I wanted to help. We talked through what he really wanted to do and figured out some options. He did end up finding work that he loves and is still going strong. (more…)

I Don’t Know What My Dream Is (Part 1)

Three years ago I reached that enough is enough moment and knew I had to change my life. For two weeks I told anyone who would listen that I was changing my life, my dream was to…….

I didn’t really know what my dream was but I knew I wanted to find out what it was and live it. After a couple event plannerof days of thinking, I was watching a reality show about event planners and was immediately intrigued.

They had the clip boards, they had the bluetooth’s, they were bossing everyone around, it looked very appealing to me. So that day on the couch I determined my dream was to be an event planner, yeah!

I got a chance to put this to the test right away because my sister was getting married and she asked me to plan the wedding (I know you’re cringing right now). It took three days into this experience for me to realize being an event planner wasn’t my dream.

No one listened or respected me as the event planner and I had no clue what I was doing. This wasn’t my dream but not because of the failure, it wasn’t my dream because I hadn’t taken the time to figure out what my dream really was.

Fast forward a year and I was convinced my dream was to be an author. I had always loved to write and had an idea for a book, so I wrote the book and self-published it. Finally, my dream was coming together.

You probably have read or heard my story somewhere, so you know the book flopped, only selling five copies in the first three months (three of those were to friends). It took that book flopping and a 19-year-old guy to help me really figure out what my dream is.

While writing is part of that dream, speaking, teaching, coaching and consulting are part of that dream, all of that feeds into my dream:

My dream is to help people stop settling, stop making excuses so that they can live the life of their dreams. So all the things I do are working towards and with that dream. The thing is that it took a while and figuring some things out about myself for me to truly realize my dream. (more…)

Kicking Doubt’s Butt!

I can clearly remember my first trip to go and speak at a conference, wow was I scared! The flight down was pretty cool, I got to tell people who I was a speaker and it felt good. The whole time I was able to ignore all IMG_4542the doubt that I had.

As I got closer to speaking, the doubt intensified, wow! I got up on that stage and saw all those eye’s on me and all the doubts came pouring out, I walked off of the stage. I did end up getting back on and I rocked (in my mind) the speech, it felt incredible afterwards.

Have you been there? Have you tried something only to be paralyzed by doubt? I already know the answer is yes, we all struggle with doubt at one point or another. So what’s the cure? I hate to say it but doubt will always be there in one form or another.

Forms of doubt

Doubt can come in all kinds of forms and recognizing it is one of the keys to making your dreams a reality:

The voices in your head: you know what voice I’m talking about, right? You want to make this change, you want to chase your dreams and that voice lists all the reasons why something won’t work out before you even start. This voice will always be there but you choose whether or not to listen to it, you have the power to tell that voice to shut up! (more…)