There Comes a Time to Do It Yourself!

 

There are a lot of things in our lives that started out with us needing help. Eating, bathing, getting dressed, walking, talking, riding a bike, and swinging, among many others.

 

You can pick which ever one "connects" with you in this analogy but, as you can tell from the graphic at the top of this article, I've chosen to use learning to swing on a swing set.

 

You don't remember how it was before but maybe you've seen pictures and/or videos of how it all began. You likely started out in some sort of special "baby swing" so that you didn't fall out of or off of the swing!

 

Your parents - or someone else - would put you in that swing and.....

 

Well, if it were completely up to you using what you knew about swinging then the end of the last sentence would read something like....absolutely nothing happened. You just sat there in your swing.

 

However, more than likely what happened was that someone began to push you in your swing and you begin to move back and forth with no effort of your own.

 

Pretty cool, right?

 

Even better than that was when you got old enough to communicate - even just a little - and you could call out for someone to push you so that you could swing. And they would! "Swing!" or "Push!" and someone would come running to help you swing as you smiled and laughed and enjoyed this swinging with, again, little to no effort on your part.

 

So, what happened?

 

At some point, others began to tire of you needing to be pushed and they began to teach you and show you how, with the movement of your legs and body, you could swing all by yourself anytime that you wanted!

 

It was hard to do at first, do you remember? You couldn't quite get the movement down to get going the way that you wanted but someone kept working with you and showing you how to do it and, before you knew it, YOU WERE SWINGING ALL BY YOURSELF!

 

What freedom! What adventure! No longer were you tied to what others could do or wanted to do - you could do this ALL BY YOURSELF!

 

I remember swinging for hours on end with all kinds of  "adventures" going through my head. I even remember once thinking that I could jump over a low hanging branch right in front of my swing set and.....yes, you got it...I even TRIED to jump over that limb. That didn't turn out well!

 

But did that stop me from swinging again? NO!

 

Did that keep me from enjoying the thrill of swinging as high as I could? NO!

 

Even now, at 54 years of age, if I find a swing in a park I cannot resist sitting in the swing and swinging back and forth.

 

Surely, by now, you've figured out the analogy.

 

When we are trying something new in this journey of reaching our goals and dreams, we need a lot of help at first. We need someone (or a group of people) to teach us, to train us on what to do and how to do it. Aren't you glad these people exist?

 

Perhaps it's just encouragement that you get from blogs like this and podcast like the ones I put out. I'm glad I can be a part of your journey!

 

But, with all of this, there comes a time when you have to step out and step up and do it yourself, FOR yourself!

 

If you refuse to do so you are missing out on the thrill and exhilaration that comes with enjoying the freedom of "doing it" ALL BY YOURSELF!

 

And just think...just like the example of learning how to swing, you will get the opportunity to teach and train someone else to do the same thing and to enjoy the same freedom, thrill and exhilaration that you have experienced and enjoyed.

 

And friend, I don't know that there are many things in life better than that!

 

Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your day. I really mean that.

 

As you continue along your journey, whatever you do, be sure to...

 

 

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

 

Mike

 

 

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A Map of My Journey (so far)

Wow, it just hit me as I was looking at the title of this post.

 

Have YOU ever thought about looking back over your life and imagining what it would look like as a map of where all you've been from a particular "starting point"?

 

Perhaps from your birth or whenever it was that you had goals and ambitions that you wanted to achieve. I don't know, maybe when you graduated High School or college and you had particular and maybe even specific ideas of what you were going to accomplish in your life.

 

Now, this is NOT an exercise in looking back in regret but simply an exercise in taking a look at the journey that we have been on.

 

Most of us probably envisioned this journey as one that was pretty much a straight line from point A to point B.

 

But, looking back, how straight is the path that has been taken so far?

 

That should make you smile!

 

Now, think of this: You're still here, friend. AND, you're still plugging along, right?

 

And, as you consider all of this, you discover that all of these "side-treks" that you have taken and all of the roadblocks all play a part in making you who you are today.

 

Take a few minutes (it's about 12 or 13 minutes which is about twice as long as usual) to listen to the podcast on iTunes or the RSS feed that goes along with this article to hear me talk about my journey along the way.

 

Yeah, I could type it all in here but, to me, there is just something "more" about hearing someone talk about their experiences.

 

What I talk about is not only jobs that I have had that were not what I had planned to be doing, but also all of the different "opportunities" or "home based business" ideas that I have tried with various levels of success over the past 25 or so years.

 

Just take a look at this: water purifiers, some kind of fiber cookies, buying "knick knack" items at wholesale and selling them for retail at flea markets, etc., some sort of electric gadget for business to use to save them money on their electric bill, business ads on maps,

opening a store selling badges and buttons that had cute little sayings and/or pictures on them, working at two different car dealerships, working as a sales rep at a chemical cleaner company, working at a lumber yard supply company as well as a grocery store, selling vacuum cleaners door to door  and a paper route.

 

Yeah. And all of that was in one town over the course of about five or six years.

 

I'm not going to type the rest of it here but let me tell you, this was just one place that I lived and tried different things and there are about six others. Listen to the podcast...LISTEN TO THE PODCAST so you can hear all of the rest.

 

Why am I sharing all of this? Because I want you to understand that I have "been there, done that"....literally.

 

But I have never given up and I will NEVER give up!

 

Oh, I've been close. There have been some very dark and depressing times through all of that but, friend, I'm still moving forward.

 

I've gotten more focused over time and more determined and, now, I feel that I have finally connected with the right company to take me - finally - where I plan to be.

 

Side note: You can find the website on this in the last blog post that I put up. Not trying to sell you anything or persuade you to do anything. I'm simply sharing information that may be just what you - or someone you know - are looking for.

 

I feel like it's similar to the lyrics in the chorus from a song I've many times over my lifetime:

I've been everywhere, man.
I've been everywhere, man.
Crossed the desert's bare, man.
I've breathed the mountain air, man.
Of travel I've had my share, man.
I've been everywhere.

 

 

 And I'm still going and going and going like that big rabbit on the television commercials.

 

Stay focused and committed to where you want to go and do NOT allow anyone or anything to stop you!

 

And, yeah, I do think I have a right and the ability to say that to you.

 

I hope you agree and I hope this has encouraged you to keep going.... regardless.

 

And, as you do so, be sure to...

 

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

 

Mike

 

Future You University    "Like" FYU on Facebook!    Podcast on iTunes    Podcast RSS feed

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Mike

Refuse to Turn Back!

 

Hopefully you are familiar with the movie "Vacation" that I have referred to in an earlier article because I'm going to refer to it again! (Not to mention that it's one of my favorite movies!).

 

If not, I'll put together a very short recap of the movie: A family of 4 travels cross country with all kinds of set backs and unplanned "adventures" only to arrive at the theme park that they had planned to enjoy and find that it was temporarily closed.

 

What would YOU do?

 

Seriously, even if you are not familiar with the movie at all, I want you to imagine such a scenario and ask yourself what you'd do. Would you just get back in your car and drive back across the country without even trying to figure out a way to at least see what the problem is with this placed being closed?

 

Now, if you ARE familiar with the movie you may not go to the extent that Clark Griswold went to in the movie but, at the same time, you can likely understand his actions, right?

 

My wife and I did experience a very similar situation a few years back. We had planned to spend several days at a resort and had called about 5 days earlier and got everything set up. When we arrived at the resort the big gate was closed and it, too, had a "we're closed" sign on the gate. Yes, I DID feel like Clark Griswold! Friends, I was not about to just drive away from the gate without talking to someone! There was a box by the gate that would allow me to talk to someone to open the gate and let me in when things were "normal" in this situation.

Anyway, to get to the point, I pushed the button on that box and left messages again and again until someone finally came to the gate to talk to me. I actually left a message that told them that I was NOT going to leave until someone came up to talk to me! And they did.

Bottom line, they had some unforeseen issues arise since I had gotten everything set up that was completely out of their control. I was still not happy and I let them know that someone should have contacted me but, what was I to do?

After being assured that nothing would be charged to my credit card we simply moved on and made alternative plans! But, I was NOT going to go back home just because of that set back!

 

What does this have to do with YOU trying to reach your goals and dreams?

 

EVERYTHING!

 

Refuse to quit  - Refuse to turn back!

 

Regardless of the roadblocks and unplanned "adventures" that will be a challenge - REFUSE TO TURN BACK!

 

Even if the "gate" is closed after your long journey.

 

We'll talk more specifically about that in the next article. Be sure to join me!

 

And, as you go along your day be sure to...

 

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

 

Mike

 

 

Future You University     "Like" FYU on Facebook!     Podcast on iTunes     Podcast RSS feed

Are We There Yet?

You don't have to be the Griswold family traveling cross country to "Wally World" to hear this phrase coming from the back seat of the car... "Are we there yet?"

 

And, the longer the trip the less time between  how often this question is asked.

 

Impatience!

 

But, as we continue using the analogy of taking a trip to the journey that we experience on the way to achieving our goals and dreams, we often find that WE - the adults involved in this thing - are impatient as well.

 

Sometimes we may even begin to think that we need to "check the map" or the GPS to see if, perhaps, we missed a turn somewhere along the way because we think we should BE THERE BY NOW!

 

If you've been following along then you know that one of the things I pointed out is that usually - if not always - it takes us longer to reach our goals than we thought it would.

 

So, remember this simple response (as long as you ARE moving forward and making progress):

 

"Are we there yet?" - - "Not yet, but we ARE a lot closer than we were before!"

 

Indeed!

 

 

And as you continue along your journey, be sure to...

 

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

 

Mike

Future You University     "Like" FYU on Facebook!     Podcast on iTunes     Podcast RSS feed