February 2010

I ran into a friend of mine yesterday that I hadn’t seen in a few months.

I’d like to tell you that he is so passionate about his work and his mission and his industry that you can feel it when he walks into the room… but I don’t want to understate his fire!

The last time we spoke he was telling me that there was a good chance that he was going to get into an ownership position with the company for which he was working.

That would have been a good move on THEIR part.

However, as things have developed… things, well… really haven’t developed. So now my friend is thinking about what he can do on his own.

And that, I believe, will be a good move on HIS part!

I say this because twenty-something years ago, I was in the exact same spot… hemmed in by many of the same influences (and influencers)… and staring ahead at many years of what would surely become an encyclopedia-sized diary of “what-if’s” and “why-didn’t-I’s”.

And I am SO glad that I didn’t write that book.

I look forward to my friend’s success… and to yours.

Questions:

What book are you writing with your actions and decisions today?

Is there a chapter on Fear? Procrastination? Maybe Anger?

Do you want them to be your final chapters?

Do you want your children to read them? To live them?

What will you change? Will you start today?

Photo Credit:

austinevan

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As many of you know, I am involved in several start-up ventures right now.

One, because I was asked to be… another, because I believe it was a gift that was given to me… and yet another because, well… it just would have been ridiculous not to be.

Yes, some endeavors are just that good… though not everyone sees it the same way.

A friend was recently lamenting his decision to put his dreams on hold for yet another few years, and asked my opinion as to whether he had made the right call or not.

Of course, second guessing is usually a game we play when we aren’t committed to our plan in the first place… though little good tends to come from the exercise.

When I asked what was the main factor in his deciding to wait, he gave the default answer of so many. “I just don’t have the time…” he said. “I don’t know how you do it.”

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I guess one secret of making good use of time is to know what NOT to do with it.

More and more, I tend to look at activities as passions to be embraced, missions to be accomplished, and projects in which to be involved.

Oh yeah… and then there are those things that just seem like AN AWFUL LOT OF WORK.

Interestingly, however, even as my schedule tends to dance around the eighty-hour-a-week mark, I usually feel like I am spending very little time engaged in grinding work.

That’s right.

People, missions, and projects about which I am truly passionate seem very little like hard work… and more and more like just an integral part of, well… anything and everything that’s important in life.

In fact, I’m finding that most of what feels like just a lot of work is stuff that someone else could likely do much better than I, and you know… it’s been fairly easy to move over and just let them do it.

Of course, that leaves us with the problem of just what are we going to do with all of our extra time!! Any ideas?

Questions:

If you were given a blank check at work, and the freedom to spend 12-15 hours a week on any activity (personal or professional) that you choose, how much would you spend and on what activities would you focus?

What are the chances that you are going to get that offer from your company?

If your answer is less than 100%, how are YOU going to free up the time and get the financial resources?

If you’d like to find 12 hours in your schedule AND you have a good purpose (meaning anything legal, I suppose) for how to invest it, send me an email, shoot me a message through the “Contact” or “Help!” forms, or hit me up on my @stevebuelow tab at twitter.com/stevebuelow.

I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Photo Credit:

laurenatclemson

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A few years ago, I received a call from a young gal who was about to graduate high school. It seems she had been accepted to Vanderbilt University and was about to set out on a path to study Veterinary Medicine.

Just one problem… she had no desire to become a Veterinarian.

Huh?

That’s right… yet virtually her entire family was planning a huge Bon Voyage party to launch her into the rest of her life as Doctor Daughter.

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Interestingly enough, the night before she called I had received a message from her mother, who had asked if I’d be willing to speak with her daughter. In fact it was the mom who first informed me that the girl was having second thoughts about her path.

“This is really a problem… everyone’s planning on this.”

Everyone, apparently, except the one who would need to live it.

So how did “everyone” get the idea that this young person was to become a Veterinarian, you ask? Was it a family tradition or legacy? Was her mother or father also a Veterinarian? Was she to follow in the footsteps of a favorite family member or mentor?

Well, no.

She was to become a Veterinarian because twelve years earlier, while petting a kitten, she said she wanted to be a Vet.

Hmm…

I asked the mother if it were possible that the family had built this dream around a false assumption. That at six years old, many children see being a Veterinarian as a sort of fun way to spend LOTS of time petting kittens and puppies… but not necessarily desiring to make a career out of spaying, neutering, or otherwise operating on them.

More importantly, while the family was looking in a different direction, this girl had developed a ton of really outstanding dreams of her own… and a desire to make them real.

I suggested she follow them… and she has.

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So what happens when goals change? And what are the greatest obstacles to making them a reality?

We’ll look at a few of them next time.

Questions:

When is the last time one of your major goals or life purposes changed? What precipitated the change, and what did you do about it? What do you believe are the most difficult challenges to overcome when considering options that affect your career or life path?

I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Photo Credit:

Bruce Berrien

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