Does Your Past Define Your Future?

What do you want your life to look like in 5 years? What are the plans you have for yourself and your family? Do you have dreams that you ignore and does your past define your future?

The first time I was asked that question, it really made me stop and think. I had no idea what I wanted my life to look like in 5 years. If you are like me and most of the rest of us, I was too busy building my businesses, with my blinders on, trying to keep my head above water.   How could I fathom where I would be in 1 year, much less 5 years?

What I realized was I had stopped dreaming.

Remember when you were in kindergarten and you thought you could do and be anything you wanted; nothing could stop you? Then you started your career or a family and things didn’t turn out like you hoped.  Then the doubt started creeping in.  Will you succeed in your next project?  Will you achieve the goals you have set for yourself or your company?  Are you really a good parent, giving your child the right advice and direction?   Those self doubts create limiting beliefs that stop you from achieving the greatness you were meant to achieve.

We stop dreaming about who and what we can be and what our future will look like.   After all, we are just trying to do a little better at our tasks at hand each day.

I want to challenge you to make the same shift I did a few years ago.  Step back, take a look at where you are, the great things you have accomplished.  Don’t let what you have done in the past define where you are going.  Your past can only define your future if you live there.

Write down what you want your life to look like in 5 years.  Include your spouse, significant other and/or your children as you begin to dream about what your future will hold.  Don’t be afraid to have some big audacious goals and dreams.

As you design the next five years, be specific, don’t just have a monetary goal. Decide what you want the money to do for you and your family.  Where will your children go to college. Will you have their college tuition completely funded? What kind of cars will you be driving? What will your house look like?  Where will you go on vacations?  Do you want to fund mission trips or donate more to charities that you are passionate about?

This is your dream, so dream big! Your future is yours for the making! Why not you, why not now?

If you want to know more about making dreams come true, get in touch with me today so we can talk. I’d love to help you realize your dream life!

 

The Secret To Creating the Change You Want

 As I continue on my new year of new beginnings in my business as well as my life, I often remind myself that the only way I can change my future is for me to change.

“For things to change, you have to change” ~ Jim Rohn.

I am sure most of you have heard the saying ” What is the definition of insanity? It’s doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the same results”.   Now I don’t think of myself as insane, but sometimes when I am not happy with my results and I look at what I am doing to move my business forward or deepen my relationship with the people I care about, insanity comes to my mind for just a moment.  Sometimes I do keep doing the same thing and expect different results.  That is when I know I have to get out of my own way to change my results.

I reflect upon my actions, look at what I am doing that isn’t creating the results I want and determine  the changes I need to make.  It might be a small shift in activities, it might be a change in attitude about my potential for success at that moment.   Sometimes it is as simple as realizing what I really love and sharing that.  I find the more passionate I am about my business or my personal relationships, the more successful I am.

Be comfortable in your own skin and don’t be afraid to go for what you want.  We all have an obnoxious roommate in our head, get rid of him/her.  Everyone has failures along their journey.  Remember it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey.

Life is an incredible adventure full of challenges. What matters is how we deal with them.  Embrace your failures just like you celebrate your successes.

I wish you a journey full of challenges, growth and successes.  If you succeeded at everything you did, you wouldn’t experience the thrill of achieving what you thought was an impossible task.

Change is Inevitable but Growth is a Choice

“Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.” – Unknown

I was reminded of this quote during two conversations I had this past week; one with a friend and another with a business partner. Both of them have gone through the loss of a parent in the past several months and both are dealing with that life change differently.

In both instances, they began their journey by isolating themselves from their friends, family and those who love them, when they felt overwhelmed by the circumstances. They both are ready to move forward and get back in the game of life. In their own way, each is embracing the change and seeing it as an opportunity to grow and develop personally.

My friend said “I can be angry about the past, or I can choose to forgive. My anger and resentment was only hurting me, no one else was even affected by it. They just went on living their lives, without my attitude impacting them in any way. I choose to no longer isolate myself either. I am ready to get back in the game of life”

My business partner on the other hand didn’t want to burden the people who care about her with the challenges she was facing. She truly thought of her struggles as a burden to others, instead of realizing so many people wanted to be there to help her through her challenges. Starting now, she plans to reach out to people, instead of trying to deal with her struggles by herself.

You see, we have a choice that we can make every time we are faced with a change we weren’t expecting, whether that be a life change such as losing a loved one or a small change like a disappointment or something you had hoped for just didn’t turn out how you intended. How will you choose? Will you choose to grow through adversity and let it wisely direct your next steps?

The choice is yours to make. I wish you growth and wise choices as you continue through your life’s journey.