In 1995 I wrote a book titled, Getting the Right Things Right: Personal Strategies for Reinventing the Life You Want. I wrote it for me and my friends. Although things were going really well at the time I knew there was more out there.
AND… I knew that if I didn’t intentionally try to live a great life, it would never happen. So I created a plan for living a great life and somewhat succeeded. A lot of cool things happened. I realized that I had to Do Life and not just sit back and let life “do me!”
But here I am again, 20 years later thinking the same thing.
Meaning, Adventure & Awe
What’s the problem? First, when people get money all they get is money and things; they aren’t guaranteed a happier life; they are still the same mostly screwed up person inside as they were before. I found that many, many people got what they wanted but still lacked what they needed. I knew what I needed. I needed a different kind of life – one full of meaning and adventure and awe.
I Was Built To…
So, a couple of years ago I decided to change. [YES. You can start a new life at 62!!!]
Personally, I found the answer in becoming intentional—or living on purpose. If you read the Right Things Mission [to the right] you know that I believe we must “dare to makes changes” in the ways we think and act and that we MUST “do something that means something” to us!
I discovered that, personally, I have one main purpose in life. Too bad it took nearly 55 years to discover it. But I did discover it. I was built to help people feel better about themselves. That’s it! If I do that my life will have been a success. I encourage, I inspire, and most important, I can offer a simple structure to do just that.
And what’s really cool is that you were built to do something meaningful as well! I’m making it my goal in life to help you find out just what that is. I can help you discover your personal mission, your values, your goals, AND I can help you pull it off. I know because I’ve done with others a lot and I’ve done it with myself. AND you don’t have to wait until you’re 60. Wherever you are, RIGHT NOW, you can create a great life!
Do Life!
You have a fabulous thing working for you that you’re probably not even aware of: You have a choice in what you do in life, you really do. You can either do life intentionally (the way YOU want) or you can sit back and allow life to take over and do you. Does doing life intentionally mean life will stop throwing curve balls, sliders, and change-ups? No way. (Get prepared for tons of baseball analogies. I’m rather into the sport.) I think it is life’s job to make it difficult for you.
So my first question is: Are you living the kind of life you want? If not, I can really help. If so, I can still help make it even better.
To get us started let me define several concepts and phrases I will use quite repetitively in my blogs. The very first thing is Intentionality—we must do life “on purpose.” Like the title of this blog: Do Life: Don’t Let Life Do You. In conclusion, I’d like to offer a few definitions to help you understand the way I think:
- Meaning: Living consistently with the way you were built, or created in a way that helps another person or entity.
- Adventure: Trying new things (especially things you don’t think you can do), visiting new places, making new friends and learning from them all.
- Awe: Simply seeing life with new eyes. For example, I’m in San Antonio, TX right now. I have found beauty in the hotel lobby, in the structure of the 100 year old hotel across the street, in the kindness of the staff, in my room, in watching my son play baseball, and, of course, in the Alamo and the Riverwalk.
- Conscious Choices: Every time you do one thing you always have a choice to do something else. This sounds obvious but few people truly realize it. I believe this is one of the most profound concepts that you can employ. Remember. Life is no dress rehearsal, whatever you do, do it on purpose. Make a conscious choice to do so.
- Change Perspective: I think all of us have a preconceived idea that most of whatever we do, we think we know how it will turn out. And it never does turn out as we thought. Nevertheless we keep on thinking that way. Let’s say you planned a week-end trip and nothing turned out the way you planned. You now have a handful of “conscious choices” you can make: you can choose to continually complain and have a lousy trip (yes, this is a choice), you can adjust your itinerary, or you can simply accept things the way they are and CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE to view the entire event with fresh eyes.
- Opportunity: I love this word. It follows right along with conscious choices, changing perspective and intentionality. Every single day provides dozens of opportunities for you to make choices. Many times you will simply accept a situation as it arises. However, it is easy to forget that you really do have a choice in the matter. I especially love the idea of opportunity when things go wrong or don’t turn out as you planned. This is a chance for you to make a change—an opportunity for an Adventure. It requires that you make a conscious choice to change your perspective and turn your mishap into an opportunity for an Adventure.
I hope you enjoy. Remember every day, do something that means something.
Well enough for now. Look for the next post as we dig deeper into discovering YOUR RIGHT THINGS!
