The Job Starts Now!

Make no mistake about this. . .
No one will ever see your goals the way you see them. No one will ever have your dreams and no one will ever have the same drive. No one can ever duplicate anything you’ve created. Believe me on this one. Even if something is built similarly, no matter what level the creation might be, still, no one can ever build anything that you have created. No one can do this because of one simple fact. You built this!
This is yours. You created this. No matter what you’ve built, it was built by you and as such, no one can ever recreate this.
Trust me.

Years ago, there was a conversation about an idea of mine. I wanted to create a program that was different from what anyone else was doing. I was tired of shame-based ideas and fear-based thinking, which come with certain personal and transformational changes. I was tired of the focus on symptoms instead of solutions. Symptoms cause us to run from ourselves instead of running towards an answer. Fear and shame are excellent motivators. Pain is too. Pain is an excellent motivator.

So is rejection, regret, blame, fault and guilt. We see this often. We understand what fear and shame is. We understand our faults and flaws more than we recognize our qualities and benefits. Oftentimes, we react instead of act.
And oftentimes, we stall. We stall when we face the moment of truth. We pause. We worry and we wonder.
But why?

Years back, I wanted to create a program with a simplified narrative. I wanted to create this because life is not always as complicated as the mind makes it out to me. I wanted to create a path and set a course to find a personal balance. This way, our level of awareness improves to heighten our level of consciousness. Next, we reach the means to achieve an ultimate state of personal understanding.

I wanted to build both personal and interpersonal programs. I spoke with others about this to gain support. Then a conversation took place about the information I shared.

I was told to be careful because someone will use my idea. I was told that someone might steal my programs and claim it for themselves.
I thought about this.
I thought long and hard. In fact, there was an attempt to use some of my plans. I saw this in someone else’s presentation. I knew this person and I knew where the idea came from. This happened more than once, by the way.
I admit to being angry. In fact, I was more scared than angry. I say it this way because fear is the honest emotion. Anger is the result of fear because I was afraid that someone might take something away from me. I was afraid I might lose my place at the table. I thought I might lose my seat until I realized no one can follow me. No one can duplicate me. I earned the right to sit where I am and the only way I can lose what I have is if I give this away, which I’m not going to do.

The proof is in the pudding.
At least this is what they say, right?

I watched someone steal my ideas with a mild stream of contempt. Then I realized that no matter how successful anyone else is, regardless of how they’ve reached their success, no one has the right to take away my vision. No one can ever duplicate my ideas. Even if someone tries, they fail because no one can ever duplicate me.

This has nothing to do with the reception of my ideas nor does this have anything to do with the different levels of success. I was asked about my opinion about this. I was asked, “Are you mad?” I was asked this after listening to a long rationalization as to why this was “Not” my idea.

Rather than argue, I claimed ownership. I understood that no one can take my ideas. Even if someone swipes the surface and tries to recreate my plans; one thing remains true. My plans are still mine. No one will ever be able to work behind the scenes the way I can. No one will be able to answer the same questions as me about anything I have created.

No one can duplicate what I built and no one shares the same vision as me. No one has the same drive. No one knows what I went through. No one else was there when I was up late at night, only to be back up at 4:00 in the morning, adjusting, building, shaping my models and learning every stitch of my dream. This is mine. And in the long run, no one will ever be able to pull off my trick because this trick belongs to me. Since no one can recreate me then no one can steal or recreate my ideas. Therefore, and put simply, I am always the key ingredient to anything I build.

In my book, “From Zero,” I talk about our navigation through life. I talk about our personal navigation system. Otherwise known as our G.P.S. And no, I do not mean a Global Positioning System.
No, in this case, our G.P.S. is our Goals, Plans and Strategies.
This is the course to our best personal achievements. There are no fears here. There is no irrationality. There are no distractions. There is only “The way.”
There is a mission. There are only the goals I look to achieve, the plans I have to carry this out and a strategy to make this all work. This has to become a statement.
And here’s mine:

There is a word that we use and we use this word often. It’s a pivotal word; it’s a simple one at that. The word is “When.”
When? As in at what time is something going to happen. When? As in under what circumstances will this apply?
“When” means at the time of or in the event of anything that happens to me.
This is when.

Everything we do is circled around the word “When.”
When will we do this or that?
When will I hear about my job?
When will we go here or there?
When will I find out about my position at work (or in life)?
When?
And then there’s that inner voice we hear.
When will it be my turn?
When will I catch a break?
When can I go home?

Or—

When will this get better?
When will this be over?
When will I feel better?
When will I stop having to ask myself these same questions?
When?
Make no mistake. Life changes once we choose to not live in “When” moments anymore.
If our life belongs to us then our life belongs to us.
Therefore, the only “When” moments that matter is the moment that is happening right here and right NOW!

When are you going to change the bad habits you want to get away from?
When are you going to start working out?
When are you going to change your diet?
When are you going to get out of the emotional quicksand?
When are you going to feel better?
When are you going to stop doing the things that make you feel worse?
Or wait, no.
I have one better.
When are we all going to stop contributing to our sickness?
When are you going to live up to your best possible potential?
More importantly, when is it your turn to be happy?
Or satisfied?
When is it your turn to live the life you want to live?
When?
Think about this . . .
Think hard.

Living in “When” moments leaves us waiting.
This leaves us wondering and always wishing we were somewhere else or somebody else.
But—
What if we could get rid of our personal distractions?
What if the fear-based or shame-based ideas were to stop whispering in your ear and we replaced thought with action?
What if your insecurity was suddenly quiet?
Could you imagine that?

What if you weren’t afraid?
More importantly—
What if we were to use our personal G.P.S.?
We could act instead of think.
We could run towards something instead of away from something.
We could be who we want to be instead of wanting to be somebody else.
What if we had a plan and we put it into action?
One by one, we could achieve our goals and celebrate our personal empowerment, which has been self-propelled by us.
Can you imagine that?
What if we gained clarity and found fulfillment?
What would that look like to you?

Make no mistake. Our dreams are only possible if we replace thought with action. Or more to the point, our life begins to move in the directions we choose when we turn our “When” moments into “Now!”

This is “When” becomes “Now.”

Side Note:
Dear Pop,
Not sure if you can make it to the sidelines today. But remember that story you told me about the boy that played football. They’re putting me in the game today. It would sure be nice if I could hear you cheer
(from wherever you are).