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Letter From The Editor

Dear Friends,

How many times have you put off planning for something you wanted one or two years down the road, figuring you’ll get to it when your current circumstances pass? Most people think that this is just the way life is. They handle whatever is before them at the moment, brushing aside all thoughts, feelings, and desires in regard to the future. Yet, how can anyone expect to get to the future they want for themselves, their business, and their family if they can’t get present to what they want for the future and committed to making it happen?

Getting committed to your future, a future that you just don’t seem to be able to get to, is all about your reclaiming your right to have a say in how your life turns out! There is no person or circumstance in this world that can keep you from having the future you say you want, except for YOU. So, are you ready to get committed to YOUR future?

First of all you have to give up that you don’t have a say. If you want a life that revolves around your family, relationships, and, just for kicks, let’s add some time for YOU, then you have to give up that your calendar, marketing plan, travel schedule, cash flow, and whatever is consuming you, has control over your life. If you want to grow your business and team in such a way that you can walk away for a time without everything falling apart, you have to give up that everything will fall apart if you do walk away.

Second, you have to get committed and write the plan for your future. It is difficult for some people to even consider writing a plan that creates the future they want given the current still chaotic state of the economy. Yet, doing what you do and continually getting the same result (i.e. more busyness and chaos) eventually puts the doer in a pit that is difficult to get out of. But, imagine this: You get committed to a direction and write the plan for getting there. Do you know what you’ve just created: a light at the end of the tunnel! Having a plan for getting what you say you want, with specific measurable results by-when, is motivating and lightens the current circumstances and stops by helping you see the forest, despite the trees.

Third, you have to ask for help. Without help in the domain of delegation, accountability, and team work, the circumstances of your world will overtake you, again. Let’s face it, even those at the top of their game sometimes fall victim to the do-it-all monster that lurks inside each of us. If you could get to where you are going without the help of a team, you’d be there already! So if there is something you want and you don’t have it… Ask for it!

Best Regards,

Clay S. Nelson

Showing Appreciation to those You Love Most… Now

How many times have you blown off a family gathering (or gone to one with dread)? How many times have you had a bad day at work and then gone off on someone you love? How many times have you made choices that allowed you to drift away from cherished friends or family… only to regret it later? We all have!! So, this isn’t about making anyone wrong, but we can take this opportunity to get present to what is important in our lives NOW… not after it is too late.

Yes, life can be extraordinarily busy and making money to provide for ourselves and our family is important, but who we choose to “be” and how we choose to treat those we care about most, when we do what we do, is even more important. When it gets right down to it, what is important in our lives aren’t things! Money can’t hug us and things can’t serve as a substitute for the care we show others.

So how do we get back to a more simplistic way of thinking, where we don’t filter what others do and we appreciate them for who they are today, rather than tomorrow? We can, and here’s how:

1. Get present to the simple things in life, simple things like hugs from those you love – especially your kids!

2. Openly express your appreciation for those in your life. Don’t assume those you care about know how much you care!

3. Always look for “gold” in every person and circumstance. There are gifts to be gotten from every person in our lives (something to learn or a safe-haven to rest in), and sometimes annoying habits or tiredness gets in our way of being able to see them. So we have to look for the “gold” because it isn’t always obvious, and always ask ourselves, “What is there for me to learn?” and then be appreciative for the lesson, and even the teacher!

4. Keep your perspective. It has been said before, but it is worth repeating: Money can’t hug you, only people can!

5. Always remember that you have a choice! Every single one of us has the choice to complain about the life we have or create a life we love (even if it means simply changing the way we view life, and the way we view and treat the people in it!)

No one is perfect. We all have our faults, and if we could just remember that fact and appreciate people for who they, instead of who we think they should be, there would be a lot less unhappy and lonely people existing in this world. And while no one is in a position to tell another person what their purpose on this earth is, it is a pretty safe bet to tell them what their purpose isn't. Our purpose is not to judge and evaluate other people! So, with that in mind let’s start with outwardly loving and appreciating those we have in our lives… don’t wait for tomorrow… do it now!

Managing Change: Be in Action instead of Reaction

Change is everywhere, and we don’t even have to be doing anything in our own lives to have the change around us affect our lives too! For example:

• Our planet is changing! A Canadian astronaut who very recently rocketed into space commented that since his last trip into orbit, the polar ice caps have gotten smaller.

• Healthcare reform is being bantered about in Congress, and when a bill does get passed, it will affect us all!

• The change occurring in state and local government funding as a result of budget deficits -- affecting the condition of our roads, funding for non-profit service agencies, hospital services, childcare, access to funds for higher education, etc.

This list could go on and on. So, if you think you are insulted from the effects of change think again! Sure, it would be much simpler to live in our own little cocoon, but if you want to have the life you say you want to have, you’ve got to be in action… not reaction… to the change around you! Meaning you can’t live life hiding under your covers. You’ve got to be out in the world dancing with what the world gives throws at you! How do you do that?

First, stay present to the fact that you are the only person who has a say in how your life turns out. You have a choice in life. You can either choose to complain about what life throws at you or create a life you love with what the world hands you. What do you choose? The power of choice is yours!

Second, the choice to be a master of change or a victim of it is yours! Choose to be in action instead of reaction. Make a commitment to be outrageous and unstoppable, and remember, the only thing in the world that you can control is who YOU choose to be in the face of change.

Third, be aware that those around you aren’t necessary quick to change either. So when you are moving forward and others are stopped cold, you must have patience and understanding and lead by example. Leadership is needed most when it is missing. So, step up and show others how to get into action; conquer their own fears and worries, instead of being stopped by them!

Fourth, don’t underestimate the emotional component of change for either yourself or others; be present to the feelings that change brings out in you and those around you. Get those around you to open up and communicate what they are feeling, and you need to do the same. Deal with your feelings; burying them will only serve to stop you!

Fifth, give up “I know." Change is challenging to deal with because it usually means doing things in a way we haven’t done before. In other words, we don’t know what is ahead, and to move forward successfully, we have to give up “knowing” and instead, get committed to what we want, look for what we don’t know and move ahead accordingly!

Sixth, have a written plan! Know what you want and where you want to be and by-when, and when change comes knocking on your door, don’t chuck your plan out the window. Instead adjust your plan (in writing) where necessary and keep marching forward!

Seventh, communicate with those around you. When you are inside of change in your own life, it is not only difficult for you but for everyone around you! So don’t isolate yourself. Instead, communicate what is going on with those around you -- allow them to help you where they can! If what you want to accomplish could be done by yourself, you would have already accomplished it. Plus when you ask people for their help, you get people involved and in action too!

Finally, instead of fearing change view change as an opportunity! Yes, change can be challenging, but as they say, “When one door closes, another one opens!” There is always opportunity for learning and growing inside of every situation we are faced with, but we often have to look for those opportunities and be open to receiving them. Even the slightest changes can open up a huge space for something new to occur… something better.

Think about change this way: You are looking through a kaleidoscope. You first see a set pattern, but with the tiniest twist to the right or left, the entire picture changes before you and results in a new, surprising design.

Change is the only constant you can truly rely on, and you have to be able to manage it in order to make opportunity of it! As John F. Kennedy once said:

"Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future."

Change is a dance you do in life, and each moment in your life, every move you make creates change, and change is something we should all look forward to. After all, it is change that shows us what we don’t know, and it is at that point where learning truly begins!

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