Yeah...
I was just doing some thinking over the last few weeks on that subject. With our business we are constantly talking to people and helping them better understand what their current financial situation is, as well as clarifying what their goals are for the future. Then we discuss ways to bridge the gap and help them implement the chosen concepts and strategies to get them to their goals and dreams.
So, figure out where you are right now, decide where you want to be, and use the proper strategies to get you there. Sounds pretty simple right? And it is, as long as things are clearly defined and explained.
Therein lies the challenge.
Many have never taken the time to really define what they want out of life. They have never really thought about the type of person they would like to be, or what financial independance means to them, or who they want around them as friends and what they want to experience or accomplish in their lifetime. Most have only a vague idea of these things, having mostly thought about the kind car or big screen tv they want. This is good, but its only scratching the surface. You have to think about the kind of person or people you will be spending your life with, and what that life will consist of.
When you have a vision for what you want your life to be like, and you've taken the time to clearly define it, that vision is what's going to inspire you to do the things that are uncomfortable or that scare you even, but are necessary to your success.
It's essentially all about the story that you tell yourself.
For instance, I am reading "The Story Factor: inspiration, influence, and persuation through the art of storytelling" by Annette Simmons and embedded into the front cover is this short little story:
A man came upon a construction site where three people were working. He asked the first, what are you doing? and the man answered, I am laying bricks. He asked the second, what are you doing? and the man answered, I am building a wall. He walked up to the third man, who was humming a tune as he worked and asked, what are you doing? and the man stood up and smiled and said, I am building a cathedral.
The story you tell yourself, and the story you tell others, will have an enormous impact on how much you enjoy your life, and how much people enjoy being around you. Even if, superficially, it looks like everyone is doing pretty much the same thing for now. Over time, slight changes in attitude or activity will cause enourmous differences in the life that people live.
Think of it this way: which one of the three bricklayers do you think will go further in life?
Who would YOU rather work with? The first one who simply sees his job as laying bricks and thinking very short-term to the next coffee break or lunch? the second one who is building a wall and can maybe look forward to the weekend or his upcoming summer vacation with the family? Or the third man who sees his work in building a cathedral, who probably imagines the finished cathedral in his mind and can talk to you about it for hours, how people will gather here in large crowds to worship and sing in heavenly voices and how their work will be admired and adored for centuries to come...
All three are doing basically the same work. All three are NOT telling the same story.
To relate it to what I was explaining before, in our line of work, we have to sit down with individuals and families who have all sorts of goals and dreams. For most, the challenge is to bring their dreams to life, so that they feel inspired. Otherwise we can suggest the greatest plan or strategy in the world and they will feel nothing. It will just be a bunch of facts and figures that go into the already inundaded reservoir of information that everyone has in their brains.
Yes, we do need facts...and we need stories to bring those facts to life. Hence the popularity of books, movies, biographies, myths, legends...
Stories don't have to be long or complex either, they can just be a different way to explain things. Like a mother who, instead of telling a child to eat her vegetables, tells her that the nutrition in the vegetables will help her body grow healthy and beautiful. That's the true lesson she wants to get accross anyway, right? Painting a vivid picture for someone is a better way to convey to them the ideas you have in mind.
It's all about the vision that it inspires. The clearer the better.
A good story will inspire a vision that will continue to play itself over and over again in the minds of those who hear it, and help them move more confidently in the direction of their dreams.
What story can you use or develop to inspire yourself?
What stories can you use to help inspire others?
What feeling do you want to convey?
Whoever tells the best stories wins.
CHB
Copyright © Charles Begin
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