The Missing Step in Success.

Hello world, how've you been?  It has been a while since I last posted and its time to reconnect. 

In my last post I talked about the secret of success and how to get anything you want.  Who doesn't love to hear a good story about the dreams we have and 'what we are going to be when we grow up.'  As a child I used to sit around with my brothers and sister and we all talked about where we would go, who we would be and where we would live, it was awesome to have the whole world and limitless possibilities at our disposal.  But as we age we are told to stop dreaming and get realistic.  We are told and we begin to believe that there are not limitless possibilities and the whole world isn't accessible to everyone.  We grow, we learn and for a majority of people we learn that there are barriers and obstacle that will block us.  We hear stories about people who have tried to find a better life only to come back discouraged and the dangers that await out there.  But, we also learn about a brave few people who defy all odds and find a new world, something that no one has ever thought of before, something we didn't know existed.  What is the difference?  What allows a select few to beat the odds and discover a new world?   I believe the missing step is action, well with a twist.

I have always enjoyed the stories of pioneers.  Those courageous enough to leave the comforts of what they knew in search of something better but over the last couple of years I have a new found appreciation for these people.  Take Christopher Columbus, as we all know he discovered America (well almost) but I think the missing story is that sometimes failure leads to something unexpected and maybe even better than what we intended in the first place.  He completely failed in his original mission of finding a new route to India and yet he changed the understanding of the world and claimed a lot of land for the queen.  It was precisely his ability to act in a different way and to challenge the conventional wisdom.  He was willing to actually see if the world was flat and if there were edges but what about the untold story which also happens to be the twist necessary for success.  Think about this, Columbus was taking a route never successfully attempted before.  There is no way he could have known the length of the journey and thus the amount of supplies to take.  He had to prepare for the journey with whatever information and past experience he could find.  He didn't just jump on a ship one day without any provisions to see how far they could go; that would have been a recipe for disaster.  I think the real lesson we can learn from Columbus is prepared action.  First, we must learn as much as possible about the journey we are going to take.  Who has attempted similar journeys and what did they learn?  Do we have the knowledge and skill necessary to make the journey a success?  Take the time to prepare and thus give yourself the best chance of success.  In this information age there is no excuse not to access to the information necessary to prepare, the problem is that we have moved from the information age into the 'distraction age'.  If we want to prepare for a new journey we must concentrate on that and not be distracted by everything else.  Longer journeys require more preparation and thus more focus. The preparation is never the fun part, all of the planning, but it is a vital step in the process.   At some point, you have to actually set sail with the understanding that there is no way you could know every possible challenge that will pop up.  It is easy to get stuck at this stage, uncertainty leads to fear and fear leads avoidance.  This is the moment of truth, if you have done your preparation and are ready to leave then you must actually start the journey.  This is the personal philosophy behind our companies mantra, "Get informed. Get Moving. Get Better!' 

I truly believe that the secret of any success that I have had is embodied in this statement.  We must learn and prepare, then take action if we are to improve.  Over the last two years I have completed my Doctorate in Physical Therapy, Served as Chairman of the Board for the Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce, served as Chairman for my local Young Presidents' Organization, worked on developing a community wide wellness program, continued growing my business, coached my son's football team and written my first book ("Life Pioneers").  "Life Pioneers:  The Edge of Possibility" is an autobiography of my life journey to help others map out their life journeys and is available on Amazon.  All of this is to continue my life journey of trying to help others fulfill their personal potential.  I have been preparing for the next journey and now its time to set sail.