A New Metaphor

From Wikipedia:

“In cognitive linguistics, conceptual metaphor, or cognitive metaphor, refers to the understanding of one idea, or conceptual domain, in terms of another. An example of this is the understanding of quantity in terms of directionality (e.g. "the prices are rising").”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conceptual_metaphor

The problem is the growing number of things we understand in terms of war.

• “Love is war.”
• Argument as war
• Competition as war
• Business as war

Let’s look at one for a moment, to understand why this is a problem. Argument as war. Arguments are debates; are differences of opinion, to be talked about and, if not worked out, at least used so we can better understand each other. People will often grow angry, but they don’t have to. Now let’s talk about that in terms of war:

• He won the argument.
• I attacked his weak points.
• It gave me time to regroup.

All of a sudden, there is a winner and thus a loser. And I don’t want to be the loser, so I will do anything to win. “By any means necessary” has been popping up way too often recently. So before, there could be two people learning and growing out of this argument. Now there is a loser, and the need to win or beat the person. Take no prisoners, and certainly don’t admit to being wrong or even just learning something.

Love as war is even scarier. “I won her hand.” There was a battle? Who lost? Was it her? “I kept asking her out, and eventually her defenses crumbled.” Conquests. Victories. Truces and makeup sex. I’d die for you. Cupid shoots arrows! Instead of partnership, it becomes a success with treaties and compensation.

In Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman wrote about an attempt to replace our cultural stories. The idea was that if our underlying story was ‘might makes right’ and violence instead of the trickster tales of outsmarting people and making them look foolish (Anansi, Brer Rabbit, Coyote, Loki, etc), the world would get darker and scarier. A place where the strongest and most extreme will win.  And a place where anonymity and the willingness to go a little further than anyone else is a dangerous combination.

And you know, it feels like we’re there. I don’t know if he was describing the world he saw, or if life is imitating art. But I do know that I see more and more examples of the strong or the extreme winning.

• Bullies on Twitter making families feel that they have to go hide for fear of their lives.
• Terrorist groups are growing.
• There have been 28 schools shootings in 2013 in the US!
• Anti-Obama commentary and actual legal action.
• Human trafficking and slavery is still happening.

So what do we do about this? We change our underlying metaphors. Instead of War, we find a more communicative and interdependent story. For me, driving has made a metamorphosis from ‘my lane’, ‘my right of way’ and a competition to ‘how can we all work together to get home safely?” We need to start looking at life, not as a battle but as a complicated dance with many, many partners.

But what do we do if we encounter someone with the War metaphor running strong? We need to have a better metaphor and show him (or her) the benefit of The New Way.

Now, what is that new metaphor?

Emotional Costs

I recently wrote on this article on Get Rich Slowly that "This is the cost of emotion - if you didn’t have that reaction, you could save money." In retrospect, I think that sounded more negative than it should have. In my article last week, Making the Most of Productivity, I put forth that we might want to look at our productivity in financial, emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical areas.

So let's look at the other side: FESMP (an abbreviation of the areas above) costs. As I said, emotion has a cost - in the example, people were willing to give the government an interest-free loan (paying extra taxes for a big refund) because they knew wouldn't manage the money as well. So because of this emotional soft spot (not being able to stay firm in saving that money), they paid in lost interest.

Another example, from the Seven Laws of Money: the author(!!!), a financial planner and author, saved $2,000 by borrowing $2,000 from another bank, putting it in a CD, and paying the loan back. He only lost a little bit, on the spread between the rates, but he's a financial planner, and that's the best he can do??? Emotional cost.

Then I got to thinking about it... People pay for membership in a gym - physical cost. People give money to their church - spiritual cost. People get sick and take days off of work - physical cost. People take holidays to recharge - mental cost. By spending money, we save in other areas, by spending in other areas, we save money. Think of staying late to get extra work done - you make more, but you cost yourself physically and emotionally.

Looking at it now, I can't see an example where 'mind' and 'emotion' aren't being used interchangeably. Should I have two categories or just one?

It would be a good practice to sit back and look at your 'wealth' in each of these areas, and the 'exchange rate' between them. It's interesting that, as we get low in one area, we are often willing to buy it at a premium, and as we get high, we are willing to sell at a discount. Think of the rich man in poor health, and what he'll be willing to spend to be healthy again, or the other extreme - the poor young man willing to work 70 hours a week to make lots of money.

• Where are you wealthy, and where are you poor?
  
• Are you balanced?
  
• If you made a pie chart with these five (four?) areas, what would it look like?

Making the Most of Productivity

This is an extended apology for not writing in almost two weeks.

I have been in a very tight situation financially, and it's making me look very closely at a lot of assumptions I have and things I do. I do believe that everything you do is an outgrowth of what you think you are. When we act in a certain way, it is in accordance with our values - no matter how we act. So by simply sitting back and watching your own actions, you can gain deep insight into your core beliefs. Which will give you the ability to affect those beliefs, automatically affecting change on how you act.

Therefore if I say I value money, but act differently, maybe spending too much, I show that I don't really value money. Action speaks louder than words... Therefore, as we currently are having money difficulties, I see the hint of a belief that interferes with being wealthy. And given my beliefs about money, that will not do.

Thus I have been focusing on the following question:

How much money did I make today?

This has been very powerful, as it forces me to look at each action, and decide what to do based on the return. I have been doing quite a few things that haven't given me the productivity I need to have right now. Thus it is time to change. By asking myself this, or a permutation without the word 'money', I have been able to cut out some things that haven't pushed me forward as much.

Blogging hasn't made me much money yet, so it got pushed back. My jobs - especially online - have been making money, so they got moved forward. Time watching my son has been distracting, so I cut back and made sure the time we spend is more special and personal. I think the quality has gone up in my interactions because of this. I've really appreciated time with the family the last couple days, partially because I've been creating less of it.

Thus the focus has been productivity - financial, emotional, spiritual, mental, or physical. I am working out a system to follow my successes and label my mistakes, like we have dollars for the financial side. See, money is easy. At the end of the day, if you have more than you started with - you are ahead.

What about physical health? What is the 'bottom line'???

Beliefs Can Literally Make Your Day

“You experience what you believe, unless you believe you won’t, in which case you don’t, which means you did.” This is from Harry Palmer of Avatar, who has an "interesting" history. Be that as it may, this is an excellent quote on positive thinking.

The underlying idea is that your beliefs create your reality. Now we have to look at 'reality' a little bit here... To borrow from ACIM, I'm going to use reality as the world we see around us, everything separate, and our eyes trusted; and Reality as a deeper truth of metaphysics - everything interrelated and requiring the perception of our intuition and feelings.

So, at the level of reality, your beliefs affect you, not the world. Even here, your beliefs change your perception of and your reaction to the world. Therefore work on your beliefs changes the world for you. Consider an example - 'I can't pay my bills'. If this is your belief, you miss possible opportunities to get out of debt. If someone presents you with an opportunity, the usual reaction is, "I can't pay my bills, how could I afford that!" Thus it has become self-fulfilling by closing your eyes to any other possibility.

At the level of Reality, we are a part of everything around us. If that is true, then we have a strong influence on the world, similar to the influence you have on getting your sister to turn on the lights for you. You ask, and she (probably) is happy to help out. Thus 'I can't pay my bills' attracts more bills to you; it tells money to stay away as this is what you're calling to. As long as you hold that belief, the world agrees. And as soon as you change that belief, the world agrees.

Which means whatever level you live at, beliefs control your reality. And you control your beliefs! By changing your beliefs, you can change your reality. Now, how do change your beliefs. Well, first you have to be aware of them. You can't change what you don't know about. Once you've found a belief, then you have to decide if it's helpful or harmful, and then decide if you want to lose it. Luckily, by looking at how you feel about your belief, you can see whether you want it or not. Notice how 'I can't pay my bills' makes you feel. How about 'everybody in this town drives crazy!' Or try 'this is a beautiful day, and I'm lucky to be here.'

As the adage goes, nature abhors a vacuum. It's nearly impossible, if not impossible, to drop a belief. It's much easier to overwrite one. That's why Affirmations are so popular. You (or a coach, partner, etc) find some belief that isn't working, turn it around into a positive affirmation, and slowly overwrite your initial belief. You can't believe that you are smart and stupid (for example) at the same time, so one will win out. Which one is up to you.

Your beliefs were given to you by trusted sources: parents, friends, teachers, life experiences. Can you be your own trusted source? Maybe, but it's harder. If your teachers told you that you were stupid, you're going to have to work hard to convince yourself otherwise. But you can. Do things you know you can do; challenge yourself a bit and see that you can do things you thought you couldn't; daily tell yourself how smart you are; have an experience proving you are smart; ask your friends to let you know when they see you do something smart. It'll take a while, and we're good at undermining our own efforts, but with work you'll do it.

Then you'll start to see the world differently - through 'smart' eyes. And you'll find all kinds of opportunities to show everyone how smart you are where you used to only see how stupid you could be. As Paulo Coelho says in his great book The Alchemist, the world wants you to succeed.

More on Personal Marketing...

So I was checking out President Obama's Inauguration Speech on YouTube, and noticed all the hate going back and forth in the comments. Right at the top was this:

moron, or momominnosh, same thing according to Websters

So, my curiosity piqued, I searched Google: nothing. I felt a little nerdy, looking this up, but continued. Nothing when I checked YourDictionary.com or Wikipedia either.

Then I realized what the person quoted was doing - marketing. He wanted to insult the guy, so he puts this up, knowing only a couple nerds are going to double-check him anyway. Momominnosh doesn't mean anything - the only links I found on Google were to this Momominnosh's posts. But since we (mostly) won't question it, the poster could create a connection in our minds of Momominnosh and moron. Who would question it?

So how many times a day does somebody say something that we don't check? How often does some false, misleading, or purposefully malicious thought get into our brain? I remember a lot of little details, and I really don't want 'another way to say moron is _____' in there. I'm glad I checked, as I now don't have that connection.

So how often does some false, misleading, or purposefully malicious thought get into our brain? What can we do about it? How can we go about putting some more positive ideas there?

Taking down the billboards that are the collection of beliefs in my head. I don't want to drive by them any more...

Using Personal Marketing

Lynn Brem posted a very interesting article on Get Rich Slowly, here. I commented, but think there's more to say.

The Questions
This is actually an area (advertising) we really should be looking at closely. Advertisers spend billions of dollars getting to know our brains, how they work, and how to manipulate them. Some areas of concern that every one of us should have are:

1. How much of an impact do 'they' have on us? Do hidden images of Pepsi make us thirsty?
2. What's most effective? When are we at our most suggestible?
3. What personal differences do I have? Will an ad that makes most people hungry make me sad?
4. How can I use this to influence myself?
   

I'm sure #1 has pages of websites already... #2 should have research out there - I'll look for it later. #3 will take individual research by each person. But #4 seems to have some very potent broad applications. People in the self-development arena have been using this for a while. Affirmations, visualization, journaling, and subliminal audio are common enough. But it seems like nothing's changed in the last 30-40 years. What has the latest advertising research shown, and how can we apply that to any aspect of our life?

Two Questions
Which, of course, is two questions. First, where can I find the latest research on advertising and psychology? I'm sure there's some out on the internet. But I also have a feeling that the advertisers would want to keep their 'secret weapons' well, secret. I'm already finding some things like this in Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, in what Dan Ariely calls Behavioral Economics.

The second question is in the application. Take a look around you for a moment. What does your environment do to influence you? Marketers know - this kind of advertising for that kind of show. X word has been shown to elicit 23% more of a reaction than Y word. Positive response. Negative response... Now, look around again. What does the environment you set up set you up for? How could you improve on the 'advertising' you give yourself? You actually have a huge advantage over advertisers - they have to make something that appeals to the majority without upsetting a minority; you only need to impress you.

Some Personal Advertising my family and I have done in the past:

• Put a disgusting picture on the fridge to discourage snacks.
• A family Vision and Mission Statement, to put our goals in front of us daily.
• Affirmations and Visualizations
• Put up awards, for that 'Yes, I Can' moment
• No TV in the house, to take away that easy escape. "Books are more indicative of successful people."
  

I've also talked about morning rituals, to help transition to the next stage. Sit in the car for a moment and think about my intention - getting safely to point B. I get up, drink a glass of water, and try to get some yoga done before checking the stock market. Honor the transition, it's called. But again, I'm just convincing my mind that it should be successful at the task I'm giving it. Advertising.

But what could we do? Knowing ourselves, how could we make a targeted marketing campaign to one? Let's end with some suggestions, and hopefully some more in the comments section.

1. A short commercial, made by you, to you, about whatever you think you need to hear, that loads when you turn on your computer.
2. A journal, or at least a couple entries, detailing some achievement you want, written in the past, on how you got it and how it felt.
3. Does anybody have a theme song? I still run better when I think of the theme to Chariots of Fire.
   

What else?

Selfishly Self-less

Dinosaur Comics is a personal favorite that I visit every day now. Ryan, they creator, is sharp, witty and quite wise. I find this comic particularly interesting…

I find it interesting because I think it is universally true. I don’t really believe in evil, and I think that all people are ‘hard-wired’, if you will, for good. I see it in the people around me, and I feel it myself. Here is one of the studies that show when we help people, it releases chemicals that not only make us feel better, they boost our immune system as well. The same happens for the person being helped, and random strangers that merely witness the act!

What we see as bad, or evil, is merely someone with a different viewpoint than ours. I’m sure most of the villains of our time thought they were doing good… And for some people they probably were…

Why do we open doors for strangers, let passing cars in, or help out someone in need? We are rewarded. That is true with everything we do, and some of the best rewards are positive feelings. I disagree with the comic that this is a bad thing. Everything we do, we do it because we are rewarded at some level. If we weren't rewarded, we wouldn't do it. This is a good thing.

Rewarded
Now that you know this, use it. When you're feeling down, help somebody. Allow people to help you, too. Say 'Thank you', and show appreciation to reinforce the good feelings. If you need someone's help, make sure you do your best to help them help you, and reward them with positive feedback and smiles. And make it a goal to help five people every day...

No News Is Good News - Your Mental Health Is Too Important to Read Bad News

Yahoo’s featured articles this morning when I got online the other day were:
1. Israel Air Strike – Over 200 Dead
2. Hawaii’s Oahu Island Has Massive Blackout
3. 9th Body Found in Shooting

Wow, and I can only imagine what the TV news was like. There was a fourth article about killing, but I can’t find it again. So that’s three articles about killing, and one only about a major inconvenience…

I don’t read any of these articles, of course. My mental health is too important to spend it on reading bad news. I’ll hear enough with headlines and in casual conversation over the day. But I write, and I invest, and I take care of my four-year-old. Why would I want to fill my mind with negative press? I’ve often read in the paper calls for more positive news, but that isn’t going to happen as long as we keep buying, and supporting their doom and gloom.

So I do something about it: no more reading articles online, no more watching the news on TV, no more buying newspapers – until they start writing things I want to read. Frankly, I don’t expect it to happen, so I’m just going to avoid the majority of the news for the foreseeable future.

Trust me, there’s still enough out there. I’ll still be getting most of the news. At least the big national and international, and the newsworthy local content. But I’m not going to fixate on the negative, spend much time on it, or look at it in a way that shows the media that they can make money off of it. Since the majority of their income comes from advertising, and that comes from subscription/hits/ratings, I will stay off their radar. I won’t buy a paper, click through a link, or turn on the news. One less reader, one less person their advertisers will reach…

Given the recent economic news, this is doubly true. Successful investors must be ‘cautiously optimistic’. If I’m not optimistic, why would I invest at all? There must be a positive future out there to be saving for. But overly optimistic leads to overly risky, so a certain level of caution must be kept – no irrational exuberance here! And news, with its drama and sensationalism, is anathema to cautious optimism.

My mental health is too important to read bad news. Instead of expecting the media to be concerned with my intake, I take it upon myself to monitor content. If you feel the same way, take responsibility to manage the amount of negative news you get. You can:
1. Get rid of your TV, or at least don’t watch news.
2. Don’t subscribe to any newspaper that doesn’t feed you the diet of news you want.
3. Get the headlines, but don’t click through links that aren’t for the type of content that stimulates you.

Desire and Discipline – What Motivates You and Gets You Out the Door?

I’m going to start with a story from Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas. He talks about when he decided to take up running again, and how hard it was at first. Often, he’d let the TV or the weather keep him from his run. He wanted to be a runner again, and found he needed to discipline himself very strictly to keep running. He would set goals, and make himself go out daily to reach them. By the end of the summer, he had reached a big goal and was worried that he’d let down without new motivation. But a funny thing happened: he got up the next day, goal-less, and ran anyway…

It seems we have two main motivators: the carrot and the stick; greed and fear; desire and discipline. Call it what you will – you are either led or pushed.

What Mark Douglas talks about is moving from discipline – and pushing himself out the door each day – to desire. He then believed himself to be a runner, so he did what runners do: run. He didn’t need to push himself, so did it more often and with a more positive outlook in the process. In What’s Your Why?, I looked at building a future desire that would pull you forward. Once you know what you want, and you believe you deserve it, things become much easier.

What Motivates You?
So take the time to look at your motivators. Both desire and discipline will get you where you want to go, but one will be much more enjoyable. Let’s imagine two businessmen – one is worried about the economy and his financial security, and the other is excited about his new business idea and the possibilities success will open up to him. Which will make more money? Which would you rather be? Who will get up in the morning, happy to get started on the day? Who will talk about his business more, and find more possible ways of success?

How about you? Where are you?
1. Are you happy to get up each day, or do you have to push yourself?
2. Do your goals or resolutions excite you?
3. Would you like to continue to do what you do if you weren’t paid for it?

What Is Your Desire?
Discipline can be a great way to get started. But your passion, your energy, your creativity – comes from desire and doing what you love. If you’re already there, great. But if not, how can you make the move from ‘doing what you have to’ to ‘loving what you do’? Maybe you’ll have to look for a new circumstance in your life. But maybe you’ll find a way to love what you do, love the process, or just take pride in doing your job well. What is your desire, and how can you harness it?

Book Review - Paradox of Choice

It has been said that sometimes the fastest way to enjoy a book is to not read it. You look at the introduction, the table of contents, maybe read an interesting section or two and move on to your next book…

That’s exactly what I did with Paradox of Choice – Why More Is Less by Barry Schwarz. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an interesting premise. It’s just not really new to me. The book is divided into four parts: When We Choose; How We Choose; Why We Suffer; and What We Can Do. The first three were pretty obvious, and further backed up by comments in the final section. And I had already had the first three sections summed up by reading I’m a Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson and Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas.

Part four confirmed my thoughts about the first three sections – and I do agree that we have too many choices in the US. And it certainly seems logical that it becomes harder to make a decision, leading to analysis paralysis, and then to buyer’s remorse when you hear someone else’s tale. So I didn’t need to be convinced, and What We Can Do was the section that really interested me.

So I was rather disappointed with what I found here. He puts forth 11 steps to lessen or cut out the suffering that too much choice can create, and I found most of them almost as negative as the problem and/or not going far enough. Let me write them in a somewhat less positive light than he did, then again in a more Aware manner afterwards:

1. Make it a rule to ignore most choices out there, as those choice probably aren’t much better than the ones you’ve already looked at. Probably…
2. Don’t limit yourself to the choices presented. Think outside the box if none of the current choices look that good. And they won’t since you’re ignoring most of them…
3. Learn to accept “good enough”.
4. Don’t try new things. Stick to what is “good enough” until enough friends tell you what you’ve been missing.
5. Don’t be willing to admit you could have chosen better.
6. Be grateful for what you have.
7. Don’t regret or relive past decisions. ( But what about, “Those who ignore the past are destined to repeat it.”)
8. Realize that your satisfaction will drop, so be ready for it.
9. Don’t expect too much.
10. Don’t talk to friends about their experiences – you’ll probably feel worse.
11. Learn to love constraints.

Ugh! Now, I worded those in a more negative way than he did, but that’s really his list, paraphrased! Is this really the best we can do? What about ‘Try all we can while we’re young, and learn what we like so we can be more discriminatory later’? Or, as promised, a more conscious, Aware list:

1. When choosing, follow your heart. If one choice seems superior, let that feeling guide you. (Perhaps test this for a while to develop your ability to sense your intuition.)
2. If no choice feels right, look for a deeper reason – either you will have to create your own choice, or you should not choose any!
3. Be satisfied with your choice. Allow it to be the best for you (in terms of value, cost, and time saved from agonizing over choices).
4. Practice an attitude of gratitude in all things – possessions, friends, your environment, etc.
5. Realize your wanting mind will create dissatisfaction. Know that this dissatisfaction exists only in your mind, and will not change based on your possessions.
6. Be delighted in your friends’ fortunes, not jealous. Share in their happiness, and you now have the happy experience without the expense!

To wrap up, the concept and lessons of the book are sound. I would definitely recommend a good skim at least. The book is certainly worthwhile for introducing its concept and putting together a new overall idea. But I have read most of the message before, and I think Barry Schwarz doesn’t go deep enough with his solution.

New Year's Rituals?

Tonight, as a part of our New Year's festivities, we'll be having a bowl-burning ceremony. The idea is to add meaning to this rotation of the sun, which ends this rotation of the earth around the sun. Really, it's just another moment in time. But since we have decided to end the year at the end of this day, it seems like a good time to add more meaning.

Adding Mythic Meaning
So we'll add mythic significance to today with ritual. We'll prepare a bowl with sand, write down any part of the last year that we don't want to carry with us into the next year, and burn it. Let it go up in smoke, and let the feeling go from our minds and bodies. Let go of these things we don't want to carry into the new year...

Then we will write a letter to ourselves / to God, asking and giving intention to what we would like in the upcoming year. We will strengthen in our minds what we want, and give ourselves a written reminder - that will be delivered in six months. Thus we have put it into our mind now, and added a level of accountability or a reminder for ourselves halfway through the year. I might also go into the steps I outlined in my New Year's Resolution post - breaking my plans into quarterly and monthly goals to check in on.

What will others do?
Anybody else out there in Blogland? What are your plans for today? What will you do to make the passing of the year more mythical and significant? If you have a similar idea, how will you enact it? If you have something completely different, what will you do?

Please post a response, and let us know how you will 'bring in the new year'!

What’s Your Why? The Importance of Finding Meaning in Your Life

This is my first post, and first put up at http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2008/12/28/whats-your-why-the-importance-of-finding-meaning-in-your-life/

************************************

You’ve heard the phrase, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” I’ve often wondered about that — should we really settle for half the return just to have a sure thing right now? It could be argued, and convincingly, that our love of immediate gratification is why so many people have so much debt now.

Of course, what are those “two birds”, so elusive off in the bush compared to something concrete in your hand now? How do you know you’ll get them? In other words, as you’re looking at that new LCD HDTV, what is competing for your money in your head? Without a solid goal, a vision of the future, there is no reason not to buy that latest toy with your credit card. What else are you going to use the money for?

The power of Why
This is why each of us needs a convincing ‘Why’. We need to have a vision of the future so compelling that we can see it even more clearly than the new toys in front of us.

My Why is passive income that can support travel. My mantra is: “Financial Freedom is the ability to travel for a year and come back in a better financial situation than when I left.” That means I could travel another year and implies repeatability. It conjures visions of African safaris, Thai beaches, SCUBA diving, and hiking around the UK hand-in-hand with my family.

This knowledge helps to guide my financial choices. I assume that I could earn 12% on invested money. This means that every $100 I invest could bring $12 a year, or $1 a month. When I look at a $700 TV set, I think, “That could be $7 a month for the rest of my life.” I repeat my mantra — remember my Why — and I don’t buy.

Developing a Why
What’s your Why? What compels you to get up and go to work each day, to do things you don’t want to, and to put up with your boss? Everyone needs some motivation to keep on track, and it has to be a strong image. What is yours?

If you can’t close your eyes and see your Why in detail, now is a good time to get clarity. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Where have you been happiest?
• What were you doing?
• When you close your eyes and picture yourself incredibly happy, what do you see?
• What makes you forget yourself for hours on end?
• When do you feel best about yourself and your surroundings?
• What do you talk about excitedly?

Desires can be subtle. Maybe you have fond memories of staying somewhere. But it might actually be the time with friends that made the place special. What aspect really touches you?

Find some quiet time to get clear on what moves you, and then visualize it until you can see this compelling future as clearly as your car. You’ll know this is working when you look at something you thought you needed and instead see your Why.

The next step
This is a demanding, complicated world. It takes a lot of work to get good at something, or to get something you really want. Dave Ramsey says, “Live like no one else, so later you can live like no one else!” Why work hard when you could just watch TV? Why save for some undetermined future when you could watch it on a bigger TV?

Most successful people have spent thousands of hours perfecting what they do. They have a vision of the future and their place in it. Otherwise they wouldn’t have bothered with all the work it took to get there. Yet most successful people would tell you that they loved the process — the challenge, the passion, the fun! They’ve found a vision of the future that compels and excites them, and that’s the difference. That’s why they are where they are.

In fact, that’s why we all are where we are — our previous beliefs and vision of the future. Do what you’ve always done, and you’ll have what you’ve always had. Create a vision that moves you to do things you’ve never done before, and you’ll find yourself in new, wonderful places. Once you have a Why, no matter how unlikely, the How becomes a lot easier and more enjoyable.

What’s your Why? What do you visualize in the morning to get yourself going? What motivates you to do everything you do?

Photo by René Ehrhardt, who has many amazing images on Flickr.