This is the introduction to my blog 'Living life with purpose'! I thought I would introduce myself and this blog by giving you a bit of personal background by means of explanation for the blogs purpose and intended focus.
Have you ever felt completely stuck in life? That feeling that there's something inside you wanting to get out, an experience you know you must have or a dream inside you that won't let you be content unless you fulfil it? Chances are that if you're reading this blog, the answer is yes because you're the kind of person that reads content about self development and personal achievement etc. If you are, then you will know that feeling of dissatisfaction with the current state of play in your life and the desire to 'do something more'! With most people there is a dream inside, and with most unfortunately, it is lying dormant. They have told themselves- almost subconsciously and even before they're minds have had a chance to mull over the possibilities of it becoming a reality-that there's no way it could happen! I'm 'this' or I'm 'that', I'm not good enough, I'm not smart enough, it would take too much money to get off the ground, I've got too many responsibilities and therefore I don't have enough time, so I'll shelve it!'
How sad, that we so quickly shelve our dreams. How sad, when we're starting out into the world of higher education or work that our mentors in life don't ask us that all important question: 'what is it that you would really like to do if there were no limitations, nothing to stop you from doing it'? How many of us have had that question asked to us? Not many! Well, I am not prepared to let it lie, and this blog is for the specific purpose of asking you that very question and giving you the inspiration to ask that question of yourself. 'What is it that I would really want to do or accomplish if I had no barriers'!? In my humble opinion, that is exactly what our educators should be asking us. Some of us have been fortunate, we've been clear on our dream all our lives, almost since we were sucking soothers! Some have known since no height that they wanted to be a nurse or a fire-fighter. Other's (like me) drew a complete blank when we were about to leave high school and someone asked us what we wanted to do in life. The truth is though, that we had probably already internally 'shelved' the interest that was inside, deep down because everything and everyone around us had programmed us limit our expectations to a certain level of possibility.
'This is what you do. You get an education, the best one you can achieve, and then you get the best job you can find, and then you work up the ladder, retire and then die'. Well thanks a bunch! That's the full extent of what I should expect in life? Well, I'm here to tell 'you' that is not the full extent of what you should expect in life. I am here to push you and prod you to lift the limits off, to imagine you are standing on top of the highest mountain, looking over the whole world with the blue sky above you and the vastness beneath and dare to ask the question, 'what dream is inside me that I would really love to fulfil?' That dream, my friend is your destiny. Are you going to deny it? Are you going to allow it to stay in that box, out of sight and out of mind, never to see the light of day? If you do, you'll join the ranks of the majority who allow all the mental objections that come their way to stop them, to rob them of who they were made to be. Maybe I need to point out to you the obvious - you only have one life! You won't hear the snap of the directors clapping board when you're near the end and you've lived life with little sense of purpose or true fulfilment! SNAP!! TAKE TWO!! There is no take two, there's no dress rehearsal, no going round the block for a second attempt. This is it. 'You' are it! What you do with this life is going to echo from history and reverberate into eternity. Don't sell yourself short, and don't let anyone else do it either!
Well after that rant, I suppose I should tell you a bit about who is writing this blog. Who is this crazy who's telling me that the current normal is abnormal and that I'm letting my life trickle away down the stream? Ok, I'll tell you a bit about myself. I hope you're not becoming comatose at this point, but if you are-give yourself a shake, this is part two!!
When I was eight years old, my dad enrolled me in piano lessons. I had shown some adeptness on my melodica-I can see the frowns already! It's also called a pianica, blow organ, key harmonica, melodyhorn etc etc.
Someone had bought me one- probably for Christmas - and music seemed to come naturally to me, I seemed to have a natural 'bent' for it. Well, I continued on with piano lessons for a while, well into my teens. One day I said to someone close to me, 'I'd like to play the piano for a recording studio'! The response I got was less than inspiring... 'do you not think you'd need to be very good at that'! I think you can gather the intended inference, 'you obviously couldn't be very good at that, so why bother'. Statements like this can shoot a child down, take the spark from his sparkplug and have the power to cause a child to assign his dreams to an inner folder entitled 'impossible cos I'm not good enough'. Well, for several reasons and partly due to my extremely quiet nature I developed a very low confidence level. It followed me through High school, into further education and out the other end into the world of work. It's embarrassing to talk about, but back then that lack in confidence severely hampered my ability to function, perform and make decisions for myself. I just kinda 'fell into' what other people suggested I should do. Maybe some of you can relate to this. Anyway, I ended up in a sector that I wasn't suited to, just because my best friend went into it (because he was properly good at it) - that of engineering. To be honest, I don't know how much of it was to do with my unsuitability for the type of work or my lack of confidence that seemed to 'shut me down' to a large extent but my performance wasn't stellar! I struggled and tried to gain some momentum. I had heard messages over the years of the need for 'stickability', yea look it up in the dictionary and you'll not find it, cos it's not there! It means to 'stick' at something no matter what. Well, that's what I got from it anyway, and that's what I attempted to do, so I stuck! I stuck at it until I could stick no more- well my body at least couldn't- as I ended up with M.E (or as they say in some parts of the world C.F.S - chronic fatigue syndrome) I was involuntarily plucked out of the world of engineering never to return again and I was out of employment for a period of over four years. I gradually dragged myself up on my proverbial feet and launched back into the world of employment. I went from one job to another, trying this and trying that until I eventually ended up becoming a driving examiner!
Who would have thought?! That's not the answer you expect when you ask the 10 year old, 'well son, what would you like to be when you grow up?' He might as well say 'a gastronomist'! And so I spent the next ten years raising smiles and breaking hearts. And that brings me to this day! I have launched my own company called the Life Abundant Network. It's aim is to inspire people to believe in the possibility of and achieve just that, life in abundance! Encouraging people to lift the limits off and go for gold, to embrace their potential and achieve their dreams, to be what they were made to be; as Tony Robbins puts it, to understand the science of achievement and the art of fulfilment! I'll bring you the best in the business at empowering you to overcome all the negatives and believe in the possibilities, and not only to believe in them but to make them a reality. 'You' were meant for greatness, don't settle for convention!
So, what's it going to be? Are you going to join me on the journey to fulfilment or are you going to allow the naysayers (in your head and elsewhere) to tell you it can't be done?!
Until next time...
Leave a comment below and tell me your thoughts!
Have you ever felt completely stuck in life? That feeling that there's something inside you wanting to get out, an experience you know you must have or a dream inside you that won't let you be content unless you fulfil it? Chances are that if you're reading this blog, the answer is yes because you're the kind of person that reads content about self development and personal achievement etc. If you are, then you will know that feeling of dissatisfaction with the current state of play in your life and the desire to 'do something more'! With most people there is a dream inside, and with most unfortunately, it is lying dormant. They have told themselves- almost subconsciously and even before they're minds have had a chance to mull over the possibilities of it becoming a reality-that there's no way it could happen! I'm 'this' or I'm 'that', I'm not good enough, I'm not smart enough, it would take too much money to get off the ground, I've got too many responsibilities and therefore I don't have enough time, so I'll shelve it!'
How sad, that we so quickly shelve our dreams. How sad, when we're starting out into the world of higher education or work that our mentors in life don't ask us that all important question: 'what is it that you would really like to do if there were no limitations, nothing to stop you from doing it'? How many of us have had that question asked to us? Not many! Well, I am not prepared to let it lie, and this blog is for the specific purpose of asking you that very question and giving you the inspiration to ask that question of yourself. 'What is it that I would really want to do or accomplish if I had no barriers'!? In my humble opinion, that is exactly what our educators should be asking us. Some of us have been fortunate, we've been clear on our dream all our lives, almost since we were sucking soothers! Some have known since no height that they wanted to be a nurse or a fire-fighter. Other's (like me) drew a complete blank when we were about to leave high school and someone asked us what we wanted to do in life. The truth is though, that we had probably already internally 'shelved' the interest that was inside, deep down because everything and everyone around us had programmed us limit our expectations to a certain level of possibility.
'This is what you do. You get an education, the best one you can achieve, and then you get the best job you can find, and then you work up the ladder, retire and then die'. Well thanks a bunch! That's the full extent of what I should expect in life? Well, I'm here to tell 'you' that is not the full extent of what you should expect in life. I am here to push you and prod you to lift the limits off, to imagine you are standing on top of the highest mountain, looking over the whole world with the blue sky above you and the vastness beneath and dare to ask the question, 'what dream is inside me that I would really love to fulfil?' That dream, my friend is your destiny. Are you going to deny it? Are you going to allow it to stay in that box, out of sight and out of mind, never to see the light of day? If you do, you'll join the ranks of the majority who allow all the mental objections that come their way to stop them, to rob them of who they were made to be. Maybe I need to point out to you the obvious - you only have one life! You won't hear the snap of the directors clapping board when you're near the end and you've lived life with little sense of purpose or true fulfilment! SNAP!! TAKE TWO!! There is no take two, there's no dress rehearsal, no going round the block for a second attempt. This is it. 'You' are it! What you do with this life is going to echo from history and reverberate into eternity. Don't sell yourself short, and don't let anyone else do it either!
Well after that rant, I suppose I should tell you a bit about who is writing this blog. Who is this crazy who's telling me that the current normal is abnormal and that I'm letting my life trickle away down the stream? Ok, I'll tell you a bit about myself. I hope you're not becoming comatose at this point, but if you are-give yourself a shake, this is part two!!
When I was eight years old, my dad enrolled me in piano lessons. I had shown some adeptness on my melodica-I can see the frowns already! It's also called a pianica, blow organ, key harmonica, melodyhorn etc etc.
Someone had bought me one- probably for Christmas - and music seemed to come naturally to me, I seemed to have a natural 'bent' for it. Well, I continued on with piano lessons for a while, well into my teens. One day I said to someone close to me, 'I'd like to play the piano for a recording studio'! The response I got was less than inspiring... 'do you not think you'd need to be very good at that'! I think you can gather the intended inference, 'you obviously couldn't be very good at that, so why bother'. Statements like this can shoot a child down, take the spark from his sparkplug and have the power to cause a child to assign his dreams to an inner folder entitled 'impossible cos I'm not good enough'. Well, for several reasons and partly due to my extremely quiet nature I developed a very low confidence level. It followed me through High school, into further education and out the other end into the world of work. It's embarrassing to talk about, but back then that lack in confidence severely hampered my ability to function, perform and make decisions for myself. I just kinda 'fell into' what other people suggested I should do. Maybe some of you can relate to this. Anyway, I ended up in a sector that I wasn't suited to, just because my best friend went into it (because he was properly good at it) - that of engineering. To be honest, I don't know how much of it was to do with my unsuitability for the type of work or my lack of confidence that seemed to 'shut me down' to a large extent but my performance wasn't stellar! I struggled and tried to gain some momentum. I had heard messages over the years of the need for 'stickability', yea look it up in the dictionary and you'll not find it, cos it's not there! It means to 'stick' at something no matter what. Well, that's what I got from it anyway, and that's what I attempted to do, so I stuck! I stuck at it until I could stick no more- well my body at least couldn't- as I ended up with M.E (or as they say in some parts of the world C.F.S - chronic fatigue syndrome) I was involuntarily plucked out of the world of engineering never to return again and I was out of employment for a period of over four years. I gradually dragged myself up on my proverbial feet and launched back into the world of employment. I went from one job to another, trying this and trying that until I eventually ended up becoming a driving examiner!
Who would have thought?! That's not the answer you expect when you ask the 10 year old, 'well son, what would you like to be when you grow up?' He might as well say 'a gastronomist'! And so I spent the next ten years raising smiles and breaking hearts. And that brings me to this day! I have launched my own company called the Life Abundant Network. It's aim is to inspire people to believe in the possibility of and achieve just that, life in abundance! Encouraging people to lift the limits off and go for gold, to embrace their potential and achieve their dreams, to be what they were made to be; as Tony Robbins puts it, to understand the science of achievement and the art of fulfilment! I'll bring you the best in the business at empowering you to overcome all the negatives and believe in the possibilities, and not only to believe in them but to make them a reality. 'You' were meant for greatness, don't settle for convention!
So, what's it going to be? Are you going to join me on the journey to fulfilment or are you going to allow the naysayers (in your head and elsewhere) to tell you it can't be done?!
Until next time...
Leave a comment below and tell me your thoughts!
Well said
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