Mission Control

Have you created a mission statement?  It's absolutely the first step in achieving the life you've always dreamed of.  What is a mission statement and how do you come up with one?  That's a very good question!

Most people drift along in life, living where  they grew up, doing the job they "fell" into because an opportunity -- or necessity -- arose and sucked them in.  Maybe it's now ten, twenty years later and whatdoyouknow, the force of gravity hasn't let up.  You still find yourself in that same position, perhaps with a raise or two, but generally stuck in the same rut.  You feel life calling you to bigger and better things... you just don't know how to get yourself on the right track.

Having a mission statement is one of the ways you do it.  It's like having a thesis statement in writing: it alerts you and  everyone who knows you what you're all about, what your guiding principles are in life.  It provides the structural support, the rails, the undergirding to keep you in line and on track whatever direction you take, assuring that where you're headed is the direction you want to be traveling.

A true mission statement is derived from your core principles -- it's not something dashed out because you're told to or because it sounds snazzy.  It comes from your deepest and most closely-guarded values -- the things you cherish in your heart and believe in with all of your soul.

If you are wondering why you aren't a millionaire yet (or at least living some crazy lifestyle that sounds too good to be true), it could be that the philosophy you are living out isn't in line yet with what your true principles are.  You need a mission allignment.

Unless you're Warren Buffett, you probably didn't dream of being a millionaire when you were a child: you dreamed of  being a firefighter, a princess, a doctor, a rock god, a superstar athlete.  It was only later, when your material wants grew too big for your income, or your career frustrations started to drive you crazy that you saw money as the means to liberation.  But what you may have forgotten is that Warren Buffet and Bono got rich not doing things they hate, but by doing what they love most in the world.

Warren Buffett is the greatest investor because he adores it, not because he wanted a Gulfstream jet and needed the means to afford one.  If anybody could comfortably retire by now with every toy ever known to mankind, it would be him.  Yet he keeps going, adding 0s at the end of his income statement and laughing, because they ceased to be the measurement of success for him a long time ago, if indeed they ever were.

Sure, it matters whether we can pay off school loans, make our mortgage and put food on the table for our kids, but that doesn't necessarily mean by sacrificing what gives us a sense of fulfillment in our personal life, as if these goals were mutually exclusive.  That's a form of martyrdom -- and perhaps a necessary one where you live -- but it's not the only model out there to live by.

We can do all those things and not sacrifice what we were born for.  That's like saying we have to give up music and art classes and stick only with math because it's good for us.  The motto that says no pain, no gain has gotta go!

But maybe, just maybe, we've got the paradigm all wrong.  Maybe you start to afford life when you begin to do the things you love.  Can that be possible?  If it is, I sure want to find out.

And so, the mission statement.  I find it fitting that this get posted on Super Bowl Sunday, the biggest holiday in the world dedicated so watching teams of men living out their dreams, while we root them on.

But what's your dream?  What will you be doing that I and others like me will be rooting you on some day?

Here's my mission statement: I believe it is possible to sustain oneself financially by doing what you love and care about most in the world.  For me, that's motivating myself and others to go out there and get busy with their core passion!  Everything I've ever known or cared about most in life has related to this.  Leo Buscaglia said: you can't give away what you don't own yourself.  So I'm gettin' busy walking the walk, instead of talking the talk!

While I'm crazy about writing, and travel, and puppies, and rain, and, yes, football... and teaching... the quality they all share is that they come from the heart.  Their statements of my deepest beliefs: that life matters, that time is limited, that a world of adventure is calling and you better go out there and chase your dreams while you still can.

Doing that for a living... and helping others do it too -- that's my mission in life.  That's what I want every moment of every waking day dedicated to achieving.

This blog, and all that will be associated with it, that's where you get to share, to hopefully be inspired to set out after your own dreams, so we can root each other on towards becoming the best human beings that we are capable of being.

Dream on!