Thursday, May 7, 2009

What to expect when you strive for greener pastures?

I was recently talking with my brother about some challenges I was going through and he reminded me of something I said 18 months ago. “Where the grass is greener it probably rains a lot!”

When I said that I was getting ready to leave my well paying corporate job to launch www.mylifelist.org. I was off for greener pastures and I was acknowledging that I would be facing challenges.

Looking back I had no idea how hard it would be to create a new business and the challenges I would be facing! It all came to a head three months ago when it seemed like everything that could go wrong was going wrong. I was running short on cash and the week before the end of the month I was getting chest pains as I waited at the bank to see if I could get another cash advance. The sound a bank machine makes dispensing cash was music to my ears! I even went to the Grocery store and cashed in my coins. $83 Bucks felt like a small fortune.

It was time to make a decision!! Was it worth it to continue or should I just give up my dream and go back to a corporate job?

As I considered what to do next I met John Goddard (www.johngoddard.info) who is considered the world’s greatest goal achiever. John drove 100 Miles just to hear me speak at the Adventurers’ Club. After I gave my talk he came up to me and said he was touched, moved and inspired by my presentation. He then went on to say what I was doing with My Life List™ was very important & necessary work. (This from the man who had a Life List from when he was 15!)

In that instant John’s words of encouragement helped me see the joy again in what I was doing. That night I went home and started to visualize My Life List™ helping thousands of people to accomplish their goals. I began to see that to succeed at anything, whether it be career, health, relationships, finances or education, you've got to see what you want. You absolutely must be able to imagine yourself celebrating the accomplishment of your goal.

I began to see the challenges I was facing as rain that would soon pass. I realized that making mistakes is a part of life and when you see them as temporary they are fixable. Most people visualize and imagine success, but when things don't go right, they quit!

Since that time many positive things have happened as I regained my confidence and continued to take the actions necessary to execute our business plan. I had faced my fears and with the support of others I was again back on track.

I still believe where the grass is greener it will rain a lot but when the rain stops a beautiful rainbow will appear as a reward for weathering the storm.

Who do you know in your life that is working towards achieving their dream? Ask yourself what you can do to help them and offer your support. Believe me the bigger the dream the greater the need for support!!

“Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it's not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won't. It's whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.” – Barack Obama

If you are not a member yet, it's free and easy to join by visiting www.mylifelist.org. CREATE your life list, ACT on your goals and CELEBRATE a story of a significant experience to inspire others!

4 comments:

Charlene said...

I can really relate to this and have been experiencing a similar epiphany myself. Also, when we are in the business of helping other people, it's an incredible asset (maybe even mandatory) to have successfully overcome challenges in our own lives. Great post!

Bill Starr, CEO, My Life List said...

Charlene, You are so right and I really wish we could live in a world without struggle but it is a major part of playing for a big life. Thank you for your note:)

Unknown said...

I know it's easy for me to say, but don't go back to your corporate job! I hate it, and I can only hope to one day have half the guts you had to chuck it all to hell and follow my dreams.

Gabrielle said...

So I sent your post to Marty, and he responded "i guess it's raining alot on our boat right now." It was a funny comment in a kind of sad way. Miss you super Starr