A Clear Vision for My Life

Far too many of us settle for less than extraordinary lives. We take a job, one that we're not always excited about, for the paycheck. Instead of finding the right job, the one that will set us on the path toward our dream, we take the first decent opportunity that comes along. Most of the time, it's fear that drives this decision, because we are all afraid of losing out and being poor.

The best way to begin our lives is to decide, in advance, exactly what we want in our lives-who do we want to become as human beings, what type of career do we want to build, where do we want to live, how do we wish to live, etc. I refer to this conscious decision as my vision. My vision is what I strive to create in my lifetime, for me and my family. It consists, in my life, of building large, profitable businesses, an elite level of fitness, a ton of money, a great house or two, and a beautiful Astin Martin like the one Daniel Craig drove in Casino Royale(cliche, I know), and a passion for helping others live extraordinary lives.

A wee bit superficial? Well, the synical might rush to that conclusion. My philosophy is that it's not shallow to want the best things in life. In fact, I believe it's a huge strength. I see and hear people everyday limit themselves, making statements about how they could never have this or how a "guy like me will never have a house like that". Chicken shit attitude if you ask me. Man up. If you want something, get out there and work for it. Plain and simple. I'm getting off track...

What's most important about my vision is not the house,(a 8500 square foot Jim ONeal home in Bloomington, IL), nor the cash...it's who I've become in the process that excites me. I can't remember which personal development guy said this, but I'm sure it was either Jim Rohn or Tony Robbins, but I buy into it as much as any other philosophy I've ever heard....goals are important, but not for what we achieve, but for what we become in the process of achieving them. Or something to that effect.

In order to manifest abundance in one's life, a person must be of a certain quality, which is determined by their beliefs and attitudes. The best example to support this philosophy is our lottery winners. Something like 7 of 10 winners end up filing for bankruptcy within five years of winning the lottery. Having millions of dollars doesn't qualify a person to be wealthy. Fact is, they lack the qualities and character a person needs to have a life of abundance and keep it.

I firmly believe someone could come in and take all of the money and property in the world, put it all into one big pot, and split it up equally over all of the people in the world. My belief is that it would end up back in the same hands within a decade. This statement would anger most poor and lower middle class folk, and rightfully so. But, the reality is...they're poor for a reason.

The vision is the starting point of a life of purpose. When a man lives with purpose, he can become the man he needs to become in order to manifest whatever he wishes to be, do, and have in his lifetime. But, most people do not even have a goal, let alone a vision. So, I thought I'd walk through the process of creating a vision, so that you can see how it's done. Maybe, if you decide you want more, you'll man up(or woman up) and join me in this deal....

This is not an easy task for a lot of people-to decide what we want to be when we grow up. I say this tongue in cheek, but it's a tough one for most of us. I'm thirty five years old and really pretty successful in relative terms. I own a couple of businesses that pay me well. Do I enjoy what I do? Yes. Do I love what I do? Not really. I mean, I enjoy it, for the most part. But, am I jumping out of bed every morning fired up and giddy to start my day? Well, I am now, but I wasn't six months ago.

My interests and loves are fairly limited; therefore, making a career out of any of them is unlikely. Professional golfer...it'd take a miracle and possibly a lobotomy for that to happen. Professional reader? Never heard of that. Golf course owner? Don't have the money to buy land and build one. Plus, I know absolutely nothing about it. You probably get the drift.

But, a year or so ago, I stumbled across a good method for finding my true passion-a way of looking inward to find that possible dream situation for my career/income earning endeavors. Ask yourself this..."if I had 100 million dollars, what would I do with my time?" I made a list. The automatic response for most people I've done this with is "nothing". When they sat back and really projected themselves into that situation, they realized that doing nothing would get old real quick.

My epiphany happened within the first 30 seconds of this introspective exercise. I would like to build huge profitable businesses, get into ridiculous physical shape in the process and live life at the highest levels and write, speak, coach about it...sales and entreprenuership, elite fitness, and living at a peak level. It was crystal clear. But, as quickly as it came to me, the fear came crashing down on my discovery. "YOU aren't qualified to do that. YOU aren't in good enough shape to tell anybody how to be in great shape". I'm sure you all know the drill. Fear of criticism is a powerful motivator, or destroyer in this case.

Although I'm not at the station in these areas I wish to be(I am kicking butt in my businesses but I'm in horrible shape physically), I've learned enough to know how to get there. For seven years, I've poured thousands of hours into books, audio programs, live events that have instilled the necessary philosophies and belief systems to manifest this life, to become the guy I must to fulfill my vision. Now, it's a matter of committing to a system that will create that life, when executed consistently, with passion and enthusiasm.

So, the journey begins. For the next 90 days, I'm setting out on a journey. It's more like a basic training, but not for 18 year old, aggressive young people. It's for 35 year old, pasty fathers and mothers who are sick of living this way, of being fat, and living lives of quiet desperation. The idea is to test our metal, and find out who we are, because 99% of us are never in a situation where we have to.

Here's the deal....90 Days of Discipline...

Philosophy -- To live life at a peak level for the next quarter. We need to immediately project ourselves into the lives we want by considering who we must become in order to have the vision. What would I have to believe about work and business to be the leader of a $100 million dollar business? What would I have to believe about working out to weigh 165 pounds and have less than 8% body fat? What would I have to eat to have this body? What would I need to do on a daily basis to grow my business to X in sales? You get the drift....To "act as if"...as Ben Affleck's character put it in the movie Boiler Room.

Now, consider your current situation. For me, I have to grow my businesses, get into great shape, and write about it in order to be able to teach others. Credibility is key. I must grow the businesses, get ripped physically before I could ever feel good about suggesting I could help someone else do the same. So, here goes...how do I grow the businesses, while getting fit as hell, and writing about it?

So, I look at what really drives the results in my life. In both businesses I have interest in, my main function is on the sales and marketing side. When I'm really rocking and rolling, I'm seeing tons of prospects and clients and really getting the pipeline full. Also, I'm creating leverage with good marketing systems. These are no doubt the two activities that drive 90% of my positive results. This is where I need to focus my efforts. These have become my Simple Disciplines.

We want balance in life and the most important is the health and fitness aspect. What drives the results in this area? Working out, balls out and eating right. Simple. Don't want to complicate this. So, working out balls out and eating clean. Easy.

One other career Simple Discipline would be blogging and writing about this process, since my vision is to run huge businesses and write, teach, coach about the process of doing all of this. So, blogging and writing about living well, getting fit, growing big businesses.

Lastly, we need to place huge emphasis on personal development, since I believe it's helped me a ton. Reading good books, listening to audio programs, attending live seminars, all great stuff to help remove limiting beliefs and patterns and replace them with empowering beliefs. Then, at that point, you can create strategies to create abundance.

What I want to do for the next 90 days is to strip away all of the bs and focus on fundamentals. Every one of us should look inward to find the one or two Simple Disciplines in the big parts of life, and focus all of our effort and heart into them. We are too sped up, we live way too fast. We aren't experiencing the good things in life. We are all rushing from one scheduled item to the next, meanwhile, we're missing the human contact. Our kids are getting part of us, part of our attention. Texting and emailing while our kids are pulling on our sleeves....it's bad, and they deserve better. We deserve better.

So, what are they? What are your Simple Disciplines? Mine are as follows:
1)Reading, listening to CD programs for at least 30 minutes per day(something positive).
2)A good, hard workout in morning(Hour of Power).
3)Visualizing myself living my vision once in morning(Hour of Power), once before bed.
4)Four scheduled sales calls, working on highest value problems for clients and prospects, with at least two fill-in appointments on hand, if I have time.
5)Ten well-placed prospecting calls to target customers.
6)Eating clean, for fuel.
7)Planning session each morning, after H.O.P., getting locked in on my plan for the day.
8)Blogging about these topics...replacement windows, 90 Days to Discipline, Roofing
9)Write my book to my kids.
10)Five hours of building marketing systems for my businesses to create leverage.
11)Three hours in evening of uninterrupted time with my wife and kids, listen intently.
12)Get myself into that "state", in which I'm on fire, moving swiftly with confidence and a kick-ass mindset(please see Tony Robbins programs).

OK, the Hour of Power...this is something I learned from the great TR(Tony Robbins). He teaches a daily ritual, called the Hour Of Power, that's designed to put us into peak state. The time consists of five minutes of gratitude, in which you focus on what's good in your life(instead of everything we don't have). Next, is five minutes of power breathing...I can't remember how to do it, so I skip it. Next, is five minutes of incantations...you repeat aloud statements that affirm what you're trying to become..."every day in every way I'm getting leaner and leaner". I don't do this, honestly, because I'd look like an idiot at the gym. Then, you work out hard for 45 minutes.

I don't wish to disrespect Tony, but I don't follow this thing verbatum. I love the gratitude session, and I use the next 10 minutes to visualize my life as if the vision were real. I project into my life, holding meetings in my boardroom, working out with the body I want, driving the Astin Martin, etc. Then, I work out.

For 90 days, I will execute this plan every single day. These are my core fundamentals, my Simple Disciplines, that will drive the results I'm looking for. This blog is open to anybody who wishes to join in and grab hold of their situation. This strategy will work. I will get out of it what I choose to put into it....like anything else in life.

This is a test. Let's see what we're made of....






Greg Mote