Thursday, May 15, 2014

life & purpose (something to think about this morning before your second cup of coffee)

life & purpose. pretty profound material to digest on a thursday morning, am i right? have you come across anyone in the last year who  truly has a five year plan. i mean pick any number three, four, seventeen, doesn't matter. but a genuine plan. and i'm not necessarily talking business plan but a personal plan. more than likely your answer is a four letter word that starts with "Z" (zero).
Zero to Hero.
lets start with personal plan. this could be in part a bucket list. usually bucket list is the end product or the stated goal. i want to visit Roskidle Denmark before i'm 61 years old. your personal plan then becomes the steps and procedures between now & then to master & accomplish your goal. by way of example i know i will need $10,000 for my trip so in the next four months my sub goal is to save $1,000 and i'm going to do that by selling off everything that my kids have left in my house. [just kidding guys].
other examples could be i want to have my welding ticket in three years or i want to learn to speak fluent spanish in 36 months. a plan best if it is written down. how i'm going to accomplish my goal, and finally execution.
Jamie you're boring us with the speech. i know.
life & purpose. how many of us, have personal goals written done? less than .01%
now let's turn from personal to business. i'm in the shopping centre business. i meet with retailer owners everyday all over Canada. part of my job is to renew leases with existing businesses.
don't ask me why i'm shocked, but i am. when i sit down with small business folks to discuss a renewal i eventually get around to asking them , "where do you see yourself in 5 ,7, 10 years"?
nine out of ten times there is a long pause. i swear to god, by the blank stares on their faces, it is the very first time they have even contemplated the question. many answer, "i don't know". some answer, "doing this ; i guess".
i remember a CEO by the name of Bruce Duncan who spoke passionately about accomplishments. he said something along the lines of, "if your purpose is to wake up, eat breakfast go to work, enjoy your existing hobbies, go to bed (repeat) - then that is absolutely fine. you're permitted to live your life this way".
i suppose 80% of the population which i will call the mainstream lives like this.
i'm a strong advocate of if you really want something in life. perseverance, a good plan, will get you there. start by turning off the TV. TV is a huge time sucking drug. i'm not suggesting to stop watching tv all together, but cut back in half the time you sit in front your bluray. add up the number of hours you watch tv daily, weekly and then convert that to a yearly number.
start with something simple. a smaller goal with a relatively short time span. write it down & post it on your fridge so you see it daily. be true. make it happen.
life & purpose.

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