What Do You Want to Do?

I have been trying to figure out all day what I wanted this blog to be about today, the first blog in the “A Blog a Day for 30 Days” series. I thought about drudging up some more of “This Army Life,” but I decided to save that for a day that I REALLY don’t have anything to say (Not that this blog is going to be profound by any stretch of the imagination).

Anyway, as you may or may not be aware, I am trying to do more positive things in my life, with the ultimate intention of doing something to help people. I tell people I would like to be a motivational speaker, and the first thing they say is, “Like Tony Robbins!” And while it is true that having half of Mr. Robbins’ successes would make me a millionaire a few times over, his shtick, so to speak, has been done. The next thing that people say is “Motivate me.” Well, my friends, that is not exactly how it works. I’ll be the first person to admit that I have not really done a whole lot in my life that would be considered inspiring. Nor do I have a message (yet) that will necessarily inspire people. And that is okay.

If you take the things that Tony Robbins talks about in his books, and apply them to your life, you may or may not be successful, but at least there is someone telling you that it worked for them and they are all sorts of fancy now. Good for them. But the main thing that people like Mr. Robbins and Jack Canfield say in their books is that in order to be happy and successful, you really need to decide what you want to do in life. If you wait around for the next big thing to happen, whatever it is will pass you by and go to the person actively looking.

Now, I am not a religious person, nor am I very spiritual. But I am a believer in karma to a certain degree: Those people that do good will be rewarded, while those who don’t, won’t. Karma is not 100%, however. Sometimes the good guy never wins, and sometime the bad guy does. That’s life. I am also a firm believer in something that Stephen R. Covey talks about in his book “7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” It is about the sphere of influence, and it is illustrated by two circles, a small circle inside a larger circle. The small circle represents what you can influence, and the larger circle is everyone else. In order to be “effective,” one must only focus on those things that they can influence. It is up to me, and nobody else, to live my life. As Jack Canfield states: “It is nobody’s fault but your own.” If I want to lose weight, I have to eat better. If you want your job to be more fulfilling, make it more fulfilling. Those types of things are what you can control. If you are always worrying about what you cannot control, you will never be IN control. (Wow, I am starting to sound like some sort of guru!)

With all this being said, I return to the title of this blog: What do you want to do? Ask yourself this question, find the answer, and start doing those things that will help you get there, instead of doing things that are counter-productive to that thing.

Check back tomorrow for more words of wisdom!