Catch the trade winds in your sails.....

...excerpt from my daily message to the company.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So, throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover." -Mark Twain

 What can you do today that will help your future self tomorrow? Projecting can be powerful when mixed with a little courage and discipline. Too often, we fail to plan, to visualize, to see the future as we want it to be.  Instead we react, move through a day, and repeat.  

For just one moment today, imagine yourself this time next year, you are observing yourself reflecting about the last year. It is November 2021, a couple of weeks from Thanksgiving. You are feeling especially grateful this year and this will be a special Thanksgiving time for you and your family. Now see yourself reflecting back on November 2020 to today November 2021....

1.   You are immensely proud of what you achieved in 12 short months

2.   You know that you stretched yourself and expanded what you believed possible

3.   You have helped others

4.   You have provided for yourself and your family

5.   You have a feeling of internal peace because you know you are following the right path

6.   You have inspired others

7.   Your efforts have created a ripple that positively affects those around you

8.   Your goals for 2022 would have seemed impossible 12 months ago in 2020

9.   You are smiling

10. You are fulfilled and thankful

Now that you visualized that feeling and emotion, back into that day in November 2021.  

What would you need to do today, this week, this month, this quarter, this half of the year to have that feeling next year. What would you need to do? Fill in the pieces that make it so.  

It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy when you add in the details. Break the year into smaller parts and you will see how achievable your perfect year is when you plan and look at days, weeks, months. What you need to do to achieve those big milestones. How you break them down and drive like hell to hit them. This cannot be a moment in time. Think of a year when you won President's Club, that wasn't by mistake. It was by executing an incredibly well thought out plan. It was looking at all of the details, putting yourself in the zone and driving like mad to hit each micro goal that snowballed into an unstoppable force. Most fail to plan, if you see your desired future state, take a week or two and put in the effort to plan. You will be happy with the November 2020 version of yourself when you do - the 2021 "you" will thank the 2020 "you".

The most important aspect is starting the visualization process - to see yourself and to feel the emotion that you would have when you achieve what you set out to do, everything will start to fall into place.   

The key though is discipline to internally review that same visual exercise, daily if possible. 

We all have days where we react based on circumstances, but most of those days could be better controlled if you slow down the game and follow your plan. 

Have faith in yourself, visualize the future self you want to be, internalize the emotion of that feeling of achieving your perfect year, spend time planning, and drive hard to execute your plan!!

And as Mark Twain said "Sail away from safe harbor.....Explore, Dream, Discover!"

Joe

This is a series of articles based on the daily letters that I write to my company (slightly modified - company specifics removed). My hope is to share some positive thoughts that gently push the world toward positive thinking and encourage many to achieve their fullest God-given potential.