Business Dreams Consulting

I Know You And I Know That ...

Does this happen to you?  Someone says to you "I know you and I know that ..." and they finish the sentence telling you what they know that you enjoy; what they know that you are good at; what they know...  And you find yourself thinking "you think that I ..."? 

It has happened to me a lot lately. And not once has the person been remotely right about what they 'know' about me. And that has led me to believe that we really don't know people at all; we know a part and we make it into the whole. We are caricatures in each others lives. Perhaps bearing that in mind might be wise?  

Perhaps though, it is also true of our self-knowledge. How often do we examine who we really are now versus who we were? How often do we ask ourselves what we enjoy? How often do we examine our beliefs to see if they serve us? How often do we check to see if our goals suit us, or are they merely things we think we should do?  Can I really say "I Know Me and I Know That ..." and be right?  I know that I am getting closer to that, but I also know that it is a continuous journey.   

NOW!

There is a theme today in the blog world called "The Last Blog Post".  The premise is based on Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture.  So here is what I would say in my last blog post.

People were meant to live in harmony with their purpose.  If we act in ways that are not in harmony with who we really are - we make ourselves unhappy (credit to gaping void for that thought).  We make ourselves deeply unhappy in a way that manifests in bad health, weight issues, addictions, depression, or other things. You know if you aren't living the life you want to live.  And I mean WANT in the deep down way, not the "I wish" way.  So if you are one of the people who knows that you want something different from life, I suggest that now, today, is the perfect place to start. 

I just re-posted something I wrote in 2009 called Two Powerful Questions.  I suggest you ask yourself those questions.  If you don't like the you that you see in five years; then start to live in a way that will give you the result you want to see.  To do that, you need to change what you do each day.  You don't need to do anything grand other than decide what step you are taking tomorrow and then take that step.  And then tomorrow night you need to decide what you will do the next day, and then do it.  When I say "decide" I mean decide.  What are you going to do tomorrow? When are you going to do it? How long will it take? Is it in your calendar? That is how you change.  You don't need to quit your job.  You don't need to win the lottery.  You don't need to wait until ... you just need to do. 

It is time to drop the excuses. Because right now I can hear the excuses.  You have many of them and they are based on what has happened to you in your life.  I suggest to you that whatever has happened in your life: the successes; the failures; the obstacles; every damn thing, has prepared you to live your life of purpose.  You couldn't be more suited to be the you were meant to be, because no one else is you. You have a purpose. Your know that. Start living it. Today. 

The end. The last blog post. 

Two Powerful Questions

This is a blog post that I wrote on another platform - a platform that no longer exists.  So I am slowly re-creating those posts.  This was originally posted on 31/07/2009

Glen Allsopp was the guest blogger on one of my favorite blogs today (http://zenhabits.net/).  His post entitled “Two Questions To Help You Gain Perspective” was brilliant.  You can see the entire post by clicking the link, but I would like to add my thoughts to his two questions.  If you answer these questions honestly, you will learn a lot about your destiny.  "It is in moments of decision that your destiny is shaped". 

 

Question 1: If someone had a video tape of your typical day, what would they see?

And as he says, he is not asking about bad habits or about a silly argument you might have had today, but about what you do on a typical day.  Does your typical day include the activities that will move you toward the life of your dreams?  Are you taking steps each day that will help you achieve your goals?  Do you even have goals for your life?  He also includes one of my favorite quotes. 

“How you choose to live each day is, of course, how you choose to live your life”

And then it gets interesting. 

Question 2: Based on your current actions and behaviours, where would you expect to be in five years?

As he says, this isn’t asking where you would like to be; this is asking you what you are currently doing and then projecting where you would expect to be.  He is not asking you to think about your wishes, he is asking you to assess where your daily activities are taking you.  Really – where are they taking you?  And he included this quote:

“You can’t escape the consequences of your actions” - Steve Pavlina

Or as the Buddha says,

If you want to know your past life, look into your present condition; if you want to know your future life, look at your present actions.  

 

Glen has give us all a brilliantly simple way of assessing our lives.  If your life is perfect in every way, and you have the life of balance of your dreams, then your actions each day are keeping you there, and you probably don’t need to make any adjustments.  For the rest of us – a simple, yet very effective way to see where we are going to be.  And if we don’t like the answer to Question 2; if it isn’t where we want to be in five years; then all we have to do is change what we are doing each day.  Simple … but not easy!!!