“Everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was.” – Robert Louis Stevenson
Start with where you are, that’s always a good place. Strong statement that echos Robert Louis Stevenson’s own. You see I had to begin where I was. You can’t start down a road you’re not on. And sometimes where we are is not a pretty place to look at, so we opt for the distraction.
Here’s a bit of my own story on where I started most recently. (some of us entrepreneurial types have started several times if you get my drift)
An excerpt from “Getting Out of Your Own Way!” follows:
I was back in Colorado. The only thing I really had going for me at that time was that I had returned to a place where I would be among champions, people who strive for excellence.
I’ll take a moment here to advise you to take a look at who you hang around with and the effect that they have in your life, because it is profound.
I started a process, a process that involved looking at the previous 12 years of my life. A total and complete review, and I was the reviewer and that the reviewee. The best and most difficult part of playing both sides is that I couldn’t lie to myself. It was face the music or continue in the same way for the next 12 years.
This is the summary -
- I looked at the businesses I was in, the companies, the opportunities, the leadership.
- I look at the economies during that 12 year time frame.
- I looked at the presidential administrations
- I looked at the House and the Senate
- I looked at the countries I had worked in.
- The cultures? Though subcultures?
- I look at the people the customers - members of the sales team.
- I looked at the industries
- I looked at everything that went on in my life during those 12 years from successes and failures, marriage and divorce happiness, sadness, everything.
And then it finally came to me and just about bowled me over. The only constant in the entire 12 years that were under review was me!
Wow! Powerful stuff, after the initial shock wore off. I got excited.
You may be asking yourself how could you get excited about that?
Here’s how - I can’t do anything about the government. I can’t do anything about the economy. I can’t do anything about the Republicans or the Democrats, the environment, wars, and taxation. I’m not in control those variables, but what I do control is one variable that’s the most important and that is me.
I can do something about me. I can change what I do. I can change how I behave. I can change what I think or focus on the got me jazzed, and now it was decision time.
My first decision was to find out what I really wanted. So I began asking myself a series of questions, and I created a vision for myself that I have not lost sight of since
Now that I truly understood that my life was totally in my control. I adopted the philosophy;
“If you shape it in your mind, you Will find it in your life.”
Remember where you are. It’s the best place to start.
David Martin
505.821.0157 direct
info@empowermax.com
