Constructing Your Road

"The road to success is always under construction."

It seems that most of us were not born with a silver spoon in our mouth. That being the case, the vast majority of people you encounter each day have had to work quite hard for what they have accomplished in life. True enough, there certainly seem to be those that only want to hitch a ride on the tailgate of your pickup called life.

In the larger majority though, people are on their journey to some level of success in life. There are those that have huge financial success in life. There are those that achieve great fame in life. There are also those that achieve personal greatness that goes unnoticed. But all people have had to endure the setbacks and circumstances that life has thrown on their path.

As it is said, "the road to success is always under construction" or more aptly put it seems "the road to success is always under repair." Whichever way you wish to look at it, you have the ability to create that path. You get to choose the road and with that choice you have to deal with its condition.

You might be asking yourself how it is you get to choose your own road. We tell ourselves that the road was already there and we were simply dropped into the middle of it. I do believe that we are products of our birth, our upbringing and the circumstances which surround all of that.

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The exciting thing is that we don't have to remain on that road. We grow up and become independent thinkers. The life as a child and young teenager or even young adult are influenced by those life events. But now we have the ability to shape our own lives and to choose the road we follow. We even get to create that road if we wish.

So how do we get on with shaping our own future?

Recently I read a Psychology Today article by Robert Steven Kaplan called Authoring Your Future. In this article he discusses that even though we are shaped and influenced by our life experiences; we also have the ability to influence our future life. Mr. Kaplan provides three critical questions to ask yourself;

1 - Can you accurately assess your strengths and weaknesses? "...we tend to have blind spots. We may not see ourselves accurately. Worse, we may not want to acknowledge and face our weaknesses."

2 - Do you know your passions? "Experience has shown that you will be far more likely to "shine" if you are doing something you enjoy."

3 - Develop a support group. "Do you have relationships with people who care enough about you to tell you the brutal truth."

You know, I would love to tell you that the road construction finally ends. It does in a way but as long as breath exists in your body, you can keep constructing new things for your life. The road you take will have its moments of detours and construction. But there will also be times when the road is newly paved and free of that construction.

Keep finding your own path, keep building the life you wish for, never be weary of the construction, rejoice in the journey.

Stay inspired my friends.

Feeding The Donkeys

"A positive attitude is not going to save you. What it's going to do is, everyday, between now and the day you die, whether that's a short time from now or a long time from now, that every day, you're going to actually live." -Elizabeth Edwards

Every day the push to success grinds on. The bedside alarm loudly clangs at 5:00 AM to awake your short sleep. The shortness of night is rudely interrupted as you pull the covers back and head off to the bathroom.

You get dressed and head down the stairs only to find time slipping away. You tell yourself that preparing the coffee maker ahead of time is a blessing. Quickly you grab a cold bagel, coffee and belongings as the clock ticks 5:40 AM.

The day will be filled with projects, deadlines and circumstance. With each obstacle encountered, you will successfully overcome each and every one. Your success is true and steady while it is done happily. You know your goals and what you want in life. The express train called "Your Life" is speeding down the tracks to a destination.

But how do you keep yourself from being consumed by the enormity of it all? How do you keep some type of grounding with all that exists alongside the tracks you are speeding down?

You stop and feed the donkeys, that is how.

A film maker friend of mine, David Baker (@davidpbaker) has been on a three year push which has sent him on a speeding bullet train towards great things. He is currently in post production on his latest movie called SCREEN.

SCREEN is a horror film shot on location in Tulsa, Oklahoma with another film maker by the name of Oklahoma Ward, (@OklahomaWard) whose own film called CRAWL is in post production. I'd be remiss in not mentioning the talented actress Nicole Alonso.

While each of these people are streaming forward towards success, they each take time to reflect. They slow down enough to stop the blurring landscape and refocus. And to put it in terms of what David does, they take time to "feed the donkeys." Watch David's video to better understand what I'm talking about.

The important thing to remember is that driving yourself to success requires moments of reflection. The journey requires time to slow down and assess and remain grounded with life. Your high-speed train of life will wait for you because it is your train. You get to dictate where the rest areas are and when it is time to "feed the donkeys."

Stay inspired my friends.

Where Are You

"To get to where you want to go, you have to know where you are." -Gordon Moore

The year is starting out fast and furious for many people. The excitement of a new year, new resolutions and new goals. Many people will run off with those lists of dreams and jump in with both feet. Two or three, maybe even four weeks will go by. Frustration will start to creep in as they begin to feel direction-less in their efforts.

The reason many people fall into this failure is that we don't know where we are to begin with. How do you find your way to a place without first knowing your starting point.

As an example, there was a television show back in 2001 called LOST. This was a reality television competition and not the drama series. There was an American and British version in which teams only knew what their final destination was to be.

The US finish line (goal) was the Statue of Liberty in New York City, and Nelson's Column in London served as the finish line in the UK version.

The teams only given a backpack full of clothes and other essentials. to add to the complication, team members did not know each other prior to being paired up in the show. These contestants were blindfolded and dropped off in some unknown place of some unknown country to find their way to the goal.

Can you imagine standing in the middle of some unknown location and having to find your way home? That is exactly what we do with many of our goals and New Year resolutions.

There are many resolutions or goals that people have. Losing weight, getting in shape, travel, money, relationships and so much more. But if we don't know what our starting point is, then our journey to a destination is complicated and frustrating.

Some may want to quit smoking, so they merely stop smoking. What those folks fail to do is determine how much they smoke and the reasons why they smoke. Without doing so, the odds of failure increase dramatically.

Again, not knowing where you are will stand in the way of getting where you want to be.

As you begin this new year, assess where you are in life here and now. Find out the reasons for your current circumstance. Once you do, plot a course for success. Plot a clearer view of how you will get to your destination.

Stay inspired my friends.

Scream For Liz Again

"We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone." -Ronald Reagan

A small update is in order on a recent article I wrote about Liz Rieckmann called "Scream Out For Liz."

First and foremost is that after over a year of waiting, a pair of lungs became available last week. The sadness for another family has created hope and joy in the hearts of the Rieckmann family. Liz underwent the double-lung transplant at Emory Hospital in Atlanta late last week.

Her condition is still guarded at this time with the normal concerns and cautions that exist. This is major league deal and your prayers are needed for her, the doctors, staff and family. When you do say those prayers, say one for the anonymous donor.

As I have said before many times, you impact people in ways you may never know. A prayer said, a comment passed inspires someone to become an organ donor. That person places a card in their wallet and one day, unknowingly dies and his/her organs are used to save the lives of others. You see, everything that you do, large or small matters.

For Liz Rieckmann, the battle for survival continues as she recovers from the transplant. The hard work of getting past these initial days continues. The long road to full recovery will take time and your generous gifts to help pay for her recovery are also needed. So if you can help out by giving a tax-deductible gift, it will scream out support for Liz until she can herself.

You can learn about Liz Rieckmann here and more importantly, your tax-deductible gift can be DONATED HERE. If you wish to send a check in the mail, please send it to;

NFT Georgia Transplant Fund
5350 Poplar Avenue, Suite 430
Memphis, TN 38119

And be sure to write "in honor of Liz Rieckmann" on the memo line.

Keep screaming out for Liz and stay inspired my friends.