Follow Your Compass!

It's a difficult time for many out there. The winds of change are blowing hard. This means that the landscape has changed. It reminds of listening to Steve Donahue in Puerto Rico last year. Although his message was serious and right on the money in this day and age, he delivered it in a humorous way. This in itself is a great thing because the mind takes in more information when it's relaxed. In fact, tests have shown that people can endure more pain or discomfort while laughing (ref. http://www.reference-global.com/doi/abs/10.1515/humr.1993.6.1.71).
Steve is a man who has crossed the Sahara and has an amazing story to tell. His point was that in the Sahara, what good is a map? Let's put the Sahara Dessert in to context, it is roughly the size of the United States but is completely sand and dunes, with the exception of the odd oasis. It would be like travelling from Canada to Mexico on foot (or camel). (If you want an interesting perspective of how the world looks according to land mass http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa030201a.htm). He asked us what use is a map when a sand storm blows and changes the scenery, what use is a map then? That third large dune straight ahead where you were going to take a left is gone! And the winds of change have certainly changed this social and financial landscape of this planet. Let's face it, jobs that are going now will not be replaced. There is no need for them nor will there be. (See Robert Kiyosaki's book, The Cashflow Quadrant) So what now? How do I equip myself for this journey of life now that the map I had is redundant?
Well, there one thing that is constant in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres and that is true North. It's the heading that any compass will give you and it's constant in any terrain. So let's take a compass heading in our lives, one of our own choosing, by which to guide ourselves. Let it be three of four words in length and let it guide your actions. Mine is "Make a difference". So any act I do, whether great or small, I am guided by this compass setting. Whether it's picking up a piece of rubbish on the footpath/sidewalk so that the environment is just one bit cleaner, whether I pick up my socks off the floor so I don't annoy my wife, or whether I go out and raise thousands for the charity of my choice, I make a difference. My passing through will have made a difference. And my destination is "A life of luxury and wealth that I can share", after all, as a wise man once told me, the best way to help the poor is to not be one of them.
So now I am armed with a compass heading and a destination of my own choosing. I know where I'm going and I'll know when I have arrived. And like any journey it takes ACTION! If I do not move towards my goal, my goal will move away from me because the Universe is in constant motion and me with it. So regardless of how things look now, if I follow my compass and take the actions necessary to be in alignment with my compass heading, I will reach my destination. The terrain may shift and change, there will be obstacles, there will be times of great high and great low, let's not kid ourselves. But if I can hold my course and be true to my destination then I will have comfort and excitement as I go. As Darwin pointed out "In the struggle for survival, the fittest win out at the expense of their rivals because they succeed in adapting themselves best to their environment." Our actions may include learning new skills, we may have to take a look at how we define ourselves (I ama a banker, I am a mechanic, etc... (this is not who you are this what you do)) but as long as we follow our compass heading, we know, with every degree of certainty, that we are on the right path.
So take the time to create you compass heading and take the time to think and write down your destination. These should never change. And at each oasis, stop, refuel, check your heading and recognise how far you've come from where you started. And here's a tip: you may meet someone at the oasis who has done the journey you are taking... so ask questions!

Choosedays

When I was younger I used to love to go "clubbing". Friends of mine were top djs playing with Sasha, Digweed and Nigel Benn. Their mixing was flawless and the tune selection always moved the crowd. I learned a lot about djing through them. Although I wasn't a dance dj I learned how to construct sets and I was, by all accounts (not mine), a great dj. The proof of this was in the calibre of gigs that I got. I was a mobile music man doing 21sts, weddings, 50ths as well as some plug in and play gigs around town too. I still love the dance music but as a father of two, it's not easy to get out that much any more and although I stay young at heart, I know that if I were to appear at one of those places, they'd look at me funny. And with good reason. I'm only 40 btw.

One of the things I remember from those heady days was the signs. When a great track would come on some people would hold up a card with "CHOON" or "TOON" written on it. "CHEWIN'" may have been closer to the point. If you were a clubba, you understand. So it got me thinking. I write notes phonetically sometimes such as Thank Ewe or refer to today as Chewsday or even Chooseday. One day I stopped to take a look at what I'd written, Chooseday.

The shortest and most powerful sentence in the English language is "I am". Full and complete. It's the answer to a question and it's a statement. It's a very powerful statement. I am. Say it out loud in front of a mirror. Look yourself deep in the eyes and day "I am". I'm puffing out my chest just writing it! I am. Amazing. Powerful. So what does "I" do then to reinforce this fact? Descartes said "Cogito ergo sum", I think therefore I am. That was in the days before television though. Instead of a lack of education to control the masses these days, I believe that people in a position of power use the television. It keeps the masses docile and let's them know what to think. Research has shown, in fact, that television causes mild depression. Once we watch TV we don't have to think. Like a scene from The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams, we should, according to Descartes, disappear when we watch it. Ok, so I'm being facile.

I believe that the best thing the "I" can do to affirm her or his power as an individual is to consciously say "I choose...", I Am So I Choose. This is simple in its concept but boy oh boy, does it have a lot of weight by its implications. Think about it, I Am So I Choose. Well suddenly this means I'm not a victim of circumstance anymore. Whatever is happen in my life is not because of something that is happening "out there". Now I have to take responsibility for my actions. I wasn't late because the traffic was so heavy, I was late because I didn't leave in time to factor in a traffic jam. I'm unfit because I choose not to exercise as much as I should. I not not an entrepreneur because I choose not to leave the herd or my comfort zone.

Two-and-a-half years ago, I would have found that very harsh. "What do you mean I'm stuck behind a desk because I choose to be?! I have a family and mortgage and yady ya ya..." That was me, really. I used to say and still say Yady ya. Then I started down the road of personal development. You see that word there before "development"? It's "personal". I'm choosing to develop myself and in a personal way. I'm not looking to change everything around me first. Why? Because as I development myself, sure as God made little green apples (it's from a song), my environment will develop with me. And so, at the end of the day, it's my choice. It's my day to choose happiness (see Andy Andrews book The Traveller's Gift on happiness as a choice), to choose success and to choose to be grateful for what I have. Everyday for me is a Chooseday because I am. So perhaps start today, Tuesday, to consciously make a choice to do something with your "I". It doesn't have to be a trip to the moon, just start your sentence with "I choose to...".

So just before I choose to wrap up here, I choose not to watch much television. In fact, public figures have died without me knowing, global disasters have occurred without me knowing until a few days later and I can tell you now, I don't miss it. And although I'm not a mutli-millionaire right now through choices that I had made, now it's just a matter of time. I choose to be successful so I choose that actions that are going to get me there. And how do I know I'm going to get there? Because it's not over until I win. Make it a great Chooseday, whatever day it is.