Just Go

-by Matt Leedham

Twenty-four hours ago, I departed for Seoul, South Korea with my beautiful wife and in-laws. We bought our plane tickets for this trip in December of 2010. We have been slowly planning this three-week excursion for 10 months. The four days prior to departing were filled with tons of to-do’s, chores, errands, and tying up loose ends. Packing was an epic adventure of guessing what I will need in an environment and climate that I cannot accurately predict.

After all of this planning and preparing and talking about it, I still didn’t feel prepared. I thought, “I must be forgetting something.” Or, “what have I not thought of?” Sometimes, I would respond with, “Ah! The power adapter for our electronics! I knew I was forgetting something.” This, of course, only confirmed my doubt that I was not prepared enough.

Eventually, the time comes. You must go. The flight crew (and the 251 other passengers) will not wait for us if we are late. Callously, they will leave us behind, westward bound without much consideration, if we are just a moment late. So, you force yourself to go. You ease your anxiety by telling yourself that if you forget anything, you can always buy it at your destination.

And if you’re like me, the result of all of this is usually the same. Everything turns out to be JUST FINE!

Don’t get me wrong. My planning and thinking about what I’ll need likely saved me a few heartaches. But in general, it won’t affect how amazing my trip will be if I forget my floss.

So, what are you waiting on in life? What have you been planning and planning, and thinking about and thinking about? What are you postponing because you don’t think you’re quite ready yet?

I urge you to JUST GO! Just start moving…begin the journey. Trust yourself that you will figure it out along the way. Trust that you have access to resources and people that will help you. In fact, they will be more likely to help you if you are on your way. After all, everyone can talk…not as many people DO.

Start Acting!

-By Jaime Willis

"Contemplation often makes life miserable. 

We should act more, think less, and stop watching ourselves live."- Chamfort

Over the next few months, I am working on streamlining and simplifying my life.  Mostly by getting rid of stuff I don't need -- I spend way too much time worrying about picking up stuff, washing stuff, dusting stuff, putting stuff away when I could spend more time enjoying life.  

Not my books, but about the same amount. 

The first project I decided to tackle was my book collection.  I have thousands of books.  21 feet of  3-foot tall shelving in my apartment, filled and double-stacked with books.  I love books.  But, with all the technology available to me today, I don't need to keep that many books.  If I lived in a nice-sized home, I'd love to have a library.  But I live in a small apartment and books are taking over.

When you love books like I do, you realize how tough a job it is to cull your book collection.  You want the people who get your books to appreciate them the same way you did.  Which is why I decided to donate almost all of my books to a local high school.  Woodson High School students are moving into a brand new building next year, but the library is going to look pretty bleak -- they only have about 1,500 books for the entire building!  The librarian was ecstatic to hear about the number of books I was able to donate.  

As I was going through my books (my goal was to get rid of 90% of my collection), every time I was tempted to keep a book, I thought about a student at that school getting a chance to read that story for the first time.  That was enough for me to keep donating.  In the end, I have packed up 13 boxes of books for the high school, 4 more boxes for donation elsewhere, and am left with two not-full 6-foot shelves of books.  

This simplifying thing is something I have been thinking about for a while.  But, just like the quote above says, sometimes you need to stop thinking and start DOING.  

Think about a project that you have had on your mental to-do list forever.  Is there something you can DO to get that project started?  Do it.  Today. This Week.  Stop Waiting.  Start Doing.  

"Don't Wait.  The time will never be just right."

-Napoleon Hill

TGIF Interview with Anthony Fasano

Happy Friday, everyone! Welcome to our new TGIF (This Goal Is Finished) campaign. Each Friday, we will feature a successful achiever and ask them 10 questions about how and why they achieved a goal in their lives. We hope you both enjoy the interview, and learn something new or inspirational to keep you moving toward achieving your own goals. Enjoy!

My name is Anthony Fasano, after 10 yearsin the corporate world as a civil engineer, I realized that I had an ability to inspire professionals and help them and their organizations grow. I decided to follow my dream and use my abilities. I mustered up every ounce of courage that I had and left my job in corporate America this past July and started my own coaching/consulting company, Powerful Purpose Associates. I now coach and speak to professionals around the world on the topics of business and career growth and development. In addition to coaching and speaking, I also write daily inspirational e-mails to professionals worldwide known as a Daily Boost from Your Professional Partner. Feel free to take advantage of the free career resources on our website at http://www.powerfulpurpose.com.

My goal was to start a coaching/consulting company without taking out a loan so I could live my passion on a daily basis.

I chose this goal, because I knew that I had a passion and desire to inspire people and help them grow, and I wanted to use it everyday. I knew that by following my passion, not only would I have the career I always dreamed about, but I would also help other professionals achieve their goals and dreams.

I was sitting on my couch a few years ago, and I looked at my wife and I said, “I want to become a coach.” At that point, I did not know much about executive coaching, nor did she, but she looked back at me and said, if that’s what you want to do, I will support you. I spent the next few days researching different coaching schools and the next weekend I found myself driving up to Massachusetts to start a one year program at the Institute of Professional Excellence in Coaching. The rest is history!

The biggest obstacle I faced was people telling me that I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.

They said I can’t:

• Leave a comfortable job with good benefits,
• Support my family with my own business,
• Find enough companies that would want to hire me,
• Start a business in this economy.

Overcoming these obstacles for me was easy; I just stayed focused on my goal and knew I WOULD ACCOMPLISH IT. The key in achieving a goal is believing you will achieve it, no matter what. I surrounded myself with positive people and read positive books and articles. I also found others that had already achieved a similar goal, asked them a lot of questions, and then followed what they did.

The key to staying motivated was surrounding myself with positive, supportive people that helped me along the way. I also read and listened to positive books and information around personal development and success.

My wife was instrumental in me achieving my goal, because even though she recently lost her job and we have two young kids, she supported me 100% the entire time. Once I had her support, I had no doubt at all that it would happen.

When I accomplished my goal, I celebrated it, I enjoyed it and then started setting new goals. We must continue to grow every day! Although I will say that I still realize the benefits of my goal each and every day as it has allowed me to do what I love to do on a daily basis and I will always remember that journey!

Don’t doubt yourself or put limits on yourself because of what others tell you. You can do anything you want to do, as long as you put your mind to it and stay focused on that goal. ANYTHING!

Currently I am working on growing my business and I have a goal of working towards more inspirational speaking and writing in the future!

The Only Way To It is Through It.

- By Jaime Willis

"Opportunity is missed by most because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."

- Thomas Edison

You will not achieve your goal without hard work.

I really could stop this post right there, because it is that simple. If you want it, you have to work for it. If there were a way to get rich quick, who would stay poor? If there were a way to lose weight overnight, who would stay fat? If running a marathon was so easy, who would bother training for one?

Stop looking for the quick fix right now. Start breaking down your goal into tiny, manageable steps. Start executing on them. Your goal may be a thousand of those tiny steps away, but you WILL get there. But it will take work.

The upside to hard work? The huge sense of accomplishment you feel when you do take that thousandth tiny step and reach your personal finish line.

The only way to your goal is through hard work! What are you waiting for? Get to it!

Be the Miracle

- by Matt Leedham

I love it when silly little things smack you upside the head and spark an idea, or better yet…action! Last night I turned on the TV after dinner and saw that the 2^nd half of Bruce Almighty was playing. Toward the end of the movie, God tells Bruce:

“You want to see a miracle, son? BE the miracle.”

I thought about this line all night. And then other things started to pop into my head. How about this gem?

“Be the change you want to see in the world.” - Mahatma Gandhi

Maybe Gandhi and God are saying the same thing. And yes, I know God was Morgan Freeman in a Hollywood comedy film. But the message was the same, and that’s what’s important.

Then I thought of something else I posted on Facebook a couple of months ago.

“If you see a problem, it’s yours. If you think somebody should do something about it, remember, you’re as much a somebody as anybody.” - Center for Zen Buddhism

I hope that this sparks you to take action in your community. I hope you will take ownership of problems that you see around you.

However, I also hope it sparks you to take action in your personal lives. Don’t hope for the miracle that’s going to get you everything you want in your career, family, health, relationships, etc. BE the miracle. Be the change you want to see in your own life. If you see a problem within you, guess what…you own it. Do something about it.

How will you be the miracle today? This week? This month? Leave a comment below.

Just Do It

- by Matt Leedham

There comes a time when all of the writing, thinking, planning, etc. just needs to be put aside. Sometimes, it all comes down to one thing: action.

Four winters ago, before my wife and I were married, we walked home one January evening after dinner in Dupont Circle (Washington, DC). It must have been 15-20 degrees that night. And it was windy. As we approached my building, my wife noticed a man at the top of some stairs leading to a service entrance of the hotel across the street from my apartment. He was curled up in a ball, with no coat or blanket, visibly shivering. My fiancé (at the time) demanded that we do something. She was right. He might not have made it through the night. We called the city’s hypothermia hotline, grabbed a thick wool blanket from the apartment and ran back outside to let him know that help was on the way.

Ever since that night, my wife and I have casually talked about doing a coat drive among our networks of friends and colleagues. Every year around the holidays it kept coming up, but we never took action. There was always so much going on at work, or with family, or with travel. The usual excuses.

• Eight weeks ago in reflecting on my personal core values and what I wanted to accomplish in the coming year, I wrote down the goal of having a coat drive.
• Six weeks ago, I reviewed my goals and told my wife about it.
• Four weeks ago, I expanded on that goal, jotting down some ideas about next steps.
• Two weeks ago, I started telling some people about my plans.
• Last week I realized I hadn’t done anything about it and the depths of winter were approaching rapidly.
• This past weekend, disappointed that I still had not moved the ball forward, I committed to taking action on Monday.
• Yesterday, I made 3 phone calls: 1) to my friend who used to work in the wine industry, 2) to another friend who is a phenomenal amateur chef, and 3) to a non-profit dedicated to helping feed and clothe the homeless in the District.
• Today, my wife and I will be sending out an Evite to 50 friends and colleagues inviting them to our house on December 18^th for our First Annual Holiday Wine Tasting for the Homeless. Price of admission = $20 + all the lightly used winter clothing they can find in their homes.

When I boil all of this down and distill it into the truth, I find that making this dream a reality required me to make 3 phone calls and send one invitation. That’s about it. All together, maybe 30 minutes of my time.

Sometimes, you need to “just do it.” We all have resources and networks at our fingertips. We all have the ability to make things happen. Just do it. If you don’t think you have the resources to pull something like this off (or some other big idea you have), I challenge you. By virtue of reading this, you have the same resources I do. Just ask.

What about money, you say? Well the $20/person will cover the cost of the wine. The food is our holiday gift to our friends, family, and colleagues. And the winter clothing is free to collect and donate. Don't let money be an excuse. It's just a brain-teaser with many possible solutions.

The world can ill afford to wait for you to act. You have what you need. It is time to apply your education, knowledge, experience, and resources to improve humankind.

I wrote this one day in my journal a few months ago. The other day, it hit me like a ton of bricks.

Just do it.

So, what goal or dream do you have that's just been lying around collecting dust? Leave us a note or a story in the comment section below.