“Burn The Ships”

This phrase comes from history when, in 1519, Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortez landed in Mexico on the shores of the Yucatan intent on claiming the treasures of the Aztecs. Cortés was committed to his mission and his quest is legendary. With 500 soldiers, 100 sailors, and 11 ships, Cortés set sail with the intention to overtake the Aztec empire.

Knowing that they faced incredible odds, Cortés changed the quest to do or die by ordering his men to “Burn the Ships”. That's right, Cortés and his men burned their own ships saying that “if we are going home, we are going home in their ships”. This provided the ultimate motivation by giving them no way out, no fall-back option. Cortés ultimately succeeded.

Do you need the ultimate in motivation to move forward to achieve a significant goal that will transform your reality for the better? Is there a business you want to start, or a job change you need to make, or a relationship you need to end? Are you paralyzed, unable to focus your thought and energy in the direction of a goal that you know in your heart will be life changing? If this is you then consider burning the ships. Once the last smoldering ember has submerged beneath the surface of the still blue sea, you have no choice but to do an about face and begin to take action to conquer the island and make it your paradise!

You can do it, yes you can... So "Burn them!" There may never be a better time, in your lifetime, to start your journey to the destination of your dreams...

Mark J.
Lifestyle Transformation Coach

Expectancy - The Key to 100% Goal Achievement

Expectancy - The Key to 100% Goal Achievement...

Expectancy... What does this term conjure up in your head when you hear it? Here's what Websters has to say...

Main Entry: ex·pec·tan·cy

Pronunciation: \-tən(t)-sē\

Function: noun

Inflected Form(s): plural ex·pec·tan·cies

Date: 1600

1 a : the act, action, or state of expecting expectancy that getting on any train gives us — John Updike> b : the state of being expected expectancy slightly greater than usual>

2 a : something expected expectancy> b : the expected amount (as of the number of years of life) based on statistical probability expectancy>

I like definiton 2a - something expected. But what does it mean to expect something... Another definition may help...

Main Entry: ex·pect Pronunciation: \ik-ˈspekt\

Function: verb

Etymology: Latin exspectare to look forward to, from ex- + spectare to look at, frequentative of specere to look — more at spy

Date: 1560

intransitive verb

1.1 archaic : wait, stay

1.2 : to look forward

1.3 : to be pregnant : await the birth of one's child —used in progressive tenses expecting next month>

transitive verb

2.1 archaic : await

2.2 : to anticipate or look forward to the coming or occurrence of expect them any minute now>

2.3 : suppose, think

2.4 a : to consider probable or certain b : to consider reasonable, due, or necessary c : to consider bound in duty or obligated expect you to pay your bills>

Now we are getting someplace... For purposes of this post, definitions 1.3 and 2.4a hit the nail on the head. You see, expectancy, as a principle in Goal Achievement, means "to believe", really BELIEVE that you possess the goal you seek in its full realization from the very moment of conception of the idea of the goal (with a deadline for its achievement) that is firmly held in your conscious thought.

This means, to become a 100% Goal Achiever you must fully internalize this belief... and expect to receive your goal without a doubt. Just as a woman who misses a menstrual cycle and has a positive EPT immediately knows with all her being that in due time she is going to deliver / receive a new baby, and is said to be and "expectant" mother, you must know with the same level of certainty that you are an "expectant" goal achiever!

When this is the case, a couple of things happen. First, the expectant mother begins to prepare to receive the child that she is anticipating. She is so confident that the child will arrive in due time (usually at least 7 - 8 months hence), that she begins to make preparations to receive HER baby. This takes the form of purchasing something to "receive" her goal (oh, I mean baby) in - a "receiving blanket", new born undergarments, diapers, etc... She will also set in motion a variety of more serious preparations such as painting a room for the nursery, purchasing nursery furniture, and in some cases even moving to a larger home, or buying a larger car to accommodate the expected new arrival. Why does she do all of these things? Because she is 100% confident and EXPECTS that she will deliver /receive HER child in due time, and her actions REINFORCE this expectancy…

Let me ask you a question. Once you've conceived a goal with a deadline for its attainment, do you actions reflect your expectancy, your trust, your belief, your faith? Or do they operated against your goal? Be honest with yourself. You see, you will never bring about a thing by doing the opposite of what is required to make it so...

Wow, this is powerful! Once the seed has been planted and conception has taken place, when we operate with expectancy, expectancy takes control, and all actions and behaviors - eating, sleeping, drinking, preparation, (sometimes called nesting) - reinforce the woman's expectancy, and that of the father too! What's even more interesting is the level of confidence that the expectant mother has that the child growing inside the womb is 100% real, just as real as the moment after delivery will be when it is birthed into the external, physical form world! (more about birthing in a later post... stay tuned)...

And so it must be with your goal achievement if you are to achieve your goals. If you want something in particular you must do something in particular, you must "expect" to receive your goal in physical form reality in due time. You must trust, you must believe, you must have faith - all of which lead to confidence - that confident assurance that what you seek will be yours. This is completely in line with the law of "seed time and harvest" (one of the 8 laws of goal achievement that I teach)

So the next time you set a goal with a clear deadline for its achievement, at that moment realize that you become "pregnant" with your goal. To avoid miscarriage (failure) from that point forward, you must do the things that will help your goal mature to the point of delivery. From that point forward you must act as if you already possess the goal you seek, and you must commence making preparations to receive it. You must go forward with expectancy, and you will receive your goal...

Until next time when we will talk about birthing your goal this is Mark J., Lifestyle Transformation Coach and Fellow Goal Achiever

P.S. if you found this post interesting and valuable, please share it with a couple of friends. Also, for short Goal Achievement tips, optionally delivered straight to your cell phone in SMS Text Messages, follow me at www.twitter.com/BoxesLTSCoach

Wake Up Call!

It was late last night when I pulled myself out of bed to send out the following announcement about the up coming Goal Achiever's Knowledge Expansion Session - Monday, Sept 14th at 6:30pm in Santa Clara, CA (email invite below...)

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From: Mark Johnson [mailto:mark@hfimpact.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 09, 2009 2:48 AM
To: CJ
Subject: Update & Reminder - for this coming Monday's Goal Achiever Knowledge Expansion Session

Hello CJ,

The purpose of this note is to update you on the next Goal Achiever’s Knowledge Expansion Session, to be held this coming Monday evening, September 14^th, at 6:30pm – Biltmore Hotel in Santa Clara (101 and Montague Expressway). That’s right, we’ve moved the event! It’s time to expand…

The title of the sessions is TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE THROUGH 100% GOAL ACHEIVEMENT, and it is going to be really good! I do hope you can attend, and I encourage you to encourage others you know to register and attend with you! As always, coaching alumni clients need only reply to this email to reserve a seat.

To register click this link: http://www.eventbee.com/view/hfimpact/event?eid=62516. Because of the change in venue, the fee has increased slightly to $19.95.

There is urgency… the event is only 6 days away!

For a calendar of upcoming Knowledge Expansion Sessions click this link - http://www.hfimpact.com/events/sessions.php,

To access regular motivational tips that will help you set and achieve life-transforming goals, follow me on Twitter at @ www.twitter.com/boxesltscoach, you can even elect to do so to your cell phone via SMS Text Messaging if you like, to receive these bite-sized nuggets of motivation in real time!

Finally, for deeper insights into a variety of Goal Achievement topics check out my blog at www.ThereIsUrgency.com. There is a great recent post – “Do You Have an Exit Strategy?” Well worth the three minute read!

Cheers,

Mark J.
Lifestyle Transformation Coach
Motivational Speaker
Goal Achiever

P.S. Here’s a great 40 minute video by Dr. Srikumar Rao, UC Berkley – Haas School of Business Professor, and author of the book "Are You Ready to Succeed?”. It was recorded at Google's Mountain View HQ. I urge you to view this video. Click the following link to do so - http://bit.ly/176YhZ

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As I was preparing to send the note it occurred to me that I hadn't filtered the distribution list for local people only which meant that the note was heading all over the world promoting an event that most people could not attend. But it being after 2am in the morning, I decided I was just too tired to change course so I pressed "Start Merge". After returning to sleep for a couple of hours and sleeping in a bit, at about 7:00am Pacific I reached from my cell phone to check the time and saw the following email message message from CJ...

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From: CJ
Sent: Wednesday, September 09, 2009 8:38 AM
To: 'Mark Johnson'
Subject: RE: Update & Reminder - for this coming Monday's Goal Achiever Knowledge Expansion Session

Mark –

Thank you so much for keeping in touch and keeping me on your e-mail list. While your seminars are not in a good location for me to attend I love your insights. This morning I sat with my morning coffee and decided to read you blog. I am a firm believer that when you met up or hear from someone in your past that they have something to teach you or you have something to teach them. Having received several of your e-mail notices you finally got my attention. This morning I thought, why do I keep getting these e-mails from Mark? It is very interesting that he has a new career but why do I keep getting these e-mails. Then I hit myself in the forehead and thought duh! I have something to learn from him today.

In reading your most recent blogs I realizing I have forgotten to have an exit strategy from my current position. I will have been at my present company for over 15 years that is just too long. I learned years ago that you are never an expert in your own firm and sometimes even in your own town. I have become complacent and need to determine what I want to do next.

Reflecting on ‘what to do next’ this morning while typing you this message, I came to the full realization that I have some medical issues that I am dealing with so I have to take care of them first. I had joint surgery last December the has caused my opposite joint to degrade faster. Living in extreme pain gets in the way of other portions of your life. It is difficult to focus on other life aspects when your physical well-being is taking all of your energy. So I will work through that first.

Putting ‘skin in the game’ as you say I am committing to myself to get myself back in better physical shape so that I can refocus my energy away from the pain. I have an appointment with my surgeon next week. This will be the 4^th time I have seen him about follow-up pain this year. It is time to push through the F.U.D .and make the commitment to taking care of myself to move forward to wellness. I know that I need to have another surgery so I am making a personal goal to have that surgery completed this fall , be on the road to physical recovery by Thanksgiving and be back to work before the end of the year.

Take care. I’ll keep you posted -- I am wide awake and won’t need coffee for a few days!

CJ

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When I read CJ's note it suddenly all made sense. I was in the flow of energy, and belief, and so I went with it and it was given back to me in spades! I was encouraged, and strengthened. So I picked up the phone and called CJ to thank her for the response and found her in tears. We had a wonderfully healing conversation that blessed us both!

You see, as the now famous adage from Samuel Golden Rule Jones goes - What I want for myself, I want for everyone". So the moral of the story... you never know who needs to hear what you have to say until after you say it! So take action, push send on the damn email. Believe that you can and you will. Face the fear and do it anyway. Take action, and expect a reaction.

Cheers,

Mark J.

Do you have an Exit Strategy?

Did you know that the question mark “?” is the most powerful punctuation symbol in all languages? Its true! You see, the ? is the key to all learning and knowledge expansion. It is by asking questions that we are able to unlock the secrets to many mysteries of life, solve countless problems, and achieve our worthwhile goals. One of the most important questions to ask yourself as soon as possible in life is – What is my Exit Strategy? This question is important regardless of whether you are an entrepreneur who owns his or her own business, or you are employed in some career or profession. If you are a business owner, knowing the answer to this question as early as possible in the development of your business, before you begin would be great - is an absolute necessity. Why? Because the absolute worst time to think about your exit strategy is when you are ready, or need to exit! Take it from me; I know the truth of this statement first hand – news at 11:00pm – stay tuned…

Yesterday I was purchasing some logo embroidered clothing from a merchant for one of my children when I struck up a conversation with the shop owner (let’s call him John). It seems that John’s shop actually manufacturers the clothing by embroidering the logos onto various garments. They do an outstanding and high quality job of this and had an impressive display of logos that they have done over 23 years in the business. As the conversation progressed, I could tell that the “thrill had gone” from the business for John. He began to explain how the business had tanked from a high of twenty six team members and several million dollars a year in gross sales, to two employees in addition to himself, and far less in gross revenue as a result of the recession. He expressed how after 23 years he was exhausted and wanted out.

Not appearing to be that old, I mused that he must have started the business when he was in high school, to which he responded, “I did!”. Then John related an exciting story of how the business grew from the humble beginnings in his parents’ garage, and how much fun and good fortune he had experienced along the way. Then he described how he had burned out, how he was really exhausted and just wanted to exit. The only problem is, John stated, that the current economy is the absolute worst time to exit (an epiphany to John). He was stuck, out of steam, and in a situation where he was facing the reality of exiting the business with very little to show for 23 years of hard work.

John is a perfect example of someone who failed to establish an exit strategy for this stage of his career, and is now paying the price – exciting business entrepreneur turned indentured servant. What’s worse, other than simply walking away, he doesn’t even have the energy to seek out a methodology to sell the business for what little he could get out of it.

Can you relate to this story? Are you stuck in a dead in job with no consciousness of how to get out into something more in line with your long term objectives? Are you like John with no clear date by which you plan to redeem your time by retiring, and the level of asset accumulation that will be required to allow you to continue living at the level you desire? Remember, there is urgency for all of us (if you don’t believe me just add 100 to your birthday to find the date by which there is 99% probability that your life will be over). John has other things that inspire him, other things that he wants to pursue, but he has failed to ask himself (and answer) the one question that would have enabled him to end his business career in the custom embroidering business on a high note – What is my Exit Strategy? And given the 7 year business cycles, when should I time my exit to take away the maximum benefit from my labors?

Don’t make the same mistake that John made, or that I made for that matter the first time around when I started and ran the company InER-G Solutions, Ltd. Stop right now and ask yourself the following question – What is my Exit Strategy?

If you would like to gain more insights into the answers to this question, mark your calendar and plan to join me on Monday evening September 14^th at the Biltmore Hotel for the next Goal Acheiver’s Knowledge Expansion Session – What’s My Exit Strategy? Registration details will be posted tomorrow.

Cheers,

Mark J.

Developing Goal-Achieving Faith...

Earlier today I posted a Tweet on my Twitter Page at www.twitter.com/BoxesLTSCoach, in which I asserted that to become a Goal Achiever, you must first become a Problem Solver. Additionally, I posited that in order to become a problem solver you must move from operating out of F.E.A.R. (false evidence appearing real) to operating out of Faith, the opposite of fear. But what is faith and how do you develop it?

The answer to that question really can be found in your mind. That's right, your mind holds the answer to all kinds of questions, but the one about faith is chief among them all. Let me help you find it.

Scripture states that "without faith, it is impossible to please God." It goes on to state that "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Wow, these are very big statements! Faith is the substance! Faith is the evidence! Not just any, but "the". They imply that faith has something to do with belief. In fact in order to have faith you must believe in something greater than yourself, something or someone that is in control of what you don't control, someone or something that is in control of the laws of goal achievement that will enable you to achieve your worthwhile, life transforming goals.

This is important because we were created (yes I "believe" in creation) and commanded "to be fruitful and multiply, to replenish the earth and subdue it" - in essence, to become more. In fact, becoming more is the yearning of mankind, and this is as it should be.

To become the most you can become, in my view, is to do so alignment with your passions. The best way to do this is to set and achieve life-transforming goals! It is in achievement of these goals that you will "please God" and yourself!

So in this, faith is essential for Goal Achievement. Given the earlier definition of faith being the "evidence of things hoped for, and the substance of things yet seen" then in order to have faith, we must have unwavering "belief" that the thing we hope for (our goal) will be materialized in our reality at some future point in time (the "by date") - we must have 100% belief!

Now, at another point in scripture it says "faith without works (action) is dead". This seems to suggest that the physical evidence of our faith is our "action" to bring into reality that which we hope for, our stated goal.

This is very powerful information. To summarize - belief leads to faith which is necessary to accomplish our life-transforming goals. This is because faith eliminates fear (its opposite) - the main obstacle in the path to becoming a goal achiever!

So to develop unwavering faith you must first believe - believe that there is a higher power operating on your behalf when you are in alignment with it. To ensure that you are in alignment with it you must seek it out. You must then trust that your actions, taken in faith to bring into reality that which you desire - your worthwhile, life-transforming goal - will be aided by the creator of the universe until your goal manifests in physical reality.

This is where self-confidence comes in. If you have faith, backed by belief, it will be very easy to demonstrate self-confidence through thought, word, and deed. Otherwise you will exhibit self-doubt. And where there is self-doubt, achieving life-transforming goals is impossible.

Wow, this is very powerful indeed... Let me know what you think, post your comments!

Mark J.

Boxes Lifestyle Transformation Coach

www.MarkIJohnson.com

Update from There Is Urgency... Event last Thursday, 7/16

We had a great session last Thursday evening. We dealt with some interesting perspectives on the topic of urgency. Judging by the level of note taking, and great feedback, most participants were provoked into thinking about what they have dreamed to achieve, but done nothing to make real.

Let me ask you a question? How many of you could say the same thing? Be honest! How many big dreams have you thought about, but because of the economy, your finances, your family, health, your job, where you live, etc... you've put off until "someday"? If this is you, you've got been infected with mind viruses and have contracted something I call "Excuseitis".

Did you know that "someday" means "never"? The reason this is true is because your days are numbered - whether you know it or not! From the base year of your birth, add 100, and it's a pretty safe bet that by that year you will have moved on to the life that follows physical death. There is urgency...

You see, Goal Achievement requires leadership, leadership of your Mind and Body. (self-leadership). YOU are made up of three divisions:

1. Soul (I call this the "I" in You - the spiritual You that is in direct connection with the spirit of truth - God)
2. Mind (or brain)
3. Body (the physical you)

The Soul (the "I") in YOU has the responsibility to lead, to set the objectives, the goals and the dates by which the goals must be achieved. The "I" doesn't need to concern itself with how the goal will be achieved, only "what" is to be achieved and by when. It is up to the "Mind" to figure out the how (create the plan) and then direct the "Body" to get to work achieving the goal (see illustration below) That's it!


Simple, right? Wrong... If it were this simple, everyone would simply set and achieve their goals, and that would be that! The problem is the "I" fails to lead, because leadership is too hard. When this happens, the Mind is left to its own devices to direct the body however it feels. If it feels good do it, avoid discomfort at all cost! And since there is no oversight, or accountability form the "I", everything just drifts. Before you know it, your time is up and the curtain falls - you die with your goals unrealized. But it doesn't have to be this way. Next Thursday evening, 7/23 at 6:30pm, we're going to discuss how to overcome this lack of leadership to put your Soul back in control of the Mind and Body, to provide the leadership necessary to achieve your worth while life-transforming goals! You don't want to miss this event.

To register for - "What's Next?", go to http://www.meetup.com/Goal-Achievers-Knowledge-Expansion-Group/ This event will include a webinar feed so if you can't be there in person, you can still participate online with your computer, a high speed Internet connection, and a phone (we use GoToMeeting). Both online and webinar seats are limited, so register now to secure your seat!

And remember...

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back -- Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now. Engage, then the mind grows heated. Begin it, and the work will be completed." - Margaret Mead

Cheers,

Mark J.
Life Transformation Coach, Motivational Speaker, Author
Creator of the Boxes Life Transformation System and Coaching Program
hf Impact, llc.
www.getoutofyourbox.com
877.800.7273, x4

"If you want something you've never had, you must get out of your box to create it!"

You're Invited to "There is Urgency..." Thurs. eve, 7/16!

The Goal Achiever Knowledge Expansion Session seminar series is resuming Thursday night, July 16th at 6:30pm near Santana Row in San Jose (scroll down to see event details below), and again Thursday, July 23rd at 6:30pm! As a reader of my blog you are invited to participate free of charge. If you plan to attend simply send an email to mark@hfimpact.com. This event is going to be very empowering!

In addition to your complimentary attendance, any guest that attends with you is also complimentary! However, we do need you to pre-register your guests by including their name and email address in the note confirming your participation. Again, send that note to mark@hfimpact.com. This will help us manage capacity because seating is limited and available on a first come, first served basis.

The event this Thursday evening is going to be really good so I hope you can make it out. This Thursday’s discussion will introduce some new insights and tools that will help explode any excuses that stand in the way of your decision making to set and achieve goals that capitalize on the economic recovery that is starting to take shape through goal setting and achievement. There is urgency…

Never in our lifetime has there been a better window of opportunity to “break out of the box” and begin creating the future life we desire. The urgency is associated with one simple truth, your time is limited.

You see, if you add 100 to your birth year, you can find the date on the calendar by which it is 99% likely that you will no longer be alive, and by subtracting 35 from that year, you can easily find your retirement year. This means that if you have a “someday” goal you need to define a real date within today and your retirement year by which you will accomplish it, otherwise you will end your life with it unrealized. You really don’t want to miss out on this… So, confirm your seat now!

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Event#1: Knowledge Expansion Session - There is Urgency... (90 minutes)
Date and Time: Thursday, July 16th, 6:30pm - San Jose, CA
Location: 560 Winchester Blvd at I280, Suite 500, San Jose, CA

DESCRIPTION: There has never been a better time than now to get focused on creating the future you desire to live, yes, regardless of what the media says about how bad the present economic situation is. To find out why, register and attend this 90 minute knowledge expansion event which is certain to wake you up to the immediacy of your need to think big, plan your course, and begin acting right where you are, to create the future you desire.

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Event #2: Knowledge Expansion Session - What's Next? - (90 mins)
Date and Time: July 23, 2009, 6:30pm 8:00pm
Location: 560 Winchester Blvd at I280, Suite 500, San Jose, CA

DESCRIPTION: After you understand there is urgency and why, what do you do next? What obstacles stand in the way of your ability to create your dream life? What can you do to overcome them? To find out, register and attend this 90 minute knowledge expansion session. We are certain you will be glad you did!

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"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectivness -- Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now. Engage, then the mind grows heated. Begin it, and the work will be completed." - Margaret Mead

Part Two of "Getting Where You Want To Go In Life"

The following post is from the client described in my post of June 26th - "Getting Where You Want To Go In Life"...

"Last week, during ny coaching session with Mark, he asked how I was proceeding toward accomplishing my #1 goal, that’s changing my job and moving to Austin TX with a job offer in hand on or before July 15th, 2009 (a specific date on the calendar). I had made all possible connections remotely by identifying and applying for number of jobs. But nothing concrete had yet happened to encourage me on this front. I told Mark that I was making progress, but it looked like I might have to move the date out because I was being told that the job market in Austin was very slow. At that point, Mark asked me a question – was I going to give up on the date (and effectively, my goal), or was I willing to change the “method” while keeping my “intention” intact. My intention is to take up a new job by 07/15, and move to Austin. As Mark teaches, Result (100%) = Intention (99%) + Method (1%).

Then Mark told me that the reason I was willing to give up on my my goal was because I was not really committed to my intention to achieve it by the date I had set. In fact, as it turns out, I was more committed to my method which was worth only 1% of my goal! Then Mark challenged me. He said that if I was really committed to my goal to take a job in Austin by July 15th (a goal is a specific, measurable objective, achieved by a specific date on the calendar, and according to Mark, “someday” is not a specific date) I would change my method,taking the following actions in the sequence listed…

1. Book a round trip airline ticket to Austin for next week.
2. Book a hotel reservation for my stay.
3. Book a rental car for use during your visit.
4. Get on the phone and set up appointments with my contacts in Austin during my trip to interview for a position there.

Mark said that by doing this I would put skin in the game, demonstrating to myself that I was serious about my intention to achieve my goal by the date I set, that I would align my actions with the fact that there was urgency… It made sense, so the next day I booked a round trip flight, hotel, and car for the following week (the week of June 28th). I also decided to take next whole week off from work to invest my time in creating my future!

Sunday (06/28) morning I flew from to Austin. During the flight I was just thinking what to do next two days, whom to meet, how to ask for help etc… When I reached Austin it was 4pm. It was a pretty hot day (temp at lower 100s). It was a strange feeling when I landed at Austin, a new city, nobody I know of, lots of things to do for next couple of days, meeting strangers etc… But I was excited to come out of my box to invest in my future!!!

After renting a car, I headed straight to my hotel to dump my luggage, then drive around Austin, especially to visit the Dell campus at Round Rock – this is where I want to go to work. After driving around Round Rock and having dinner I came back to the hotel and started working on next day’s action items:

1. Meeting confirmation with Manpower recruiter
2. Confirmed next day’s meeting with Sandu (college professor)
3. Hunt for other recruiters online
4. Call with Burnett / Sapphire / MCI staffing
5. Talked to friend at Dell for a meeting on Monday, he was busy for Monday, planned to meet him on Tuesday for a coffee.

Monday (06/29)

Met Manpower recruiter – VJ, very friendly person, willing to help even personally! Manpower provides staffing to Dell, IBM, and other prominent players in Austin. VJ is actively working on my case; he did not have any immediate openings in PM area. He provided me his home address to take a look at the neighborhood, invited me to visit his home for a coffee. According to him, IT opportunities are more in Dallas and Houston compared to Austin. Did he sound negative? No, he must be right in terms of the number of opportunities – it is his job to know this - but I need just one opportunity to get to Austin, and I am confident of coming across the right job for me soon. I thought, it’s so easy to meet people and network, I just need to focus on finding people who can help me in getting to Austin! I was all excited to meet people after this meeting, it is easy!!

Good, I got an address to drive around neighborhoods that I might want to live in! So I started driving to VJ’s neighborhood. It was little outside of Austin, a place called Pflugerville, a nice quiet place away from city traffic/population. Right away I thought “definitely I wouldn’t live in such neighborhood”, You know why? I could not find even a single person in the neighborhood, it all looked deserted!

So, I had a plan to meet my professor (Sandu) at 4pm at his office. He was not that close to me while I was studying, but he was one of my favorite instructors in my engineering program, a nice person, good at teaching and making the student comfortable with the subject. A little shy in nature, but excited to see me at his office. He was excited to show me scenic Austin through the 360 loop. Austin is beautiful indeed, it is green and warm, plain land on one side, hilly region on the other side. The Colorado river takes quite a number of turns through Austin!

So Sandu was excited to talk about Austin, comparing that with Silicon Valley in terms of greenery and natural beauty, of course I agree with him. He seemed almost obsessed with Austin, and for good reason it turns out! He bought a house in Austin in a good neighborhood couple of years back. He said it’s a small house, just 2700 sqft in size. When he said this I thought “2700 sqft living area in bay area is like living in a mansion!!” The cost of the house was $250K!! Ridiculously low isn’t it! The same house in Silicon Valley would cost anywhere between $800k and $1.2m. So the thought occurred to me that should just book one house right there and then! Should I? Why not? That would be full commitment!

We spent about 2 hours talking about Austin, Bay Area, people from our college etc… nothing much more he could help me on my mission, he is not that well connected on IT front, he works in video compression technology with a start up. I left him at his office after coffee, promising to meet him at his place the next day. Sandu gave me all positive details about Austin, which is pretty encouraging stuff for my mission!!

So it was time for me to check emails from the recruiters I contacted in last few days, also I was waiting for couple of meeting confirmation for tomorrow. I came back to hotel and started working on finding contacts, companies and recruiters. Meanwhile during the day I had tried setting up meetings with couple of recruiters but response was not that positive (noise), they asked me to send resume so that they would take a look before planning for a meet. They did not sound positive on meeting me. I was not discouraged seeing no face-to-face meetings being setup for next day, because I thought, “let’s use a different method to meet these folks”.

As per my plan I was left with just one more day in Austin. I had booked my flight back for Wednesday morning. So, I decided, let me identify the people / companies I have to meet on Tuesday, sort them by area (close to each other) and start visiting them one-by-one. Also I called up my college-mate at Dell to fix up a time to met him next day, he was ok for meeting for a coffee.

My plan was to meet the following folks:

1. HCI International
2. Sapphire – Jay H.
3. Spherion
4. Burnett Staffing
5. Jim Smith (my friend) at Dell
6. HP
7. CISCO
8. Sun Microsystem

Tuesday (06/30)

As I said above, I had decided to meet people personally and explore the opportunites, so I started the day by driving to Sapphire and asking for Jay H., who is the technical recruiter. At the reception just I asked for Jay, next moment I was in a meeting room with Jay discussing about California, weather etc. He was very positive to work out an opportunity for me in Austin in next couple of weeks! He was impressed with my resume and he said there are number of projects starting/started at AMD / Charles Schwab / The Foundry etc. I need a regular follow up with Jay on these opportunities. It was so easy to meet Jay; I just walked in, without prior meeting setup!! I thought, this is outstanding!

Spherion was next to Sapphire suite, in the same building, just I walked in to Spherion asking for recruiting / HR manager. Nobody was available at that time, so just I dropped in my resume at receptionist. I will be following up on the opportunities here with recruiting manager.

HCI international is a career management firm that helps candidate to identify right career and opportunity, and helps you to get that opportunity. I wanted to meet one of their managers who can help me at Austin. Ashley (admin) said her VP is busy for Tuesday, so she can setup a meeting for later that week, but I could not stay back that long, I had to head back on Wednesday.

The other staffing firm I wanted to have connection was Burnett Staffing. I had made connections with a technical recruiter at Burnett (Deborah Nichols). She was busy for whole that week, so I asked if we could setup a call to discuss my requirements. She has agreed to have a call on next Wednesday (07/08) to take my case forward.
Next in my list was to meet Jim, my friend from college who is working at Dell. I had never had any personal contact with him after college. I got reconnected with him via LinkedIn a few days back while exploring opportunities in Austin.

We met that day at 2pm for a coffee, he was straight to the point on my requirements, what I looking for, how is Dell structured, where he can help me etc. Also, he mentioned that he would be quitting Dell in next 2 weeks as he has accepted an offer from a firm in Hong Kong!! So he has asked me to identify the PM openings at Dell that’s suitable to my profile and send him the job#, he would be able to connect me with respective recruiting manager at Dell. So, I have sent him few openings I found at Dell.com and have asked him to introduce me to Dell managers. I will be following up with him again early next week.

Also, while researching Austin, I found CISCO, Sun Microsystems and HP have operations at Austin. So I thought, I should visit these companies and meet their HR/Recruiting managers. Unfortunately, these companies did not have recruiting managers located at those offices, the only way they accept the applications is through their online job portal, so nothing much positive happened at these companies. But, there is a positive thing that happened! I came out of my box and visited these offices, walked straight into reception, asking for technical recruiting managers!! This was a big deal for me!!!

Now, I was exhausted with my visit list, so just headed back to hotel to check internet/email to see if anybody else has responded on my resume. But nobody had responded. I was flexible to change my return date based on any new responses from recruiters / companies, but nothing much happened that encouraged me to change my travel plans.

So, after 2 hectic days of meeting people and companies, I decided to treat myself to a drive around Austin, specifically 360 loop and a visit to Colorado river and reservoir built on this river. Tuesday was just perfect with temperature being at lower 90s, it had rained that morning; the warm weather was just perfect for me!! It just reminded of my birthplace, where 365 days are warm just like that!!! So I just felt like homecoming!!!!

While I was that location Mark called me up for checking on my mission. He asked me to feel my physical presence in Austin at that moment, stressing how it would help me in achieving my goal of moving to Austin. He asked me to plant a coin or something of my possession at Austin that would help me in connecting myself with the city, and to get some soil from Austin as a token to bring back, which is physical stuff that will remind me of the mission I took to create my future in that city!!

That night, while I was packing my luggage for early morning flight next day, I started thinking whether I accomplished my mission. I took a huge step towards achieving my main vocational goal of moving to Austin, I met quite a number of people here who all are now helping me in achieving my goal. And connected myself with Austin by planting few coins and bringing some sand from my future city!!!

Now, after my visit to Austin, my intention to move to that city is stronger than ever! I am confident that something positive will happen very soon that would help me in achieving my #1 goal!!! I have made a number of connections in Austin now, and I am working on making more connections that will lead to the landing of the job I seek there… I believe, strongly believe I can achieve this goal very soon, my deadline is 07/15, very much closer than I thought!! But as always, Mark says just believe it’s going to happen, focus on your intention, you will find a way to achieve your goal – because Intention (99%)+ Method (1%) = Result (100%), and if I hold on to my intention by date. In fact, I already possess 99% of my goal right now! After this trip, my intention of moving to Austin is stronger than ever before, so the method doesn’t matter to me, I am going to achieve my goal!!!!

Follow-up action plan... details removed for privacy…"

Getting where you want to go in life...

I'm back, and I've got some very powerful insights to share with you in this post... Over the years, almost all of my Boxes Life Transformation System clients have set out to make a fairly significant life changes in the “Vocational” area of life. This usually becomes necessary once they design the life they want to live in the other 7 areas of life and it becomes clear that what it takes to enable that lifestyle is significantly more “cash flow” than they currently generate! Often as much as twice the current cash flow is necessary... let's call this “2x”.

At this point they are confronted with the need to make a choice... Do they give up the designed lifestyle goals (because it is impossible to double, or tipple their cash flow), or change their current cash flow generation method to achieve the cash flow necessary to accomplish their lifestyle goals?

How do you think most people, when confronted with this choice, decide it? Do you want some good news? They choose to "try" to change their cash flow generation method! The problem is.... most people are never confronted with the choice because the never step back from the press of life to design the life they would really like to live to begin with... Without this critical piece of information you are oblivious to the need to make a change, you have no problem to solve, and no reason why...

By the way, do you know what determines the cash flow a person generates? Their employer? Their job? Their vocation? Their value? Well, I don't have time to answer this question at the moment, but I will in an upcoming Knowledge Expansion Session. For details on how you can participate in one of these events, go to www.getoutofyourbox.com and click the “Knowledge Expansion Sessions” button, then look of the “Breaking Out of Your Box” session and register.

I've found one obstacle common in the path of every one of my clients, an obstacle that fuels their inability to even take that first step to look into their future, and design their desired lifestyle. It is common to people in every walk of life. Over years I've helped myself and many others overcome that obstacle. The obstacle is called “F.U.D.” (that's short for Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt”). F.U.D. is powerful! It STOPS most people dead in their tracks before they can even get started... F.U.D. is one of the most common “failure diseases” I know! And it spreads just like the common cold! It's contagious.

You might think once a person overcomes their F.U.D they're home free, but that couldn't be further from the truth! You see, once you muster up the courage to “go public” with your radical new goals for creating the lifestyle you desire to live, your friends, family, and coworkers, having decided you've lost your marbles, jump right to your rescue by loaning you some of their F.U.D. Under the weight of such multiplied F.U.D. most people simply give up on their goal, and go back to existing...

Here is a great example... recently I was working with a client, let's call her Sally, who, having gotten clear about the life that she wanted to live, set a multi-dimensioned goal to decrease her cost of living, increase her cash flow (in real dollars), and move to a new town, into a higher level position. She had gotten very clear about her “value” in the marketplace and realized that she was being significantly under compensated by the company at which she was working now for 10 years. So she set a goal to change all of this by finding a position at the new higher responsibility and compensation level (a better representation of her value), in the targeted town, by a certain date! Great! So she set out to network her way into that job and town, by the date she had set.

Step 1, she updated her resume. Step 2, she made a list of the people most likely to connect her with the kind of job opportunity she sought in that town. Step three – she froze! F.U.D. She was afraid to pick up the phone and start calling! She was afraid of a lot of things, being rejected, told no, hearing that there weren't really any jobs out there given the economy, afraid of the unknown... Complete parallaysis!

Several weeks went by during which Sally filled her days with other less challenging (and less beneficial) priorities. This way, she and couldn't “find the time” to make the necessary calls, and thus avoided the pain of her F.U.D. realized.

Has this ever happened to you? Ultimately, through my coaching Sally was able to overcome this obstacle and get moving again, clock ticking on her target date. So off Sally went, making phone calls as we agreed, a minimum of four calls per week... She connected with friends working for companies she wanted to work for in that town, as well as recruiters... And what did she find? People who wanted to help her! Her friends were genuinely glad to hear from her and looking forward to seeing her, some really good stuff right? Yes, to be sure, but she also got more F.U.D. Yep, unknowingly, they all gave her some of their F.U.D. with statements like... “I've heard we aren't hiring because of the recession... Do you really think now is a good time to be looking to make a move like this? (that one translates into something like – What are you, nuts? Don't you know we're in a depression!)... I wouldn't move just yet if I were you... The market is dead over here...”

Now, all this F.U.D. was much louder and heavier for Sally than the good stuff, and she started to give up on achieving her goal by the date she had set by buying into it. And you know what? When you give up on your deadline (the “by when” date), you have just harpooned your goal in the head! You've succumbed to another failure disease, the one called Proscrasti-nation.

Fortunately, it was time for a coaching tune-up session, so Sally and I met at my office. During that session I said to Sally, “Sally, I think you need to “snap yourself into a new reality”! Who's goal is it anyway, your? , your friends in that town?, or the recruiters?” She said, “It is my goal.” Good answer I said! Then I asked her “Who is responsible for achieving that goal, you, me, your friends in that town, the recruiters?“ to which she replied “I am” (by the way, these are the most powerful two words known to man!)

Next, I told Sally this... “You're not committed to your goal. How do I know this? Because you have not yet put any skin in the game to materialize it real by the date you've set! If you are really committed to reaching your goal by the date you've set, then by the end of the day today you will have purchased and airline ticket for the target town, made a hotel reservation, reserved a rental car. You will also have gotten on the phone with your contacts and recruiters in that town to set up meetings with them during your trip there next week to interview for a position. You will have asked them to help you make the most of your trip by arranging meetings with hiring managers or clients that they believe would be interested in you, open position notwithstanding... to meet a great resource, someone that they've got to meet!”

Now, I can attest to the value of this approach personally - owning your goal, really owning it, and putting some skin in the game - because I've done it several times before. In fact, one such occasion was in December of 2002 I decided that I needed to generate more than double the cash flow that I was generating at the time, and in a new location to boot! So the first thing I did was to realize that my current employment situation was not likely to meet that expectation by the date I had set, May 25, 2003. Shortly after that realization, I burned the ships and committed fully to my goal! On December 11th 2002 I resigned my position to dedicate myself full-time to accomplishing my goal. Now if you recall, 2002 was not the best economy to walk away from a perfectly good job in. And many people thought I was nuts to do it, including my wife and one of my very best friends. That is until on April 28th, 2003, I started my new job in my new location for 2 and ½ times the cash flow of the position I left in December!

But let's get back to Sally... What did did she do? To find out keep an eye on my blog! I will post the answer very soon! Like Sally's experience, this blog is a progressive revelation... but isn't that what all good blogs should be?

Until then, remember... “If you want something you've never had, you've got to get out of your box to find it!"

Cheers,

Mark J.

Life Transformation Coach, Motivational Speaker, Author
Creator of the Boxes Life Transformation System and Coaching Program
hf Impact, llc.
www.getoutofyourbox.com
877.800.7273, x4

There is Urgency...

Welcome to my blog – There Is Urgency… Do you know what I mean by that statement? Well, let me share the very deep meaning with you. I find it amazing how 99.9% of the people I meet are busy going through life believing that they are immortal and will live forever! What I mean is that they are oblivious to the fact that one day they will die, and that they can fairly certainly know with 99.9% accurate probability the date by which they will no longer be alive. It’s really simple math -- by simply adding the number 100 to the Year you were born you can determine the exact day and date by which you will most likely no longer be here!

Try it and see how you react to the answer. Let’s say you were born on July 2nd, 1942. Adding 100 to the year 1942 results in 2042. (you can click this link… http://www.searchforancestors.com/utility/dayofweek.html to find the exact day of the week for this date. Now if we simply subtract 2009 from 2042 the number of years that you have to live which is greater than or equal to the 99.9% probability of your death! Contrary to popular opinion, this is not bad news, it is good news!

Now what makes this exercise even more interesting is to reflect on all of the family members that have already died. How old was the oldest one at death? 82, 87, 90? Are you gaining more insight here? This brief history lesson should help focus your thinking, and increase your own sense of urgency…

Let’s take this whole thing one step further. To get the clearest picture of what this all means, use the following calculation…

Birth Year: ____________
Plus: ______100___
Approx Death
Year: ____________
Less This Year: _____2009___
Approx Yrs
Left 2 Live: ____________
Less Retirement
Discount: _______35___
Years Left
to Work: ____________
Plus Current
year: ____________
Retirement
Year ____________


When you put your life in this context (defining your ERA – the dates on the perpetual time line of the world during which you are “checked in” to life), the end result will help you understand that there really is urgency…

What dreams have you put on the shelf until “someday”? Can you find the date “Someday” on the calendar? What if “someday” is actually after your 99.9% probability of “Death Day”? Then what? I’ll tell you what, you will carry your dreams to the grave with you unrealized, and you die unfulfilled!

What all this should say to you is that There Is Urgency… Urgency to accomplish your dreams, or at least die trying… urgency to start that business, build your retirement nest egg, buy that speed boat, repair that broken relationship, take that trip to the south of France… There is urgency because life waits for no one. Once it is started, there is no resetting the clock. When the game is over, it really is over, at least this part of it…

Have you seen the movie “Up” - an animated comedy adventure about a 78-year-old man who ties balloons to his house and flies away, with an 8-year-old stowaway. If you haven’t I suggest that you not miss it. It is a perfect illustration of a number of aspects of the point I am trying to make.

But you say, I don’t have time to start that company, I'm not smart enough to do it, I can’t take a month off of work for that trip, or I don’t have the money to buy that house, or whatever other excuse you can dream up to convince yourself that accomplishing your dreams really doesn’t matter as much has helping the owners the company at which you work accomplish there’s. You see, it is impossible not to accomplish dreams in life. The only question is, who’s will they be?

I call this disease - excusitus. It is the disease of the failed and frustrated billions of people who take their dreams to the grave... It kills countless brilliant ideas and plans... But it does have a cure...

So what am I saying... I am saying, if you don't make dust, you eat dust... Do you understand... If you don't get busy making life happen, it will happen to you. Tommorrow is not promised to anyone... So "carpe diem" (seize the day) and start making life happen for you... Check out my web site... www.getoutofyourbox.com for more provocation to break out of your box, and consider attending an upcoming Knowledge Expansion Session - dates and locations (including webinar sessions) will be posted on Monday, June 22nd after 9:00pm.

Well, that’s all I have time to say right now. Since this is a blog I guess it is ok if I say… to be continued……… I really do have a lot more to share with you on this and other topics. Please feel free to share this post with a friend... Help me help others escape the limiting thought frame box in which they have been trapped to begin living the life they dream to live. That is my passion, to help as many people as I can make the great escape!

Cheers,

Mark J.
Life Transformation Coach, Motivational Speaker, Author
Creator of the Boxes Life Transformation System and Coaching Program
hf Impact, llc.
www.getoutofyourbox.com
877.800.7273, x4

"If you want something you've never had, you must get out of your box to create it!"