Shifts to Sustainability

Vision Boards

A few months ago I completed teaching a yearlong class at a private school where 5 of my children attend, the class was called Prosperity Economics, and it was a blast to teach so many young people about the principles that lead to prosperity and abundance.  The final project for the semester was where each student had the opportunity to take a couple moments and present to the class their Vision Board that they had created during the past semester.

I saw many different ways of presenting the same basic theme, and I was inspired by the creativity that many of the students put into the creation of their Vision Boards.  The process that each of the students went through was very similar to what I’ll show you here… hopefully if you have not already created a Vision Board you will take the time to create one soon, the power that can come from the visual representations of your goals and dreams is incredible.  Here is the simple step by step that I did in creating my own Vision Board, and what I show others how to create it as well.

All you will need for this powerful exercise is a poster board, or a large frame that you can get at any discount store, a bunch (dozens) of old magazines, a glue stick, a pair of scissors and some time (about 2-4 hour).

1.     Create a list of 100+ Dreams, write as fast as you can, and just write them down.  Here is a small sample of some of the dreams on my list:

• To be financially free
• To have excellent physical health
• To be a persuasive, powerful, and motivating speaker
• To have friends all over the world
• To be licensed to fly airplanes
• To be licensed to fly helicopters
• To fly a hot air balloon
• To SCUBA dive in beautiful places all over the world
• To go skydiving
• To produce all my own organic food
• To visit every country in the world
• To speak before 25,000 people at one time
• To write a best selling book
• To complete an Ironman while in my 40′s
• To control at least $10 Million in assets
• To build a beautiful barn in one day… Amish style
• To build a beautiful home on our farm that runs completely off the grid
• To walk barefoot on a bed of hot coals
• To touch peoples lives in a deep, powerful and lasting way for good
• To participate in or ignite an American free market revolution toward decentralization
• To save at least one farm animal breed from extinction
• To live healthy, strong and lucid until I am 125 years old

2.    Look over your list of Dreams, and write down a visual representation of that dream, for example, if one of your dreams was to speak to a large audience, then a picture of an audience would possibly be a great visual cue for you.  If your dream was to own a 2009 BMW 760 Li, then a picture of that car in your favorite color would be perfect.

3.    Next, what I have done with several groups (as well as myself) is scour dozens of magazines looking for pictures that represent the visual cues that I wrote down.  Cut out those pictures, and start to collect them.  Also look for words that inspire you and for ideas represented in photos.  For example, on of my desires is to be thick skinned, so that I wont choose to be offended easily, and I thought that a rhinoceros would perfectly illustrate that idea, so I found a picture of a rhinoceros, and I cut it out.  Freedom was also an ideal for me, and a herd of wild mustangs communicated that feeling very well.  You can also search the Internet for pictures and just print them off.

4.    Next what you do is look at the blank canvas that will become your Vision Board, and plan out in your mind where you would like certain things to be, you can divide up the board based on area of your life, such as Spiritual, Emotional, Intellectual, Physical and Financial, or on some other criteria.  The all you do is start gluing the pictures to the board, do not stress over how it will look, it will turn out perfectly.  Cut out quotes that have deep meaning to you, put pictures of important people in your life, such as family, friends, religious figures, pictures of nature and things that help you feel prosperous, such as luxury cars, beautiful homes and fertile farmland.

5.     When your Vision Board is complete, hang it on a wall where you will see it for a large part of your day, or at least when you first wake up in the morning, and make it a part of your early morning ritual to look at the board, and visualize yourself accomplishing the dreams that are represented by the images on the Board.

One of the main reasons that I am in the process of shifting careers from business consultant to organic farmer at 42 years old was in large part to the experience of creating my Vision Board, and making sure that my experience truly represented what I really, really, really wanted out of my life.

Enjoy creating the life that YOU TRULY WANT!!!

The Unexamined Life…

“The unexamined life is not worth living” is a saying that has been attributed to Socrates, the ancient Greek philosopher. I am not sure of the context in which this was said, so I am making an assumption when I look at the idea Socrates was attempting to convey. So here goes… when I think about living a life in which I do not examine my heart or my actions, my thoughts or my feelings, the essence of such a life seems hollow and meaningless to me. Where is the growth? Where is the opportunity for improvement? I do not think that Socrates meant for someone who did not take self-examination seriously that they were not worthy of living, but rather that the person who examines his or her life has so much more capacity to experience happiness and satisfaction in their lives.

This may seem self-evident to most people, however in talking with many many people over the years, the unexamined life is the norm. I have coached hundreds of people, and the first activity that I have my clients do, is a self-examination, a life questionnaire that will really challenge them to look at themselves and their lives in a unique way.

Most of my clients have come to me for assistance in increasing the revenue of their company, or help in getting on track to become financially free, so when the life questionnaire asks questions about things that seem to be out of that context, such as the quality of their relationship with their parents, their birth order, the quality of their sexual relationship with their spouse/ significant other. They are often confused, so what I have generally done lately is to warn or prepare them about the broad area of inquiry that the questionnaire deals with. After preparing my clients, the response from those that took the time to really think about and deeply reflect on the questions and answers has been almost unanimously positive.

Self-reflection or self-examination will always result in a positive outcome, even if you are not living up to your potential. The process almost always leads to a desire to improve in some area, most often in relationships with the most significant people in our lives, such as parents, children, or siblings, or to clear up personal mistakes from the past.

As I wrote the life questionnaire, I found myself constantly reflecting on how I could have handled certain situations better, and almost invariably, I was brought to a current circumstance, and received insight into how I could act in a more empowering way that would better the outcome. Deep reflection of our past often brings clarity to current situations, leading to powerful solutions and action steps. Reflection truly is a life skill that is worth learning, and mastering if abundance and happiness are your objectives.

Hiring a personal coach is also a powerful step in leading an abundant life, if you would like to set up a free initial session to see if my style and process will be beneficial to you please email me directly at coach@3win.com and I will contact you to set up a time that will work for both of us.

3Win… a statement of philosophy

I am asked all the time when people see my email address or my blog, “What does 3Win mean?”  The answer is a simple one, 3Win is about how I see the world, and how I choose to interact within the world, Win-Win-Win!  It is a philosophy of stewardship.  In my opinion this is the only way to live.  If we interact with others so that everyone is benefited by our interactions, the world becomes a more joyous place for you having been here, and we fill the earth with joy and light.

Zig Ziglar has a saying that I think is the essence of this ideal, and the core of the 3Win philosophy, “You can get anything in life you want if you just help enough other people get what they want”.

In my way of describing 3Win, the priority is also important, the first order is the other person, this is because it is always from the other person that we are able to determine if value is earned and what that value is.  The second point to evaluate is the universal ideal, in other words, as Google suggests by their code of conduct “don’t be evil”.  This ideal can be described as ‘the environment’, ‘the Universe’, ‘Source, ‘God’, ‘others’, this is always the 3^rd party in any transaction.  The final point is that all interactions must be profitable for myself and in my best self-interest.  We may be able to create an exchange with another person that could be profitable for both parties, but damage the environment- this is not a 3Win transaction.

Many times we think things are in our self-interest, when upon deeper reflection, they are clearly not in out best self-interest, an example I use regularly is smoking cigarettes.  However, in discussing these ideas, the argument sometimes arises about a specific substance, even something quite healthful can be used for a purpose not intended by the original creators or marketers of the product.  My answer is… 3Win philosophy is grounded in intent.  For what intent was a particular product or service created, if it is good, then 3Win is possible, if it was originally good, then it is discovered that it is being used for bad, again, intent is where we must focus, as that is what ultimately creates the power in the 3Win life.  I choose (act on my intention) to live in 3Win, because it is the path to happiness, and happiness is in my best self-interest.

The essence of 3Win is to ask the question is this act or transaction sustainable, meaning can this same transaction take place forever without loss of destruction… a high standard, yes, a perfect guide, no, but it is a place to start asking the bigger questions, so that we start to see the impact we have on the world around us, both positively, negatively and in many other ways.

Am I saying it is immoral to consume, absolutely not, we are all consumers, but we must strive to produce more than we consume, especially if we have the capacity to produce.  A child will not be able to produce more than they consume at first, but is they are taught correct principles, and given the correct motivations (to serve others, toward mutual profit) then he or she will grow up to produce more than they consume, thus leaving the world a better place than they found it.

My choice to become an organic farmer is grounded in this philosophy.  I have been looking at and thinking about how best to serve others in my capacity as a producer of value, and it occurred to me that the foundation of all production comes from the earth… from dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return… from farming, mining, harvesting.  If I could add more value to the soil, and improve the land upon which I am a steward over, then the process of raising food, both animal and vegetable, can be sustainable, and thus 3Win.