Do you like theme parks? I’m obsessed with them! Disney World is one of my all-time favorite place on earth. I’d LOVE to be your personal tour guide there someday! Do you remember the first time you went to Disney World, Universal Studios or some other similar theme park? Do you remember how easy it was to get lost in that park? With thousands of people walking in every direction, each one of them in a hurry to get somewhere, it can start to feel a little overwhelming at times. This is why most theme parks give you a map to help guide your footsteps.
When visiting the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN for the first time, I also had to stop several times to look at the display map. I was grateful to find a big star on the map with the words, “YOU ARE HERE!” Knowing where I was, in relationship to everything else around me, allowed me to get my bearings and be able to navigate successfully in what is known as the largest mall in the United States.
Have you ever stopped to ask yourself, “Where Am I?” When I ask that question, I’m referring to where you are in your life at this time. Have you ever stopped to take a good look around you and assess if it’s really where you want to be? I travel almost every single week and I am dependent upon my GPS to help get me to where I need to be. As important as a set destination is, if my device can’t find where I currently am, it cannot help get me to where I ultimately want to be. Knowing where you are in life is half the battle and can help you get you to where you want to be a whole lot faster.
Are the people around you helping you to get closer to your goals or are you wasting your time with toxic dream-busters? Jim Rohn said, “You become the average sum of the five people with whom you associate.” They’ve even done studies that show that you actually earn like the top five people with whom you associate. I’m not saying you can’t be friends with everybody, but be selective with whom you spend your time. You may want to reevaluate the company that you are keeping and ask yourself, “Is this person helping me to get closer to my goals or are they taking me further away from where I ultimately want to be? Is this person an encourager or a discourager?”
If you’re a parent like me, I know that you are extremely concerned with the types of kids with whom your kids associate. Why is this? It’s because, in most cases, your children become just like the children with whom they spend the most time. At what age does this fact become irrelevant? 18? 21? It’s always true! Perhaps, a good exercise for all of us to do today is, to evaluate the people with whom we are spending the most time. Do we want to be squawking on the ground with a bunch of chickens or do we want to be soaring at great heights with eagles? Remember, birds of a feather attract each other.
What about your daily activities? A mentor of mine recently asked me to evaluate what return on investment I am currently getting with my daily activities? What is your current ROI on your time, he asked me? Are you using your time wisely or are you wasting time? Time is the most precious and valuable of all commodities. Once you give away your time, you can never get that time back. It’s gone forever! I hope you’re not reading this blog saying, “Great, I will never get this time back!” 😉 This is why, when someone gives of their time, they are truly giving of themself. It reminds me of what Les Brown once told me when he said, “My children love my gifts but what they really want is my presence.” Make time for the people and activities that are most deserving of your time.
What resources are around you that perhaps you’ve overlooked? At the Pan-American Exposition in 1901 in Buffalo, New York, a man was shot two times. He was a heavyset man and was older in his years. The doctors rushed him into the First Aid tent and immediately began surgery to extract the bullets from his body. The medical team was able to extract the first bullet but could not, for the life of their patient, find the second bullet. They were forced to sew him back-up knowing he would soon die. The gangrene had already began to set in. The man ended up dying seven days later…And this is how President William McKinley, the president of the United States of America, was assassinated. Unbeknownst to the doctors who operated on the Commander in Chief in that tent, was the fact that just feet away from them sat the world’s first, fully-functioning, x-ray machine. They could’ve found that second bullet if they’d only been able to maximize where they were and the resources that surrounded them. Sometimes all you need to do is to stop where you are, assess the situation, see what resources are around you, make sure you’re surrounded by quality people, have a goal, and start moving your feet.
President William McKinley moments before he was assassinated.
Today’s assignment is to figure out your current location and decide whether it’s where you want to be. If you are unsatisfied with where you are right now, then enter a new desired location into your GPS for success. Start taking massive action today toward that new destination and don’t stop until you get there. You must persist without exception. Time is of the essence. This is YOUR life we are talking about. This is YOUR time! You got this!
