In 2011 and beyond...

Like many of you, I too have been contemplating on my personal aspirations for this new year.  Probably more than ever, I desire to design my "dream" life by taking ownership and responsibility for my life.  Too many of us have been told "what happens-happens", but I'm here to say or maybe reinforce--that we have the freedom and the ability to choose or design our life.  Many times resolutions have been limited to eliminating things from our lives.  As we walk into our local Barnes or Borders it's quite obvious by the 90 something percent of new years resolutions being targeted towards losing weight.  Starting this year, I want to rid myself of High Fructose Corn Syrup and fried meats--which are both not good for our health.  But, what if our focus was more on what we wanted to obtain rather than what we wanted to lose?  I'm deciding that I want to become more healthy, physically.  So, naturally I'm going to begin changing my habits of eating, drinking, sleeping and exercising.  This here just touches a little on only one area of our lives--the physical.

What do you want?  What are your aspirations?  Rather than just going on a diet, let's get more healthy.  Rather than just focusing on getting out of debt, let's choose to become wealthy.  Rather than doing things alone, let's choose to partner with God.

This year and beyond, let us begin creating our "dream" life!!

Happy New Year to you all,
Jason

"...in dreams awake."

 

A few months ago I read this wonderful book called The Dream Manager, written by Matthew Kelly.  The website of The Dream Manager describes the book as "a business parable about how companies can achieve extraordinary results by helping their employees fulfill their dreams."  The author then encourages every reader to take the time to jot down one hundred dreams.  Here below are one hundred of my dreams...

1. Minister with my wife.  2. Own a house with a wrap around porch and a beautifully landscaped yard.  3. Author many practical books that transform minds.  4. Help to lead family, friends and others into prosperous, victorious lives.  5. Inspire people to live their lives abundantly.  6. Encourage people to dream more, and help them reach their dreams.  7. Take a cross-country train trip with my wife.  8. Learn to play the piano and/or guitar.  9. Have family reunions, at least once a year.  10. Visit the homes of people like John G. Lake and Smith Wigglesworth.  11. See Billy Graham.  12. Have children.  13. Give each of my children a car when they turn sixteen.  14. Teach my children to value and manage money and also create lots of it.  15. Create a financial legacy for my children.  16. Help each of my children to buy a house of their own and not have to waste money renting.  17. Create inventions.  18. See the day when "cancer" is a disease of the past.  19. To become a millionaire.  20. Have multiple streams of passive income.  21. Travel the World.  22. Go to every State of the U.S. and every Continent of the World.  23. Own an iPad.  24. Own an iPhone.  25. Live for a long time.  26. Own a keyboard with piano keys.  27. Have my teeth whitened and straightened.  28. Learn about photography.  29. Own a classic car of the fifties.  30. Give my wife an art room.  31. Own multiple houses in different parts of the World.  32. Take a father/son trip with my Dad.  33. Attend a John C. Maxwell seminar.  34. Have an in-home library.  35. Have a home theater.  36. Meet and encourage U.S. Presidents and other World leaders.  37. Be a dream-encouraging father to my children.  38. Own a kayak.  39. See the Grand Canyon.  40. Go camping in Yellow Stone National Park.  41. Do my part in the eliminating of World poverty and transformation of the economy within families, neighborhoods, cities, and so forth.  42. Meet and get prayer from Charles and Frances Hunter.  43. Meet Benny Hinn.  44. See Oprah.  45. Visit where my grandmother lived in England and possibly purchase the home she lived in.  46. Give a copy of the books I like to family members.  47. Lead a value for life movement with my wife.  48. Experience the "restoration" of the Earth as the Bible talks about.  49. The ability to recognize the voice and presence of God in every area of my life.  50. See a limb of someones body grow back.  51. Go up in a hot air balloon.  52. Record a CD with my wife.  53. Visit the "7 wonders of the World".  54. See the largest waterfalls on the Earth.  55. Stay in some of the finest and most expensive hotels in the World.  56. Own cutting-edge clothes.  57. For unity, love and peace to come among the churches, races and nations.  58. Go see the Amazon Forest.  59. Buy a brand new BMW with cash.  60. Give thousands and thousands of dollars to worthy causes.  61. Learn Hebrew and Greek.  62. Spend a Summer in Europe.  63. Own a boat or yacht.  64. Raise someone from the dead(Christ in me, the hope of glory).  65. Take a safari in the jungles of Africa.  66. To create time and financial freedom.  67. Be completely debt-free.  68. Take frequent trips to major cities.  69. See family, anytime.  70. Go to a Mutemath concert.  71. Have fruit trees in the yard of our house.  72. Buy my wife a Mini Cooper.  73. The freedom and resources to purchase and enjoy quality clothes and jewelry.  74. Own beautiful and quality furniture.  75. Have a garden.  76. Own musical instruments and home decor from all over the World.  77. Go sailing.  78. Go horse back riding with my wife.  79. Have a workout room.  80. To be more in touch with the supernatural.  81. Own a beach house.  82. Own a river house.  83. Own a mountain house.  84. Own a pool table.  85. Have a very large VHS, DVD, Blue Ray movie collection.  86. Own and display World art masterpieces.  87. Have a pool.  88. Have a yearly tithe of $100,000.00.  89. For signs, wonders and miracles to be a natural part of my life.  90. To be even more free, friendly and outgoing.  91. To have the endorsements of people like Bill Johnson, John C. Maxwell and Robert Kiyosaki for the books that I will write.  92. Become a well studied and profitable financial investor.  93. Become a "Black Diamond" in the MonaVie business.  94. Hear Robert Kiyosaki and Donald Trump live.  95. See my friends and family living out their dreams.  96. Go to Tahiti and stay in one of those huts on the water.  97. Stay in the Plaza Hotel that was on the Home Alone movie.  98. Take a family vacation to New York during Thanksgiving.  99. Go to The Mall of America.  100. Inspire people everywhere that I go.

 As the late American author, poet and philosopher Henry David Thoreau declares, "Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake."

I'd like to conclude this posting by encouraging you all to take some time for yourself and write out one hundred dreams. They can be small, big, or seemingly "impossible".  It may even take you sometime to complete the list, but push through it--you're worth it.  As for now I'd like your participation in sharing with me ten of those dreams--right here in the comment box.  I'm excited to hear from you!!

Necessary changes...

   Albert Einstein once said--"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results".  Yet, how many of us have heard--even spoken that quote, and still haven't really made it our goal to make the necessary changes to create for ourselves the results we desire?  I've heard it said--and I think it originates from Life Coaches and Financial Advisers--that we should look far into the future, imagine the life we want to be living or the legacy we want to leave, and then work backwards to plan our life accordingly.  That makes perfect sense--and without a target in mind, we're sure to never reach it or hit it!!

  

  It's really easy to spend most of our days merely "living life"--aka sleeping, going to work, eating, paying the bills, maybe watching a movie, going to bed, and then doing it all over again the next day all while barely getting by.  Here's a perfect visual of what that looks like...

  Wait, though!! :)  We deserve more than that, and we're capable of having and doing so much more!  But, we have to do something different.  I have to do something different.  You have to do something different.  In order that you and I can have something different.  Are you willing?  I know that I am!!  According to Eleanor Roosevelt--"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."  I personally believe that's where it all begins--having a dream or dreams and making the needed changes to create our future.  In the words of Les Brown, "If you take responsibility for yourself you will develop a hunger to accomplish your dreams."  So, let's take responsibility for ourselves and create the life we desire. 

  I dream of getting off that wheel, living out all my dreams, and creating a better life for my family, friends and the world around me--and I will.  I'm not a survivor, but rather one that thrives!!  :)  How about you?  I'm deciding to make some changes--as small as some of those changes might seem--like canceling my $30 a month wireless texting plan just for example.  In the famous words of the Author of The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness, Dave Ramsey--"Live like no one else so later you can live like no one else!"  For me it's not merely for the sake of cutting back, but for the sake of getting ahead and staying ahead!!  So, it's my plan and my ambition to cut back financially, be able to pay all my bills--on time, and have more free money to work with to start making investments into mine and my family's future.  Who's with me!!?


  For your reading pleasure and a small investment into your financial future...

 

My first post...

Well as I've already said--this is my first blog, and I hope that it will be the first of many more to follow. I think I have much to share(or give), and I want to give. One of my desires or dreams is to inspire and spread hope to the world around me. I would encourage everyone to dream more and be optimistic about life. A quote I've heard and liked recently is, "I am the master of my fate, and the captain of my soul." Sure, there's the potential of being disappointed when we hope--but without a dream, we're sure to not be as happy as we could be. I would love to travel the world--and I will. I would love to write books--and I will. I love love love hope and dreams, and I'm sure to talk more about that later. For now, I'm gonna change gears...

Wow!! So, as of today I am exactly two weeks away from becoming a married man! I am embarking onto a journey that I've never taken before, a life-long journey may I add. I've been asked the question quite a few times lately--"are you getting nervous?" I believe my answer to be "no". I'm excited about this new chapter, with who I know to be my life-partner. The woman that God has brought to me is a beautiful and bright one, and I am happy to have chosen her. There's no other like her--to me and for me at least. We live by many of the same values and have a lot of the same dreams for the future. I look forward to our life together...

Men especially, but not excluding women all probably want to know--"do I have what it takes?" The past few months have been an interesting season for me. Good, I should add! With being engaged to be married, thoughts about finances--and desiring to be an excellent provider for my wife-to-be, as well as our future children. Another quote I've recently learned--"to get comfortable, we must first get uncomfortable". Like anyone else, I desire deeper connection with friends, family and my spouse-to-be, but the vulnerability and intimacy that it involves isn't always fun--when it's a fairly new experience, and kinda scary. I've picked up a popular book entitled "Wild At Heart" and I encourage everyone to read it. The main message to me--is that we all have what it takes and we can live a full and courageous life, if we so choose...