 So tell me: What did you dream about last night? Did you dream? I’m sure you did; we all dream. However, most of us don’t remember our dreams. Forgetting last night’s dream is truly a forgettable event. However, forgetting your Life’s Dream? Well, that’s another story altogether. So, in an effort to rekindle your dreamy thoughts, in today’s Dare I offer two short poems to reawaken, revitalize, and restore your superior sense of what can be. Yes: If you can dream it, the possibilities are here (and there) to achieve it. But like the daylight, daily tasks, and daily drama following each night’s sleep, our dreams are often replaced by the hustle and bustle of the “real world.” Today’s post is a reMINDer that your Life’s Dream is as much a part of the “real world” as are your shoes; your socks; your breakfast; your lunch; your email; this blog, and anything else that works its way into that mind of yours. In fact, I would argue that YOUR Life’s Dream is actually a bigger part of YOUR reality than all the other stuff combined. Combined? Yes. And here’s why: Your Life’s Dream is a thought, an idea, and a creation that has been established by the creator that is you. All of that other stuff is the result of someone else’s Life Dreams. And for “them,” and their respective Life’s Dream… life has become a dream come true. Indeed, we are all “living the dream.” The only question is, “Whose dream is it?” This amazing thing called the television is the result of someone’s dream. The movies and sitcoms on TV are the result of someone else’s dream. The simple but amazing concept of a mobile (cell) phone originated in someone’s head some time ago. Your cell phone, your clothes, and the town in which you live… They are all the result of someone’s dream. Interestingly enough, your cell phone, your clothes, and the town in which you live are also the result of YOUR specific dreams. Yes, despite the fact that all those things were created by other people, the one fact that integrates all of them is the fact that each of those things are connected to and by only one specific person: you. You own the dream that has come to be your life. Do you love the dream? If so, keep dreaming, my friend. On the other hand, if you DON’T like the dream you are currently living… Then change the script. How? Simply acquire the faith, fearlessness, and fundamental belief that your (new) dream can come to true. If you seek to acquire the faith, fearlessness, and fundamental belief that your dream CAN come true, there is a significant likelihood that your dream WILL come true. Seeking to acquire the faith of which I speak is a very simple task. But “simple” and “easy” are vastly different descriptors. After all, it’s rarely easy to stare failure in the face, learn from it, and then move on. And yet, Thomas Edison “failed” hundreds of times before succeeding with his invention called the commercial light bulb. Regarding failure, Edison is quoted as saying: "After we had conducted thousands of experiments on a certain project without solving the problem, one of my associates, after we had conducted the crowning experiment and it had proved a failure, expressed discouragement and disgust over our having failed to find out anything. I cheerily assured him that we had learned something. For we had learned for a certainty that the thing couldn't be done that way, and that we would have to try some other way." Edison’s dream came true, but not without significant faith, work, and faith in his work. In one of my all-time favorite speeches, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., proclaimed:
Dr. King’s dream is an ideal just shy of perfection. And though perfection is something that can never be fully realized, Dr. King’s dream has certainly brought us much closer to forming a “more perfect union.” And then there’s this thing called fearlessness… Ah, to be fearless. Me? After being bitten by a couple of dogs (and having the scars to prove it), and seeing a few people attacked by “friendly” dogs, I tend to be somewhat apprehensive and anxious around dogs. Am I fearful of dogs? Well… not FULL of fear, no. But I have my firm reservations. So, what does one do to overcome fear? The popular answer to this question is “get more courage.” However, courage is not the answer to combating fear. The answer may surprise you. The answer is simple. The answer might not be easy… But it’s already in you. The answer is to simply “increase your faith.” If and when you increase your faith, fear becomes an unrelated aspect of your dreams. And when fear is removed from the pursuit of your dream, there is automatically more room, more time, and more energy to invest in transforming your dreams to goals… and then those goals into plans… and then those plans into actions… And the next thing ya’ know… YOUR actions facilitate “a dream come true.” But it all starts with YOUR dream… and YOUR fundamental belief that YOUR dream can come to fruition. And if it can, it will…. But you, my friend, must first wake up from the daily drudgery of living someone else’s dream. One last point: - Fear is created AND destroyed in the same place: your mind. Below are two AWEsome poems that, when fully understood, embraced, and established within the creator that is you… will ignite your dream machine and launch a renewed vigor toward YOUR life’s dream. The poems speak for themselves, but I will add one small comment: It’s all about YOU. But tell me: What’s your role in your soul, your goal, and for whom the bell tolls?  POEM #1: "The Winds of Fate" Ella Wheeler Wilcox ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ One ship drives east and another drives west with the selfsame winds that blow. 'Tis the set of the sails, and not the gales, that tell us the way to go. Like the winds of the sea are the ways of fate as we voyage along through life... 'Tis the set of a soul that decides its goal, ...and not the calm or the strife.  POEM #2: “Follow Your Dreams” Bruce Wilmer ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ If while pursuing distant dreams, your bright hopes turn to gray. Don't wait for reassuring words or hands to lead the way. For seldom will you find a soul with dreams the same as yours. Not often will another help you pass through untried doors. If inner forces urge you to take a course unknown, Be ready to go all the way... yes, all the way alone. That's not to say you shouldn't draw lessons from the best; Just don't depend on lauding words to spur you on your quest. Find confidence within your heart, and let it be your guide. Strive ever harder toward your dreams, and they won't be denied. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Today, I dare you: ~ Follow YOUR Dreams ~ Accept. Adapt. Achieve! ®  John H. Clark III is an optimistic realist. He believes better development of leaders is what we (all) need. And to be better organizations, we need more good leaders, not followers. To build better leaders, we must start with the individual (you, she, he, and me). Described as “an innovative leader,” John teaches leaders, organizations, and individuals how to inspire each other. With a bold goal to inspire a worldwide community of optimistic realists who continuously accept, adapt to, and achieve the bold and beautiful concept of The Ideal Life, John is leading a movement to inspire people to apply his trademarked mantra {Accept. Adapt. Achieve! ®}. An innovative business manager and retired naval officer, John is fascinated by leaders and organizations that make the greatest impact within their organizational culture and within the “real” world — people who “get it.” Over the course of his life as a military leader, corporate mentor, and innovative content creator, John has discovered a wealth of insight about how we think, act and communicate within our respective work/life environments. As a career naval officer, mentor, educator, and optimistic realist, he has devoted his life to sharing insights to assist in our quests to become better at what we all do – live @ work! An optimist with a penchant for writing about realistic solutions to the challenges of everyday life, John is the author of 3 books: a leadership-development insider, "The Ideal: Your guide to An Ideal Life," a teen-focused guide, "Getting Out: Expert Advice for Today’s Teens," and the Christian-based book, "God’s Heartbeat: A Powerful Premise for Leading a Christian Life." He delivers a unique and refreshing point of view to life's seemingly overwhelming situations. Through books, blogs, and everyday conversation, John's message resonates with an empowering blend of ideals that enrich, uplift, and “authorize” people to set and achieve goals far beyond current mindsets. His trademarked phrase is a winner:   Ahhh… the stock market. What is this place of so much prestige, power, and peculiar pangs of price, probability, and prized payments? I’ll tell you what it is: one big, fat, lie. Or is it? In a nutshell, the stock market is a place where belief not only outmaneuvers reality; it’s also a place where belief actually CREATES an entirely different realm of reality. In psychiatry, when one creates a different realm of reality, that person is said to be psychotic, or at least having an episode of psychosis. And yet, there we were in 2008, witnessing the historic downfall of our splendid financial systems: billion-dollar banks were being swallowed up by other bigger-billion-dollar-banks; governments crammed subsequent billions of bucks into the commercial marketplace; and the stock market inspired yet another break from reality. How does this continually happen? Why does it repeatedly occur? And what does the stock market have to do with you, he, she, and me anyway? Quite simply, the stock market is a place where, if enough people think, believe, and act like a stock is worth more (or less) than it is currently valued, then (guess what?) the stock is worth more (or less) than what it is currently valued. If more people desire said stock, the price of that stock goes up. And if more people desire to get rid of that same stock, the price goes down. Now this may be a simplistic explanation of the stock market, given the vast sums of money that flow through the various world exchanges on a daily basis. Nonetheless, it is an accurate description (except for the fact that billion-dollar hedge funds contort the market and actually usurp and undermine the marketplace concept – but that’s for another blog, on another day). So, ask yourself: What happens if and when people are wrong? What happens when people think the stock will appreciate in price, but it subsequently goes down? And vice versa: What happens when people speculate on a decrease in the price of a stock, but the value of the stock actually goes up? Quite simply: one person’s loss is another person’s gain. Therein lies the magic of making money in the market. It’s all based on the outcome. Or, more specifically, it’s based on the outcome of the person who gains the most benefits from the trade. But let’s not forget one critically important fact: Regardless of the outcome, the entire transaction started with an expressions of individual BELIEF. And, truth be told, if enough people simply believed that all the stocks were worthless, every stock would become worthless. If enough people believed the American, Australian, or Canadian dollars were worthless, each of those currencies would immediately become worthless. FACT: Our financial system is based almost entirely on faith. Likewise, the same is true of life outside the world’s stock markets. Right where you are sitting or standing, your ultimate outcome is heavily influenced by your very own beliefs. “Outcome to what?” you may ask. Well, that’s your question to answer. My purpose is to provide you with yet one more Dare. And today, I dare you to… Accept Your Fate. In fact, as we build on Dare #1 through Dare #7 and begin moving toward a higher sense of self, and as I dare you to Accept Your Fate, I am also asking you to get a little crazy and give yourself a break from reality. Yes: join me as we go through our very own path of psychosis. Don’t worry… this won’t hurt a bit. But like the various stock markets (which seems to control the world), this little journey will, indeed, require your profound ability to sincerely believe what I am sharing with you. [And, by the way, in case you haven’t noticed, we have already inculcated ourselves in daily rituals of psychosis, or “breaks from reality.” We now afford ourselves a break from reality every time we tune in to the television, turn on our favorite radio station, or scroll through the smooth little screen on our smartphone (not really “here,” but “there”; not really “there,” nor “here”). And if you don't think this type of behavior is at least a little bit crazy, then you might want to double-back to the last challenge (Dare #7) and “Know Your G.P.A.”] But I digress; we were discussing my dare to Accept Your Fate. I guarantee you: regardless of what you have been told about this word “fate,” today is the day it gains a better meaning for you and for everyone who knows you. This little four-lettered word has so much meaning, and yet it remains mired in so much misunderstanding. To be clear: the textbook definition of “fate” centers on the idea that life is (somehow) predetermined. And perhaps it is. But for me, the word "fate" is a very specific algorithm for achieving blissful balance. And in a connected, yet seemingly disconnected world of, shall we say, wonderful people, I find myself using this algorithm more and more with each passing day. As an author, I am an avid wordsmith. And I enjoy some words more than others. The word “fate” has allowed me to set my daily sights upon a belief that has literally changed the world. I’m not worried about being redundant. So, for emphasis, I will repeat that last sentence: This word “fate” has allowed me to set my sights upon a belief that has literally changed the world. Yes: this one little word has changed the world. For you see, (like the two previous dares), FATE is an acronym: ~ Faithfulness And Thankfulness Everyday ~ Notice the insistence of these four separate yet integrated words: || FAITHFULNESS || When you are faithful, you are not just full of faith toward your committed ideal. You are actually devoid of hopelessness toward the same. You literally have no room for decreased commitment; you are all in on what you believe. The question is: To what are you committed? What are you full of? || AND || Yes, this little word “and” is a very important part of the acronym FATE. No matter where you go or what you do, there is at least one other person who needs you… or who YOU will need. Period. Moreover, You are not just You. By the mere act of reading this, You are now You **and** Me. By my sharing of this essay and its precepts across Facebook, LinkedIn, and several other sites… for days, weeks, moths, and perhaps years to come, You and this newly defined interpretation of FATE are now linked with untold other readers. It is the AND that makes us THIS (whatever “this” may be). It is the AND that makes You much more than who you were. It is also what makes our human problems global, if not universal. || THANKFULNESS || Of course, the simple definition of thankfulness is “full of thanks.” A better definition is found in the act of being “expressive with gratitude.” After all, being thankful is not just about saying, “Thank you,” and then moving on. Being thankful is more about “being the thank you” and then passing it on in the form of being a more appreciative You. And, much like faithfulness, when you are full of thanks -- when you are BEING the thank you -- there’s very little room for any action that is remotely dissimilar or opposite to the action of a person who lives a life of gratitude. I’ll try to be overtly clear: ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ When we are thankful, there is absolutely no room for apathy toward our fellow humans; no room for criticism concerning **our** Creator’s creatures; not enough space for dishonoring our friends and enemies; no extra leeway to disregard human rights; no spare contempt for disrespecting different tribes; no ready reservoir for hatred to be hurled across the aisle, street, or kitchen table; no excess capability for issuing ignorance in place of insight; no idle time for exhibiting indifference to known injustices; no unused hate to fuel insensitivity to the less (or more) fortunate; and certainly no extra room for an overall misunderstanding of men and women by other respective men or women. Take a step back intellectually, and a step forward spiritually to realize that, when we are full of thanks, we are empty of enmity, because we are far too busy counting our blessings, showing our light, and increasing the value of our personal stock. || EVERYDAY || And finally, the last word of this powerful acronym is a tall but accessible timetable for you to follow. I won’t belabor this straightforward point of expectation except to say this: When the day for which you are less than thankful arrives, your fate might already be sealed. So… what is my overall point? After all, I started this essay with a nod toward the stock market, and wound up asking you to commit a tiny but powerful acronym to memory. FATE: Faithfulness And Thankfulness Everyday! (As an author, I tend to be a bit wordy. On the bright side, this post is free! You don’t have to spend cold hard cash buying any of my books!) Anyway… here’s my point: In the final analysis, our existing prosperity is not based entirely upon what we have, but rather on what we believe. To wit, the smartest person in the world is actually senseless without a firm belief in self - and a true application of that belief. These days, it seems most people equate prosperity to economic wealth. Yet, the wealthiest person in the world is not the one who has the most money, it is the person who is fulfilled by the four corners of self. Interestingly, in Latin, the word “prosperity” has the root words of “fortune” and “hope.” So… to be prosperous is to be “fortunate and full of hope.” Are you, he, she, and me actually fortunate? Yes. And if you’re not, flip the switch and watch your fortunes turn. This is to say that, in reality, when we appreciate certain things, those same things ultimately appreciate in value – to us. Thus, we are as fortunate as we are thankful; if we can somehow be continuously thankful, we can more easily see just how fortunate we really are. And if you are grateful for every moment - including the (perceived) good, bad, and ugly moments, then you are most appreciative, most grateful, and most fortunate. Perceptions are most important because, in the reality of today (now - this very moment), there is neither good nor bad… except for how YOU define it and plan to leverage it in the very near future. And that brings us to the little thing called hope… a parallel to “faith.” Faith is the substance of things hoped for. It is the assurance of things not seen. And the truth of the matter is: Going forward, everything is not (yet) seen. So again, the central question is, “What do YOU think; what do YOU believe?” More precisely, “What do you CHOOSE to believe?” If everything forward is unseen (and it is, indeed, ALL unseen and unknown), shouldn’t we CHOOSE to be prosperous – full of thanks and appreciation for what was - and full of hope for what can be? To choose anything else is proactively setting up our personal stock for future failure. Instead of setting our personal stock up for failure, let’s invest ourselves wisely: Every single day, we must be full of faith toward our commitments. Every single day, we must be full of thanks. Actually, we must BE the thanks. If we can do this, we can truly begin to accept our FATE. Accepting such a FATE is perhaps more simplistic than easy. It’s not easy having faith in me, this writer whom you don’t even know… Moreover, it’s not easy having faith in… …your president, prime minister, or powerful political opponent… …these liberals… those conservatives… …this neighbor whom we do not know… …this neighbor whom we might not love. But if we could somehow extend a little faithfulness AND a little thankfulness, every single day, I believe we would all do well to accept just such a fate. Dare I say: We could very well predetermine our very own glorious global fate. Today, I dare you: Accept Your FATE.   John H. Clark III is an optimistic realist. He believes better development of leaders is what we (all) need. And to be better organizations, we need more good leaders, not followers. To build better leaders, we must start with the individual (you, she, he, and me). Described as “an innovative leader,” John teaches leaders, organizations, and individuals how to inspire each other. With a bold goal to inspire a worldwide community of optimistic realists who continuously accept, adapt to, and achieve the bold and beautiful concept of The Ideal Life, John is leading a movement to inspire people to apply his trademarked mantra {Accept. Adapt. Achieve! ®}. An innovative business manager and retired naval officer, John is fascinated by leaders and organizations that make the greatest impact within their organizational culture and within the “real” world — people who “get it.” Over the course of his life as a military leader, corporate mentor, and innovative content creator, John has discovered a wealth of insight about how we think, act and communicate within our respective work/life environments. As a career naval officer, mentor, educator, and optimistic realist, he has devoted his life to sharing insights to assist in our quests to become better at what we all do – live @ work!  An optimist with a penchant for writing about realistic solutions to the challenges of everyday life, John is the author of 3 books: a leadership-development insider, "The Ideal: Your guide to An Ideal Life," a teen-focused guide, "Getting Out: Expert Advice for Today’s Teens," and the Christian-based book, "God’s Heartbeat: A Powerful Premise for Leading a Christian Life." He delivers a unique and refreshing point of view to life's seemingly overwhelming situations. Through books, blogs, and everyday conversation, John's message resonates with an empowering blend of ideals that enrich, uplift, and “authorize” people to set and achieve goals far beyond current mindsets. His trademarked phrase is a winner:   January is gone. And, for most people, so, too, are those awesome resolutions that were made in the first week of the New Year. Some resolutions live on to see another month. Some resolutions didn’t make it past the first week of the year. Today, I offer a much better way to achieve your life goals. Today, I offer a different spin on a well-known acronym: the G.P.A. How long has it been since you thought about your G.P.A.? Today, I ask you to view your G.P.A. as a forward-looking model of success. Instead of reflecting on your grade point average, your new G.P.A. now reflects your goals, plans, and actions. In fact, if you can finish this extended post discussing my latest Dare, you will find a guarantee that will help you reach your goals without using antiquated resolutions. As an appropriate segue into the New Year, I’d like to reach back into one of my previously published pathways and offer two specific recommendations on HOW to view, create, and respond to significant changes in life: 1. Live in daytight compartments; and 2. Be persistent, optimistic, and realistic for a mere 40 days. In reality, your life is actually one specific event. However… The earth rotates on its axis, creating concepts we have been taught to refer to as day and night. Similarly, the earth orbits the sun, creating the concept we have been taught to refer to as seasons. We, mankind, have taken our long, lovely lives and divided those lives into segments according to rotations of the earth itself… and annual revolutions of the earth around the sun. Of course, you already know this. But do you realize the awesome power of using these known concepts to literally change your life? Do you understand the fact that day and night don’t really exist? Do you understand that day and night are just concepts that we have been taught to see, believe, and know how to use in the one, big, long life that we have been given? Obviously, we will never convince the rest of the world that day and night are mere concepts. However, we can use those same concepts as a foundational framework of focused transformation… the context for real, substantive change. We can use the mere concepts of day and night to help us realize that life, as one specific event, can actually be viewed as thousands of connected components. Each of these linked components, (connected only by you - and no one else), is actually interdependently created by you and others. This concept of interdependence must be fully understood before grappling with a major change to an ideal life. Interdependence recognizes the truth in each position and weaves them together. Why is this concept of interdependence so important to the concept of The Ideal? Moreover, what does interdependence have to do with day and night? And how can this concept get you to The Ideal life? The answer to each of these questions is based on the fact that your past has the potential to have almost nothing to do with your future. This fact is actually a double-edge sword. In other words, disconnecting your past from your future can be a good thing or a bad thing for you. You could have been a millionaire last year, and end up financially bankrupt tomorrow. Likewise, you could have been the picture of perfect health last night, and end up on life support in the hospital emergency room sometime next week. It’s true: Literally and figuratively, you could be flat on your back today, and, yet, standing tall just a few short weeks from now. Stranger things have happened. So what’s my point? Though connected by the long life that is you, each one of your individually lived days is totally different, dissimilar, divergent, diverse, and distinctive. You will never have the same day as today. In fact, every single one of your days is so dramatically different and distinctive from the others… it is literally impossible to have the same day twice. Accordingly, each day is a vast ocean of opportunity, unlike anything you have ever seen. Regardless of what opportunities you think you may have missed yesterday, last month, last year, or several years ago… today is so much better than yesterday. Today is the day you accept, adapt, and begin to creatively achieve the framework that goes far beyond the concept of day and night. Today is the day you take a step back, look at your life, and realize a powerful point of truth. There are no days, nights, hours, or minutes; we have been simply taught to live according to the calendar, clock, and watch. And though the calendar, clock, and watch may appear to measure something called time, the only time that has ever existed is now. The only time that will ever exist is now. Accordingly, I urge you to actually leverage the calendar, watch, and clock to measure how well you treasure the most valuable asset you will ever have: NOW. How? First and foremost, you must understand that, regardless of whether or not you like or agree with what “is,” sooner or later you will have to accept the reality of it. By crossing the threshold from denial to acceptance, you can begin to adapt to almost any event. Remember: to adapt is “to change.” To successfully adapt, we must first accept and understand that change is inevitable. And when something is inevitable, it is literally unstoppable. Better yet… It is also PREDICTABLE… Change will occur. If, then, you cannot work to stop change, why not learn how to make change work for you? More importantly, why not increase the likelihood of creating a successful change event by focusing on changing just your self? Use this transition of a New Year to endeavor to stop trying to change other people and their respective perspectives. Instead, focus on finding a philosopher to help seed your desired change. Think about it: This world is filled with a wealth of experience. Some of those experiences occurred last week and last year. Some of those experiences occurred hundreds of years ago. Sir Isaac Newton published notes on many of his brilliant and world-changing experiences, as did Plato, Socrates, Niccolò Machiavelli, Epicurus, Marcus Aurelius, and one of my personal favorites, Jesus of Nazareth. Each of these great philosophers left a profound mark on the world by publicly stating and sharing their respective philosophies. Yet their published works will go unseen, unread, and unappreciated by most people. Despite having a prolific and terrific sense of seemingly supernatural wisdom, these philosophers and many of their teachings will go unnoticed by the vast majority of people. Why? Time and time again, I hear pessimistic people say, “There is no instruction book for life.” Yet, these same people do not seek the instructions of some of the wisest sages who ever walked the earth. In reality, the aforementioned philosophers were more than just wise men; they were mighty mental mentors, immensely informed intellectuals, and tremendously talented teachers. Don’t blindly follow, swallow, or hollow out your own life-learned knowledge. However, once you find your philosopher, use his or her philosophy as a seed to grow your own philosophical garden. By using other philosophies to grow your own viewpoint, you will quickly learn what may have taken years for other philosophers to yearn, learn, and discern. More importantly, by considering other philosophies, you will not only help shape your priorities and presentations, you will also become a lover of wisdom… You will actually become a true philosopher (a lover of knowledge). In the final analysis, we cannot escape the clock, calendar, and continuous watching of the watch on our wrist. Accordingly, as we look to the New Year and our chosen philosopher to follow, I’d like to offer two specific examples of advice on HOW to view any significant change in your life: 1. Live in day-tight compartments. As the Scottish essayist Thomas Carlyle once said, “Our grand business undoubtedly is, not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.” William Osler took that concept one step further and boiled it down to five little words: live in day-tight compartments. Or, quite simply, “Yesterday has absolutely nothing to do with today.” If you plan to use the new calendar to mark the date, time, and place of the “New You,” remember one important corollary: The New You is (also) created every minute of every day of this great New Year. And if Day 40 Day 140, or Day 240 should happen to reveal a disappointing new start, have the confidence to know that Day 45 and any other day in this New Year (like the first night of this year), will usher in a whole new set of awesome opportunities. 2. Be persistent, optimistic, and realistic in your efforts... for a mere 40 days. I consider myself to be an Optimistic Realist. Accordingly, I tend to be positive and practical when it comes to setting goals. The optimism provides the confidence to effectively deal with a media-infested world of woe. And the realist helps keep me from creating grandiose illusions of grandeur when it comes to setting personal and professional goals. More to the point: Social scientists have long stated that habits take approximately 30 days to take hold of you and your self (it seems that our habits control us; we don’t necessarily control them… or do we?). So… Before you take a great stake and claim victory over the next 365 days, I will share one super-powerful parallelism among Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, and Jewish beliefs: 40 Days. Yes… 40 Days. According to the Gospels, Jesus the Christ fasted in the desert for exactly 40 days and 40 nights, and was tempted by the devil. Buddha also fasted for exactly 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness and was tempted by a great evil spirit. Similarly, in the accounts of Islam, Muhammad is reported to have been praying and fasting in a cave for 40 days. In Judaism, rain fell for 40 days and 40 nights during the Great Flood. And Moses reportedly spent three consecutive periods of 40 days and 40 nights on Mount Sinai. Perhaps most interesting… All these historical accounts appear to be about renewal amidst temptation... or temptation amidst renewal, something of which we are ALL familiar, especially on this last of the last and first of the first (days of the two respective years). So… There seems to be great historical, if not supernatural, support for the possibility that 40 Days is a perfect timeframe in which to change your point of view. Actually, perhaps I should re-phrase the previous line to something more accurate: There seems to be great historical, if not supernatural, support for the possibility that 40 CONSECUTIVE Days is a perfect timeframe in which to change your point of view. Accordingly, today I dare you to resolve to be consistent in applying your GPA: Know your GOALS... Create the PLANS to support those goals... And put forth consistent ACTIONS toward those plans. In reverse: if you commit the effort to take the actions to complete the plans and achieve the goals... those goals are guaranteed to be achieved. Guaranteed? Yes: money-back guarantee. Of course: it is YOUR time… And time IS money, yes? Actually, time is much more valuable than money. One can usually borrow money. Time? Use it once… and it’s gone… forever. Thus, today I encourage you to invest your time to... 1) Dream your dreams; 2) Set goals towards achieving those dreams; 3) Create specific plans to achieve those goals; and 4) Act to complete those plans; invoke your power daily. 2021 is just one short paragraph away from being "The Year of You." This time, let's not focus on a resolution or two. Let's make every day count towards this year's goals. Let's make a plan to achieve those goals. And let's make every action directly or tangentially related to each one of our plans. Indeed… It’s all about YOU. But tell me: What’s your role in your soul, your goal, and for whom the bell tolls? Today, I dare you: ~ Know Your GPA ~ Accept. Adapt. Achieve! ® ============================ Want the next dare delivered to your inbox? Click here to join John's mailing list ============================  John H. Clark III is an optimistic realist. He believes better development of leaders is what we (all) need. And to be better organizations, we need more good leaders, not followers. To build better leaders, we must start with the individual (you, she, he, and me). Described as “an innovative leader,” John teaches leaders, organizations, and individuals how to inspire each other. With a bold goal to inspire a worldwide community of optimistic realists who continuously accept, adapt to, and achieve the bold and beautiful concept of The Ideal Life, John is leading a movement to inspire people to apply his trademarked mantra {Accept. Adapt. Achieve! ®}. An innovative business manager and retired naval officer, John is fascinated by leaders and organizations that make the greatest impact within their organizational culture and within the “real” world — people who “get it.” Over the course of his life as a military leader, corporate mentor, and innovative content creator, John has discovered a wealth of insight about how we think, act and communicate within our respective work/life environments. As a career naval officer, mentor, educator, and optimistic realist, he has devoted his life to sharing insights to assist in our quests to become better at what we all do – live @ work! An optimist with a penchant for writing about realistic solutions to the challenges of everyday life, John is the author of 3 books: a leadership-development insider, "The Ideal: Your guide to An Ideal Life," a teen-focused guide, "Getting Out: Expert Advice for Today’s Teens," and the Christian-based book, "God’s Heartbeat: A Powerful Premise for Leading a Christian Life." He delivers a unique and refreshing point of view to life's seemingly overwhelming situations. Through books, blogs, and everyday conversation, John's message resonates with an empowering blend of ideals that enrich, uplift, and “authorize” people to set and achieve goals far beyond current mindsets. His trademarked phrase is a winner:  |
My purposeInspiring a worldwide community of optimistic realists. Archives
July 2024
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