How many of us are just going through the motions in our daily lives?

How many of us are willing to go through the journey to discover our greater purpose?

NOW, is the perfect time to start the process of kicking butt with your life! You can begin by thinking about the kind of future you want to create for yourself. I truly believe you can create, in your life, whatever it is you desire the most. Thinking and visualizing positive thoughts about whatever it is you most desire will, in time, create that which you think about and focus energy on.

“People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself.  But the self is not something one finds, it is something one creates.” Thomas Szasz

Ringing in the New Year is an extremely powerful time in my life. It is the time of year where Kristen, my wife, and I take the time to review our successes and failures, to take in the lessons learned and then apply them to our updated life design.

I started the process of brainstorming and visualizing personal goals and objectives on large pieces of paper at a very early age. Developing this kind of visual history collection of my life has become an important tool to support an understanding about how my time and energy is spent working towards what I desire the most.

“I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious effort.” Henry David Thoreau

Here is how it works:

Either by yourself or with your significant other/friend, find a couple of big pieces of paper – a paper grocery bag can work well. You may want to tape some paper together to make the surface bigger. Kristen, my wife, and I use a 4’ x 14’ piece of paper when we go through this process.

Step One

In the center of the paper write/draw “Creating My Life, My Way, Today!” If you are working with another person, have them do the same on a separate piece of paper.

Step Two

Randomly write/draw words that categorize your life activities and actions. Make sure to allow plenty of space so you can add additional details around each of your categories. Here are some examples of categories that I like to use:

• Family/Friends
• Career/Business
• Health/Physical
• Finance
• Home Environment
• Community
• Fun/Recreation
• Personal Growth

Step Three

After you have developed your categories, focus your energy and attention on each category, one at a time. Write down your ideal goals and outcomes for that category in the coming year. Take your time, writing as many aspirations as you can think of. The key is not to over think your idea. Usually the first thoughts you think of are what you truly desire. Use the same process for the remaining categories.

Step Four

Compare your Life Creating Visual with your significant other or good friend. Have each person share his or her entire visual one at a time. Next, start looking for the areas where you can support one another in achieving each other’s goals for the coming year. Make sure to talk about the challenges and success factors to achieving the goals and outcomes. Stay realistic, setting yourself up for success instead of failure.

Step Five

When you have your Life Creating Visual completed post it in a place where you can see it every day: the wall into the bathroom, your bedroom mirror; anywhere you visit and spend time thinking.  Just post it!

I know what some of you are thinking right now, “This is going to be a lot of hard work and take up a bunch of my time.” I feel the same way at times and I just don’t want to go through the hassle to do this kind of personal growth work. Guess what? I still do it, and then after all is said and done, I wonder why I even hesitated at all. Getting over the hump to create the life you want takes effort. In the end nothing could be greater than living the life you create each and every day.

“Time is the coin of your life.  It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent.  Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.” Carl Sandburg

Time is running out! How are you going to create the rest of your life?

Let me know what you think?

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create for yourself.

As an example, we all have up to three dreams each and every night. Yet, how many of us remember our three dreams. Images in your dreams use all of your imagination and are rich in symbolism. For some reason many of us block these dreams and don’t allow ourselves to experience one of the great joys of living. Daydreams and the dreams that you have when you are sleeping have the ability to communicate deep insights into our creative nature as humans. When you work to unblock your mind and start recalling your dreams and intuitively look for the meaning found in the images dreamt, you start to open a whole new path to expanding your creativity along with the power of your subconscious mind. What did you dream last night?

“Dreams are answers to questions we haven’t yet figured out how to ask.” X-Files

Because we are all made of pure creativity we can do anything we set our minds to. When we are able to understand our strengths and weaknesses we are able to hone our abilities and start building on them. Some of us are more verbal than others. Some think more linearly than others, and still others use more of their emotions to increase their creativity. The challenge is to take an honest look at yourself.

What do I really want in life?

What do I want to create for myself?

What are my greatest skills?

What abilities can I improve upon?

What creative abilities do I have that I am letting sit dormant?

A child’s mind is totally open when he or she is born. Many of us lose this openness as we move through adolescence and into adulthood. Children are learning and exploring at a hyper rate as they grow. Anything is possible and their creativity is at an all time high. Yet, somehow as time goes by they start to think that they can’t do this or that. They start thinking I can’t draw and then stop drawing. As they try new things they begin to think that their ideas might not work and therefore they don’t try them because they might look bad. All of this thinking is learned and blocks our ability to reach our full creative potential. See if you can do this for just and hour, “Let go of all negative thoughts and allow your mind to think that anything is possible. I can do this.” Your creativity will blossom right in front of you.

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours.” Henry David Thoreau

Exploring your creativity is not limited to dreaming, drawing, imagining, attitudes, and thinking. Instead, there is virtually an unlimited number of ways that you can expand and grow your creativity. Focus on understanding your natural abilities and build on them. Be who you are. No one else can be you and you can’t be anyone else. Be prepared to change. Many times everything is changing but the way we are thinking.

In our society we focus a lot of our energy on linear, logical thinking. Some of the keys to being more creative are paying attention to our intuition, expressing our emotions, and exploring new ideas visually. These non-traditional methods of thinking and being creative are exactly what today’s competitive workforce needs to have if they are going to be at the top of their game. How can we change the way we think about education and what is taught in our schools? How can we change the way we think about who we are and what we know?

Each and every one of us needs a balanced life, the balance of work life and family life, the balance of linear thinking and creative thinking, along with a balance of rest and activity.

“Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.” Robert Fulghum

It is not always easy to balance the activities in your life. Here is a little secret, “When you are using more of your creative abilities you will come closer to creating a more balanced life.” Each and every one of your creative abilities is unique to you. They make you who you are. They hold unlimited potential and cost you nothing. The time is now to unleash your creative abilities.

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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It is time to carve a new path, a path where you are willing to compromise and at the same time, being unwilling to settle for anything less than the best that possible can be.

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When you settle for something less than what is possible the result is less than what you really desire.

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When you don’t settle you come closer to setting yourself up for success instead of failure.

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Why would you settle for less that what you really desire? Is it too much work? You don’t care? You might look bad? You may have to put your ideals on the line?

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If ever there was a time in history to not settle for anything but the best you can be, it is now.

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Anything is possible, and when you believe it and live it, this thinking will manifest itself in everything you do.

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Think out-of-the-box. Questions to ask yourself: Is there another way? Why should I do it differently?  How can I do it better?

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Stay flexible. Take a risk. Take on the challenge. Show what is possible.

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Never ever give up!

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

Great leaders must be open to new ideas, empowering people to participate in making things happen. They know those people to enlist to create and manage teams in order to turn their ideas into reality.

I believe that inside of each of us is the ability to be a great leader, and at the same time I do not believe that everyone is meant to be a leader. Without followers very little would get done in our world. By being a follower you are leading through your example.

“You don’t have to hold a position in order to be a leader.” Anthony J. D’Angelo

What is it that makes people like Gandhi such great leaders? What about Boone Pickens or Arnold Schwarzenegger? Arnold started out as a leader in the world of Body Building. He went on to make some of the top grossing films of all time, and, if that were not enough, he was voted in as the Governor of California not once, but twice. This could only happen in America!

All of these people have one thing in common. They have a keen ability to understand the rules and then the extraordinary talent to do something powerful: to rewrite the rules.

You see one of the keys to being a great leader is the ability to understand the rules and then rewrite them as driven by our changing times. Great leaders have actually inspired us by making up their own rules becoming great leaders in the process. This does not mean that we have always agreed with what they have done. It only means that enough people have been behind them and have supported them and as a result these leaders have been able to get things done.

“Leadership:  the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

How well do you know the rules of this game of life of which we are all a part?

Think about this. A coalition has been formed to change the Constitution of the United States so that Arnold Schwarzenegger can run for President of the United States, because he is not a natural born citizen. Talk about rewriting the rules! Think it can’t happen? As I have written before, anything is possible with enough work and in this case enough leadership. Only time will tell.

We always hear about the traditional attributes of what it means to be a leader. A leader is a team builder and a motivator.  A leader is a person who is action oriented, is driven, has credibility, and takes charge. All of these are critical to great leadership, but the one that is not discussed is a leader’s ability to rewrite the rules.

You can also rewrite the rules if you choose to do so. It only takes a lot of experience, hard work, understanding of the rules that exist, and a willingness to challenge the status quo going where others fear to tread. No small task to be sure. This is why we have so few great leaders. It’s hard work. No, it’s transformational work!

The challenge is that our society thrives on conformity, creating everyone to be pretty much the same as everyone else. The homogenization and sterilization of our society presents a huge challenge today. If you are a person who causes people to have to think more deeply about something they get uncomfortable.

Isn’t it strange that creative people are in such demand and at the same time they are so disliked. As one wise frog once said, “It’s not easy being green.”

If there is only one thing that I can convince you of, it would be that you have unlimited potential and that you can do anything you want to do. You just have to be willing to work hard enough at it. Life is a journey, not a sprint. It is never too late to start working intentionally on your journey.

What makes this possible is for each of us to be willing to work on what’s on the inside and take what we know and use it to influence your work on the outside. What’s this?

Once you gain the ability to understand yourself, which includes the good, the bad and the ugly, you will have taken one giant step towards living a more meaningful life. When you know who you are and are constantly working on being the best you can be everything will become easy. You will begin to realize that you are the only person who can impact your world, your attitude, your experiences, and your life.

“Nothing so conclusively proves a man’s ability to lead others as what he does from day to day to lead himself.” Thomas J. Watson

The outer world is just that, the outer world. It does not do anything to you. Instead, it is your actions and intentions that interact with the outer world that create the positive or negative experiences that you have. Your inner ability to know who you are helps you to make the outer world experience uniquely yours.

If there was ever a time in history for people to take a deeper look at who they are and what they are contributing to our world it is now. We need to wake up! The world is changing and changing fast. Since everything is changing the rules need to change too. If we don’t change things will force us to change. Our ability to take a leadership role, which includes challenging the status quo and going where others fear to go, has the potential to rewrite the rules.

“Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear and no concept of the odds against them.” Robert Jarvik

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

As the conversation continued we started discussing those people that we are attracted to, people that cause us to think more meaningfully not only about their message but our own lives. What we realized is that there are very few people out there truly engaging people to think more deeply about who they are and where they are going, at least on a meaningful and consistent level. Now, that is not to say that there are not a lot of people trying to come up with some method or “hook”to catch people’s attention. I bet you know, have met, or come in contact with more than one of these people.

So, what is it that attracts us to some people more than others?

Today, we live in world that is increasingly fabricated, manipulated, and made-up. The thing is that people are smarter than ever, and at some level know when they are being played and manipulated to do something that is not necessarily what they want, what they need to do, or that is in their best interest.

Could it be that authenticity is the thing that is missing most today?

Think about the last time you experienced someone authentic. Maybe you mistakenly thought the authenticness was not genuine, because how could someone be authentic today? They have to have an agenda or a “hook” deep down.

Authenticity is a rare thing today for sure. So many of us are trying to be something besides the person we truly are. We want to be what we think we should be or what others think we should be. This only takes us farther away from our authentic self and capturing the power authenticity.

“If you have integrity, nothing else matters.  If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.” Alan Simpson

People know when they meet an authentic person that there is something different and special about them. Sometimes they can’t put their finger on what it is exactly because they have experienced it so few times in their lives. What they are attracted to is the genuineness and honesty that rises to the top, something that is not easy to fake or manipulate. The openness of the conversation and the positive energy that is created can be intoxicating.

Why are there so few authentic people out there?

Perhaps it is our conformist programming that starts when we are young and takes over by the time we are adults. Conformity has helped us to survive and live longer lives which is a positive. It is a good idea to drive on the right-hand side of the road and pay your taxes. On the other hand, each of us has our unique God given talents and skills, the thing that makes us special. Conformity, in many cases, caps these talents and skills, because they might make us different and act in ways that, well, don’t conform.

“The most damaging phrase in the language is:  ‘It’s always been done that way.” Grace Hopper

Perhaps there are very few authentic people because we don’t like to think about things that cannot be packaged and easily understood. Abstract thinking is not easy to understand. We have to actually think and process information to start gaining clarity. We would rather have ideas and thoughts personalized or turned into heroes or villains we can point to such as Kennedy or Bin Laden. It is just easier than having to go through the transformational and life long process of becoming an authentic person.

“The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.  If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened.  But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.” Friedrich Nietzsche

To be authentic one has to take the big step of looking inward before the ability to act outwardly has any true value. In our world of instant gratification and silver bullets no one really wants to do the work necessary to become authentic. This is why guru’s, coaches, and motivational speakers are growing at an ever-increasing pace.

Wake up! Only you can do it!

Now is the time to mobilize your innate-strengths and become your true self. Focus on being you, not someone else. Embrace the good and bad of who you are and start putting more focus on the good.

“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” e.e. cummings

You can do anything you want to do. One of the keys is to be yourself, let go, and get in touch with what makes you special. You can do it.

Authenticity is a rarity and your ability to tap the power of living an authentic life is one that will not only transform your life, but the lives of those around you. All you have to do is look inward rather than outward.

“To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.” e.e. cummings

What are you waiting for?

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

Over the years of exploring, teaching, and developing creativity I have learned that unleashing creativity is a matter of opening up to possibilities. Creativity grows when you are playing with possibilities. Creativity is about developing and designing ideas that have the possibility of taking form. Without possibility creativity cannot take place.

“Trust yourself. Create the kind of person that you will be happy with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.” Foster C McClellan

Possibility is a very important part of the creative process. You may arrive at a certain answer, but what other ‘possible’ answers might there be?

You will surprise yourself at how many possibilities you can find and develop beyond the first ones that you think of.

Opening up to possibility takes practice and determination.

With creativity, good is never good enough. You can always develop the thinking skills involved even further. As you practice these skills, you pick up not only the ability, but also the confidence to be creative. Confidence is a very key part in developing your creativity. If you have confidence in your creativity, you will indeed become more creative.

It is extremely important to distinguish confidence from arrogance. Having confidence in you is being open and willing to go further in exploring other possibilities. Arrogance is being closed and defensiveness when other ideas are presented. Very creative people are rarely arrogant.

Practicing possibility is a matter of remaining open when a new idea or suggestion comes to you or is shared with you by another. Practicing possibility means that there is no end to the ideas that can be developed and expanded upon. Practicing possibility means that you will be tapping an unlimited reservoir of your creativity and potential.

“The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.” Arthur C. Clarke

You can do anything you want to do. All it takes is using the creativity skills you already have inside of you.

What kind of life do you want to create?

Practicing possibility is a great way to get there.

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

When I take the time to relax, and focus on getting some quality reflective time, I grab one of my sketchbooks and start to visualize what ever comes to my head, in a kind of free flow of consciousness. While I am sketching, I like to think about this: “What do I want?” My wants and personal needs have changed over time and, as a result, I am always re-evaluating what it is that I want so that I can more clearly understand the decisions I have to make for me to accomplish my goals.

“When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.” Seneca

At times I am not totally sure of what I want. It is during those times that I turn to my purpose, “To make a positive difference and showcase what is possible.” My purpose acts as my ships rudder and is a reminder of the focused decisions I must make to achieve what I want in my life. If “what I want” fits within my purpose I am moving in the right direction. What Box? is a perfect example of fulfilling my purpose and achieving that which I have wanted for quite some time. What Box?’s interactive forum has enabled me to share the creativity, joy, and hardships held within the life lessons and teachings that I have experienced personally and that so many others have generously shared with me.

With so many possibilities within each one of us, how often do we deliberately ask ourselves, “ What do I want?” Our uniquely personal wants are as diverse as the situations in which we find ourselves. Yet, in the time you have been alive on this earth, how many times have you deliberately asked yourself, “What do I want?”

“If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.” Lawrence J. Peter

Each of our lives is filled with many choices. If you are going to live the life you want, it is critical that you identify what it is that you want so you can make the choices that will take you there. Can you name what it is that you want in your life?  Most of us have never taken the time to really think about what it is we want, or we don’t even know how to go about figuring it out.

Here is the part that scares me the most. If you don’t make the choices in your life, others will make them for you. Often our choices are a direct result of our circumstances, family, parents, where you grow up, or even your place of birth. Deciding what you want in life is not always easy. This takes practice and patience. When you realize you have the power to make the choices to achieve what it is you want in your life, a new chapter will open for you, a chapter filled with endless opportunities and possibilities.

“Life is the sum of all your choices.” Albert Camus

Here are some of the visual thinking methods I use to discover “what I want” along with what actions to take.

• Write the title, “What Do I Want?” at the top or center of a blank piece of paper. Then draw or list all the things you want as fast as you can. Just let what you want flow out of you without judgment.  Keep on working at it until you have filled as much of the page as possible.
• Prioritize your wants and develop an action plan. Set goals to achieve what it is you want. Set your goals in 1 week, 1 month, and 6 month increments so they become more digestible and less far reaching. When it is really important to me I like to take these written goals and post them where I’ll see them as daily reminders and benchmarks to follow.
• Take the time for a week and keep track of how you spend your time each day. See how much time you focus on attaining what it is you want. At the end of the week evaluate how you spent your time and make adjustments so that you are able to focus more of your time on what it is you really want.
• Start capturing ideas you have about your purpose as they come up for you. Save these ideas in a file, reviewing and adding to them on a regular basis.

How much time and energy this kind of process takes totally depends upon you. Where you are today is the best place to start. You have everything you need inside of you to take you where you want to go.

“People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself.  But the self is not something one finds, it is something one creates.” Thomas Szasz

Life is so much more rewarding when you are going for and achieving what it is you want from life. The choice is yours.

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create for yourself.

This seems like a straight forward question, but I was challenged to give an answer that people could understand, since I stopped going to formal school in the middle of my sophomore year of High School. That was the last time I was a part of the traditional educational system that the majority of us have grown up with.

My answer to the question took a while to process before I responded: “I have learned what I know through trial and error, carving my own path, engaging mentors, synthesizing ideas and methods, and having a willingness to try things that are uncomfortable. I have a strong “nothing can stop me attitude.”

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” T.S. Eliot

Being self-made has presented me with numerous challenges, because many people do not understand and know how to embrace a person who has not gone through public or private schools using our traditional educational methods. There is always the question, “How can I have achieved so much and be where I am today without going to school?

Here is how. I am willing to try. In fact, I not only try, I do whatever it takes to move “the try” to the next level. As I have started up numerous companies and worked with people in the non-profit sector, businesses, education, and the political arena, I have learned what I needed to know. I simply will “never give up” in the pursuit of the knowledge that I need to be successful in whatever I do.

“Get over the idea that only children should spend their time in study. Be a student so long as you still have something to learn, and this will mean all your life.” Henry L. Doherty

Now, let’s look at the situation that we find ourselves in today, not only in this country, but all over the world. If we take in what is happening in the world today, it becomes evident that most people are walking around with a very narrow view of what is possible. They are afraid that if they step outside their self imposed barricades that they might look bad. What would their friends and family think if they failed? What would their community think if they showed up looking or acting different?

Like it or not, this is part of what our western society teaches us. The power of conformity, narrow views, and limited potential. This type of thinking and behavior has a tendency to lead down a path of pent-up anger, frustration, and narcissism. Sound familiar?

Many of us have been programmed to hold ourselves back. Our programming starts at an early age as we are told to hold back our tears and not laugh too hard out of the fear that we might get noticed or look weak. What is this about? Could it be that this programming is what is causing so much depression in our society?

“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Somehow I got lucky. I have avoided much of the societal programming and negative kudzu that grows over many of us. Moving through twelve schools by the time I was a Sophomore in High School meant that very little of this type of programming that begins when we are very young had the chance to take root, and as a result I became a highly creative human being. It is against significant odds that I have been able to create such a meaningful life. If I can do it, so can you.

My challenge has been to survive in a sea of conformity and an ordinary world that wants to embrace highly creative people and at the same time wants to hide them away because they are outside the collective narrow view. Everyday continues to show me opportunities to learn and overcome.

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
Mark Twain

Your challenge is to break-out-of-your-box, expand your view, and liberate yourself from the programming of a lifetime so you can become the person you are meant to be, the person who is willing to try something new even when it feels uncomfortable.

When you start to shift your thinking everything starts to change, which is a good thing. It takes practice and persistence. It is time for all of us to come alive and let go our controlling ways to reach for something more, our full potential. You can do it!

“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to success is more important than any other one thing.” Abraham Lincoln

Go ahead and give it a try.

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

Is it creating a satisfying and lucrative career? Is it raising a family of self-sufficient kind- hearted people? Is it to become one of the richest people on the planet? Is it to walk the Himalayas? Is it to create balance in your life between work and family?

“If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.” Lawrence J. Peter

Where do you want to go?

Take a moment and think about where you want to go, because you can create wherever it is you want in your life!
You doubt what I am saying? Confidence in yourself and your abilities is the first step to getting where you want to go.

Do me a favor. Write down as fast you can all the things you want to create in your life – where you want to go. Don’t over think it.

Now, using your imagination, take in and experience what you want to create for yourself. How does it feel?
Now think about what is holding you back from getting there.

“One half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get it.” Sidney Howard

One of the major reasons people don’t take the step to create what they really want is because it means everything that has become comfortable for them could change. There is the possibility that friends and family will not understand and, in some cases, will not support them. It may mean that the work will become more difficult. Perhaps it will require changing the place that they live. This may mean discovering that one needs to create a new environment for themselves, and as a result a whole new network of friends needs to be created. No small task for sure.

I have been in this situation myself. When I sold my first home in 1992 and decided to take on the entrepreneurial journey my parents thought I was nuts. They said I was making a bad decision. How could I quite my job to start a business and, of all things, base it upon the Internet? They said, “You are throwing away your future.”

Just thinking about it now reminds me how difficult it was to move forward with my own goals and objectives without the influence of the nay-sayers who mattered the most in my life. I just kept letting them know it would work out and that if it did not kill me I would grow stronger from it. That would be when my Mother would say, “That is if I don’t kill you first.”

Things changed one day, a day I will never forget. It took over three years for me to get my entrepreneurial feet under me, but when I did the press started taking notice. As a result I was a featured entrepreneur on the front page of the Silicon Valley Business Journal. There I was on the front cover being showcased as an Internet visionary. When my Mother received her first call from one of her friends that read the article she couldn’t believe it.

That was not the first call she received that day. In fact, it was one of a dozen. When she finally saw me that night she couldn’t have been more proud. “I knew you would make it, beating all the odds. I am so proud of you.” That is quite a different tone than I was receiving over the three years before the article.

Sometimes it takes someone else, other than those closest to you, to recognize the possibility of your hard work and effort. They understand the power of going for what you want even when the odds are stacked against you. You see, you have to stand strong and realize that most people are afraid of the unknown. They are fearful of those who are actually going for what it is they want despite all the odds against them

When you are going for what you want, you are, in a roundabout way, throwing it in the faces of those think you can’t. They are not going for what they want because of their fear of the unknown.

Don’t let this happen to you. Be strong, stand tall, and never ever give up.

“When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” Harriet Beecher Stowe

Where do you want to go?

Where ever you want to go you can get there if you are willing to work hard enough and put up with the nay-sayers along the way.

You can do it and I bet do can do it with style.

What are you waiting for?

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

The right side of your brain is quite possibly your most powerful creativity tool, and yet a great majority of us are stuck on the left side. This is the logical part of the brain that focuses on linear thinking, reading, planning, scheduling, and organizing. Perhaps so many of us operate from this side of our brain because our society tends to respect and appreciate the left-brain capabilities. Left-brain thinking is just more predictable and controllable; at least we like to think this, in a left-brain kind of way.

The right brain is where our non-verbal ideations take place, where imagery, dreaming and imagination flourish. Our right brain helps us come up with out-of-the-box ideas and solutions. It is where our artistic and creative side resides.

“The creative person is both more primitive and more cultivated, more destructive, a lot madder and a lot saner, than the average person.” Frank Barron

Children are much more creative and right brain centered. In fact, it is just more natural for them. Children are like a blank artist’s canvas, with lots of white open space for them to think and imagine anything they can dream up.

Yet, why is it that we have a tendency to move from our right brain thinking as children to left brain thinking as adults? As children grow up many times their creative side is not acknowledged and appreciated. As a result they move to the left side of their brains which is where they get they get the most praise and affirmation. As a result, their creative side is not used and becomes atrophied.

You need both sides of your brain working in harmony to reach your full potential. This is no small task and is still something that we all have the ability to do if we are willing to work hard enough at it.

“Creativity represents a miraculous coming together of the uninhibited energy of the child with its apparent opposite and enemy, the sense of order imposed on the disciplined adult intelligence.” Norman Podhoretz

As a visual thinker I am more prone to balancing my left and right brain thinking, because to draw out my ideas on paper I naturally utilize both hemispheres of my brain. You can do it too!

Many people experience that there is a tendency for left-brain thinkers to be put in charge of approving ideas and setting the direction for the organizations and businesses they work with. This can result in a lack of creativity and innovation. Then these same businesses and organizations wonder why they are not surviving through our changing world. GM is a perfect example. Just think. If they would have let more right brained people have a seat at the decision making table like Toyota or Nissan has done, perhaps GM would have been able to create cars that people wanted to buy.

Just the same, I am a dominantly right-brained person living in a world of ideas, solutions, visualizations, and imaginings. This can be a challenge, because at times I can come up with ideas with ease, and yet I lack the left-brain deep analytical thinking necessary to understand if the idea has the juice necessary to move it past an idea into an active and sustainable endeavor. This is why knowing your strengths and weaknesses is a key to success in our ever-changing world

I recently wrote about being a team player and the skills required in collaborating with others. To balance my right and left-brain thinking I partner with left-brain thinkers to enhance my ability to generate and succeed at implementing my ideas.
As an example, to run my ideations by a left-brain thinker, I partner with Ted Cundiff, a banker at SpiritBank. The great thing about Ted is that he appreciates the type of thinking I have as a right-brain thinker and understands that right-brain thinking is not one of his core strengths. He respects and embraces my way of thinking.

“Regardless of differences, we strive shoulder to shoulder… ‘Teamwork can be summed up in five short words: ‘We believe in each other.’ Author Unknown

By integrating his left-brain thinking with my right-brain thinking we create a balance that would not be possible if I were go it alone. It is inevitable that the original idea will only be improved and elevated through our different thinking styles. In the end, the idea may not be a viable one, but with both our brain thinking styles working on the idea we are able to look at it from many angles. In some cases we come up with an idea that is totally different from the original, but one that has a better chance of succeeding. I place a high value on the times when Ted and I are able to brainstorm together.

So if you are left-brained thinker, go out and find yourself a right-brained thinker who respects your style of thinking. In the end you may very well find that as a result the outcome will become more creative and innovative. And if you are right-brained thinker, go out and find yourself a left-brain thinker who respects your creative side supporting you to be more objective and time-sensitive.

In the end we are utilizing both our brains throughout each and every day. The challenge is to balance the left and right in an effort to reach our full potential.

“The mind, once expanded to the dimensions of larger ideas, never returns to its original size.” Oliver Wendell Holmes

It’s about time we balance the left and right don’t you think?

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

Please join me on August 28th, 5:30pm – 7pm for the launch of my latest book The Seeker, Discovering and Living your Life’s Purpose. The launch will take place at Dwelling Spaces Downtown Tulsa, 119 South Detroit Avenue. I will be conducting a short visual thinking program designed to support you to think more meaningfully about your life purpose. Hope to see you there.