Lost - What I Learned
I was really moved by the Lost finale the other day. What a great show. Excellent writing, excellent acting, and a truly beautiful story to tell over six seasons.
So I was thinking about Jack and his purpose; why he came (back) to the island. Even after being off the island for so many years, he knew he had to go back and fulfill his purpose. It was just his calling. And once he finally accepted it, he finally found redemption.
So this of course got me thinking about MY purpose, MY island. What am I here to do? Certainly I am not here to go to work from 7 to 4 every day, then come home, help the kids with school, cook dinner, maybe watch a TV show, work on some internet marketing, maybe play an occasional video game, hang out with friends, go swimming, etc. Certainly I am not here just to survive and "live a good life". No way.
Without going too philisophical, I think we're all here for two reasons: to learn and to teach. We all came down in the body that we possess now for a reason. We chose the path that we needed to take, including our parents and our destiny/fate. No matter if you are a homeless person freezing on the city streets, or a starving child in Africa, or a billionaire CEO, or an average Joe doing the 9-5 trying to make a few extra bucks and hopefully a living online - we all chose the situation we're in now. At least take responsibility for that.
So I put myself in this body at this time so I could learn something. Something that my soul needed to experience to grow and evolve. After all, our ultimate purpose is to evolve into something higher, but that's an entirely different discussion. But what was it that I was supposed to learn? or teach? I found myself searching for this answer after watching Lost.
In searching for my purpose, I figured that it probably had something to do with what I really wanted to accomplish while on this Earth. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's my gut feeling. So what are my goals in life? What do I really want to do? So I wrote down a list of things, some of which I'll share with you here.
Goal #1 - to make a living online. Short term I want to make $5K/month, but long term 5 or even 6 figures per month.
Goal #2 - lose 40 pounds. Yeah, I'm about that much heavier than when I got married 14 years ago. Would be nice to get that body back.
Goal #3 - this one is a little different, but I have a goal to travel around the country to paranormal conferences throughout the year. I have a passion for all things paranormal and I've always wanted to do this. Plus I get to travel and see new places, which is another goal of mine.
Goal #4 - master tai chi. About 12 years ago I took some tai chi classes and loved it. Then school, friends, work, life got in the way. I want to take more classes and get more advanced in that art form.
I have many other goals, and these are not all in order, but one thing I want to point out if you look at them is the underlying theme in each of them.
#1 - financial, #2 - health, #3 - hobbies/passion, #4 - spiritual
When people talk about finding a niche, they always say start big and work down to find your niche. And what are the usual "biggies"? Health, wealth, relationships. OK, so maybe #3/4 aren't in there, but they are definitely broad niches that you can profit from. In my case, for each of the goals listed, I have a burning PASSION for wanting to achieve that goal. And because of that passion, yes, I'm more willing to buy something that helps me achieve that goal. I'm a buyer. The ultimate consumer!
If I look at my goals a little closer, I found that - at least for me - they can all relate to #1. Here's my reasoning. If I was making 5 figures per month online (at least $120K/year), I would not have a 9-5 job and would have money available to do the things I really want to do.
For example, #2 - lose weight. I could now get up at 6 or 6:30 and run/walk through the neighborhood to get exercise since I don't have to get up at 5 am to go to work. During the day I'm at home, so I can jump on the treadmill at any time. I could actually set up a routine that would help me achieve this goal. Plus if I wanted to buy any more exercise equipment, I could afford to do so.
For #3, if my business was running on auto-pilot, I could afford to take a day or two off to travel to these conferences. Plus I could (financially) afford the plane ticket to get there!
For #4, now that I don't have to squeeze in my IM time after dinner and before midnight (so I can get a decent night's sleep), I could spend more time in the evenings doing the things I really want to do! Part of that is taking tai chi classes. Other things would be working in my yard, improving my home, relaxing with friends.
So just by achieving Goal #1, I could also achieve a lot of my other goals. I realize that all of my goals can't relate back to money - and making more of it - but a lot of them can. And no matter who you talk to or what their stated goals are, I don't know of very many people at all that would say that they DON'T want to make more money.
So back to me. My purpose is to learn. To learn what? Well, for now I want to learn IM in my chosen way so I can make a lot of money. Just the idea of being nearly debt free totally fuels this fire. Then when I've learned what I can (and don't get me wrong - we are always learning until the day we die), I want to give back and teach to others. I can do this by creating products. Teach others what they want to learn.
This is my purpose - my island. I know that by having this purpose in mind at all times and following my plan to reach this goal, I will reach it. I suggest that each and every one of you find YOUR purpose, put YOUR plan into action, and achieve YOUR goals.
To quote Zig Ziglar, if you help enough people get what they want, you will eventually get what you want.
So I was thinking about Jack and his purpose; why he came (back) to the island. Even after being off the island for so many years, he knew he had to go back and fulfill his purpose. It was just his calling. And once he finally accepted it, he finally found redemption.
So this of course got me thinking about MY purpose, MY island. What am I here to do? Certainly I am not here to go to work from 7 to 4 every day, then come home, help the kids with school, cook dinner, maybe watch a TV show, work on some internet marketing, maybe play an occasional video game, hang out with friends, go swimming, etc. Certainly I am not here just to survive and "live a good life". No way.
Without going too philisophical, I think we're all here for two reasons: to learn and to teach. We all came down in the body that we possess now for a reason. We chose the path that we needed to take, including our parents and our destiny/fate. No matter if you are a homeless person freezing on the city streets, or a starving child in Africa, or a billionaire CEO, or an average Joe doing the 9-5 trying to make a few extra bucks and hopefully a living online - we all chose the situation we're in now. At least take responsibility for that.
So I put myself in this body at this time so I could learn something. Something that my soul needed to experience to grow and evolve. After all, our ultimate purpose is to evolve into something higher, but that's an entirely different discussion. But what was it that I was supposed to learn? or teach? I found myself searching for this answer after watching Lost.
In searching for my purpose, I figured that it probably had something to do with what I really wanted to accomplish while on this Earth. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's my gut feeling. So what are my goals in life? What do I really want to do? So I wrote down a list of things, some of which I'll share with you here.
Goal #1 - to make a living online. Short term I want to make $5K/month, but long term 5 or even 6 figures per month.
Goal #2 - lose 40 pounds. Yeah, I'm about that much heavier than when I got married 14 years ago. Would be nice to get that body back.
Goal #3 - this one is a little different, but I have a goal to travel around the country to paranormal conferences throughout the year. I have a passion for all things paranormal and I've always wanted to do this. Plus I get to travel and see new places, which is another goal of mine.
Goal #4 - master tai chi. About 12 years ago I took some tai chi classes and loved it. Then school, friends, work, life got in the way. I want to take more classes and get more advanced in that art form.
I have many other goals, and these are not all in order, but one thing I want to point out if you look at them is the underlying theme in each of them.
#1 - financial, #2 - health, #3 - hobbies/passion, #4 - spiritual
When people talk about finding a niche, they always say start big and work down to find your niche. And what are the usual "biggies"? Health, wealth, relationships. OK, so maybe #3/4 aren't in there, but they are definitely broad niches that you can profit from. In my case, for each of the goals listed, I have a burning PASSION for wanting to achieve that goal. And because of that passion, yes, I'm more willing to buy something that helps me achieve that goal. I'm a buyer. The ultimate consumer!
If I look at my goals a little closer, I found that - at least for me - they can all relate to #1. Here's my reasoning. If I was making 5 figures per month online (at least $120K/year), I would not have a 9-5 job and would have money available to do the things I really want to do.
For example, #2 - lose weight. I could now get up at 6 or 6:30 and run/walk through the neighborhood to get exercise since I don't have to get up at 5 am to go to work. During the day I'm at home, so I can jump on the treadmill at any time. I could actually set up a routine that would help me achieve this goal. Plus if I wanted to buy any more exercise equipment, I could afford to do so.
For #3, if my business was running on auto-pilot, I could afford to take a day or two off to travel to these conferences. Plus I could (financially) afford the plane ticket to get there!
For #4, now that I don't have to squeeze in my IM time after dinner and before midnight (so I can get a decent night's sleep), I could spend more time in the evenings doing the things I really want to do! Part of that is taking tai chi classes. Other things would be working in my yard, improving my home, relaxing with friends.
So just by achieving Goal #1, I could also achieve a lot of my other goals. I realize that all of my goals can't relate back to money - and making more of it - but a lot of them can. And no matter who you talk to or what their stated goals are, I don't know of very many people at all that would say that they DON'T want to make more money.
So back to me. My purpose is to learn. To learn what? Well, for now I want to learn IM in my chosen way so I can make a lot of money. Just the idea of being nearly debt free totally fuels this fire. Then when I've learned what I can (and don't get me wrong - we are always learning until the day we die), I want to give back and teach to others. I can do this by creating products. Teach others what they want to learn.
This is my purpose - my island. I know that by having this purpose in mind at all times and following my plan to reach this goal, I will reach it. I suggest that each and every one of you find YOUR purpose, put YOUR plan into action, and achieve YOUR goals.
To quote Zig Ziglar, if you help enough people get what they want, you will eventually get what you want.