START. Punch Fear in the Face. Escape Average. Do Work That Matters.
By Jon Acuff
This is the book I have undertaken to read next, after "The Compound Effect".
"What do you do when all the excuses you used, to not chase your dream, are gone?" Interesting thought! The book goes on to say, a little later that we do not want "to get to 80 or 90 years old and realize we mortgaged the best years of our lives doing something we weren't called to do." We don't "want to look back on life and wonder where it all went." Isn't that the truth!?! I have thought that a couple of times already, and I'm not even close to 80-90 years. It continues by talking about waking up one day and realizing that we've "coasted through the last ten years of ...life," and knowing that "that same thing would happen again, if [we're] not careful."
Five (Traditional) Stages to Awesome:
1- Learning
2- Editing
3- Mastering
4- Harvesting
5- Guiding
Personally, I didn't follow the steps, as laid out by the author of this book.
I did a lot of learning in my 20's, but I learned more in the aspect of "trial by fire" or "learning by mistakes". I didn't go to college, I dove into having children, getting into a bad marriage, and my priorities were all messed/mixed up.
I continued this behavior into my 30's, although what editing I did, was in myself. I became (editing) a better mother. I tried to better my family life. I still was prone to learning by mistakes and not the best decisions. My priorities started changing (editing) in my 30's.
My 40's, of which I am currently in, consist of even more learning and editing. Perhaps "mastering" IS where I am at, in life, now. I am striving to be the best mother I can. I am striving to learn and better myself with a college education. I am honing in on my goals. I'm recognizing a change in myself, one that requires more change and an "evolving" of sorts. I do have a "greater certainty about what [ I am ] good at, and how to do it regularly."
I haven't achieved the "harvesting" part of life yet. I haven't "planted healthy and well placed seeds" to be gathering in productive and rewarding results from my past. I do take pride in my children, and I do see the results of my "planting" where they are concerned....but since I didn't figure out where I was going, and I didn't even try to do so earlier (20's) in life, I have no long-term career to bank retirement on. I have no house that belongs to me. I have no harvest to collect. I have no money in the bank.
I didn't spend my 30's and 40's working hard, to achieve my abundant harvest (50's) on time.
I won't reach the "guiding" stage (60's) with an "illuminating (light) and awesome path" of experience.
I didn't take the "path to awesome", I chose the "path to average"...maybe even "below average". I've "coasted on the path to average, never daring to believe [ I ] could learn, edit, and master [my] own bit of awesomeness". I "graduated from high school...effectively shift[ed] into neutral." I made "some progress". This "average path [was] the easier of the two paths (awesome or average), and it [was] dangerously comfortable."
I will still guide, but I will be an example, like a "lighthouse, indicating the rocks on which [ I ] crashed" in my life.
There are people out there who end up bitter, because of the choices they made in their 20's, 30's, 40's, etc. I do not want to become one of those people. I will not be the cranky, old neighbor, who everyone avoids.
I don't have 40 years to build my abundant harvest.
AWESOME IS AVAILABLE LIKE NEVER BEFORE (pg 15)
1- Retirement Is Dead. There is no promise of a guaranteed Social Security or Retirement. People begin new careers in their 40's-50's. I needed to hear this!!! The "retirement age" will continue to stretch into the 70's, and eventually maybe even 80's.
2- Hope Is Boss. Yesterday is gone. The careless times of our youth, are no more. The world is changing.
3- Anyone Can Play. The future is wide open. Opportunities are endless. The traditional "path to awesome" has changed. The rules have changed.
You do not have to be in your 20's to start a new adventure.
WE ALL USED TO BE AWESOME. (pg 22)
When I was a kid, I had dreams and those dreams were possible. Somewhere along the way I lost sight of them. People "defeated" and "deflated" each of those dreams, and my choices that followed the, buried the dreams. Eventually my "left brain" gained a voice, and that voice said "that's impossible", "they'll laugh at you", and "don't be stupid". "It play[ed] an important role in [my] thinking, because it is the voice that [taught] me to not touch the hot stove, or jump off the top stair, like [ I ] am a superhero." ...."It can also make a very logical and compelling argument that what it says is final. .... we grew up....came to believe the left brain's assertions, and as a result, we lost the sense that awesome was around the corner. Instead, we started to believe that awesome was not in the cards for us, or that it was illogical or simply childish."
Your perception does truly fuel your reality.
Your age is no longer the primary factor that determines where you are, on the map.
Life is now less about how old you are, and more about when you decide to live.
One simple truth: I only just have to start.
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