Archive for January, 2012

I want to get all “Zen” on you for a moment and talk about the power of vision. Or perhaps I should say “ENvision”.

It’s a very powerful thing – if you can envision something, I mean REALLY envision it, well, that’s the first step to making it happen.

Now I’m not going to get outrageous here – envision as I might, I’m not becoming the starting center fielder for the NY Yankees. But as I sit here, looking at my books for sale on Amazon.com, and looking around my office and how my life turned out, I’m struck by something profound…

I kinda planned this.

Thirteen years ago, I had just gotten divorced, and was making $10 per hour working a tech support job. I was 32. It seemed like life was going nowhere. I had been in business for myself a few times before then, but never really went anywhere. I think that’s because partially, I didn’t know where I was going.

So, at 32, I started thinking about where I really wanted to be.  I didn’t set any “official” goals. No five year plan or anything like that (that’s WAY too “type A” for me.) But I envisioned what I wanted out of life. And here’s what I wanted:

• A loving wife and a great marriage
• A nice little house – nothing fancy, mind you, but a place I really enjoyed living in
• To work for myself, as a writer.
• From a basement office.
• I even had the office decorated in my mind. I’m not kidding – I’d have a nice desk, a nice TV, surrounded by my favorite movies, horror film memorabilia on the wall, Owls everywhere…
• I’d have a black pickup truck in the driveway. Seriously, I even had the color picked out.
• And yes, writing a few books was part of this dream, too.
• A hot tub would be nice too.

I was dead serious about what I wanted - I actually envisioned myself living this life.

And you know what? It’s all there now. Even the black pickup and the Hot Tub.

Now I have to make a new list… a third / fourth book (not on just business, either – I’d like to also write about life motivation, relationships, living a happy life, etc.) I’d also like to be on the radio some, maybe do some seminars. More consulting for sure, because I’m good at writing and web conversion and such – and I can teach it, too. Lots of things, really.

The point is, I don’t just dream this stuff. I actually envision it.

Then I do the next step (which is vital.) I ask myself the all-important question – “Ok Dan, how do we go about making this happen?”

Like I said before, I set no timetables, no “goals”, none of that. I just envision what I want, and begin the process of making it happen.

Do you think it was an accident that I started my writing business? Was it dumb luck that made me send a proposal to a publisher (truth be told, hundreds of thousands of writers have millions of rejections – I have like four. Once I decided to write the book, I simply made it happen and sold it.)

I don’t say the above to brag or impress you in any way. I say it because millions of people dream. They dream, but they don’t ENVISION. And even if they do, they certainly don’t say “ok, how do we make this happen.”

I’m telling you to do just that. Envision what you want. Then really go about making it happen.

So how do we go about making it happen? We’ll talk about that another time