2010. 2011
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New Year’s Day. I love this time of year, if only because I let my mind wander free into the land of dreams and possible outcomes. Like painting on canvas, I start to sketch with broad strokes in different directions, opening myself to my fullest potential, daring to dream big.
Options are endless but my heart desires focus. Experience has taught me that by being consistent in one area I’m able to extract more wisdom and enjoy the finest quality of focused attention.
In previous years, my yearly focus had shifted from heavy socializing to extreme physical training to attaining complete financial freedom, to last year’s focus of helping others. Now sitting in my comfortable Melbourne apartment, reading through some past notes and recollecting the highlights of 2010, I realize how much of my last year’s intentions had been brought to life.
Last January, when I set my yearly intention in Brazil, I already had plans to volunteer in the US but I never imagined that I’ll build a house in Peru or help a business in Bolivia or coach several people over the net.
Opportunities and people were constantly presenting themselves. Random people I met on the road offered or asked for help. Examples are many. A young German guy asked me to coach him only a week after setting my coaching intention. Patrick, a carpenter from Ireland, offered his help only few days after committing to rebuild the Peruvian house. It felt like all the forces of the Universe neatly aligned themselves.
2010 was, by far, one of the most gratifying years I’ve ever experienced. If I thought finishing an Ironman was a pinnacle of gratification, then came this house project and proved to be even more satisfying.
Same as the Ironman experience, building a house required consistent effort of pushing beyond my comfort zone, such as asking money from people I barley knew, purchasing materials in an unfamiliar land, speaking conversational Spanish with locals, or working long hours at the construction site, but one element was present at a higher level.
It involved more people in a wider range of roles and levels of contribution. Around 100 people took part in the project, directly or indirectly. It required extensive coordination of people from different countries, speaking different languages, and having different agendas. And, perhaps most importantly, a family’s life was dependent on its success.
It was incredibly rewarding.
Which brings me to 2011.
If I want to encourage more people to engage themselves in rewarding missions, such as helping others in third world countries or attaining financial freedom, I need to be not only a good role model, but also a better storyteller. And it is through mediums like the internet and books, that vast numbers of people, worldwide, are able to become more aware of what is truly possible.
My 2011 main focus is therefore simple. Become a better writer, and a better marketer of my written work.
My prime intention with this year’s focus is to actively encourage as many people as I can, through effective writing and my own journey stories, to persue purposeful missions and by doing so, live to their fullest potential.
Live Your Dreams!
Tal
