Your Second Great Day

Wecome!

If this is your first time visiting Your Second Great Day Blog...WELCOME! There are very few more important things in life then finding and developing your personal purpose. You might find this introduction helpful as you start to read, participate, and share this blog. Glad you're here!

We All Need To Disengage...Right?

Disengagement, relaxation, "walking away," being lazy, getting renewed. There are lots of thoughts, feelings, and reactions to the idea of being disengaged. What I have found is that most of these reactions are negative. As a culture we look down on being disengaged. But you know what...we need to be...at least a little bit.

There is an awesome book out there titled The Power of Full Engagement. It literally has changed my life! It basically says that the energy we have to give to a specific task is directly impacted by the amount of time we spend working on it. And actually that we will find ourselves with less energy to give if we are engaged too much AND too little.

We need to walk away every once in a while. As we are walking toward fulfilling our purpose we need to keep this in mind. Life is a series of sprints NOT one marathon.

I offer this as an explanation for my long absence in writing in this blog. I love putting together posts, but over the past handful of weeks I simply needed a break. A time of renewal.

How about you? Do you need to disengage and recharge? Well what are you waiting for, its not going to get any easier...be like Nike and...just do it!!!

Quote:Gray Twilight

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkerd by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."

--Theodore Roosevelt

Super Risk

If you missed last week's Super Bowl, you missed one of the better Super Bowls in a long time! It was a great game. Full of everything you want in the capstone game of the season. The Giants surprised many and upset the only 18-0 NFL team ever. Big stuff.

My wife and I had some friends over to watch the game...and the commercials (I think E*Trade topped the list of some of the funniest commercials). But after everyone had left and the kids were in bed. Anna and I were watching the post game show. Now my wife is NOT a football fan. In fact the post game show of the Super Bowl is her happiest point of the year.

At one point in the post game show, they interviewed the Patriots (losing team) coach. And you could just see the pain and frustration on his face. At that point, my wife looks over at me and says, "Why would anyone set themselves up for that level of potential disappointment?" Her question stopped me for a second. I did not know how to answer it, because for that brief moment I thought, yeah really why would someone open themselves up to that potential. And then the answer came...

Right after the interview the broadcast cut back out to the field where the Giants where still celebrating. Their families and friends where on the Field. There was loud up beat music playing, They had hats and shirts, trophies, all this because they WON!

And then I thought to myself. Thats the answer. Thats why someone would open themselves up to potential hurt and pain...because there is also a potential of a SUPER REWARD!

The same is true in our lives. We don't have to step out and go after our purpose. No one is forcing us. If we want we can be very comfortable sitting on the sidelines or even worse way up in the bleachers.

But what is our potential reward if we stay there...absolutely nothing. We are guaranteed failure. Sure pursuing our purpose opens us up for potential SUPER RISK...but it also gives us the possibilities for SUPER REWARD!!!

Ok as I reread this I am convicted that there is something I have been putting off and sitting comfortably on the sidelines about...so right after I finish this post I am sending that risky email I have been putting off

It's Not Personal...

The other day I was watching the Celebrity Apprentice. Yes I am hanging my head in shame as I write this...Chris this is YOUR fault!!! Ok let's look past that...there is a point here. Well they were in the infamous "board room" with The Trump. And there were two guys going at each other. I mean they were tearing each other up. Not just on how well or poorly they preformed on the task, but also on moral character and personality...Yikes! And then the craziest thing happened after this knock down drag out fight happened. They were leaving the board room after one of them had been fired and they shook hands and said, "Hey, its business not personal."

I was like "WHAT?!?!?! It's not personal? How could it not be personal?" I mean these two guys just bashed each other on national television for all five people who were watching this show to see (Trump admit it...ratings are down!) But my point is, IT IS PERSONAL!

What we say to each other and have said to us is a personal thing. Especially when it is related to our purpose. Thats why it is called a PERSONAL purpose statement. Ah see...making sense?

But you know what, we can often times run into people who are not supportive of us. These could be people who are very close to us, parents, spouses, children, life long friends, co-workers. What happens then?

Well you know what, if you have taken the time to really evaluate yourself. I mean really looked at your God-given skills and abilities, your relationships, your experiences, and your desires, and they are pointed to a specific direction. Then you have to go for it, despite what the people in your ear are saying. So many times we get bumped (or shoved) off track because of what someone says to us. The advice or direction they so lovingly give. Their intentions are good...most of the time. But it still moves us off track.

Don't get moved off track. Look for people who will help you mind your own business (You want a great example of this check out Stosh's blog) You might have to distance yourself from some people and fill their place in your life with Purpose Pushers. But hey...its not just business we are talking about here...this is YOUR LIFE and your effectiveness in it!

Purpose Pushers

I just got a call from a very good friend of mine today. (Dave Rendall, you have to check out both of his blogs, Freak Factor & Four Factors of Effective Leadership) I did not get to talk to him because it was at the end of my work day and I was going in five different directions. It was a crazy day! On my way home I listened to Dave's voicemail. And when I finished listening to it I thought to myself...NOW THAT IS A PURPOSE PUSHER!!! You might be going ok...wait a second Mike, "What is a purpose pusher? Should I have heard that term before?" They answer is NO! You know why...because I just made it up on the drive home from work (not bad for a three minute commute).

Ok let me offer some explanation. Dave's voicemail...was simple...he was calling to encourage and push me towards what I am put here on this earth for. He was just calling to see how I was doing on the things that are most important for me to be involved with. He asked me about this blog, my new CD, work I am doing on my new company, and a series of other personal items that he is walking with me through. That's it! He was not calling with an agenda, with a request, with a need. He was just calling to push me! Dave does this all the time. It is unusual if I go 10 days or so without hearing from him. And like I said it is not because he needs something it is just to check in on how I am doing accomplishing what I was put on this earth for. Pretty cool huh?!?!?

What about you? Do you have a Purpose Pusher? What about this question...are you someone else's Purpose Pusher? This is a critical part to a life well lived. There are too many people out there who will offer you negative comments (and you don't have to take my word for it check out this quote by Mark Twain), but we need to surround ourselves with people to push us in a positive direction!

Quote: Great People

"Keep away from those who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you believe that you too can become great."

--Mark Twain

How to Catch a Plane

When I talk to people about writing a personal purpose statement I get varying reactions. But one of the ones that drives me crazy is the person that says, "Wow, that all sounds great. Maybe someday I will write a personal purpose statement."

I just want to say...someday? What do you mean someday? What do you expect to gain by doing something as important as this someday? Do you think you can make up the time by working harder or more effectively once you have taking the time to identify why you were put here on this earth?

I heard John Maxwell tell a story a few years ago that has stuck with me. It is one of those stories that you just can't get out of your head, nor do you want to.

Here is the story...

A man was on his way home from a long business trip. He was standing at a gate waiting for his plane home when he noticed this guy coming towards him very fast. He saw this man running toward him, well actually toward the gate at which he was waiting.

The man came running around the corner obviously trying desperately to catch his plane. As he turned the corner he realized he had missed his flight. The man coming home from the business trip observed all of this an approached the man.

The man who had been running had his hands on his knees and was very out of breath. The business man put his hand on this disappointed travelers shoulder and leaned down as said, "Had you only run a little faster you would have made your plane."

The man catching his breath, took a deep breath in, turned and looked at the business man and said, "No, had I only left earlier, I would have caught my plane."

Why do we put extremely important things off? We will not be able to make up the ground we are currently losing. So stop losing ground

You want to catch your plane...START NOW!!!

Make Coffee

I found this little story in an issue of Bits & Pieces. I have it displayed on my desk and read it often. I thought it was very worth passing along:

A young woman was complaining to her father about how difficult her life had become. He said nothing, but took her to the kitchen and set three pans of water to boiling. To the first pan, he added carrots; to the second eggs; and to the third, ground coffee. After all three had cooked, he put their contents into separate bowls and asked his daughter to cut into the eggs and carrots and smell the coffee. What does this all mean? she asked impatiently.

Each food, he said, teaches us something about facing adversity, as represented by the boiling water. The carrot went in hard but came out soft and weak. The eggs went in hard but came out hardened. The coffee, however, changed the water into something better.

Which will you be like as you face life? he asked. Will you give up, become hard - or transform adversity into triumph? As the "chef" of your own life, what will you bring to the table?

Quote: Success and Failure

"Success isn't permanent, and failure isn't fatal."
Mike Ditka

Just Didn't Work Out

Have you ever looked back at a situation or decision and think, "Boy, I really made a bad decision there." Sure we all have. The other day I was reading through the book Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court by the famous college basketball coach Jon Wooden. I highly recommend this book; it gives little stories or thoughts for you to read. You can pick up your own copy here. The other day he was talking about looking back on "bad decisions."

Wooden basically said that you don't make bad decisions. We make decisions at a specific point in time with the information we have available to us. And if once time passes that decision turns out to have negative results, we have the tendency of looking back calling this decision a bad decision. I know in my life this has always been a fear of mine...making a bad decision. I would find that sometimes I would even avoid making the decision altogether for fear it might be a bad one. Thinking about that I have to just shake my head at all the opportunities I have lost out of a fear of a bad decision.

Wooden's perspective freed me of that fear. Wooden basically says we don't make BAD decisions...we simply make decisions that did not work out. And that there is not value in the worry about these decisions. They are in the past!

So as you start this new year if you are being weighted down by past "bad decisions" tell your self its ok...they were decisions that just didn't work out. Learn from them. And move on!!!