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Be Careful What U Wish For

wildambitions

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A while back there was a thread about making and reaching goals. One of the recommendations was to write down your goals. And in addition, to say your goals out loud. The concept here being that if you write or say your goals, you will more likely own up to them and "make" them happen. It is fact that those who write and/or say their goals are more likely to reach their goals. I firmly believe this to be true.

There is another side to this though. In writing and/or speaking about goals, it is important to be very specific in what your goals are. There is a power in the written and spoken word. One must always be willing to accept the outcome.

Back in March, upon my return from the B&P 2009 meet-up and after joining a mastermind group, I re-wrote my goals. And I have been following my plan and revisiting my goal sheet often. Well, just about 3 weeks ago I again went back through my goal sheet and one thing in my financial goal section jumped out at me. One of the goals that I had written down was "not have a J.O.B." with a date of October 2009. Obviously the meaning behind this was to not have to rely on the income from having a J.O.B. So, I quickly reworded my goal to reflect the real meaning. Ironically, last week Monday, I was notified that the J.O.B. that I currently have will be dissolved effective September 1st of 2009.

Now I have full faith and trust that this is right where I am supposed to be to get to where I am going, so, I look at this as an awesome opportunity to take advantage of. A time for me to turn my hobbies into real businesses. No holds barred and full steam ahead. The timing may not be optimal, but this might just be the push I need to get me onto the next leg of my life journey. Things like this present themselves to me often and when they do, I am always catapulted forward with an immense spike upward in personal growth.

Have you ever had something you had not exactly planned for turned out to be "just what you needed". When looking back at past events in your life that you initially thought were "bad" do you find they turned out being just right? Is this Peerless' "luck"? Is it attitude? What are your thoughts?
 
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Russ H

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Guy walks into a bar with a cardboard box.

Orders a drink. Bartender says, "What's in the box?"

Guy says, "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

Bartender says, "OK, I'll bite. Show me something I haven't seen before and I'll give you a hundred bucks."

Guy smiles, reaches into the box, and takes out a tiny, tiny guy sitting at a tiny, tiny piano.

Bartender's mouth falls open.

Tiny guy proceeds to play the Grieg Piano concerto-- entire bar comes to a standstill.

Bartender hands the guy $100, and says, "How in the world did you wind up with that?"

Guy pulls out a lamp and says, "Rubbed this lamp and a genie came out-- gave me one wish."

So the bartender grabs the lamp, rubs it, and tells the Genie, "I want a million bucks!"

Genie disappears.

Guy picks up the lamp and his box with the piano player.

Door of the bar opens, and in walks a duck.

Bartender looks confused.

Guy smiles.

Door opens again and in walk 6 more ducks.

Bartender looks worried.

Guy picks up the lamp and puts it in the box w/the piano player, and makes for the door.

As a whole bunch of ducks are quacking to get in, the bartender yells, "Hey! I asked for a million bucks, not a million ducks!"

Guy yells back, as he leaves, "Yeah, and what do you think I asked for? A 12 inch pianist?!"

*********

Be careful what you ask for. You may not get what you expect. ;)

-Russ H.

(with sincere apologies to Kerry for using this thread to share a favorite joke-- but it's the first thing I thought of when she asked the question!) :)
 

Russ H

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Kerry,

There have been many, many things in my life where something that seemed bad turned into something wonderful.

I don't want to come off sounding egomaniacal, or pompous-- but I really do think that the reason many of those "bad" things turned into "good" things was perseverance-- and taking lemons and making lemonade.

There is so much of that "lemonade spirit" on these forums (and I would guess, in the mastermind groups) that you will get lots of "lemonade stories". :)

-Russ H.
 

yveskleinsky

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Have you ever had something you had not exactly planned for turned out to be "just what you needed". When looking back at past events in your life that you initially thought were "bad" do you find they turned out being just right? Is this Peerless' "luck"? Is it attitude? What are your thoughts?

All the time, but I really think attitude determines how a situation is perceived. Sometimes "just what you needed" doesn't end well, but serves as a giant wake up call--which then of course (if we listen) becomes something great in itself.

Hang in there; you'll get it figured out. :)
 

Moneymaka

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So you said "I don't want to have a job" out loud and now you don't have a job anymore you think it's because you said your goals out loud??
 
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I think we all have had this thought. When we look back on the a situation that was bad. Then we reanalyze it . Realizing that it was the best thing that ever happened to us. I have thought of that plenty times. Its a funny realization that kinda trips you out a bit. But everything happens for a reason right?
 
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wildambitions

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So you said "I don't want to have a job" out loud and now you don't have a job anymore you think it's because you said your goals out loud??
No, not exactly. Don't think too hard on this. It is just an observation that sometimes you DO get exactly what you ask for. And there is a certain power in writing things down and stating them aloud. Combined, life can take some unexpected turns but ultimately they, at least I find... turn out and offer just what is needed.

Great that you wrote down your goal to replace your job income months ago and took action, imagine if you have simply forgotten about taking action or decided to delay your venture to focus on your job in an effort to impress you employer in the downturn, you'd be in a right predicament right now.
I TOTALLY agree! :) Although I am experiencing some anger in the way this has all been presented, mostly I have just been laughing at the irony of it all.

Can you leverage any of the relationships you made in this job to further your own business or do you consider the job to be a closed chapter now?
This job was simply a high paying "E" that was using skills from an earlier career. The relationships are here for my use but will not likely help my businesses. I may be able to capitalize on the networking aspect though. I will certainly not be burning any bridges.

I really don't want this thread to be about my circumstances as much as I am interested in hearing how others have been able to look back into their own lives at what most would consider a "bad" thing and how they made the most of it and how they benefited from or by it.
 

AroundTheWorld

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All the time, but I really think attitude determines how a situation is perceived. Sometimes "just what you needed" doesn't end well, but serves as a giant wake up call--which then of course (if we listen) becomes something great in itself.

Hang in there; you'll get it figured out. :)

I agree 100%. The same "bad" situation can happen to two different people. A year down the road, each of those people could view that circumstance entirely differently.

One person will play victim and say poor me and be angry, bitter, resentful, and put a lot of energy into complaining, griping, or otherwise being a victim. Additionally, they haven't taken action and they blame the outside world instead of looking into themselves for solutions.

Although I am experiencing some anger in the way this has all been presented, mostly I have just been laughing at the irony of it all.

Completely natural reaction. I know it is easier said than done, but the sooner you can let go, the sooner you will be able to focus on your future. I know you are.... but the lingering anger will block your progress.

And now... for a few stories.... since that is what you are asking for.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I got pregnant when I was 20 and unwed. I was a sophomore in college. Most adults would (and did) shake their heads sadly and assume that I had just made the rest of my life very difficult.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Over the next three years, I had 2 more children. I now had 3 children ages 3 and under, and I as only 23.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the age of 24, I was diagnosed with cancer. As a result, I lost my womb. At the time, I as very involved professionally in childbirth. It was my passion. I spent hours each day, learning, taking about, and being with pregnant women and women giving birth. I was a doula and childbirth educator, and just getting ready to train to be a midwife. I also wanted one more child. Loosing my womb was not just loosing a part of my body. It also felt like I lost a part of my soul, and I walked away from this "calling" because it was just too painful.

However... it turns out that those three children I had at such a young age were a blessing ;) (They were a blessing anyway.... but given that fact that I was now unable to have children at the age of 24.... you know what I mean ;) )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Additionally, my inability to have more children has expanded my heart and my capacity to love all children... not just those I gave birth too. I know that we will have more children in our family in the future.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another story: (I've seen several different settings, but the point is always the same... Snowbank (or was it Biophase) posted a similar story here somewhere...

Once upon the time there was an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. When his neighbors heard the news, they came to visit. “Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically.

“Maybe,” the farmer replied.

The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. “How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed.

“Maybe,” replied the old man.

The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune.

“Maybe,” answered the farmer.

A day later, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out.

“Maybe,” said the farmer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

BeingChewsie

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I think you are right. I lost my job several months ago and we thought the world would end. It didn't. I wasn't able to replace the job but we were able to rearrange our priorities and amazingly we end up with more left over at the end of the month than we ever thought we could. I went back to school full-time and feel like I'm making forward progress. Enjoy not having a j-o-b and good luck!

Sue
 
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taichijedi

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I absolutely agree as well. What is good and bad is truly a relative matter, and based highly on perception. The progress you have been making towards your goals does make this sound like an ideal scenario for you to to propel your businesses and other ventures forward, and I am certain you be a rousing success. So due to your diligent preparation, this is a phenomenal opportunity. For someone who had not taken the pro-active steps to build a solid foundation for their fastlane lifestyle, this could have been a crushing turn of events.

In the Japanese language, there is only one character that represents both "crisis" and "opportunity."
 

David

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Bad things in life happen for a reason, it your perception & attitude how to deal with them at the time is what matters most.

Like every human, 99% of us been through the lowestest of low, and have been riding the highest of highs. No matter what happens, its up to you to deal with the problem in what seems at most correct to you, to minimise regrets or failure.

For me it was being forced going into college after high school. Anyways given the advice from parents, I stayed for a while before dropping out to their disappointment.

Where am I now? Managing and running a successful business 2 years on and have actually came back to college to finish what feels most right to me as of today. Setting goals is one thing, but achieving them at the right time is another.

David~
 

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