Your Six Figure Mentors Advisor here, to share some insight for the day. Last year, months after the sudden death of my Mother, I found myself taking my Father off of Life Support. I held his hand and told him how much he was loved, what a wonderful Father he was, and watched the heart monitor slow and stop. He was gone along with all of the dreams and plans that he had wanted to live, but never did. It was a turning point for me. A mind shift in a big way.
I had the duty of clearing out my parents’ home and came across not only years of Notes that my Dad wrote, but diaries that my Mom kept. I sat down and went through them, but it didn’t shock me that neither expressed happy thoughts or feelings. They reflected sadness, limitations, false ideas about themselves and about life. Although they were incredibly supportive, fun, and loving parents, they never fulfilled their own personal dreams. My Mom was a talented artist that always questioned herself. She struggled with self-image and weight issues. My Dad was incredibly responsible, intelligent and an automotive engineer, but he really wanted to be a business owner. He looked at opportunities, but he never went through with them. One of them was to purchase a McDonald’s franchise. Instead, he put in long hours designing cars. He loved California and would vacation there, but never moved there as I urged him to.
I had to ask myself, “How long? How long do I wait to take a leap of faith to create the life I truly want?” The problem with most of us is that if we have income, regardless of whether or not it’s in a satisfying profession, we feel that we are doing well. Society tells us that we should be grateful and we, of course, are. That is the challenge. It may pay the bills, but are you fulfilling your dreams? I was an investment banker, so it was difficult to leave 20 years of what is considered a prestigious career. But, I knew that I wasn’t going to be the person that at the end of my life had unfulfilled dreams.
Are you on life support like I was? Letting the machines do everything for you, laying there just breathing, but not living? Perhaps it is time to pull them off, stand up, start breathing on your own and walk . . . no RUN to . . . well, wherever you darned well please. It’s easy to just go along with wherever life leads you and allow the outside influences to dictate your direction. It’s not easy to take chances, try or learn new things, and come under the scrutiny of others and worse, your own ingrained ideas about who or what you ‘should’ be. Let me share with you that the discomfort of going after your dreams isn’t nearly as uncomfortable as staying on life support, functioning, but never TRULY living. And don’t think that by doing so makes you irresponsible. You may stumble along the way, meet challenges, but you and everyone around you will benefit from your achievements and the joy that you will feel when you are doing what you love!
After the death of my Dad, I wrote a book which received two awards and got optioned for a movie (will air 2016). I quit investment banking and now advise music and entertainment professionals along with pro-athletes on operating lucrative businesses. I am writing two more books that I KNOW will also be movies. I travel whenever I please, just bought a mountain retreat, and have so many other goals that I will achieve. I am just getting started.
Pull out the trachea, the heart pump, jump out of the bed and start breathing on your own. And when you leave this Earth, there will be incredible stories of joy, achievements, challenges and triumphs. It’s worth it. Life is short. Go LIVE it!
Wishing you incredible success, joy, love and abundance! Landria Onkka, Six Figure Mentors