The IMAGINAIRIUM

This week I turned 61

And it has brought the usual rush of thoughts to the brain that every birthday brings, bugger I am another year older, where did the last year go, how many do I have left, time is flying, etc. Only this time it is different and the gift of  having a life threatening experience has sharpened my focus.

So here is the $61k question, do you slow down as you get older or do you launch yourself forward with greater intensity to fulfil the unfinished dreams. The logic is to slow down and enjoy each day with as much passion and joy as you can, after all there are only a finite number allotted to you and no one wished they had worked more when their time comes. And indeed that time to create and refine artistic skills is so appealing, as is just getting out of bed when it feels right each day.

Then there is joy to be had in our daily rituals, like making a fresh coffee in the morning, enjoying the sun on your face while you read, and time for contemplation on what is important in your life.

And that is the bugger

because when I do contemplate then I realise that I have dozens of unfinished projects, I have books I have started writing and never finished, music I still haven’t recorded and the biggest bugger of them all…..I have never really had a successful business.

Oh I have been successful on lots of occasions throughout my life, and have been involved in more interesting ventures than most people could dream of, but I will not be remembered for them and they will not have any real value after I am gone.

So the question remains am I up for the big one, the one that has some real value and a legacy that lingers. Not necessarily something that leaves the world a better place for my being here, but an idea that can be built upon by others.  You know something that makes you THINK.

And it is this question I am wrestling with as I write this, you see I have struck upon a unique way of looking at familiar things that enables people, teams and businesses to find creative solutions within tight constraints. Iv’e called it The IMAGINAIRIUM and people have had some fantastic insights and decided on fundamental changes both personally and within their businesses. Just a way to get the cogs to shift so you get the answers you need and that were in you all the time.

Now I haven’t done this alone, oh no,this has come about through an plethora of ideas from many business people and authors,  from Analytical Hypnosis to the Subliminal Brain, to Where Good Ideas Come From, to the Art of Deliberate Success and many more. The point is that finally at 61 I have the chance to build something from all my experiences, failures and successes that actually might have some substance.

So what’s the big deal

you say, 4 years to retirement (whatever that is) should be enough time to make a little nest egg…right? well not exactly  you see in order to build something you need to invest in it first and when starting a business just having a website and a product is not nearly enough, not by a long shot.

What you really need is passion and passion like testosterone appears to deplete as we age, I used to have it for everything when I was young, it seeped out of my pores. It drove me to do stupid and interesting things with equal intensity, just for the joy of doing it. Risk was my diet, and with no fear and an inflated ego what could go wrong.

And if “youth is wasted on the young” then so I am afraid is passion and ego. For as I have got older I have become more tolerant less critical (of both others and myself) and my appetite for risk has been tempered with experience, and as time is now more precious the balance is harder to weigh up.

Time has become the equaliser the thing that brings both doubt and focus and begs the question ” do you die trying or give the comfortable excuse of age”. This is a question that we all have to face and “age” here is not a number, it is SELF BELIEF and no matter who you are, we get to a point where it can seem like it is to much effort and as the rewards aren’t guaranteed……..well.

So my question to you is simple.

Have you got dreams that are unfulfilled, have you ideas that you know will work but you have never put them to practice, do you have a desire to free yourself from the endless grind and just do something that gives you joy.

Well I do and so the question now is if I go for it will it in turn swallow me up, will it in fact tie me down to the grind and treadmill that building a successful business requires, right at a time when I have so many other things I could do that I can pick up and put down at will.

Will it bring me the joy and the rewards I hope it will, will it actually succeed when all the rest have failed, and biggest of all will it make me happy while I do it.

So here’s my take

PASSION comes from believing in something and doing it just for the shear joy of doing it (the outcome is not necessarily fixed).

Ego comes from SELF BELIEF and it can be quite or it can be loud but it is buoyed by the responses from others that lets us know we are on the right path (listen hard when the response tells you something contrary to your belief) many people have squandered their savings because they didn’t listen to the market.

But if you TRULY believe in what you are doing then go for it, the only thing you can be dammed for is NOT TRYING.

So in my 61st year on this earth will I go for the new adventure……of course I will, because it is what keeps me young, that elixir of youth PASSION, and anyway there is no reason why I can’t have it all, the business and the music and the books, the only thing that stops you from having all you want is YOU….so take that step.

Inspiration thanks in part to

The Art of Deliberate success  http://drdavidkeane.com/,

Sell your Thoughts  http://www.mattchurch.com/

Where good Ideas come from  http://www.stevenberlinjohnson.com/,

Subliminal how your unconscious mind rules your behavior http://leonardmlodinow.com/,

Lateral thinking http://edwdebono.com/

Analytical Hypnotherapy E A Barnett MD,