Actually, My true reason for not even visiting this space for a month is that I’ve been too busy living the dream. I have gone camping in Moab, UT, visited Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, rock climbed with my kids, taken afternoon hikes with my family, morning walks with my wife, explored new areas on quiet bike rides, visited new open spaces, had a picnic by the river, met with members of my community to discuss topics I am passionate about, met my neighbors, made new friends, and became closer to some old friends.

Its been one hell of a month. But these wonderful experiences would have never happened if I hadn’t turned the wheel of life to go the direction I wanted to go.

The other day I drove past the bank building that I worked in for almost 5 years.

My 3 year old daughter said, “Look Daddy, there’s the bank.”

I said, “Yes, you’re right, that is the bank”.

It was quiet for a few seconds then she said, “Do you remember when you used to live there?”

I laughed and said, “Yes honey I remember that, but now I am really LIVING with you.”

As a kid I had a Snoopy Snow Cone Machine and I would grind up ice cubes, add a little Kool-Aid, and collect a few dimes from the neighbors on hot summer days. It was fun. I remember counting the dimes and nickels with such excitement. Of course it’s all profit when your parents supply the raw materials.

I’m sure I’ve driven by many Lemonade and Kool-Aid stands without stopping but when I was in college working on my degree in business I gained a new respect for theselittle entrepreneurs and began stopping to make my purchases again. Although the price is usually a couple of quarters these days there is nothing like putting a smile on a child’s face, teaching kids about business, and at the same time building a sense of community.

This weekend the temperature only reached the middle 50s but the neighbor girls were out peddling their goods. And boy do they have their advertising down. I was working in the garden when I first heard the girls riding up and down the street on their bikes yelling “Ice Cold Lemondade Only 50 Cents”. They got louder and louder and didn’t give up even as sales on a cool March afternoon were sure to disappoint.

Be sure to stop at all of these fun little stands this summer and help spark the next generation of business owners. And don’t forget about the natural entrepreneur in you. Even if the forecast looks cool and cloudy there may be a great business opportunity just around the corner.

These powerful words from Bob Dylan were just as true in 1963 when his song was rising up the charts as they are today. The world is always changing and it is changing faster and faster. The way we communicate, find information, entertain ourselves, and shop have all changes in just the last few years. We have brand new ways to get information and learn about new things. I remember looking through encyclopedias as a kid. What an awful way to learn about old information. Now you can search up to the minute information on Twitter or the latest on Google.

This rapidly changing world creates so many opportunities. People are looking for new ways to be entertained, get information, and to buy things. It is so easy to build a following of loyal customer through a blog, Facebook, and/or a Twitter account. There is no need to throw away hundreds of dollars on newspaper and yellow page ads. They may have worked for your parent’s company, but now you have free access to reach millions world wide.

I began thinking about this a couple of weeks ago when I had two older ladies (older than my mother) say to me that I shouldn’t be wearing a spring jacket in the middle of winter. I was wearing a thin Wind Stopper jacket (I’m a bit of a hiking gear enthusiast). It is as thin as a spring jacket but is very warm and does not allow any wind to break through. I realized that these older ladies only knew a world with big bulky winter jackets. But the world has changed, the technology has advanced, and the truths known to the older generation are now as out of date as the encyclopedias.

I was working in a bank while I watched the Internet phenomenon build. Banks are dead. Banks are the dinosaur. They do not adapt to change. They move too slow because they are forced into being extremely conservative. They can’t see any opportunity beyond the same business plan that has gotten them into this trouble. How are banks trying to lure new customers… by giving away $100 gift cards, ipods, or some other awesome gifts. They wouldn’t have to buy customers if they would just innovate and do something different. Of course it is hard to get customers when there is a bank on every corner and they all do exactly the same thing.

You can not stop the world from changing. I suggest you use these excellent opportunities to build the lifestyle you desire. Don’t be a dying breed. Now is the time to start swimming or you’ll sink like a stone.

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. “~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today we honor Martin Luther King, Jr. A truly honorable man who accomplished so much through hard work, determination, confidence, and focus on a noble cause. I will not begin to touch on his importance to civil rights or American History. 

Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream. He fought hard for his dream. He spoke loudly to huge crowds about his dream. His dream spread. He gave his life trying to make is dream a reality. And he changed the country with his dream.

“The time is always right to do what is right.”~Martin Luther King, Jr.

What is your dream? Do you have a dream to do something truly admirable? Do you dream about doing something that is right? 

Surely you don’t dream about trading your time away for a fist full of dimes only to pay your mortgage or rent. What do you want to do with your life?

You could be the one holding the next dream to change the lives of millions. Don’t bottle it up. Tell your story in a book, share your art with others, start your small business, share your dream with others.

What if MLK had never shared his dream? What if MLK had decided that it would be too hard, take too much work, or there was too much to chance?

Sometimes you have to stand up and do what you believe. It cost Martin Luther King, Jr. his life, but that is something he knew was at stake. He changed lives and history. Chances are, going after your dream won’t cost you your life. So what is holding you back?  

“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

The only answer I can give you is that you will just know…

One month before my 20th birthday I packed up a bag of clothes, some CDs, a mountain bike, and $186 cash and left my home in central Iowa for a new life in Colorado. 

Why? Because I could see that I was going nowhere in Iowa. I was bored, becoming lazy, and seeing a future that wasn’t so bright. 

But why Colorado?  The truth is that Colorado is somewhere that I felt free.  At such a young age I hadn’t been to a lot of places but I had been to Colorado many times and I knew I liked it better there than anywhere else I’d visited.

My family had spent many week long summer vacations in the Centennial State and for me even at a young age it felt like home.  I have many memories of the Royal Gorge, Pikes Peak, Summit County, and Estes Park.  I always wondered why if my parents both worked so hard all year why they couldn’t stop and enjoy the fun things in life including their own son for longer than one full week every summer.

At about the age of eight we spent a week in Summit County Colorado in a condo along Lake Dillon.  At the end of the week I asked my mother a serious question.

“Mom, why are we going home to Iowa tomorrow?” I asked as seriously as an 8 year old can.

“Well our vacation is over and its time for us to go home.” She replied honestly.

“But if we like it here so much and have fun every year, why wouldn’t we just stay”

“Well, son, we have a house in Iowa and your dad and I have jobs there”, she said in that sweet way that parents use when they feel like they have to explain to children how the world really works.

“But mom, there are houses here and there are jobs in Colorado too” I replied.

 I was sure that there had to be better things out there for me and my family. For years I wondered why my family didn’t live in the mountains where we loved to visit. It didn’t make any sense to me that we would choose to live somewhere that wasn’t perfect. Sure my family had a house and jobs, but isn’t there more to life than that?

I kept this in my mind for many years and when I was finally making my own decisions I made the move. I knew there was a better life out there for me. This summer will mark my 14th year in Colorado. I have never ever, even for a second regretted this move. In fact it is the best thing I have ever done for myself. I have never regretted following my dreams.

My kids have no fear. I have always been careful not to discourage them from trying something new. I also cringe at the parents at the playground who are so nervous and scream at their children to stop climbing on the jungle gym or to stop swinging so high. Don’t get me wrong, children need to be safe and need to know their limits but if we don’t allow them to explore and learn from mistakes they are bound to follow a boring existence of working in an office cubicle. 

This past summer I took my family on a camping trip to Vedauwoo Wyoming. Vedauwoo is filled with amazing rock formations and is a climbers mecca. We camped with 3 families and 8 kids all under the age of 7. Our campsite was right up against some awesome bouldering spots.

I kept sneaking away from the others with my daughter and one other kid. (I didn’t want to be responsible for too many kids at a time) On the first trip up, the kids were frightened but loved it. They wanted to climb all the way to the top but they didn’t yet have the skills necessary.

I let them pick the route. Sometimes it was way too difficult and I would say something like, “should we look for another way”. They quickly learned that if one route was too difficult they may be able to find an easier way if they just look around.

I helped them work on their technique and confidence by helping them find foot and hand holds. It absolutely amazed me how quickly they improved. On the second day they were climbing routes that they wouldn’t have even considered on the first day. The final morning as I was packing the car to head home, the girls begged me to take them up one more time.  Again they were doing even more difficult routes and they didn’t show the fear of the previous days.

I was so proud of my daughter. She was so ready to learn new things, have new experiences, and improve her skills so she could get higher. With nothing but a little encouragement, guidance, and direction she was climbing to new heights and never looked back.  Most adults could learn a valuable lesson from these kids.

The check out lanes are filled with magazines and tabloids. I have never really paid attention to them before. They have been at every grocery store checkout lane since I was a child so I’ve just grown used to it and never paid attention. For some reason on this particular day they were calling out to me.

Every headline and picture was about weight loss, the latest diet, or celebrities in bathing suits. I began thinking about what this says about our society. We place importance on good looks, slim bodies, and celebrities. If these magazines were a true view of how our society placed importance on these things, why is obesity such a huge problem.

Then I realized these magazines on weightloss were surrounded by chips, candy, and soda.

Is that who we are? A society of people focused on good looks who stuffs ourselves full of chips and soda because it is easier than actually being in good health.

If you have a desire to do something whether it is lose weight, change careers, or make another life changing decision, it is important that you truly take control of your life and do it. Don’t be that person that looks at pictures of celebrities or successful business people and wishes it could be them and then settles for the easy way out.

Think about the ironic things in your life and start matching up your dreams with reality. You can do it.

I hadn’t been out on a long hike for quite a while because I had been busy working through some recent changes in my life and business. Finally last week I headed out for a day full of climbing 3 separate peaks located outside of Boulder, CO. When I arrived at the trail head before 7 am I noticed that it was only 7 degrees outside. After a long warm car ride my legs were a little achy and slow moving in the cold weather. There was also between 8 to 10 inches of snow, more than I expected.

About 2 hours into the hike I was really starting to get tired from tromping through the snow. It was much more work than I expected. By now I was sweating even though the day’s high temperature was around 30 degrees. I had ensured I would be warm and dry because I had all the right equipment.

Four hours into the climb I still hadn’t reached the first peak. I was dredging through almost a foot of snow straight up a mountain side in very dense forest more than 2 hours from a trail. I was tired. I stopped for a drink of water and thought to myself for a minute “Am I having fun? Why am I doing this? Do I really enjoy this?”. At that moment in time I really wasn’t having fun. It was hard work. I wasn’t sure why I was doing it, but I knew there was no turning back.

A short time later I reached the first summit. I found a register hidden at the summit. I paged through immediately to see when was the last time someone was there. Only 7 people had reached this spot in the last 2 years. I found that amazing. As I enjoyed the peace and quiet, the beautiful views, and the solitude. I remembered why I was out there.

Almost 8 hours from when I originally left the car, it was back within site. I had done it. I climbed 3 mountains all of which were ranked Boulder County Peaks but most of all I had overcome my fear, weakness, and laziness to reach my goals for that day.

I didn’t know which I wanted more, a cold beer or a nap. But I did know why I was out there that day. I was doing something I truly loved. I accomplished something that very few people ever do. I had spent my day working through my own doubts but because I had given myself the tools and the training to succeed it really wasn’t that hard as long as I stayed dedicated to the goal. And of course the work and emails were there waiting for me when I got home, but all of that was okay to wait while I was out feeding my soul.

“We can’t become what we need to be by remaining what we are.”~Oprah Winfrey

One year ago as 2009 was about to begin, I made a commitment to myself that this year was going to be different. I had been unhappy with my career choice for about 3 years and was not living the life I had dreamed of. Every morning I would wake up and tell myself, “This year is going to be different.” I swore to myself that I was not going to let another year pass and stay with my unhappiness.

Like most people, after about a month or so, I stopped saying to myself every day that it was going to be different, but I never stopped believing it. As I changed the calendar to June, I said to myself, “Damn, the year is half over and it hasn’t been much different.”

Determined to not let myself down I put it in overdrive and put my plan into place. It was a lot of work. It took a lot of guts, determination, and a well designed plan but I deffinately made sure that 2009 was different.

I left my corporate job, increased profitability of my online business, and have allowed myself to go hiking, spend more time with my kids, and live each day exactly like I want to.

I could have never accomplished all of this without knowing and focusing on my true desire. I recommend you make the most of this time of change and lay out a plan to reach your true goals. You will never regret following your bliss.

Cheers to a wonderful 2010!

It is pretty easy to fill each day with emails, phone calls, and some wasted time on your favorite social media site. Then fill your evening with TV and movies. With long work days and distractions at home it is very easy to keep thinking that someday you’ll make that change.

The days, weeks, and years pass by one by one and slowly life is passing you by while you work hard for someone else. You may say to yourself that someday things will change. The reality is that things will never change unless you make them.

“They always say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself”~Andy Warhol

If you really would like to be financially independent, happy with your work, and in control of your time; you need to make the decision to take control of your life. If you set goals, work towards them, and do something you are passionate about, you will finally reach your true happiness.

What is holding you back? Is your corporate job really that secure? Is the promotion you are working for really going to make you happy? Will that tiny raise you expect next year really make any difference?

Don’t fool yourself. Continuing to work in that same job is not going to get you to your goals. You have the ability to do great things but your boss will never know it. Your boss doesn’t care. Their ultimate goal is different than yours.

You can’t sit back and wait for change. You have to make it happen. There is no sense in waiting for the right time. There is never a better time to make a change than right now.