Don't Be Confused About Why People Leave

Do you have key employees who, if you lost them, would leave such a hole in your company or team that you're not sure you could ever fill it? Do you know what would make them want to stay with you? Do you know the real reason about why they might leave?

A friend of mine started working for a startup company a few years ago. She managed the operation as the company grew from less than 50 employees to over 200. It's easy to see that she's been critical to the company's growth and financial success. She recently gave her boss two week's notice. She accepted another job and took a large pay cut. 

The Awesomeness...and the Confusion 

First, I'm happy for her because she found the courage to make this difficult decision. She had to conquer her fear that she and her husband would not be able to make ends meet. In the end, they decided the most important influencing factor was her satisfaction in the work she was doing. I want to celebrate their level of faith that fulfilling the human spirit is more important than filling the bank account. You see, they recognize they have a challenging money problem. They also recognize they're capable of finding solutions. BOOM!! (picture a fist bump explosion here)

On the other hand, I also know her boss. He's confused and never saw it coming. Why did she leave? He's concerned about how he's going to make things work, although he won't admit it. I can hear it in his voice. Meanwhile, he's doing what entrepreneurs have a tendency to do, focusing on the best solution to this complex problem. 

My concern for him is this: I'm quite sure he recognized the opportunity that's been lost for him and his company. The future value of the value she'd helped him create in just a few short years instantly turned to zero.

In his rush to fill the vacuum, has he taken the time to understand why that opportunity was lost and how he could have seen it coming? 

Was it About the Money?

When she was hire, in the early days of the company, he pitched her a value-proposition that looked like this: "I can't pay you very much right now. But, if you help me grow this company, your compensation could more than double in the next few years."

He gave her a few small raises along the way. He provided a few perks and she appreciated them. But, as the Company realized the success he envisioned, the ratio between the rewards he promised in relation to the growth and the rewards he provided were miles apart.

It's easy to think this means it was about the money. But, actually, it wasn't. She heard that initial value-proposition, she bought into it, she delivered what she promised. He delivered part of it. But, it was easy for her to see the gap and it caused her to wonder if she could trust him, especially while she watched him spend money on things the company didn't really need.

So, money was a part of the problem, but not the real root cause. It was trust. He offered her more money the minute she told him she was leaving. She turned his offer down. Nobody who takes a job that pays them less money than they're currently making does it because of the money.

Other Key Factors

My two friends think in different ways. 

She knows that you can't make everyone happy so the best you can do is build a structure that creates accountability and be consistent so that people can be satisfied that they are being treated as fairly as is reasonably possible. 

He wants everyone to be happy and have fun at work. He thinks the way to do that is not create cumbersome rules and structure.

She values the personal relationship and puts it in front of the transaction.

He values the things success brings and prioritizes the transaction over the relationship.

Here's how things went down:

• She quickly became dissatisfied when he didn't allow her to create a structure with which she could lead the staff and hold them accountable.
• He became dissatisfied any time he recognized a gap between the things the employees on their staff did and his definition of acceptable professional behavior...a definition that was never documented and never fully communicated.
• Her dissatisfaction turned to frustration as she watched his emotional reactions and suggested solutions which he rejected.
• His dissatisfaction turned to frustration as he failed to solve the same problems over and over again.
• As he continued to react to situations based on emotions, he never felt he could trust his employees.
• Employees became confused about what they were supposed to be doing because no clear expectations were ever given. A lot of turnover in the staff resulted. 
• She became frustrated in her efforts to create the kind of high-performance work environment he said he wanted, and she knew how to deliver, because he wouldn't allow her to create the structure needed. So, she lost trust that she would be able to lead in his company the way she envisioned she could.
• She worked extremely long hours through the growth, the turnover, the shortage of resources, and her personal need to fulfill her responsibilities. No matter how many unplanned problems she had to help solve throughout the day, employees still needed to get their paychecks, invoices still needed to be created and sent to customers, the bills needed to be paid. She arrived at six thirty and often worked until ten at night for weeks and months at a time. He worked a normal work day.
• He failed to recognize the gap between the value-proposition he promised and what he delivered. The loss of trust weakened the connection for her.
• He failed to help her be the leader she really wanted to be. His lack of trust in her abilities further strained the connection.
• He failed to recognize her efforts and to reward them in meaningful ways. It's important to say, "You're doing a great job," but there comes a point where that's just not enough. She felt her efforts were unnoticed, under-valued, and unappreciated. One day she asked herself, "Why should I continue doing this?"  The love was lost.

Could He Have Prevented it?

The simple answer is, yes. But only if he'd seen it coming. 

Could He Have Seen it Coming?

Again, yes. But, only if he was looking...and listening...only if he valued his relationships with all of his key stakeholders more than the transactions that created wealth for his company...only if he were willing and able to measure the strength of the relationship as much as he measured the bottom line.

Business success is based on the value of the transaction. 

The transaction only happens if the relationship is seen as mutually beneficial by all involved. So, which is more important? The transaction or the relationship? Which one sets the conditions for success for the other?

I know you're smart. You know the real answer.

How to Create Mutually Beneficial Relationships

1. Create Connection- Strengthen the attraction!
• Define your value-propositions with every key stakeholder so expectations are in alignment on all sides.
• Employees as well as customers as well as vendors....
2. Create Trust- Strengthen the bonds of connection!
• Build the structure that creates accountability.
• Engage key stakeholders so they can help you identify your greatest opportunities for Innovation, Growth, and Profits.
• See what they see.
• Listen!
3. Create Love- Help them to love working for you!
• Deliver what is promised. 
• Be honest when you can't and about why.
• Show you're willing to do the work to fill the gap.

I use a system I call GPS Theory to create meaningful and lasting mutually beneficial relationships. The system is based on the principles of Connection, Trust, and Love and has allowed me to expand my definition of success so I can create values-driven success for the people with whom I love to spend my personal and professional time! The magic happens for me because I create if for others. I'm able to create if for other because they help me see what I need to see instead of what I want to see. This helps me actually meet their needs instead of trying to convince them that what I'm giving them does. It works in every personal, professional, and organizational situation. My clients see it this way too!

How do you ensure you're creating mutually beneficial relationships based on Connection, Trust, and Love? 

My friend, Peter Beaumont, from ConnXN, and author of The Relationship Roadmap, just published an article on building trust with customers. He's a relationship expert so you may want to check it out.

BUY THE BOOK!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Tom Eakin is the author of Finding Success and the Success Engineer at BoomLife. LEARN MORE ABOUT TOM...

READ A SAMPLE CHAPTER FROM THE BOOK

Quit Tomorrow!

Resistance to change in the status quo.
People who don't think about why it's important to them.
Indifference, fear of ambiguity, and the desire to get back into your comfort zone.
Physical, mental and spiritual fatigue.
Worry over damaging relationships.
Uncertainty.
All are conditions which exist everywhere, everyday. The overwhelming situation makes you want to quit trying to do something new and amazing, doesn't it?
Quit tomorrow, then.

 There I was: Day two of U.S. Army Ranger School at Fort Benning, Georgia. I hadn't slept in the past 48 hours. The entire time was filled unrelenting vigorous physical challenge in a program intended to weed out the weak. I was exhausted. I'd cracked two ribs on one of the sections of the obstacle course earlier that day. I hurt.

The first four days of Ranger School is where 60% of dropouts occur. Our class had already lost a large number of strong, determined soldiers who'd prepared for months by sundown on day two.

It had been a hot day and now that the sun had gone down the temperature was dipping into the 40's. We were on Malvesti Field slogging through the red Georgia clay. Malvesti Field is that place you always see on television. You know the scene, bald-headed soldiers crawling with their miserable faces pushed down in the mud beneath  a ceiling of barbed wire. To add to my exhaustion and the ribs, which shot bolts of excruciating pain throughout my body everytime I raised my right arm over my shoulder, I now had what felt like a half-gallon of red Georgia clay underneath my eyelids. I was almost blind and trying to negotiate the challenges Malvesti and the Ranger Instructors (RI's) delivered while I begged my eyes to produce enough tears to wash out the sticky mud.

While I pushed my body, there was a war going on in my head. I was thinking about the fact that it was only day two and I had over two months to go! I thought; with all of these forces lined up against me, if I am feeling this weak and vulnerable on day two, how can I possibly last? A feeling of despair came over me. I had a choice to make, hide my weakness, or tell someone about it in an environment full of the toughest people on the planet.

I decided to take a risk.

"I'm not sure I can make it through this course," I whispered to my Ranger buddy, Arjmandi. He was going through the same things I was. He also knew about my ribs and my eyes. 

"Come on, Eakin. I'm going to help you through this."

"No, I'm telling you. I'm not sure I can get through the next 60 days."

"Eakin, I'll make a deal with you. Get through tonight, with me, and we'll both quit tomorrow."

Getting through the night seemed possible. How much worse could it get? Besides, Arjmandi was going to help me. What if he needed me later on? I couldn't help him if I wasn't there, could I? I committed myself in the moment to that short-term goal. "OK. I'm with you, buddy."

"OK, Eakin, these RI's want to break us if they can. This next time through, let's scream like madmen and show them they can't break us."

"Roger that!"

We screamed like banshees! We laughed the whole way through the suck! We made it through every event that night brought us. For our efforts, we got a few hours of sleep that night.

When we woke up, I looked at Arjmandi.

He was grinning from ear to ear. "You still going to quit tomorrow, Eakin?" 

I smiled back at him. "Yeah buddy, I'm going to quit tomorrow."

• When you're feeling overwhelmed by the enormity of your situation or the challenges you've taken on. Find something productive and meaningful you can focus on and do it.
• Remember, there is someone out there who believes in you and what you're doing. Lean on them when you need them. The love, brotherhood, and trust you create in those relationships will always be the core of your success.
• If you don't take a risk and ask for help, you won't get what you really want. Real strength is not shown in facing your problems alone, it comes from having the courage to let others know you need them. 
• Sometimes you're the weakest, sometimes the strongest. Give what you can, when you can.
• Quit tomorrow. Why? It is always today. Tomorrow never comes.

I haven't talked to Arjmandi since we graduated from Ranger School in February, 1999 (Class 2-98), two months after he gave me this powerful gift. If I knew how to get in touch with him today, here's what I'd say:

"Thank you, Arjmandi, for being worthy of my trust in a time where I was most vulnerable. You taught me a lesson which has served me well and has helped me accomplish more than I ever thought possible. I will always love you like a brother for that. It's been fifteen years, but I still know I can count on you and that, my friend, is priceless. For you, and because of you, I will always quit tomorrow." 

I hope this article finds you some day. When it does, drop me a line. We'll catch up.

If you're tired of feeling overwhelmed by the challenges life throws at you, it's time to pick new challenges. Find people who will support you and show you the way. Download our Success Planning Guide for FREE! This guide is full of tools designed to help you through GPS Theory's process of changing the way you think and is a companion to my new book, Finding Success: Get what you really want. 

At BoomLife We Want To Share Values-Driven Success

BUY THE BOOK  NOW! 

If you're looking for inspiration, take a look at our BoomShare! videos. We wanted to share stories about people who are inspired to do great things so we created this series of interviews. These people want to help people find success. Hear their stories and learn how you can connect with them...and help. 

If you know someone who is doing great things to help others in meaningful ways, we'd appreciate it if you'd make an introduction so we can connect and feature their story in a future BoomShare! episode. You can email your submission to: tom@goboomlife.com

BOOM!

Tom Eakin

Success Engineer, BoomLife
Author of Finding Success

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What Every Person On This Planet Really Wants

What Every Person On This Planet Really Wants

If you were to ask what one thing every person on this planet really wants, I could provide you an answer with complete confidence. There is not one person capable of rational thought on this planet who would disagree with this answer. It is a fact. 

I'm not talking about what I believe. It's not about my faith (although my faith plays a role in it and vice versa...as does yours and what you believe). If you asked every human being on this planet if they wanted this one thing, they would say, "Yes," without even thinking about it. 

Ask the rich and the poor. Male and female. Ask a Wall Street investor and a Yanomami tribe member if they want it and they'll both answer in the affirmative. Ask professional athletes, spiritual advisors, corporate leaders, homeless people, healthy people, sick people. Ask buyers. Ask sellers. Ask everyone! Ask anyone. People of all colors, shapes and sizes will all say, "Yes. I want that." 

So, get on with it, you're saying, "What is it, already!?!"

The answer is simple: Success. Every living person on this planet really wants to be successful.

What Is It?

Ever since I started talking about success in public forums, every time I've asked the question, "What is success," at least one person in the audience will say, "Getting what you want." Once having heard that simplification of the definition, typically everyone else pretty much agrees. If you look up the word "success" in the dictionary, you'll find several definitions which collectively support that simple view. So, let's go with that, for now. Success is getting what you want.

The Problem With It

The problem with defining success as "getting what you want" is every one of us uses a different path to define it. Not only that, we often use a different method of determining how to achieve it in each situation we find ourselves in. 

As we all try to get what we want, we're competing with each other in a world where resources are constrained and unevenly distributed. So naturally, trying to get what we want creates conflict. Things escalate from there. The magnitude of every conflict is based on the scale of the disparity and the strength of the desire each person or group has to get and keep what they want. 

When we're primarily driven to get what we want, we lose sight of what we really want. Every person wants to be perceived in a positive way which means we desire for others to see our actions as "good".

The moment I realized this fact, my whole life changed. I became obsessed with trying to understand the concept of success so I could be successful. Isn't it ironic that the one thing every single one of us wants is also the cause of all of the problems we face?

My own experience with this universal, but preventable human problem, inspired me to find a solution that could help anyone who wants to find success. I recognized I couldn't, and shouldn't, try to make everyone want the same things. So, I focused finding a way to define it in a meaningful way that can be consistently applied to every situation we face and then measure our progress as we take actions to live out our values. From a critical moment in my own life, GPS Theory was born. 

The Solution For It

I propose a simple addition to the definition of success because, in truth, trying only to get what we want isn't enough for any of us. Every one of us has our fill of the problems this world brings. The truth is, we create those for each other and if we really want that to change we must learn to define success in a different way. That's where values-driven success comes in. 

Values-driven success is "getting what you want and being the person you want to be." Here's the catch: You can't really get what you want when you are not first the person you want to be. GPS Theory helps you get both. I didn't change the definition of success, I added a component and a new ideal to strive for.

GPS Theory operates under the hypothesis that our values represent what is virtuous and "good" when it comes to human beings.

Our behaviors are a reflection of what we truly value which does not always accurately reflect what we say we do. The definition of values-driven success helps us think in a way that will lead to getting what we really want.

Thinking leads to action. Our actions are what we become. THINK. ACT. BE. (See my article on three synonymous words, Know. Do. Be. and how they are the path to success)

How to Apply the Solution

1. Think about the person you want to be and the things you want. 
2. Do things that will reflect that person while you strive to get what you want. 
3. Become driven by your values and you will get what you really want with conviction and tenacity.

• When you don't get what you want, your values will drive you to keep trying. Because you believe in what you're doing you can overcome the fears that keep you from getting what you really want.
• When your values inspire you to do things you can be satisfied with as you strive to realize the results you seek, you can get what you really want. 

If you'd like to learn more about this process, download our Success Planning Guide for FREE! This guide is full of tools designed to help you through GPS Theory's process and is a companion to my new book, Finding Success: Get what you really want. 

At BoomLife We Want To Share Values-Driven Success

If you're looking for inspiration, take a look at our BoomShare! videos. We wanted to share stories about people who are inspired to do great things so we created this series of interviews. These people want to help people find success. Hear their stories and learn how you can connect with them...and help. 

If you know someone who is doing great things to help others in meaningful ways, we'd appreciate it if you'd make an introduction so we can connect and feature their story in a future BoomShare! episode. You can email your submission to: tom@goboomlife.com or use the comment section, below.

The Sun Has No Comfort Zone

The Sun Has No Comfort Zone

Do you believe you have a great idea? Do you have a dream?

Your idea does not become something great until you've shared it with the people in the world around you and it helps them in some meaningful way. 

Yes, you may fail at first. The first time you try to share it, you might not actually help anyone. 

Perhaps the idea doesn't work quite right and needs to be redesigned or tweaked. Failure hurts, but it provides a signal that you need to put forth more thought, more effort, more of yourself.

Perhaps, you're presenting it in a way people aren't willing to accept...yet...so they reject it. Rejection can be painful in a soul-scraping way. 

Failure and rejection create two questions. Each question creates a different path and you need to choose which one you'll answer:

• Why don't they like my idea?
• What do I need to do make my idea recognizably helpful to them?

The first question will take you down the path to becoming afraid of success. It will lead you to think the idea has failed and you'll feel rejected because it was a part of you. You will not like the pain you feel and will want to protect yourself from it in the future. You'll feel overwhelmed by the challenge of helping the unwilling and crawl back into your comfort zone. You like it in that place of comfort and you won't try again so you'll decide to stay. You'll become complacent.

The second question compels you to focus on the problem you need to solve. It provides you with a forward path that helps you get past the pain the failure creates (oh yes, you'll still feel the pain). You will think about why solving the problem is important to you. Conviction will drive you to take the next step. You will shine your idea out to the world again, only it will be better.

Protecting yourself from future pain if your idea, your dream, does not immediately come true only ensures you will not make it come true.

Think about this. Help can only be given to living beings. The Sun only helps one planet out of the eight in our Solar System (sorry, Pluto). The first two planets reached by it's rays are therefore not helped so it fails at it's first two attempts to be helpful. 87.5% of the planets it shares it's light with reject any help it tries to provide.

Aren't you thankful the Sun has no Comfort Zone?

It looks pretty cold out there, doesn't it? 

Shine your light. Find the way.
Find the willing.
PRE-ORDER FINDING SUCCESS NOW!

What life-giving opportunities do you miss by keeping your idea, your dream, protected in your Comfort Zone?

I wrote my book, Finding Success: Get What You Really Want? to help people use GPS Theory to ask themselves the best questions so they can focus on the challenges they need solutions to and find the the conviction to overcome failure. 

It's my way of shining my light so I can find the way to help people in meaningful ways.

BOOM!
Tom Eakin
Success Engineer, BoomLife

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In Memorial Of What's Been Lost

In Memorial Of What's Been Lost

Remembering What's Been Lost

Tomorrow is Memorial Day, 2014. I imagine it was not coincidental that I received an email from YouTube on Friday, the eve of a weekend that comes each year in the month of May and culminates in a day meant to remember the people who gave everything for what they believed in, with a recommendation to watch the TED Talks video, "Sebastian Junger: Why Soldiers Miss War." 

Who do we remember? Whose examples do we treasure most? I'm not just talking about soldiers, even though there is a tendency to focus on them during this holiday. I'm talking about the people who had the conviction to live in a way we each wish we could, regardless of whether they served in the military. I'm asking: Who has served mankind in ways that are meaningful to us? Do we even understand what that means?

Sebastian Junger's message is important and I believe he is right in that we need to understand "why soldiers miss war". For them. For ourselves. Please take the next thirteen minutes and eight seconds and listen to him explain it before you read on:

The last few minutes of Junger's talk is focused on love and brotherhood. Military history is full of examples like those discussed in the video, stories about ordinary people doing heroic things in extraordinary situations because they love the people around them more than they love themselves. As a veteran, I appreciate Junger's message here about soldiers, love and brotherhood and trust forged in the crucible of actions taken for the sake of others. As a human being who is no longer a soldier, I crave that feeling more than anything else. Ask any veteran what they miss most and they'll tell you, "The camaraderie of brotherhood." 

What Do We Value Most

Ross McGinniss
Source: http://www.army.mil/
medalofhonor/mcginnis/video/index.html

In my first book, "Finding Success," I share a story I read about in Kelly Kennedy's powerful book, "They Fought For Each Other," to illustrate the concepts I've put together in my GPS Theory model to help people define, for themselves, the reasons why they would do things for other people. The story is about a soldier, named Ross McGinness, who sacrificed his own life so his friends, his brothers, would be able to live. When I tell his story in the book and in my workshops, I ask people to answer this question, "What words would you use to describe him and the life he lived?" I invariably hear words like, loyalty, duty, honor, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage. 

I never knew Ross McGinnis but I believe those words all describe the life he lived. The reason why he was willing to personify all of those words, however, can be summed up into one word: LOVE. The people in these workshops often struggle with understanding how to reconcile the tragic results of McGinniss' actions with the example of values-driven success he really provides. The question they're not asking themselves is: Why do we honor him? 

Regardless of the tragic result, regardless of the amount of time he lived after he decided he was going to save his friends, when it comes down to it, he lived a lifetime of love, brotherhood, and trust. Didn't he? Ross McGinnis received the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously. He couldn't be there for the ceremony. What does that matter? Do we honor him for the medal, or for how he lived his life in the final moments?

Ross McGinnis didn't get to see the results. The medal, the lives he saved, he did what he did on faith. 

Twelve years after I left the U.S. Army, I'm still searching for relationships like the ones I forged with the people I still identify as my brothers and sisters, today. I've known that sense of belonging and a purposeful desire to do what it takes to be worthy of brotherhood and trust. I've looked for it in the corporate and business world over and over only to find myself still craving it like other soldiers who have known it and lost it do. 

I still find myself feeling as Sebastian Junger puts it, "...just back in society, like the rest of us are, not knowing who they can count on, not knowing who loves them, who they can love, not knowing exactly what anyone they know would do for them if it came down to it" (Note: You can find this quote 2:20 into the video). I couldn't have said it better myself. 

Soldiers don't crave war, that's not Junger's message, they crave love and brotherhood with people they trust. My biggest question: Why can't we create those conditions in all of our relationships? Why do we need wars and extraordinary circumstances to create relationships based on brotherhood and trust? I ask these questions because I don't believe we need them. Yet, my experience, my search, indicates without getting ourselves into such dire circumstances, we have a tendency to not focus on what we want the most.

I believe we all crave the same thing as what Junger describes in this video. We become confused about what it means though. We tend to become driven to serve ourselves instead of each other when our situation threatens our status quo. When I rediscovered this simple truth, it inspired the creation of GPS Theory. I developed the model because I never want to forget what is most important to me, again. I am sharing it with whomever truly wants to be the person they want to be because I believe it can help them to always remember what they value most, do things that will make them satisfied with their efforts, and find life-long success. 

How Do We Satisfy The Craving For What's Been Lost?

The moment we accept that we're all equally susceptible to forgetting those three things is when we recognize we need relationships with people based on love, brotherhood, and trust, only then can we be successful in our personal, professional, and organizational lives. We must remind ourselves. The soldiers Sebastian Jungers talks about understand what they are willing to die for- Love, and all of the values that grow from it and lead back to it. They remember a time when they were willing to live for it. They crave the sense of purpose, belonging. They crave the brotherhood. 

In my own searching for success, I've learned the reasons for my deepest cravings really come down to these questions and answers:

Q: Why do I choose to remember and honor people?

A: They have loved heroically.

Q: Why do I need extraordinary situations to love heroically?

A: Any situation where I love is heroic. Loving is the first step.

Q: How can I feel like I have people in my life I can trust?

A: Showing them love is the first step. I cannot plan beyond that.

Q: Why am I so afraid to love first?

A: I am focused on the results. I want success now. I forget that if I can trust the people around me, they will help me get the things I need. I forget that only if I am the person I want to be can I find relationships that are meaningful to me.

The situations we create and the results we want, but have no control over (we can only influence), tend to twist our logic in ways we can't always perceive. We hold tighter to what we have. Our thoughts focus away from how we can gain more strength through relationships based on what we truly value. Our decisions become driven to achieve external results. We lose sight of how the means keep us from being the person we want to be.

1. We crave love. We can only get it if we give it.
2. We crave brotherhood. We can experience it when we engage in relationships that are meaningful in ways that represent the person we want to be. 
3. We crave trust. We can only earn it if we help others find it in us.

When we forget these three things, we try to fill our cravings with things we can get through methods we find easier and emotionally cheaper to invest, like money and things. We then see external results and perceive we're making the kind of progress we want. 

When we remember these things, we recognize the root of our greatest fears. The key to solving any problem is identifying the root cause. We fear giving love, because we may not find the love, brotherhood, and trust in those we give it to. No reward comes without risk. If we don't keep giving love, we'll never find the people who are willing to give it back. Keep giving. You will find the willing, but only if you take the risk! Be Bold!

Remember Who We Have Lost By Remembering That Which We Valued In Them.

We think we honor people who have shown us the way by remembering them. We do. But, it's not enough. It's not really what they would want us to do is it?  What, do you think, they would want more? To be remembered? Or, for us to understand what they believed in, who they loved, and why they lived for both? Any one of them would say, "I found myself in extraordinary circumstances. I did not control that. In those circumstances I lived for love. I made that choice. It wasn't easy, it hurt me and the people I loved. I would do it again. I believe in love that much!"

I want you to think about these questions and answer them for yourself, whether you're reading this on Memorial Day, or any other day:

Q: Who do you choose to remember and honor?

A: 

Q: Do you know why you would love heroically regardless of the situation?

A:

Q: How can you feel like you have people in your life you can trust?

A:

Q: Am I willing to put love first?

A: 

Q: What words do I want people to use to describe me and the life I've lived?

A: 

Q: Am I spending my time and energy on finding the people who would recognize those words in me and give them back?

A: 

Remember what has been lost. Get it back!

Remember the people who have loved heroically. Honor their memory and their example by knowing why you would do the same. The last question I asked you is the question I asked myself on the day the concept of GPS Theory was born. 

Do things that represent the words in your answer to that final question. When you do:

The things you do will help you satisfy your craving for love, brotherhood, and trust.

You will help other people.

You will love heroically. You will be remembered for that by the people who value it. Can you really ask for more than that? 

Never Forget This: You Get It Back By Bringing It Back.

Tom Eakin

Success Engineer, BoomLife

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Tom Eakin's presentation of "What Do You Want?" is designed to challenge the way you define success and inspire you to engineer your own personal, professional or organizational path to success. 

email us at tom@goboomlife.com

GET WHAT YOU WANT! 

Getting what you want and being the person you want to be can seem complicated and confusing! Together, we'll define what you want, what it takes to get it and help you realize the kind of success you never been able to achieve before! Sign up for personal one-on-one coaching. You can sign up for a program or a single-session. It's up to you!:

• 90-Day Success Engineering Program
• Personal Success Engineering Session

"We Must Be Bold"

WE MUST BE BOLD

Back in December, I met Hugh Weber from OTA + Pollen. Hugh and his partners are working to create a "world class network of individuals + organizations + communities and ideas" to "transform" the OTA Region. The OTA Region consists of the three states ending with the letters "ota", Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. I live in South Dakota, and if you've read anything I've written about how each of us can change our lives and our "World" in significantly positive ways, then you can understand why I'd want to share their audacious theme: "We Must Be Bold".

A Bold Idea That Has Spanned Generations 

That first time I met Hugh, he was giving a presentation in which he told a story about the profound and lasting impact the last four words in President John F. Kennedy's "We Choose To Go To The Moon" speech had on him. As the crowds applause at Kennedy's final words builds into a crescendo, he ends his speech with, "and we must be bold." It almost gets lost in the din of the crowd. It didn't get lost on Hugh.

President Kennedy's bold vision to put a man on the moon within a decade came true because he created the time and place where the idea became possible in the hearts and minds of all Americans. The community of people who needed to work together was vast and nation-wide in its scope.

A Bold Idea for Today and Future Generations

On Friday, April 4, 2014, I attended OTA 14 in Sioux Falls, SD, an event Hugh and his partners put together to share stories about how "connections and collisions of people and ideas have impacted our largest and smallest businesses, organizations and communities," and to gather together people in the region who want to do great things. In other words, they shared stories about "intersections" and created a time and place for them to happen. It was an inspiring event! It made for an inspiring day because of the people who shared their stories about the "connections and collisions" that created opportunities for them to make their difference: Antonio Neves, Kash Sree, Roman Mars, Jamie Millard & Meghan Murphy (from Pollen), Nathaniel Schachter, Paul LaRoche (who put on an amazing musical and visual performance with some of his family members and musicians from Brule), Jennifer Reedy, Baratunde Thurston, Tina & Ryan Essmaker, and Bryant Cryder who introduced the final speaker of the day. I'd love to tell you more about each of those speakers and the powerful messages they shared. But, this is an article, not a book. I'm going to just ask you to trust me when I say, these are people who truly believe they can make a difference in their "Worlds," strive to learn how, and have proven they are willing to try. 

A Bold Assignment

When we walked out of the theater of the Washington Pavillion after the final speaker of the day, Scott Harrison, finished moving us to tears through the story of Charity:Water, event volunteers were lined up at the exit handing out tubes of "mystery" gifts. I opened mine as soon as I got home after an hour-long anticipation-filled drive. In the tube, there were a few of the giveaways you typically receive at events like this one. But, I also found more inspiration in the form of two high-quality prints confidently and enthusiastically calling out the message, "WE MUST BE BOLD".

There was another flyer in the tube which said, "Now, we need you to take the next step...by sharing one of the enclosed prints with someone that inspires you or someone that you hope to inspire." I'll gladly take on this assignment. I will find someone who I hope to inspire and give them one of the prints. But, I want to inspire as many people to do great things as I possibly can! And, I'm going to do that in the best way I know how, with my current capabilities. I'm sharing a photograph I took of the print (I'm not a very good photographer) with my network of blog readers, my clients, my newsletter subscribers (I'm not the greatest networker but I'm doing my best). 

YES, WE MUST BE BOLD!

A photographic rendering of the print
OTA + Pollen gave me as a gift
and which I am sharing with you in
the best way I know!

What does this statement mean to you?

What BOLD way do you want to make a difference in the world?

What values inspire you to want to do it?

How will those values drive your decisions to do what it takes?

Not one of us can do it alone.

Who do you need to share your vision with to make it your BOLD thing happen?

How can I help you?

• Share your vision, your plan, your message by responding in the comments, below. You never know who will read it and want to connect with you! Take a chance, share it! If I see an opportunity to help you directly, or connect you with someone else who can, I will.
• Plan and implement why & how you will make your BOLD vision happen? I'm providing free tools to help you "Know" why it's so important to your life-long success so you will find the conviction to "Do" what it takes and "Be" the person you want to be. 

My Bold Message:

Your VALUES are your WHY!

I believe "GPS Theory" can help you find HOW you can get WHAT you want and BE the person you want to BE! 

Whether you live and work within the OTA region or outside of it. I want to help.


BOOM!

-Tom
Success Engineer
BoomLife