The Blueprint (For Your Life)

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Blueprint, Plan, Planning

Even the biggest building in the world started out with a blueprint; a plan.  The word blueprint is defined as “a method worked out in advance for achieving an objective.”  There is an old proverb that reads, “He who fails to plan, plans to fail.”

This proverbs challenges us to figure out what it is we are good at (personally, and professionally) – and create a plan to achieve our goals.  Dreams come into fruition when we have a plan.  I can’t develop your plan for you, your parents can’t develop it for you, and neither can your friends, your boss, or your spouse.  Only you can do it!

What I can offer, however, is one key component to your Blueprint, and that is education.  The foundation of your plan should be education.  Not just formal education, but the type of education that encourages you to look at the world as your classroom.

Even though the U.S. Population is estimated at 310 Million, and still growing, never underestimated the power that lies within you!

The question now becomes: What are you waiting for to develop your Blueprint and fulfill your life mission?

© David McGhee

Take care of your past

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Future, Legacy, Today isn't today

In life there is a cycle.  What you do in the present often determines your future.  Sounds simple, right?

It is simple until we realize that we’ve left out one important reality.  That reality being: What we do now (in our present) ultimately determines our past, our legacy, our history, our yesterday.  How our story will be told.

Believe it or not, we have more past than future.  And today isn’t really today, either.  It’s yesterday.  Let the future take care of itself.  It will be just fine as long as we do a good job at taking care of yesterday.

© David McGhee

The truth is: Everybody doesn’t believe in you

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Believing in yourself, McGhee's Manifesto

Everybody doesn’t believe in you.  I don’t say this to be harsh; I say this to be honest.  Since this is the case you must believe in yourself.

Believing in oneself has become underrated in today’s society.  We live in a culture where we are too often seeking the approval of others.  Often times before we decide whether or not to believe in ourselves, or our ideas.

This happens no matter who you are, or where you are in your life.  Regardless of whether or not you are an honor roll student or a stand-out athlete.  Regardless of your title as bank President or your job as a gas station attendant.  Regardless of the nice clothes you wear or the nice car you drive.  Regardless of the 1,000 plus facebook friends and several twitter followers you have.  None of these things are more important than you believing in you.

In other words, it really doesn’t matter who believes in you.  All that matters is what and who (God and yourself) you believe in.

© David McGhee

Two sides to every story

• Behind every barrier, there is a blessing
• On the other side of your pain, you’ll find power
• Within every obstacle, lies an opportunity
• After tragedy, there is always triumph
• What you consider mess now, will become your message
• Your tests in life, will become your testimony for others

© David McGhee

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but you aren’t a cat

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Curiosity

Unless you are a cat, I would advise you to hop back on the curiosity train.  People who ‘play it safe’ don’t change the world…they just live in it.  Big mistake.

How did we get this way?  As we get older we tend to think we already know more than we actually do.  This in turn causes us to stop asking, searching, and digging deeper for facts and answers.  Curiosity may have been what killed the cat, but it is also what has made men great and has shaped our world.  How we live, communicate, interact, eat, get from point A to point B, has all been birthed through individuals who were curious.

Here are three ways to rediscover the curiosity I’m sure you once had as a child:

1. Stay open.  The learning process isn’t one-fold, it’s three-fold: Learning, unlearning, and relearning.  Never take things you know (or think you know) for granted.
2. Ask. Ask. Ask.What, Why, When, Who, Where, and How should be a regular part of your vocabulary.
3. Read outside of your comfort zone.  Your mind isn’t limited, so don’t limit your mind.  Explore new worlds through reading subjects that you aren’t normally drawn to.  Your mind will surprise you and thank you for it.

© David McGhee

Why you shouldn’t remember anything important

…to remember could mean that at some point in time you forgot.

DM

Why You Should Root for the Underdog

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Achievement, Leadership, Underdog

The underdog is that participant that isn’t expected to win.  In every fight, conflict, battle, game, etc., there is an individual(s) that is not predicted to triumph.

Since the beginning of time, there has always been an underdog.  People know who they are, but they don’t receive the same amount of attention as the favorite.  The underdog isn’t the first choice for the record deal, or the shoe contract, or the executive position at the fortune 500 company.  Let’s face it.  Not many people purchase tickets to see the underdog.  Again, people know they exist, but the attention the favorite receives significantly trumps that of the underdog.

Oh, but when the underdog prevails there is a common resounding theme.  “I knew they always had it in them”, people will often say.

It isn’t uncommon for us to want the underdog to prevail.  It is uncommon, however, for underdogs to receive the amount of attention they deserve.

Regardless of our accomplishments, or lack thereof, each of us has an underdog within us.  Find it.  Root for it.  In due time, it will prevail.

With God, nothing is impossible… © David McGhee

The only way to make history…

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History, History Makers, Leadership, Making A Difference

Making a difference is the only way to make history.  Not making money and becoming rich and famous.  Not making a career shift.  Not making new friends.  Making a difference is what gets you there.

History makers in our lifetime set out to make a difference, and ended up making history.  They carried an unblinking desire to make things better, change the status quo, and bring something into the world that was missing.

History is made in the present. – D. McGhee