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By Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, December 29, 2024
You get inspiration from just
about any place or any event, even t-shirts.
This past week Channel 8 TV in New Orleans ran a segment about a
teenager named Katie Williamson.
It was something that Kattie’s father said during the interview about
Katie’s “want to” that struck me. Watch
and see and hear for yourself at
https://www.fox8live.com/2024/11/26/katie-williamson-voulez-make-perfect-pair-dog-agility/
The two words, “want to”
was like a bolt of lightening from the sky, totally unexpected but what an
impact, at least one me. Those two words
got me to really thinking about the hundreds of members of the U. S. Coast
Guard and later the hundreds of real estate agents that I encountered.
As I stood in front of 20 to 30
relatively new members of the Coast Guard where I was to provide them (teach) information
from which they could fulfill their 4-year commitment to the Coast Guard (or
possibly make a career of the Coast Guard) and at the same time provide a
service to the Guard. I taught what was
known as a Class-A Yeoman School. Out of
the classes I taught, most would probably leave the service after their four-year
commitment but some, I have no idea what the percentage would be, some would go
on to make their time in the service a career like I did.
As I stood there looking out at
the faces, it was difficult to tell which students would take their task
seriously and even more difficult to identify those few students that would
actually make their newly found profession a career. This is where I would have understood the
important of “want to” both from my perspective and the perspective of the
students. While I did not refer to it as
my “want to”, it was definitely a term I would and should have used both for
the students and for me.
What was my “want to” at that
moment? What was their “want to” at that
moment. My “want to” was to impart the
knowledge that I had gained through my time in service, my personal study
habits and my desire to succeed. But why
where these 30 students in my class on this day? That is a question I failed to ask and
answer, I had assumed they knew why they were in my class and what they wanted
to accomplish. Most of the students were
between the ages of 18 and 20. They were
either a Seaman Apprentice (pay grade E2) or a Seaman (pay grade E3) but they
were unskilled in the profession they had been selected to perform at unless
they graduated from my class through what I taught them.
I was wrong in making the
assumption that they all WANTED TO be there in my class or that they actually
wanted to learn a professional rating in the Coast Guard. As it turned out, a lot were there because it
was something to do rather than a strong desire to WANT TO be there. At the end of the instruction, it became very
obvious to me which students WANTED TO be there and which students where just
putting in their time.
What I am about to say may sound
very immodest but it is what I believed at the time and still do. I was a Yeoman First Class Petty Officer as I
stood in front of the class. I learned
my profession “on-the-job” without going to the very school that I was now an
instructor at. As such, I had to become
self-educated. In this regard I was as
fortunate as anyone could have ever been because I worked for some of the most
professional people I have ever met!
They helped me at every turn and because of them, I became very focused
on what I had to do to advance in the Coast Guard. Without saying the words, I KNEW what my WANT
TO had become. Do you know what your
WANT TO is? My want to led me from being
a Seaman Apprentice (pay grade E2) to Chief Yeoman (pay grade E7) to Chief
Warrant Officer (pay grade CWO2) and then to a special promotion from CWO3 to Lieutenant
(pay grade O3). My WANT TO turn into a
very successful Coast Guard career because I knew what I wanted, do you know
what you want? Seriously, DO YOU KNOW
WHAT YOU WANT? I felt very comfortable
in my own skin being a Yeoman First Class Petty Officer Instructor teaching 30
new students. I was a confident in my
ability as anyone. If that is being
immodest, so be it. My goal, however,
was to graduate 30 Yeoman Students and told them that I would have accomplished
my task if “30 Little Jimmy Brown’s” went out into the field and do as I would
do in their place. I as that
confident. Immodest? It is was it was and I have no regrets!
I came upon a poem that describes
the path that most young people, certainly not you, but most young people
travel.
WHERE ARE YOU GOING?
Who from his hermitage looks down in pity
Upon other men of higher mental aspiration.
Lost in the mountains’ fastenesses
When told where they were they exclaimed in disbelief,
“But how did we get here?”
“If that question ain’t got no answer attached to it,
I ain’t got none that fits.
If you is goin’ anywhere in particular
Up here, yu’d better figger fust how to get thar.
Cuz by jest goin’ afore ya know where yere agoin’
Ya can get to a powerful lotta places ya might not wanta be.”
If I had to start over in life from a young age, I would work overtime to determine what my WANT TO is. Once you determine what that is, the path should become much clearer to you. Where do you begin? Believe this or not, the best place to begin is at the end. Ask and answer yourself this one HUGE question:
WHAT WILL YOUR LIFE LOOK LIKE WHEN IT IS FINISHED?
This is exactly what the Hermit was saying in the above verse, if you don’t know, you may end up in a lot of places you had no intention of going! That may be the best advice ever given but I have more if you are interested and I know you are so keep reading.
If you KNOW where you want to go in life, you need a Personal Life Mission Statement (PLMS) I learned about this in the early 1990s. I spent a lot of time, like a year, working on my PLMS; I wanted to get it right to where it actually meant something to me. Here is my PLMS, if you would like, send me a copy of yours to TheJimBrown@pm.me. I would like to see them.
TO HELP PEOPLE TO DO WHAT THEY DO, TO DO IT BETTER!
After you create your PLMS, I would suggest you adopt using Joe Tye’s Direction-Deflection-Question (DDQ). It is one of the most effective tools I have ever encountered, period! This is how it works:
You are faced with a cross roads or task in your life. Just ask yourself, is doing this, saying this, teaching this, satisfying my Life’s Personal Mission Statement? If yes, do it! If no, don’t! It really is that simple. It may work best for weight loss. Is what I am about to eat or drink leading me towards my desired weight or away from it? Then follow your answer to success.
There is a great book written by Gary Keller, co-founder of Keller Williams Realty International titled “One Thing”. Keller asks a very simple question. What ONE THING should you be doing at this very moment, other than reading this Nugget, that if done will lead you to accomplishing your life goal(s)? You do have goals, right? I do not believe that you should restrict yourself to having just ONE LIFE GOAL but having a REALLY BIG LIFE GOAL but then also having separate individual goals in the fields of finance, health, family, spiritual and any other topic you feel is important to you.
Here is how it all fits together using FINANCE as just one of your life’s goals. If you want to be financially independent, what must you do to make that happen? Everyone has a mental or written Daily To Do List. The list is typically mundane things like grocery shopping, a doctor’s appointment, etc. But…what ONE THING should you be doing to achieve Financial Independence (if you want to start with finances). There is ONE THING that will make a difference and IF DONE, WILL LEAD YOU ACCOMPLISHING YOUR GOAL OF FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE! While you are out shopping you see a piece of jewelry that costs $100.00. If you ask yourself the DDQ question, if I buy this will it lead me to achieving Financial Independence? There obviously may be circumstances such as you are buying it for a Birthday or Anniversary gift, that is understandable. The question still remains, if I purchase this item, will it lead me to achieving Financial Independence? Probably not! You will be amazed at how many things you DO NOT buy when you try this simple question/technique.
Once you have identified your Life’s Big Ass Goal (LBAG), then you decide what your big goals are in the several areas of life you have identified, you have begun a plan or a tree to follow. Of all of the goals you have identified, what ONE THING should you be doing RIGHT NOW that if DONE will lead you to achieving your Life’s Big Ass Goal?
I would not be telling you this if I did not do it myself. Unfortunately, I learned most of this more by accident than by design. I am giving you the design or a plan to follow. You need to develop the WANT TO for it to actually work. Who knew that this several minute long segment on a local TV news show would lead to this Nugget. I most likely will never know if anyone takes these suggestions to heart and eventually achieve their Life’s Big Ass Goal; I think some will. If just one person reaches his or her Big Ass Goal because of this Nugget I will have achieved my Life’s Personal Mission Statement to Help People To Do What They Do, To Do It Better!
If it works for
you and it should, you can thank me by passing it on! Please pass it on, you never know who is
sitting there waiting for a sudden strike of encouragement needed to achieve
their yet to be determined Life’s Big Ass Goal
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