April 15

I love today
by Todd Duncan

OK – maybe that’s not entirely true. But even though I had to write a couple of checks today for my share of taxes, it sure reminded me that things could be worse. I could be unemployed. I could be homeless. I could be dead. No, thankfully, I am none of those things, and I feel blessed. I know it’s not like that for everyone – but one thing is for certain, this life we have been gifted is a journey of the most significant kind, never to be taken lightly and always to be seized for the opportunity it presents.

I am writing a book of Toddisms – just a working title. These are the things I say and that people write down – I guess that means they like the words, and more importantly, the meaning of the words. Here are a few of my favorites.

1. If you don’t know what’s important you will do the things that aren’t.
2. If you want to be great, pick a date.
3. Small steps over time give you big results in time.
4. If you don’t do something differently, you will be then where you are now only later.
5. It is never a matter of if, only when.
6. Go with your strengths; don’t try to put in what God left out.
7. Your direction is more important than your perfection.
8. The best times pull up is when you are on your way down.

Which one is your favorite? Which one gets you thinking a new way?

I have made a decision that I will spend the rest of my life helping people navigate the challenges they have in their life and that is why sharing these quotes with you is important. Since my first book, The Power To Be Your Besthttp://www.amazon.com/Power-Your-Best-Todd-Duncan/dp/1595553347/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271363000&sr=1-6, I have thought that would be my ultimate direction. But arriving at a point today that it is my new life’s purpose is invigorating and defining.

In my new book, Life on the Wire: Avoid Burnout and Succeed in Work and Life,http://www.amazon.com/Life-Wire-Avoid-Burnout-Succeed/dp/078521898X/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271363000&sr=1-5 hits the book stores on Monday.

I’m very proud of this book and I hope you will read it. I wrote a press piece for it today and I want to share it with you for the balance of this post.

Falling in an uncontrolled spin seemed like a nightmare. Was I dreaming or was it real? I sold my company, and then I was fired. I had a savings account, and then it was gone. My house had equity, but now it had evaporated. My retirement was around the corner, and then I learned I had to keep working. My wife was healthy, and one year later she was gone – cancer. When I awakened, it was real, not a dream, and I realized I was walking the high wire. This was life on the wire and I was desperately trying to stay balanced in a world out-of-control.

How about you? How are you doing? Is everything going ok? How’s your world? Are both feet firmly planted on the ground with a sense of confidence about tomorrow, next week and next year? Or like many, are you feeling the wire wobble as you try to navigate your next steps in life’s important areas. Odds are that something is out of whack, and that if it’s important to you and to those you love, you are trying to figure out the next step, literally, before you fall.

Choose anything – Unemployment is at 9.5%, the highest since Ronald Reagan was President in 1982. For every 6 American’s looking for a job, one exists. Real Estate values of fallen by as much at 77% in some markets in 24 months. One out of every two-hundred homes will be foreclosed upon. Divorce rates have been steadily climbing and one in two will fail. Personal bankruptcies are up by 34% since 2008. And our children will bear a 900 billion dollar a year tab to pay for the debt service the proposed economy, including health care, will cost by 2020.

Don’t fret – this may sound like a foreign language to you – this is the new normal. The only difference is the people who get through this topsy-turvy moment in time in one piece choose the imbalance as a strategy for balance. They may not have asked for it, but it happened. Now it’s time to harness the positivity of a challenged life to seek a greater level of purposeful imbalance – chaos by design and maybe by default. To ignore the opportunity to grow, change, re-prioritize, fix and focus on the good from the bad is to simultaneously decide to “go down in flames.” And, sadly, too many people are choosing this route.

Famed tightrope walker Tine Walled and his family, the Flying Wallendas, have been walking on high wires without nets for nearly a century. When asked how he maintains balance on a wire with nothing but earth beneath him, Tito gently corrects the assumption: “The reality is that you are never actually balanced; you are constantly making small adjustments—moving back and forth—and it’s those constant movements that keep you on the wire. The truth is, if you stand still, you fall.”

The same is true of harmonizing our personal and professional worlds. You are never actually balanced, nor should you try to be. To ensure a more harmonious existence, you must keep yourself moving—carefully teetering and tottering between work and life activities. Like a tightrope walker, you must regularly make adjustments back and forth to keep yourself standing. The key is being purposeful; having sound reasons for everything you do.
The point is that both big and small adjustments are inevitably necessary to maintain work/life harmony. And you cannot be the victim. You must be your own personal super hero, and then the super hero for the people in your life who matter, maintaining among the most important virtues, a sense of perspective – this too will pass.

Eventually the seasons will change. An inevitably something else will come up. This is the natural flow of harmonious living: giving and taking, back and forth between personal and professional activities. Thus, purposeful imbalance—not perfect balance—is the only way you can achieve a gratifying work life without decimating your personal life, and a gratifying personal life without abandoning your career aspirations.

The strategies for getting through tough times vary. But they exist – here’s a few:

• Slowing down is a good idea before you speed up. Assess where you are at. Don’t panic. Look at all the opportunities that exist and decide the one alternative that will give you relief, and allow you to advance more confidently. The key to turning anything around is to get momentum going on your side.

• Cherish what you have lost and embrace what you still have. Maybe your money is gone, but your health and the gift of your life are not. Maybe your spouse has died but the gift of your children remains and her foundation will benefit millions. Maybe you have been fired, but the gift of your skills is still your great asset and someone will always pay you for your skills

• Simply your life to alleviate your stress. Too much going on is not good for navigating tough times. Reducing spending and debt gives you financial breathing room. Moving from two sports to one per child cuts you effort by 50% per child. Enlisting your spouse and building your creative team will yield new ideas and solutions. Downsizing, rightsizing, and emphasizing a simplified life is often the catalyst for the breakthrough you need. Remember, this is temporary.

Henry David Thoreau once said, "If man advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life he's imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours. New and more liberal laws will be his and he will dwell with the licenses of a higher order of being."

I think he had it right. Tomorrow is a new day and one thing is for certain; if you keep moving you will get to the other side!