The final part of my plan is to focus on myself.

That’s right … focus on myself.

Some might think this selfish but I believe it’s important.

In fact … I don’t think it’s selfish at all.

Without the right balance between family, work and self … the world will be out of balance.

Focusing on yourself means … you taking care of you … making sure that your metal, physical and spiritual self is well cared for.

It means having fun by learning new things and doing the things you’ve always wanted to do.

I plan to focus on myself by …

• Meditation – This will be done daily to reduce stress and maintain balance
• Working out and eating right – I’ve joined a health club and hired a trainer to bulk me up … look our Arnold Schwarzenegger
• Photography – I have to figure out how to use this new camera
• Golf – I’ve always pretended to play … now it’s time to really figure this game out
• Have fun! – Relax and enjoy each moment … you will get back from the world based upon what you focus on

Have fun staying focused!

The second part of my plan is to perform work that matters.

To me … work that matters begins with serving my passion.

My passion … my cause … is to help people move from the ordinary to the extraordinary.

This has led me to develop the following mission:

“To serve the personal and professional growth community”

I plan to fulfill this mission by …

a) Expanding the Focused Fool Community – Expand the services offered at www.focusedfool.com to include a marketplace (offer self-help products) and to add many additional success coaches over the next few months.

b) Write my book – Complete my own self-help book by the end of the summer. This will lay the foundation for additional projects.

c) The Geek Coach – I have begun to offer my services at a Professional Coach. Leveraging my corporate career success and technology background I will be helping Information Technology Professionals to not only survive, but thrive, within a Technology Career. This includes mentoring, training workshops and one-on-one coaching.

e) Rapid Success Coach – I have also begun to offer my services as a Hypnotherapist. Leveraging my Master NLP and Master Ericksonian Hypnosis Certification I will be helping individuals interested in achieving rapid change. I’ve already had success in this area by helping someone quite smoking in just one session as well as helping another remove allergies.

Each of these activities will allow me to earn a living AND allow me to follow my passion.

Now that is work that matters!

The first part of my plan is to focus on my family.

Without a solid home foundation … it is very difficult to succeed.

You need a base of operations that will support you through the tough times and to celebrate the successes along the way.

My plan for family is to be the best father and husband that I can be.

If there was a contest for being family man of the century … my goal is to receive this award when I die.

A few of the goals within this part of the plan are …

• Purchase a tent trailer to spend time camping this summer
• Teach my oldest daughter how to ride her bike
• Build monthly daddy and daughter days in my schedule
• Once my youngest transfers to the bottle … build date nights in our schedule

My wife likes it when I focus on house stuff … so in addition I plan to …

• Fix-up the garden / yard (our grass needs some care and feeding this year)
• Fix-up a few things around the house (why do houses leak so much?)
  
• Finish the basement (not much of a handy man so I plan to contract this out)

This area of focus also includes extended family and friends … so I plan to put monthly family and friend nights … as well as a monthly guy’s night … into the schedule.

As Pinky and The Brain would say … “Gee, Brain, what do you want to do tonight?” “The same thing we do every night, Pinky: Try to take over the world!” … stay tuned as I will be sharing my plans for world domination over the next couple of posts.

My last official day at the bank was yesterday.

I am no longer employed.

It feels funny … sorting through all the thoughts and feelings.

It’s a weird feeling … balanced between excitement and uncertainty.

It’s exciting … to blaze a new trail … to discover new and exciting things.

Then there’s the uncertainty … filled with all those “what if’s”.

What if … I stayed with the bank?

What if … I made a mistake?

What if … my new business fails?

What if … what I’m doing doesn’t work out?

What if … I fail?

What if? … What if? … What if?

It’s going to take some time … for me to sort through this … to transition to my new role as entrepreneur.

I need to work through the established patterns and habits … and build new ones … leveraging what works … and removing or changing the ones that don’t.

I need create a new set of routines that will allow me to function within this new world.

Instead of … get up … go to work … deal with stuff … go home … spend time with family … go bed.

I need to create a new set of routines involving:

• Writing Book (and Blog)
• Serving Clients
• Developing Website
• Reading and Learning
• Networking
• Exercising / Playing Golf
• Spending time with Family (even more)

Once these new routines are up and running … once I get past the internal resistance … and get off my but … these new patterns and habits will take me to the next level … and I will wonder why I didn’t do this sooner.

Seth Godin captures the essence of moving from the ordinary to the extraordinary in a recent blog entry.

Make sure you check out Seth Godin’s Blog.