Joshua Guffey

Archive for the ‘Passion & Purpose’ Category

Sometimes what is needed is something totally different than what came before it.  Trade in your two-door coupe for for a five door minivan.  Sell a Cadi and buy a Harley.  Or you decide that you’re going to see the world by hot-air balloon.

When we follow our hearts we end up places we might never have expected.  And those places feel right–they’re where we need to be–where our growth is to catalyze or where we have those invaluable human experiences; like fatherhood or where we face some very difficult choices that we can’t leave to anyone else.

I’d just like to take a moment and tell my wife how very much Love her.  Thanks for coming to an entirely new space with me.  You’re one of a kind Becky.  Let’s keep walking.  xo

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photo credit: ephemeralmuse

I envision a rise in the community of accountable men.  Fathers.  Sons.  Brothers.  New friends.   —  All learning from each other.

We share.  And learn.  We are not afraid to express emotion or to call each other out on our bullshit when necessary.

We are bound by the common struggles of life and by the lessons that a man might learn.  By our struggle to stand in our purpose in spite of the doubt and fear that may be upon us this very moment.  We do it anyway.

Discarding dogma and seeking a higher vision in all things, these men learn to harness a tremendous force in their lives and to express it in masterful ways.  Creating art out of life–a testament to who we are while we have the chance to be.

Who’s with me?

I just finished watching Bedtime Stories (amazon link).  It left me with the feeling of “your life is now…live it dammit!”  It really got me thinking.  You’ve heard it before… “do the things you want when you’re young”, we all have.   But what I’d like to do is to ask you to take a moment–invest it really–and ask yourself “what is it in my own life that I am struggling with that I don’t want to die knowing I haven’t overcome?”

It’s a simple question really, albeit a scary one. What, if you change nothing about how you’re living, will you die having to come to terms with?

For me right now it’s my health.   Sure, I’m young (29 if you care) but I’m finding that things aren’t quite how they used to be.  Okay I’m being vague…I’ve got a belly.  And I’m not feeling energetic and agile like I used to.   Hmmm, still weak.   Okay…I was walking recently and felt my belly jiggle, how about that!?

Sure, I’m not a ‘heavy’ guy, but it’s not fun feeling a truly negative change in my body when all my life I’ve been very thin, agile and energetic.  I’m not even 30 and I’m so much less energetic than I was just 5 years ago.  Something’s GOT to change.  And now!

I believe that most things in the universe actually work in more of an exponential or ‘compound’ fashion (in contrast to our tendency to view things as if they have a linear progression), that said I’m sure that if I don’t make a change now, one day I will look back and ask myself “where did I go wrong?”

Now really the point of this post is really about you and what YOU want to get out our life.   Not me.  But you see where I’m going… HONESTY

We’ve got to be ‘brutally honest’ with ourselves because there’s some part of our make up (most of us anyway) that likes to hide from the facts.   It’s why we dress up our dead.  –  Respects to anyone grappling with loss right now.

My point is to cut the proverbial shit.  Quit kidding yourself.   There are things that are important to you that you aren’t making happen.   It may not be your waist.  Or your pocketbook. Or your car.  Maybe it’s riding a motorcycle.   Or taking your kid camping camping every month.   It doesn’t have to be what we see on TV or at the movies.

Hell, if it’s collecting every damn version of every Derek Jeter baseball card ever made–and that’s what really matters to you–than do it goddamn it.   Enjoy it.  When you’re laying in your hospital bed at the end of your life… you’re gonna damn well wish you had.

And now you’re gonna make me eat my words.   And I’m glad of it.

What’s your takeaway?

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PS.  Love your family.  Love ‘em like people might think you’re a little wacky.  Really, it’s okay.  :)

Oh… PSS.  Shout out to my buddy Juan Hernandez who seeded this whole train of thought by sharing this video of his amazing high-speed motorcycle ride yesterday (a thrill to watch) http://youtu.be/Ofxhrw1rDE8

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photo credit: thenoizz

I’m thinking about the question “What one thing, if you did it consistently, would revolutionize your life or business?”

I can’t really take credit for this question.  I read it somewhere a while back in some form and I’m sure I’m paraphrasing it.  Unfortunately the original source escapes me right now.  But the point remains: If we were to be consistent about the things that matter most, we’d be far along the path to where we’d like to be.

For me one of these things is writing.  For you it may be getting up and out the door daily for your morning exercise.  Or spending a few minutes in reflection before you switch modes and begin to engage with the world.

Whatever it is, it’s powerful and it’s something that you’re not doing consistently.  If you were your life would be a revolution and you probably wouldn’t feel the desire to read this because inside you’d know you were already doing that thing.

Something else to remember here is that we are learning, changing, growing beings.  We’re never static.  We’re either growing or dying.  That said, your ‘one thing’ is going to evolve right along with you.  As such it’s important to be asking this question frequently to reconnect with where our efforts could be better spent.

What’s your ‘one thing’?  Why not leave a comment and this can become a brainstorm for those of you who participate?

As I wake in San Diego, California this morning just after 4am, I have an itch to write.  The thought that is going through my head revolves around ‘creative mode’ vs ‘consumption mode’.  I think if you read on you’ll find that you can resonate.

After getting a shower, putting a tiny breakfast in my belly and grabbing my morning cup of joe, I find myself in creative mode.  I realize that I want to write, record, compose, construct or in some way create.

What I’m not in the mode to do is to consume new ideas or concepts just yet.

I recognized this ‘mode’ as I felt a resistance to immediately dive into Twitter.  I care very much about what is happening with you and with the rest of the world.  This isn’t about you.  It is about my need to respect what what my mode currently is and to flow with that tendency rather than fighting it.

If I’m in creative mode, I’d better damn well be creating.  Especially considering there is so much to read, digest and respond to in a given day.  When I am in a creative mode, perhaps the very best thing I can do is to surrender to it, letting it flow.  And then when I’m finished, take a step back and view it as part of the whole…part of the world that I haven’t yet engaged for the day; and allow it to be my starting point.

How about you?  Does think make sense?  Is this true for you?

photo credit: scenar308 (Highlands & Kührointhaus)