“These are the times that try men’s souls.” Thomas Paine, The Crisis.

What's inspirational about Paine’s opening line was that it came in one of the darkest hours in American’s struggle for Independence. That pamphlet and other works like it were used by many early American’s as motivation during a crucial point in history.  It gives me chills now just thinking about it, you can almost picture General Washington having that pamphlet read by candle light to his war weary soldiers. Many Americans were questioning the "cause" yet through all their struggles they held strong to their dream of independance!

It is remarkable what literature meant to early Americans, and now fast-forward to the 21^st century with the rise of the Information Age, we have almost come full circle back to that raw media. We have everyday authors on social networks or on their blogs, if I do so boldly say circulating their own pamphlets, which in most cases is inspiring American today just like in the early foundation of the Country.

I have been fortunate to meet up with great business leaders, and partner with one of my best friends Jason Sweezer.  We are involved in a continuing education program called LIFE, which I would highly recommend everyone check out. The goal of our organization is to work tirelessly to change people’s minds by changing their thinking.  It all is derived around a self-directed education, one that the LIFE program has put together.

I bring this up along with the obvious fact that we live in some very hard times.  One in which I think many people who are in the work force or those who have lost their job have experienced. Many are looking for something different, and they are considering their next moves. 

If you’re in this situation, I leave you with this short exercise to get your mind thinking outside the box, to get you dreaming again.  I want you to imagine that tomorrow morning you wake up and time and money aren’t a concern, what would you be doing?

IF you can’t answer, exactly what you’re doing now! Then something needs to change, maybe not right away, but you need to be preparing yourself to make that jump.  Investing in your own education may be the only thing that seperates you from everyone else!

 I had a couple great mentors in the LIFE organization ask that same question to me. It made me look deep into what I was doing, and inspired me to actually create a plan for my future, utilizing my talents and looking down the road where I wanted to be five, ten years in the future.  We all need specific goals of what we want to accomplish.  So I ask you, besides that first question..If you’re not planning your future, than who will be planning it for you?  If you can’t recognize the seeds of greatness in you, then who can?  If you aren’t prepared to fulfill your God given purpose Now, then when?  All great questions one needs to address to accomplish along the road to accomplishing their goals and dreams!