Being successful in any venture does not happen by chance but by careful design, planning and consistent action. It is interesting that scientific research has discovered that our DNA is a blueprint, embedded in every cell of our body. Our personal blueprint contains instructions for every bodily function and every system. We can support and enhance the health and dynamics of our internal systems by getting plenty of rest, getting proper nutrition, controlling what we hear and what we speak and by creating a healthy environment. Human beings have the unique power to create, grow and change. Whether we participate or not, our belief system and habits, good or bad, are programming our blueprints. We can participate by consciously making modifications and enhancements to our plan or we can leave our plan to chance and become a spectator. Have you worked on your plans lately? Everyone has a unique calling to fulfill and I believe that during our short time on this earth, we should be passionately involved in the design and execution of our personal plan and unique purpose. The fact is, if we decide not to participate in the creating our plans, someone else will.

SUCCESS DOES NOT HAPPEN BY CHANCE In physics, the 2nd Law of thermodynamics, referred to as Entropy or the law of disorder pretty much sums up an ongoing challenge that we all face. In simple terms, relating to our everyday business and personal life, the law says; Our world moves toward a greater state of randomness or disorder. As illustrated in this cartoon, Department of Entropy –without a plan and action, stuff will continue to pile up. Our lives do not organize themselves without us. If you left your house for three months unattended with no one taking care of things, when you returned you wouldn’t expect to find your mail and newspapers neatly stacked on your steps in nice organized piles. You wouldn’t expect your lawn and flower beds to be perfectly groomed and maintained. You would expect a mess!

Overcoming entropy and embracing personal growth and development requires thoughtful planning and action. It doesn’t happen by chance. It requires energy and personal motivation. In order to achieve our dreams we have to design and create a success blueprint. The creative process requires that we exert energy and actively pursue our end result. There are two important laws of nature that clarify my point. The 1st Law of Thermodynamics says: Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. The 2nd Law says: The universe moves toward a greater state of randomness and disorder. I’ll put it in simple terms: The 1st law says: You can’t get something for nothing and the 2nd law says, “you can’t even get what you paid for!”

DO YOU HAVE A VISION FOR YOUR FUTURE? In Viktor Frankl’s 1946 book, “Man’s Search for Meaning”, he chronicles his experiences as a concentration camp prisoner at Auschwitz during WWII. He describes his psycho therapeutic method of finding a reason to live. According to Frankl, the book intends to answer the question: How was everyday life in a concentration camp reflected in the mind of the average prisoner? Frankl writes, “We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms, to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way. Of much greater importance for acquiring a meaning, in comprehending the why of one’s existence, was one’s ability to find both hope and strength in the future, to find a goal to which one could look forward. The prisoner who had lost faith in the future – his future – was doomed.”

Have you lost faith in your future? Have you become a victim or prisoner in your job or circumstances? Do you have something compelling yet to do yet to accomplish in your future, or have you just accepted your circumstances and decided that you might as well — just get used to it. Most people know, especially with the financial turmoil in our world and civil unrest globally, that job security, social security or any kind of guarantee, is a myth, a pipe dream. It’s a twentieth century, industrial age, mind-set that has indoctrinated and permeated our society.  So let’s get busy and design our future and pursue our passion.  If you enjoyed this article, please make a comment or tweetit!   Mark Petticord