I was reading a great book last week, which I highly recommend for any of you business-entrepreneurial types, called The E-Myth by Michael E. Gerber and I came across a line that really struck a chord in me. Now the particular chapter that this passage appeared in was elaborating on the concept of a Business Development Plan based upon the real goals and values of your own heart and soul; talking about how you need to work on your business and not just in it, living out your future in the present, envisioning a perfected model of your life and emulating it each and every day… Basically the goal here is to actively create your life rather than allowing your existence to be created by it. All great stuff here. But that’s not what got to me.

Gerber poses this question to the reader: “Do you want to live full, or just exist? Live intentionally or by accident?”

Do yourself a favor and just chew on that for a minute before reading on because it’s funny how almost self-explanatory it seems at face value – yet in reality it is a complex question that may take you a while (for me it was a few hours!) to answer honestly for yourself.

You might be thinking, “Yea, of course I want to live my life to the fullest!” You might also say to yourself, “Duh! Of course I don’t want to be where I am forever.” You may want more money, a better job, a better home, a better living situation for your family, more time away from work, more time to learn, or more time to practice playing your bass 🙂

More. More. Better. Better.

These are the words we use to describe our wants, but we don’t get them by saying it. To live full with intention is an action that requires diligence and dedication, sacrifice and pain, planning and organization. It doesn’t actually happen on it’s own, that’s the whole point. In order to get to that “next step” you need to know what it is. And where it is. And what actions are going to take you there. And how much it’s going to cost you to get there (and not just financially, either). And how long it’s going to take. And how hard it’s going to be. Actually, the more you start to think about it, just “existing” sounds pretty good! It’s safe, comfortable, predictable, and mostly enjoyable, too. But you’ll never get to that stage of “better” or “more” if you stay where you are.

Now, I actually haven’t even gotten to the part of the book that really struck home for me. I guess that’s the creative author in me, channeling my thoughts across pages and pages of (seemingly) unimportant details just to make myself sound more profound. And it’s probably true 🙂

But what really hit me was this: Gerber mentions a great line from a character named Don Juan in Carlos Castaneda’s A Separate Peace. It goes as follows:

“The difference between a warrior and an ordinary man is that a warrior sees everything as a challenge, while an ordinary man sees everything as either a blessing or a curse.”

Go ahead; take a bite and chew.

Chew some more.

Don’t swallow just yet; you’re not done. Keep chewing!

How do you view your dreams and desires? How do you view the obstacles that are in your way of realizing them from fantasy? Is it just dumb-luck that made it easier or harder; some pure chance that brought you to this particular place in your life, or was it the challenge of facing it that settled the outcome? This is a heavy answer for me in my life so I won’t dare try and explain it in this single page, but I think the question itself doesn’t really need answering at all. It’s the perspective that matters. Seeing yourself as a “warrior” or as “ordinary.”

That “thing” that’s in your way; is it a challenge laid before you (some conquest to overcome or die trying), or is it a coin toss? I like that question a lot. Like I said, I don’t really need an answer for it, I just need to ask it. Do you?