I just so happens that I read The Answer by John Assaraf and Murray Smith this time of the year (or at least the last two years).  I just finished compiling my notations and highlights this morning and I wanted to share.  This is from the chapter on “Big Thinkers.”  It is essentially a summary of the common characteristics that Big Thinkers share.  Hang with me, its a big lengthy but worth it (I paraphrase some as well).  I believe this list is something that I will carry with me in the future to review when I feel like Im playing small.  

Big Thinkers always know where they are going even if they don’t know exactly how they’ll get there. 

Big Thinkers are unconditionally passionate about what they do and they know money will flow to them as a result. 

Big Thinkers know that they will be successful only if they are willing to risk failure.  They are not willing to make big sacrifices for small victories.  If the win is not big, its not worth pursuing.

Big Thinkers simplify their goals so they can succeed in a lot of small steps instead of trying to make huge leaps.

Big Thinkers know that if they surround themselves with the best people possible, success is already under way.  They have no problem sharing the credit and the spotlight. 

Big Thinkers have the courage to take focused action once the decision is made.  They know that the best time to take action is right now when the thought arises because that is when desire is the highest.  They don’t wait because that “better” time never comes. 

Big Thinkers give no time to procrastination as they understand that this is exactly what holds most people back from realizing their dreams. 

Big Thinkers know that asking for help can be a critical step in moving beyond their own limitations.  They look to mentors for advice.  And once they have achieve a certain level of success; they are willing to be mentors themselves to others. 

Big Thinkers believe strongly in the practice of masterminding to guide them in their lives and their business decisions.  

Big Thinkers don’t just want to create big business.  They want to create a big life.  They don’t just stop to smell the flowers occasionally.  They make sure they smell the flowers every step of the way. 

Today is the 47th day of 2010 and its also Day 39 of my first 40 day challenges of the New Year.  If you remember my initial challenge of this year was to become an early riser in order to establish a consistent routine for my mornings.  That meant/means rolling out of bed by 5am to start my day.  While I have not done that every single day in 2010 (hence the difference between my day 39 and the 47th day of the year) I’ve been awful close.

The reason that I know today is Day 39 is that one of the first things in my morning routine is that I read a chapter of The Purpose Driven Life.  Today was day 39.  Tomorrow is day 40 and then I will have completed that journey.  Coincidentally tomorrow is also Ash Wednesday and the start of a new 40 day journey.  Thus, tomorrow I turn over a new leaf and start a new set of personal challenges.

Im finding this to be much more effective than any resolution or goal setting practice that Ive ever enacted.  I’m focused on one or two things that will have a profound effect on my habits and lifestyle long term.

To this point I have turned the early morning routine into a steady ritual, one that I don’t have any desire or intention of breaking.  I’ve been too productive for this first seven weeks of the year to ever go back.  The results have been quite amazing.

Tomorrow we start anew.  As a result, I will go through the entire Lenten season without eating sweets as I do every year.  I’m also committed to journaling every day for the next 40 days.  And finally, I will work toward emerging from my office by 6pm every night.

That is going to be the toughest challenge.  I often find myself sitting at the computer doing things that are relatively unimportant until late into the evening.  I will work on getting everything that needs to be done for the business day completed by 6 so I can spend more quality time doing other important things.

Id strongly suggest trying out this personal challenge technique.  Focus on one or two things that you know would have a profound effect on your life.  Not 5 or 6.  One or two promises that you can keep and hold yourself accountable.  Think about it.  If you were to focus on one or two things in 40 day cycles, that is 9 new productive and healthy habits you could turn into routines and then into rituals.  It will make a difference - I promise.

I thought it would be fun at the year to look back at a chronological summary of what went on during each month while it actually happened.  Similar to keeping a detailed event journal, but a lot less effort.

I’ve decided that I will save what I think are the most relevant Facebook and Twitter status updates and post them in a single post at the end of each month.  Its kind of a Cliff’s notes version of the month from start to finish.  Eventually, it will become the electronic summary of the year as a whole.  This should be fun.

So here is the January edition - a little late because I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to do with it.  Click on the VCard on the right hand side of this site to join my networks.

This is not a story of mine.  It may not even be attributed to the correct author here, I don’t know for sure.  I do know this.  I have read this story a handful of times and each time I read it, I am struck by the simplicity of it but also the essential lesson to be learned.  Accordingly, this is the time of the year where most people have either abandoned their resolutions or promises for the new year or are struggling to sustain them (myself included).  What this story and the greater principles of life tell us is that like the Chinese Bamboo tree, growth is more a by product of purpose than it is of instant gratification.

The Chinese Bamboo Tree
By Charlie Dexter

Zig Ziglar, the famous motivational speaker, once told the story of the Chinese Bamboo Tree. It seems that this tree when planted, watered, and nurtured for an entire growing season doesn’t outwardly grow as much as an inch.

Then, after the second growing season, a season in which the farmer takes extra care to water, fertilize and care for the bamboo tree, the tree still hasn’t sprouted. So it goes as the sun rises and sets for four solid years. The farmer and his wife have nothing tangible to show for all of their labor trying to grow the tree.

Then, along comes year five. In the fifth year that Chinese bamboo tree seed finally sprouts and the bamboo tree grows up to eighty feet in just one growing season! Or so it seems….

Did the little tree lie dormant for four years only to grow exponentially in the fifth? Or, was the little tree growing underground, developing a root system strong enough to support its potential for outward growth in the fifth year and beyond?

The answer is, of course, obvious. Had the tree not developed a strong unseen foundation it could not have sustained its life as it grew.

Had the Chinese bamboo farmer dug up his little seed every year to see if it was growing, he would have stunted the tree’s growth as surely as a caterpillar is doomed to a life on the ground if it is freed from its struggle inside a cocoon prematurely.The struggle in the cocoon is what gives the future butterfly the wing power to fly.

We live in a quick-fix society. We get frustrated if we have to wait more than 2 minutes for service or a stop light to change. We want instant solutions to every complex problem and every fractured relationship. In short - we want it all now!

Maybe its time to reflect on an old, old poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow that is as true today as it was when he wrote it over 100 years ago:

“The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Toiled ever upward through the night.”