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Every thing you do in your life is part of your story.  From the time you were born until the time you pass away is a part of your story.  Whatever happens within those two endpoints is all about you.  It’s who you are, who you become, who you decide to be, where you go, who you’re with, what you do with your time, what you do with your money, what you do with your brains, the impact you make on those around you.

Everything you do is part of the story you are telling.  No one else has control over this story. No one else can tell you what to do with your time here.  You get to decide on the story.  You are the one who writes it.  And that’s part of the problem.

If we write our own story, then that’s means we’re the author and not the reader or character.  If we’re a reader or character in the story, then we have no control over things.  We’re just along for the ride.  But when we realize we’re the author then we realize that we’re not along for the ride.  We’re not just bystanders.  We’re not allowed to be passive.  As the author, we are more than just active.  We decide the plot, the setting, the characters, the overall theme of the story, development of the story, characters, etc.  We’re in total control of our story.  We may not be responsible for how characters in our lives act, but we are responsible for whether those characters are in our story at all.  The problem we have is also a gift.

We find it difficult to write, but easy to read.  There are far more readers than authors in the world.  If only the numbers were equal. If only everyone who can read would also be an author, perhaps our world as a whole would have a different story.  If each of the characters were writing their own story, then the bigger story would also change.  We would not choose a story for ourselves that involved depression, drugs, addictions, poverty, broken lives, broken spirits.  We would choose a better story. We would choose to write that better story.

But then again, why bother thinking about how the world could have a better story.  Why not just write one ourselves?

If you can put work into it now that will pay off in some way later, that’s an investment. But, do you look at it that way? Or is everything isolated and simply something that will take care of itself? Is it something you hope will pay off now?

If you want a relationship to get better, you have to invest before things get bad.  If you want to get that raise at the end of the year, you need to put great work into it now. If you want money in retirement, invest money now.  If you want a great book, start writing now.  If you want to be 20 pounds lighter by next year, eat better today.  If you want a great blog in a couple years, blog today and tomorrow.

The people who make big money in the stock market invest their money as soon as they can and not just when the market is shooting up.  They do it when it’s down, when it oscillates, when it’s fairly stagnant.  They don’t start investing a month before they plan to retire. They know it’s an investment, which takes time.

Starting now pays off later. Always.

Everyone’s got that one, great idea that they just know will make them a millionaire.  But, alas, it never does.  Someone in the near future ends up “stealing” it and becoming the millionaire.  And thus, we stay where we are with what we have and never drop the notion that it was our idea first.

So what’s the difference between the two people? They both had the same idea.  They both had the same great idea.  They both knew it could make millions. But only one did something with it.

Only one person made the idea useful.  Only one person took the idea and made a real product or service out of it.  Only one person put in the work to actually make something.  Only one person took responsibility for the idea, as if it were a gift given to them.

The good idea only becomes a great idea once it has become useful.  If it’s not useful, it’s not much of anything.  You have to get it out there.  Let it impact others. Make it more than just an idea.  Make it useful.

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That’s what you’ll always do when you start out.  Crap.  It’s just the default mode and result of doing something for the first time.  Crap.

If you’re not willing to do something for the first time and do it awfully, then don’t do it at all.  But, if you want to be great at something, if you want people to take notice of what you do, then you need to be able to do it poorly for a while.

But, eventually, you’ll get better and better.  And before long, you’ll be one of the best at it, simply for doing it over and over again.  And being willing to start now and start where you are.  As long as you’re willing to do a bad job, eventually the good stuff will come.

In <a title="Art & Fear" href="Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking” target=”_blank”>Art and Fear a story is shared where students in a pottery class were offered the chance to earn a grade based on quantity or quality.  The quality students were to make one pot and then be graded on that one pot, so they tried to make the best pot they could in one try.  The quantity students would be graded on the number of pots they made, so they made as many pots as they could every day.  The question is: Who made the better pots?

The quality of the quantity group was far better than the quality group.  But why?  Practice.  Being willing to do a crappy job over and over until, over time, they got better and better.  And they did get better, far better than the quality groups whose entire goal was to make a perfect pot the first time.

Starting out and doing a terrible job will eventually turn out great if you continue to do it over and over.  No one has ever done anything perfectly the first time, but they’ve done crap over and over and eventually they started turning out incredible things until now it’s just a habit that everything they put out is great.

So, are you willing to do crap?

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Do it.  Start where you are.  Start now.­­­­

I don’t care where you are right now.  If you can’t start something right now where you are, then you’ll never be able to start anything.  And if you can’t start, then you’ll never be able to finish.

If you want to be an actor, LA may be the place you should go.  But if you’ve never even been on a stage in Podunk, USA, then you probably won’t fair too well in Hollywood.  It doesn’t matter how great you say you are or how great you really are, if you’ve never had experience acting, how do you expect to make it just because you’re somewhere else?

People always think that being somewhere else is the solution to their problems.  True, at times it helps to be around more people, more businesses, more schools, more experiences.  But these things can also cause more hindrances.  More to compete against, more to steal your attention, more to take up your time, more to spend your money on.  If you can’t make it where you are, you’ll never make it somewhere else. 

Want to start a huge multi-national business that earns billions a year?  Start in your basement or garage.

Want to write the next best-seller? Fire up your computer and start writing, every single day, with every 5-minute window you have.

With the internet, you can do anything from anywhere, at any time.  No excuses.

Look around you right now. 

This is the place you will start from.

The next action you take needs to be the one that will set you on a course toward your goal.

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You have one or two or twelve.  Strengths that is. Don’t deny it.  Don’t ignore it.  It’s yours and it’s yours to share.

Everyone has at least one strength.  Chances are you have several.  And you can give to others from that strength.

The rich obviously have lots of money.  You can say this is a strength from which they can give.  They bless others with this by giving money away to do research, clothe people, feed people, cure diseases.  This is their strength because they have it in abundance.  They are rich in this area.  Usually we think rich only pertains to money, but in fact, it is anything which you can give away and still have plenty more.

Others might have wisdom, time, ideas, advice, music, organization skills, love, a listening ear, experiences.  The list can go on and on.

It’s also very likely that you’re already give this away.  It’s just a natural extension of yourself.  You do it all the time without even noticing.  And, oddly enough, you always have more.

I’ve always enjoyed people that have an encouraging word to share.  But I realized it’s not because they’re encouraging me that I like them, it’s because the encouragement just oozes out of them.  It’s this thing that they can’t help, and so it’s completely natural and not forced.  You can tell it comes from some source within them that can’t just be manufactured.  It’s essential to who they are.

So what is that thing for you? What is it that oozes out of you? What do you naturally do or give to others?  What do you give without making a conscious effort of? What can you give in abundance and never run out?

That’s the thing (or things) you are rich in.  Those are the things you were meant to give to others.  It’s a hint of what you were put here for.  It’s a glimpse of your purpose and your passion and, dare I say, your destiny.

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The gap between and idea and real life product is huge.  You can have millions of ideas, but the only good ones are the ones you actually act on and make real.

So this is to help you get your ideas out of your head and into the real world.

This isn’t a guarantee for riches or fame, but if you start now, you’ll be far ahead of 99% of the people.

Follow these steps to be part of the 1%:

1.  As soon as you have an idea, write it down.

2.  As soon as you’ve written it down, expand on it.  Explain it, describe it, in as  much detail as possible.  How it will look, how it will feel, how it will work exactly, how it moves, how it is used, everything you can think of.

3.  Determine exactly how you will do this.  Determine exactly when you will do it, too.  For example, if you plan on writing a book say, “I will start writing my book on Sunday after we clean up from Sunday lunch.” Say this a few times to yourself and maybe even write it down just to cement it in your head.  This way, when you’re finish with lunch on Sunday, it will immediately hit you what you planned on doing, without even thinking about it.

4.  Then start looking for ways to make it real.

• If it’s a product, check out Quirky and get your idea out there for $10.
• If it’s a book idea, write it up, maybe a section at a time and put it on Triond to see if you get any looks from people.  Or submit it to ChangeThis and it could get noticed in a matter of days by millions of people.  Or start a blog about your idea. Put it on Facebook to see if any of your “friends” respond to it.  Get on Google+ and find others with similar interests.  There are almost too many ideas for writing these days.
• If it’s a service, put a free ad on Craigslist and try to get a few bites.  If you don’t hear from anyone, submit it to a larger city, revamp your ad, alter your service, etc. until someone does bite.
• The key here is to take some type of action in the physical world.  Writing it down helps get the process started, but ultimately you’ll have to do some actual work.

5.  Work, then work some more.

• Put the hours into whatever you’re doing.  It won’t happen overnight.  It never does.
• Then, once you’ve put in more hours than you think are necessary, do that much more.  Working twice as hard as anyone else will ensure that you’ll be twice as lucky, twice as prepared, and twice as rewarded.

6.  Refine, then refine some more.

• Once you’ve put in all the work, you now need to refine whatever your project is.  Pore over it to see what’s working and what isn’t.
• Take out the things that aren’t working.
• Expand on things that are working.

7.  Work less.

• You’ll still have to put in some work on this part, but you won’t need to work nearly as hard as you did the first time.  From here on out it’s merely a few kicks now and then to keep things rolling.
• Rework things only if necessary.  There’s no need to reinvent what you’ve already done.

This is the plan I use for projects.  It’s not to get rich quick.  And it’s not to avoid work entirely.  But eventually you’ll be able to work less while earning more for your effort.  As a side not, earning could mean money, recognition, or anything else you’re trying to accomplish. The more ideas you make real, the more life you’ll be living, and not just dreaming about it.

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The only time to start something is now.  Actually, the best time, was probably yesterday.  So, start yesterday.  If you wait until today, well, you’re probably too late.  And you’re definitely too late if you wait until tomorrow.

Have you ever had a good idea?

Of course you have. Everyone has. You see things all the time and say to yourself, “hey, I had that idea years ago.”

Ok, so you had that idea. Good for you.  You maybe even had it before that other person.  So what.  They moved on the idea first.  They acted first.  Maybe you had the idea first, but no one pays the person who had the idea first.  They pay for the person who actually has something tangible.  Some people get recognized for their ideas, but that’s about it.  The person who took their idea to market and did something with, those are the people get the real rewards.

So what if you would have acted first?

Maybe you’d have a million dollars.  Maybe you’d have the book deal.  Maybe you’d have people calling everyday for interviews.  Maybe you’d be the one starting a charity.  Maybe you’d be the one offering advice to others.  Maybe you’d be out of debt.

The only difference between the people that sit back and say they had an idea and the people acting on the idea, is starting.  Even if you start, you’re not guaranteed to be the first.  Alexander Graham Bell wasn’t the only one to have the idea for the telephone.  He was just the first to the patent office.  If he had waited one more day, he wouldn’t be famous.

All of the what-ifs are entirely possible.

As long as the starting is inevitable.

Ok, so maybe you can’t eat everything in your landscape, but you can at least plan on growing landscape-type plants that you can partially eat.

Grow fruit trees for both shade, the landscaping aspect, and to eat the fruit.

Plant hazelnuts for the shrub that they are, but also for the nuts.

Need a groundcover on a hilly area?  Try a groundcover blueberry that will cover the hillside and provide you with fresh fruit.

Low growing blueberries cover hillsides and provide fresh fruit

Another great groundcover is strawberries.  They spread themselves and have large leaves to block out weeds.  And of course, they have fruit. They don’t have to just be grown on the ground either.  They work really well in hanging baskets, too.  So you don’t even need to walk any further than your front porch to harvest your bounty.

                                    Strawberries provide groundcover and food

If you have a trellis and want more shade, you can grow vines to shade your house, porch, outdoor seating area, or anywhere else you might want shade.  Vines like grapes, zucchini, peas, beans, and squash will cover the trellis quickly, providing shade, and easily reachable fruit.

Speaking of grapes, you can grow any variety you want so that later you can make your own wine. Or, if wine doesn’t suit your taste, grow some hops on a wire trellis to later try your hand making beer.
                                               Grapes hang through for easy picking

Ultimately, when you consider putting in landscape plants, first think about what edible plants look similar or provide the same aesthetic value: color, texture, height, shade or sun loving, soil type, etc.  I guarantee you’ll be able to find something edible that will work in whatever situation you have.

I – IX = X
(1-9=10, for those who don’t know Roman)

Your goal is to move only one line to make the equation make sense. 

Ultimately, the solution is to not move any at all. You simply look at the problem upside down.  When you do that, it says X = XI – I (10= 11-1).  It makes perfect sense. 

Often, the problem isn’t the problem, it’s us.  We get in the way.  Don’t mess with the problem when the real problem is you. 

Maybe we just need to stand on our heads now and then to get a better perspective.