What do you think it means when you see or hear the phrase, “Take Control of Your Life?” First off, does it resonate with you at all? Are you inspired to make it happen, to take control?

Well, either it does or it doesn’t. Either you completely understand or you don’t at all. There is no in between on this one. And if you don’t understand, that’s alright. I am here to educate you, to open your eyes a little and to show you the life you should be living, but have simply not yet chosen to.

So what does “Take Control” truly mean?  Taking control involves actually getting off your butt and doing something about your situation. It entails going where you want, creating what you want, making sure you get what you want and having the foresight to even see what you want before you create it in reality. That is control and any variance if it puts you in in a situation where you are being controlled by something else.

For instance, someone might decide to take control in their own life by going out and making it happen by finding the job or their dreams. Now, what have they just done? They took control, went up to another person/company and handed them the reins and said, “I would like you to control my life for “x” amount of dollars!” Taking control is not going to a job so that someone else can tell you how to live your life. Taking control involves you making the big decisions, not someone else.

How do you know if you are in control? What did you do today? Were you in control of your time, your money, your life, or was it a boss or punch clock at work. Think about it. What have you given control to? Did any of your action and decisions today move you closer to your ultimate lifestyle, or did it just move your closer to paying the bills knowing that it starts all over again tomorrow?

The good news is…..it’s temporary. It can be changed.

Quick story: This is how we finally decided to take control. At first, I thought taking control was getting my dream job, because that is how I was raised. I soon learned, through my training in the military, my dream job was going to give me absolutely zero control over my life. I wanted to be a helicopter pilot. So, we started this business after a long lesson from the Army. We initially spent around $1500 to get started. That was a big deal to us, but not really, now that I look back. $1500 is not a lot of money! If you think it is, you have not yet decided to take control of your financial life. I knew what income I wanted, and at this stage, it would take another $20,000 to reach it.

So here Amy and I were. We were at a crossroad. We didn’t have $20,000 in the bank to invest. We had two options: We could allow our circumstance to dictate us, which was a lack of money, or we could continue to move forward and stay in front of the steering wheel. Now, I could see very clearly what my life would be like if I could just get to that next level. To do that, I had to find the $20,000. Yet, I was still in my situation. I didn’t have the money, but what did I do? Did I hang my head and droop my shoulders and give up the control? No!! I figured it out and found the money! I took control of my own life and did something about it. I made sure my life went in the direction I wanted it to. I paved the road with my own two hands and then I walked! I took action. I made sure it would happen! I did! Not someone else. I did.

Taking control of your life may be, and most likely will be, uncomfortable. It’s uncomfortable because it involves change. Changes, out of ambition, that you make to your own life are always good, regardless of how uncomfortable it gets. You should get comfortable doing the uncomfortable.

Think about what you truly want. Make a plan to get there. Then take MASSIVE action and ensure that it happens. You are the only one that can, and the only one willing to do it! Make it happen. It’s your life. You’ve only got one!

This morning I was obligated to take a drive with my one year old daughter. We took this drive at 5 AM in attempts to get this little girl to sleep. I had been up with her since 3 AM and enough was enough. The good news, it worked! The bad news, I only got 2 hours of sleep last night. I’ll live!

As I was driving around, I saw cars idling in their driveways warming up for the trip to work, people coming out of their homes and apartments in their work uniforms, contractors pulling up to job sites and it was barely 5 in the morning. Now, I live in a small town where the commuting time isn’t huge, so I know that these people would most likely be starting work at 6 in the morning.  As the time went on and 6 Am started rolling in, the streets were full of people heading to work.

It seems as though the so called “9 to 5″ job is no longer only 9 to 5. In fact, I don’t think it has ever been 9 to 5. It is more like a 6 to 6! If you think about your time spent getting ready for the job and traveling to and from the job, it should all be counted. It is time spent for someone other than you and yours. That is time spent that you are not getting paid for. Take into account how much time, if added up over a few years or even a lifetime, that you are wasting in preparation for your job. Let’s say on average it takes 30 minutes to get ready, 60 minutes to commute to and from, and 30 minutes to get, so called, “unready.” That is 2 hours a day. Over a one year period, you have spent an average of 10 hours a week, 40 to 50 hours a month and around 520 hours a year preparing to get paid for your time instead of getting paid for your time.

What if you invested that time into a business opportunity of your own? I can tell you that I know people who have, like myself, made more in a 10 hour work week than most people make in an entire year! It’s all about getting paid for your results instead of your time. There is only so much time, but results are unlimited.

Since our move from Pinetop to Payson Arizona we have been able to enjoy a few quick trips down to the Phoenix area. Where it would take 3 hours from Pinetop it now is only an hour away and so these few quick trips happen a little more often. This past Saturday we decided to do a quick trip to the Phoenix Zoo. So we packed the kids in the car and took off.

The Zoo was pretty packed when we got there. We actually drove around for 25 minutes before we finally found a spot, and guess where it was? It was right up front!! That’s the law of attraction in the works right there!

The kids had a blast. Animals, Kennel Corn and Snow Cones make up for a great time when you have children. It was cool to see the excitement on their faces. I asked them what their favorite part was and you won’t believe what they told me. When we were looking at the Rhinos, one of them decides to let go of nearly 50 lbs of dung and urine no further than 20 feet from us. So yeah, that was their favorite part!

The point of my post is not to tell you of the great time we had but to speak about Elephants. Here is an interesting fact that you all may not be aware of: Elephants in captivity die 20 years sooner than those that live in the wild! Elephants in the wild will travel nearly 25 miles a day where animals in captivity don’t. Now the biggest killer of Elephants in captivity is their feet. Zoo keepers are constantly cleaning and taking special care of their feet because they don’t have the opportunity to wear down the bottoms of their feet while in captivity while those that live in the wild have little trouble at all. Elephants in the wild will normally live up to around 80 years old.

You know, I think there is a little more to it. The professionals blame these early deaths on foot trouble and that may be part of the issue, but let me throw this idea out there. The elephants natural home involves a seven letter word, “Freedom!” They go from traveling 25 miles a day in the open to maybe just 5 miles of the same old cage. Even if they were born in captivity, it still runs through their veins. They are animals that were created to be free and to roam in their domain. How would that feel to know you were capable of more, yet, you were being constrained or held back from what should be natural?

It is amazing to see the growth in the people I assist every day in this business. Especially when they are coming from a place of captivity. If we all truly understood what we were capable of, the world would be a very different place!

I would be interested to know the average life expectancy of a person that works in a cubicle for an employer for his entire life versus an entrepreneur who travels frequently and has complete control over his time. I bet the stats are somewhat similar. I know for sure which of those two people would experience the most joy in life.

You see, there are different forms of captivity. When you take a look at an Elephant in the zoo, one might think, “Wow, now that’s captivity!” On the other hand, is being cooped up in a job any different. It’s basically a lighter form of house arrest. We can call it ‘commercial arrest’. After you are finished doing your time, you are allowed to go home for a few hours for relaxation, but, you had better be back the next day to do it all over again. What sounds enticing about that?

My advice: Make absolute certain that you are living your life as freely as you possibly can. You will be happier, you will experience more joy and you will live longer. And I sure hope it doesn’t take a trip to the zoo to help you realize that!

So I have often wondered what the most dangerous jobs would be. I would think that working on a nuclear bomb would be there, hazardous waste treatment, the military, test pilot,  Grand Canyon telephone repair man. They are all right up there…..but I had no idea that working in a cubicle would be just as dangerous. Think about it! What happens to a free animal when caged up? They flip out right?

You have to check out this video! I cracked up the first time I watched this. Go ahead, stay in your current job. Just know, you might become the next victim of Job Dementia and absolutely lose it!!

I am reading a book by Andy Andrews called “Mastering the Seven Decision” right now and wanted to share a brief story with you. It talks about this man who owns a zoo. This guy lived a few years back and at the time, all the other zoos would go out on safaris to catch the animals to feature in their zoo, but this one gentleman would breed his own animals and so it made his zoo that much better. Well, this guy heard about an animal that no other zoo in the world had and set out on a safari to find this animal and to bring it home for his zoo.

When telling the natives what his intentions were, they all laughed at him and told him that he would never be able to catch one, that they were too strong and fast. The only way to catch one of those was to shoot it from a distance and bring it back dead. This guy just shrugged and then told the natives that he would catch as many of these animals as he wanted and then pick the best of them for his zoo.

Out he went to find this animal. He laid down barley and honey every night for 6 weeks and every night these animals would eat all the food. Then, as he laid down the food, he placed a post near to it and continued to feed them for another week. The next week he placed another post just opposite of the last one, and fed the animals for another week. He did this for two more weeks until he had four posts. For the next several weeks he added boards in between these posts to make a coral. The last week the coral was nearly complete except for one board. That night he laid out the same amount of food and these animals squeezed through the gap to get to the food and he came up behind them and nailed on the last board and captured all of these beautiful animals. He picked the ones he wanted and let the rest go free.

Later on he was asked how he did it and his reply was: “I treat animals the same way I treat people: I give them what they want. I give them food and shelter. In exchange, they give me their beauty and their freedom.”

That statement was described as “bone chilling” in the book. Most of the world is giving away their beauty(talent, skills) and their freedom in exchange for food and shelter, not much more. Take a look, a serious look at your life, your job, what you are doing to provide for you and your family. Are you seriously free to do as you please? Are you living life to the fullest? Or, are you trading your freedom for pennies?