Last week’s Lifeonaire coaching call was very moving for a majority of our members. Many realized that even though they’ve been feeling like they are on the right path in life, they actually aren’t. They acknowledged that because their chosen path to becoming Lifeonaires isn’t always popular or responsible by the world’s standards, they are living out the world’s vision for their lives rather than doing what they truly feel God has called them to do.  They are ignoring their life’s visions because they seemed “foolish” or “they didn’t make sense” or they wonder what others would think.  Consequently, they aren’t making progress on their goals to become Lifeonaires.  It was an eye-opening, convicting call that led to lots of discussion and some thoughts that I’d like to share with you here.

Giving into the need to fulfill the world’s standards for your life rather than the vision you feel God has called you to is a surefire way to achieve unhappiness and discontentment.  To a certain degree, we all struggle with this because we’ve been conditioned to believe that life should look a certain way and, in order to achieve that, we believe we must play by the world’s rules.  Sometimes we are so deluded that we truly believe we ARE living on our own terms and then a call like last week’s uncovers the ugly truth.  We’ve been playing by the world’s rules for our lives and yet something is really missing.  And, unfortunately, this is true for many people who appear to be at the top of their games.

Like many of you, I’ve had a vision myself that I have dismissed because it seemed foolish.  During discussions that I’ve had with students after last week’s call, I discovered that many of you have a similar vision but, like me, you’ve dismissed it because it seems foolish or you figure you’ll get to it “some day”.  What I’m about to share is not necessarily for everyone but it just might apply to you.  I want to challenge you to get out there and do whatever it is you’ve been envisioning.  Live life on your own terms and find out what it means to be a “Lifeonaire”.

Many of us are working hard now to become debt-free Lifeonaires because we want to travel and experience new places.  In fact, we’d love to experience different cultures and places in the United States and around the world by living there for extended periods of time, not simply vacationing there. But the lifestyles we’ve chosen do not allow us to live this way.  We can’t pursue this dream because the “roots” we’ve planted keep us in one place.  The world tells us this is “good”, it’s the “grown up thing to do”, our families need “stability”.  And we’ve listened:  we grow up, do the right thing, bring stability to our families, and look forward to turning 70 so we can truly enjoy our lives.  Sounds like a good plan, doesn’t it?

The problem is that many of us have followed this plan and we still aren’t truly happy or fulfilled.  Although we long to live our dreams, we’ve convinced ourselves that they’re not realistic.  Yet, I have come to believe that they are.  If I can envision it, I CAN make it happen.  And so can you!

It all begins with the lifestyle you’ve chosen to live.  The more worldly responsibilities you have—things like homes, cars, furnishings–the less free you are.  These worldly possessions are roots that will keep you planted in one area.  The more you have, the harder it will be to break free.  Please understand that I’m not suggesting that you have no worldly possessions; I simply want you to realize what your possessions do to you.  Why can a 20-year-old guy jump in his car or on a plane and experience the world?  Because he doesn’t have the responsibilities that most adults have.  We are responsible for our worldly possessions; therefore, the more we have the more responsible we have to be.

I may lose some of you now and that’s okay, but I really hope you’ll stick with me.  Today, I had a discussion with someone who said he would rather have the experiences than the possessions.  Right now he has possessions that are keeping him from having experiences.  He could recall a time in his life when his possessions were literally burned up; he had lost everything yet he felt truly free.  So, instead of replacing all his possessions, he decided to travel and stay in other places for extended periods of time.  He chose the experiences over the possessions.  And you can make the same choice.  You can choose an extravagant lifestyle with more responsibility or you can live modestly and enjoy the freedom to live out your dreams.

I must admit that I have many of the same feelings as the man I spoke with today.  I’d rather travel the world, experience different cultures and grow and learn from others than be tied down by my possessions. I’d love to have a “home base” in Wisconsin with a home that I own free and clear.  (I would actually prefer to rent a home but that’s not an option right now.) I don’t want a home that requires much in the way of finances or maintenance. I want a simple home that we can return to after months of traveling.  Ideally, I’d like to work for six months, save the money necessary to cover our travel expense (which is much less than you would imagine), and then travel for the remainder of the year as a missionary family immersing ourselves in different cultures. What an experience that would be for my family!  My children would see that it’s okay to follow your dreams and have these amazing experiences.  They would see, by my example, that life doesn’t have to be boring!  And, hopefully, they would choose to do the same with their lives.

For many of you, the thought of doing such a thing seems odd, if not, completely crazy.  You’ve already planted “roots”.  How can you give up everything you’ve worked so hard for?   I’d answer that question in two ways.

First, if you’ve finally realized that you’ve been doing the wrong thing, are you going to continue doing the wrong thing just because you’ve been doing it for so long?  You’ve been playing by the world’s rules and playing the game properly but you’ve been playing the WRONG game.  Should you keep playing?

Second, perhaps you’ve been doing some things right; you’ve established a business and put together business contacts.  For those of us who are real estate investors, it takes a lot of work to set up shop and get things going.  It’s very hard to abandon all that.  However, living out your dreams doesn’t always require completely abandoning all you’ve worked for.

Many of us have done very well investing in real estate.  Why couldn’t we use our resources to help others and earn an income WHILE we’re traveling?  Could we put some passive income sources into play?  For instance, if I developed a great lead source for properties, it would make sense for me to partner with several respectable local investors who would conduct deals in my absence and then compensate me. Agreements such as these might allow me to make tens of thousands of dollars while vacationing or traveling.  It’s a matter of choosing how you’re going to live and then putting plans into place so you can live out your choice!

It all boils down to YOUR vision for YOUR life.  The world can tell you how to live responsibly, but the world’s vision for you may not be the life you want to live.  According to the world, we have to keep moving forward; going backward is not an option.  And the world’s definition of “forward” is accumulation and increase; the very things that may be robbing you of the life you really want to live.  What is your definition of “life” and are you living it?  What do you need to do to move toward becoming a “Lifeonaire” who is living life ABUNDANTLY?

Blessings,

Steve

A friend of mine said that he overheard his 8 year old daughter talking on the phone to a friend.  She told her friend, “I love my dad more than anything.  He is my favorite person in the world, even though he doesn’t have much time to spend with me.”

Needless to say, he went from a proud father after hearing the first sentence of the conversation to having a crushed heart after hearing the second sentence.  This affected him in a negative way more than anything else he could imagine.  It was in that moment, he told me, that he realized that even though he always said that family was the most important thing in his life, his actions proved that this wasn’t necessarily true.

Thinking about this makes me realize that growing up, I never cared too much about how much money we had, what kind of house we lived in and what kind of car my parents drove.   Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t have complained if we would have had enough money to go to the amusement park a couple of more times per year, but when I look back at life growing up, just spending time with my Dad equated to some of the most precious times of my life.

I’ve never heard someone at the end of their days say, “I wish I would have worked more.”  Each day you have a choice.  What kind of Dad are you going to be today?  Or mom?  Or brother?  Or sister?  Or aunt, or uncle?

That being said, try this tonight:  ask the person that you’re closest to “If I worked one less hour each week, what you like to do together?”  And start living like a Lifeonaire.

Blessings,

Shaun

Vision is the most powerful thing in the world.  No man has ever done anything without first having a vision.  Nothing great has ever happened without someone envisioning it first.  The tricky part is harnessing that vision and turning it into something great.  Let me share a personal story that I hope will motivate and encourage you.

My dad was an entrepreneur at heart.  He was always striving to make money and provide for his family.  Consequently, he wasn’t around much, and his absence took a toll on our family. His poor choices created a lot of pain in my home, and our relationship was always strained.   My parents divorced when I was four years old, and I vowed at a very young age that I would never be like my father when I had my own children.

When I was 17, I was surprised to find out that I was going to be a father.  My father was willing to pay for an abortion, but thankfully, for some reason and in spite of my lack of convictions at the time, I insisted “no”. The promise I had made to myself when I was young held firm; I was determined to be there for my child.  My daughter was born when I was just 18 and, shortly after her birth, I put my nose to the proverbial grindstone and worked hard to get ahead. My daughter was not going to grow up the way my brothers and I had.

Nine years after my daughter was born, my father passed away unexpectedly.  I attended his funeral, and while I was sad to have lost my father, I didn’t really miss him. We hadn’t shared a good relationship, and so it seemed that nothing was really going to change.

Then, as I thought back over the years, intent on renewing my personal vow not to be like my dad, something dawned on me.  Suddenly, I wondered “What if it I were the one who had just died? What would my daughter think about me?  Would she miss me?”  And, at that moment, I realized that my daughter would feel the same way about me as I felt about my own father.  Even though I had been intent on NOT being like my dad, I had been living EXACTLY like him. I was so focused on earning a buck, sure that would make me different than my father, that I had sacrificed my relationship with my own daughter, just as my dad had done with me and my brothers.

In the midst of my misguided determination, I had made my father my vision.  Although I said I didn’t want to be like him, I had focused all my energies on him.  It was time to refocus my vision on the father that I wanted to be instead of on the father I didn’t want to become.

It works this way for everyone.  It’s like the old saying “What you see is what you get.”  What you choose to focus on (your vision) is where your time and energy will be spent.  For example, most people who are overweight focus solely on not being fat. They are disgusted with how they look and that is all they think about.  Consequently, because that’s the vision they have, it’s the vision they get.  Instead of focusing on being overweight, they need to focus on healthy eating and exercise.  Once the focus changes, the weight will change too.  We can’t focus on what we don’t want to be; we MUST focus on what we want to become.

Why not take a minute now to re-evaluate (or compose) your vision?  Where are you focusing?  Have you identified what it is you want, rather than just knowing what you want to avoid?   Remember, what you “see” is what you’ll get!

Blessings,

Steve

One thing that I’m very conscious of as we move forward with Lifeonaire is the potential for our flesh to get in the way and for us to lose site of what Lifeonaire is all about.  It’s very easy for success to come in and take over.  It’s easy for success to rule our lives and change the reasons–or the “why”– behind what we are doing.  I believe that so many good-intentioned people fail because they themselves do not have accountability in place.

It’s important to us for you to know that Shaun and I have put our own accountability measures in place as we move forward with Lifeonaire.  Each Monday morning, we speak with a trusted adviser and friend, who ensures that we remain true to our call, encourages us, and confronts us should we get off track.

However, these accountability measures are only as good as we’ll allow them to be.  Our accountability partner can say what he wants all day long but if Shaun and I don’t take action, our accountability relationship is useless.

Many good-intentioned people have put accountability measures into place only to fail because they were the overseers of their own accountability.  Their accountability partners barely have a voice let alone power.  And, as we all know, if someone doesn’t want to hear the voice, it’s very easy to tune it out.

Having said that, Shaun and I would like to give all of you permission to hold us accountable.  We want to remain true to the spirit of Lifeonaire, and we want to ensure it’s consistent with the Biblical principles that serve as its foundation.  We definitely don’t want to create a set of rules or our own misguided doctrines for you to follow, but instead we simply want to deliver the true message of the Bible in a modern-day, easy-to-understand manner.

So please, if we ever get off track, do not hesitate to confront us and let us know.  We won’t take offense; we’ll actually be thankful!

Blessings,

Steve

This is the most powerful skit I have ever seen.  Jesus’ victory brings me to tears each time I watch it.