January 2005 Breakfast Meeting Recap
Don has many achievements to his credit but he chose to talk about three recent challenges that he has turned into accomplishments. The first one he mentioned was his bout with cancer and how that changed his outlook on life. After his recovery, Don felt it necessary to rearrange his priorities in life. He found that, having reached a certain age, he was less willing to risk failure than when he was younger. And this attitude was limiting what he could accomplish.
The rearranging of priorities brought out the other two challenges that Don talked about. The first was his desire to regain his physical strength and stamina in order to compete in a marathon. And not just any marathon. He managed to complete a 26.2 mile course that was run in a cave, using lighted helmets, in Holland. The second challenge was his dream of writing a book. Don kept putting his dream aside because reality and everyday life kept getting in the way. What he discovered after the cancer was that he could no longer put that dream aside. So he sat down and started to write. Six days later he had a 400 page manuscript. That manuscript became “Designated for Success.” What he learned from this experience is that you have to commit to making your dreams come true. His question to this audience is what dream do you have that you are 6 days away from fulfilling?
Don has identified resignation as the killer of dreams. He defines resignation as an attitude that we develop when we know that something needs to be changed but we have given up trying to change it. Don suggests fighting off resignation by being prepared to meet opportunity when it presents itself. He recommends that we all push to create a new vision of our own future.
For those in attendance, Don was an inspiration. Copies of his book were available for purchase, they sold out quickly, and he willingly autographed every copy. If you are interested in purchasing a copy, go to www.cpcusociety.org.
