OH WOW,OH WOW, OH WOW.

In our world right now we are facing tough times. When coming up with ideas for this week’s theme of giving, receiving, planning and growing, I have to say the reason I started to think of this idea was due to the Occupy Wall Street protests going on right now. As a life coach, I have a hard time taking a side in many of the things that become political in our world. I have declined many times those who want to post political views on my blog as I’m not about political views. My father was very much into the political side of things. But as a coach I am looking for the balance to make things work.

In the ideas of balance, I have always taken a look at both sides of many issues that surround our world and its many problems. We did not get into our problems overnight and we will not get out of them with the election of any certain person or party. It takes a long period of time. To solve problems requires three things: first you must figure out there actually IS a problem; then, you decide you want to grow or change in response to that problem; then you must make a plan to do so. In your plan you must allow for certain things along the way: setbacks, problems, losses, unexpected events, etc., etc., etc.

Imagine yourself seeing a problem in your life, but not being willing to make a change to fix it. All of us are facing something in life that we will have to make changes on, or it will bring us to an ending point where we have no choice to make changes as we are forced to start over. I have coached many people who want to start over and I prefer to help before they get to the point that they HAVE to start over. No matter where you are in your situation, with some planning, some pruning you will get back to growing. Your plan can be saved. That is what many world leaders are trying to do now – make the changes before it gets worse. Yes we each have our own opinions as to who has the right choices to make that right. The real solution is for all of us to start taking care of our own world, not trying to change others’ opinions about the world.

Many people who read this blog are not the ones who are asking others to change; maybe they are not out telling the government or the media what others need to do in the world to make the changes to make their lives better. Most of you who read this are about changing your own life. As the news came up about Steve Jobs’ last words yesterday, I thought it would be a great idea to actually use his words today to get you to think about your own future. To plan your world for growth.

If you have not read by now, Steve Jobs’ final words were, “Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow.” While I’m not going to go into the entire story, I am going to say from a guy who made things happen in this world those are some awesome words to leave this world with. So let’s think about your plan for personal growth: what could be your next “Oh Wow” moment?

Start today with a plan. When you have come to a place that you are finding yourself headed in a downward cycle, you may have problems staying afloat. Set a big goal. Then, the next thing after you set a big goal is to accept that you will soon face a big problem. They go hand in hand, so expect that to happen. Then plan for how you will respond to them. I say this not to be negative but to make sure you realize that any goal worth working for is worth preparing to save when you face challenges.

Imagine if you left to go on a road trip, that you set out with the goal to drive from the New York City to Los Angeles. You plan to have five days to get there and you plan what route you will take. The first obstacle that could come up is hitting traffic on your first highway. Well, if you let that stop you, then you will not make it out of New York.

Let’s say you are driving by car and all you plan to pay for along the way is gas. Well you will end up having a few other setbacks along the way. This past weekend we took a short motorcycle trip – about 400 miles. When we were 40 miles from home, Gwynne lost her rear tire. Since it was a Sunday, we had to find a way to tow the bike, as there were no shops open to take it to get fixed. These things happen. Gwynne, being the happy person she is, did not let it affect the way she talked to all who stopped and offered help as we loaded the bike into a truck to take it home. In life when the challenges hit, you have to be like Gwynne (yes, inside you are thinking “How am I going to do this?” ); but on the outside your attitude should look like you are the duck floating on water: above the water things look like you’re gliding along. It’s under the water, where it can’t be seen, that you are working hard to solve the problem.

Many times in our lives things like this will come along; we try to plan for them, but all we can do is plan a little ahead for the unexpected. When it hits, you keep the smile on and work it out. Don’t look to someone else and say, “They never have this problem,” because we all do. So no matter what side you are on when you see things going on in the world around you, we are all facing our own little challenges to solve in life. Start your planning and always keep growing. Then you will be saying, “Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow. What a great life I live. I’m so privileged.”

I’m Tim Gillette, The Rocker Life Coach. It’s time for you to live the life you always dreamed of, to love what you do and those you share life with. Make some Oh Wow moments in your life and others will see you as the RockStar in your world.