What Inspires You?

Posted on March 19, 2010 by pdncoach

“100 Dreams? I can barely think of 10 big things that I want, big enough to call them dreams anyway!”

This is a common response to one of the first activities I ask my coaching clients to begin. That’s right, I ask them to make a “Dream Inventory” of at least 100 dreams – a list of all that you want to HAVE, want to DO, want to BECOME.

I give people a lot of help to get them started, but sooner or later my clients are left with themselves and their own ability to conceive their deepest, perhaps God-given, inspirations and desires.  Some go way beyond the 100-mark and keep adding to the list, and marking things off as they achieve them, for the rest of their lives. Others struggle with inspiration. Why is this?

What inspires you? What are your dreams? 

I know two sure sources of inspiration for me. First, I read a lot and am constantly inspired by what I read. Novels, non-fiction, business books, devotionals, scripture, purposefully inspirational stuff…I find inspiration in all these sources. But books and magazines aren’t the only sources.  I find much on Twitter to inspire me, sometimes on Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo, even an occasional billboard!

I also find inspiration in my relationships. I need people. I need conversation with people. Not idle “cocktail” conversation but the kind of conversation that peels away masks, day-to-day boundaries, and superficial dribble. I want conversation that causes people’s eye to light up, ideas shared that bring people alive, including me. Conversations that create a safe place to ask dangerous questions of myself and others – this is what brings me alive, inspires me, brings out my best thinking.

I was reading an article called “Provoking Thought” in Ryan S. Fortney’s blog, The Pax Integral, where Ryan asks:

What gets you to write? What inspires you? 

Another shares that her writing “exposed myself for the nut that I really am” and another says he’s in it “for the love of the game” – I love that. Why not dream a little, just for “the love of the game”?

That’s what I want to know; What inspires you? How do you “prime the pump” to get you thinking about the Big Things in life, or at least the momentarily profound? What are your dreams and what are their inspirations?  What takes you to The Intersection of Purpose and Now?

Please, share your stories (better yet, share your dreams!).  Please, use the comments section of this blog – DREAM A LITTLE!

P.S. One of my favorite books to help you “Leave the Land of Ordinary” is Bruce Wilkinson’s The Dream Giver.  
http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=msturgell&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=159052201X&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr

Join me at the Intersection of Purpose & Now.
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Before There Was a Blog…

Posted on March 15, 2010 by pdncoach

Before there was The Intersection of Purpose and Now, there was an inspiring moment that I acted on…

…that’s what happens at the Intersection of Purpose and Now – external inspiration, leads to internal motivation, leads to intention and purpose, leads to action, leads to results.  



I literally got off the phone about four years ago and got started. It wasn’t always The Intersection of Purpose and Now. For a day, it was Improving Quality of Life. The Intersection of Purpose and Now started gradually a few months later, including one of my favorite all-time posts, Why Fly?  


Below is that very first post from December 2004, Living on Purpose, slightly edited.  I think it’s fun and thought-provoking to read again. Maybe you will, too!


We Coach. You Get Results.
So i got off the phone with a coaching client — I call him Mike The Serial Entrepreneur — and I started my own blog. His productive rambling and eagerness for me to help him FOCUS to get what/where he wants…to become WHO he wants to BE – all inspiring me to start sharing my experience from the Coach’s side of things.

Most people I work with, 1on1, in groups, teams and even large orgs, want to go somewhere they have never been, you might say. I help them discover where they are now, to BEGIN, then where they want to go, as well as how to get there.

I know a guy who wanted to go to The Middle of Nowhere…he’s been there now. 

Mike is creating an incredible new thing that brings the ol’ mom-n-pop neighborhood store to the 21st Century — Hey, if you’re going to shop the Net, why not still buy locally, right?

I’m blessed. I get to help people achieve more of their goals more often. It’s amazing…I get hired to help them build their business, become more successful ($$$ and time), experience what they want to experience, become who they want to become, get happy, contribute the value they want to contribute.

And yet the most common goals that really get people fired up about themselves are things like ‘becoming a better spouse’, ‘better parent’, ‘better friend’, ‘better Christian’, ‘better leader’ or cleaning the gutters, losing weight and reading more books. Yet, along the way they learn to master their daily, weekly, monthly, annual routines (the future belongs to those who create it) and before long they, too, know their Purpose (deeply), start living On Purpose and a Goal-Directed Life, and begin to achieve Their Wildest Dreams.

Want some? Hey, its for sale (www.pdncoach.com). For now, why don’t you just join me in my discussion. I look forward to your posts.

posted by The PDN Coach @ 2:47 PM, December 15, 2004

Join me at the Intersection of Purpose & Now.
Posted in coaching, goals, inspiration, Purpose | Leave a comment

On Purpose Urgency

Posted on March 10, 2010 by pdncoach

“Oh my gosh, I have to go!”


Have you ever realized, just in time, that you are supposed to be somewhere or do something different than what you are doing?  Think about it – that time you were engrossed in one thing and suddenly were reminded of something completely different that you “MUST DO NOW’.  


In that very moment, the thing you were doing is not quite as important as it was an instant earlier. You MUST DO something else NOW, with urgency.


The On Purpose Scenario
Now consider a different scenario: This time you recognize the same sense of urgency long before it catches you off-guard while focusing on something completely different.  This time, circumstances did not dictate your sense of sudden urgency because you did, well in advance of the moment in which you intended to take action. This time, you created your own sense of urgency because you are choosing to shift your focus and actions On Purpose.


How might your life be different if you had more moments like this, the second scenario? The On Purpose Scenario. These are not moments in which you are caught by surprise by a sudden crash of urgency, but moments created by you with a sense of urgency that is grounded in your own Purpose and timing.


This is The Intersection of Purpose and Now – when you know (really know) that you are doing the right thing, in the right way, at the right time, for the right reasons, to achieve the right action, to serve a greater Purpose.


If you struggle to find The Intersection of Purposehttp://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=msturgell&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=1403975817&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr and Now, or if you struggle with time “management”, let me know. Maybe I can help.

Join me at the Intersection of Purpose & Now.
Posted in focus, Purpose, time management, urgency | Leave a comment