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WAKE UP! Your Life Is Calling

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Contents

Welcome to the WakeUp Revolution!.............................................xv1 – Today Is Your WakeUp Call!..........................................32 – Embrace the Storm...................................................163 – You Have the Power..................................................254 – The Art of Disruption...............................................465 – Don't Let Life Just Happen to You...................................656 – Make the Most of It.................................................747 – Don't Live Upside Down (Unless You're a Possum).....................888 – Design a Future You Want to Live Into...............................979 – Climb Into the Sandbox..............................................11710 – Let the Games Begin................................................13011 – Fall Down ... A Lot!...............................................14512 – Creating Your Roadmap..............................................15513 – Setting Goals for a New Kind of Success............................17114 – Commitment: Either Get On14 or Off the Bus........................17815 – Crossing the Rickety Bridge........................................19416 – Take Action Every Day..............................................20517 – Master the Art of Patience.........................................21818 – Even the Lone Ranger Had Tonto.....................................22919 – Don't Round Up, Tomorrow Starts Today..............................247A Look Back at the Five Principles............................................258Appendix......................................................................263Notes.........................................................................267Acknowledgments...............................................................269

Chapter One

"The next morning, my wife saw that I was dressed and ready to go. She gave me a surprised look and said, `I thought you were taking the later train today?' She asked me whether we were still having breakfast together or if she should drive me to the station so I could make my normal train. Little did I know, at that moment, I was standing at the crossroads of my life and my answer to that innocent question would determine whether I lived or died ..." ~Mike Jaffe

Sometimes it's the small decisions that make the biggest differences in our lives. That was the case on that day in September when I had to make a split-second decision on whether or not I'd keep my promise to my family to have breakfast with them before heading to work. Sounds simple enough, right? Have breakfast with the family. But like so many other Americans, my work routine started early—and that meant no time for breakfast with my wife and one-year-old daughter. Except that day was supposed to be different. I had promised myself that work could wait. And, yet, there I was, all set to go to work early, like normal. If I caught my regular train, I'd be at my office by 8:45 AM.

There is a lot of drama built into that excerpt above. I'm not someone who gets entangled in too much drama, but I included it there for a reason. That statement above is part of the story I share with you below. My story. Of course, I didn't know it at the time, but the small decision I made that day really did determine whether I lived or died.

Defining the WakeUp Call

Before I share that story more fully I want to return to our focus for this book, which is about designing and living an extraordinary life, starting today. For many of us, including me, the ability to accomplish this amazing and worthwhile goal starts with a realization—with a wakeup call. But what does that really mean—a wakeup call?

Wakeup calls occur when you experience an event or have a powerful insight that is significant enough to shake you up and scream, "LIFE'S TOO SHORT! WAKE UP!" They remind us that we don't have endless tomorrows. A wakeup call occurs, as I said in the book's introduction, when you become driven by a need to move away from where you are in some aspect of your life (job, relationship, etc.) or driven by the need or desire to move toward something—a bigger job, a new challenge, or something else compelling.

The definition of a "wakeup call" includes a "portentous event that brings an issue to immediate attention" or "a sign to take action concerning something that was overlooked or neglected." I don't want you to have to wait for a "portentous event" or a sign to realize you've been overlooking or neglecting any part of your life. You bought this book and you're receiving this message today—there's your event and your sign.

Why is it important to recognize your own wakeup call, you ask? I sum it up simply by proclaiming that if there are changes you want to make in your life, and you haven't started on them yet (for whatever "reason"), you are wasting precious time! Don't wait until more time has unnecessarily passed, or it simply becomes too late. Stop empowering the reasons and excuses you are using, no matter how real and valid they feel.

Are you able to step outside of your day-to-day life for a moment and really see what a wakeup call might look like for you? Is what I'm saying resonating with you, or is it just a bunch of words on a page? How does the prospect of a wakeup call feel? For some of you, it is utterly terrifying. For others, it's motivational. For still others, no matter how hard you try, it just isn't real. But I'm telling you that it is very real, and the time is now to take an honest look at your life to decide where you want to make powerful and positive changes for yourself, strengthen your relationships with those you love, and create entirely new relationships with those things that have been stopping you all this time.

We're All Hung Over

I have a theory about how life feels for so many of us these days. I see people who have grown all kinds of electronic appendages to their bodies—cell phones, PDAs, iPods, etc. They can't bear to be away from their gadgets. (I thought technology was supposed to make our lives easier?) "What if I miss something important?" is the general sentiment. Guess what? You are missing something important right now. It's called "your life!"

As a result of all of this 24/7 access, information overload, and constant stimulation, so many of us feel "hung over" these days. I don't mean that we drank too much tequila last night (at least I don't remember drinking that much tequila last night)! What I mean by "hung over" is that we're OVERworked, OVERstructured, OVERloaded, OVERinformed, OVERstimulated, and OVERwhelmed. Too many of us feel this way. By continuing this mode of operation, we get to keep lots of data and information in our brains and be up-to-the-minute on all news and events, but there is a tremendous cost to living this way: burnout.

Fried, frazzled, irritable, and fatigued. All that information intake, all that meeting of deadlines and timelines and schedules and appointments, and you may just find one day you can't do it anymore. Or maybe the opposite—you won't...