You must define what success
means to you otherwise you won’t know when you have arrived. “If you don’t know
where you are going—anywhere will take you there.”
Find your Talent or Gift / The egg
The butterfly develops in
four stages through a process called metamorphosis. The first stage is the egg.
This is a very easy stage for butterflies because they will develop into their
DNA coding. During the egg stage, the butterfly does not have to worry about
turning into a duck, swan, chicken, or crocodile. They know their purpose. They
do not have to find their purpose through trial and error or discover their
talent or gift. The butterfly egg knows why it came to earth. The egg stage for
humans represent knowing what they want to do with their life not simply being
alive.
You can get a job waiting on
tables, cleaning toilets, or working in a nursing home if you desperately need
money. You can work two fast food jobs and rent a single room if you simply
want to make money. The reason you are reading this book is not because you
want to make money; you are reading this book because you want to be rich. You
want to feel whole, complete, and satisfied about who you are as a human being.
You want your life to be filled with joy, happiness, and purpose.
I once worked as a computer
coach for underprivileged children in a public housing community. My job was to
help the children who lived in the housing projects with their homework and
teach them basic computer skills. Most days no one would show up for tutoring
except the children from Laos.
I had an opportunity to talk
to their parents on several occasions who explained to me why they were living
in the public housing community. The mother told me that there were 6 adults
all living in a one bedroom apartment working at various fast food restaurants
saving their money to open a nail salon. Within the 3 year period that I worked
as a computer coach while attending college, I had the opportunity to see their
dream come to fruition and visit their nail salon. A few years later they
opened two more nail salons.
What I love about this story
so much is that they figured out how to make money. But they desired to be rich
doing something that they love. They used money to make their dream come true.
They were also able to bring more family members here to America; some family
members volunteered to work in the nail salons; while others were now able to
afford to go to college due to the financial success of the nail salons. I saw
this family prevail to make their dreams come true with my own two eyes.
Sometimes I think that people who are born and raised in America forget the
value of hard work and sacrifice for a bigger dream.
If you know what you want to
do with your life you are ready for the next stage. I don’t think that humans
were created to make money. Making money is not a goal. Making money is the
outcome of a goal that pleases others. You can make money doing
anything—prostituting, pimping, stripping, selling drugs, preaching, singing,
dancing, fighting, killing, teaching, cooking; I could go on forever listing
things that you could do to make money. You can make a lot of money or little
money doing just about anything you can think of.
How do you I know if it’s something I really want to
do?
You will know without a
single doubt in your mind when you have found your purpose when no matter how
stressful, difficult, or challenging the task is—you want to dig in deeper. If
you study the lives of extraordinary people you will find that they did not
give up on their dreams when times were tough.
The secret that you must
understand about this stage is that you cannot fake true passion and desire.
You can’t be good at a task that you detest; not because you are incapable—but
because your sincere dislike for it will make it difficult for you to remain
focused and give your all when your soul is not interested.
You know you are meant to do
something when you don’t mind doing the dirty job that most people hate; you
don’t mind doing the same exact thing over and over again until its perfected;
you would do it for free—money is not what motivates you—you feel blissfully
alive simply from the act of doing.
Just remember this: the
people who excel and become wealthy in most endeavors whether they are
prostituting or performing brain surgery-- it is because they love what they
do. And when a person truly and sincerely from the depths of their soul and
heart love what they do-- they cannot help but to be better at it than most
people (especially the people who are just doing it for the money), and to earn
a higher income.
Unless you take the time to
figure out what type of egg you are; you may make a lot of money but you will
never be rich in spirit. You will always feel like something is missing in your
life even while sitting in your mansion with bazillions of dollars in the bank.
If you are struggling to figure
out which direction to get started in to find your purpose, take the Myers
Briggs, Nine Types of Intelligence, and Left or Right Brain Dominance
personality tests. I have included links to free assessment tools that will
help you discover your natural talents, interests, and inclinations.
The Caterpillar-The Feeding Stage Hone Your Craft /
Learn Everything You Can
The butterfly egg turns into
a caterpillar. The caterpillar has one goal and that goal is to eat, and eat,
and eat, and eat, and eat to grow 100 times their size. This stage is very similar for humans in the
sense that once you know who you are and why you are here you must be of the
business of honing your craft and growing more into who you are and why you are
here on Earth.
If you have decided that you
are a guitarist you must learn everything you can about guitars and practice
playing every day until your fingers bleed. If you have decided that you are a
writer, you should learn everything there is to know about writing. You should
develop the habit of writing each and every day before you retire. Writers write;
singers sing; dancers dance—whatever you have decided to do you must now learn
and practice with diligence as if your life depends on it.
No matter what it is that
you have discovered that you want to do with your life—if you are not willing
to put the time and effort into eating as much knowledge and experience as your
soul can endure; you will never savior the sweet, rich nectar of the fruition
of having your dreams come true.
The irony of this stage of
development is that most people will find that they have very little money.
You
may find yourself in a demanding college program broke and physically exhausted.
You may find yourself wishing for sleep more than money due to studying for
long hours fueled only by peanut butter sandwiches on stale moldy bread.
However, if you are on the right path, you will also feel exhilarated and
determined to succeed because the information that you are feeding your soul is
so enlightening and enriching that you know that there is nowhere else in the
world that you would rather be.
Until you find that
something that you enjoy doing so much that you don’t care if your fingers are
raw from playing the guitar; your feet ache so much from dancing that they
almost feel nonexistent; or you don’t mind singing it over, and over, and over
again until you get it right—you will make money—but you will never be rich.
The main difference between
having money and being rich is that you always feel rich from the act of being
and doing even when there is no money; but you never feel psychologically and
spiritually rich if you only have money. Money alone rarely brings about
prestige, awards, respect, honor or personal happiness in and of itself. To
truly enjoy money you must also enjoy everything that you chose to eat in the
caterpillar / feeding stage in order to acquire it.
The Pupa ~ Transition Stage
Believe in the Unseen/ The Lonely Stage ***
Once the caterpillar is
finished eating it turns into a pupa which is also called a chrysalis; its
entire body is covered in a cocoon. This stage lasts from weeks to years
depending on the butterfly species. It appears that the pupa is resting on its
laurels hanging under a branch. What is most
interesting about this stage is that appears that nothing is happening from the
outside. But in actuality this is the stage of transition where all of the
changes are happening internally. The butterfly is developing its beautiful
wings.
The pupa or cocoon is the
most difficult stage of development for humans because the transformation that
needs to take place is no longer a product of our daily actions. This is the
stage where God, if you will or the Universe if you prefer, or Nature or
whatever you feel comfortable calling this Source of Power must metamorphize
the caterpillar into a butterfly.
You may begin to wonder if
God has forgotten about you because nothing appears to be happening from the
outside. You have mailed out hundreds of resumes and no one has called yet for
a job interview; you wrote the book only to receive rejection after rejection;
you have put together your best songs on your CD but you still can’t get a
record deal. Whatever your case may be-- the point is that you have done
everything within your human power to manifest your dream but nothing appears
to be happening.
I can tell you from personal
experience that it is absolutely essential that you maintain a positive
attitude because this is when the Universe is working the hardest to put all of
the pieces together that are outside of your control.
I worked for 13 years as a
social worker while completing my graduate studies. Once I completed my
doctorate degree I couldn’t find a higher paying job outside of the social work
field that I was trying desperately to get out of. I took my doctorate degree
and one of my master’s degree off of my resume in order to get a social work
supervisor position to stop from being evicted from my apartment.
Several friends commented
that it was ridiculous for me to get a doctorate degree in a field that only
required a master’s degree to be promoted to the highest position. I was fired
from my job as a social work supervisor to literally find a full-time teaching
job within two weeks doing something that I absolutely love to do—not to
mention that I tripled my salary as a psychology instructor.
In my darkest hours of
crying myself to sleep each night, I started to doubt whether or not my dreams
would ever come true. But what I didn’t know is that the woman who would hire
me was completing her doctorate degree and being elected department chair.
Additionally, the school had just hired a new vice president and a new union
president had just won. It was necessary for all three of these people to be in
their positions at the time I was fired. They were all on my hiring committee
in a very close selection. I know without a doubt in my heart that without the
department chair, the union president, and the new vice president I would not
have gotten the job I love. God was putting these pieces together behind the
scene. The Universe was positioning all of the players in place to help me make
the winning shot.
When you are in the cocoon
stage remember that everything that is happening on the outside is bigger than
you. The caterpillar is swaddled in the cocoon of nature’s love and it knows to
stop searching and just be. It knows that it cannot turn itself into a
butterfly.
This is the stage of being
still in your spirit and believing with all of your heart and soul that all of
your hard work will pay off. This is the stage where you will develop your
inner strength and new psycho self-image before you emerge as a butterfly. You
cannot become a butterfly if you still have a caterpillar mentality.
While in the cocoon stage of
development you will find yourself isolated and alone from other people who
have the same interests or talent as you do. You are no longer a caterpillar
and not yet a butterfly. No one wants you to do back up singing for them
because they do not want you to outshine them as this would have been
appropriate in the caterpillar learning stage. But now you are ready for the
big time and the Universe is putting together the pieces for the perfect role
designed specifically for you and your talents.
The secret to the cocoon
stage is to tie a knot and hang on as tight as you can. You may find yourself
going through some very turbulent times—accidents, death of loved ones, broken
bones, break-ups and so forth. On the other hand, you will find yourself losing
or gaining weight, changing your hairstyle, and or selecting a new style of
clothes. Changes in your life circumstances will bring about a new
self-image. While your spirit is nestled
in the dark cocoon remember to be still and patient and wait on Nature / God to
bring about the light. The cocoon shell represents all of the things that will
shed from your life in order for you to emerge as the beautiful butterfly.
This is the most vulnerable
stage for the butterfly because this is the stage with the highest death rate.
This is also the most delicate stage for humans. This is the stage where many
people give up on their dreams because of their limited view of the darkness
inside of the cocoon. Remember to be still and have faith that everything you
have asked for has already been given to you. Remove any negative people from
your life; remain extremely positive and be grateful for everything that is
good in your life.
Please remember that no matter
how traumatic these changes are they are designed to keep you very still so
that the Universe is able to change the things that you cannot control.
Butterfly Wings: You have arrived to Your Dream
If all goes well, the
caterpillar will emerge from the cocoon with big colorful wings. The wings will
allow it to travel to places that its previous tiny caterpillar legs could
never begin to imagine. You will know that the cocoon stage is over when you find
yourself exposed to new people, places, and things that you never knew existed.
Beautiful, luxurious windows
of opportunity will be open to you that you will now fly through with ease;
where you will flutter through the garden of riches and abundance and suckle
the nectar of your dreams. You will realize that the windows were always
there-- it’s just that you were incapable seeing them in your previous stages
of development. The caterpillar and the butterfly will never share the same
view.
One is not inferior to the
other, it’s just that life experiences and development will determine how and
where they travel. You will find
yourself mingling with new friends and acquaintances. You may yearn to spend
time with old friends but this may be impossible because they do not yet have
wings.
