Celebrating Someone Small Who’s Really Someone B.I.G.

When people see the acronym in the title of my book Dream B.I.G. in 3D they often ask, “what does ‘B.I.G.’ stand for?” Although the answer is contained in the subtitle, I politely answer, “Bold, Innovative, God-Inspired.” This acronym represents my recognition that God-inspire dreams lead to God-inspired lives that are courageous, creative, influential, and transformational.

When I came up with this title I was focused on “dreaming big” in a new kind of way. Although people have been exhorting others to “dream big” for a long time, I wanted to present a different perspective in my book. This perspective was based on my deep desire to ignite people to live a dream whose significance was more important to them than its size (i.e. the acquisition of large or expensive material possessions).

Interestingly, it took a long time after I came up with the title to realize that B.I.G. applies to more than just dreams. It can also apply to a vast number of things – natural and manufactured – that have God’s unmistakable influence on them. One example is sand. Although a single grain of sand is infinitesimally small, all the sand in the world is infinitely huge. Sand is B.I.G.

Paper clips are small, but they probably number in the billions, and their usefulness is grossly under-appreciated until they can’t be found. Paper clips are B.I.G.

Diamonds are also relatively small in size, but their beauty and worth are matched only by the desire of those who want them… Diamonds are B.I.G.

I also realize that my new baby girl born yesterday is B.I.G. Is there not a better example in the universe where God breathed His spirit - inspired – into something that was creatively bold and incredibly innovative? I mean who else could have formed a human being out of a pile of dirt and given him purpose in life?

So although my new little girl is a relatively small human being at less than 7 pounds, she is really B.I.G. Not because of her size, but more importantly because of the significant plan God has already designed for her life.

I hope you realize how B.I.G. you are too.

Sweet dreams,
Paul Wilson, Jr.

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Dare to dream again in 2010!

Register for the Dream B.I.G in 3D Live Experience! on April 17, 2010… For more details please visit www.PaulWilsonJr.com

Are the Right People on Your Dream Team?

Do you have the right people on your “Dream Team” helping you to arrive safely and successfully where you want to go in life?

more about “Embrace Life Commercial…“, posted with vodpod

Sweet dreams,
Paul Wilson, Jr.

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Dare to dream again in 2010!

Register for the Dream B.I.G in 3D Live Experience! on April 17, 2010… For more details please visit www.PaulWilsonJr.com

Dreaming BIG with “A Cool Drink of Water”

I’m very excited that tomorrow I’ve been invited to be part of a special panel discussion after the Saturday 3 pm matinee showing of A Cool Drink of Water at Horizon Theatre Company. This play is a provocative and contemporary twist on A Raisin in the Sun. This is a powerful and funny update to a classic story. I’ve already seen it and I can tell it will be a great time for you and your friends. I’ll see you there!

Dream B.I.G.,
Paul Wilson, Jr.

B.I.G. Dreams are coming to a mind near you very soon! www.DreamBIGin3D.com

Chasing Gold & Rainbows

I don’t really celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. I don’t have anything against it, I just don’t get excited about it. However, as I thought about this holiday I had a few musings about some of the symbolism associated with it.

Of course the prevalent images that are most often associated with March 17th are leprechauns, clovers, rainbows, and pots of gold. In this post I will only touch on the latter two.

Although these are symbols of a fun holiday for many people, unfortunately they are also symbolic of how many people in our society live. They spend inordinate amounts of time chasing after rainbows and pots of gold. Let me explain.

Scientifically speaking, rainbows are a multicolored optical and meteorological phenomenon. They are beautiful, but lack substance and don’t last very long. Once the atmospheric conditions change, the rainbow disappears.

As for the pot of gold that’s supposed to reside at the end of the rainbow, most rational people accept that as just part of a fairy tale and that it doesn’t really exist.

As transient and unrealistic as these symbols are, it’s sad that so many people get caught up chasing things that have minimal substance, short-term benefits, and unfulfilling rewards. I would liken rainbows and gold to money, fame, status, power, and other similar targets of shallow life pursuits.

Many people are looking for a fake pot of gold at the end of a temporary rainbow. It’s too bad they forget the real treasures of life are found in their faith, family, and friends. Don’t overlook these valuable treasures in search of fleeting flash. What’s most valuable and needed is often right around you.

Dream B.I.G.,

Paul Wilson, Jr.

Connect with me on twitter.com/pwilsonjr

Are you a B.I.G. Dreamer?

Thriving Unity

“Super Thrive Week” Series

Unity within a team, business, or family is not truly tested until adversity arrives on the scene. Even when adversity is expected it may be hard to resist the temptation to buckle to its demands, quit, or retreat.

Back in 1958, the University of Buffalo football team had an incredible opportunity to have their unity tested. This is an awesome story. Watch what happened…

more about “Outside The Lines: All Or Nothing – E…“, posted with vodpod

Sometimes it’s easy to do the right thing when there’s no outside pressure or benefits for doing the wrong thing. However it can be a totally different story when something significant can be lost as a result of choosing the right thing to do. That’s why it’s always inspiring to see people stand up for one another, especially in situations when you think they might do otherwise.

Check out what happened to the University of Buffalo football team nearly 50 years later…

If conflict fosters intimacy, then at your company, on your teams and in your family, let your adversity bring you closer together, not tear you apart. You will all learn to value one another more and grow together, benefiting everyone in the long run.

Thrive on Purpose,
Paul Wilson, Jr.

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Are you an OA?

Follow my conversations on twitter.com/pwilsonjr

Team Hoyt: Thriving Commitment

“Super Thrive Week” Series

The story of Team Hoyt was so widespread last year that the lessons extracted from this video are undeniable (although those lessons probably haven’t been applied as much as they have been admired). It’s a powerful testament to the commitment of a father to his son. He has sacrificed his own life to give his son the most adventurous and meaningful life possible.

One reason this story was so popular is that this level of self-sacrifice is rarely seen in our society today. Also, the fact that a sport was one of the key elements within this story allowed a lot of people to easily connect with it.

For someone to say, “I will die for you,” often carries with it the thought of a one-time, in-the-moment act of heroism. Usually firefighters, police officers, or soldiers come to mind. On the other hand, for someone to say, “I will live for you,” means that moment by moment and day by day decisions must be made with that other person in mind. To give up one’s life for another in death is no small feat. Unfortunately, what we often overlook and undervalue are those who commit themselves to improving the lives of  others on a daily basis. The truth is to commit one’s life to another day by day is no small feat either.

We need more everyday heroes – those who are living for the benefit of another – whether that person is a family member, friend, neighbor, or even someone who won’t be born until the next generation.

It’s powerfully enlightening that Dick Hoyt found a new life when he decided to sacrificially invest his life into his son. Who are you going to invest your life into?

Thrive on Purpose,
Paul Wilson, Jr.

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Are you an OA?

Follow my conversations on twitter.com/pwilsonjr

Car Seats and Character

A couple weeks ago my family and I were returning from Miami after spending time with my wife’s family over the holidays. On the ride back to Atlanta our one-year-old threw up, mostly in his car seat. For those of you with small children you know how hard it is to clean a car seat when your child spills something (or throws up) on it. Reluctantly, I cleaned him and the seat enough to continue our trip.

When we finally got home, of course we needed to remove the seat cover so it could be washed. To my dismay, I realized I would also have to clean the safety straps and all the small nooks and crevices, because the stuff seeped down under the cover into the base of the car seat. I know this sounds gross, but stay with me. I’m getting to my point…

My wife washed the seat cover in the washing machine. I knew I had to clean the safety straps and car seat base, but I figured I would get to it later that day (procrastination). Well, about two days passed before we needed the car seat again. So as we were all about the leave the house I was putting the seat cover back on and realized that I had forgotten what I was supposed to clean. I don’t have to describe to you what I found. Let your imagination take you there – or not.

Epiphany! I would compare the car seat base to a person’s foundation, which is their values. I would relate the safety harnesses to one’s character and habits, which should serve to prevent and protect them from poor decision making.

How often do we clean the obviously seen areas of our lives but forget, ignore, or procrastinate when dealing with the areas that are seemingly unexposed? We try to cover up with a well-groomed image, hiding the fact that we have soiled character, unresolved issues, or poor habits. “Fake it ’til you make it” works for a while, but eventually when your private stuff isn’t cleaned up, life will begin to stink in multiple areas, including your work, family, and relationships.

While one’s charisma can open doors, ultimately its one’s character that determines their long-term success. Lack of character and poor habits will rob you of credibility, confidence, and competence, which ultimately thwarts your ability to perform at your peak potential. Don’t let your life stink underneath the surface! And don’t allow your charisma to lead you places where your character can’t sustain you.

You know better than anyone “what lies beneath”. Identify it and deal with it in private, so you don’t have to worry about getting exposed in public. You don’t want to be one of the character casualties that we see too often these days.

Thrive on Purpose,

Paul Wilson, Jr.

follow my conversations on twitter.com/pwilsonjr

Get Synced!

In my last post, In Sync?, I wrote about my inability to successfully synchronize the information between my Blackberry and laptop. This of course is frustrating because I want to have all of my information available at my fingertips whether I’m mobile or stationary. This frustration caused me to think about other areas of my life that I may be failing to synchronize successfully, including my family, relationships and faith.

If you are wondering whether all the areas in your life are in sync, here’s a few questions that may help you:

• Is your character in sync with your desires, i.e. can you responsibly handle what you want? If not you need to either further develop your character or change your desires.

• Are your professional competencies in sync with your financial expectations? If not you need to either improve your competencies or lower your expectations.

• In terms of your relationships, are your friends’ goals and life direction complementary or congruent with your own? If not you need to either adjust your life direction or adjust your goals (hopefully not lower them).

• Are your lifestyle and daily choices in sync with your desired legacy or ultimate contribution to the world?

• Is your faith/expectations in sync with God’s word and His promises? Are your actions in sync with your (professed) faith?

As you answer these questions, consider which area(s) where you may be most out of sync. If you are experiencing frustration, anxiety, disappointment, disconnection, confusion, fatigue, inefficiency, inconsistency or discouragement, more than likely one or more of these areas are out of sync. And just like the software that allows two separate devices to integrate with one another, we all need a process that allows the different areas and aspects of our lives to integrate, so that we can function optimally.

We all need a synchronization process to get the critical areas of our lives back in sync. The key elements in this process are  purpose, values, dreams, goals, thoughts, and decisions. Here’s one way to get started. You need to make sure that your…

• purpose syncs with your values
• values sync with your dreams
• dreams sync with your goals
• goals sync with your thoughts
• thoughts sync with your decisions
• decisions sync with your purpose

As you can see, the last item on the list (decisions) aligns with the first item on the list (purpose). This lets you know that synchronizing your life is cyclical and continuous, not a one-time activity.

Don’t settle for functioning at a less than optimal level in any area of your life. Do whatever is necessary to get your life in sync.

Thrive on Purpose,

Paul Wilson, Jr.

Follow me on twitter: @pwilsonjr

In Sync?

I wrote a post 2 days ago in my other blog, Biznovations.net, about my new adventures with a Blackberry Bold and social networking technology. I really enjoy working/playing with my new toy/mobile telecommunications device.

One of the proclaimed features of the Bold is software that is supposed to synchronize the information on my phone with the information on my MacBook, including my email, contacts, calendar, tasks, bookmarks, iTunes, photos, etc. The reason that I say “supposed to” is that I haven’t been able to get it to work properly.

The total time I’ve spent trying to get this thing to synchronize is probably a couple of hours, considering all the research and troubleshooting that I’ve done including: reading the user manual; playing with the phone settings; resetting the phone by taking the battery out and putting it back in; posting my problem in the online support forum; Googling web sites with potential solutions posted by others having the same issues as me.

And guess what… it still doesn’t work! So for now I’ve resigned myself to just dealing with it and hope a new software solution will come out soon that will synchronize my mobile life.

This whole process has been very frustrating. I was even more frustrated when I thought about all of the time that I had wasted for something that was a preference more than a necessity. A thought then occurred to me: How much time do I spend synchronizing the most important things in my life? Am I in sync with my wife? Am I in sync with my children? Am I in sync with God’s expectations for me?

These essential elements of my life are much more important than my phone and laptop. However, sometimes it’s easy to fall into a rut where I’m more focused on me than other things. I realize that I get very frustrated when I invest more time in synchronizing my technology than I do in synchronizing the most critical and essential areas of my life.

How about you? Where are you out of sync? How much time do you invest getting in sync with what’s most important?

Check back on my next post to learn how to avoid the same kind of results in your life that I had with my phone and laptop. Until then… thrive on purpose!

Paul Wilson, Jr.

Follow me on twitter