Foreward

by Bob Buford, Author of Half Time, Founder of Leadership Network

One of the greatest joys in my life is watching the transformation that takes place when a person moves from the pursuit of success to the pursuit of significance. I personally went through that transformation and recounted my experience in Half Time in 1994. As you will read in the pages of this book, Jerry Foster reached a point in his life where he too was asking himself how he wanted to spend the rest of his life. Wherever you are in life, this book will help you answer that question, too.
    Jerry has painted a vivid image of the paths we spend most of our lives on. We will make a choice, either consciously or unconsciously, to live a life of indifference, indulgence, or influence. Our choice will have significant impact on the fulfillment and satisfaction we have in our lives. Our choice will also have lasting impact on those we love and generations to come.
    I have never met a person who didn’t want to influence others in some capacity. We were all created for a purpose, and all given spheres of influence where we can exercise our gifts and live our lives to the fullest potential. The problem is that the day-to-day grind and pressures of life crowd out the pursuit of that dream and we become lost in the minutia of life and the tyranny of the urgent. We get off the path of influence.
    If you can identify with some of these thoughts, then I am confident this book will motivate, encourage and challenge you to find the formula for balancing your life and dreaming of what could be in the world around you. Jerry’s concept of small changes that you can make now, creating huge differences later, is very powerful. He creates not only the inspiration, but a practical way of implementing life-changing decisions.
    My encouragement to you is to take this book, use the questions for thought and discussion and accept Jerry’s challenge in each chapter to change your life one step at a time. If you will do that, then you will discover the joy of a fulfilling life and will have the tools necessary to achieve a life of purpose and influence.

Introduction

This book is about helping you get from here to there—from whatever state of struggle or emptiness you are experiencing to a focused life. It doesn’t matter if you are twenty-something and just starting out, forty-something and well down the road, or sixty-something and closer to the finish line. It is never too early or too late to make a change.
    Some of the most formidable roadblocks true personal wealth are the myths about success and fulfillment which are widely accepted as truth in our culture. We will explode misconceptions that may have stalled your progress.
    To get from where you are to where you want to be, you have to see the big picture. We will demonstrate how making small changes over the long haul will get you where you want to be in life.
    Understanding the big picture is vitally important, but we live day to day. LifeFocus is achieved as we move through life’s opportunities and challenges one at a time. We will equip you with proven strategies for moving steadily into this rewarding life. So if you’re ready, let’s get started.

How to Get Where You Want to Go

Let me ask you: Where do you want your life to end up? Do you want to utter with your final breath something like, “What a satisfying, fulfilling, and meaningful life I have lived”? Do you desire your relationship with your spouse and children to grow closer and stronger right to the very end? Do you want to leave a rich legacy of both material and non-material treasures for your heirs? Do you hope that friends and coworkers who attend your memorial service are filled with gratitude for your contribution to their lives? And do you want to walk through heaven’s gate to hear your maker say, “Well done!”? I don’t know a single person who wouldn’t give anything to finish like that.
    So here’s the rubber-meets-the-road question: Do you know how to get there from here? Are you headed toward that outcome in your daily, weekly, and monthly choices, or are your values and priorities veering you off in another direction? You definitely can get there (the life you really want) from here (the life you presently lead) if you apply the Vector Principle consistently—beginning today.
    Vector is a term in mathematics and physics used to quantify the speed and direction that an object is traveling. If you were the pilot of a jetliner, you would use vectors to define the course to your destination. When you are given a new vector by the control center, you turn the plane to line up with that heading on the compass, creating a new vector angle.
    Obviously, even the smallest vector change in the cockpit can make a big difference in where the plane ends up. It may seem like an imperceptible change, but with every mile traveled you are farther from your previous course. For example, you could make a tiny vector change while flying between New York and Seattle and end up in Los Angeles. Some vectors require a drastic change of direction, such as taking off to the west and vectoring 180 degrees for an eastbound flight. However, most flights are achieved through a series of rather small vectors, minor turns and course adjustments that allow the cockpit crew to fly the plane from Point A to Point B.
    Even if you never fly an airplane, you are vectoring through life by the choices you make. You are currently on a course that was determined by choices you have made since you were aware of your capacity to choose. Many of these choices seemed rather insignificant at the time. Do you know where they are taking you?How Do You Define Success? There are many ways by which people across all categories of gender, age, socio-economic status, and marital status vector toward success in our culture. But, many success-driven people arrive at their destination disillusioned and unfulfilled. We see it in the media frequently. Outwardly successful individuals—the rich, the famous, the powerful—become alcoholics or drug addicts, have affairs and destroy their marriages, get involved in crime, or commit suicide. Vectoring toward success doesn’t automatically mean you are vectoring toward a life of fulfillment and deep satisfaction. So your definition of success, and the way you live in pursuit of that definition, has everything to do with whether or not you experience a satisfying, fulfilling life.

Focus Your Vision

I believe the answer to the dilemma of a bigger-than-life purpose is found in discovering your passions. In order to bring your life vision into clear focus, you need to hear what your heart is telling you to do, not just where your head is telling you to go. Your passions will help you discover exactly where you are suited and motivated to live out your purpose.
    Think of your purpose and passions as the crosshairs in a rifle scope. Your purpose is like the horizontal line in the scope, giving you the big picture. Your passions can be compared to the vertical line in the scope. If you have one line without the other, you’re not sure where to aim. The two intersecting lines are necessary to help you hit your target. Purpose alone can take you all over the map. But when you bring your passions into play, you can draw a bead on a manageable vision for your life.

Living Purposefully

Our natural tendency is to react to life as it happens instead of taking an active role in where we are headed and what we will accomplish. Paraphrasing the famous statement of late President John F. Kennedy, “Reactive living people look at what is and ask why. Proactive living people look at what could be and ask why not.” Reactive living is a clear indicator that we are out of touch with our life vision. We are meandering down the path of life instead of purposely striding toward a predetermined destination.
Reactive living causes a person to wait for opportunities instead of create or initiate opportunities. Reactive living prompts a victim’s mindset. As they are buffeted and bounced around by life experiences, these people say things like, “Life is not fair” or “Things never go my way.” They take a defensive posture in life, spending their energy evading pain, hurt, and uncertainty instead of charging ahead while dealing with the inevitable pain, hurt, and uncertainty which attends any worthwhile endeavor.
    Proactive living is a strategy for mapping out a course in all dimensions of life and moving ahead with that course. It’s the process of making a plan and working the plan in your life based on your vision.

Equip for Success

When it comes to living a life of influence in harmony with your vision, you are wise to do everything you can to equip yourself for success, and you are foolish to drift along ill-prepared for your mission. It’s all about being a wise steward of the abilities, purpose, and passion God has given you. It’s about being the best you can be at what you feel called to do in the lives of others.
    What would you think about a physician who stops learning, researching, and sharpening his skills once he leaves medical school? His attitude is, “Hey, I paid good money for my education. I’ll just practice what I learned to the best of my ability. Who needs more?” If you’re smart, you won’t see that doctor even to cure a case of the flu. He sure wouldn’t be my doctor. I want a doctor who up is to date on the latest diseases, procedures, and medicines, who attends conferences, reads the latest medical journals, and upgrades his practice by implementing what he learns. Why? Because he has maximized his prospect of correctly diagnosing and successfully treating my physical problems. He is better equipped to succeed.
Your life vision may not involve saving lives as physicians do, but your calling to influence those around you is no less important. You have integrated your purpose and passions with your unique abilities, and a life vision has come into focus. You have set a course and begun to navigate in the direction of the true personal wealth which results from living out that vision. But you are not yet fully equipped for all the experiences you will face. In fact, you will never reach a place where you cannot further sharpen your abilities and deepen your passion.

Give from the Heart

A key strategy for acquiring true personal wealth is to give generously to others from what you have. Sounds like a contradiction, doesn’t it? How can you acquire anything by giving? You must remember that true personal wealth is more about realizing deep fulfillment and satisfaction than about accumulating things. The more generous you are with what you have, the richer you will become in possessions no one can ever take from you.
    If you cling tightly to what you have instead of opening up to share with others, your heart is like a clenched fist, holding everything for yourself. But with a clenched fist, you have no room to receive anything else. You are closed to other good things which may come your way. But if you walk through life with an open-handed attitude, ready to share generously who you are and what you have, you’re in great position to receive and enjoy even more. Don’t let a miserly heart rob you of all that life has to offer. Open up, share generously, and enjoy life.