Hard and Simple Things has Moved!!

HARD AND SIMPLE THINGS HAS MOVED!! Please go to www.Sieverkropp.com and subscribe to receive the latest posts!

Sunday, June 3, 2012

I See Success...

"Success is the progressive realization of a worthwhile idea."

That is a quote by Earl Nightingale.  And by that definition, Today, I am successful.

It may seem like a small thing to many of you, but today I took the first actual steps towards the "...realization of a worthwhile idea" that I have had in my mind for probably almost a decade.

Soccer Camps


For nearly 10 years I have had the dream of starting a soccer camp.  A business that was mine, a business that combined several of my passions--soccer, coaching, business ownership, and financial success--into one place. 

Today I took the first real steps in making that dream a reality.  This morning my sister went with me to our local soccer complex.  There she took pictures for me to put on the new blog I just started.  I got some great ones, and I started my blog this afternoon.  You can check it out at www.afterpracticesoccer.blogspot.com. If you have any interest in soccer, haha. 






Dissatisfaction and Discouragement

"Dissatisfaction and discouragement are not caused by the absence of things but the absence of vision."  ~Anonymous
More than once in the past I have found myself dissatisfied with my life and discouraged with where I seemed to be going (or not going, as was more often the case...).  This has rarely had anything to do with where I was, I've had great jobs, with great pay and management.  It just was not my vision.  Like it says in Proverbs 29, "Where there is no vision, the people perish" (vs. 18).  I dont think it means that you just disappear, I think its like when fruit perishes, it just gets old, brown and dead looking.  Likewise, when we don't have vision, our lives get old, boring, stale and frustrating. 

When I have lost my vision, I get very discouraged and depressed with where I am in my life.  When I think of what I want to accomplish, who I want to be, and begin to make plans to that end, I find joy, excitement, and energy.  It has been amazing the excitement I've felt in these past couple weeks as I've been working on how to get closer to my goal of owning my own company focused on coaching soccer. 

When you have vision

"When you have vision it affects your attitude.  Your attitude is optimistic rather than pessimistic." ~Charles R. Swindoll
I don't expect you to understand.  I really don't.  How such a seemingly simple thing--a few digital photos and a stupid little blog with only one post could affect my attitude so profoundly.  I'm pretty sure most of my family and friends don't understand it--and thats ok.  It isn't their dream, it's mine.  I'm emotionally attached to it, its been nagging at me for years now!  While you see a little blog, I see a blog with thousands of visitors, I see an ebook that is downloaded hundreds or thousands of times, I see a summer soccer camp that people travel hundreds of miles to attend with world class training and elite coaches.  I see seminars and day camps dedicated to helping youth and adult, player and coach, to achieve whatever it is they want to accomplish--whether that's a professional soccer career or simply to coach their 10 year old daughter's rec team better. 

I See Success


I see success.  I see lives changed.  I see a life filled with joy and peace because I am still in the process of progressively realizing my worthwhile idea...that is even bigger and greater than today.  I see a man that my wife and my children can be proud of because I reached for my goal, I overcame my obstacles, I endured the hardships. 

I don't expect you to see that.  But I do.  And you know what, I may fail.  I may never reach what I hope to achieve.  But I will never give up reaching for it. 

"I'm going to be a great leader of this generation.  The stars in the space up there are my witnesses." ~Toba Beta
 That is why I am so excited for this stupid little blog.  So laugh if you want when, and if, you look at it.  But someday, somehow it will be something.  It will mean something.  It will achieve something.  Or I will go out with a blaze of glory and a content heart, knowing I did all that I could do.

"Destiny is not a matter of chance, but of choice.  Not something to wish for, but to obtain." ~William Jennings Bryan


Question: What are you doing to achieve your vision?





If you find value and benefit in these posts, please share them via Twitter, Facebook, Email, etc with all your friends, family, neighbors and fishing buddies. 

Twitter: @Skropp2



Photo copyright: Linda Sieverkropp, All Rights Reserved.

7 comments:

  1. Mark,
    Congratulations on taking this first step forward. The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.

    Keep on, keeping on!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Aaron! I definitely prefer looking at the single steps rather that the thousand miles!!

      Delete
  2. Congratulations, Mark! Many times that first step is the most difficult. I like what you said "How such a seemingly simple thing--a few digital photos and a stupid little blog with only one post could affect my attitude so profoundly." I understand and it does. You have moved your dream from an idea into reality and that is exciting! Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Nick! It's so true. Like the post said, this first step has taken almost a decade, haha.
      But now there's something to look at, to see as evidence of my "success" (per Earl Nightingale's definition).
      My few photos and stupid little blog reminds me Dave's story of starting his business on a card table in his living room...I hope mine goes in a similar trajectory!

      Delete
    2. Totally agree with Nick. And never despise small beginnings :) It is completely exciting when you start bringing dreams down into reality. I think that's why God gives dreams to us to begin with.

      Delete
    3. I certainly agree. It's exciting to be taking some small steps that in years to come will be the makings of a great story!
      It's so obvious that we're wired by God to dream...we're happy when we're dreaming and achieving...we're miserable when we do meaningless work and waste our days.

      Delete
  3. Is this evidence of being on the right track...when THE Chris LoCurto comments on your blog??? Haha.
    Thanks man, a lot of the credit is owed to you and those stellar blog commenters you've got...

    ReplyDelete