When I initially took the life assessment quiz I was fairly surprised by the results. My career with a start-up was in flux and my finances were very far from where I wanted them to be. I answered accordingly in the quiz, yet, I scored a 132! Extraordinary! My sweetie came away with similar results, I believe 124. We came to the conclusion that the quiz placed a higher value on a growth mindset vs fixed. Even though our current financial situation was seriously lacking, we were (and remain) incredibly grateful for all that we do have and strongly see a future where our talents, skills, and hard work translate into great financial abundance.
So, we started Lifebook feeling pretty good about ourselves and excited to see how we could grow even more. Then tragedy struck in the lives of those closest to me. My maternal grandmother of 86 was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer of the vulva and was severely burned by the malpractice of her physicians during treatment. Horrible and I never imagined I'd have so many conversations about my grandma's vagina.
Concurrently, it came to light that my mother had become addicted to benzodiazepines and was hospitalized for withdrawal symptoms. It was a physiological emergency that revealed the actual underlying psychological emergency at hand. It also obliterated the vision of Wonder Woman that I held for my mama my entire life. Devastating. So many tears.
If that weren't enough, my paternal grandmother of 95 had a heart attack, which she survived, only to be readmitted into the hospital two weeks later with EXTREME ulcers that were blocking her entire digestive tract. I apologize for the graphic description but, she was crapping and projectile vomiting blood, Exorcist style. It was terrifying. You haven't lived until you've helped your elderly grandmother shit blood into a bucket. I spent every weekend at her home growing up. She helped raise me.
All of these things hit just after completing the Emotional chapter of Lifebook and there are no words to adequately express my gratitude for having just gone through that thought experiment. It gave me the opportunity to immediately put my Emotional Vision to task and it changed everything. I believe that my ability to powerfully show up for these critically important women in my life was directly influenced by Lifebook.
I'm happy to share that my mother has successfully titrated off the benzos and is working with an EMDR specialist (per my suggestion) with miraculous results. My grandma with ulcers has made a remarkable recovery and is being discharged from the hospital tomorrow. Sadly, my other grandmother, while she is now cancer-free (yay!), is still dealing with underlying issues of alcoholism, addiction & pain and is back in the hospital again. But this time, thankfully, my mother is in a far stronger and more stable psychological place to support her mother.
I know that story was long, but it really hammered home what Jon and Missy were saying all along. Life will always throw you curveballs. No one is immune to the often harsh realities of modern human existence. I began this quest "extraordinary" according to my assessment, but I was completely sideswiped during the quest. Diligently working the Lifebook plan and being so hyper-focused on how I envisioned the greatest possible version of myself gave me an extraordinary gift. It taught me how to BE that man, that best me when my family needed him the most. Now, that man is me.
P.S. My career is really taking off. I've gotten a raise AND and a significant equity stake in the company! Plus I've been able to secure alternative means of income, on top of my career, by leveraging previously mastered skillsets. I truly believe that the Financial chapter radically altered my relationship to money and gave me the courage to use my non-career related skills and passions to add great value to others. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
So, we started Lifebook feeling pretty good about ourselves and excited to see how we could grow even more. Then tragedy struck in the lives of those closest to me. My maternal grandmother of 86 was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer of the vulva and was severely burned by the malpractice of her physicians during treatment. Horrible and I never imagined I'd have so many conversations about my grandma's vagina.
Concurrently, it came to light that my mother had become addicted to benzodiazepines and was hospitalized for withdrawal symptoms. It was a physiological emergency that revealed the actual underlying psychological emergency at hand. It also obliterated the vision of Wonder Woman that I held for my mama my entire life. Devastating. So many tears.
If that weren't enough, my paternal grandmother of 95 had a heart attack, which she survived, only to be readmitted into the hospital two weeks later with EXTREME ulcers that were blocking her entire digestive tract. I apologize for the graphic description but, she was crapping and projectile vomiting blood, Exorcist style. It was terrifying. You haven't lived until you've helped your elderly grandmother shit blood into a bucket. I spent every weekend at her home growing up. She helped raise me.
All of these things hit just after completing the Emotional chapter of Lifebook and there are no words to adequately express my gratitude for having just gone through that thought experiment. It gave me the opportunity to immediately put my Emotional Vision to task and it changed everything. I believe that my ability to powerfully show up for these critically important women in my life was directly influenced by Lifebook.
I'm happy to share that my mother has successfully titrated off the benzos and is working with an EMDR specialist (per my suggestion) with miraculous results. My grandma with ulcers has made a remarkable recovery and is being discharged from the hospital tomorrow. Sadly, my other grandmother, while she is now cancer-free (yay!), is still dealing with underlying issues of alcoholism, addiction & pain and is back in the hospital again. But this time, thankfully, my mother is in a far stronger and more stable psychological place to support her mother.
I know that story was long, but it really hammered home what Jon and Missy were saying all along. Life will always throw you curveballs. No one is immune to the often harsh realities of modern human existence. I began this quest "extraordinary" according to my assessment, but I was completely sideswiped during the quest. Diligently working the Lifebook plan and being so hyper-focused on how I envisioned the greatest possible version of myself gave me an extraordinary gift. It taught me how to BE that man, that best me when my family needed him the most. Now, that man is me.
P.S. My career is really taking off. I've gotten a raise AND and a significant equity stake in the company! Plus I've been able to secure alternative means of income, on top of my career, by leveraging previously mastered skillsets. I truly believe that the Financial chapter radically altered my relationship to money and gave me the courage to use my non-career related skills and passions to add great value to others. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
