I came of age during the anti-establishment flower power movement. I eschewed goal setting believing it was more important 'to be' than 'to do'. I believed in being reactive to opportunities rather than proactive. This approach had landed me as an NGO worker in the refugee camps of SE Asia in the late 70's. While I was there, I was asked to accompany various 'celebrities' as they came to monitor or document the plight of the 'boat people'. From Archbishops to Senators to broadcasters. On one particular occasion, I was with an American broadcaster and one day, over a meal on the Thailand/Cambodia border, he asked me what my life's goals were. I instantly felt irritation by his intrusive query and announced to him, feeling rather proud of myself, “I had none”!
Blog Layout
Never Too Late - Excerpt #1
Lowell Sheppard • January 27, 2020
Never Too Late: Ten Tips to Change the Course of Your Life
This is the first of several abridged excerpts from my book Never Too Late: Ten Tips to Change the Course of Your Life.
First Published in English in 2005 in the UK and subsequently in French, Portuguese and Russian.
Awakening
"The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up"
- Paul Valery, French Poet
I was opposed to goal setting. Once, when riding on a bus in northern Thailand, I debated the merits of setting goals with a man twice my age. I have not seen him since, but I owe him big time. The conversation stayed with me like a pebble in a shoe: always aware of it, often irritated by it, and always feeling I had to do something about it
Perhaps under the influence of some misguided fatalism I felt I had no power to control my future therefore the 'to be' rather than 'to do' was a convenient way of coping with a lack of power over my own life. "What is meant to be will be" had infected me.
But as I pondered his uncomfortable question I realized that I did have goals. In fact, they were dreams. Images of myself as a man had filled my imagination as a child. They were so strong and vivid, at times I could hardly cope with being a child as I wanted to grow up and experience life and fulfill my aspirations. Images of myself traveling, completing feats of endurance (my first was at age 12 walking 50 kms in one day to raise money for charity), flying airplanes, starting organizations, writing books, getting married, being a father, crossing oceans by sailboat ... changing the world!
But somehow, growing up, the credibility of those dreams had become undermined by a flawed notion that they were self-centered and that I was powerless to make them a reality. I was being governed by the false notion that our lives are determined by forces outside our control.
“Whatever will be will be, the future is not ours to see, que sara que sara…” had become my life's theme song.
Dreams, I concluded, were to be ignored.
After my shameless pronouncement, with no doubt an air that I was putting this older man, a symbol of the establishment, in his place, the broadcaster looked at me for a moment and, without responding, turned and looked out the window. I was left to wonder, re-evaluate and change my thinking. So glad I did.
His question opened the way for me embrace my dreams again and shed the debilitating shackles of fatalism that erodes the soul and thwarts positive action.
I have come to believe that life is full of options and we shape our future by the choices we make. We are either pulled forward by our dreams or we drift. We all have the power to choose whether to take charge of our life or succumb to external forces.
The older man's questions awakened me. No longer were my goals relegated to my dream life. I learned it is never too late
to set your compass on a new course, explore new worlds and delight in fresh discoveries.
More Articles
With a track record of organizing nearly 100 Galas across three continents and nine cities, I've gained invaluable insights for successful and sustainable charity events. Here are three critical tips to ensure your event's success.
When you are someplace or with someone, with the aim of making a difference and helping, then go invisible, stay in the background, and seek opportunities to convey to others through pics, blog and messages, that real story, the story that matters most.
I have been described in a number of ways, but, this 67-year-old prefers to describe myself as a Never-too-Later! I have helped 100s of people raise funds (amounting to millions of dollars) in order to realize dreams.
I'm a regular guy, with no technological background. But over the last couple of years, I've learned how to create a YouTube channel, create a brand on Instagram, run a campaign on Kickstarter, deliver an online webinar, and lots, lots more skills that I'll be sharing soon in Daring to Realize Your Dream.
Money is important, it makes the world go around. But, it does not matter as much as many people think.
An abridged excerpt (Love) from my book Never Too Late: Ten Tips to Change the Course of Your Life. First Published in English in 2005 in the UK and subsequently in French, Portuguese and Russian.
Often, boys in the modern age are tossed about in the deep turbulent waters of adolescence, vulnerable to the powerful crosscurrents of media pressure and cultural upheaval. Frequently, a boy's only companions on this journey are his peers who are as frightened and inexperienced has he is.
It's May 1st and we're entering the fifth month of 2020 with COVID-19 embedding itself in our global consciousness. I, for one, am grateful for technology that enables humans to connect. Even the simple telephone is vital at times like this.
When we see others suffer, there is an innate human response to do something. In normal times, we donate money or our time. It makes us feel better that we are doing something. This is different. Donating our money and time has been replaced by washing our hands, practicing social distancing and encouraging others to do the same.
Quite unexpectedly, and in a way that was not welcome, I am experiencing a Nemo-Northmoment now. And, despite the social distancing it I not a SOLO moment. It is a moment we all share.