· Alice took my Strengths course and said it brought tears to her eyes. “I thought of a little lost child,” she wrote me. “How far I’ve gotten away from myself. How much I long to find me again.” She’s gone on a search.

· Marisa spent 20 years in a career her StrengthsFinder™ Profile showed was an extremely poor choice. Her final year she suffered from chronic back and neck pain, sciatic nerve problems, hostility and migraine headaches. She finally got message her body was sending her. She spent 6 months working with me to figure out what made her feel good, work wise, and has changed fields. “Suddenly I’m making money,” she said, “and rather effortlessly. I find this hard to believe.”

· When Nancy started coaching I asked her, “What would you like to do?” “I have no idea,” she said. “No one’s ever asked me, and I’ve never asked myself.” “Why?” I said. [pause] “Are you supposed to like what you do?” she asked.

Interestingly enough, all of these clients have become entrepreneurs. For each of them money v. something-I-love-to-do was initially a conflict. Each of them has resolved this in a different way, but each of them has shifted from “What will make me most money?” to “What would I really like to be doing?”

I do have younger clients, too.

Sam’s only been working 5 years and wanted coaching on how to get organized. He loves his work. He’s never mentioned money. I asked him at one point about vacations. He said, “I don’t think about vacations. I’m new to my field.” That was sooo wonderful to hear!

Evan started a dot.com and made a lot of money. A hostile-takeover forced him out, but left him with a hearty yearly stipend to leave his name on letterhead. Evan hadn’t even gone to college! What’s he doing now? He’s at Oxford, soaking up formal education he didn’t need to make a fortune, but knew he needed for his soul.

Must you go for money, or go for pleasure? I don’t like any either/or statement, do you? You can have both, you can have neither, and you can also have a third option.

Most people are about as happy as they decide to be (Abraham Lincoln), and most people have about as many options as they decide to have. If you see it as a choice between two, then it will be. If you use your EQ, think outside box, and consider possibilities, then you can generate options and solutions. If you think it has to be either/or, how has this worked for you so far?

Martin Seligman, Ph.D., (http://www.authentichappiness.com) thinks authentic happiness comes from knowing what your signature strengths are, and being able to use them for a higher purpose.

I think Martin Seligman, Ph.D., has a point there!

Homer Hickam wasn't good in algebra. In fact, he was almost failing. Yet, this teenager wanted to become a rocket scientist. He grew up in a coal mining town in West Virginia where only way to college was through a football scholarship.

It didn't make sense that someone with his background and his lack of abilities could become a rocket scientist. Yet. He did. Despite what others thought of his dreams, he focused on them and was determined to accomplish them.

Peter Drucker noted that, "whenever anything is being accomplished, it is being done, I have learned, by a monomaniac with a mission." There's much to say about moderation. But not when it comes to your dreams and goals.

If you keep vision of your life in front of you all time, you won't pay attention to judgments of others. After all, I'm sure plenty of folks let Kirk Franklin know that he did not sing well.

And look where he is now.