FUEL

James Cameron enjoys making films. He's written and directed the two highest grossing films of all time: Titanic and Avatar, as well as a number of others. But filmmaking is not his first love.

This past weekend, the premier for the release of Titanic in 3-D was held in London. Mr. Cameron was not there with Kate Winslett, et al. Instead, he was with his team preparing to dive to the deepest point of the ocean -- Mariana Trench. The trench is >120 times larger than the Grand Canyon and more than a mile deeper than the height of Mt. Everest.  

Mr. Cameron said this about his journey:

"Most people know me as a filmmaker, but the idea of ocean and exploration has always been the stronger driver in my life. This is the culmination of a lifelong drive, having first heard about it in the 1960s." Only two other people have ever been to the deepest part of the world, they traveled there in 1960 but only stayed for 20 minutes and could not see anything. 

Mr. Cameron said this about the two activities (filmmaking and ocean exploration) he spends most of his time on:

"Hopefully I can do the two in parallel. Going to be turning my attention to Avatar 2 & 3 shortly. A lot of people who saw Avatar saw connections to the oceans. Everything I've seen underwater goes into my imagination."

Here's the key for me: James Cameron would love to spend every free moment of the rest of his life exploring the ocean if he could. But his greatest, biggest dreams require FUEL to make them possible. The same is true for us. Not many people can spend every waking moment doing whatever they want to do. Most of us aren't Richie Rich having inherited enough money to allow us to live whatever life we can imagine all the time. Mr. Cameron's movies FUEL his biggest dreams. Not just his movies, but the fact that they are the most successful movies in history. He clearly pours himself into something that is not his #1 passion in part so that he can pursue his #1 passion. In addition, he has found ways to combine the work that FUELs his passion with what he loves most -- in making Titanic, Mr. Cameron personally took more than 30 trips to the wreckage. This, in part, prepared him for what was likely the greatest day of his life yesterday. 

Dream big. Find a vehicle that can FUEL that dream. Then pour your passion and all your excellence into FUELing that dream.

Click Here to Learn About James Cameron's Voyage

You can do what you can do, and that's it.

This week's thought: you can do what you can do, and that's it.

Let it go. Whatever I'm holding onto, I have to let it go. Put down the "tug-of-war rope" and walk away. Here's the deal as I pursue my dream: any relationship, any conversation, any experience, any partnership, any moment even can sidetrack me from the road I need to be on to accomplish the mission. What can happen is that I get into a possible business partnership or I have an experience or dialogue with a potential customer and I stay there -- I pick up the tug-of-war rope. As we chase our dreams, I don't think we need to be fighting battles. As crazy as this might sound, I think the pursuit of the dream should be easy going -- working hard, but not hard work. When we are doing something we believe in and inviting people into that experience, then we just need a simple answer from them -- are you interested? Would you like to join me? Would you like to go there together? If the answer is "no", then move on. The right people who believe in you and your dream will come along. The wrong people aren't right for you, and the best thing you can do is let go of the rope and keep walking forward.

You can do what you can do, and that's it. Look up, look forward, let go of the rope, and enjoy the pursuit.

Forgive

Forgive. 

What would my life look like if every single rope I've tied around myself wasn't there? How would I feel if I took out my rope-cutting scissors and snapped every one of them off? 

We've done a lot of driving as a family -- driven across the U.S.A (east to west) three times. Whenever we go over a big bridge all five of us try to hold our breath until we get to the other side. As soon as the front wheels get to the end of the bridge, we all let out a big, loud breath and immediately suck in a big gush of air. It feels so good to be breathing again. 

It's almost impossible to pursue our dreams when we have ropes tied around our legs and arms, or when we are holding our breath. Choose to breathe. Choose to live free. Forgive. 

I just finished "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand (she also wrote "Seabiscuit"). It is a life-changing, true story. The main character, Louie Zamperini, had only one thing holding him back from pursuing his dreams = his unforgiveness. How could he possibly forgive his guards at the Japanese POW camps? Read the book to find out! But the bottom line is this: GREAT things are ahead of YOU. Throw off anything that hinders you, and pursue your dreams with JOY!

Believe

In a race, the winner isn't named the winner until the end of the race. But by the end of the race, it's too late to start thinking that you are the winner. 

In a beauty pageant, the winner isn't crowned until the end of the pageant. But the contestants cannot wait till the end to start believing that they will be the winner.

In life, we honestly don't know what all we are doing will lead to -- what the outcome will be. How will our kids turn out? How much will we achieve in our careers? How much money will we be able to earn, save, give away? How many lives will we impact and toward what end? How well will we love those closest to us? Some might say that a fair assessment of life cannot be made until the end...but then, that's too late.

It's hard to love well if you don't believe you can love well. It's not fun to climb a mountain if you think it's impossible to reach the summit. Don't leave the port if you have already determined in your head that the waves will capsize the sailboat. In life, just like in a race or a beauty pageant, we do ourselves and those we love and the dreams we hold in our hearts a disservice when we don't believe that we will win, when we don't believe that we are the victors.