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PUSH-TO-START

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Push-to-Start

What a great invention! The push-to-start button in my car makes it sexier, and it was one of the primary sources of joy when I drove out of the dealership with my new car in April 2011. I was excited! You may be used to it now, but the push-to-start button is an amazing technology. With a simple push of a button, I can empower my car to fulfill its purpose, which is to move me from point A to point B. When the engine is turned off, the car won’t go anywhere…I might as well get out and start walking. When I turn on the engine, the car is alive and ready to go anywhere I want to take it.

Now imagine that you had a push-to-start button and that you could empower yourself to fulfill your life purpose with a simple push. How would you feel about that? Believe it or not, there are several similarities between human beings and cars. God created men, and every time we have a problem or are going through some difficulties in life, we go back to God through prayers to look for answers and get back on our feet. Men create cars, and when they break down, they are taken back to their creators to get fixed. In addition, we get sick every now and then and go to the doctor or the hospital. Every now and then our cars need an oil change or a tune-up. As time goes by, we get older and so do cars. If we do not sleep, we will eventually run out of fuel. When we pursue our dreams and try to get through life, things and people get in our way. Similarly, as a car gets to its destination, it goes through red lights and traffic. Our lives may end unexpectedly, and accidents happen on the road where cars are totaled.

I believe that the push-to-start button is yet another similarity between human beings and cars. Our push-to-start button is the choice we can make at any time to start living up to our fullest potential. People choose different ways to push that button. I like to start my day by saying “Thank you Lord for another day and thank you for helping me be the best version of myself today,” and this allows me to go right into a prayer session during which I try to travel to that place inside where my push-to-start button is located. Others choose to meditate. No matter what you do, the first most important thing is to realize that it’s not as easy as a simple push; it’s a process, and until you master that process you will not always succeed. The second most important thing is to make sure that you allow your true self to connect with the Energy of the universe. Just like an automotive battery is used to supply electronic energy to power the car’s engine, you have to allow the Energy of the universe to flow into your system.

If you wake up in the morning and go through your daily activities without making the decision to enjoy every moment and without consciously working on the accomplishment of some goals, you are not living up to your full potential; you are existing. You are letting other people run your life; they are in the driver’s seat and you are a passenger. When you get in your car, the first thing you most likely do is start the engine, because you already know that the car can’t take you to your destination if you don’t do so. And you don’t open the door and sit in the passenger seat and expect the car to take you to your destination, right? You sit in the driver’s seat. When you wake up in the morning, the best time to push your start button is within the next five seconds in order for you to constantly be in the driver’s seat during the day, because it only takes a few seconds for you to get lost in your thoughts about your financial problems, a disturbing event that occurred the day before, something that has been bothering you, an annoying task at work, or people in your life who have been acting like vultures feeding off your failure.

Fulfilling your life purpose starts with you. Push that button every single day and start living the life you were meant to live. Strangers, coworkers, friends, and family members will get in your way; some people want you to do well as long as you are not doing better than them, and others will misunderstand you because your thoughts, your mindset, and your vision are different. Eventually things will shift in your favor and God will place the right people in your path. He will remove all distractions at the right time: His time combined with your willingness to accept it. Life will happen no matter what. You can’t stop time, but you can choose to stop letting life happen to you and start making big things happen in your life.

OC

Find Answers In The Heart

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My name is Olivier Coquillo. I am very excited about my recent decision to blog. I am confident that it will be an enjoyable experience. I welcome any feedback.
I moved to California (USA) in January 2013, and I started going to a nearby catholic church on Sundays. On March 10th, right after the 9am mass, I learned that there was a Lenten mission from Monday to Wednesday at the church. The Lenten mission consisted of a one-hour session each day where Father Franklin would talk about FAITH: Find Answers In The Heart.
What I learned in 6 Words
Father Franklin challenged us each day to describe what we learned in 6 words. Here’s how I describe what I learned after all three sessions: Vision, Action, Transformation, Faith, Courage, Success.
A vision with no action is a dream. This is nothing new. We have heard this so many times before. However, it is so powerful, specially when you apply it to your daily living. How many of us have a “bucket list”? I do. I want to build a huge research center where several scientists continue to find a cure to different diseases and other professionals are taking all the necessary steps to ensure a free distribution of the cure to people in need. I want to work on a few infrastructure projects in Haiti. I want to be in a movie with Denzel Washington. I want to go to Italy and speak Italian and wear a suit better than Jay-Z (this guy just knows how to wear a suit!). I want to play tennis with Sloane Stephens. I want to travel the world and eat all kinds of food. I have a long and interesting bucket list, and if you would like to share yours with me, please email me. I would love to know more about you. How many of us have a list of things we want to experience this year? We all do, right? I want to get closer to God. I want to see my brother and my new sister-in-law saying “I do” with a big smile on their face. I want to help my coworkers succeed in their roles. I want to write a text where I share my thoughts with high school students, college students, and young professionals. I want to play tennis at least twice a week. I want to learn Spanish. Again, I have a long list and if you would like to share your goals for this year, email me. Now how many of us are taking actions towards achieving our goals? I may think I am, but it’s not enough. There’s room for major improvement.
A vision with no action is a dream. There’s nothing wrong with dreaming. We all have dreams, and we all dream about different things. According to what I learned during that Lenten mission, one of the main reasons why all of us do not live our dreams is because we fail to take actions that can make our dreams become reality. Of course it’s not that simple; taking actions does not necessarily lead to achievements. But if I want to get closer to God, I have to start getting to know Him better. If I want to go to my brother’s wedding, I have to start planning the trip. If I want to help my coworkers succeed in their roles, I have to start developing my own skills and succeed in my own role. If I want to write that text and share my thoughts with others, I have to … well … start writing! If I want to play tennis at least twice a week, I have to start playing once a week (I am so failing on this one…had a great start though). If I want to learn how to speak Spanish, I have to start practicing and use different resources. I have the push-to-start button in my car, and my car won’t go anywhere until I push that button, right? So just like my car, I have to push that start button if I want to get to my destination.
And Yes it’s true; not all of us live up to our dreams, but MANY of us do. This is why I have been spending a lot of time questioning, observing, reading and watching videos about other people to know more about them and to learn how they were able to match their actions with their visions. I strongly believe in inspiration from others and I love success stories. There are great men and women in this world who are considered to be inspiring ambassadors, and they don’t have to be strangers or celebrities. In the past few months, some of my female friends to whom I’ve been a complete a*** have taught me so much about me and have inspired me to become the best version of myself. I’m not there yet though; I’m still learning, and I have so much more to learn. I have to take more actions and find more inspiration to fuel these actions. While seeking inspiration, I’m discovering my weaknesses and my strengths, and I’m slowly matching my actions with my goals for this year.
When your actions start to be in line with your vision, you go through many and different processes of transformation. Based on my personal experience, I believe that transformations help you on three main levels. They help you identify your weaknesses and your strengths. They also help you feel good about yourself, because your transformations are results of your actions; your self-confidence increases and you naturally want to achieve more. Then you realize that to achieve great things for yourself or for others, you must take one or several leaps of faith.One of the most common transformations that occur when you start taking actions is the one that takes you from the I-know-all-about-this person to the I-have-so-much-to-learn-about-this person. Sometimes I feel like the most ignorant person on earth, and I’m glad! I’m glad because, when this happens, it means that I was still living in my own world but now I’m starting to walk towards reality land. The more I walk towards reality land, the more I understand what it really takes to achieve a goal: all the different steps, the risks involved, the major players, and more importantly the right attitude – the way to think and feel. Have you ever heard of the saying “change your thoughts, change your life”? Well whoever said this first is a hero. I have been finding this statement to be so true in my personal life on many occasions, and it makes me smile. I smile because I’m proud of myself, proud of the person I’m becoming, proud of the fact that I decided to take some actions. I become more confident, and I naturally want to achieve more, but just when I thought I figured it all out, I realize that to move forward I have to face a lot of fears and uncertainties – things that I can’t control. Therefore, I start looking for solutions, and I even try to control the things that I can’t control; lol … fool! And sometimes, I hear my heart screaming: “Olivier, Olivier, Olivier…the answers you are looking for are right in here. I’ve been trying to tell you for so long. I even tried to tell you even before you made the decision to take actions.” That moment is the moment when the light bulb turns on in your brain, and the light is so intense that it shines through your heart and dissipates the darkness caused by the outside world. Suddenly, your heart becomes a book of answers that you are able to read because of that light. The answers provided by your heart on how to deal with fears and uncertainties revolve around the necessity to take leaps of faith. I took a leap of faith when I decided to move to California; no family members, no friends, no idea if I would like it, no clue about my success at work, etc. The same goes for my goals this year; they all come with their uncertainties. I chose to get closer to God, but I can’t control how this is going to happen. I may book my flight to my brother’s wedding, but who knows what’s going to happen to me between now and the wedding date? I want to help my coworkers, but I can’t control how they interact with me. I started writing that text to share my thoughts with high school and college students, but I have NO IDEA how they will react…So when I take a leap of faith and pursue my goals, it gives me courage to deal with uncertainties and all other forces that are acting against me.Unfortunately, the light that I mentioned above is not always turned on. I’m still trying to find my switch so I can willingly turn it on and keep it that way, because when the light does not come on, I give in to my fears. I find excuses to quit. I run away like the biggest coward. When that light is on, I am able to find answers in my heart, and everything I do from this point on comes from that sacred place. I don’t always get what I want, even when I do what my heart tells me to do. But the clarity of what I need to do gives me courage (Wangari Maathai): the courage to work hard and work harder when there are no evident results, the courage to step out of my comfort zone and challenge myself to do things differently and things I’ve never done before, the courage to admit my flaws and mistakes, learn from them, and move on, the courage that I need to succeed.OC

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