Just Because You Know It, Doesn’t Make It Right: How to Paint a Prettier Picture for Your Life and Business

By Kathryn L. Jackson

People do what they were taught, whether it works or not. Jobs, relationships, money, and health are all a reflection of
learned behaviors. Most people follow the path that was laid
out before them.
But what if that path leads to heartache, hopelessness or pure hell. What happens when the “right thing to do” no longer works?
It’s time to paint a prettier picture. This book is simply about deciding to take action. Planning a better life or a successful business is no different than an artist creating a new work of art. You decide how you want it to look. Follow the outline and before you know it, you have created a masterpiece in both your life and business.
The key is to get started. There is no substitute for action. Stepping outside of your comfort zone is scary and not for the faint of heart. It is always shaky ground, because what comes next is an unknown. But the freedom of making your own choice is a lot more exhilarating than the stress of staying in the lines, drawn by someone else.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hybrid Global Publishing
• Release date: Jun 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9781953586070

Book preview

You!

PREFACE

You know there is something more to life. There must be. So, you set out on a journey to find the exciting life you have always pictured. You visualized the life you wanted. You kept thinking positively. You followed all the success formulas from all the motivational speakers. After purchasing tons of books and watching hours of video, all you were left with was an average and ordinary existence and a library full of successful people living YOUR best life.

When you were born, there was so much hope for your future. Your parents believed that you were going to set the world on fire. Your family was so supportive. They told you, you could be anything you wanted to be.

As a child you start dreaming of what you want to be when you grow up. You wanted to be a movie star. You wanted to be an astronaut. You wanted to be president of the United States. As a child, you had big dreams of a big life. Now 20 years later, it’s okay that you are not a movie star. You have your own YouTube channel. You no longer believe that you can be an astronaut, so you watch Star Wars movies on the weekend. You did not get to be president of the United States, but you are president of the local PTA. What happened to your dreams? At what point did you decide to compromise? And how do you feel about the life that you are currently living? Does it line up with the picture that you had in your mind as a kid?

You went to school and got a good job. You married your best friend and started a family. You went to church and you followed all the rules. Your picture-perfect life could not have been clearer. Now as you look in the mirror you find that the image in your mind does not line up with the reality that is your life.

Most girls picture their wedding day. You imagine meeting Prince Charming, who will love and cherish you and then together live happily ever after. You imagine a wedding day like in the movies. On this day, you get to be a real princess. You spent 15 or 20 years imagining the perfect day and dreaming of a perfect life with the man of your dreams.

When you meet someone and decide to get married, you spend at least a year planning the wedding day. It is at that point that some of the realities become more apparent. The picture on the canvas of your mind is vastly different than the realities before you. See in the fantasies as a child money was not an issue. In fact, money did not figure into the equation at all. You just imagined a fabulous wedding day. You never imagined that you would not be able to afford it.

Now the time has come, and you realize that weddings cost a lot of money. The designer dress you love is too expensive. You must trim the guest list, so that you can afford to pay for the reception. You must pay for wedding invitations, gifts for the bridal party, rehearsal dinner, the church, the tux, the flowers. You have so many expenses and none of them includes the cost of the honeymoon. The fabulous wedding day you envisioned, has you starting your new life in debt. That is not the picture you had in mind.

You work a job every day. Shouldn’t you have enough money to pay for the things that you want? Not only are you employed but your espoused is also gainfully employed. So why do you have to compromise on the wedding day of your dreams? You have planned it for 15 years. Even before you knew who would be standing beside you. But now you are here, and you cannot afford it.

Unfortunately, this is only a glimpse into the reality that is now your life. See when you were a kid you dreamed of living in a huge house. You watched TV shows like the Brady Bunch, and you imagine that to be your family. The real problem is that you have done everything that you know how to do but everything you have done is not enough. You work hard every single day which is what you were taught. You went to school and you got a degree. You started at the bottom and worked your way to the top. As you look at the future of your current job, there is no apparent way for you to acquire wealth.

Jobs only pay you enough money to keep you coming back week after week. It is not designed for you to become wealthy. It really makes no sense that people keep following this same plan expecting a different result. They told you that if you go to school and get a job and work hard that you would have financial independence. Well you are 20 years into your career and that has yet to happen. Are you willing to give it another 20 years? Most people do. You go to work, day in day out believing that you are going to get ahead one day. Then at some point, without fanfare, you settle for mediocrity.

You no longer are trying to amass wealth and live an abundant life. You have now settled for getting to retirement. So that when you get to retirement you can take a percentage of what you used to make to continue living in the world where inflation is constant. Somehow you have been taught that that is the way to get through life. You still believe that one day you will get ahead and live a life of abundance. The interesting thing is that this fantasy has been peddled generation after generation after generation. It is like believing in Santa Claus. When you are young it is OK. You look forward to Christmas where you are going to get all the presents from this unknown guy who is just generous and giving out presents to kids all over the world. That is equivalent to what we are taught on how to get ahead in America through the system that is in place. Through education and through working a job. You never took the time to really examine the game plan that was given to you. See this game plan has been passed down from generation to generation and no one has questioned it.

Deep down in your soul you know that you should be doing better. You know that you can make an impact on the world. You know that your life should be greater. What you do not know is how to change it. Because no one has taught you how. See, you do what you do because of what you were taught even, if it no longer serves you.

The question is