CHAPTER ELEVEN

Living the Freedom Attitude and the Focus Question

THE FOLLOWING Monday morning, Carol gave herself a focus period. She took the last card Eleanor had given them and followed it to the letter. She first put all her to-dos in a new holding pen, a simple pad of paper. Then she reviewed her business and personal purposes and set her business and personal—with emphasis on the personal— priorities for the day to come. When she totaled the amount of time she guesstimated each priority would take, she was stunned.

“Fourteen hours!” she said out loud. “No wonder I’m frequently frustrated at the end of the day. I just plan too much! I can never get it all done!” She thought of Eleanor’s “be honest in the morning or frustrated in the evening” principle. With difficulty, she cut her priorities down to seven hours, allowing an hour for the unexpected.

That evening she wore a smile as she drove home. She had accomplished her four priorities. She put her own spin on Eleanor’s principle: being honest in the morning brings satisfaction in the evening.

Ray’s biggest opportunity to live his newly acquired freedom attitude came on Tuesday. One of his associates was having trouble in Chicago. The problem was severe enough that it became necessary for Ray to make an unexpected trip there. When things did not go well, he had to spend the night. In the past he would have been very upset, especially because this last-minute trip had resulted in his missing Tammy’s summer league championship softball game. On the flight home, Ray reflected on his new freedom attitude.

I really didn’t want this problem, Ray thought. However, I want an above-average style of living for my family and myself.Solving these types of problems is the NC to my P—the necessary condition to my primary desire—which is an above-average style of living that comes from an above-average income. As I make the freedom insight my freedom attitude, I’m becoming free in every action. He smiled. This new freedom gives me a sense of control.

The following Friday was the beginning of the Independence Day weekend, and Coach had invited Ray and Carol to bring their kids for a good view of the fireworks: his home was on the hill across from the mall. Coach also invited a few of his teenage grandchildren. The young people broke away to picnic high on the hill for an optimal view of the fireworks. The adults opted to stay at the picnic tables with the watermelon.

After the kids were out of earshot, Ray shared with Coach his freedom attitude success. “In the past,” Ray said, “I would have been very upset by not being free to see Tammy’s game. But as I flew home, focusing on the above-average lifestyle I want gave me a real sense of freedom. Life is taking on more meaning, and my individual actions have greater value.”

Carol shared her first experience with guesstimating how much time things would take. “Can you imagine?” she said. “I planned fourteen hours! No wonder my end-of-the-day feeling was regularly to-do list frustration. The holding pen, my priority list, and guesstimating solved that.”

“Tremendous!” Coach, always the cheerleader, smiled proudly.

“But Ray and I still have problems,” Carol quickly added, as if to emphasize that they had not arrived yet. “I need help in changing my priorities during the day. I just can’t anticipate everything when I set my priorities in the morning. How do I deal with the unexpected and still believe I’m free to align every action with what I really want?”

“I have the same problem,” Ray said. “Also, with the freedom insight, I am beginning to see how to align every action with what I really want. But I wonder—am I making every moment count?“

“Great questions,” Coach said. “You are asking a form of the now question, which is what you will learn from Woody and Prue Madson, the next couple you meet.”

Ray replied, “I want to get to the now question soon. I’m eager to discover the MIN Secret, since you said that’s the key that ties all Aligned Thinking together.”

“The next couple you meet will explain the now question and help you discover the MIN Secret,” Coach replied as the first Roman candle shook the ground and lit up the night sky. “You’ll see how it all fits together. Have another piece of watermelon. Let’s watch the fireworks.”

At that moment, multiple bursts of shimmering red, white, and blue exploded across the night sky. Ray put his arm around Carol and gave her a squeeze.

“This year I feel like I might be celebrating freedom in a whole new way,” he said.