It is easy to be hoodwinked into thinking that the reason we fixate on the royals – and especially their weddings – is because of their wealth, stature and beauty.
As one of the few that watch the nightly news I am surprised how many important news “anchors” are in London for the mere fact of covering the latest wedding. Perhaps with 750,000,000 viewers having watched the wedding of Prince Charles of Wales and Lady Diana of Spencer I should not be surprised by the corporate media’s push for presence. But what is our fascination for wanting them there? Why is it apparently “official” that we Americans have more press on site than the Brits (yes, I watch Access Hollywood too)?
I hope you haven’t stopped reading because of my admission of viewership frivolity. Notice the photo I chose to grace this posting. It is hardly the prettiest picture of the soon to be royal couple; though there are thousands I could have chosen from. I chose a photograph that highlighted the symbolism of Great Britain and the prince and soon-to-be princess that are now at her center. As pretty as they are, Prince William Mountbatten-Windsor of Wales and Kate Middleton of Bucklbury are merely the latest players in our admiration of purposeful grandeur. We too want to be purposeful and we want that purpose to be grand.
Notice I didn’t use the word “delusion” as in “…delusions of purposeful grandeur.” I am after all married to an admirer of the royals and would like to remain that way. More to the point, I believe that our ideas around living a life that means something to someone other than ourselves is something to be admired. It is part of what distinguishes us humans from the instinct-only drive of those we call animals. As we admire those whom we assume to have purpose, like the royals, now is a good time to assess our own level of intentional purposefulness. Especially before like Christmas, the wedding day passes and we regress to our regularly scheduled lives.
There are a few ways to both asses and invigorate our level of purposefulness (no, I didn’t make up that word):
- Start tracking your time
- Wonder aloud what you would like to be known for
- When you’ve settled on #2, write it down and read it aloud daily
The "Royal Invitation"
There is no life more fascinating than yours. Oh sure, when you were married or in the future when your wedding is held, it isn’t likely that the Queen will be sending the invitations -but what of it?! The biographies in the bookstores are littered with people I have either never heard of or never thought much about; still, their life stories are fascinating. I don’t need to use my imagination about your life story to guess that it has been filled with ups and downs, love and lost love, success and embarrassing failure. So has mine.
The difference between your ability to admire your own life versus others, lies merely in the appreciation of it.
Much like the Financial Planner begs us to do with our money, it is difficult to know how we are spending our time until we begin tracking it. What do you do all day? What do you do during each day that you are doing those things? And what happens during those days?
Because they are your days, it is unlikely that you pay them as much reverence as someone else might. No doubt “the royals” feel the same about their lives yet you admire them for being known…for being royal. What would you like to be known for? Whatever it is, you can be. Everyone from Tony Robbins to Napoleon Hill says that it is not the resources we lack to be who want to be, it is our lack of resourcefulness. To that end, whatever it is you want to be or be known for, write it down and read it aloud twice a day (those two guys recommend that also). It is amazing what happens when you definitely identify what you want to do. I had such an experience last week when I found myself speaking at the $400 billion, largest company in the world, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. headquartered in beautiful Bentonville, Arkansas. Over the holidays I had committed to sharing the message of Patriotic Development™ more often and it seems the universe rallied around me to support that endeavor.
Do you have the will to be who you want to be, living a life worthy of admiration? I think you do and I can’t wait to see your biography next time I head off to the bookstore. In the mean time, enjoy the wedding 
Jason Howell is the author of AMERICA: Still the Land of Opportunity, Always a Home for the Brave.” For more insights on success in business and in life, pick up your copy now available on AMAZON.com. Also, be on the lookout for his new book on Patriotic Development™ coming out this Fall (2011).
