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Among the various real-life anecdotes interspersed among the laws and corollaries of the SAL theory, you will find detailed inclusions of my own SAL story. In coming chapters I expose intricate particulars of my greatest fears, weaknesses, inadequacies, shortcomings, and failings. I will also share the successes that followed—made possible by a combination of SAL and Serendipity. From the highs and lows of my adventures with romance to the devastating symptoms of OCD; from the peaks and valleys of my career path to the specific action steps I took to earn Existential Growth, I lay bear my life’s rocky, yet rewarding, journey.

My decision to incorporate a narrative approach in teaching Self-Action Leadership is rooted in the reality that stories have incredible power to teach and inspire. The broad appeal of stories is the primary reason we read books, go to movies and plays, listen to music, and view art. This appeal is often strengthened when we find out the story is factual, not fictional. Real-life stories help us to better understand the differences we share as human beings. More importantly, they illuminate our many similarities, which ultimately outnumber our differences. Whatever differences may set us apart, I believe you and I are ultimately more alike than we are different. Consider, for example, three of our fundamental similarities:

We are both human beings.
We both have faced, or will face, significant difficulties in our lives.
We both have to earn whatever level of Existential Growth we attain.

Despite these and other commonalities we all share as human beings, no two self-action leaders walk a carbon-copied pathway. Moreover, each human being experiences a measure of naturally allotted and self-inflicted suffering. In consideration of this reality, we would do well to avoid comparing our own struggles with the struggles of others. This is because, as Victor Frankl—a Nazi concentration camp survivor—points out, all suffering is relative.

A man’s suffering is similar to the behavior of gas. If a certain quantity of gas is pumped into an empty chamber, it will fill the chamber completely and evenly, no matter how big the chamber. Thus suffering completely fills the human soul and conscious mind, no matter whether the suffering is great or little. Therefore the 'size' of human suffering is absolutely relative. [1]

In light of this astute observation, I encourage we withhold judging each other’s life journeys and challenges. Instead, I invite you to focus on how the universal principles contained in the SAL theory and model can help us all, no matter how different our pathways or problems may be.

In the end, no matter who you are, or what challenges you face, it is YOU—and only you—that will decide who, or what, will claim the victory over your life. Others can help and encourage, but they cannot live your life for you, nor can Serendipity alone carry the day. In the eloquent words of Ella Wheeler Wilcox:

There is room in the halls of pleasure
For a long and lordly train,
But one by one we must all file on
Through the narrow aisles of pain. [2]

I AM NO DR. PHIL

This book differs from other self-help books in the sense that I am not an expert at helping other people solve their problems, nor do I wish to promote myself as such. I am no Dr. Phil!

My expertise lies in helping myself solve my own problems. My goal in writing this book, therefore, is to share my experiences and insights in helping myself in order to provide some ideas that might help YOU to better help yourself solve your own problems.

In the presentation of my story, I avoid comparing and contrasting my challenges with yours or anyone else’s. Everybody’s challenges are individual and unique. Comparing and contrasting challenges for the sake of figuring out who has a harder lot doesn’t really accomplish much beyond embellishing your own pity party. Moreover, Frankl’s insight into the relativity of suffering further suggests that comparisons are ultimately a fruitless endeavor. Instead, I will focus on how all of us can better bear up underneath the individual burdens we each must bear, or perhaps how we can relinquish them entirely to emerge on the other side stronger, more compassionate, and wiser individuals than we were before.

No matter how different my journey may be from yours, I invite you to mine the forthcoming anecdotes for whatever insight you can gain into your own life’s story and journey. In the process, I hope you will more fully discover the enormous freedom and sovereignty you possess over your long-term destiny through your capacity to freely choose your thoughts, speech, and actions.

Know this the every soul is free,
To choose his life, and what he’ll be.
– Anonymous

FOOTSTEPS & SCULPTING

In the opening chapter of his famous novel, A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens wrote: “A wonderful fact to reflect upon, [is] that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.” In this world, I can never perfectly understand the totality of your existence and experiences, nor can you perfectly understand mine. I am confident, however, that by sharing our respective experiences, we can gain insights into each other’s journeys that can mutually benefit everyone who hears them. This wisdom can empower us to better understand and appreciate the mysterious lives of each other as we attempt to solve—at least in part—the extraordinary mysteries of our own.

Perhaps sharing intimate details from my own life's story might, in some small way, aid you in your own quest for self-understanding and self-improvement. Perhaps by observing the footprints of my own treacherous pathway through life, you might draw strength to press forward in your own unique and challenging journey. In the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;—
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again. [3]

In sharing these words of Longfellow, I do not wish in any way to immodestly insinuate that I am a great man. I do, however, desire earnestly that my footprints, however flawed, might, in some small way, prove helpful to you along the pathways of your own life’s journey.

When I reflect on the impact that Self-Action Leadership has had on my life, my heart echoes the inspiring and hopeful words of Thoreau:

I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor. It is something to be able to paint a picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look, which morally we can do. To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts. [4]

For me, the greatest liberty and opportunity in life is the chance I have to consciously sculpt my own life over time through intentional choice. It is the only truly inalienable liberty any of us possesses. It gives us power over our lives and brings enormous satisfaction, excitement, achievement, and most importantly—HOPE.

I hope this book helps you to more fully exercise this liberty, and in the process, to develop a deeper, greater, and more animated hope and freedom for your own future. I further hope that you may one day come to behold what the “Sculptor Boy” beheld in George Washington Doane’s immortal poem, Life Sculpture.

Chisel in hand stood a sculptor boy
With his marble block before him,
And his eyes lit up with a smile of joy,
As an angel-dream passed o’er him.
He carved the dream on that shapeless stone,
With many a sharp incision;
With heaven’s own light the sculpture shone,—
He’d caught that angel-vision.
Children of life are we, as we stand
With our lives uncarved before us,
Waiting the hour when, at God’s command,
Our life-dream shall pass o’er us.
If we carve it then on the yielding stone,
With many a sharp incision,
Its heavenly beauty shall be our own,—
Our lives, that angel-vision. [5]

[1] Victor Frankl. Man’s Search for Meaning. 2006. Beacon Press. Boston, MA. Page 44.
[2] Wilcox, E.W. in Cook, R.J. (1958/1997) One Hundred and One Famous Poems. Contemporary Books. Lincolnwood (Chicago), Illinois. Page 72.
[3] Longfellow, H. W. (1912). From A Psalsm of Life in The Poetical Works of Longfellow. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Page 3.
[4] Thoreau, H.D. (2001). Walden and Other Writings. MetroBooks. New York, NY. Pages 74-75.
[5] Doane, G.W. (1920). Life Sculpture. In R.J. Cook, Ed., One-Hundred and one Famous Poems: With a Prose Supplement. (Google Books version). Chicago, IL: The Cable Company. Page 136.

Chapter 1:
A Theory of Existential Space Travel

“We do not go to space because it is easy, we do it because it is hard.”
– President John F. Kennedy
(1917-1963)

THE VALUE OF A GOOD THEORY

Dr. Clayton M. Christensen is a professor at the Harvard Business School, and one of the world’s foremost thinkers on business management and innovation. As a theorist, Dr. Christensen argues persuasively for the usefulness of theory to inform all kinds of decision-making processes.

A good theory doesn’t change its mind: it doesn’t apply only to some companies or people, and not to others. It is a general statement of what causes what, and why. … You don’t want to have to go through multiple marriages to learn how to be a good spouse. Or wait until your last child has grown to master parenthood. This is why theory can be so valuable: it can explain what will happen, even before you experience it. … Without theory, we’re at sea without a sextant. If we can’t see beyond what’s close by, we’re relying on chance—on the currents of life—to guide us. Good theory helps people steer to good decisions—not just in business, but in life, too. [1]

The American author and lecturer, Marianne Williamson, once pointed out that, “Americans are not that big on philosophy” (aka: theory), but that "we're very big on action … once we understand the reason for it.” [2] A clear understanding of the SAL theory (philosophy) will positively impact your application of the SAL model (application) to come.

The Self-Action Leadership theory is presented as 12 postulated laws with accompanying corollaries. BOOK the SECOND contains these laws and corollaries. Interspersed amongst them, I share stories of real life self-action leaders who have earned significant successes by learning, internalizing, and applying the principles.

Let’s begin with the definitions of three key terms: postulate, law, and corollary. [3]

POSTULATE: To suggest or assume the existence, fact, or truth of (something) as a basis for reasoning, discussion, or belief.

LAW: A generalization based on a fact or event perceived to be recurrent. [4]

COROLLARY: A proposition that follows from (and is often appended to) one already proved.

The SAL theory is meant to be carefully considered and studied deeply, rather than merely read. For leaders and teachers presenting the material in training and classroom settings, each law and corollary can serve as an individual topic for instruction and discussion. The 'meat' of this theory utilizes a series of metaphors that compares an individual self-action leader—YOU—to a spaceship or shuttle on its journey up through the Earth’s atmospheric layers to the gravity-free zone of Outer Space.

I have always been inspired by the leadership of President John F. Kennedy and others who chose to make Space exploration a high national priority for our Country. This leadership demonstrated tremendous vision, courage, and foresight. The benefits of this productive ambition have been many and varied. For example, many scientific and technological breakthroughs that have benefitted us here at home have been a by-product of the technological advances developed through the Space program. Furthermore, the era of Space exploration has inspired countless people to reach higher in their own educations, careers, and lives. The positive influence of outstanding astronauts, astronomers, rocket scientists, and mechanical engineers on American and global society cannot always be quantified, but should never be underestimated.

I live in the Houston, Texas area. I recently had a chance to visit NASA’s Mission Control Center located in the Southeastern corner of metro Houston. As I walked around the Saturn V rocket, and stood behind glass to behold the original Mission Control—as it appeared when Neil Armstrong and his colleagues first set foot on the moon in 1969—my spirit was subdued. I know of few other things that better personify the greatness of the American spirit than the highly intelligent, skilled, and dedicated men and women of NASA, and related private companies, who, quite literally, shoot for the stars. It is in their honor—and the leaders who made their work possible—that we dedicate the Self-Action Leadership theory.

Some hold the belief that Space exploration should not be a high priority in our national consciousness because it may divert our attention away from the many problems we face here at home. At Freedom Focused, we disagree. We hold that there are few more beneficial endeavors to life on Earth than good-faith endeavors to explore that which lies beyond its surface. Besides the enormous technological advancements derived from Space study and exploration, few things elevate collective ambition and progress more than a society seeing its best and brightest undertake tasks that seem impossibly difficult. Such endeavors inspire nearly everyone to greater heights in each person’s individual sphere of education, exploration, and influence.

One of my wife’s former college roommates at Georgia Tech is now an aeronautical engineer. She lives in Los Angeles, California, and works for Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX, a private enterpirse that embraces the value of Space study and exploration. We are proud of you Sarah! We hope many other girls and boys will study hard in school, nurture their ambition to explore the Final Frontier, and then follow in Sarah’s footsteps to pursue similar careers, that our nation may once again lead the world in the vital field of Space study and exploration.

Astronauts from the United States first landed on the moon a decade before I was born. I believe this achievement was a catalyst in the unprecedented prosperity and production that followed in the following three decades, and that I have enjoyed throughout my life. Space exploration is one of the many things that have made the United States of America an exceptional nation. Far-sighted wisdom demands we continue our exploration of Space because of our troubles at home, not curtail our ambitions in Space in order to solve them.

Just as brave astronauts have courageously explored what lies beyond our Planet Home for the past 60 years, I hope that YOU will choose to explore the outer limits of your own potential by studying and then applying the principles contained in the Self-Action Leadership theory. Just as there is no greater astronomical ambition than to explore the Final Frontier, there is no greater existential ambition than to aim for Self-Transcendence and beyond. In the famous words of Buzz Lightyear: Let us then begin our journey – a journey of Existential Growth -- that can take you “To infinity, and beyond!”

[1] Christensen, C. M., Allworth, J., & Dillon, K. (2012). How Will You Measure Your Life? HarperCollins: New York, NY, page 12, 14, & 17.
[2] Williamson, M. (1992). A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of a Course in Miracles. New York, NY: HarperPerennial. Page xix.
[3] These 3 definitions come from the New Oxford American Dictionary (electronic version).
[4] There are multiple definitions of the word 'law.' This definition most closely aligns with the intended meaning of the word as it applies to the 'Laws of Self-Action Leadership.'

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