Jonathan Nation

About jon

Entrepreneur, Coach, Adviser & Stay At Home Dad. Interests include sailing, photography, music, games, art, and success.

Reflect, Thank; Dream, Plan

November 1, 2021 by jon

At this point, in 2021, my wife and I have been married for over 18 years. She is a medical professional & professor with a Doctorate. I advise leaders who impact thousands directly and millions indirectly. We have multiple business ventures. We produce a lot and help a ton of people.  We have elementary aged children, and would not have lasted together if it were not for a few of our practices we do monthly and annually. 

R,T;D,P started early in our marriage. Some years we are great, some years we sorta do it, and a few we have missed. Looking back – the years we do great are great. The years we miss … we would rather not talk about. 

This year, 2021, a book came out that dramatically adjusted this process for us, so much so an update from the 2011 post was called for. 

It’s not about goals. 

It’s not about achievements.
It’s definitely NOT about controlling your significant other.

Rather – it’s about building the best life you can together, and being able to look back and see how far you have come … be grateful. 

Reflect

The first step is to look back on the past year, or longer, and see where you have come from. What all has happened?

Focus on how you have grown in the past year & moments you would like to happen again. 

When you have gone through this previously, really focus on what gains you made over the past year. Where were you a year ago? How have you grown since then? 

Thank

Be intentional about this part. Have fun with it, and set up whatever rituals or practices work for you. 

We center this around the Thanksgiving holiday in the USA because it just fits.

Not only do I celebrate as a family but also reach out to the people who I am grateful for moments over the past year and beyond. 

This is a time of remembering life is a solo journey yet the people around us are a key in how high we can fly. 

Dream

This moves from the past & present side to the future. Dreaming what the next year or longer should be. Currently I use my model based on relationships for viewing your world, so:

– Yourself – physical, mental, spiritual, capabilities

– Family – the special relationships around you

– Business – if you are an employee – you are a business hiring out your services to your employer. If you own or desire to own one, then you have a slightly different relationship

– Society – other people who are not in your business, or family.

What are the dreams for those four big areas? What about the subparts? Can you paint a picture that you are aiming for?

This time is brainstorming – go wild. Look at different time horizons too:
25 years out

3 years out

In the next 12 months. 

What headings do you want to aim for? Big Hairy Audacious Goals?
Where do you want to travel to?
What do you want to learn?

Legacy you want to leave?

Causes you want to support? 


Who would you be thrilled to be a hero to?

Plan

Setting the vision for the next while so you can see how you grow, gain, and make giving thanks easier next year. 

Where the Dreaming time was brainstorming and coming up with options; planning is deciding what you are willing to commit to, eliminating options, and defining how you measure success. 

We have 3 things we put down on paper. The best years, this is three giant stickynotes and a number of posted notes. 

3+ years out
1 year out
Today

We need that long term where we are heading – you can choose 25 years or 3 (or have both). For this we settled on 3 because it’s about 1,000 days. We don’t need to redo the 3+ years out every year, it gives us some guidance and helps us have a staring point. 

The one year is the main focus. We can even break it down into seasons. 

When you know where you are heading in the short term and longer term, decide on what needs to grow. 

If your intention is to have 40 paid off rental houses in 25 years, it’s easy to record how many rental houses you have today, and set an intention of having a specific number in one year. 

If your intention is to be able to run a 5k in under 10 minutes, make sure you record what rate you can run a 5k in today. Then when you get a 5k under 10 minutes you record the date … and if you don’t reach that 10 min goal, you still look and celebrate your improvement next year. 

That is the key:
Being able to see where you were, and how you are better today. 

If you only record goals you will hit most and growth will happen, yet you are setting yourself up for disappointment, not joy. 

Choose joy. 

Moving forward

A while ago I was talking with one of my good friends. I mentioned – yeah, we need to finish our family budget for this month … it’s only the 14th of the month. He was shocked because his family practice was if they did not have their family budget done before the month began they just forgot about it and moved on. 

It does not matter if it’s November or April or another month. Today is the day you can give thanks, start recording what you are grateful for, and set your intention with where you are today. 



Write now, send a message to someone and tell them something you are grateful for in the past year & your commitment to go through this process starting on the upcoming first of the week or month. People have an easier time continuing something that they start on a first. 

Record what you are grateful for, and put on your calendar to set intentions for now until the end of the year on the next first. 

Filed Under: core, fb, featured, Giving Thanks, life, systems, text Tagged With: dream, Jonathan Nation, plan, reflect, rtdp, thanksgiving

Strengthening Connections in a Distant World.

March 17, 2021 by jon

Avocado Time ...

Avocado Time is the best … 
Face to face where you are all present, ideally in person, present, yet maybe online. 

Moments you want to hold onto and savor forever. 

When separated by space, time or a piece of cloth … there are still ways to strengthen connection and it boils down to evaluating each option on: 

  • Quality
  • Quantity
  • Recency
  • An uncontrollable

Quality Improvements

Imagine water running through a pipe. 
Water is life 
Water is love
The amount of water represents the amount, or quality, of the connection. 

Face to face is the best possible, with touching comfort, and other little options simply letting more flow between those involved.

Video calls, in real time, is the next best. 
Audio calls, still in real time might be better or slightly below a recorded video message. No matter if we are talking using Marco Polo, Glide, or Signal. 

Recordings always have an advantage of being able to re-receive them.

Ever seen in a movie where a character will watch a loved one’s video over and over, or call a number just to hear that special voice? 

A picture is worth 1,000 words; more when you care deeply about the photographer for a great image allows you to see through their eyes … what was she seeing, where was she, what does she value? 

Simple text can mean the world to someone who is longing for connection. 

Thank you … or an improved thank you. 

So satisfying yet the impact depends on the other points of evaluation. 

Quantity

The pure amount of connection. 

When his love language is Quality Time, he does desire a high quantity of high quality time. 
If the quality must be lowered … quantity can be raised. 

Instead of a weekly zoom call; maybe a regular morning or evening video message. 

That would still be a slight quality degradation yet the overall quantity is similar. 

Recency

Would you rather hear from a good friend yesterday or last month? 

If you have a wonderful evening with a great friend three months ago … is the connection deeper or wetter than if that same friend sends you a text just now? 

Relationships take work like it takes additional water to keep something wet sitting out in the sun. 

Who do you care about, wish you have a better connection with? 

Reach out, today & regularly. 

Not out of obligation, yet out of a desire to be closer. 

Ask Questions. 
Share the mundane. 
The beauty around you.
Thank him for being him. 
Praise her for how she made your life better. 

The Uncontrollable

With all that is within your control, there is one thing that is 100% not. 

The other person. 

More important, the story that the other person is telling himself about the relationship, connection, and the future of us. 

He might have a demon he has carried all his life around abandonment or worthiness. 
She might have scars from a past where she was treated poorly, the relationship ended bad and her world crumbled. 

He might be a perfectionist and hold you to an unstated standard. 

She might not know what her desired future is. 

Past, pain & expectations lead to a story she tells herself. 

Owning it & making it known can turn a hindrance in a relationship into a strength. Vulnerability is a key to deeper connections. 

Doing a monthly budget is statistically one of the best habits that decreases the odds of a divorce.

Why?

It’s not about control. 
When you do a monthly budget you face your world as it is today. 

Then you set a vision for 30 days out … when both agree you have common expectations, vision, and a story to tell. 

Yet just saying your desires or expectations once might not be enough. 

Actions speak louder than words. 

I listen to what you do more than what you say, or txt. 

Silence is the hardest response to deal with.

Yet without the words the pattern, frequency & level of water can be lacking. Your pattern of action impacts the story he tells himself, just as his actions impacts your story you tell yourself, but you are still in control of the stories you tell yourself.

There are seasons for all relationships. 

Just like a venture, project or podcast. 

It’s good to have extra checkpoints in addition to the intentional day to day activities. 

Connections are connections. 

Some are well worth fighting for – others are worth letting go – you have a role to play, yet the other person must do her part too. 

The closest to you, the deepest & most foundational relationships have the biggest impact on the achievements you will achieve, 
The fun you have, 
The places you will go, and
The ripples you will cause as you sail through life. 

Please reach out to each person who came to mind as a good example, share this, and thank them for being awesome because the world needs stronger connections … especially … in a distant world. 

Filed Under: core Tagged With: connections, distance, love, remote

Improving Thank You

March 3, 2021 by jon

Thank You.
You are welcome.

A common way to express your gratitude for someone or something, followed by an acknowledgement. 

Yet, it can be better. 

When possible, and there are times of overwhelming gratitude that all a person can say is “thank you” … you can improve your goal of connection and praise for the other person with this one tip: 

Add “for …” 

  • Thank you for sharing. 
  • Thank you for being here.
  • Thank you for listening.
  • Thank you for caring. 
  • Thank you for taking the time to go the extra mile. 
  • Thank you for your investment in my winning.
  • Thank you for doing what you do so naturally, it really helps me because I struggle with this. 

That little bit more increases the connection between yourself and the person you are grateful for. 

It also increases the odds of that person being clear on what you would like them to do more of. 


If you want to take it one step even further, add how you intend to move forward in a better way because of what the person said or did:

“Thank you for sharing that, I am going to add it to my Happy File, to pull out when I need some encouragement.”

So, with that said … 

Thank you for reading, sharing, and adding what you are grateful for when you express your thanksgiving because it amplifies what you are already grateful for.

Filed Under: core, life, mine, text Tagged With: communication, for, love, Thank You, Thank you for

The Farmer & His Apple Tree

August 13, 2020 by jon

The story goes …. 

One morning a door to door salesman was walking down an old country road. 

At the end of a road was a farmhouse. 

Around the yard and at the edge of the road  was a board fence. 

In the middle of the front yard was a huge apple tree. 

Full of red ripe apples. 

Blown over from a storm the night before. 

The farmer was leaning against the fence looking at the tree. 

The salesman walk up to the fence, and look at the damage for a little while. 

Finally the salesman says:

“Man, that is terrible. Such a beautiful tree & all those apples. What are you gonna do?” 

The farmer sorta looks over at him, then back at his apple tree and simply replies:

“Pick the fruit & burn the rest”

Filed Under: fb, text

Sunrise Options

May 20, 2020 by jon

The countdown is complete
Today is the day
Another cycle around the earth in this strange way

Birds are singing 
Owls are loud

The sun has not yet broken through the clouds

The past has passed
Today is a new day

How shall I measure success when I reach this moment a year away? 

Differences unfelt, yet real all the same

Birds sing of hope with this brand new day
Light grows brighter, owl flys away. 

Will I be intentional or just ride this ship today

Day by day I have this choice 
Hide in the darkness or step into the light

Own who I am, strengths and flaws 
Or aim for the shadows, darkness and fog

This spaceship is spinning faster than I realize

It will be back her in a blink of an eye 

Now is the chance
Take it or not

Build, experiment & train … or focus on snot

A day will never be the same
A question that is not

Will I be the same or will I build with what I got? 

100% safe is impossible
Unless you aim for nothing at all

Dream, again, decide and take the first step
Follow it up again and again

When the earth reaches the same spot you will have progressed with those you have brought

Celebrate now
Celebrate then
The path forward starts in your head
Accelerated with each friend

Few might get you, that is ok

Your path is different and special today. 

You choose intentional, joy & light
A life sweet as honey and ready for a fight

Obstacles are either hindrances or challenges to help you prepare
Difference is in between your ears

Countdown restarts
Another year today 

How similar will you be from the start of today? 

Aim Higher
Aim Bigger


Start with your room
Your bed
Your plate, eat better food
Move your body, weights or dance

Write down your dreams and share your plans. 

In a year, then two, five and ten. 

The earth might be in the same position yet you will never be again. 

~Jonathan Nation 
2020-05-20

Filed Under: featured, life, mine Tagged With: joy, life, path, sunrise

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I am always looking to me more leaders, linchpins, and problem solvers. We need more people to take on a business owner mindset, to seek out pains and problems then find ways to provide value to others.

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~Jonathan Nation

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