Walt Hampton, J.D.

Creating the Work & Life You LOVE

This Is Not A Job

by Walt | Apr 13, 2023 | Success | 0 Comments

I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news. But being a social media influencer is not a job.

Even though a recent U.S. survey found 54% of 13- to 38-year-olds want to become social media influencers; even though you can buy a bunch of books about it; and even though you can enroll in a program to “become” one; it’s NOT a job!

That’s not to say that you can’t be an influencer. Or won’t be one. Likely you will be an influencer (in one way or another). And hopefully a good one!

But being an influencer is the result of the work you do in the world, who you are in the world; how you are in the world.

You influence by your words and example.

Ann and I had the privilege of studying with the great Les Brown, a legend in the public speaking arena. People often refer to him as a “motivational speaker.” But at lunch one day, Les said, “No one hires a motivational speaker. Organizations hire speakers to help solve a problem that their members are experiencing. Or, said a different way, organizations hire speakers to help motivate their audience so they can become more effective with respect to a certain certain challenge or opportunity. Les, himself, in his early work, motivated sales professionals to be better sales people.

Just being “motivational” is insufficient.

Motivate to do what?

Being an influencer is insufficient.

Influence others to do what?

To influence, one must possess hard-won experience, understanding, and wisdom.

Compassion, empathy and a servant’s heart are helpful ingredients.

And a willingness to share.

In the work we do helping entrepreneurs and professionals to harness their knowledge so that they can create businesses that will set them free, we focus deeply on problem and solution: Solve an urgent problem for another person or entity and you will be successful.

Do it enough times, you might even become an influencer.

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We can help you create an extraordinary business that will give you impact and help you influence others, and make you a ton of money in the process. Email me and we’ll set up a discovery call: [email protected]

And visit us at: https://summit-success.com/

Lost With No Clear Way

by Walt | Apr 6, 2023 | Success | 0 Comments

In the middle of the journey of our life, I found myself in a dark wood with no clear way out.

So begins Dante’s Inferno.

Lost in the woods. No clear way out.

That was certainly true for me.

And it’s true for many of the really powerful professionals with whom I have the privilege of working.

They’ve done all the right things. Made the right moves. They have all of the outward hallmarks of success… nice incomes… nice cars… nice homes…

And yet, many still want more…

But… not more stuff.

More meaning.

It’s like the lights have gone out for them.

They feel as if they’ve lost the way…

In Dante’s dark wood…

With no clear way out.

Happily there is a way out…

I found it… and now, having helped so many others find the way, I know that there’s a path.

But if you are feeling lost… especially now in these wearisome times…I want you to know that you’re not alone.

It actually goes back to your Psychology 101… back to Maslow’s pyramid… Maslow’s hierarchy of meaning…

After you have all of your basic needs met… after you have enough stuff… at the top of that pyramid, you crave meaning and purpose.

I do.

You do.

We all do.

Brendon Burchard suggests that there will be three questions that you ask at the end of your life: Did I live… really live? Did I love? Did I matter?

You want to make an impact.

You want your life to matter.

You want to leave a mark – your mark – on the world.

I was thinking about this the other day as I was reading a piece in The New York Times… about an archeological find… out in the White Sands National Park… footprints in the sand… from more than 12,000 years ago….

12,000 years.

You want to leave footprints.

And the question of course, is: how to do that?

How can you make that impact, leave that mark?

Simply asking the question sets you on the path.
Being fully you, fully self-expressed, really matters.
Being completely present… showing up completely in your own life… and being completely present to others… really matters.
Spending time with those you love really matters.
Being grateful matters.
Seeking out solitude and space to connect with your spirit and divine grace; and to steep in the beauty and the grandeur of our world. These simple acts really matter.
Finding the work that allows you to share your gifts and talents with the world really, really matters.

Howard Thurman writes, “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

And from place, that place of aliveness, love with all your heart.

Mother Teresa said, “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.

Those footprints in the sand? There were actually two sets…. Every now and then, a small set of prints… a child… a mom or dad putting the toddler down… walking side by side.

12,000 years ago.

Make footprints.

If you’re feeling lost, you’ll find yourself again.

I’m sure of it.

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I help mid-career professionals pivot into the work and the life they really love. If you’re feeling a bit lost and want a sounding board, let’s connect for a discovery call. Email me: [email protected].

And, stop by for a visit at: https://summit-success.com/

The Beavers Are Busy

by Walt | Mar 30, 2023 | Success | 0 Comments

Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. — Isaiah 43:19

I’ve noticed the beavers are at work.

It seems that spring came in the northern hemisphere last week.

Winter was a great season for us. But, for many, winter means hardship. Storms and brutal cold; grey skies, short days and long, dark nights; shoveling snow, icy roads and heating bills that seem to never end.

Things tend to lay dormant in the winter. Many in the animal kingdom hide out and hibernate.

In the people kingdom too.

Then the spring comes. New life, new energy, new hope. A reprieve; a new beginning.

And so it is in all our lives.

What we do in the springtime of our lives matters. How we till the soil; what we plant; where we plant it; how much we care.

What we build; how we build it.

The summer will surely come. And then the harvest time. It always does.

What we reap at harvest time will depend on these very moments in our lives: What we sow in the here and now will dictate the seasons yet to come.

In our businesses and careers;
In our networks and relationships;
In our marriages and partnerships and families;
In our health and fitness;
In our financial lives;
In the service of others.

It’s easy to be complacent in the spring, what with the weight of winter finally lifted off. But spring is a time for focus; the time to re-charge, to re-double our efforts. The seeds that we plant, the investments that we make, the care and the attention that we bring to the spring in our lives will yield a thousand fold in the soft glow of our autumn time.

Of course, the seasons of our lives don’t always correspond with Mother Nature. I surely have experienced some desperate winters in the midst of spring; and brutal heat that killed the seeds long after harvest time had come.

But the spring of the year is a good time to remind ourselves of the never-ending rhythm of things; that even in the darkest of nights, the light will return. And that when it does, we have an opportunity to begin again; to create anew; to make our lives the masterpieces they’ve always been meant to be.

Jim Rohn said, “You cannot change the seasons; but you can change yourself.”

In every moment – in every spring – we get to choose.

Wherever you are, whatever the season for you, let’s begin again.

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When you’re ready to begin, let’s connect. Email me: [email protected]

When You Come To The End Of The Road

by Walt | Mar 23, 2023 | Success | 0 Comments

I came to the end of the road, and stopped.

Because it was the end of the road.

I could go no further.

The North Atlantic ocean sprawled in from of me.

Waves crashing.

The sea spray an ominous green, carried on a bitter winter wind.

The retreat center on the spit.

Warm and inviting.

Cozy and quiet.

And still.

I came to be still. Because I’d come to the end of the road, and could go no further.

A necessary action. (Or inaction.) Stopping.

If you’re anything like me, you’re busy. You’ve got a lot going on.

Responsibilities. Obligations.

Jobs. Bills to pay. People to care for.

The slipstream (vortex?) of life.

The problem (coaches ought to say “challenge”) for me is that I love my work; I love the people I’m privileged to serve, and love all the things that I get to play at: running, climbing, adventuring.

Life is an action sport for me.

A lot of doing. A paucity of being.

Oh sure, I have my morning routines. My journal practice, meditation, reflective reading.

It all sounds good (sane?) until those practices themselves dissolve into the slipstream.

Then unwittingly they become still more doing.

Until I get to the end of that road.

Before the pandemic, I’d schedule regular days away at a retreat house. (A favorite the Weston Priory.)

I fell out that rhythm of things, to my detriment.

Until this month. I reclaimed that practice.

A day. Away. Away from the office; away from the house; away from the Zoom room; away from the emails, text messages, notifications and alerts; away from the din of the interweb, and the siren call of social.

When I teach meditation, I often use one of those holiday snow globes as a metaphor to describe what happens when you meditate: Life shakes up the globe; and when you sit in meditation, the flakes begin to settle.

A retreat day (a day of recollection or reflection) allows everything to settle.

You’re able to renew your clarity and focus; reconnect with your heart; and reclaim that deepest part of you.

The divine within you that calls you in the stillness.

Give yourself a day.

Be still; and know.

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I can help you find the time for you. Let’s connect. Email me: [email protected]

Be This Owl

by Walt | Mar 16, 2023 | Success | 0 Comments

He’s captured their hearts; grabbed their attentions; and piqued their imaginations.

Millions are following him.

Why?

Because Flaco broke free.

Flaco. The Owl. Who lived in the Central Park Zoo.

Until, a vandal cut a hole in the wire mesh of his enclosure.

And out Flaco flew.

There was a great outpour of consternation at first.

Flaco looked pretty scared and tentative.

He had a hard time with the whole flying thing.

Because after all, he’d lived in a tiny cage nearly all of his life.

He was fat, and out of shape.

And didn’t have any clue how to find food.

People worried that New York wouldn’t be kind to this wayward bird; that Flaco would get lost or hurt or die of starvation.

But within two weeks, Flaco got strong.

He flies quite well now; like an owl!

And appears quite confident; indeed, dare I say, happy.

Because Flaco in free.

And isn’t that what you want?

To break free of the drudgery, the grind, the mundane, the run-of-the-mill.

To get out from underneath the constant hustle, the debt, the hermetically sealed office, the deluge of social media, the non-stop onslaught of text messages, notifications and alerts.

To become unencumbered of responsibilities; unfettered of the expectations of others.

Unchained.

Uncaged.

Free.

Finally free.

Is that a pipe dream?

A thing that only owls get to do?

I say not!

Oh sure, you’ve got responsibilities.

A job. A family. Groceries. A house or apartment. Bills to pay.

I get it.

I was a single dad who raised three boys on his own, for a dozen years, while managing a law firm and endeavoring to keep my shit together.

But you can take small steps toward freedom;

Carving out oases of time for yourself;
Keeping yourself healthy and well;
Avoiding the siren call of more stuff;
Eschewing credit card debt;
Taking long weekends; and mini-vacations.

And, the most important of all: create work that gives you a great life.

Way too often, I see people try to cram life into the cracks and crevices of 60 hour work weeks. Which is to say, too many people live just to work. I say, build the work – craft it mindfully and intentionally – so that it is the vehicle for your amazing life.

I say: Be Flaco.

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Being Flaco can be tough. Often it necessitates someone who can help you cut that wire mesh that holds you captive. I’ve got some great shears. Let’s talk. Email me: [email protected]

And stop by for a visit at: https://summit-success.com/