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Intrepid Innovations Networking Club Newsletter –June 2009 – Page 1
Welcome to the Intrepid Networking Club Newsletter!
 In this newsletter, you'll find:
Introductory Letter 
Page 1
“Don’t Let Your Dreams Die Quietly” by Dan Kenitz
Page 2
“Having a Tough Time Choosing a Major?” by Aaron Robertson
Page 5
Odds and Ends
Page 6June Introductory Letter
Well, summer’s officially here, and in southeastern Wisconsin, that’s no small feat. With our mild summer climate, we know that as soon as we get comfortable with the higher temperaturesand cool summer breezes, autumn and winter will be rolling around the corner.How’s that for an optimistic sentiment?Don’t worry; it’s just a reminder to do the most you can with these warm summer months.Are you getting the most you can get out of your Intrepid Networking club membership? Makesure to keep reading these newsletters every month to find out the latest benefits you can takeadvantage of.We’re still offering some great discounts on real-world services that you won’t find anywhereelse, so keep up with us on Facebook or simply shoot us an e-mail atinfo@boldlyinnovative.com.Today’s issue focuses on a common theme: knowing what your path in life is and having thecourage to follow it. Whether this applies to choosing your major or making some large off-campus decisions in your life, remember that it’s not always easy to choose to pursue your dreams, but that it will lead to the greatest amount of inner satisfaction. Don’t feel boxed in theexpectations other people have for you; focus on your own standards.In order to accomplish this, it’s important to connect with other people who feel the same way.That’s why Intrepid Networking Club is here, keeping college grads and businesspeopleconnected and talking. And if you have any questions or comments for us, feel free to get intouch.
Take care,The Intrepid Team: Aaron, Dan, and Phil
 
Intrepid Innovations Networking Club Newsletter –June 2009 – Page 2
Don’t Let Your Dreams Die Quietly
 
by Dan Kenitz, Director of Content Development
There’s a good chance that no one ever came up to you and said, “Listen, I have a job offer for you, but it gives you an interesting choice. Either you can settle for what works
in the short term,
 or you can keep pursuing your dreams in life. You have to choose one or the other.”Life is a little more complicated than that. If we have a dream – whether it relates to career goals,our relationships, our health, or our finances – we usually tell ourselves that it’s okay if the dreamgets put on hold for a little while. We don’t like to see ourselves in
either/or
situations because it puts us in the difficult position of having to admit that we’re actually putting our dreams on hold.The truth is that dreams die quietly. Most of us, deep down, understand where we’re headed inlife. We know if more action is needed in order to get us to where we want to be. But werationalize that
one day, I’ll work really hard and make it all happen.
 
One day, I’ll start.
The problem is that time ticks on and our “dream muscles,” without being exercised, begin to atrophy.We slowly make one compromise, and another, until we finally wake up one day and realize thatthe dream died slowly and quietly over a period of many years or even decades.
 
Your path to success makes itself apparent. You know when you’re going after what you want inlife. And here’s how you can tell: even when you fail, or make a mistake, or fall on your face,
 you’ll often still feel excited about your future if you’re on the path you truly want.
Even if you’re met with defeat in the short-term, your “predictions” for the future become more powerful:
hey, I might be failing now, but I know eventually I’ll figure this out!
It’s time to examine the quality of your own predictions. Are your procrastinating the path youfeel best pursuing, or are you putting off the journey entirely? Do you talk about your dreams inthe future tense, or is it time to start talking about them in the present tense?There are three levels of pursuing your dreams. Let’s take a look at each of them.
•
 
The doer
: The doer is the person who may not have achieved all of their goals (or maybe they even have!) but that doesn’t matter, because they’re working on achievingthem on a regular basis. They know where they’re headed in life because they’re walkingon the path
as we speak.
They’ve stopped putting of the imagined pain of failure or rejection and have instead realized that it’s impossible to put everything off. The futureis never the future, it’s just an updated version of 
now
. So they just decide to do it now!
•
 
The dreamer
. This is the person who isn’t pursuing their dreams honestly or on aregular basis, and may even be putting off their dreams. They might have a millionexcuses, many of which even seem valid, but when you prod them to actually pursuetheir goals in life, ultimately that’s all they have – excuses. “I can’t leave my job.” “Ihave a good thing going right now.” “Sure, I want that, but I’m not sure I’d evensucceed.” “I’ll do that some day – but today it would be too painful.” The benefit to being a dreamer is that the dreamer at least acknowledges the possibility of success atsome point down the line.
•
 
The compromiser
. This is the person that has consciously or unconsciously given up ontheir dreams, and doesn’t believe that pursuing them will have any value for them. Theymight want something different from their current lot in life, but they don’t really havethe passion or the self-belief to actually envision anything different. They might have
 
Intrepid Innovations Networking Club Newsletter –June 2009 – Page 3
 been a dreamer or a doer in the past, but when it comes to today, they’ve accepted their role in civilization and are willing to stay there.Which one describes you?Dreams die quietly. We don’t make a large effort to go from a doer to a dreamer, or from adreamer to a compromiser.Instead, we let life dictate our circumstances. We let go of our own standards for ourselves whilesomething else swoops in and says what we can and can’t do.Even if you dreamed of being an astronaut when you were a kid, a lifetime of compromising willonly instill you with disempowering beliefs. When you accepted your father telling you that youcould never make it to a big school, your beliefs took a hit. When you didn’t speak up for yourself when someone suggested a course of action for you, your beliefs took a hit. Your unconscious mind said
well, I haven’t seen myself stand up for my own dreams, so I must not bevery successful at all. I’ve never seen myself stand up for my own dreams, so I must be a follower and a compromiser. My behavior and attitudes must need to reflect that.
Poof – it’s another self-fulfilling prophecy!If dreams die quietly, then success is loud. You know it’s happening. Even if you’re not amillionaire yet, you know what it feels like to leave the comfort zone: starting your own businesscan feel scary at first. Signing up for an online dating service might feel “weird” if you’ve never  put yourself out there before. That’s success: it’s loud, messy, and feels “wrong” in the “right”kind of way.You know what’s comfortable? The couch is comfortable. If you could succeed without ever having to leave your couch, success would be comfortable too. But it’s not. Attaining your dreams means you’ll face a process of carving out a role for yourself. Making life fit the mold
 you
deem appropriate, not fitting the mold life has carved out for you.As you try to improve your identity and become more successful in business, relationships, or inyour physical fitness, you might even notice that some of your friends don’t treat you the sameway anymore. “You’re trying too hard.” “You don’t need to do all of this.” “You’re not a[insert your dream here]. You’re one of us.”Your work life might suffer, especially if you never liked your job much in the first place. Youmight find yourself looking at other jobs that fit your new lifestyle, or creating your own job.Life will resist at first, but your own inner satisfaction should guide you through the noise thatoften accompanies a new challenge. Listen intently to your deepest emotions; they’re there for areason. If you notice a lot of people resisting your changes but you still
 feel 
like a better person,there’s a good chance that you’re simply going through an adapting period. Let your friends or co-workers get used to it.Don’t compromise.Don’t ever forget that dreams only die quietly and that success is a loud, stinky, messy, happy,scary, thrilling, beautiful thing. Dreams don’t die all at once because you can always revivethem, revisit your aspirations and make the decision today to start on your path – but when you
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