This is the song I end my workouts with and I wanted to share it with all of you. No matter what, remember, celebrate you!
What song is your “theme” song?
*Article image courtesy of Alison H.
You Get Used to It
March 5, 2014 By
Photo Courtesy of Sinchen Lin.
It has been said many times that you become like those who are around you and to choose your friends wisely. The problem we have as people is that we usually don’t realize that those around us have changed us so much until we have been there a while. If you want to own a business but you are hanging out with people who enjoy not working you will very likely wake up one morning and realize you haven’t worked on your business for quite some time.
Iyanla Vanzant once said “Your eyes will adjust to the level of deficiency present.” She was referring to how gradually your eyes change and compensate for each other and that is why it takes so long for you to notice that you need glasses. Once day you realize that you aren’t seeing quite as well as you once were. This line was used by her to demonstrate that we do the same thing with the people we hang around with and how we change as people because of it.
This isn’t to say not to be friends with those who are different from you. Even those who don’t want nearly the same things in life can be great friends and supporters. Just remember, if you want to be a pilot you need to spend time hanging out with pilots. They are the ones that can help you soar to your dreams.
A Different Valentine
February 12, 2014 By
Photo Courtesy of Matt Harris.
Valentine’s Day is Friday in the US. Instead of the candy or flowers why not do something extraordinary?
I’m not going to give you any hints but think about what you can do for your significant other. What can you do that is out of the box? What can you do that will make that day then one your talking about when you are a 110? “Remember that one Valentine’s Day” your other half will turn to you and say.
Go out on a limb this week and be memorable.
A Real Paper Letter?
February 5, 2014 By
Photo Courtesy of Dr. Stephen Dann
Real paper? Yep, it still exists. Send some of it out!
In the world today we have so much electronic communication. Texts, e-mails, social media, and, yes, blogs. Due to all of this written communication is getting less and less. Even celebration cards are going digital.
The digital world has certainly changed our lives. Because of this you can change someone’s day by going back to 10 years ago – write a letter or card by hand and mail it. I try to do this a few times per month to various people thanking them for something or just saying hi.
Writing the card only takes a few moments. It can create a huge impact in a person’s day because they probably haven’t gotten anything like that in quite some time. It is such a rarity for most people that you become the stand out and are remembered as the person who did this.
Another reason for this is after applying and interviewing for a job. Send a card thanking them for the opportunity to apply for the position. Simple and easy – the goal is for them to see your name. Then, after you have an interview, send a thank you card to the interviewer for giving you some of their time. Again, simple and easy to keep your name in the mix.
The written word is still incredibly strong. Choose one person today that you can send a card or letter to and see how it changes their day!
The Ten Dollar Question
January 29, 2014 By
Photo Courtesy of Dave Dugdale.
Last week I asked the question”If someone walked up to you and handed you $10 with the stipulation you had to make someone’s life better with it what could you do?”
The inspiration came from Chris Guillebeau who wrote “The $100 Startup” which talks about starting a business for a hundred dollars or less. I was interested in what people could do with ten dollars to change someone’s life. Ten bucks seems like a small amount of money to make a big change but I wanted to make people think deeper.
Why think deeper? Because many people will do for others what they will not do for themselves. You might go buy a burger from a drive thru for someone who is hungry but would consider that splurging if you did it yourself. I wanted to make people think about how they could make a difference in someone’s life with $10 so you could maybe see how you could change your own life or circumstances with the same amount of money.
Fortunes have been made on little startup money. Lives have been changed with a kind word and a helping hand with no money at all. Take ten dollars and in the next week go and make a difference with it in your life. Start a business, make a donation, or start that retirement account you have been meaning to get to. Make a commitment to go out and do something with a ten dollar bill during the next seven days!
What Could You Do With $10?
January 22, 2014 By
Photo Courtesy of Eli Christman
That is a pretty straightforward question. If someone walked up to you and handed you $10 with the stipulation you had to make someone’s life better with it what could you do? What would you do?
Make Someone Smile
December 4, 2013 By
Photo courtesy of Laurie.
Make someone smile today. Go out into the world and make at least one person smile everyday.
If work with customers on a regular basis I want to plus the challenge. Make one person smile in your outside work interactions. Make one person smile that is a coworker. And, lastly, try to make every customer you come in contact with smile.
Let us all light up the world today with smiles!
Resolve to Quit
October 23, 2013 By
It may seem early to you that I am already talking about resolutions. However, right now is the time you should be setting your goals for at least the first three months of 2014 and have a pretty good idea of what your major goals are for the year.
That being said I think it is time a lot of people give up a big habit. It isn’t smoking or dieting. I believe it is time to give up the resolutions and move on to creating breakthroughs and goals. You have heard but it’s time to really start setting goals and letting the resolutions fall by the wayside.
Studies show that 88% of people drop their resolutions by the end of January. These big plans we have for ourselves and they only survive for four weeks? I think there is something going on here. That something is no real plan or target.
In order to succeed at something you have to have a specific measurable goal to shoot for. Zig Ziglar said it best when he talked about the best archer in the world can’t hit the target blind folded. In order to accomplish anything you have to know exactly what you are trying to accomplish. Once you get this anything is truly possible!
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If you haven’t heard yet you can check out my new program called New Year New Me! It is to help out with turning your resolutions into goals and doing it with liked minded people through teleseminars, one on one coaching, and group mastermind calls. For more information you can visit http://www.newyearnew.me
Why Do You Go To Work?
October 9, 2013 By
Photo Courtesy of Marcin Wichary.
There are very few things that you have to do in life. You have to eat, drink, and take care of yourself in order to survive but other than that there really isn’t anything that you have to do.
With that, why do you go to work? Is it because you enjoy it or because you need a pay check? If the answer is because you need a check I think you might need to look a little deeper as to the reason you go.
I am an advocate of doing work that you love. There really needs to be more of a reason to go to work than just to trade your time for money. You should enjoy what you do and find deeper meaning in going to work. If you don’t then it may be time to look for another line of work.
“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michaelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.” Martin Luther King Jr.
You have the choice to go to a job you hate tomorrow or to look for another job. If you do not enjoy your current employment then come up with an exit plan over the next 60 days. Put in applications, make phone calls and once you secure a job doing something you find meaning put in your notice and go do good work that matters to you.
Question: What is something that gives your current job meaning?
Cast Your Life
September 11, 2013 By
Image Courtesy of M4D Group
Think about your life as a television show for a moment. Season after season (year after year) you are the director, producer, editor, and caterer. You are the star and you get to control just about every aspect of what goes on. But would you like to know what your most powerful job is? You get to work in casting and decide who gets a spot in your show!
You get to choose the people who play a lead roll and those that are the extras in the background. Each role is your decision. You are the boss when it comes to casting and this task should never be given to anyone else. While characters will be introduced by other people you have full authority whether to give them a spot.
Choose carefully who you add into your life show. Audition those that you are considering for your cast and think about the role they will play carefully. Be gentle with those that you won’t be allowing to return next season and always keep open the possibility of a return spot if circumstances change.
And remember, give an award winning performance that you are proud of! Your life show is your legacy for other generations!
Teach Your Kids The Tech Way
July 31, 2013 By
I am going to deviate a little from my normal blog and write about a service I ran across a couple of weeks ago. It is call My Job Chart and is a great tool for teaching your kids to spend, save, and give in a technical but easy way. Did I mention it is also free?
My Job Chart was developed to allow the parent to assign various chores and along with that a point value. In their system one point equals one cent towards a reward such as something from the Amazon store (you can set whatever items you want to allow them to save points for), a trip to the movies, eating out, game time and a lot more. You can also choose custom rewards and how many points it takes to receive that reward.
The system also allows the child to select how much money they want to save and can click a button to have you add that amount to their savings account once they earned it.
Lastly, it allows your child to give. You can setup whatever charities you want your child to be able to save their money to be donated to and they choose how much goes the charity. Once they have earned enough points they click a button and you receive an e-mail asking you to donate the amount on behalf of the child.
We use this with our daughter and it is great. She is excited to see her points go up everyday after she does her jobs rather than waiting for the once a week payday that we were doing. She is able to be in control of her points (*cough* money) and learn how to save for a goal, give to those less fortunate, and save for a rainy day.
There is a lot more as far as customization and options you can do. It is 100% free so give it a try. After you do swing by here and let me know what you think!
Serve Them Well
July 24, 2013 By
Photo Credit: Found Animals Foundation
Serve others. If you have read self development materials for any length of time you have heard this and for good reason – it is the root to many good things in life.
“You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.” Zig Ziglar
When you serve other people you are able to release stress and get out of a depressed state. You can do many things to serve: be in the military, donate time to a non-profit, or even creating a product that fills a need and makes you rich is still an example of serving others because you have filled a need and brought it to the marketplace.
Recently our car was totaled in an accident when a vehicle hit ours from behind (nobody was seriously injured). Of course, it is can be a nerve racking experience. Questions are up in the air and you are lost if you have never been through one before on what to do about getting your vehicle repaired, rental cars, etc. However, it was made a lot easier thanks to my agent who took the time to explain things to me and the other person’s insurance adjuster who was there to serve us. They should both feel good about what they do and the help they provide in moments like they deal with.
The more people you serve the better your life and those around you can be. A service animal serves the need of their owner but the owner, in turn, provides for the needs of the animal. Along with that service comes a bonding friendship between the two. This can be achieved with people as well as animals.
Figure out a way to serve many and go do that. Impact millions and make life better for everyone around.
“Service to many leads to greatness-great respect, great satisfaction.” Jim Rohn
Don’t Let It Overwhelm You
July 3, 2013 By
Photo Courtesy of Walt Stoneburner
Sometimes life can bury you under trials and tribulations (or Tribbles if you are a Trekker). You feel like there is no direction you can turn where a problem doesn’t sit in the middle of your path. What can you do when this happens? Redraw your map.
When a lot of stuff is going on first thing you need to do is breathe. Sit back and relax. This might be a real good time to learn how to meditate if you don’t already do it. You have to do this first and get a grip on your emotions. Until this happens you can’t go any further.
Once you have gotten a bit relaxed determine what your elephant is. What is the biggest out of all the problems? Once you have decided what this is for you write down what you can do today to take steps to getting that elephant back into the wild. While you may not be able to fix this problem on day one taking at least a small step will allow you a bit more breathing room. Each time you get closer to eliminating it the better you will feel.
Once you have done at least one step towards the big problem do the same thing with all of the smaller ones. Anything you can eliminate today, such as calling and making that apology you know you need to offer, making that doctor’s appointment for the physical you dread, or making a big financial decision, just go ahead and get it over with. You will feel better, have one less thing that you need to deal with, and can focus your energy on everything else.
Now that you have taken some steps make it a point to make small steps each day until the overwhelming feeling is gone. If you really put some effort forward it shouldn’t take long for you to have a bit more wiggle room. And while this is a simplistic process that will not work for everyone, most people can eliminate quite a bit by doing this. Give it a shot and see how it works for you.
Alive In Your Mind
June 5, 2013 By
Main Street USA at Magic Kingdom
Why do some people make changes in their lives while others don’t? One of the key reasons is those that change can see the change in their mind before it happens. If there is something you want you have to see that you already have it in your imagination.
Want to own a restaurant? See it in your mind so vividly that you can see the menu and smell the food. See the layout of your place and the guests sitting in at their table enjoying their food. Revisit this in your mind over and over to where it becomes so real for you that you. When you do this opportunities show up and when you grab them your dreams become realities.
One of the most notable imaginations of the 1900s was Walt Disney. In the book “How to Be Like Walt” Pat Williams says this on page 84:
Though Walt envisioned Walt Disney World in Florida, he died before it was built. On opening day in 1971, almost five years after his death, someone commented to Mike Vance, creative director of Walt Disney Studios,”Isn’t it to bad Walt Disney didn’t live to see this?”
“He did see it,” Vance replied simply. “That’s why it’s here.”
See yourself where you want to be and take the journey as life allows you. It may take some time but you can get there.
I Dare You
May 22, 2013 By
Professional wrestler Jason Kincaid on top of the world doing a handstand overlooking a deep gorge. Photo by Will Trotter. Used with permission.
This week I wanted to share a small piece from the book “I Dare You” by William H. Danforth. I hope it means something to you.
I loved it the first time I heard these lines. We were digging through a bin of books and came across a small leather-bound red one with “I Dare You” in silver ink on the cover. I dare you, after reading this, to go do amazing things for other people.
I DARE YOU!
IT IS DIFFICULT to put a challenge on paper. I would rather look you straight in the eye and say, “I dare you!” In my mind that’s exactly what I am doing. I am on one side of a table. You are on the other. I am looking across and saying “I dare you!”
I Dare You, young man, you who come from a home of poverty—I dare you to have the qualities of a Lincoln.
I Dare You, heir of wealth and proud ancestry, with your generations of worthy stock, your traditions of leadership—I dare you to achieve something that will make the future point to you with even more pride than the present is pointing to those who have gone before you.
I Dare You, young mother, to make your life a masterpiece upon which that little family of yours can build. Strong women bring forth strong men.
I Dare You. boys and girls, to make life obey you, not you it. It is only a shallow dare to do the foolish things. I dare you to do the uplifting, courageous things.
I Dare You, young executive, to shoulder more responsibility joyously, to launch out into the deep, to build magnificently.
I Dare You, young author, to win the Nobel prize.
I Dare You, young researcher, to become a Microbe Hunter.
I Dare You, boy on the farm, to become a Master Farmer—A Hunger Fighter.
I Dare You, man of affairs, to have a “Magnificent Obsession.”
I Dare You, Grandfather, with your roots deep in the soil and your head above the crowd, catching the rays of the sun, to plan a daring program to crown the years of your life.
I Dare You, who think life is humdrum, to become involved. I dare you who are weak to be strong; you who are dull to be sparkling; you who are slaves to be kings.
I Dare You, whoever you are, to share with others the fruits of your daring. Catch a passion for helping others and a richer life will come back to you!
William H Danforth
