Thursday November 26, 2009 By Kevin Morrow

So I hit the freeway early Wednesday Morning headed to Las Vegas. A mini road trip for the thanksgiving holiday. The night before I left I came into the possession of two packages of those tuna and cracker kits. I ate one that same night. I usually eat two of them. Something told me to keep the one for the road trip.

To me it really isn’t a road trip, driving to texas is more of road trip to me, but anyway I was on the road and it was a “trip.” I was in the car with family and we had only a few cd’s. Micheal Jackson’s bad album,Toni Braxton, some type of workout mix, and some others. I really only remember the bad album because that’s what was in the cd player the most.

To me I arrived in Vegas in record time, there was no traffic since we left so early, and we floated all the way there. I exited the freeway on tropicana and ended up waiting forever at the light. I see this homeless gentleman who looks really down and out. People just keep passing him as if he isn’t there. He has a sign in his hand but I couldn’t read what it said.

Without even thinking I look down and see the tuna and cracker package in between myself and the passenger seat. I roll down the window and ask him if he wants something to eat. He looks confused like he doesn’t understand but he walks over to the car and I hand him the package. It’s all I could give him at the moment, but I felt like it was more than he had in a while.

It’s hard for me to imagine that with all the food in Las Vegas at the buffets and such, that this man for whatever reason was not able to eat. It bugged me to think of this, but then I remembered that I did what I could with what I had. I always hear people say “to see a change in the world be the change.” So maybe today I started off in the right direction.

It appears to me that I will be used more in the future as an avenue to help those who need it. I accept that openly.

After that I headed to UNLV where I pretty much fell in love with the Thomas and Mack Center. I can see myself playing in that gym in the near future. For whatever the reason may be. School or whatever, I know the NBA plays there in the summer time. So it’s up to me to believe in myself no matter what the circumstances may appear to be.

I never personally went on a recruiting trip to a college, so as I was at UNLV I decided to take my own tour. They have some really nice facilities. In fact I would most likely spend most of my time in their fitness area. The gyms on the upper level were calling my name.

It was a good day, I met some cool people and returned back home in time to play practice a little basketball at the gym. I just wanted to share that story, not much else to say.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!!!

These are my thoughts and my final broadcast before the Thanksgiving Day Body Blast. It’s gonna ROCK!!

It’s here” http://trainerannette.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/5th-annual-thanksgiving-day-body-blast-is-on/

“I HATE running.”

“I’m not a runner.”

“I can’t run because it hurts.”

“Its borrrrrrrring, I don’t CARE if there’s scenery.”
.
“I think runners got a few screws loose.”

Those are my exact words I’ve used about running.

Negative.

And I built on this negative pretty well too! So much so that I had tricked myself into believing that I could not do it.

Until the day I said “yes.”
.
Yes is such a powerful word.

It doesn’t mean, “I’ll think about it.”

It doesn’t mean, “I’ll check it out and get back to you.”

It doesn’t mean, “Mayyyybe you’ll see me there.”

It means….YES.

The good news is “yes,” once spoken, it puts things in motion.

Period.

So not too long ago one of my good friends sent me a link to do a 1/2 marathon.

My first response was, “Psssssh, she must be crazy.”

But I did not delete the email.

About 3 weeks later I looked at the email again.

I was hesitant but you know what? I knew it was something I was going to do.

That day I said “yes.”

Was I scared? Absolutely.

Was I wondering what the HELL was possessing me to do this crazy thing? Well…..YEAH!

And I knew there was something calling me to do it.

Needless to say, I have been running, training myself for this 1/2 marathon.

“I HATE running” turned into: I can do this, quit yer bitchin and move it. I have arms, legs and a serious heartbeat–and there are people who are paraplegic , some have nolegs, and run marathons, they do Ironmans! WHAT AM I COMPLAINING ABOUT?!
.
“I’m not a runner,” turned into: well, I’m running, right? Hmm, must make me a runner then. Okay, YES, I am a runner.

“I can’t run because it hurts,” turned into: that’s because you ran when you were a 5 ft, 160lb fat saver–and it was hard on your joints, pendeja!

“Its borrrrrrrring, I don’t CARE if there’s scenery,” turned into: sigh, commune with nature, commune with nature, commune with nature. Its here for you, and it wants to bless you.
.
“I think runners got a few screws loose,” turned into: I STILL think there are screws loose, I also think I just have less of them, or maybe more. I’m just stubborn, and stubborn takes me a long way!

So as you can see, I chose to change my mindset about running.

I am now doing it with a different attitude.

Because I said “yes.”

I’m callin you out.

If you’re in town I want to see you at my 5th annual Thanksgiving Day Body Blast!

See it here: http://trainerannette.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/5th-annual-thanksgiving-day-body-blast-is-on/

As of right now I have 66 people pre-registered.

I’m expecting 120 or so!

The majority will register tomorrow before the event…after they wait in line to do so.

They haven’t decided to say “yes” yet.

If they did, they would have called and registered already.

My guess is that they want to wait to the absolute last minute to make a decision to “see how they feel” in the morning.

Oh c’mon-make a decision and say yes!

Bring your butt out and do something that will open the flood gates of freedom–commit.

You can sleep in the afternoon as the food coma settles in!

OLE!!

Yup, skippin around like a brat little kid with ringlets in my hair, a red punch moustache and 2 red balloons tied to my wrist,

Annette!

P.S. You can do it: http://trainerannette.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/5th-annual-thanksgiving-day-body-blast-is-on/

All through our lives we encounter people who want to influence our decisions one way or another. It is our job to determine if their influence is for our benefit or for theirs. I remember a time about ten years ago when I thought that my parent’s only agenda was to ruin my life, and my friends wanted what was best for me. I think that we have all been there before. It was not until just a few years ago that I discovered that I had things backwards. It was my friends who had the negative agenda. My parents just wanted to make sure that I was making decisions that would give me the best opportunity for success.

While I did not understand this very well in my teenage youth, I do have a fair comprehension of this principle as a young adult. I have friends, mentors and coaches now, who truly do have my best interest in mind (in most cases we BOTH benefit from the relationship), and I ignore the people who attempt to use me to accomplish their own personal agenda. The question is how do we determine who has our best interest, and who does not? Which people want to build us up for our own benefit and not tear us down for theirs? In high school it is easy to see what the teenage boy with raging hormones wants with a young girl, or what the kids who smoke are going to ask you to do if you hang out with them. It is not however, always as blatantly obvious with adults. People are more subtle with their intentions. So ask yourself these questions:

-Is this a person of integrity, honesty, punctuality, etc? This might be a difficult thing to determine in an initial encounter, but professionalism speaks volumes for people that I want to associate with.

-Does this person exude success? There are some people who radiate success in their personal lives and in their business lives. You know who they are; it seems like “everything they touch turns to gold”. These people generally have a good knowledge of how to accomplish goals.

-Is this a glass half empty or glass half full type of a person? I don’t like being around pessimists all of the time. I know that there can be strength in seeing the other side of things, but you will not get anywhere if all of your associates are negative about your goals.

-What is this person like in their personal life? Do they have a good family? What do they do in their free time? Generally if a person is not very reputable in there personal life, they will not be a good influence in their professional life.

-Does this person have experience in the field that I am interested in? This is the primary question that I ask myself when taking business advice from anyone. It may seem a little arrogant, but if you don’t have experience in the field I’m interested in, I’m probably not going to take your advice.

These are four questions that I ask when I meet a person, and I always assume that they will ask these questions of me. Most of these questions I use in a business context, but they will work well in a personal context as well. The most important thing to understand of a person is their general outlook on life. I have said it before in my other posts, the type of people that you surround yourself with in the present are those who you become in the future.

-Scott

Whenever I am asked about my favorite holiday, I always say Thanksgiving Day (and no, I do not call it “turkey day”!). There are many reasons for this, not the least of which is that I love to eat. Beyond that, Thanksgiving is a time when we can all be united no matter what our backgrounds or beliefs. It is a holiday marked by the healthiest of all emotions: Gratitude.

I know that there are many people who only look to Thanksgiving as a day to over-eat and watch football. I think these people are the ones to be pitied. They don’t realize what a powerful effect true gratitude can have on their lives.

Jim Rohn once said in an address at a success conference, “Let us be grateful; for gratitude opens the way to the blessings that are in store.” This is a lesson for all who seek success in life, because gratitude is the beginning of positive attitude. And a positive attitude leads to success.

So, in a year marked by so much adversity, what do we have to be grateful for?

Let’s start by listing the things that we have. Starting with your family, friends, and all of your positive relationships, list everything that has contributed to your happiness. Think about all those who helped you in one way or other. If you are a business owner or manager, be thankful for your team. They have contributed to your success.

Be thankful for your customers. Without them, where would you be?

Be thankful for your mentors and coaches. They taught you, guided you, inspired you, pushed you and held you accountable to becoming more than your were. Be especially grateful for those that were tough on you and would not accept any less than your best.

Be thankful for those who challenged you and even the difficult circumstances that you lived though. For it is in adversity that we learn and grow the most.

Be thankful for your business or job that provides for you and your family.

When you start looking around for things to be grateful for, you will see that the list grows continuously. Richard Fehr, a great spiritual leader, once said very simply, “He who can think must give thanks.”

In a recent blog post, Kevin Eikenberry relates that genuine gratitude is the most powerful force for chance and success for leaders in any organization. He describes a simple four-step process for showing gratitude to your team. This carries over to all people in your life:

•    See it – look for reasons to be thankful to your team
•    Say it – they won’t know that you notice what they do unless you tell them
•    Write it – this is much more powerful than verbal thanks and longer lasting
•    Share it – formal recognition is the greatest motivator of all.

Be sure to participate in this great holiday and open the door to success and happiness in the year to come.

So, how are you going to celebrate Thanksgiving? What do you have to be thankful for, and to whom? How will you show your gratitude? Let me know.

“Son just try as hard as you can and no matter what you’ll always be a winner!”

No doubt we’ve all heard that before growing up while doing a variety of things – competing in the Science Fair, singing a solo in the school play, playing your first Little Leauge game. Early on in life its the norm to just try hard and no matter if you win or lose, succeed or fail – you’re still a winner.

The reality is this: based on our life’s experiences (our wins or losses) as we grow older we soon began to judge if what are parents told us is actually true. The KEY factor in this judgment is how we viewed our life’s experiences (wins and losses…especially the losses):

Let’s face it we all have faced losses in the past and we will face them in the future or may be facing them now. To handle these losses is to become a STAR! and to become a STAR! we must think like the S.T.A.R.S. or have the S.T.A.R.S. mindset:

What this means is to battle life’s ups and downs we must think positively 24/7!   Ok, you’re probably saying one of two things right now:

• “Yeah right, easier said than done!” or,
• “Come on be serious, who can think positive ALL of the time?!?!”

Believe me when I say your questions/thoughts are on point!  But here’s the deal – Being a STAR!, the  STAR! of  your life is based on having the MAXIMUM OPTIMISTIC mindset or simply put thinking positively on all of your actions, obstacles, successs, etc you face in life.

Positive thinking is what the S.T.A.R.S. mindset is all about.   It begins with taking those failures you’ve had in life and analyzing them  to see what steps led to that failure or taking those successes and determing what you did right. 

For example, say you’re working to improve you’re conversation skills.   You went to a networking event one evening and just totally bombed when it came to meeting folks.   I mean sweaty palms, boring introductions, stumbling of your words, etc.    You left that event asking yourself what went wrong and will I ever succeed in this?

Like I said before we’ve all been there before, maybe not in this exact same situation but something similar for sure.   By the way if you have never had a failure in life…YOU ROCK!

Seriously though, how do you deal with your failures or negative events that have occurred in your life?   Please think about this for a minute (and leave a comment if you like)?

Your answer is a major step in you developing the S.T.A.R.S. mindset!   In our next post I’ll share some tips on how to turn failures into success and become the STAR! that you truly are.

In a Swedish paper I recently read that somebody had the bad taste to demand that parents should have full responsibility for their children. One specific case that upset them suggested that parents should be held responsible for the cost of damage caused by their children, up to a limit of €750.

A discussion started between two people, one of them being the person who suggested this financial responsibility and one who opposed it. The person against it argued that it is absolutely impossible for a parent to know what their child is up to so it shouldn’t be possible to punish the parents. It’s not their fault so it’s wrong for the government to say they should take full responsibility for it.  

On the other hand, the person who favoured it said there was no doubt that it’s the parent’s responsibility to have control over their kids actions, and that one of the main issues for parents is to not only raise them but to also take responsibility for them.

I’m sure that if you’re a regular follower of my work you already know that my opinion regarding this issue is, of course, that the parents have the major responsibility.

Of course you can find parents that for some reason – either temporarily or permanently – don’t have the capability, and then it is my view that the government should take their place. However, it is one of the key, fundamental issues in producing children, that you help them in life and take responsibility for them. Unfortunately too many parents consider it to be the government and the school that have the main responsibility.

All this is a typical matter of attitude, and if we consider the lack of a good attitude in our society today, it´s not strange that the parent’s role is more like running a hotel business where they produce meals, do the cleaning and wash clothes.

Raising children is NOT, however, a hotel business!

www.offerlind.se/english

Great Teammates Help Each Other Be Great - TOGETHER!!

“Keep away from those who try to belittle your ambitions.

Small people always do that, but the really great ones

make you believe that you too can become great.”

— Mark Twain

Coach Bill Walsh, great visionary leader, and Coach. (photo from RipTen.com)

A leader is one who sees more than others see,

who sees farther than others see, & who sees before others do.

-Leroy Eims

  As Halloween approaches, I can’t help but think of Harry Houdini, the famous escape artist and magician, Harry Houdini.  I saw the movie as a kid and fell in love with magic!   While many of us are feeling economically entrapped these days, perhaps you can find a way to be your own Houdini.

            Growing up, we all believed in magic. Magical thinking is a natural aspect of children’s cognitive development. And while there is no magic wand per se to wave over Wall Street or the War Department right now, we can all create a little magic in our own lives.

 Mindset.   Keeping a positive mental attitude is crucial during challenging times.  No matter what is happening, things can always be worse….and will be, if we focus on that instead of creating solutions.  Successful people see the situation clearly as it is, not catastrophizing it or minimizing it. They constantly visualize a desired, realistic outcome, especially when it is easier to give up.  Good questions to ask yourself at this time is: “Who do I know that has been through something like this before? How would he/she advise me? What resources are available that I can utilize?”

 Action.  Stay in it! There is a great Japanese proverb that says: “Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is a waste.”   Tony Robbins calls it “massive action.”  There is a direct correlation between your output and income.

 Greatness /Green.  We are all born to win.  Perhaps we are not winners of Oscars or Heismans, but we all have the capacity for our own greatness in us.  Be the best cook, teacher, parent, car repairman, executive, salesperson, actor, lawyer, horse trainer you can be.  We all have the choice to be the best we can be with what we’ve got, or not.  Your greatness should come relatively easily to you. Oh, you’ll probably have to work at it, but it won’t seem like work.  Plus, your greatness is a green thing.  Imagine what it could do for our ecology if everyone were doing what they were great at?

 Integrity.  Magical things seem to happen when you live in integrity. Opportunities seem up open up, and abundance flows when you act in line with your highest self. It’s been said that character is who we really are when we think no one is watching.  Might there be more ways that you can walk your talk?

 Choice.  The best thing about choice, is that we can almost always make a new one!  Moment to moment, day to day, year to year, we can review the choices we’ve made and either re-commit or create a new one.  Whether it is relationships, career, actions, beliefs or thoughts, each moment offers the freedom for a new choice.

 Now go our and make some magic in your life…and Happy Halloween!

Some thoughts on my mind…Let it shine.

Tuesday November 24, 2009 By Kevin Morrow

Time to heal your mind, open your eyes and know the origin of time. The split of mind from the eternal divine.
Separated, intimidated and sedated from a right state of mind. Grind out the passionate because the ego ain’t having it. It Loves confusion that’s why I speak on it. Creep on it like I sleepwalk a week on it. Not a weak moment in my existence. Make sense out a racist, a pointless attempt. See the mind makes what it sees then will die to make it breath. What do you hate for, because you don’t know where you came from. Dumb, blind, and ignorant, like trying to capture your shadow. Claiming hate is what’s relevant. Can’t escape the truth, the truth’s in hot pursuit. Equipped in a bodily suit, tryna know perfection. My projection has a malfunction. Play the movie of my mind coming, running into restitution. Retribution is not needed. Believe me, Love is what you really wish to be in. Gin and juice cannot reproduce the detoxification of the truth. What’s the use?

Racism is the mental illness within G-D’s children, I feel them, I live them, I breath, I am them. I speak to the soul because I no longer hold deception as a weapon. Blessed when I put on the armor of G-D. Invisible cloak, cause there is no war only lost hope. Dope filled veins with fear tryna cope. On a mental high of illusion though. Lose control and be lost forever. Not very clever to speed in stormy weather.

This is easy for me I say what I believe. In the face of reality I can really see. Insulting my intelligence, but ego is irrelevant, the truth has set me free. I be what I be , that’s why some “think” they fear me. The love is hard to trust when you stuck in lust, tryna bust the same nut like a squirrel in world of trees not climbed up. Confront me how, mass fields plowed, hunger in a lonely child, wild like the king of the jungle to you because I seem real humble.

Afraid to hear the truth so it seems I mumble. Attack my point of view, because it means I love you. And that’s impossible because I you say I don’t know you. But you in me and I in you like my cousin say. Play with the illusions and you will get burned one day. Time to be removing your hand from the stove, don’t need to create a glove when you swimming in love.

Shit, I keep saying things to shake your spirit, when people hear it they they experience what’s beyond the senses. Like seeing new life from beyond closed lenses. All stations go, this is mission control, racism’s a decision, non-element of soul. Spirit doesn’t fear it, cuz spirit doesn’t know it, see it, need it, or hear it.

You can’t separate the TRUTH from the TRUTH. 4

Well the power is back on around here.  It was only out for about 24 hours, which is good because one or two nights without power is great but anything more than that gets plain old annoying.

While we were sitting in the dark last week my wife and I were talking about our foreseeable future.  During the conversation I asked her if she believes that our (or anyone for that matter) destiny is predetermined.  That pretty much left her speechless for a minute which lead to a big I dunno.  Then the reply came, “Do you?”

Well…  I do and I don’t

I believe that our future is predetermined, but it is mostly predetermined by us as individuals.  Here’s what I mean.  The path that we walk in life is based almost solely on the decisions that we make.  Granted there are some exceptions, like I do not think anyone out there chooses to get cancer or some other life threatening illness (which is still debatable because we choose our own lifestyle which may or may not lead to some form of illness.)

But we do choose how to spend our time, what books we read, who we have as friends (because you can’t choose your family!!), how we educate ourselves, where we work and live, and most importantly what we think about.

All of which are decisions we make and all of which help determine the place or level that we reach in our lives.

One example that I can think of is the story of Chris Gardner.  I am using him as an example because I am assuming that some of you out there have seen the movie The Pursuit of Happyness, which is based on Mr. Gardner’s life.  If you haven’t seen it, rent it.  Better yet read the book, tv is bad for your health.  I am going to skip on the description and get to the point.

Gardner had what Napolean Hill described as a definite major purpose and decided that he was going to do whatever it took to live his dream.  His life changed because he chose to follow a different path.  What happens if he makes a different decision, does he fulfill his dreams/goals?

Our lives are not predetermined by anyone (like parents, teachers, coaches, etc) or anything (like environment or education), we get to decide what we do, how hard we work to get it and what we will sacrifice to get there.  All of those other things are just excuses or we use them as beliefs that keep our focus from really making massive change in our lives.

I ask  myself these questions all the time to make sure that I am keeping on the right track.

-Am I walking the path that is leading to my dream?

-If not, what am I doing now that is keeping me from it and how can I change it?

Take some time to examine your thoughts, think of it like your annual physical (without the finger wave) for your mind.  See if your can change your thoughts to get on the right track.

Analysis paralysis. If I asked close family members, this is how they would describe my action plan.  I read  the information, review the numbers and look for the weakness in the information, and on and on. Normal result?  I do nothing.

Sometimes this does work in my favor. Just this week I was presented with a “business opportunity” and did my due diligence and realized it was, in my opinion, a money game with little substance.  You know the type, just do this and you will earn $15,000 by Christmas.  I think I will give him Bernie Madoff’s cell number. I mean actual cell block.

I have a large bookshelf full of great authors on business, personal motivation, goal setting, law of attraction, vision building, dream building, the art of giving. You name it, I probably read it and it is on my shelf. Yet, I still find myself searching for what “makes me happy”.

After being a full-time single dad of three since 2000, I am a lucky guy to have remarried last August to a woman to die for. I have a great house, great kids, lots of pets (2 dogs, 4 cats to be exact). My personal life is as good as it can get.

However, my business life is a search in progress. This morning while in the shower, (seems I do my best thinking there) I was struck with a thought that caused me to write this post.  Is my quest for my professional satisfaction being sabotaged by expectations?

Almost all authors discuss similar guidelines to success in life and in business. Ideas such as, “follow your passion”, “do what you love and the money will follow”, “don’t set goals, do what excites you”.

For an analyzer like me, it just dawned on me that this is a prescription for disaster!  After all, how do I chose one area to be passionate about and make it my professional career? I like youth sports. I love animals. I love to read. I am crazy about my kids. I like to play basketball, shoot pool, watch Rocky I-VI,  passionate Penn State Alumni.  You see, my mind just can’t process all this PASSION into income. Now I am supposed to pick one and make it my career. I can’t succeed this way.

How about this scary thought, “What if you can’t build a business around your passion”? Or a better question, ” What if you can’t build it fast enough?”. Meaning, the mortgage company or your kids college financial department could care less about your “passion”. Send payment please!

So here is my suggestion to myself.  Feel free to follow along. KNOCK IT OFF!

I don’t think Sam Walton dreamed all his life of being king of all shopping centers. I am also going to guess that the founder of Southwest Airlines, Herbert Kelleher, didn’t grow up with a passion for the airline business. But what they did do, is create companies which are a reflection of  who they are and their passions in life.

Take your own passion, and infuse it into your own professional life. You love sports, take your employees to a baseball game or have a company picnic and fun softball game. Love animals, share your pets with others at work or suggest a poster day for all to post pictures of their animals.  You want to help the special needs kids? Volunteer your sales team with the Miracle League Baseball league.

My point is you can create passion in your professional career no matter what you are currently doing. If your source of income is not directly from that passion, you can still be fulfilled.

Afraid of making a mistake in choosing a career based on my passions was overbearing. It created a great fear of failure. From this point forward, I will  be focused on infusing my passions into my career instead of the other way around.

Who knows, someone might even post a picture of their cat named Adrian and would be a perfect match for my cat Rocky!

I think it was OPT, a star CrossFit Affiliate owner and CrossFit Games competitor that coined the term “being comfortable with being uncomfortable”.  It’s a pretty simple phrase that sums up how it feels to push through CF type workouts.  What’s more remarkable is how this phrase carries over into other aspects of life.

If you’ve gotten a feel for this blog, you’ve seen that the workouts usually leave the poor souls who are doing them completely wrecked.  They’re wrecked because they’ve just pushed their minds and bodies to their perceived limits.  No one can do these workouts for them, nor is anyone making them by holding a gun to their heads(honestly, I don’t!).  They not only have to make the conscious decision to show up to the gym, but also have to be prepared to face the workout and get it done.  Their motivation is greater than their desire to quit.  And the more workouts they get through, the greater their confidence builds for getting through the next one.

How many times have you gotten a last-minute assignment from your boss that just seems impossible?  How about getting into a scuff with your better half that makes you just want to explode or walk out?  Or, how about sticking to a study schedule that actually prepares you for that mid-term without the need of an all-nighter?

If you can push through 20 rounds of Cindy (5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 squats) in 20min, anything after that seems relatively easier.  Work, relationships, and studying all seem to be a bit more manageable and less intense than 95# thrusters.  You start to build a sense of never quitting.  Quitting, or even resting, means less rounds completed, or another minute on the clock.  In CrossFit, “every second counts” and quitting becomes a smaller and smaller voice in your head.  It’s replaced by fear; a good fear.  This fear keeps you safe, it keeps you questioning yourself, and it makes you want to peform better as to not let yourself down. 

I believe this is why the Special Ops community produces highly motivated, modern day, intelligent warriors that are capable of extraordinary acts.  There is no quit in them.  They fear failure more than death.  In the gym, we’re far from that spear tip’s edge.  But, we’re trying to use similiar methods to build confidence, capability, and character.

“It pays to be a winner”

Mindset for the day:

Be Cooperative…Where are you and others working towards a common goal?  There is power in numbers.  That isn’t always a good thing either.  Sometimes groups lose sight of the common goal, become divided, and ruin what could have been a powerhouse that produced remarkable results.  What usually happens?  The group turns into a group of ego’s, all of which want to be right and get their way.  In return, separation occurs and the primary goal is masked by who’s right and wrong, good and bad or smart and stupid…Usually the later.

Action Step:
Where are you suppose to be working in cooperation with others?  Do you find yourself on the opposite side of the fence?  What can you do or who can you be that would bring all of you together?  While there may be differences, members of a group can question each other, provide more answers, more solutions and be more effective than one or two individuals could ever be.  When possible…Cooperate!

Think-Act-Serve

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Be better than you used to be,
Matt

“The greatest gift you can give yourself is to be who you want to be…no matter what.
There is no greater feeling of confidence, power and self control.”

©2009 Matt Brown

Een menselijke kernbehoefte is delen en dat is ook van toepassing op het leven samen delen. Mensen zijn niet voorbestemd om alleen te zijn. Degenen die alleen zijn, zijn veelal op zoek naar een relatie – in welke vorm dan ook. Ieder mens geeft daar zijn eigen betekenis aan. Voor de een betekent een relatie een nieuwe liefdesrelatie, voor de ander is het een vriendschappelijke relatie en voor weer een ander betekent het in contact komen met gelijkgestemden om samen leuke dingen te ondernemen.

In onze samenleving groeit het aantal mensen dat op oudere (middelbare) leeftijd alleen is.
Er zullen mensen zijn die bewust kiezen om alleengaand te zijn en mensen die door omstandigheden alleen door het leven gaan. Toch leeft ook bij hen de wens om met gelijkgestemden tijd door te brengen, zonder dat daar een structurele relatie aan ten grondslag ligt.

voor het vinden van een ‘date’ voor vriendschap, relatie en gezelschap.

Voor veel actieve 50+’ers verandert het leven vaak ingrijpend. Vervroegde pensionering, je kinderen ‘achterna’ verhuizen, het onverwacht overlijden van je partner, het zijn gebeurtenissen waar veel mensen mee te maken krijgen. Voor hen blijkt vaak dan dat veel alleenstaande 50+’ers een minder sociaal bestaan hebben dan ze zouden willen. Ze willen graag contacten leggen, maar vinden dat moeilijk. Vanuit deze gedachte is Silver2date.nl ontwikkeld, een nieuw datings- en ontmoetingsplatform dat zich richt op diegenen die vitaal en actief aan de tweede helft van hun leven willen beginnen.

Wat wij willen is behalve het online platform tot een succes te maken, ook maatschappelijk verantwoord een bijdrage leveren aan het welzijn van ouderen. Eenzaamheid van ouderen (lees: medioren en senioren) is en wordt een toenemend punt van aandacht in onze maatschappij. Een belangrijk gedeelte van deze (doel)groep is nog werkend. Een bijdrage leveren aan de kwaliteit van leven voor hen maakt niet alleen dat ze een gelukkiger leven zullen en kunnen leiden; te denken valt ook aan het terugdringen van ziekteverzuim van bijvoorbeeld oudere werknemers in organisaties die te maken hebben met een verandering in hun levensomstandigheden.

50+ is kritische doelgroep

De website silver2date.nl is uiterst gebruiksvriendelijk en toegankelijk. Aan de voorbereiding is ruim een jaar gewerkt, want de website dient vrijblijvend en eenvoudig toegankelijk te zijn, rekening houdend met privacy en de modernste technologie. 50+’ers zijn zeer kritische internet gebruikers; ze zijn soms zelfs een beetje ongeduldig, wat wel opmerkelijk is. Het moet ook nog snel gaan en binnen een paar klikken willen ze bij de juiste informatie zijn. Het lijkt op de de zap-cultuur zoals je die vooral bij jongeren zou verwachten.

Silver Activity

De website biedt niet alleen de mogelijkheid om online met mensen in contact te komen. Onder de naam Silver Activity er is een scala aan mogelijkheden om actief mensen te ontmoeten. Silver Activity organiseert sociale, sportieve en culturele evenementen, als golfevenementen, brunches, borrels en diners, exclusieve reizen, kookworkshops, themafeesten en meer.
Maandelijks is er de borrel Silver Drinks.

Kennismakingsaanbod

Wanneer u zich nu gratis inschrijft bij Silver2date.nl kunt u gebruik maken van een aantrekkelijk kennismakingsaanbod.

Life Isn’t About Dying a Peaceful and Calm Death.  It’s About Skidding Sideways Into the Casket Yelling “YEE HAW!!!”

This Guy'll Definitely Be Skidding Sideways Into His Coffin. How About You?

Hey you,

It’s #2.

This post goes out to our loyal fan Tim Birch.

During these past 2 weeks I’ve been locking myself down taking notes and writing copy and hadn’t checked the comments on the blog since my last post, until today.

While doing so, I noticed Tim’s comment about one of his cousin’s passing away.  When I read it, my first reaction was to reply but then I remembered a story and I wanted to share it with you Tim, and everyone else here.

This is a story I used to listen to over and over again on my walkman while working for a commercial construction company.  At least a decade has passed since I’ve heard this but it touched me so deeply I knew you’d appreciate it too.  It’s told by one of the greatest transformational story tellers I know of, Tony Robbins.

It was one of the rare gems trapped inside on of his discussions on metaphors buried inside his Power Talk series.  The passage below is a gorgeous metaphor pertaining to the concept of death.

Here goes….

“My son Joshua came to me from school, and I think he was about six or seven at the time.

A child at school, a child he used to play with, one of his little friends was climbing on some of the playground equipment and fell off, broke his neck and died.

I came home and Josh was crying hysterically. And everything people tried to tell him and explain to him verbally about why it happened, what was going on, nothing would work.

So I sat down him and said ‘Honey, I know how you feel.  But you know, I think the challenge is that, while you know you miss him and you have the right to miss him, you should feel those feelings, you should also realize that the reason you feel the way you do is because you’re a caterpillar.’

He said, “What?” This broke his pattern a little bit.

I said, “Honey, you’re just a caterpillar.  And you’re thinking like a caterpillar.”

He said, “What do you mean?”

“Well, what happens to caterpillars at some point?  There’s a point where most caterpillars think they’ve died.  They think it’s over, they think life has ended.  When’s that?”  I said.

He said, “Oh yeah, when there’s that thing that starts wrapping around them.”

I said, “Yeah, that thing starts wrapping around them and pretty soon the caterpillar gets buried in all this mass of stuff. And you know what, if you were to open up that thing it’s buried under, the caterpillar’s no longer there.  It’s just all this mush and goo and stuff.

And most people including caterpillars, even the caterpillar that’s transforming there, is thinking it’s the end yet it’s not dying, it’s transforming, you understand, it’s going from one thing to something else.

Pretty soon, the caterpillar thinks that life is over and what happens is the caterpillar comes together and what does it become?”

He said, “A butterfly.”

I said, “And can other people see that?  Can the little caterpillars on the ground see that this caterpillar became a butterfly?”

He said, “No, they don’t see that.”

I said, “That’s right.  Funny, he breaks out of the cocoon and what does he do?”

He said, “He flies.”

And I said, “He doesn’t fly right away, he get’s out and the sunlight comes down and dries off his wings and then he goes out flies and he’s even more beautiful than when he was a caterpillar.

Is he more free or less free?  You tell me.”

He said, “Oh, he’s much more free.”

I said, “You think he has more fun?”

He said, “Yeah, he’s got less legs to get tired.”

“That’s right, he does.  He doesn’t need his legs any more, he’s got wings.  Honey, I think your friend’s got wings now.  It’s not for us to decide when someone becomes a butterfly.  We think it’s wrong but I think God has a better idea of when the right time is.

We think summer should be here now but you know right now it’s winter and you want it to be summer, right?  But God’s got a different plan.  Sometimes we just gotta trust that God knows how to make butterflies better than we do.

And when we’re caterpillars sometimes we don’t even realize that butterflies even exist because they’re up above us.  Maybe we should just remember that.”

He stopped crying, and was smiling and he gave me a big hug and said, “Yeah, I bet he’s a beautiful butterfly.”

Metaphors can transform.  Select them carefully.  Select them intelligently.  Select them in a way that deepens and enriches your life or the people you care about.  Become a student of metaphors and become sensitized to them and your whole life can change.

Wishing you and your family the best Tim,

Talk to you soon,

Note Taking Nerd #2

Dr. John C. Maxwell

*** Note from Coach O: an interesting question was posted on the blog regarding “how do you find the “door” or path [to sucess]?” I love those kind of questions — that tells me someone is seeking to be great!! I searched through my saved articles and found this GREAT article, “Finding Your Purpose” by John C Maxwell, leadership guru! I believe that you cannot find your right path until you know what your purpose is. Once you know that – then you will know if you are on the right path or not! So, Fred, and all others trying to find their path, this is the beginning of our study on finding the right path:

——————————————————-

Finding Your Purpose – Identifying Your Strengths And Going For Growth

by John C. Maxwell,  August 5, 2009  (from SUCCESS Magazine)

Monday November 23, 2009  3:17 PM

5 Ways to ALWAYS Win

I was in the shower and the idea came to mind to list 5 ways to always win. Must have been the inspiration of cleansing that sparked the idea, but it really does not matter why. So check out the post.

1. WIN IN YOUR HEAD

Number one is pretty much self explanatory, but I will explain it in depth. I will tell you what I’m “talkin bout…” Say you are in a competition, “I am in a competition…”, just kidding but bare with me. If you are in a competition where there is an imagined winner and an imagined loser, you feel that there are only two outcomes. If you look at it from the “TRUE” standpoint there really is no loser. There really is no competition. The competition is all in your head, the stress from the competition is all in your head.

So no matter what happens in the “competition” know that you are a winner regardless.

You are the only consciousness in your reality, everybody else thinks of you the way you think of you. So however you WIN is how you will WIN.

What you imagine you WIN is up to you.

If I’m at the local park and I play a basketball game, what do I actually win?

I have asked myself this many times, respect, bragging rights, mental superiority? None of these things are really things. They are all in the head.

So now number one is simply WIN in your head.

Find something to derive good from and focus on that.

2. Evaluate what you think losing is.

In order to figure out how to always win, you have to find out what you feel is losing.

What are you losing when you lose? Is there anything you see yourself as winning. An even better way to look at it is to say “There is no losing.”

If I have lost then I have actually won, because losing teaches me what I need to do to win. I can never lose. I can only lose what is not real, and in any case what is not real is an illusion.

So if the “Game” is not real, then I don’t lose anything that is real, I will only lose illusion.

When I lose illusion it is replaced with truth. The truth always wins.

3. NEVER hold on to FAILURE

Never ever hold on to failure. Failure is not real. The only way it becomes real is when you think about it. Other then thinking about it, or making it possible, you never fail. Are you failing right now as you read this blog?

You are perfectly ok as you read this blog. If you are in this moment and not thinking about the future or past then you have no failure. If your attention keeps going back to times that you have failed, then you will think of yourself as a failure.

The spirit can’t hold onto things that are not real. Meaning anything that is not perfect love will not be with your spirit. Just like your body will not be with your spirit. Are you a failure when you leave earth and leave your body behind?

You can’t hold on to your body, so why would you try when it is left behind. That’s why you should never hold on to failure. Mainly because it is a trick of your mind.

4. Know that you are neither a loser nor a winner

Another way to always win is to realize that winning and losing doesn’t exist.

What the heck do I mean?

I’ll find myself in a separated mind if I believe the two are real. The separated mind is the breeding ground for the “EGO”, the EGO is not edible like EGGOS, especially for the spirit.

The spirit, to inspire, inspirational, I’m inspired, is the internal knowing that exists beyond the perception of the mind. So to the spirit there is no concept of winning because it cannot be separated from truth.

It is truth.

When you remember this  it becomes easy to always win, because you know that you cannot lose. No matter what happens in the competitions set up in your mind, the losing and winning are all in your mind. Which means they are subject to your perception. Which means if you want to win when it looks like you have lost, just simply WIN.

HAHA

Nothing is stopping you but you.

5. Heal your mind from LOSS

Whenever you have thoughts about loss in your mind, forgive your self for believing that you have lost. Heal your mind of the illusion and find something that you have “won”  to focus on.

When you heal your mind of loss, you don’t have loss anymore. Think about it.

When heal your mind of the loss of a material item like a car, you no longer feel like you have lost anything. Because you haven’t. Just like the body, you can’t take the car with you when you leave this earth. But you can heal your mind from thinking that you have lost something.

Forgiveness is the new sexy. When you heal your mind, you always. Win.

Speaking of “winners” check out the video below.

Now as I post this I imply nothing about religion or anything material. I see that this man had a different idea of winning and it was his truth. Some people will say he really lost, but to him he won.

So I say to you to whom does it really matter that you have won? To yourself right? So why not ALWAYS win through the TRUTH within yourself?

Kevin Morrow out….Watch the video

November 23, 2009 By Kevin Morrow

1. Because “What if” are just words.

What if I thought to myself  “What if I write my blog and people hate it.”

Well “What if” I write my blog and people love it?

Which one serves me better.

Sounds like “What if” are just words.

They only mean what I make them mean.

2. Because you invented the meaning of “what if” in the first place.

Whether you believe it or not, you are the creator of the meaning of what if. Which means you can re-invent it. The words really have no meaning, you make it up.

“What if Martin Luther King Jr said “What if they don’t understand me?”

3. Because there is no “What if.”

There is no such thing as what if. Things are what you see them as and that’s it. There is only your perception in your reality. Everyone else is the result of your perception. They are not really there as you see them, because they are there as you SEE them.

Think about it, “what if” there is no “what if?”

What would you do if you knew once you made a decision it would be reality?

To me there is no “what if” people will love my blog, because people do love my blog because it’s genuine.

4. Because you don’t have to re-invent the wheel

You don’t have to re-invent “what if” because it is not really there. There is only perfect love within you. Everything is only a “what if” there is no perfect love with in you. Yes I see this is truth.  If my square tire doesn’t work and I’m using it to get around, and I’m am growing tired of the bumpy ride. Eventually I will re-invent the round wheel which was already invented.

All things potential already exist.

5. Because if you don’t “what if” will make you its slave.

I don’t know about you but I am not a slave. Slavery is a mentality of separation. “What if” in a negative sense can enslave your mind. Your mind enslaved becomes a horrible place to be. “What if” positive sense also breeds doubt.

Only certainty is truth.

Thank you for reading the 5 reasons to re-invent “What if”

As an entrepreneur it’s crucial to have the right mindset.

The right thinking about yourself, about your products and services, about your customers, the way you overcome set-backs and the way you run your business makes all the difference.

If you’re making the transition from being an employee to being an entrepreneur then having support, coaching and mentoring during this process will significantly improve your chances of success.

Many self-help, how-to, and get rich quick schemes ignore this vital step and focus on the tactics, the detail, and the next ‘essential’ tool they can sell you.

This is just one element that sets this programme apart from the crowd.

Here it’s about joining a community of entrepreneurs, created and built to support and encourage the success of every member.

Just click here and enter your contact detail and we’ll explain more.

Mark