The Third Book The 3rd Chapter - Captain WestJet

Captain WestJet

April 29/2018

Change for improvement or is it reactionary change? Have you ever experienced a rare one-off event and due to that one event, new changes are in place that creates a reality that is different?

I truly believe in change in the value of change to work on improvements daily — whether it is personal development or in our work-life. Before you make a change, ask yourself, if there is value on this change? Will the change end up providing more value to you or your organization over the long-term.

Recently I had the privilege of sharing some time with a WestJet Captain. In that time I asked her all kinds of questions on being a captain of a large jetliner. Questions I asked were from what “V1” means and how to determine when to de-ice a plane and many more topics. After the hour conversation, I was able to learn much about the job of aviation, and I was grateful for her sharing of her job.

One thing discussed is how the magic of the captain experience has disappeared, and now cockpit tours are gone to an entire generation of kids. She shared that a big reason she became a pilot was access to the cockpit, while she was traveling as a young child.

As our society level of security has changed over the last 25 years, I understand the intent of why the cockpit experience is now gone. This change is reactionary change and a logical way to ensure folks don’t bring harm to others by gaining access to the cockpit area. This process of change should ensure that people will not harm again.

The underlying issues are our young people not having that opportunity to explore is a question now. With all, we do in our life it is important to do a risk-reward exercise before initiating change. Determine with this change what will be the net value increase to you and your organization. Quick decisions will usually lead to the change you feel you need at the time but what are the long-term impacts of your change? With your immediate change are you closing the doors that will impact you on whether you will achieve what you were meant to achieve? Are you making choices that are reaction based? On the surface, of course, it makes sense to ensure our safety is protected but how do you measure the cost of the loss of magic to kids? Does this loss of magic translate in the loss of something even bigger that does not start due to the loss of the value of imagination?

Sometimes the effect of those choices will be the elimination of your magic. That magic or that special feeling of being alive that will help you grow. Your magic is the passion mixture that allows you to achieve what you were set out here to do in this lifetime. When you are ready to grow, are you changing with your purpose in mind or changing for change sake? Or are you changing because of a one-off event has impacted you?

Perhaps you will need to reopen your cockpit door to allow positive energy to build and have your magic return. With your positive selection of an inner circle of friends, you will experience this energy to grow, and this energy is unlimited in its ability to grow. 

The Third Book The 2nd Chapter - Reflection and Learning

April 21/2018

It has been a while since I have shared with you all. Have you ever crossed into an abyss of life where your focus is no lighting your next steps? While in that abyss you seemed to be filled with confusion and lack of progress on your life goals?

My abyss happened to me in mid-February, and it was during this time I felt a sense of frustration and a lack of visibility in my world when that would become a reality. These moments are very difficult for me to come back from and it is so easy for me to allow a low energy existence become my normal.

What I realized was my first step in knowing where my energy was at, and no one or thing could bring me out of that abyss except for me and the hard work required of me. At that time, one thought at a time to one moment at a time I started to build my momentum. Now I am at a point where I would like to share three personal, professional milestone goals.

The first goal is a short-term goal, as you might know living in western Canada in the winter time is very cold and dark. As time has passed for me, I found myself in a position where I don’t like winter, to the point that it makes me depressed and affects my mood. As I thought about this reality of every winter, I asked myself what should I do to change this negative experience. One option was to do nothing and dread each day closer to winter. Or think of a strategy that aligns up to my professional goals. As my business is going to my customers, I thought of any areas I already goto that do not have snow, and that have people that would value what I can offer. My thoughts lead me to the specific goal of having my first client in the Phoenix area by November of this year. I have a mindset of even if I don’t achieve the goal, at least I tried to do something instead of waiting for the darkness of winter, that I know will come.

My second goal is a medium range goal, now that I know what makes my business model different than the 1000’s of other organizational development consultants, is the legacy of the completed work within the organization. My experience is that when the consultant’s come into work with an organization that once they have left, so does the impact of long-lasting change. My goal is that the started work remains in place and even expands and becomes greater than when I was there. You do this by identifying someone already in place within the organization that is not using their superpowers. If you think for a moment, I bet you can think of at least one person, or perhaps you are the person in your organization that can add more value. Usually, there is not just one barrier to why this talent is not getting optimized, but a combination of barriers that have a root cause of culture reality. With this determining factor, I will need more people to complete the work that is requested to do this efficiently. I will then bring in my old team and this time frame will be three to five years from now.

Now my identified long-term goal, which is ten to fifteen years out. After years of growing and expanding a servant type leadership platform, with a combination of several more books. Then it will be time for me to teach on a large scale what I have learned and share with others. It will take a form of organic speeches in an environment where the speech becomes specifically for the people that are there. I could speak all day long about my experience but how does that relate to you? What value are you taking away from your time spent there? How are you going to own and integrate the words and my experience?

By one conversation at a time, it is possible to make your difference. With the consistency of the purpose of your every moment, you can move the needle on making your environment a better place for you.

The Third Book The 1st Chapter - Changing Habits

Feb 12/2018

Life is a journey and we are always on a quest to find our home.  To find a place that will wrap us with a comfortable energy.  A place that we feel safe and a place where we belong.  I heard if you aren’t were you belong but don’t know where to go. Then this is a start of your journey because at least you know you need to make changes in your life.

I would like to share a story of changing one of my habits.  Almost three years ago I knew I had to make changes in my life to improve my physical health.  At that time, I also enjoyed eating unhealthy foods and enjoying responsibly a beer on occasion. 

Over the years as I daily pushed my self on my physical journey, I would keep track of my time and distance.  I slowly noticed the correlation from the effects of unhealthy eating and the increase in the time I took to complete my run.  At first, I didn’t spend much time thinking about this observation but recently it took a whole new light.

I went on vacation with friends and when I returned it took me almost a week to get back to my level of performance prior to the vacation.  As I went through the process of repairing tired muscles I had a new thought followed by a new feeling.  That was I don’t want to make choices any more that hinder my performance.  The feeling that followed immediately after was one of comfort.

It was like I realized on my own a large component of making smart choices. Not because anyone was telling me too or that I wanted to impress someone, I made it for me.  This I realized was another step completed on my journey home.

Choices like these are the ones you body and mind are suggesting you take.  Your built in DNA is showing you a path that will allow you to live an incredible life.  When you complete difficult follow throughs is when there are moments of comfort and satisfaction.  

Make a list of 5 self-improvement areas that you would like to improve on in your life.  Once that is completed, spend 5 minutes on each idea.  While you’re doing that with each item, what is your emotional response to each of your 5 points?  How does it feel as you think of these ideas?  Give yourself enough time for these ideas to be planted deep within your thought process.

With these ideas planted deep they will be able to stand the test of your storms and struggles of life’s distractions.  They will remain long enough for you to come to your realization that you don’t want your status quo any longer.  You don’t have to have a tired life and low energy.

Once you have arrived at this spot you know you have taken your first step towards home.  All the distractions you face will be just that, distractions and they will not take you off your destination.  

The Third Book - The Introduction

This is the beginning of my third book.  The summer of 2015 is when I started my first book and I never thought I would ever write one book prior to the summer of 2015. 

This book is a series of short stories of life experiences that have a theme of using these experiences to become a better person.  To learn from others and your mistakes so that you don’t keep repeating the same actions and never fully achieving what you want in your life.

The title of this book was selected by my son and me.  The journey home doesn’t reflect your physical home but your journey that returns you back to where you have started.  You return with a vast amount of experiences that have made you a better person.  While you have been away you have gathered a life time of riches so that you can continue to grow. 

This leads me to the thought of beyond your tree line.  If you have noticed trees don’t normally grow in great numbers above 10,000 feet.  The environment at these high elevations make it difficult for a forest to grow.  So, the thought is to push your known limits and go above your current tree line.  Push further and higher than you have ever thought you could.  By doing this you will be given a clear line of sight that is an unobstructed view of where you need to go next.

My son and I came up with the new title when he was returning home from a long shift away for work and it seem fitting.  The alignment and the symbolism seem correct as I started to create this book.

As I look at all the blank pages of this book that needs to be filled with valuable words to you.  I am filled with a sense of wonder of where the journey will take me.  I wonder the value I will be able to provide to you and if these words will help make a difference in your choices.

Once this work is sent to the editor I am excited to see the gold nuggets that will enable others to travel above their tree line.  To be a part of others establishing a new norm of achievement for themselves.  Followed by a brief rest and then moving on up again.

Steve Jobs was a person that changed the world and he did it by always improving what was created.  This skill of transition is what will make you achieve more than you ever thought possible.  A daily focus on creating value for you and others and by adding transition to the mix is your gold mine.  Continue coming back to this thought and you will achieve more than you thought was your possible.  The only difference between you and Steve Jobs is allowing yourself to follow your passion.

Thank you for taking the time and sharing your time with me, as you read this book.  I am looking forward to hearing your stories on your journey home. 

The Second Book The 102nd Chapter - The Final Chapter

Feb 4/18

It is will mixed emotions that  I have today, as I write this chapter.  Happy that my second book is almost complete, yet a little sad as the creation of this book has come to an end.  Yet isn't that like life though, everything always comes to an end, with the cycle of life.

There is always a beginning and there is always an ending, the important part is what we do with the in between these two points.  I would like to thank all the people I have met over the writing of this book.  Some are mentioned by name in this book and others shared by an experience.

Currently I am writing this at the Snow Slip Inn in Northern Montana.  The snow is falling heavily and there are mounds of snow piled higher than I have ever seen it here before, during my past winter visits here.

This book has been with me in four countries and thousands of miles, all with a common theme.  That common theme is the incredible people I have met along the way.  Some have remained close friends and others, it was just a brief interaction that has left a positive impact on me. 

The gratefulness I feel at this moment is incredible and a few years ago I never thought that there would be so much joy in my life.  This journey from the first entry in June 2017, I have felt all the topics of this book first hand.  It is my sincere hope that you have felt positive direction and support as your have read this book.  During the creation of this work I have felt strong emotions that ranged from tears of sadness to tears of laughter.  As always, I want to thank my kids and my parents, for their continued support of my random notions of my endless adventures and distractions.  As my attention is daily diverted to another adventure and experience they have always remained.  When I return from the last experience they are there to welcome me and share in that experience.

In my journeys the pattern of the power of thoughts have occurred several times.  Life can be great and full of positive experiences, if you believe it in your mind.  Just as quickly this awesomeness can change to a valley of despair with a thought based of a negative origin.

I have faced some challenges and growth over the last year but my challenges truly are ones that are minor compared to what others experience on a daily basis.  By words like these I hope, if your currently struggling, you will believe in yourself to have the ability to change your life.  Its a simple as change your thoughts - change your life.  This is not about a promotion or financial wealth to expereince life in a positive way, it is about choosing to live your life in a way that life provides you with an invisible ocean of energy.  Though that energy you are able to achieve whatever your greatest dreams are. 

This sense of you living your authenticity is what needs to be first in your life before you put any other plans in place.  If your not truly find yourself you will not be truly successful in anything you do.  Your authenticity is the seed that needs to be planted first for you to be able to grow.  Without planting the seed its like putting an empty pan into an over and expecting it to produce a delicious and hot apple pie.  It just doesn't work that way in life and you need to put in your effort.

The thought of change is incredibly easy but the follow through is extremely difficult.  If you truly want change and you truly want to live a life that is full, it will take a tremendous amount of effort on your part.  You have practiced for years and created a current habit of living a reality of you.  This your habit, like any habit you want to break, from quitting smoking to getting off that couch, it is extremely difficult to successfully complete.  The more your prepare your mind of the hard work ahead of you, the easier the change will come to you.  Prepare your mind that this change you seek to be successful and long lasting will be the hardest thing you will ever do.

Don't give up. as you can be successful and after you master this task, all the rest of your goals will come easier.  As you truly start your journey and truly star changing your life then share with others your accomplishments.  Share with others your accomplishments and to encourage them to become the amazing person they too already are.  Contact me, as I would love to hear your story of how you kept on climbing.  By doing this, it will provide me with the energy I need to keep going forward.

Out of the 5 themes of this book, which one are you going to focus on first?  Write them down in order of importance for you and once that is completed, set some goals.  These goals need to tie directly back to your change you seek.  Set timelines and determine the resources you need and then hold yourself accountable for your goals.  Create your road map to your success to continue your journey of growth.

I have now arrived at Columbia Falls Montana, where I will rest of the night.  It seems fitting as the day closes, so does this book.  The snow has stopped falling and the sky's are clearing as the sun is settling behind the mountains.  Tomorrow will be a new day, a new day for you to do something extraordinary that will lead yourself to your success.  By that success you will understand yourself and show your true leadership.  As your practice that process you will be given a true gift of growing yourself and others.

Now is the time like no other in your life to take charge and hold yourself accountable.  For you to keep climbing and to continue your quest.  Until next time and the next book, I love you all and I truly appreciate you taking your time to read these words.

THE END

P.S.  The third blank note book had been purchased by me and is waiting for me to fill it with words.

Your Servant CC 

The Second Book The 101st Chapter - The Moment You Now Know

Feb 1/18

Do you know how to effectively lead yourself?  What plan do you have in place to help you develop your leadership?

One of the most important things you can do is to have a personal coach.  A personal coach will provide training to help you with your self-development which is key and will help you go further than on your own.  Your entire blueprint and strategy to live a fulfilled and happy life is already inside of you.  With the proper selection of a coach, this person will allow you to uncover your blind spots and you will see your blueprint.

This leads me to my coach Mark, I have wrote about Mark before and I am grateful of the value our relationship provides me.  As he has been helping me lay out a blueprint for me, I recently had a large next step revealed to me, this step was of a new mini-journey of travel.  This time I knew with confidence I need to take a random travel of a road trip throughout the west and southern United States.

It was through his coaching and asking questions I found my next step.  Now the difficult part is for me to actually take that first next step.  I know all of what I need will be found on this trip to allow me to level up to my next level.  I can see it clearly, as if it is already happening yet I can feel my fear sinking in. 

This is where self-leadership will reveal itself to me.  The thought of what am I going to give up to go up come to mind now.  An opportunity waits, yet I can feel my own hesitation grow inside of me.  I know whatever path I take, I will arrive at my goal, but one path is a shorter route.  This moment of clarity provide a sense of excitement, almost like going on a treasure hunt as a kid.  You know your almost at a major check point and a significant find.

With any kind of challenge in self-leadership these uncomfortable conversations and or new paths need to be completed for you to continue to grow.  The choice is yours to become extraordinary or to remain ordinary.  There is no one thing or person that forces you to be ordinary other than your choices.

If you don't have your choices yet, I encourage you to ask yourself what are you going to give up to go up?  What are you going to sacrifice in you day to get to your future improvement?  Developing and following your plan will provide you the skill of self-leadership.

Once you fully own your life and command your own decisions is when you will feel the growth of your development.  Make your choices based out of kindness to yourself and others and that is when your effort will show you your moment of knowing.

The Second Book The 100th Chapter - Develop Your Strategy

Feb 1/18

How do you get from here to there?  How do you accomplish your desires?  How do you create a strategy that is tailored for your success?

These are all questions that I have thought about for years and I was paralyzed to act on.  I was not able to act because I didn't know what to decide on and I didn't have the confidence in myself to even try an idea when I had one.  Overtime I knew I had to try something new, so slowly I started to explore a different life for me.

I slowly changed my entire direction of my life in a way that was what I wanted to live instead of one that people expected me to live.  I noticed that as I slowly left my comfort zone of my past, I started to have experiences that would provide me a sense of support from other people with my new life choices. 

A story I would like to share is about meeting Katherine and becoming friends.  It was the third time to Belize and I was at El Norte, north of San Pedro 10 miles.  As she walked up with her husband, I immediately knew this is a special person.  It was during this time I was considering to stop writing and sharing my random thoughts with the goal to provide value to others. 

After about a hour of conversation she randomly blurted out, you can't stop and quit, you have so much to give.  Now keep in mind I never shared the thought I was thinking of quitting.  I was shocked when she made this statement and caused me to pause and reflect and think about my current mindset.  In that moment I realized I was given the gift of perseverance and to keep going forward to get where I need to go.

The story doesn't end there and I did decide to keep going with my sharing.  It was about a month after returning home and I was feeling unsettled and not clear of my direction.  The feeling I had encompassed my entire being and I felt a drain of my energy.  One morning I received a random text from Katherine and asking how I was doing.  I shared with her I was struggling and she said without hesitation, "I know".  She went on to say she could feel it even though there was no communication and we live thousands of miles apart.

Once again her support gave me the courage to follow my strategy.  Creating your own strategy is key for you to enjoy your life.  Take all the things you don't want in your life and do a mental purge of all the clutter.  Then make a list of 5 things you actually want to have in your life. 

Take all your learned skills and apply them to your top choice of the list of 5.  Then start to take action on strategy and to cross over and out of your current comfort zone.  Repeat this process and listen to positive support from others that cross your journey, as they have been sent to help you.

The Second Book The 99th Chapter - I Know Where I am Going

Jan 30/18

Do you feel you know where you want to go in life but you don't know how to get there?  Can you feel and see your destination but you don't have your road map to show you how to get there?

One of my extreme goals is too speak to 1000's of people in a stadium setting and help everyone in attendance to see their own greatness.  I want to be the bridge that helps connect people to be able to live a life that they dream of.  But right now I don't know how to get there, I don't know all the steps required to arrive at that god goal.

In the meantime I am daily following my intuition and creating more words to increase my brand and to expand the awareness to what I speak about in topics for the future.  Isn't it interesting when there are moments of self-doubt something or someone will come along and help provide support to our goals.

That happened to me a few weeks ago by a conversation with my mentor Todd.  As we were sharing about our general last few months, since the last time we talked, all of a sudden he blurted out.  Maybe you can speak at a John Maxwell event in Orlando Florida.  The moment he spoke that statement I had a surge of energy come into my body.  I had never shared that dream of mine with him, yet here he was communicating that with me. 

I thought about John Maxwell and there was a time when he was younger he didn't command the attention he does now when he speaks.  He teaches and give out his experience of success in a beautiful way.  If you ever have the chance to attend a conference where John is speaking, do it, you will not regret it. 

One of the lessons John talked about was filling your vision.  How he did that was as a young pastor he would crate an outline of topics for the next quarter that he was going to speak about.  As time would go on, life experiences would provide him with examples of the outline he had created weeks prior.  Once the date would come to talk about a specific topic, he would have mountains of material ready.  When I heard that I realized this is my road map, this is how I need to create to get to stand along side of John on stage in Orlando.  That each day I make time and put in effort to where I need to go.

Ask yourself if your god goal is a need or want for you?  If it is only a want, you will have to switch that word out for need.  Once you view your goals as needs then you will start to accomplish them.  The moment you change your view is the moment you have started creating your road map that will show you how to achieve your dreams. 

The Second Book The 98th Chapter - Make Your Second

Jan 29/18

Do you want more out of your life?  Are you searching for more success but yet while others seem to be getting ahead you are not?

I would like to ask you a question, that is how you view everything that comes into your life?  As with that view point you have then what action do you take next and what thoughts of emotions are generated?  I have always been a person that is active either with my thoughts or moving physically.  So when bed time comes, I am always very tired and I always enjoyed the feeling of being well rested in the morning.  On occasion I would not sleep throughout the entire night and I would toss and turn for hours.  Then just before the alarm was to go off, I would finally fall asleep after hours of unproductive time preforming the act of trying to fall asleep.

In the morning this would leave me with a sense of frustration now that I am mentally tired and the day hasn't even started.  For years when this did happen I always ended up with the same result until finally I started to have a change of mindset. This mindset was that I started to grow and want to become a better person.  Then one night a few months ago I couldn't sleep, so instead of being frustrated, I changed my focus to what can I do in that moment which can lead me to do something productive.

I already knew I wasn't going to sleep for hours so I decided to create some value in the time I had awake.  What I did was open my mind to the random thoughts that came to me.  From there I posted them on my twitter account combined with a chapter from this book.  By doing that I noticed my twitter stats of view increase to a level I had not yet experienced.  I was amazed of what a huge positive change that had occurred with my simple change of my thought pattern.  Instead of being frustrated and tired, this experience left me with an outcome of being satisfied and tired.

I knew I couldn't control the state of me being tired but I knew I could control the outcome of providing value to my dreams.  Success takes a large amount of work to be realized.  Once you find your passion you need to take each moment you can to provide value to your passion.  The gift of your passion was given freely to you and it's up to you how much value you receive from your gift.  The harder and smarter you work will see your success come to you at a higher lever.

In moments of frustration ensure you make each one of your seconds count.  As these seconds pass away to waste, you will never get them back and recover that time.  Eventually with enough wasted seconds you will realize you have wasted your biggest opportunity and you will be out of time.

The Second Book The 97th Chapter - Self-esteem and Thoughts

Jan 29/18

Do you have days or weeks where you feel you are struggling with having a positive self-esteem?  When you have days like that have you stopped your mind long enough and asked yourself what is the focus of my thoughts?

I would like to share a story of past Craig, a Craig who had low self-esteem, during the last year and a half I have been giving the gift of time to reset myself.  Both my personal life and my work life, this rebuilding has taken place.  The last year and a half has been difficult but yet very rewarding.  The easy part was recognizing and planning next steps of what I had to do in my life for positive change.  The hard part was my follow through, to daily harvest my positive thoughts and not allow my negative ones to grow.

Six years ago I was a different person than the person that is writing these words today.  I used to be a person that had a negative thought pattern on almost everything and everyone I interacted with.  With that negative thought foundation the law of attraction applied to me.  My negative thoughts attracted someone into my life that was like minded and because of that relationship, my self-esteem suffered ever more. 

Slowly I continued to spiral down the stair case of my own self-worth until finally I asked myself why I was so unhappy.  I now had a need to not live a negative life like I was anymore.  I knew I was a happy and kind person by nature but yet I was living a life that wasn't filled with happiness.  I realized my thoughts were creating an environment for me that was based on fear.  As that fear built more strength in my life so did my avoidance factor.  So much avoidance I started to live a life of I wish I could do things differently but I never made the choices to live differently. 

If any of this experience applies to you, then ask yourself why this is occurring with you?  Ask yourself what is your current mindset and your thought base.  Write down your next 10 thoughts that you have.  Once that is complete, tomorrow at the same time write down another 10 thoughts that come to you.  At the end of that day sit down and write down your 20 thoughts and separate them into two categories.  One category to be labeled positive and the other to be labeled negative.  Then count up the total of each thoughts in the two columns and chances are most of them are in your negative side of your ledger.

You have just completed the easiest first step in your life to start raising up your self-esteem and tearing down your walls of fear.  Now the hard part starts for you to daily make sure your thoughts always follow under your positive column.  By doing that daily you will start to feel like a better person and others will see your change in your hard work.

The Second Book The 96th Chapter - Gift of Creativity

Jan 15/18

Would you consider yourself a creative person in some form?  If not, do you appreciate someone else's creativity?

Creativity truly is a great gift and through creativity is the spark for all of human growth, achievement and improvements.  Not long ago when I was questioning the value of my current path, I was lucky to have met Joey in my travels.  I have wrote about him before and I would like to share is about the gift he was able to provide me about public speaking and to create magic with others through the speaking.

I was sharing with my new friend that I have a goal to speak to 1000's of people yet I am not entirely sure of how to craft the speeches.  My goal would be that through these speeches the desired outcome would be of increasing value to the folks that attend.  Through this feeling of value that each person that has attended will feel a sense of the spark of growth that lights their passion.

He immediately understood what I was struggling with and shared with me a story of one of his personal friends.  That friend was Dr. Wayne Dyer and once again I was in a state of awe, as Dr. Dyer has impacted my life directly in a positive way though his books.  I thought I would have loved to meet Dr. Dyer and feel his energy and listen to his words of wisdom. 

My new friend went on to tell me a little about Dr. Dyer and one of the things that I thought was incredible and did tie into my question of how to create speeches of value.  Dr. Dyer never wrote any of his speeches, my friend told me.  What he did was when getting ready for a speech he would gather the information of what the topic was on.  From there he would go on stage and speak on that topic allowing a download of information to come to him.  As this information came to him he added his passion and with his words he created magic and greatness in that moment.

So those of you that know you are creative and are not fully acting on that creativity, perhaps now is the time to allow your passions to come alive.  Do what you love through your creativity and your passion will attract others to you.  As they also want to be a part of and sharing of this type of magic.  People can't help but to be attracted and drawn into someone that lives their authenticity.  True authenticity does not have a price tag, as it is priceless.  Priceless in sharing and it would be unfortunate to not share your gift.

To those who feel that you don't have the gift of creativity, when is the last time you commented on the value you received from someone else that did freely share their creativity with you?  But more importantly I challenge you to re-think your self-assignment on your creativity.  There is a high chance if you change your direct line of focus, you will see something that you have never seen in yourself before.

Live your moments and challenge your status quo, as through this challenging of self is when you will move forward quickly with your ability to grow.

The Second Book The 95th Chapter - Truth, Sharing and Motivation

Jan 2/18

How do you know you are  making an impact with others?  Do you have what it takes to make a difference with someone else?  Do you have a goal to increase the value you provide to others?

If so, it is a simple of living your truth and once you live your truth, people will respond.  Also to have the courage to share your thoughts or something of yourself when you have the intuition that you should do so. 

A story that has reinforced this lesson to me happened just after this Christmas.  After a wonderful time with family, friends and food it was now time to return to my physical workout routine.  As with most holidays for me, that physical routine was put on hold and I ate too much.  I went to the gym and I was happy with the results of my run.  At first I wanted to share this accomplishment on my Facebook but initially I refrained, as I was fearful of what others might think.  I quickly realized this was a mistake, so I posted a status of what I had done along with the time and distance.  Almost immediately I had a friend comment back and said thank you for the post as it caused him to get off the couch and goto the gym.

What a small difference my post made that day in a positive way to someone else.  If I allowed my fear to control my actions both of us wouldn't have been able to experience this small positive moment.  In short, whether it be positive or negative you are making an impact with everything you do.  Most of the time feedback will not come back to you so quickly as in this case.  Yet I want to encourage you to base your decision and outcomes on what is best for your health and well being.  I don't mean this in a selfish way to negativity impact others but in a way you know yourself and your foundation of kindness.  Even without feedback from others keep doing what you feel is right to increase your value to yourself and others.

Like any other building process in life, this start and being consistent you will achieve your goal of increasing value to others.  Once this happens you will experience the gift of effective leadership.  Leadership happens in all forms and applies to everyone that has a goal to make that positive difference in your community.  When thoughts of fear or what difference will this make to others enter your mind then quickly dismiss them as soon as they appear, if you follow these thoughts you will never make a difference.

Through your positive actions you don't have to make a difference with someone else but you will.  Growing yourself will grow others that you interact with.  Now isn't moments like these that make life special and so valuable.  Conquer your fear of your self-imposed doubt and start to feel you success when you do.

The Second Book The 94th Chapter - Letting Go

Dec 29/17

Have you ever wondered about someone from your past and how they are doing now after years have passed?  Are they happy?  Have they grown during the years you have been apart?  Have they achieved their goals?

Recently I was lucky enough to have met up with someone briefly who was in my life.  I was filled with excitement to hear of all their success yet nervous of how the meeting would go.  As the conversation progressed I quickly became aware their life had taken an opposite direction than mine in regard to personal growth and achievement.  This has caused me to pause as I realize this was the same pattern that has always been there but I didn't recognize it before.  I was grateful I could recognize this yet sadden by the negative like energy that was created by the choices made by this person.

A trait years ago, I would be attracted to in an attempt for me to try to help and repair the issues, now I am not.  This moment of reflection has helped me to let go of a person that never existed in the way I originally thought.  It is painful yet I know with confidence there is nothing I can do about the mindset.  I am grateful to realize that my self-esteem has grown and I am strong enough to not repeat my same patterns of my past. 

This simple skill of understanding self and others better has eluded me for my entire life.  To some people they would have this sight sooner than I but I am happy I have it now.  The work required to grow and develop is difficult yet so worth the effort.  If you are currently struggling with relationships, does any side of this story apply to you?  It is critical for you to not allow yourself to become a victim of any circumstances.  Just as important is to maintain your boundaries to ensure you don't enable someone that feels they are a victim.  Your sight and understanding does create your reality but be cautious this same trait doesn't create a false reality on your view of someone else.  As if you do and try to build connections with people from that view point this will end up in pain and unhappiness. 

Honestly and your intuition are your road map of how to proceed when new people come into your life.  When someone new comes into your life, do a quick check on your emotional health.  Are you in a positive place?  Are you in a negative place?  If you realize your in a negative place with your mindset you may want to proceed slowly with vesting your emotional energy.  When this is occurring there is a good chance your intuition is giving you a warning sign.

Take moments like these and integrate this learning into your life.  Always have the focus on a growth mindset in each moment of your day.

The Second Book The 93rd Chapter - Strange Coincidence

Dec 29/17

Have you ever had an experience that seems almost impossible to happen but it does?  If that happens how do you integrate that experience into your life to provide value?

I would like to share a strange coincidence that happened to me a week ago.  It was on the plane on my way home from Belize.  I arrived at my seat and beside me there was already seated a man in his mid fifties.  A brief hello was exchanged and as I sat down I pulled out my book that I am writing my second book in.  I enjoy Ernest Hemingway, so on the front of my note book there is a quote that states - "In order to write about life first you must live it."  As my new travel friend saw my book he looked at me with a smile and I could see his excitement.  He asked what I was doing with this book and it was then he shared his story.

He stated he had just bought exactly the same note book that I had with me.  He also went on to explain he had just completed his first entry a day before.  He shared with me that he suffered a serious stroke five years ago.  The stroke was so survive and rare the doctors didn't even have statistical odds of his survival.  The doctors called a family meeting to let his family know to prepare for his death.  However that didn't happen and 31 days later he came out of his coma and started the long road to rehabilitation.

He went on to explain to me he wanted to write about his story.  He shared he always liked to write and something that he always wanted to do, so he started.  The effects of his stroke are now barely noticeable now when I met him, yet I was in awe of his strength and courage.  It was only a few days prior to meeting him, I was considering giving up on my dream of writing.  To give up on my dream and go back to my kennel of my safe zone.

With this experience I know this was the universes way of saying to not give up and to keep writing.  I have no idea of what the odds would be if all the factors and details were accounted for on this chance meeting of my new friend.  To even come to the same place, time and seat beside him are rare.  Add in the fact all the details on the books and surviving the massive stroke, the odds to be meet him would be slim.

It is in you moments of insecurity of your path and what choices to make in your future, a moment will come like this to you.  We are all faced with doubt in our confidence to break our new trail however it would be a shame to not talk the support given to us when these strange coincidences occur.

Your mindset is key to notice them and then to follow through when these type of stories happen to you.  This unpredictable magic is the energy that will shift your life into extraordinary. 

The Second Book The 92nd Chapter - Finding Your Friends

Dec 26/17

How do you know something is meant to be?  Whether it be your goals or perhaps friends in your life.  We are faced on a daily basis of vast amounts of information and due to that bombardment sometimes we will loose our clarity.

The thought of everything is important and needs to be done right away can cause us to feel nothing is important and we do nothing.  The older we get the more challenging it becomes to maintain our innocence and our growth.  A key component of maintaining your momentum of growth is finding great friends and keeping them in your life. 

This leads me to a year long experience of meeting some amazing people on my holiday about a year ago to Belize.  A year ago I was searching for more of my clarity and was lucky enough to travel to Belize for 2 weeks.  It was during that 2 weeks I met Gordie and Brenda as a small beach side restaurant.  For the remaining 2 weeks we shared our past experiences of life and also enjoyed many moments of laughter.  From Gordie's booming laugh to Brenda's always looking after "us boys" there was many incredible moments.

Unfortunately the holiday came to an end and we went our separate ways.  During the year we communicated a few times by email and did keep in tough.  About 10 weeks ago I felt the need to go back to Belize and booked a trip.  After all the trip details were taken care of I emailed Brenda and Gordie sharing the details.  Immediately I received an email back sharing that they had just finalized booking their trip to Belize and turns our we had a 2 and a half days of overlapping time there.

Fast forward to 6 days ago and I met them at the airport in San Pedro and took them to their condo they had rented.  In this moment it was as if a year had not passed, it felt like it was yesterday that we parted ways.  The energy was all aligned once more and each moment was meant to be.  Also I couldn't help but notice how what appeared to be random yet without coordinating dates, there we were at the same place in the same moment in time.

I realized moments like these are moments that are truly special and by having these moments allow me to have clarity.  These moments allow me not be overwhelmed by large amounts of life's daily information.  These moments of your focus beam will push aside all our hurts and wounds and help build your confidence in loving life.  These moments are ones that take our life from average to one that is significant.

We are all allowed these moments, not just your heroes, so today be the best hero you have ever met and that hero is you.

The Second Book The 91st Chapter - Significant Change

Dec 20/17

Have you ever desired for more significant and real change in your life?  Whether it be your personal growth or a major technological development?

At the nucleus of any major change is a leader.  Someone that does not know how to fail, someone that knows the impossible is not a reality.  My thoughts wondered to the last 300 years of human history.  Specifically when there was no automation or technology that we take for granted today.  Then all of a sudden after 1000's of years that all changed in a second.Why is that and why did that happen?

A strong indication of current reality is the focus of direction.  I believe there was enough collective energy of society that people truly wanted a better quality of life.  People were tired of working so hard and seeing very little in tangle value of that hard work.  In a moment dreams were created and actual change did occur with the rapid introduction of new technologies.

As a society, yes we have made mistakes with that technology yet the reality is we now live better than most royalty did 300 years ago.  Take a moment and measure your life and ask yourself, are you a person that knows growth and prosperity?  Or are you failing alone, desolate and wanting a change?  If it is the latter, you will need to start creating your dreams again.  Replicate the pattern of nature in significant change.  Take your current reflection of growth and decide your future. 

As I look currently to our society, I feel we are in the need of some more significant growth.  If Henry Ford saw all the different colors and models of his cars now he would be impressed.  But don't you want more?  For over a hundred years now the basic concept of the car has not changed, vastly improved yes, but not changed.

To master this pattern in our life, this will take you to a form of mastery.  Perhaps you may never reach the level of rapid transformation and constant rebuilding of you, but it is a noble goal to strive for.  This mindset is not a guarantee for incredible growth however to not have this mindset will ensure you don't grow.  All growth comes down to the your focus combined with your energy put into your focus.

If something is lacking in your life, anything that you would like, then be the person that creates the piece that is missing.  Chances are you will feel a positive difference and then share that positive difference with someone else.  Through this mindset there will be significant change in you.  Once this happens now you are effectively leading yourself.  By leading yourself you then can create other leaders that are also longing for significant change in their life.

The Second Book The 90th Chapter - Ruining Magic

Dec 20/17

Do you remember an exciting moment you experienced as a kid?  That later on in life become magical and you feel a sense of value of that exciting moment.  These moments at the time are small yet combing them all together have a large impact on you and our communities.

Usually I don't comment directly on negative observations of our current society, yet this has been on my mind.  I feel I need to share with the goal to provoke some additional thoughts on how to improve our current environment.  The observation is that in general the things in society that were once special are either fading or totally gone.  With these moments gone the yest for life is fading and one of the results of this, is we are becoming drones anticipating our next output from our phones.

One example in particular of these moments of disappearing I recognized on my recent trip down to Belize.  I was sitting near the front of the plan prior to our departure watching folks board and walk past.  I noticed a young boy around 8 walk on without a glance to the cockpit.  At first I didn't think more of it but about half way to Belize, I realized in that moment some brief magic was taken way from that young boy and he had no idea what it was. 

When I was a young boy, prior to going on my first flight there was such excitement.  As others told me stories that on most flights young children are asked if they would like to come visit the pilots while in flight on the flight deck.  As the days slowly counted down to the my first trip to Disney World with my parents and sister, I could hardly contain my excitement.  I was hoping my sister and I would be lucky enough to be invited up for a tour.

Finally the day arrived and I say roughly half way back in the plane in a aisle seat.  I was in awe as I stared up at the open cockpit door with all the activity that was taking place.  Then we took off into the air and I am sure my eyes must have been as large as saucers watching the pilots work.  Then finally my invite came as the flight attendant asked if I would like to have a tour of the flight deck.  I gladly said yes and was taken up to the front of the plane.  I stared in amazement as the pilots welcomed me to their  work area and explained the generalities of what was going on.

To me that moment provided more value than the Disney World experience.  When I arrived home I talked about the event to others and still to this day the magic has remained from that experience.  Now this same experience for the younger generation has disappeared and so has the multiplier effect of this moment.  Although not a large single event, yet when changes like these do occur they do have a negative impact on the multiplier effect and our communities.

Can you think of moments when you were young that provided you with a similar experience to you?  Are these moments still active or have they been closed to our younger generation?  What can we do together to start building once again the environment of special and magic?

The Second Book The 89th Chapter - Time Return and Value

Dec 18/17

Have you ever wondered how to create an environment for sustainable growth?  Have you answered how to find something that is always there for you and is healthy? 

The concept of going to the old fishing hole comes to mind.  I have heard stories of folks that find an excellent spot to fish in a body of water.  Every time they need to fish they return to the same spot and receive their catch in a short period of time.  In nature, animals are always using this constant of the highest rate of return with the least amount of energy expended.  As our most precious gift is time, so with every waking thought your choices should provide you with the highest return and value.

Today I am sitting on a beach writing this entry in Belize.  This is my third visit back to this island in a year.  For me there is such a natural peace here that provides me with a sense of direction.  Each time here I have received high value in the people I have met.  This value is in the form of learning more about great people.  The theme is we all have a great life story to tell and most of us are really great people trying our best to make our mark on this world.

One of the folks that I have met on the island is Chris and he runs a small bar on the beach.  His gift is to make people feel special and make them laugh.  Through this act he is able to connect with people and they will return for multiple visits.  Most people are on vacation when they visit this island and are looking for a relaxing and fun time, which Chris provides both.  With this created environment both the visitors and Chris are receiving a high value of time invested in these moments.

This pattern is very important to add to your life, as with this type of relationships you will be creating more success and out perform your competition.  The concept of cutting your losses when they occur comes to mind now.  When you start something with the hope to have a high return and you realize that won't happen.  Then is is okay to communicate your exit and move onto your next opportunity.  It is key for your growth and integrity to always communicate in a kind manner your decisions in whatever environment you are in.

The first time I met Chris was over a year ago and I was looking for another spot, which was never open.  When I arrived at this spot it was closed and so randomly I stumbled across Chris's location.  I have learned to follow my intuition and head to the general direction I think I should.  Once I get close the auto pilot of the universe will take over and show me an experience that I would have never conceptualized.

The lesson of moving forward comes to mind and even if something doesn't turn out exactly as planned, to be able to come up with a plan b is vital.  Movement is life and with that movement comes your growth.

The Second Book The 88th Chapter - Follow You

Dec 13/17

Do you feel like your rocking your success?  Or do you feel you could do better and are looking for the actualization of your success?

Follow you, are the two words that come to mind, only you knows you like you do.  Only you can show you to reach your potential, once you have learned some basic life tools.  How many books like these have you read this year?  Of that number how many new tasks are you actually practicing each day on your self-improvement?

The reality is that, like this book, you will get a few new ideas to add to your life's toolkit.  However overall you probably have a good understanding of the concept of self-improvement.  So if you want to really achieve your success of your potential, you have to shift some of your time from reading to doing these tasks.  If you don't know the skills of success then yes keep reading words like these to understand the patterns of success.  If you do know these skills then book reading like these and then followed by no action, you are wasting your time.

Like everything in life, balance is required and consuming vast amounts of words with no follow up on your part, this is in fact a type of addition.  The importance is to understand and answer these two questions.  Question one, do I need to learn more about self-development?  Question two, am I reading these words for enjoyment and validation that I am on my correct path?  Either answer doesn't matter as long as you understanding your objective and are following your inner voice. 

If you truly want your success, you need to create that on your own, based on what you have learned.  Don't become a follower of someone else's "you" but create your own leadership style.  You will never fully live your potential by following in someone elses path.

Make this the last book you read until you accomplish one of your goals.  Spend your time applying what you have learned and let that knowledge expand.  Create a detailed yet reasonable plan of next steps and when you wake up in the morning recite to yourself these steps, you will become a leader. 

Not long ago I was able to attend a learning leadership conference.  In that conference I learned  very valuable information, so powerful in fact, it has changed my life for the better.  However I also know to return again to the same conference, I would be wasting my time and just as importantly their time.  As this time now is for me to share with others.  There will be a time when I need to learn more but at the moment this is all the information I need.  This moment will pass and I will switch my focus to learning again.

I will then repeat the process of learning and then sharing what I have learned with this new information.  All with the overall goal to create leaders that follow themselves on their next stage of applying what they have learned. 

The Second Book The 87th Chapter - I Wish

Dec 13/17

What is your greatest wish you would like to achieve?  Are you achieving your greatest wish?  If not, why not?

I am going to state something you might find controversial and hopefully thought provoking.  A wish is nothing more than hope and this combination alone has a low value to you on actually accomplishing your dreams.  So to clarify wishes and hopes do have value but are low in value if you don't change your life based on those wishes and hopes.  So essentially if you don't make your life changes based on your wish, you are wasting your greatest gift, which is your time.

Hope is the seed of the foundation of your growth and is your start but it is vital to act on that thought of what you truly want to acquire in your life.  What sometimes happens is our wish is lost because we will justify our lack of execution by our excuses.  All kinds of excuses come to mind of not seeing our wish grow and I am sure you have experienced most of them.

One in particular I would like to share is one of my physical improvement journey.  When I was in my old management position, I wished I had more energy and time to spend working out.  Always be mindful of what you wish for, as about a year later I exited my position and I had all summer free.  It was like I was a kid again and I had all summer vacation to do whatever I wanted to do with my time.  I would have more than enough time to complete my wish of working out for an hour a day. 

At first I started to do that but with the passage of time, I slowly started to find excuses that I had to complete other valuable tasks.  Which the net result in me not spending my full hour working out, as I had planned.  This is what I mean of a wish that now becomes old and ineffective.  I recognized this pattern in me slipping from my original goal and I knew I had to make changes.  The change I made was after the original excitement was over, I had to create my own reality of sustaining energy.  That sustaining energy is the hardest to create yet this is where you will feel the most value.  The sense of your accomplishment you feel now by you creating your forward movement will build your self-confidence.  This is key to master if you want to actualize your wish.

A great start is always to build your hope but if you don't act on that hope, that hope that was once valuable actually becomes the opposite.  With no results and combined with the lack of execution will take away from your self-confidence.  With that one mistake and if not corrected by you, will start your slow spiral down of losing you.  The secret is follow through, which leads to consistency, which leads to accomplishments.

This is your key to going further than you ever thought possible.  It is better to have one wish and actualize that wish than to have 10 wishes and to complete none.  Like any other skill once you start to master the execution of your wish then you can start to level up and add additional wishes.  The completion of your wishes and hopes will create your success.

The Second Book The 86th Chapter - Doing Something New

Dec 13/17

Are you living your dream right now?  Most of us would probably answer no to that question.  So what steps should you take to start to live your dream?

First you need to start to create small steps to living your dream and by doing this it will unlock your unlimited passion.  The hard part is to burst through your self-imposed limits that you have put on yourself by creating your own fear.  The worst possible decision in your life would be to not act on your initiation of your dream insight.  Your dream insights are the breadcrumbs that will lead you to live your dream.  These are the things you need to do when you think about doing them but you never do.

I have had the privilege to hear so many successful talks about the beginning of people living their dreams.  One thing that they all had in common was that they didn't know exactly how to create their dream or how the dream would unfold at the start.  Yet all of them started to follow what attracted them to their dream and as they started to actually pursue this dream, their next steps to how to create their dream became clear.  Once that shift started in their mindset then the taste of the passion of feeling their dream was unlocked. 

I absolutely love to create and convey an idea or a story that others can find value in the sharing.  Yet for over 30 plus years I ignored my dream of wanting to create and help others.  I remember in high school and college doing writing assignments and how much I enjoyed them.  Once I graduated from college I had no idea what my specific dream was let along of how to live my dream.  It wasn't until later on in my life did I realize I love to share.  But it took me years to get to this moment and over my fear of rejection.

The educational system taught me how to be successful in getting and holding onto a great job however I wasn't taught how to develop my dream intuition.  This topic is extremely complex to teach yet so important to learn this skill.  Take a moment and think of 10 of your closest friends and ask yourself - are they living their dream?  Once again the chances are the percentages are quite high that most are not living their dream.  The reason most of them are not living their dream is probably very similar to my story.

To achieve your vision of next steps and to live our dreams you must start moving forward with those small steps.  With this forward movement you will be provided your clarity.  Do something new that you haven't done before yet it feels you need to do it.  This is a clue to start figuring out your dream.  One thing I always wanted to do was create a live video to support my writing in my shorts, yet on camera it would appear I am formally dressed.  I know this sounds silly but it was a start of something new and I had a sense of accomplishment because I did it.

As I am posting this on the first day of 2018, I think it is very fitting that you act on something you always wanted to accomplish.  You have the time now and I have never heard of a older person regretting the times were they pushed their comfort zones and explored when they had their time.