The Second Book The 19th Chapter - Do You Fit In

July 10/17

Take a moment out of your busy day and ask yourself, do I fit in?  Do you fit into the current tribe you spend most of your time with?  As you reflect on this question, spend a moment thinking about your interaction with your tribe and the effect of your energy based on these interactions.

Are most of your days filled with challenges yet forward momentum is being achieved?  Or do you find your passion is not in alignment to your tribe and the same issues reoccur?  When your passion does not align up to the tribes energy you will always feel like something is off.  You will not be able to point to anyone person or event, it will be an underlying feeling of uncertainly that will remain with you constantly.

I would like to share a half a life time of this experience with you.  This was me making a choice to join a tribe at a young age that is very focused on immediate results.  Now results need to be realized in our work and our personal life yet a balance also needs to exist.  Like anything in life when there is a primary strong focus on only one area the rest of the required components are missed that enables long term success.  These will come at a cost to either you or your organization.

In my experience it came on the cost of people not staying and making a career with this tribe.  With the strong focus of the tribes need for results it effected people building the strong foundation of belonging to a group.  These business models are financially successful and I am very grateful of all of the opportunity provided to me and my family.  However during my experience the uncomfortable feeling existed and during the time I was not able to recognize to why.

The intent of this sharing is to provide you with some direction in the form of understanding.  With this understanding you will be able to recognize what your next steps will be for you.  If your tribe has a strong voice and you feel drawn to help change that direction of the strong voice, then you can.

By your words and actions over time you will have an impact.  This impact will also increase your value along with the organizations value.  Once balance is achieved the overall long term health of the tribe will improve.

Like the growth that is all around you, with balance this growth will never stop.  This will be a step that will take your tribe to the realization of a long term competitive advantage.

The Second Book The 18th Chapter - Cross Your Bridge

July 9/17

The patterns of rivers in our natural landscape appear almost on every journey we take.  A large amount of those rives are not passable without a physical aid in the form of a bridge.  Over human history we have created value by being able to travel long distances and trading our goods.  It could be a society building it's own wealth or another trying to capture wealth.  This travel is always required to reach a destination and to create value.

Even in our current times the need to have a bridge to cross rivers is required for the transportation of all we enjoy.  An investment of resources is required to build a bridge but once this is complete a pathway is in place to allow the free passage of movement.

In your life currently do you need to cross your bridge for your future growth?  Do you need resources to help create that bridge?  The beauty of once you realize the direction for this growth, this growth will start to happen.  Before you know it you will have gathered your resources, built your bridge and will have crossed over your bridge.  This process in you will allow you to travel to areas you have never experienced before.  You will be able to leave behind pools of regret and failures with the aid of your new bridge.  You will be able to start a new journey to increase your value.

We live in a world that is competing for energy and when you wake up each morning you have an limited amount of mental energy to expend.  This is when the law of efficiency will be applied to your daily life.  If you can develop your mindset of efficiency in all your choices you will start to feel your success.  This will take time to see direct results but like a marathon runner each step that you take that is more efficient that your competition you will then start out pacing them.

Crossing your mental bridge to the other side to increase your value is another key to keep continuing your growth.  The patter of continuous growth is all around us and specifically the thought of performance improvement in the Olympics comes to mind.  There are several factors to why every Olympic records of performance are set.  However the foundation reason for this increase of performance is set in the human mind.  All performance increases are driven by the human's mind to learn and grow and to become better than the past.

Whatever your passion and goals are at the moment, daily focus on creating your bridges to cross over to your increased value is required.  Set your mindset of every moment to create new self record breaking of your achievements.  Allow yourself the freedom of your movement, movement results into life and increasing your value.

The Second Book The 17th Chapter - Make Your Opportunities Count

July 9/17

Have you ever experienced a moment or opportunity that came your way and not acted on it?  Think back to your first grade school crush and did you communicate your young feelings to that person?  Or were you held in a place of fear and did not communicate your thoughts.

Now that your reliving that experience so long ago would you now have the knowledge and confidence to communicate that thought?  My guess is most of you would say yes to that question now and that now that act of communication would be very easy.

Now I would like you to think about your current personal situation wither it be in your inner circle or in your professional life.  Can you see any similarities from your past missed communication of your crush that you are currently repeating right now in the moment?  Chances are there are several opportunities right now that will enable you to level up and is required from you is to communicate.

Over time I have experienced first hand when people are stuck in a mindset of not making their opportunities count.  Once specific example comes to mind in regards to company emails.  In our current work world we are often inundated with a constant barrage of information coming from emails.  I have heard the comment of I don't want to answer my emails too soon as I am afraid if I do people at work will think I am not busy.  So in general we value being busy as a sign of our worth and value.  If others perceive we are not busy then the fear is we are not required and could be eliminated.

If you are in this trap, I encourage you to stop.  If you have the time to answer a email when it comes, then answer it.  What will start to happen is you will be making your opportunities count and in fact will be increasing your value.  Make each conversation count that aligns up to your success path you have chosen for you.  Even if you are going through a difficult phase at your work, push through the negative feeling of procrastination and answer that email.

The biggest disservice by not acting on your opportunities is towards yourself.  In fact this mindset will actually cause you to start devaluing yourself.  Your perception will become your reality in every choice you make in regards to making your opportunities count.

Crush your fears and communicate your indicators of your growth.  Stop the pattern of allowing your fears to chart your life's course and limiting your success.

The Second Book The 16th Chapter - Your Journey Home

July 6/17

My son and I are on our way home from our mini holiday where we  visited family friends.  During that time spent on this vacation there was many new memories created and several laughs where had by many.

In the journey of life it is important to explore further than your home as these adventures are vital to increase our understanding of our world.  Not only does this provide value in our understanding of our world, it also increases our understanding of others and their current struggles.  It will provide us with another lens of understanding, which will enable us to level up through the gift of this understanding.

You need to explore and travel yet just as important of your exploring is your journey home.  This pattern replicates in all forms of nature and our society.  Every living being will have some form of home or safe place to rest and recharge.  when you have returned home and are recharging, use your recent travel experiences and integrate that value into your life.

Tie in your alignment passion of the core of you to some of your recent experiences.  Use the experiences of your adventure and apply them to the direction you are heading.  Perhaps your looking at getting into better shape and think back where you saw someone or event that involves physical activity.  Use this to create a environment that is motivating for you to continue to grow.  Use your experience to become better at your own personal physical journey.

Based on your experience think of ways of how to improve.  When you are looking you will find events that you can benefit from and can directly apply to your growth.  Once you have completed understanding how to increase your own personal value of your experience it is important to act on this learning.

Break them down into three main objectives, which will include short, middle and long term objectives.  Write them down in your home where you will see them on a hourly basis while your at home.  You will need to decide what your specific objectives will be.  You  then need to transfer what your reading right now and by doing that it will change the psychological ownership to you.  This component is key for your success and you will need to complete the transfer of action to you.  It is like a baton race and once you take the baton, run with all your strength to the next stage of this task completion.  Use your recent fresh experiences to create yourself an environment that increases the value of your life.

Now that you have completed your home stage of productive reflection to your alignment.  It is time to venture out to another new journey for your on-going learning cycle.  For if you don't venture out your growth will stop.

Life is brief so capture each journey and integrate you lesson quickly into your daily life.

The Second Book The 15th Chapter - Finish Your Distance

July 5/17

Over the last few years I have been running and slowly have been increasing my performance.  I track my distance and time with each run.  Almost 2 weeks ago I decided I was ready to push my endurance length.  Not with a focus of time but with a focus on length of the run.

I was able to complete my goal of 13.2 km and during the last 3 km I noticed my legs starting to show signs of fatigue.  At the time the discomfort did not seem like an issue however during that day the discomfort become more apparent.  This discomfort did not require doctors care however my running performance on my next run slowed down drastically.

During the last 2 weeks I have continued to push forward with running however my current time is much slower than before my long run.  As I was running today I was thinking of my performance with a high sense of frustration, but I still did manage to finish my normal distance today.  With this completion today I had a sense of accomplishment as I adjusted my mindset of what my goal was today.  My goal was to improve my health and not to win a race of any kind.

I realized my biggest accomplishment for me was my ability to finish my distance of improved physical condition.  As I realized this my sense of frustration disappeared and was replaced with a sense of my accomplishment.  It is not as important of the speed you tackle your goals but the key importance is the finishing your distance.

All your best ideas, thoughts and dreams are valuable to you however if you don't act on them and complete them, you will never finish.  Also during your journey you will have mountains to climb and you will notice a slowing down of your pace of completion.  Once this happens think back briefly to how far you have already come and use this thought redirection for your fuel to propel yourself forward.

Remember to finish your distance and this is how you will be able to level yourself up.  When your feeling frustrated allow yourself to readjust your path to your goal.  This skill of goal adjustment is key for you to be able to complete your goals.  All great journeys of life are faced with adversity and successful people will adjust the path to their distance completion.

Look at your current challenges with a positive lens as these challenges will make you a better person.  Remember you have asked for your current challenges and the key is to create your opportunity in your challenges.  By doing this it will allow you to finish your distance.

The Second Book The 14th Chapter - Identify Your Blind spot

July 4/17

My son and I recently were able to take a trip to visit friends in the southern states.  The flight took place late in the evening on a summer day.  As we ere about 3/4 of the way to our destination our flight attendant brought to our attention a massive lighting storm to the port side of the plane.  The storm system was about 100 miles long and the top of the cloud height was about 25,000 feet.

Of course I have witnessed large storms from the ground however from this perspective I have never seen before.  Until in the moment, I  had no idea of this current reality of how a storm looks from this view.  Up until this moment I had a blind spot of reality that happens frequently however did not know how this lighting storm existed from this view point.

As I thought about this concept in the patterns of nature I reflected on my life experiences.  I wonder how many times an event or conversation has occurred and I was missing the big picture of the entire scope of that moment.  The first step to apply this improvement concept to you is to ask yourself, do you have any blind spots in your life that might be impacting your life in a negative way?  You won't know the specifics of that question however this is your start of growing your understanding of your blind spots.

If you never start asking your own self-development questions your awareness will never start to grow.  This concept of growth is all around you in regards to planting seeds.  The form of asking yourself this question will plant your seed for your growth.

The next step is to identify yourself a mentor that you have access to.  This could be a form of a book they have wrote or someone in your life you aspire to learn from.  There will be a reason your attracted to these people once you start asking yourself where your blind spots are.  At the start you won't have the ability to see what your missing however your mentor will lift your view point of your reality that will allow you to see a reality never seen before by you.

The beauty of this pattern recognition is it will be easy to see your blinds spots with the help of your mentor.  Once you start to identify them you will never be able to un-see your growth and how to apply that growth to your life.

Like the matrix movie, you too have the choice to take either the blue pill or the red pill.  The choice is yours of how you want to place your next step.

Ask yourself do you want to discover a new reality for you?  Do you want to lift yourself up to greater heights and to be given the gift of sight?

The Second Book The 13th Chapter - The Power of Speech

July 2/17

My youngest child graduated from high school yesterday.  I am so proud of her accomplishments and the amount of challenges she has over come to arrive at that moment crossing the stage last night.  I was so grateful to be there last night and to witness her passage into young adulthood.

During the ceremony there was a few different speeches from the graduating class.  The first few were what you would expect from young adults that are full of potential yet lack life's living experience.  Generally over time and life experiences provide folks with a certain amount of wisdom.

When the last man stood up to present his speech a energy shift magically descended on to the room filled with a few thousand people.  When this young man spoke he commanded the attention of the audience and even redirected applause during his speech.  He spoke from a place of wisdom and understanding that was from a place much older than he was.  He created an atmosphere of enlightenment mixed with reflective thought on recent events.  His time spent speaking was short yet his impact of his words will be long.

This caused me to think about the power of speech and the impact that it can have on others.  It was not only his words that were noble but also the kind energy that he filled the room by his words and sharing of his emotions.  One person at a time was impacted by his presentation and interaction with the graduating class and crowd.  It was clear he was in his moment and also was living his passion.  I realized as he spoke that not all of the people present fully understood his message, yet there was still an impact being made.

With time and age some folks will fully understand the intent of the message.  Based on the power of speech the importance of understanding your objective and audience is paramount.  Usually you won't speak to thousands of folks at once, so to tailor a presentation to people of various backgrounds will be difficult.  Determine what you want to accomplish when you are using others time.  From there determine your audience and their needs.  If you are not sure, do some research prior to your presentation to ensure you have true understanding of their needs.  By having understanding of your audience you then will achieve a real connection.  By these real connections your time spent will still be brief however your lasting impact will be large and remain with others.

This will be a factor of how to either start your success momentum or to gather more.  Now go out and start connecting.

The Second Book The 12th Chapter - Outgrow Your Tree

July 21/17

Recently the area I lived in was hit by two major wind storms.  After these two wind storm I noticed several large trees that had been blown over by the wind.  As I thought about all the damage and lost time of all those trees growth, at first it appeared to be a total loss.  However with time I realized a leasson for me that I would like to share.

The wind overcame the strength of some of the trees and with this force they were broke apart.  Even though for up to 30 to 40 years these trees in the past were able to survive storms.  This was a new day and a new challenge for these trees and they were not able to stand.  All the growth in the past could now not change the current reality of the tree breaking apart.

As I was looking around I noticed breaks on different locations on some of the trees.  Some were high up and the result was only a small part of the tree had failed and fell to the ground.  So ultimately these types of breaks the trees are able to continue to grow and be able to live another day.  In the very same condition some trees had broken at the base or even in some cases the entire root system had been pulled out of the ground and toppled over.  In both these cases the trees loss will be fatal and will not survive another storm.  In some of these case the failure of these trees had caused a lot of damage to cars and homes below them.

So two thoughts came to me.  One is when we are faced with life's storms and challenges.  When we break in the wind, how much damage will we cause to others around us.  Will we completely fail and cause others to lose energy as well?  Or will we cause little damage to others when we fail like the trees that lost the higher branches.  The second thought is when we face one of life's storms are we going to be ourselves after the storm has passed?  Are you going to be able to make the choice to let go of your higher branches and live to become stronger?  Or end up hanging on too long and end up losing everything?  Ensure you do not outgrow your support system as you journey on in your life.

In life we cannot control the impact of the strength of our storms.  However we can learn to bend and grow with life's storm experiences.  The choice is your to decide to outgrow your tree and cause significant damage to you and others.  Or learn how to shed some of your extra branches that will eventually cause you to fail in these storms.

Once again using the patterns in nature we can use these observations to help out success and to become stronger with each storm we face.

The Second Book The 11th Chapter - Continuous Purpose

July 2/17

We often hear of the idea of people need to daily work hard on their goals to achieve results and by doing this success will come.  I believe this is completely true however the start is easy and when is the finish?  Where is the rest of the story of how people have reached the finish line?

Sure we need to work hard but tell a story and feel a story of the results of hard work.  This pattern does seem to replicate in modern day story telling as well.  My thoughts turn to a love story where the couple finally unites and are happy, then that is the end of the story.  We all know in life in whatever we do that after the start is where the hard work begins.  The honeymoon phase is easy for all of us to experience and to feel the enjoyment of that experience.  The difficult part comes after the honeymoon phase is complete.

This phase start is critical to ensure your choices have aligned up with your purpose of direction.  As with this phase if your choices are not aligned up to your core purpose, this current journey will fade and be over.  This pattern happens all too often in our life and will cause us pain.  This is not all a negative thing, if our eyes are open this pain will help all of us grow.  With this growth more of our choices will then align up to our purpose.  Remember great will see great and don't be surprised of the results of your momentum.

Which leads to making continuous purpose choices in your daily life.  Once you start to do this, this will start to create your own personal momentum.  This will allow you to successfully pass the honeymoon phase in all aspects of your life.  From your personal life this confidence gained can cause your passion to spill into your work life in a positive way.   Once this momentum starts in your life, you will be provided with the opportunities you truly desire when you least expect them.

This process will feel like a warm rain shower over your body that will provide the environment to even further your passion.  I have been fortunate to have mentored a incredible yet stubborn individual over the last 5 years.  When I first met this person I immediately recognized the capacity for greatness in them.

Then the honeymoon phase ended and this person almost quit their job.  A few conversations were had and the turn around was absolutely incredible.  Not only in their work performance but just as important the ability to create real connections was integrated into their life.

For the last 3 years this person has made continuous purpose choices, which has now lead to a huge opportunity in the work life.  This includes a promotion and several other perks that come with this promotion.

The hard work is paying off and their momentum is growing.  Have you found your purpose?  Or are you in the continuous purpose phase of building your mountain to climb?

The Second Book The 10th Chapter - Judgement and Joy

June 27/17

I recently went on a road trip with my 16 year old daughter.  The experience and time together was a positive one, one that was filled with conversations that created a higher level of my understanding of her.  As the miles rolled away I was struck with how amazing of a young woman she is becoming.  A woman with hopes and unknowns, yet the strength to move forward over the last year and a half.

Over the last year and a half there has been some struggles with our relationship and there are a few different factors to the reasons why.  However one of the greatest causes of misunderstandings was a lack of effective communication and actively listening on my part.  Most of those miscommunication issues was on my end as she was trying to talk however I wasn't truly understanding her.

Which leads us to this amazing road trip holiday right now in the present.  On several occasions there was laughter, discussions along the way with a few tears shed by me.  As I thought about the trip I though of the concept of judging others.  I believe that is an act that all of us easily do without fully realizing it.  I know we all have experiences that shape our bases of communication and interpretations of the world around us.

From this vantage point our judgments on others, based on what we see in a snap shot of information, is then created.  As I thought about that concept, that judgment will lead to a feeling or emotions.  I never really thought much about this concept until this road trip with my daughter.

When you make a judgment of others does it provide you a source of joy?  On this trip I experienced people's judgment on occasions that was directed to me in a negative way.  I could feel getting judged at the hotel breakfast stations in the morning.  People would see my daughter and I walk in and immediately  I could feel being judged in a way that actually caused me to feel ill to my stomach.  This feeling has remained with me and I feel strongly this experience should be shared.

Picture a place of bonding and understanding, which my daughter and I were so lucky to experience.  To the dads reading this, you  know exactly this moment of how special these moments are.  In a brief moment some of the judgement were not in alignment at all to our reality.  The impact of this judgement was a negative one towards us.

This made me wonder again the power of the thought and how we can impact our universe and others.  This has also taught me a lesson in the importance of being more aware of how my judgment of thought effects others and myself.  When I have them to also be aware and ask myself, did that judgment provide joy as well as kindness to others and myself?

As I sit beside a quantum physics exhibition at a science fair this thought of judgment and effects of energy seems fitting.  Take a moment and determine what effect you want on others and why.  Is this patter of behavior allowing you to level yourself up and grow.

The Second Book The 9th Chapter - Fear of Your Sucess

June 25/17

My thoughts have been on the pattern of nature and the fear of the unknown.  All of us have some kind of events occur in our past that has made us uncomfortable and with the passing of time we find our new normal that is more comfortable than our past.

As we are programmed to evolve there will come a time when you want to transition into something better and into a new normal.  This moment of transition of growth is critical for you to identify for your growth to continue and to be long term.  This is where you will need to follow your passion and by doing this it will provide you the energy for you to move forward.  However it is in these times where it is the hardest for you to move forward due to the fear of your success.

I have noticed the patter of young rescue animals that can illustrate this concept of the fear of moving forward.  Usually all of these young animals have experience something that was negative in their environment and have been hurt.  Typically once they are rescued they are transported in a kennel of some type that has a warm, safe and clean environment inside of the kennel.  Usually the poor animal has fear in their eyes and will be curled up in the back corned of this safe kennel.  Once they safely arrive at their destination to their new home that is much larger and has the components of long term living.  The new home will have food, water, shelter and a loving environment and some of this in not present in the kennel.  Yet when the person will try to take them out of the kennel to their new home that they will want to remain in the kennel as it was safer than they had just experienced in their past.

When you have arrived and know you need to get out of your comfort zone, seize your moment and move forward.  As long as your movement forward is aligned  to your passion, then there will be food, water and a loving environment for you to grow.  There will be kindness and support if you have done the work on having your proper inner circle in place.

Like a new task, at first it will seem difficult, but with time you will easily mater you new growth skill set that you boldly have walked forward to embrace and practice.  Now guess what?  Now that you have moved forward to a new growth area you will quickly need to look for your next opportunity at growth.

This is where you will find yourself realizing your next step is to keep climbing.  Enjoy your growth and overcome your fear of your success.  You will enjoy the sweet taste of your growth and success by leaving your kennel.

Second Book The 8th Chapter - Kindness - Can You See it?

June 23/17

It is now just over one week since my middle management role has been eliminated.  As I take this time in my life, I feel I am growing in a way I never expected.  I am a 42 year old young at heart kid that feels so excited to how my passion will line up to my new work destination.

As I go through the process of not having traditional employment for the first time in my life.  I have realized the simple small acts are leaving a large impact with me.  I have been thinking about kindness and how it seems to be a rare act.  I am not suggesting people are unkind in general, it just seems the act of kindness is not used as often as it could be.  I am not talking about holding a door for others as an act of kindness, I believe acts like those should be in our DNA and normal actions.  These acts are what should be completely normal protocol for our daily behavior.

What I am talking about is real kindness in the form of acts and thoughts that are not common in our daily routines.  As so much conflict and controversy seems to exist in daily life we seem to make the choices to be informed and to have opinions.  However it seems like our actions tend to follow our tribe.  There is real diversity within our population and yet not real acceptance of all.  All kinds of people just want to be loved and accepted by all and who they are.

Recently 2 young girls created beautiful art imagines of encouraging of acceptance to a group that is traditionally not accepted by our tribe.  They came from a place of not having expectations in their form of art other than to promote full kindness and acceptance.

This kindness is a keep competent for growth within our communities.  Their picture was posted on a social media site and immediately views of their work rose into the thousands.  These 2 young girls had no goal of a social media wave of support but a goal of shared acceptance and of sharing.

I thought this is a key to all of us to be able to actually make a difference in our communities and ultimately will lead to our world noting a impact of real kindness.  For so long now we say we are a evolving civilized society and I challenge all of us to ask ourselves - are we actually evolving the way that truly matters?  Or are we really not fundamentally changing?

A big thank you for the kind impact to these young ladies had on me and my goal is to pay it forward and build acceptance of all.  To truly make a difference by one conversation and kind act at a time.

Second Book The 7th Chapter - Challenges, Choices and Reality.

June 23/17

My thoughts have been on challenges as of late and how these challenges can impact my life.  Recently I had the pleasure to meet an executive of a large organization and this person is responsible for a large area of territory.  During their day to day activities this person is making a positive difference in people's lives by one act of kindness at a time.

The lesson of challenges and choices is the gift that was shared to me.  I assumed  the leader of this organization would not have normal direct life's challenges like most of us regular people that are trying to gather our energy to survive in this world do.  However I quickly learned this is not the case and they too face challenges in everyday life such as we do.

They were faced with some issues recently which seemed they were in a situation where a positive outcome was going to be difficult to achieve.  This person spent only 12 hours on problem reflection and early the next business day decided to focus on what variable that could be impacted in a positive way vs. to focus on the show stopper.  With this mind set change within 4 hours a solution was put into action.  In a mere 4 hours of working time at a high level, a long term effective solution was created.

From a position of not going forward to now gaining momentum which will have the result of many people's life getting impacted in a positive way.  A challenge which lead to a choice and now a reality.  How many times have you been in a situation that found you challenged?  We all have and all our challenges are significant to us.  The difference between your success or failure is how you make your choices of your challenges.

A 3 step process of recognizing the challenge, make your choice and then your reality will unfold.  Also realize sometimes you will have no impact of direction or control of the original challenge.  During this 3 step process the critical requirement by  you comes in step 2, your choices based on your challenge is were the work is required by you for a success of reality.

As the universe is all about balance and return on your efforts your reality will be directly impacted on your expended energy.  Take your challenges and quickly view them as opportunities to level yourself up.  View them as a personal development skill set practice sessions of your life.  With each challenge grow stronger and learn from your choices.

All successful people have challenges, just like you do now, the seed of success are planted with your choice, which will grow into your reality.

The gift of growth will be yours to enjoy and share with others.  Start planting your seeds of success during this moment of the challenges you are facing now.

Second Book The 6th Chapter - Let Your Sun Rise

June 22/17

Recently the area I live in was hit with a powerful wind storm that left a lot of damage.  Shortly after the storm passed the sun broke through the clouds and a sense of calmness descended on the area.  This is when the clean up begins after the calmness starts.

It is in our nature to replant the trees that have been destroyed and repair the damaged buildings.  Once again this pattern replicates in our own life and we all face storms of personal testing.  Once this does happen the importance of letting your sun rise and break though your clouds is your first step in another growth phase.  As when you let your sun rise, your calmness will grow and during these moments are your most futile times where building and growing will be the easiest.  The energy you put in to you growth in these calm moments are the highest return on your energy investment.  The more rebuilding and replanting you do now in these moments will have a lasting effect on your journey.

These moments of calm will plant your anchor in the foundation to hold you strong when your next storm hits you.  So take these moments of calm and plant your anchor deep in your alignment.  Whatever direction you want you life to head, strategically place your anchor in your passion.

An experience comes to mind of a storm period in my life, let's rewind the clock and allow me to share a moment with you.  Years ago I became a single father of two beautiful intelligent children and we spent our free time together living our normal life, which led us calling ourselves the three musketeers.  When my daughter became a teenager the three musketeers dynamic started to shift and events happened I later became aware of.  However these events were the start of a storm, a storm that lasted about a year and during this year this time was painful on all of us.  Yet we remained loyal to the core of our family unit.  With each day with a new sun rise I would check to see if the storm was finally over and one day it was.  It was a blessing and during the time of calmness all three musketeers reunited in a way that was similar to what our normal was.

It was during this time a deeper connection has resulted in our anchor into our alignment of being that family unit.  Even though that storm was dark and painful with many tears shed, I am now so grateful for the sun rising and spending energy rebuilding and replanting.

Second Book The 5th Chapter - Your Longest Day

June 21/17

Currently I am on a short trip and I have observed a few events that ties into folks not living their life.  As we know time is a retaliative concept and when we are not living life each day will go by slowly.

As I was waiting to depart I happened to notice a person that had low levels of energy.  It appeared he was in a position that was not in alignment of his passion and I could read him that he cared very much for his work in regards of him doing a great job.  However it was not his passion and as time went on his energy was slowly draining from him.  As he was middle aged,  I wondered if he asked himself lately if he was making the most of each of his moments.  Was he providing value to himself?  Was he living his freedom?

As previously wrote on the first chapter of this book, I am in new waters for me in regards to my work.  I am feeling unsure of where I will find my new home however as I explore in my new direction I am ensuring I am aligned up to my passion.

It is interesting on timing as a few how later my son called me.  He is 18 years old and started his first real job.  His passion is to excel in whatever he works at and he truly makes connections with whomever he interacts with.  However he is learning that not all people appreciate that type of work ethic.  As we discussed how his work interactions were going, I was struck by the parallels of my 20 year story and what was currently happening with him.  I reassured him to ask himself what his passion is in and to what work environment he would like and how to achieve his goals.  I don't feel he has found his long term place yet and feel that if he remains at his current position, he too will start experiencing his longest day.  Just like the man I observed and like what I have experienced.

It is interesting the choices we make that don't align up to our passions.  It provoked the thought of I wonder how many people are living their life in a way that does not provide them the joy of their passion.  The concept of our fears comes to my mind and how we somehow end up stopping our exploring of our environment.

Once we stop exploring, we stop our growth which then leads to our longest day.  Shortly after that we will start to buy short term happiness with a cost of being tied even deeper to our longest day.

If your living your passion that's great and then it is your duty to help others realize their passion.  If your not living your passion start today and create your realignment to your passion.

Second Book The 4th Chapter - Love You Passion

June 20/17

Love you passion - no that is not a typo.  This is a focus on your passion and that passion is you.  Your DNA of passion is the core of who you are and by loving yourself is how you unlock your passion.  By doing this, it allows you to show the world your DNA and people are naturally drawn to this natural beauty that comes from within you.  It is the pattern of the moth to the flame and people as well can't be helped but to be drawn to you.

In the stars we see today that are in mainstream media forms we are drawn by the millions to their natural magnetism of their display of passion.  There are several examples in recent history of world leaders that live their passion.  By doing that it attracts followers, these followers sometimes are not aligned with the leaders core beliefs.  However when a leaders true passion comes out in communication with people, people will follow the passion and will overlook the value gaps.

The passion is the key that will draw people in and is the bridge that will allow you to connect with all different people.  People will put more value on how they feel over rational thought by unlocking your passion and by loving yourself real connections will be felt by others.

Use this pattern as it will replicate in all areas of your life.  Your choices you make daily will drive the direction of your life.  Once you start to live your passion the importance of selecting the correct inner circle is critical for you to achieve your goals.

Not long ago I met a CEO of a large organization who's core being was of strength and integrity.  His vision was to grow and lead a strong company however this will not happen due to his choice of his inner circle.  His inner circle is not aligned up to this leaders vision of what greatness looks like.  With the lack of this strong inner circle this company is not going to great and in fact if it does not change, will not be a positive cash flow business.  The momentum of this inner circle is not allowing this vision to be carried to all levels of the organization.  I can only guess to the situation of the why this inner circle is like this however it was a lesson to me on the importance of who I bring in to promote my passion.

The more you unlock your passion the more you allow yourself to grow and at some point you will need others to help carry on your passion.  This growth with then by unlimited and your choices will determine the amount of growth you will receive.

So take a moment and ask yourself are you choices aligned up to your true north and do you love you passion?

Second Book The 3rd Chapter - Learn From Your Regrets

June 17/17

It now has been three days on my new journey and during this short time I have been doing some thinking.  The thought of regret comes to mind and how paralyzing that can be.  To be stuck in a place of regret that does not enable us to move forward.

When I was a young father sometimes I felt I did not provide an environment where my young kids could grow to who they truly are.  As I look back over the 20 years I understand why my filter lenses of my reality were like it was at the time.  Starting out in a world that is not full of kindness, starting out being completely new to being fully independent.  Starting out with not knowing who I was or knowing where I needed to go.  I did not have my freedom and my innocence did not exist.

All driven by fear, which I know now with time.  So I clearly understand now what I didn't 20 years ago.  When these realizations become clear then what happened to me was getting set adrift in the sea of regret.  Specifically I know I can be a better father to my kids now however to be with them again as young children that time has past and there is no going back for a do over.

With my new 3 day gift I can see so clearly on what matters the most and that is my kids.  I also realized even though I could have been a better father their love to me is perfect now.  As I  write tears come to my eyes as I realize the wholesomeness of their love has been the entire time.  The gift of clarity and realization is a powerful concept.

So as I am sailing out of the sea of regret, it is with great joy I can connect and feel their love at a level I have never experienced before.  Actual connections where the connection is 100% solid and equal in people freely giving while receiving the gift from others with the same intensity.

Now that is beautiful and a key component to living life.  Traditionally it is the parents that teach their children and in this case I am so grateful I was able to learn from my kids.

Their innocence has help provide me my freedom of enjoying their love given to me.

Thank you Nick and Megan - I love you guys.

Second Book The 2nd Chapter - Create Your Freedom

June 16/17

As I reflect and looked at the patterns I have seen lately in nature, I see boundless opportunity and energy with new life in the early summer period.  I would like to share and explore why this pattern appears in young living entities.  I asked myself what is creating this environment of boundless opportunity?

One factor is the concept of freedom that all living creatures experience.  They have not been jaded by the blade of time, as with time the sense of freedom can be lost.  There are countless examples of people in the 80's and 90's that look several years younger.  Not only look younger but act younger as well.  This is to do with the fact they all have mastered their freedom.  Time and your choices will start to erode and limit your freedom.  All which are directly impacted by your thoughts in each moment that you have your thoughts.  An example of needing to make each thought count is free countries and their military strength.  The freedom that millions of people enjoy with their daily lives is a direct result of decisions made everyday to provide that freedom.

The battle of good vs. evil will always exist and so will that pattern exist in your thoughts.  As young children we have been given the gift of innocence.  The gift that anything is possible and in reality it truly is.  To help maintain your innocence is a key competent in your freedom of each moment and of each choice you make.  As you make your choices, focus on your passion of alignment, by doing so this will provide you more momentum of where you want to go.

The older you get ensure you keep focusing on what is possible and don't allow time to slow you down.  Don't be defined of what you didn't do but be defined what you did.  Be the 90 year old person that runs everyday.  Be the 90 year old person that still lives their freedom.  As you grow listen to your inner voice as that is your road map to your freedom.

If you have your freedom that same inner voice will show you your direction.  Not only your direction but also let you know of any dangers to avoid.  We hear of so many people that avoid physical danger by following their inner voice, so use this pattern in your course of growing your freedom.

By one thought at a time to make each one of your actions count.

The Second Book "And You Keep Climbing - Continuing Your Journey of Growth" The 1st Chapter - Source of your reality.

June 15/17

Well the day has arrived today - today is the start of two new journeys.  The first one is the start of my second book and the second is I start this day as another north american statistic of a middle aged male in upper middle management that now finds myself without a job.  For over 20 years I have worked hard and achieved so much however yesterday afternoon I had the typical H.R representative meeting stating that I am being realigned and I am no longer required.

A eerie feeling descended upon me walking out of the office for the last time yet also knowing new opportunities will be around the corner.  What those are I am excited for yet still feel a mixed roller coaster of emotions.

The name of the new book is called "And You Keep Climbing".  Whatever journey you are on the only option to fully live life is to keep on climbing your mountain.  My thoughts drifted to a recent conference I attended and one of the speakers was Seth Godin.  He spoke of humans need for a tribe and as I thought about that concept, as I am now looking for a new tribe, I decided to explore that idea further.

My thoughts turned to what your tribe values and what you bring to the table in regards to your value.  So you need to ask yourself what do I bring for value and what does my tribe see as value?  That value is so relative and is always a moving target in a healthy organization.  Transition and the ability to transition the most efficient is key to you and the organization's health in the long term success.  To be successful in a tribe (organization) one has to know what they value.  Once you lean that does that value align up to your natural passions and gifts.  So depending on your your goals you can survive in any tribe by identifying that key component.  This will perhaps sound controversial however results completion is not always the key to your success in a organization.  Now not all organization are like that and this is not intended to be negative.  The point is to unlock some keys around you to help propel you to your greatness.  

Ask yourself what is your focus?  To survive and get through the day, month or year?  Or to live life and keep unlocking your passion?  What gets you excited when you wake up?  As we spend so much of our time in our life working, this time can shape our actions as a human beings.  These actions can influence us to make choices in our personal life that sometimes you might not be aware of the effect this is causing to your reality.

Life is energy and your choices will either add or subtract that energy from you.  Have you ever met a person that is always so full of energy and passion?  Have you ever asked them why they are like the way they are?  There is a very good chance they will say they are living their passion.

Once you start living your passion you will not run out of energy.  So if you are like me and have been realigned for other opportunities or your feeling like your in a rut.  Ask yourself what is the source of your reality.  Once you have identified that, make your choice of what you want to do next.

The phrase the world is your oyster is so true and so many successful people share with us freely that if you believe it, you will get all the goodness you deserve.

If you feel you can do more start by looking at your source and accept your truth.  Make your change now if you want too and if you want it.

True accountability rest inside of you.