&!

It's New Years Eve.   Most of you are off of work today and getting ready for a night of festivities and pulling back the curtain on a new year...the dawn of a new beginning.   Yes, I know many of you are making resolutions and setting goals - that's a good thing.  Fitness, finances, family and fun should be a part of what you plan to be, do and have in 2015.   Can I give you "the secret" to achieving all of your goals?   It is the symbol to the left.  Its real name is Ampersand, it common name is "And" but many know it by it's symbol...   "&".   Handy little symbol that does a lot of neat things.  Its primary job is to combine things.   Peanut butter & Jelly, This & That, Yin & Yang, To & Fro, High & Low, Rich & Poor...ok, you get the picture.   How is this symbol the key to achieving all of your goals in 2015?  Its other job is to connect things.  As it relates to your best year ever it connects...   Before & After     Lets take a look at "Before".  Before is easy.  It is what we look like today with no effort.  The bank account could be $0 (or overdrawn!), the scale could be enemy #1, our marriage could be on the rocks or we could be addicted to libations on the rocks. Before doesn't require anything...it just is.     But "Before" is not what we want...we want "After".  More often than not, we try to hide our "Before".  We don't want people to know how bad things have gotten.  That we have allowed things to erode, living our lives along the path of least resistance. Deep down, we know what is wrong with our "Before" and what we allowed to get there. That also means we know what it will take to get out of it! That is why we make resolutions and set goals...to get to "After".  The "After" we are eager to show gets us positive attention.  It always basks in the light of adoration...a testament to the human will and the crowning achievement of persistence in the face of overwhelming odds and circumstances.  The Horatio Alger "Rags to Riches" story is always applauded - from the welfare mother who gets her first house, to Sara Blakely (Spanx) going from nothing to millions.  Jared is still famous (and rich!) from losing weight eating Subway sandwiches.  Millions of people still watch the "overnight success" opportunity presented by American Idol, The Voice and others. We all love a good "Before & After" story.  While we focus on the difference between the Before/After, it is what happened between them that really matters.  That is where the "&" comes in.  The "&" is where we put in the work, fight against old conditioning and habits. It is where we toil and struggle without fanfare or applause.  We have to encourage ourselves.  Do more squat, run one more mile, make one more phone call, write one more chapter, go on a date with your spouse, take your daughter to lunch...it isn't always glamorous, but the "&" is not supposed to be. The "&" represents time, energy, effort and focus.  It is a cocoon of safety and anonymity, where you can succeed, fail...and try again as many times as it takes to get to "After" - without peering eyes of judgment. It is the place of metamorphosis.  I am not interest in what you looked like "Before".  Not to burst your bubble, I am not that interested in your "After" either - though I will clap with everyone else.  I now understand that my mission in life is to cheerlead you through the private, inner battles of your metamorphosis. To exhort and encourage you when you want to give up, when the price of achievement seems to high and when you are looking for inspiration to make another go of this precious thing called life. Make 2015 The Year.  Take a real look at "Before"...set an audacious and bodacious "After" and know that you have more than what it takes to achieve it and make it through your    &!   For 2015 and beyond, I wish you Money, Power, Success!

Truth or Dare!

Happy Monday!    Just 3 Days until 2015.    Are you excited?  Does the ushering of a New Year bring hope and renewed aspiration?    It should.     There is something about getting to wipe the slate clean that absolves people of the things they didn't do in the current year and that they can start afresh in the coming one. It's kind of like "kicking the can down the road"...except with champagne and parties! Hey, I am not being cynical  or pessimistic.  Quite the opposite.  It's just that my recent milestone of turning 50 has made me ultra sensitive to time and accomplishment.  As much I would like to say I completed in 2014, there were a lot of things I left undone.  My suspiscion is you have some things you didn't do in 2014, either.  Before we beat each other up, let's play a game. Truth or Dare.    I will break from the tradition of the game and not require that you tell me The Truth, but that you are honest with yourself about your unrealized goals.  Ask yourself 3 questions;   Did I do everything possible to accomplish this goal?  Am I still committed to this goal?  What am I going to do different about this goal in 2015? Again, breaking from the tradition of the game, I am not letting you off the hook just because you told The Truth!  I now want you to take The Dare.  1. I Dare You to believe at a higher level about your goal!  Not only see it as possible, but see it as already done.  Supreme faith always sees things in "the NOW"!  Flood your mind with positive images of completion, achievement and enjoyment.    2. I Dare You to do something radical toward the achievement of your goal!  For a moment, suspend the intellect - it always wants to take the "safe road".  Let your instincts have a shot at guiding you.  It is probably telling you to do something you have never done before. Go bananas...do it!   3. I Dare You to throw everything you have at your goal!  You don't have to be 50 to understand that time is precious.  Don't waste it by giving half-hearted efforts to the things that should matter most.  If you are not 110% committed, then maybe you should let it go and move on.  Still want it?  Then you will have to do the work, pay the price, and give all that you have!  It will be worth it!   I am not waiting for Thursday to play Truth or Dare...I am playing today.  Right now.  I am doing what I am asking you to do.  Is it scary?  Of course it is.  That is why people live in their Comfort Zones...to be comfortable.   Get out of the zone...time to play...    Truth or Dare!   Until tomorrow, I wish you Money, Power, Success!

Get Leverage!

Happy Friday!  13 Days until 2015.    Time to make a change, and time to act!  Remove any fear or doubt.  Besides Triskaidekaphobia (fear of the number 13), what do you have to be afraid of?   Yesterday, you picked the one thing that you are committed to giving your all...remember?   Today, we are going to take that a few steps further and Get Leverage.  Your point of decision was a great first step, but only a first step.  The key to real change is a steady combination of right thought and action.   The thoughts you think either motivate you or talk you out of taking the right action or into taking no action at all.  Mind controls your motivation, so we have to get leverage on your mind.    How do we do that to ensure we follow through the next 13 days? I have 5 things that I do to Get Leverage on myself.  Doing these will test your resolve, help identify true commitment, and will be a temperature check to see if the goal is truly worthy of your focus;   1.  Keep the goal in front of you at all times.  At a minimum, the goal should be written down, but you can take it a step further by getting pictures, videos or other 'live" representations of your desire.  With I-Pads and smartphones, visual representation of your goal should never be more than a screen saver away!   2.  Write down the things that will be better when you achieve this goal - The Carrot.  In rapid-fire, brainstorm style, list the benefits of accomplishing this goal.  You want to amass as many positive results as you can.  Nothing is too big or small.  If it only appeals to your vanity or makes you feel good, that is not superficial.  In fact, that is perfect, proper leverage!   3.  Write down the things that will be the consequences of not achieving this goal - The Stick. In a similar fashion, you have to list the ramifications and repercussions of not following through and achieving your goal.  You have to see, visually, that procrastination, fear and doubt have a heavy price.  These triplets do not extend credit...they demand payment in full!   4.  Spend a few minutes, several times a day, seeing yourself engaged in the activity that will bring the desired results and fast forward the visualization to your ultimate success.   5.  Tell someone you trust about your 13 day commitment.  Share your goal with an accountability partner.  There is something about us that doesn't want to let other people down...even if we would let ourselves down.  Take it a step further, sign a "contract" with them that if you don't act consistently, there is a corresponding "penalty" to pay.   In that spirit, my "pick one" from yesterday...get to 180lbs.    How committed am I to that goal? The January 1, 2015 crumbs will have me with shirt off!  Before I change my mind (or Natalie looks over my shoulder), I better hit the send button!   Stay tuned.  Now you know I mean business!    Do you?   Then do something today to get committed and to...    Get Leverage!   Until Monday, I wish you Money, Power, Success!

Pick One!

 

14 Days until 2015.  Excited?   You should be.  2015 will be the best year of your life!!!     Where have I heard that before?   Oh yea, this same time last year when someone told me that 2014 was going to be the best year of my life!   There is nothing wrong with anticipating a best year ever.  Humans are designed to have hope and look forward to the future.  What becomes counterproductive is to always put the "best ever" perpetually in the future.   What about the here and now?  What about today?   I want you to go and take a look at your 2014 goals list.  Take a moment to applaud and celebrate yourself for the things you have done and accomplished.  Now, take a look at the things that are as yet undone.    We still have time.  You have the 3 choices listed above;   Give Up. Give In. Give It Your All!   Pick one.   Somehow, you don't strike me as the giving up or giving in type.  That leaves you the best option...Giving It Your All!   "You have never seen what you could be IF you threw your WHOLE SELF at YOUR DREAM!  Throw EVERYTHING you've got at it...HOLD BACK NOTHING! T.D Jakes   What can you do in 14 days?  Who knows, but it sure beats wasting them!   Didn't make your weight loss goal?  Can you lose 2 - 5 pounds in 14 days?  Can you make better choices through the holidays?  Thought you would be out of debt?  Can you send $100 dollars to your credit cards?  Can you call them to make arrangements if things are bad?  Can you commit to not charging anything this holiday season or stick to a strict budget?   Wanted to make 6-Figures of income but fell short?  Can you do something to earn even a few hundred dollars?  Can you reach out to your clients for the holidays and let them know you will be in touch with a great product in 2015?   I am not asking you to move mountains in 14 days, I am asking you to plant seeds.  The seed of any a small action can have powerful results.  The best way to begin is to set a target, engage a behavior...and build positive momentum going into the New Year.   If you have 3, 4, 8 goals that you did not achieve, I am not asking you to scatter your thoughts and actions evenly across them and end up with watered down momentum.  I am asking you to focus everything you have on the one that will bring you the most satisfaction.  I am asking you to concentrate your energy and effort in one all out last push.  I am asking you to... Pick One!   Until tomorrow, I wish you Money, Power, Success!

Never Give Up!

When my son, Christian, was about 8 years old, he brought a picture of a toy to me.  Mind you, it wasn't close to his birthday or Christmas. "Hey Pop's, I want my next goal to be this mini skateboard park."   He showed me the picture and all the neat things he could do with it and his growing mini skateboard collection.  He knew the way to get to me was through the "goal setting" angle.    I fought off my initial inclination to "just say no" and made a counter-offer,   "If you still want it in 30 days, I will get if for you."   Then, he gave me the look.  The one that knew there were going to be strings attached, and I said, "No conditions, if you still want it in 30 days, we will go get it.  That simple."   After 30 days, I went to him and without prompting told him, "It was time."   "Time for what?" he said oblivious.   He had forgotten.    Or more precisely, his desire for the skateboard park had waned.  Make no mistake, Christian was intense as a child...and now as a man.  This experience only exemplifies what some of us demonstrate day in and day out with most of the things we say we want.   We are casual.    There are some things on your list of life that are under the "that would be nice" category.  We see something online, in a magazine or on T.V and it sparks a momentary impulse of desire.  That is how a lot of things become impulse purchases!   Then, there is The List.  The real list.  The things that will not go away.  You write them every year.  They come in and out of focus, but in a moment of excitement and inspiration, you dare to believe in them again.  It is in that moment of belief that your "if at first you don't succeed, try and try again" mentality beckons to you...   Never Give Up!    I know you think I should quit prodding you, quit pushing you.  I can't help it.  Remember that at the top of my list is, "Helping millions achieve success...one at a time."     Someone has to be the voice of treason...yes, I said treason.  It is those treasonous thoughts that are trying to get you to slack off - to give up.  If you are honest with me (and yourself), what appears to be innocent slacking off is really just another way of giving up. "Never, never, never give up." Winston Churchill         "Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn." Harriet Beecher Stowe     I want to see what we can do if we generate a little more focus and muster up a little more strength to push hard these next 16 days.  Yes, I know that Rome wasn't build in a day, but I'm they sure made a lot of progress in 16 days. So can you if you... Never Give Up!   Until tomorrow, I wish you Money, Power, Success!

Finish Strong!

Happy Monday!       Seems like we just finished a 30 day countdown and it is time for another one...the countdown to 2015!   It would be easy (and somewhat understandable) to lay back these last 2 1/2 weeks and just coast into the New Year.  I am sure some of you met all your goals for 2014 and are using the holidays to celebrate a banner year.   What is that you say?  You didn't reach all of your goals?   For those of you that did everything you set out to do in 2014, take a powder.  For those of us (yes, that means me, too!) that left some work undone, we can't afford to take the last 17 days off - that is 5% of the time of the entire year!   If you dare, take a look back at the things you set out to do in 2014.  In the areas of mental, spiritual, social, physical and financial, did you achieve the things you wrote down?    Before you beat yourself up, did you "miss" in the right direction?  Effort and energy expended in pursuit of a worthy ideal is never failure.  You just may need to define and refine your approach. The next two weeks should be spent focusing on where you missed it and how to get things back on track.  It means taking concrete action that will help you be more effective going into 2015.   Now, the tougher question; Did you even really attempt the things on your list?  If the answer is no, than you have a major decision to make - Is the goal still one you are committed to?   No.  Then strike it off as a casual wish.  Something that you are not willing to pay the price for.  No shame in that.  You don't want it bad enough so it is not important.  Reality.  Better that, than lay back for 17 days and then proclaim a newfound vigor for that goal January 1st just to have it fall back into a non-priority by February.    That is how years come...and go.    Ah, but if the answer is yes and you still want it, then I challenge you to begin moving in the direction of that worthwhile goal today.  Right now!  To get your mind and body in motion, keep them in motion and build momentum going into the New Year.   You can erase 11 1/2 months of procrastination, fear and doubt in these next 17 days.  You can prove to yourself that you are a person of action and conviction.  You can prove to yourself that the things you want are coming to you through merit, time and attention...action!   "Whenever you have taken up work in hand, you must see it to the finish. That is the ultimate secret of success. Never, never, never give up!" Dada Vaswani     Dust off that list from January 2014, we are about to attack it where we can. We are about to   Finish Strong!   Until tomorrow, I wish you Money, Power, Success!

Not Just Another Day, But A New Day!

Today is December 12, 2014...My 50th birthday.    Happy Friday!   Remember Casey Kasem and the top 40 Countdown?  What about Dick Clark and the annual New Years Eve Countdown? Or the countdown waiting for an Apollo mission to get underway?  Ok, with NASA essentially defunct, I really just showed my age!   The past 30 days or so, I have been counting down to the milestone of turning 50.  The intent was not to celebrate me, but to celebrate life...yours and mine.    As I type this, there is a subtle sense that nothing has really changed.  That would make all of this somewhat anticlimactic.  The reality is, that so much has changed.  In the process of time, change seems like a gentle process that reveals an evolution.  That yields a harvest.  A result.   Only in the face of a "before and after" do you see the stark contrast of where you started...and where you are...and a shadowy glimpse of where you are going.

Looking at that little boy, I can't help but wonder if he knew.  He looks wise.    Did he know that I would find and marry the love of my life? That we would have 3 talented and loving children and a beautiful new daughter and granddaughter?  Did he know that I would struggle mightily to find a place in the world and through a series or mistakes and calamities stumble upon a path that would bring provision through passion and purpose.   The smile on his face says yes.  I just wish he could have told me.   I just watched "A Christmas Carol" (I watch every year - the black and white ones are the best!).  Ebenezer Scrooge's journey to his past, present and possible future is one that resonates with me each year, but particularly with this milestone.    I cry each time he is given another chance.  Another day to live, love and contribute.  The one thing the tale confirms and that I know for sure is that each day is precious.    Each day is a new beginning.  Each day is a renewal.  Every day a Birth Day.   "There is also a sense in which every day is to be regarded as the beginning of a new life, in which one can think, act, and live newly, and in a wiser and better spirit." James Allen   So take a few moments to celebrate your new day.  Your life.  I know there are things you would change and some things that have not gone the way you planned.  My life is not perfect either, but with the dawning of each New Day, I am given the awesome privilege to give gratitude for the things that are right and the responsibility to change the things that aren't.   "I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning." J. B. Priestley   Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays and special days of celebration are fine, but the key to living a high-quality life is to understand that...    It's Not Just Another Day, But A New Day!   Happy New Day to you and yours...   Until Monday, I wish you Money, Power, Success!

The Thing!

Today is December 11, 2014...1 days from my 50th birthday on December 12th.        The Thing.   No, not the 1982 John Carpenter movie with Kurt Russell (even though that was a great one - think Alien with more suspense!).  I am not talking about the rock looking creature, Ben Grimm, from the Fantastic Four.   I'm talking about your work, your calling, your gift, your passion and purpose...   The Thing.  Your Thing.   There is an expression that we used to use back in my day when we asked someone how they are doing.  The would answer,   "I am just trying to do my thang!"  or I am putting my thang down!"   There was hope in that expression.  There was a connotation of following a dream.  Now people might say,"I am trying to hold it down" or "Just working for a living" or as the youth might say, "I am grinding" (ok, at 1 day from 50, I may be a little out of touch!).  From how I see it, the optimism and hope have gone out of the way we talk about our work... which encompasses the majority of our lives.    Have you lost touch with The Thing?   The Tests - To let you know whether or not you are doing The Thing, there are all kinds of things people will ask you;   If you won 20 million dollars would you still do it? Sitting on your rocking chair at 90, what would you wish you had done? If you knew there was no way you could fail, what would you try? If you had 2 years to live, what would you do?     "Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important." Steve Jobs   Mortality is sobering.   Why wait for some "magical event", threat of death or live with regret.  To deny their true calling is making people sick.  They live lives of despair and daily torment.  Sure, that sounds over dramatic, but what happens to most people is that they get used to it.  It becomes their normal.   "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." Proverbs 13:12 NIV   What would you rather do - Make a good living doing something you hate for the next 40 years and enjoy 15 years of retirement, or struggle 5-10 years to have 70 years of joyful living doing The Thing?   I know you have to eat, put a roof over your heads and pay your bills, but there is more to life.   "Get busy living, or get busy dying." Andy Dufresne- The Shawshank Redemption I am asking you today to find The Thing.  If you know what The Thing is, I am asking you to pursue it.  No, don't walk off that job (that would be dumb!), but do like Andy Dufresne and throw a few rocks a day into the yard.  Think your way out, dig your way out, sweat and cry your way out.    Get out!   When someone asks you how you are doing say, "I am putting my thing down"...and mean it!   T.D Jakes has a sermon where he admonishes and encourages his congregation to   Dream about That Thang...Work for That Thang...Sweat for That Thang... Pursue That Thang!    I want to add my voice of agreement to his that you would live a life filled with (back to the King's English)...   The Thing!   Until tomorrow, I wish you Money, Power, Success!

Words to Live By!

Today is December 10, 2014...2 days from my 50th birthday on December 12th.        Words.    What are words?   They are the way we convey the innermost thoughts from our mind.  A way to turn the electric impulses of inspiration, ideas and emotion  into tangible things that can be transferred and translated to others. Words are how we turn "a picture" into a "1,000 words".    Words are containers.  Spoken vividly, words become the plastic mold of our dreams and aspirations.  Spoken passionately, they become the catalyst of our actions.  Spoken frequently, they inform those actions we do automatically as habit.  This progression of how we use words then determines what experiences we will enjoy or endure in life...our destiny.  Make your words count.  Let them dictate (pun intended) the things you want out of life, the things you will do in life and the difference you will make.   In 1993, I had decided to start a business where I would help people with their finances - think Larry Burkett or Dave Ramsey.  I had been through a decade of financial chaos and my promise to God was, "Help me...and I will help people."  I started with a small gospel radio station and would do a live broadcast weekly called, The Journey to Prosperity.   The disc jockey (do they still call them that?) asked me what my "tagline" was.  I had never really thought about it, but in the spontaneity of the moment said,   "Helping Millions Achieve Success...One At A Time."   That has stuck with me the past 20 years.  Each word in that phase means something to me.  It reminds me that my mission is helping people achieve success.  While my ultimate goal is to help millions, I am reminded daily to remain humble and help "the one at a time" that Providence sends to me.     While service minded, make no mistake, I want to make a good living doing this.  In the law of reciprocity, that means that as I help them, good things will happen for me.  That gave birth to my Law of Compensation (sorry Emerson!) that allows me to feel good about the money I make...   "As I serve, I deserve."   I have evolved and merged those two into my work/life mantra,   "Having Fun Helping People Enjoying Rich Experiences, While Building Great Wealth"   As most of you know, it is hard to separate what you do for a living...from your life.  That is why it is important to have a passion for what you do so it no longer feels like work. Sit down today and write down the words, your mantra, that will govern your work, your service to others and what you expect to receive in exchange for that work and service.   Over time, your thoughts that become your words will become your actions, habits, character and ultimately...your destiny.  Who knows, they may become your...   Words To Live By!   Until tomorrow, I wish you Money, Power, Success!