Monthly Archives: February 2018

Thinking About Quitting and Two Phone Calls

One phone call out of the blue is coincidental,

Two phone calls in less than two days (18 hours)…someone is trying to tell me something!

Back in December 2017 I thought about calling the blog quits. Here is a peek into how the mind works…if you allow it.

  • The blog is an expense. I make zero $$ on it.
  • The blog takes time. Is it worth it?
  • The blog takes intentional thought and focus.
  • The blog is a choice. Blog vs. Other things.

Shift in mindset…one I’m very happy I made.

  • The blog is an investment in others and my future. Where it goes…not really sure yet. Don’t care. More concerned with process. (Slight Edge Principles)
  • The blog takes time away from the “Trivial”, to focus on the Vital.  Essentialism <— terrific read!
  • The blog takes time to get intentional & focused with my thoughts <—— tremendously UNDERvalued
  • The blog is choice I’m happy to make

Now on to the two phone calls.

The first, I received from a long-time friend on a dreary Iowa afternoon on 2.21. He called out of the blue to tell me he just got a HUGE promotion. One he’s been focused on for quite some time. It’s a really big deal for him and his family. Most importantly, it creates a tremendous amount of momentum for his future. As I’ve stated before, momentum is everything.

He called to say thank you. Thank you! He called to say somehow, I played a role in his journey. His mindset, thoughts, and most importantly actions were impacted by the words on this blog. I was moved. I was overjoyed…and selfishly, it felt really good.

Gary Vaynerchuk says 1>0.  My goal in starting and continuing this project was to impact ONE PERSON.

Mission Accomplished.

The following morning on 2.22, I reached out (unannounced) to an old friend and business relationship. Shockingly…he told me, I was on his “list to call” as he had something very important to tell me.

We chatted for a bit and he told me about his son’s future plans. He’s 18. He’s got big plans and big dreams. So much more than I thought about when I was 18. [If I had to guess today, he’s probably selling himself short with all that focus and ambition].

Then my friend says,

He wants to meet you!

PAUSE…”What!?!? Why? ,” I said.

His response, “He thinks the world of you (I’m paraphrasing), and he talks to me about you. He reads your work, and he even told his Mom about you.” If you didn’t know, crossing over to the Mom category is a M-A-S-S-I-V-E chasm to cross (at least that’s what I’m telling myself).

<If you know me…or if you don’t: I’m on the verge of tearing up, and I’m not really sure why…but man, it feels really, really good>

  • Two people I respect
  • Two totally random (or maybe not..) phone calls.
  • Two extreme expressions of gratitude

Gratitude 100%

This image is cheesy, but soooooo answers my feeling back in 2017 on the bottom, and now my feelings just 45 days later on the top. I’m not there yet, but I haven’t given up either.

Instead I’ll choose to keep hammering away.

ACTION ITEM: Lesson learned tribe. If something is going well, or impacting you in a positive way (TELL SOMEONE!). Who knows what it will do for them?!?

It made my day, week, month and maybe year, because I can’t tell you what power, fuel and energy this adds to me!

My Life Reflects My Intention

Anything I have, or don’t have in my life, is a reflection of my intentions. Intention can be manifested as action or inaction.

  • Friendships
  • Spouse
  • Curiosity
  • Intelligence
  • Business & Career
  • Financial Situation
  • Fitness Level/Body Composition
  • Housing Situation
  • Spiritual Place
  • and on and on

No one else’s fault. No one else’s dreams.

100% MINE.

If you don’t have what you want…that’s on you. As stated, your intentions manifest themselves every day. You have exactly what you’ve intended to have. Nothing more, nothing less.

Here’s the thing to understand. I don’t have it all figured out. Actually far from it. But I have been able to change my intentions and outcomes over time. I’m doing it today!

Now here’s the crux…if you don’t have what you want, how do you change it?

QUESTIONS. Ask better questions.

The quality of your life, is reflected by the quality of your questions.

Change the question, change the angle, change the outcome.

ACTION ITEMS: Better questions lead to better reflections. Better reflection leads to changing your intention.

 

 

Eat at the Diner of Your Thoughts

You ever have that challenge staring you in the face and you can’t seem to see it any other way? Problems are many, solutions are few.

Impending doom sets in.

Our thoughts have a way of owning us. Our thoughts drive our actions and even the intentions for those actions. At times, you may feel powerless over them. In all likelihood, we are.
All the great thinkers in history carried with them the great ability to separate, or have a seemingly out of body experience with their thoughts. A freedom to look at their challenge from the outside, free of tension, anxiety, and pressures of the moment.
This isn’t easy to do.
But that doesn’t make it impossible, does it?

Would you eat at the diner of your own thoughts?

Let me set the scene…
You’re standing outside…probably in the rain. It’s always in the rain isn’t it? Not a downpour, but a gentle, annoying, cool, but not cold drizzle.
The rain is context for making it a little harder to see things completely clearly. If this moment in life were the weather, the forecast would be a gray dreary rain settling in for the foreseeable future.

Do you see him standing outside? What is he looking at?

He sees this lonely soul, nestled cozily into a booth at one of those 24/7 diners, caressing a luke-warm cup of black coffee. You know this kind of diner, the kind with the quintessential neon [OPEN] sign in the front door. The coffee is just ok, but at least it’s warm…and the pie is taunting you.

Do you see him?

He’s there, lost in thought, or maybe buried in a world of problems, regrets and uncertainty. More than anything he’s looking for one of two things.
  1. Answers
  2. Courage

Who is this person?

It’s me. Both actually, are me.

I’m the guy standing out in the rain, and the guy in the restaurant represents my thoughts.
This odd exercise and viewpoint helps me see what can’t be observed otherwise. It provides separation from the dangerous feedback loop of my own thoughts.

You ever have a friend ask you for advice?

I sure have. Many times. The answers come rolling off my tongue rapid fire, like tennis balls from one of those sick American Gladiators guns. Man those were awesome! Bang Bang Bang. Idea, idea, idea. Each a solution.
Point is, it’s not MY problem when my friend asks for advice. It’s my friends’, therefore my answers carry zero weight or anxiety. It’s not my life. I’m simply providing direction and logic.
This is the answer.

Separation.

If you can’t dine at the restaurant of your own thoughts, you can’t change the angle of looking at your challenge, or opportunity for that matter. See it for exactly what it is, but never more than it is. I think my friend Tony Robbins said that. [digital fist bump Tony]
ACTION ITEM: 
In solitude (a walk, a quiet room, a flight) I don’t care where, get alone and outside yourself. Joe Rogan says, “be the super hero of your own movie. What would he do?” Play it out and be the hero!
If nothing else, sit quietly in the diner and enjoy a slice of pie.
This too shall pass.