New Book in the Works

I decided today that I am going to start my first book. The title popped into my head today. That happens from time to time and you can call it what you want. I prefer to call it a divine inspiration, but the bottom line is I've learned to listen to it. It never leads me wrong and is typically for a greater purpose that is not fully revealed to me until a later date. The book title... SUSPENSE- well I can't say right now because someone else will take it. it's that good. What I cal tell you is that it will be a story of a potion of my life. I am 28 years old and blessed in many ways. I got into a fast track corporate route when I was 19 years old with a semester of college under my belt. I prove the definition of success. the definition I like most is success= when opportunity and preparedness meet. I was managing a country club at the time. I was an UNMATCHED work ethic, I still do. Champions are recognized in the ring, but they are made in their daily efforts. One of the members was starting a junior sales position and didn't realize I was 19 (I looked 22). Obviously they found out my age immediately, but the impression I made up until that point super-ceded my age. I quickly became an Account Executive at 20, working 70 hours a week trying to learn how to sell while carrying 16 credit hours at school. 16 months later I was hired by a customer as the Director of Sales and Marketing for a Technology Company. Here I was 21 years old and in upper management in the Corporate World. I always thought it would take until 30 to make six figures, or longer. Within 12 months I was hired as a National Account Executive for a fortune 50 organization. There were 150 new sales reps hired that year in the organization. I was the youngest by far @ 22, I was the youngest Account Executive in America in a sales force of over 1,000 and one of the only without a college degree (I actually stopped going at 20). Whats the story going to be about???

Success at a young age in an MTV generation is completely mis-defined. Many thought I was living the life. I was, the life of quiet desperation. At the core of my existence I could not have had less purpose or less of a calling on my life. What happened at 25 changed the next 75. It will also change you if you pay attention.

I expect this book to be a 3-5 year project as I want to make sure I am teaching the right lessons through the right stories, some stories I'm sure I haven't lived yet.

Start Your Morning Right

I thought this was a great message that can be applied to everyday life. Perspective is key.

Attitude for Success Part 1- Persistence

One of the keys to success to anything in life is persistence. We live in a microwave society where everyone wants instant gratification. People want to get paid to do a task. I propose that we all adopt a marathon mentality. Success is not achieved in a day, but it is the lump sum of many individual day's efforts. We must focus on making each day productive without focusing on daily results. A good friend of mine always says there is no traffic on the extra mile. He also says there is no losing at anything, there is only winning or quitting. So we must adopt an attitude today where quitting is not an option. I am a fan of lists and bullets, so here is a list of simple ways to develop persistence in your life.

1) Set Goals- everything starts with the setting of a worthwhile dream and goals to back it up. Many people are not persistent because they are not going anywhere. Is you have no course why keep going?

2) Decide today there is no negotiations for the final price of success- Too many people try to put a price tag on their dreams. "if I do X amount of work and I'm not successful than it's just not worth it". That mentality is sure failure every time.

3) Decide to win- once you decide there is no calculable price for success the next step is to decide to do whatever it takes to succeed. Expect people around you to tell you what you are doing is a bad idea, or that it won't work. Remember, if 2% of America actually succeeds successfully 98% remaining leaves lots of room for critics of great people.

4) Focus- You have to find a way to keep your goal in the front of you mind at all times. It must consume your entire focus and drive your thoughts.

5) Learn to adjust- If at first you don't succeed... welcome to the club. There are so few successes that have great accomplishments the first time around. Remember, you have a purpose, goals and a dream. By default you can't be an accidental success because you've planned it.

The Third Pillar- Soul

The three pillars of prosperity; mind, body and soul are the foundation for a successful life. The soul is probably the least understood and developed in America today. Many celebrities like Tiger Woods and others at some point think or thought they were prospering all because they didn't understand the most important pillar. I am not going to get spiritual or religious as I respect my readers, but you must understand that all great accomplishments stem from a belief in something greater than you. Call it what you want, I prefer God. The problem is that without believing in something greater than yourself you'll never be able to achieve anything more than you are currently capable of. I know confusing, right?

You see, really successful people understand that the greater the success you desire the less of you can be involved. A person can either feed their ego or their family but never both at the same time. When you lose yourself you will actually find yourself.
Great success is truly defined by the number of people that are better off because you lived.

It starts with a good self-image, because when you believe you can do anything you desire you will automatically see others differently. This is probably the most important pillar in your life, in many people's cases it is the least developed and sometimes the only thing keeping you from tremendous success.

I will periodically write an article about topics that are good for your soul. these topics are going to be Principles, or truths. You may not agree with them, but they have proven true in my life and the lives of many others. I will try to communicate the best that I can and as sensitively as possble, but when it comes to the soul only read if you really want to move forward in life.

Pillar number two- The Body

It has been a great start to 2010 so far. Its February 16th and I've already lost 20 lbs, but its not the weight loss that is significant. It is the reasons behind the weight loss that matter. I hear it all the time from people "you have to be careful not to gain that weight back", or "I never found a diet that lasted" when in reality they never kept a valid reason why to stay in shape in front of them.

I believe less than 2% of the world understands how to properly set goals to achieve a long-term dream or a long-term goal. What I've learned is that different things motivate different people, but more importantly, different things motivate different people at different times. Most people use the motivation of a New Years Resolution to get into the gym and lose some weight. The problem is the majority of people who embark on this journey are right back to their old habits as soon as it gets difficult or inconvenient. I am a member at Lifetime Fitness, which I believe is an incredible gym for both advanced fitness levels and novices; I was talking to the sales manager last month on my way in to work out. I had made my typical funny jab about how it must be tough to plan for parking in January, but as of February 1 the lot will be empty. He proceeded to tell me that in the month of January at this specific club they have 495 parking spaces and between 4-7pm between 700-900 people will enter the gym, but they will still sell 100 memberships in January because that number shrinks by 2/3 in February.

The point is many people start working out because they think its a good idea. My question is, whose idea is it? Was it an idea that popped into your head from your peers, a gym commercial on the TV, radio, or did it suddenly hit you while you were reading a book. Regardless of what has gotten you off the couch and into the gym you need to find something that will motivate you for the long haul. Here are some basic thought process tips to help you keep your mind right while working out.

1) Set a long-term goal back by simple achievable short-term goals. Goals are meant to be accomplished, they are meant to raise your confidence and your self image about what you think about you. DO NOT, compare what you are now with what you were capable of 10 years ago. My goal was to lose 10 lbs my first month, which with my lifestyle (eating habits and exercise) I was able to do that very easily. Month two I have two goals. 1) don't gain any weight back, 2) lose 3-5 more lbs.

2)Understand there are going to be distractions. Life is going to try to get in the way. Being healthy is not convenient, nor is it easy, but it is worth it. Understand that you will always feel pain in life. It will either be the pain of regret or the pain of discipline.

3)Find some encouragement- find a few people that know what you are trying to accomplish that won't let you quit at any cost and will pump you up when you need it. Put these 2-3 people on your speed dial for when you don't want to go to the gym. Understand successful people in anything they strive for don't listen to their emotions or feelings. Emotions and Feelings will only line up with your goals when its convenient for you.

4)Don't compare yourself with others. You must get to the point where all that matters is what you think of you. When you compare yourself with others you are comparing your worst with their best.

Hope this helps.

Understanding How the Mind Works

We are all products of our environments. Don't take that the wrong way though. This isn't where I give you an opportunity to make an excuse or blame others for where you are in life. There are certain influences in life that we cannot control, which is basically everything preceding our 18th birthday. We cannot control who we are related too, we cannot control the religious beliefs that we were brought up on and we cannot control what school system we go through. However when you understand how your mind produces the thoughts that drive the actions to where you are at on your 18th birthday, you can determine the rest of your life and how long it takes to get there.

A friend of mine has always said that you are in life a combined total of the books you've read and the people you've associated with for the past five years. He has told me if you want to know where you'll be five years from now, just look at your bosses life and if you don't change anything that will be you. That was enough of a wake up call for me to realize that I needed to change some things in my early 20's.

Most people never take the time to understand how they got to where they are, mainly because they have not developed and defined a vision for where they want to go. Only when you have a clear defined goal of what you want, what you are willing to do to acquire it, and when you would like to acquire it by will you achieve that goal. The mind is capable of processing millions of thoughts a second. The key to moving on in life is putting as many thoughts about what you are trying to accomplish in your mind at one time.

5 basic steps to getting your mind right.

1) find someone who is where you want to be and is willing to help you get there. This may not be an easy task, but when you accomplish this you are already over halfway there. I'll take knowledge from understanding over knowledge from theory any day of the week.

2) Control your thoughts- take an inventory of what you take into your mind on a daily basis. What is positive and what is negative. Some negative could be the news, tv shows, bad movies, the newspaper, a miserable relative (sometime the people who hold us back the most are the very people that need us the most), the radio. Successful people don't watch TV unless the end result of what they watch gets them closer to success.

3) Manage what you put into your mind- Work with the person who you found in step 1 to develop a study habit. Find books and audio material that reinforce your goals. If you have just a 30 minute drive to work each way every day, based on a 2000 hour work year, that is the equivalent of 250 hours of either negative of positive input into your brain. Take the time you have to train yourself and study and you'll earn the equivalent of a masters degree in just five years of commuting to work. The difference is you can control the knowledge to assure that its applicable.

4) Manage your association- There are only two types of people that you should associate with on the road to success. People who believe you will succeed and support you and people who want to come with you. Everyone else will steal you're dream if you let them. Now I'm not saying to avoid family or relatives or old friends, but I am saying until you develop the strength so that you rub off on them and they don't rub off on you avoid negative association.

5) Develop positive self talk- Learn to build yourself up by repeating positive self talk. There are several great books on this subject, I recommend reading the chapter "autosuggestion" in Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.

All three pillars must be strong for the structure of your life to maintain stability while growing. Apply what I have included in here and you are on your way to a sound mind.

Three Pillars Defined

Let the journey begin. What is the journey? is it significance, is it impact, is it legacy or is it to get through the day. I believe how you answer that question in your own mind will determine the value of this Blog. For me the journey is the pursuit itself, it's being a better husband, becoming the man I am meant to become, sewing into the lives of others with the only intent being to help others realize they're capable of more.

I think society today tries to tell us we should be something very different than what we are designed to be. The media paints a picture of how selfish we are so we believe it. Billboards show us how shallow we are so we live up to that expectation. We are constantly stuck in a cycle of trying to become something else in the name of pleasing others because a long time ago we forgot what it is to be us. I say it's time for a movement. It's time for generations to come to gain focus on specific goals that will move them forward in the right direction for the right reasons. Its time to get our foundation right. Three Pillars...

Mind- we must understand how the mind works and how to develop it properly so we can control our own destiny.

Body- By taking care of this important gift our self images will provide the fuel necessary to drive success.

Soul- When we understand how to act based on what's right, and we ignore our emotions and feelings that point us in counterproductive paths we have won.

Get this foundation strong, develop its structure constantly and your life will gain the meaning which most people are longing to find but unwilling to admit.