Rewrite All The Rules!

“What’s the most resilient parasite? An idea. A single idea from the human mind can build cities. An idea can transform the world and rewrite all the rules.” ~From Inception the movie

What is your most resilient parasite? What idea can you just not get away from? What idea dominates your thinking? And what have you done about it? Nothing? Why???

Nothing has ever been created without first a thought. That is where everything starts. What thoughts are you letting dominate your thinking? Thoughts of lack? Thoughts of fear? Thoughts of negativity? Or thoughts of abundance, thoughts of action and thoughts of positivity?

See, we get to decide what we think about. No one else can make us think about anything unless we allow it in. Have a negative friend? Don't hang with them! Have a family member that's always talking you down? Distance yourself. It's you choice as to who to hang with...choose wisely!

Action:
Today, choose wisely what to let into your thinking. What resilient parasite you want crawling around your brain. It is, after all, your choice!

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

“What’s the most resilient parasite? An idea. A single idea from the human mind can build cities. An idea can transform the world and rewrite all the rules.”

Are You An Encourager?

"Correction does much, but encouragement does more." ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

We are constantly being corrected but how often are we encouraged? I'd say that it's at least 10 to 1, correction over encouragement. What do you think?

Today's post is to ENCOURAGE you to become all that you were meant to be. That means playing big, not shrinking back and hiding in the crowd! Don't let your lizard brain scare you away from being who you were meant to be!! Your lizard brain will tell you that it is too dangerous, that people will not like you, that you can't become who you were meant to become. DON'T LISTEN TO YOUR LIZARD BRAIN!!! The lizard brain is why I say that your brain is not your friend.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, who is one of my mentors said "Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be." If that is you, take this message as your wake up call to be inspired to be all that you were created to be!

Action:
Take today to encourage someone you don't know and maybe even some people that you do know and see what a difference it makes in their life.

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"Correction does much, but encouragement does more." 

Do You Know Where You Are Going?

"If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there."~Lewis Carroll

Do you have a plan for where you are going? Really? A WRITTEN plan? One that contains everything you want to do in minute detail?  One that you look at every day? Really? If so, good for you, if not, then start today! Right now!! It's never too late to be who you might have been!

An old saying goes like this: "If you fail to plan, you are planing to fail." How many times have you heard that one? Well then, why is it that most people plan their vacation in more detail than their life? Such a sad commentary on our society, when we are too busy to even plan our own future (other than those 2 weeks of vacation) In fact, statistics tell us that less than 5% of people have a written plan for their life. Are you in that 5%?

Action:
If you have your plan written out, read it every day. Make sure that every detail of what you want is included in it.  If you don't, start right now. Spend an hour thinking about the life you want and how to create that life. If you need some help, let me know and I will be glad to get you started on your way to the life you want.

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there."

How Are You Using Your Imagination?

“The great, successful people of the world have used their imaginations…they think ahead and create their mental picture and then go to work materialize that picture in all its details.”~Robert Collier

Have you used your imagination to create the mental picture that you want for your future? Why not? Average people think of imagination as child's play, while the successful use theirs constantly. Everything begins as a thought first. Your inner world determines your outer world.

When was the last time you took the time to just imagine your future, down to the minute details? James Allen said that "Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are." Meaning, BE, DO HAVE. Not the reverse of HAVE, DO, BE.

About those minute details...if you don't CLEARLY imagine your future, then you will not get what you want.  See, it's a funny thing about the way the universe works...it gives you EXACTLY what you want!

Action:
Take 15 minutes today to IMAGINE your future...in complete detail! Write it down and start working towards that future...in complete detail.

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

“The great, successful people of the world have used their imaginations…they think ahead and create their mental picture and then go to work materialize that picture in all its details.”

Tomorrow Is Promised To No One!

"Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero." Means "Seize the day, put no trust in the morrow."~Horace

We've all heard "Seize the day," but most people don't include the rest...which might be even more important. For several reasons.

"Put no trust in the morrow." Here's the deal. Tomorrow is promised to no one! But most of the time, we proceed as if we are going to live forever and never think about it. There's another quote that says "Put off until tomorrow only what you want to leave unfinished if you die tonight." (Or something like that) We are mortal beings and we can go at any time. Kind of makes you at some things differently, doesn't it.

Action:
"Seize the day." Be present now. Be in the moment, only in this moment and your world will expand exponentially. Most of us find it difficult to be in the moment, we are either thinking about what has already happened (and we can't do anything about) or thinking about what's to come (which we can only prepare for). When you are in the moment, you are truly living.

That being said "Put no trust in the morrow."  Stop putting off the important things in life and get doing them!

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero." Means "Seize the day, put no trust in the morrow."

No Limitations, Only Those We Acknowledge

"There are no limitations to the mind other than those we acknowledge, both poverty and riches are the offspring of thought."~Napoleon Hill

What limitations have you acknowledged? Why? Did someone tell you you couldn't do it so you agreed with them? Did you try once and it didn't work so you quit and said, "I can't do that?"  How many times and about how many things did you say "I can't do that" and quit?

Do you agree that the only limitations to your mind are those that we acknowledge? Why or why not? Both poverty and riches are offspring of our thoughts. Do you believe that? Why or why not?

When we acknowledge our limitations, we give them more power than they should have.  There are NO Limitations, only those that we acknowledge and if that's the case, why haven't you done what you have always wanted to do?  Are you letting the excuses become your limitations?

Action:
Go about your day today and think of NO LIMITATIONS! Can you do it? Even for an hour? Half a day? The whole day? Just try it!

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"There are no limitations to the mind other than those we acknowledge, both poverty and riches are the offspring of thought."

Focused On Making A Living?

"Losers focus on making a living. Winners focus on making a life." -Larry Winget

Wow!  Winget just slaps you in the face with the truth! Are you focused on making a living or making a life?? Are you really?  Most people are just trying to get by, making a living.  Be a winner!  Focus on making a life!!

I think that most of us started out to make a life, but then life got in the way and now we are just focused on making a living. To pay the bills, to take care of things, to take that vacation...When people ask you "how are you doing?" do you answer with "I'm just paying the bills?" If so, that's all you will ever do. Especially in this economy, when it seems as if everyone is just trying to survive, You need to change your outlook!

Get clear on what you want out of life and then go after it. Most people don't get what they want because they aren't clear or don't have any idea what they want. Get clear now!!

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"Losers focus on making a living. Winners focus on making a life."

You Are In Charge Of Your Attitude!

"The most important thing I can tell you about attitude is that it is a choice. You can choose to be positive or you can choose to be negative. Nobody can force you to be either one. You are totally in charge of your attitude."~Larry Winget

Your attitude is completely up to you, you did know that, right? If so, have you ever said that you "got up on the wrong side of the bed?" If you are saying that or "I'm having a bad hair day," you are allowing something else to affect your attitude. You are not in charge of your attitude. We don't often think about the things that we say...

They say that life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you deal with what happens to you.  Do you complain about things that happen to you?  Think about how you react or respond to things that happen to you and if you need to change how you respond to those things, start changing that NOW!

Action:
Own the words you speak! Realize that the way you speak affects your daily life. Choose to have a good attitude. It is one of the things that YOU CAN CONTROL. That and your thoughts!

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"The most important thing I can tell you about attitude is that it is a choice. You can choose to be positive or you can choose to be negative. Nobody can force you to be either one. You are totally in charge of your attitude."

YOU'VE Got To Change!

"If you want things to change in your life...YOU'VE got to change!"~Larry Winget

And you say "DUH." But think about it...how many times have you wished for things to change in your life but you were unwilling or unable to make the change? We know that we want to make changes but are unable to because of the programs that are running our life. Programs that have been running our lives for years and years.

These programs are in our subconscious and we need to realize that they are what is controlling our actions, much more than just what we think. All the right thinking will not change the programs, only re-writing them or writing over them will allow you to make the changes that you desire to make. "Life is change, growth is optional.

Understand that staying in your "comfort zone" keeps you where you are or even moves you backwards.  There is no "comfort zone," it's a "Familiar zone."  You are already familiar with the pain so it's "comfortable compared to the unknown pain of change.

Action:
Take a look at the programs that run your life. Are they serving you or are they hurting you. If they are serving you, keep them. If not, get rid of them as quickly as possible. And don't be afraid of the change. Make it happen!

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference.

"If you want things to change in your life...YOU'VE got to change!"

Be What Nature Intended You For...

"Whatever you are by nature, keep to it; never desert your line of talent. Be what nature intended you for and you will succeed."~Sydney Smith

Have you deserted your line of talent? Or have you just developed a small level of talent in what you do but it's really not what nature intended you to do? Most people feel stuck in jobs that they don't like or enjoy anymore. Is that you? It might be because that job was not what nature had intended for you. Especially if you are part of the 80% of people who dislike their job.

Whatever you are by nature, be that and if you are having a tough time figuring that out, spend some time analyzing what you love to do and why. Your why will tell you what nature had intended you to be. Don't be afraid to reach for what you were intended to be. Remember, "it's never too late to be who you might have been."

Action:
Make sure that you don't desert your line of talent. Don't hide it from the world because if you do, the world will never see it because you are the only one who was designed to bring it to the world.

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"Whatever you are by nature, keep to it; never desert your line of talent. Be what nature intended you for and you will succeed."

The Eternal Present Is Always NOW!

"We look backward too much and we look forward too much, thus we miss the only eternity of which we can be absolutely sure -- the eternal present for it is always now."~William Phelps

Are you stuck in looking back or looking forward too much? Why? While it is helpful to look back and look forward, don't forget about being present! Being present is the only place where you can make a difference. In the present, you can change your future. The eternal present is always now!

Can you look around in awareness? Can you be present? Most people are thinking about what's next instead of thinking of what's NOW! Be present. It will help you grow your business. It will help you develop better relationships. It will allow you to be you. There's a reason it's called being "present," because it's a gift you give to yourself!

Action:
Fight the thoughts of what's next and think about what's now. Work on it every minute of the day and stay present!

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"We look backward too much and we look forward too much, thus we miss the only eternity of which we can be absolutely sure -- the eternal present for it is always now."

Stop Trying To Whistle A Symphony

"No one can whistle a symphony. It takes an orchestra to play it."~H. E. Luccock

Are you trying to create a symphony all by yourself? Being the lone entrepreneur, not needing anyone's help? Guess what? No one has ever made it on their own! We all need other people and we need their help.

Look at all successful people and you will see a whole team of other individuals that worked on the success of that one individual. Who is on your team? Who is working to make you a success? Why are they helping you? Why aren't others helping you?  Have you asked them for help??

This "New Economy" requires that we spend even more time on those relationships where we can help others succeed and they can help us succeed. Are you spending the time doing that? Why not? Are you doing what you have always done? How's that working for you?

Action:
Find those people who are working towards your success and let them know that you appreciate them and how important they are to you. I have a whole list of people and I'm sure that you do to.

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"No one can whistle a symphony. It takes an orchestra to play it."

Imagine Your Most Treasured Dreams

“Instead of placing judgments on where you find yourself, consider the positive possibilities. Instead of extending assumptions out from your limitations, imagine your most treasured dreams extending out from your current situation." ~Ralph Marston

Are you placing judgments on where you find yourself? STOP IT!! RIGHT NOW!! Start to consider the positive aspects of where you are now and stop only looking at the negatives.  The only thing holding us back from getting what we want out of life is our own limited thinking!

Instead of extending your assumptions from your limitations, extend NEW assumptions that are unlimited. See, we often view the world from our limited perspective, rather than from the infinite perspective that it exists in!  The world exists only in the perspective we give it.  The key is to know that you can give it ANY perspective you want.  Make it an unlimited perspective!

Take your dreams and put them to work from this point forward. Don't worry that you haven't done it until now.  "It's never too late to become who you were meant to be." And celebrate the fact that you are doing it now!

Action:
Stop placing judgments on where you are now.
Stop viewing the situation from a limited point of view.
Start working on your dream.

Start celebrating the fact that you are working on it NOW!!

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

“Instead of placing judgments on where you find yourself, consider the positive possibilities. Instead of extending assumptions out from your limitations, imagine your most treasured dreams extending out from your current situation."

Unhappy For The Rest Of Your Life

"If you deliberately plan on being less than you are capable of being, then I must warn you that you'll be unhappy for the rest of your life."~Abraham Maslow

Are you planning on only accepting a little of life? Why? We were made for abundance. I don't think that most people plan on being less than they can be, but have the desire to be all they can be driven out of them by well-meaning teachers, parents and friends...

How can you reclaim the feeling of becoming capable of doing anything? Confidence, belief in yourself and knowledge that there are no accidents or coincidences. There's a reason that you are where you are right now. It could be to help someone else out, it could be because you have something to learn, but there is a reason why we are all where we are.

"Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you."

Action:
Play BIG. GO FOR EVERYTHING YOU CAN GET! Don't allow how others feel about you to diminish who you are. STOP PLAYING SMALL!

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"If you deliberately plan on being less than you are capable of being, then I must warn you that you'll be unhappy for the rest of your life."

Security Instead Of Opportunity?

"Too many people are thinking of security instead of opportunity. They seem more afraid of life than death."~James F. Byrnes

Are you missing opportunity? Most people are because they are too worried about security. They stay in a dead-end job, that they hate because of security.  They stay stuck in their businesses because they are afraid to take even calculated risks.  Is this you?? I hope not.

"EVERY SINGLE THING YOU DO MATTERS.
YOU HAVE BEEN CREATED IN ORDER THAT YOU MIGHT MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
YOU HAVE WITHIN YOU THE POWER TO CHANGE THE WORLD.

Know that your actions cannot be hoarded, saved for later, or selectively used. So stop living looking for security. See the opportunities and start to play big! If you don't, there world will never know what you had to offer, because only your can provide it to the world.

Your life…And what you do with it today…MATTERS FOREVER."(Thank you Andy Andrews)

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference

"Too many people are thinking of security instead of opportunity. They seem more afraid of life than death."

Don't Allow Anyone To Push You Back

"Life moves forward not backwards. It cannot move back and you cannot go back. It is like time. It is time. Do not let words or judgments that people put on you stop you from moving forward. You have no time to waste to allow anyone to push you back. You must move forward to keep up with who you are and what you want in life."

Are you moving forward or are you moving backwards? Life always moves forward, but sometimes we get stuck and don't move forward or even go backwards, but all the while, life continues to move forward!  We continue to get further and further behind.

Too often, we allow other people's words and judgments push us backwards. One of my favorite quotes says, "It is none of my business what you think of me." Don't allow other people's judgments of you and your work push you back. If you allow their judgments to change who you are, you stop being authentic.  Stay who you are, not what someone else wants you to be!

The best way to keep moving forward is to stay PRESENT.  Stay in the moment and you will keep moving forward. Life is about being in the present, not the past or the future.  Everything happens in the present!  Remember that.

You must move forward to keep up with who you are and what you want in life. Keep moving forward, keep being who you are and keep going for what you want out of life. Do it now!!

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"Life moves forward not backwards. It cannot move back and you cannot go back. It is like time. It is time. Do not let words or judgments that people put on you stop you from moving forward. You have no time to waste to allow anyone to push you back. You must move forward to keep up with who you are and what you want in life."

The Tyranny Of Immediacy

"I will not be governed by the tyranny of immediacy."~Mary Anne Radmacher

Are you governed by the tyranny of immediacy? Do you allow others immediacy to govern you? Why? What do you get? Take control your life and stop that NOW! Here's an example; email. Do you keep it open and look at it as soon as they come in??? I hope not.

In today's microwave society, we want everything 2 minutes ago. We have lost the ability to have delayed gratification and are constantly seeking immediate gratification. Why?

The problem with immediate gratification is that as fast as it comes, it's gone again that fast and then we need to find another source of gratification. It's a vicious cycle that never ends until we step back and slow down and stop the tyranny of immediacy.

Very often it's our friends and clients who try to impose the tyranny of THEIR immediacy on us. We need to learn to politely tell them that that we run our own life and that their issue while important, it doesn't rise to OUR immediacy level. Don't allow them to give you their issue.

Here's a challenge for today, don't allow the tyranny of immediacy to win even once today.

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!


"I will not be governed by the tyranny of immediacy."

Know, Like And TRUST!

"Trust, not technology, is the issue of the decade." ~Tom Peters

In our microwave society, we are being brought back to issues that were relevant 20-30 years ago that some people thought went out of relevancy. They were wrong. Technology is not the be all end all that many people think and want it to be.

Businesses, now more than in the last 30 years, is realizing that Trust is the key element. Think of all the challenges that we have faced over the last few years. What do they have in common? A lack or an abuse of Trust.  All of the Enrons and Bernie Madoffs and the politicians say "What does it matter?"  What matters is that Character and Trust is more important now than ever!

We do business with people we know, like and trust. I would say that out of those things, trust is the most important because you can not like someone, but if you trust them, still do business with them. You can not know the salesman but if you trust his company, they can get the business.

Start working on your trust level. Is it lacking? Part of being trustworthy is trusting others. How's your trust level? I find most people do have a hard time trusting others. Here's the challenge...Trust people. Sure, some will let you down, but most people will honor that trust.

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"Trust, not technology, is the issue of the decade."

Do You Love What You Do?

"If you do not feel yourself growing in your work and your life broadening and deepening, if your task is not a perpetual tonic to you, you have not found your place." ~ Orison Swett Marden

Wow, it was like Marden was speaking to us today, instead of 100 years ago. With the recent statistics that close to 80% of people who ARE employed, hating their job, I guess most people haven't found their place yet. If that's you, keep reading...if not keep reading anyway...

Most people today aren't looking to broaden or deepen their lives.  They are just looking to make do, pay the bills and get by.  Is that you??

Are you growing in your work? Is your life broadening and deepening? Unfortunately, most people aren't. It's not easy to find what you love to do and grow with that. It's difficult to make changes, especially after you've lived life for a while...Believe me, I know. It was 5 years ago that I realized that I wasn't growing, deepening and broadening my life. The changes haven't been easy but they have been worthwhile!

Find your place! Remember, that the place for the things you want is currently occupied by what you've settled for...Don't settle! It's never too late to be who you were meant to be!

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"If you do not feel yourself growing in your work and your life broadening and deepening, if your task is not a perpetual tonic to you, you have not found your place."

Succeeding At Things That Don't Matter?

“Our greatest fear should not be failing, but it should be succeeding at things that don’t matter.”~Francis Chan

Why have we developed this sense of fear of failure? What has led us to thinking that failure is a bad thing? Most people have come to realize that success isn't possible without failure, but we make that failure label so painful that people will do just about anything to not fail. Including nothing at all...for fear of failure.

Thomas Watson, founder of IBM said that "If you want to succeed faster, fail faster."

Failure and success are two sides of the same coin and you can't have one without the other.  In fact, you cannot succeed without failing!  Ask all those bands that were an 20 years "Overnight Success."

Our greatest fear should instead be succeeding at something that doesn't matter! I know a lot of people who are great at things that don't matter. What's the point? Are you succeeding at something that doesn't matter? What makes it matter for you? Maybe someone else has decided that it needs to matter to you, but does it?

Does what you do matter?? (Other than providing you with a paycheck) Does it really matter? I think too often we get stuck doing things just because...Just because it pays the bills...just because it's easy to do...just because it's what I've always done...

Decide what matters to you and do that!!

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

“Our greatest fear should not be failing, but it should be succeeding at things that don’t matter.”

Time, Valuable And Perishable

"Time is at once the most valuable and the most perishable of all our possessions." ~John Randolph

How often do we think about time that way? Not often enough! Our most valuable yet perishable of all our possessions. We need to remember that tomorrow is promised to no one. NO ONE! So make each minute count.

"In truth, people can generally make time for what they choose to do; it is not really the time but the will that is lacking."~ Sir John Lubbock

Here's the truth about time. You will make the time for the things you choose to do. So the next time someone asks you to do something, don't say, "I'm too busy." Be honest. Tell them that what they want you to do isn't important enough for you to do it. They may thank you for it or they may hate you for telling them the truth, but you will feel a lot better.

Here's another thing about time...You will never FIND more time. You need to MAKE more time. This comes down to priorities. Make sure that you are always doing the most productive thing at any given moment.

Remember, tomorrow is promised to no one!  No One!  So, work to remain PRESENT today!

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"Time is at once the most valuable and the most perishable of all our possessions."

Make A New Ending

"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending."~Maria Robinson

How true is that?? The challenge is that most of us get caught up in the hashing, re-hashing and bitching about the choices we made before. We need to let go of those thoughts and start fresh every day!  When you are not letting go of those thoughts, you are staying stuck in the past.  Be present!

YES, YOU can start today and make a new ending. Yes you can. Don't let those doubts slow you down or stop you. John Kanary said "If doubt is challenging you and you do not act, doubts will GROW. Challenge the doubts with action and YOU will grow." Don't let doubts grow, act on your new beginning and you will grow, not your doubts. After all, doubts are just stories that we tell ourselves, usually not based in truth or reality, just stories we tell ourselves.  If the stories that you are telling yourself are helping you, reframe those stories so that they do help you!

Gandhi said "The future depends on what we do in the present," and yesterday's quote was "The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine." It's all determined by what you do today! Remember, every single thing you do matters!!

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending."