Freedom On Toast

Bonjour Messieursdames!  Comment ca va?  Moi?  Ca va bien merci!

I took French for several years in Jr. High and High School.  The problem is, I never went to France (or Quebec) and High School was about a hundred years ago.  So, needless to say, the few words I do recall are virtually useless in any type of conversation I would attempt.  I just can’t imagine the conversation turning to green hats!

I am, however, a big believer in feeding your mind.  So I decided earlier this year that I would relearn my French - at least enough to help me in my travels.  Now I don’t really have a trip planned to France or Montreal but you never know when I might decide to just hop on a plane and go - so best to be prepared right?

It doesn’t matter what you want to learn - just commit to learning something!  Pick an area that you are interested in that you either know nothing about or haven’t done in a million years.  Don’t limit yourself!  Maybe you want to learn how to kayak.  Find an outfitter and go for it.  Maybe you want to knit - buy some needles and teach yourself or take a class and get knitting (I need a new hat by the way).  Maybe you always wanted to learn Frisbee Golf - go to your local cheap store, buy one and hit the Frisbee links! 

What to expect on your new learning adventure?  Here’s a quick course on the learning curve.

Step one - you know nothing and don’t even know enough to know what you don’t know.  Sort of a blissful place really though you don’t really know anything.  Unconscious Incompetence.  An extreme example - you know there are other languages but never heard of French.

Step two - you know something about the new area of interest but have no idea how to actually DO anything.  Conscious Incompetence.  Example - you know French is spoken in France and Quebec (and a few other places) but you don’t know how to speak any French at all.  Sort of a frustrating place because you know there is more out there to learn but aren’t sure how to start.

Step three - you are learning a new skill but you have to consciously think about your new skill and the steps you are learning in order to perform your new skill.  Conscious Competence.  Example - you are learning to speak French but you have to really THINK in order to get the right words and grammar structure to form a proper sentence.  This place can be both very satisfying and very frustrating at times.

Step four - you are able to do the task without even thinking about it.  Unconscious Competence.  Example - someone asks you a question in French and you reply automatically without thinking about the proper use of words or grammar.  It just seems to come “naturally”.  Great place to be!

The great thing is that no matter WHAT you want to learn, you will go through those same steps.  I know you have heard it before, but in order to learn or “get better” you have to TAKE ACTION!  TAKE ACTION!  TAKE ACTION!  Just thinking about what you want to learn won’t transform those brain cells.  Only focused action will get you from point A to point B. 

So have some fun.  Learn something new.  ENJOY life to it’s fullest!

Au revoir! Bon apprentissage!

“In a land which is fully settled, most men must accept their local environment or try to change it by political means; only the exceptionally gifted or adventurous can leave to seek his fortune elsewhere. In America, on the other hand, to move on and make a fresh start somewhere else is still the normal reaction to dissatisfaction and failure.”    W.H. Auden

I had lunch with a friend recently and was bemoaning the fact that I had too many things going on.  I told her about the IRS, the death of my father-in-law, the enormous changes at my job (yep, that was like walking into work one day and being told from now on we will speak German - huh?), the ending of one business, the starting of another…and just day to day life.  Frankly I am surprised she stayed for her meal!  But after she patiently listened she gave me the best advice ever.  She said, “you just need to celebrate the Tibetan New Year.”

Well, I am not Tibetan but I got her message.  She was reminding me that I had choices.  And I could CHOOSE to just start fresh.  So that’s what I decided to do.  Admittedly, denial is my personal favorite when it comes to defense mechanisms, but these things were a little too big for my enormous powers of denial.  So I needed a plan.

Here it goes - maybe it will help you celebrate the Tibetan New Year as well.

1.  Purge all the crap you don’t need related to the issues at hand.  For me that meant cleaning my office and getting rid of everything that was related to my old business and anything related to the way I used to do my job.  Since the IRS woman reads my blog - have no worries, I didn’t purge any financial or business documents (that’s a little creepy by the way).

2.  Put your focus on what matters and what you can control.  I can’t change the fact that my father-in-law died, but I can focus on how to best help the family.  I can’t control the changes at work but I can do what I can to learn the new system to alleviate my stress.  I can control how I work my new business and set my goals to achieve success.  Let go of what you can’t control.

3.  Surround yourself with positive.  Whether you like to read or watch TV - make sure they are positive.  Watching the evening news does NOT qualify.  Well really TV doesn’t qualify in general.  Be around happy and positive people.  If you hang around a bunch of gripers you will find yourself focusing on all the negative rather than the positive.  Who wants that?

4.  Plan some fun.  It’s easy to have an extended pity party but really that doesn’t do you any good at all.  Go to a REAL party instead.  Have fun and get excited about all that life has to offer. 

5.  Consider volunteering your time to a worthy organization.  It is proven that people who volunteer are happier people.  You will feel good about what you are doing and probably leave feeling very appreciative of all that you do have in your life.

So, do as my friend says and celebrate the Tibetan New Year.  Well actually, it’s past, but you get the idea.  Make your own fresh start and feel good about your decision to CHOOSE to start fresh.

Our daughter who is 16 was recently asked to write a paper in school describing something in detail.  She choose to describe her dreams.  How cool is that?

She has been exposed to many personal development masters, including Michael Clouse whom she had the honor to meet.  It was shortly after this meeting that she really started to think about her dreams and put them on paper and in her dream book.  Thank you Michael for inspiring that!

Here’s her paper…

Once Upon a Dream

The first time I walked into that open arena my eyes lit up like the suns hello in the morning. I couldn’t believe that we were in the third row. This would not be my first time seeing them but every time they came back they got better and better. It’s a kind of attraction when I see they’re coming.   I wonder,  “what will they bring this time?”   Like Santa Clauses’ present bag, they would reach their hands into red velvet soft bag and give me a show that makes smile from ear to ear. The show was amazing how this person could do that, and how smooth it was, like they have done it a thousand times, which they probably have. But to them it’s another day to make a little girl like me smile. Every act was like a new day to me; the way they would move and do their tricks amazed me. I was like a little girl in a candy shop with a million dollars, the possibilities were endless. This is the cirque life and this is just the beginning.

A dream is merely an image you see when you are sleeping.  Or an ambition, a cherished desire in your life.  Well most of us at this age are starting to think about colleges and our future, well I could say I have known for awhile and yes I could tell you what college I am planning on going to but you wouldn’t believe me. I was at the age of 8 when all of this started. It wasn’t my first Cirque show but it was still amazing. But this time it made my mind click, like it was a clock that had been broken for many years and then all of a sudden started working again. Right then and there, at the show, I decided I wanted to be a Cirque performer when I grew up. Well all of us have had dreams, like when we were all little we wanted to be a little ballerina who wore the little pink tutu, or a police man who had that golden shinny badge that you thought was the coolest thing ever. And now you have this idea in your head that you were really going to be a fireman or whatever you dreamed of when you were little. And I still to this day want to be a Cirque performer and I am living my dream, taking those steps to reach my ultimate goal!

The months went by like normal and then one day my mom said are you ready for circus camp, and I thought she was joking. I thought there was no such thing as a circus camp, and she was crazy. But she wasn’t lying.  We were driving past all this new scenery to me, the trees green as new grass and the road as smooth as the sky. The whole way there I was excited. And when my mom turned into this empty parking lot with this big green building in the back I started to laugh.  I did not think that the little green building was a circus. There was no pinstriped tent or clowns.  The crowds of people were here for the same reason I was. As I stepped into the building I was just ready to get through the day. But as the day went on I really started to love circus more and more. Like with a mom and a newborn, the love grew on me over time. So the week went by, every night I would go to sleep early hoping that I would be able to get to circus faster. In the morning I was like a hummingbird. The way its wings move so fast you can’t even see them, I felt amazing.  Well the week ended and so did camp, and all my family came over for dinner one night. And there was something missing.  A piece of me was left behind. It was like when you eat a pizza without cheese or the sauce, it doesn’t work without the other.  And that was me.  I was the pizza with no sauce.  My mom says that the night my family was over I wasn’t with everyone; she couldn’t find me. So she came up to my room and found me crying, the tears rolling down my face like the tires on a car.  She says that I was upset that I didn’t have circus camp anymore and I said I wouldn’t ever come out of my room. Well it turns out that the place that held circus camp also has a year-round circus school! When those words came out of my mother’s mouth it was like I was reborn. I swear I could hear angles singing like they do in those cheesy Christmas movies you watched when you believed in Santa Clause. My life was finally complete; my pizza found its sauce.

My dream was coming together.  I was taking those steps.  I went from an audience member to a want-to be to a performer, to a performer. I only have two more steps; to become a student performer, and a professional performer. Like I said before I already know what I want to do with the rest of my life, I’ve known for awhile. I know what college I want to attend and how to get to where I belong. I’ve even had those people who think your dream sucks and will fail. In the 8^th grade I rode my unicycle in front of my whole 8^th grade class. And only 5 people clapped. I went home that night and cried. After that people teased me throughout the year calling me a freak and other horrible names. I would go home from school almost every day and cry. I tried to switch schools many times but it just wasn’t worth it. And I am finally opening up again hoping people will accept me for what I do and won’t go back to what they use to do. I’m never going to let other people push my dreams around; they are my dreams, not theirs. So my next step is to get into a circus college. And even though I’ve gone through rough parts and am where I am, it gave me character, it made me who I am today, and I hope other people learn from my experiences and take my same steps.

As most people say, “reach for the stars” and don’t stop until you reach your dreams, and if things get in your way just push past. Today I am living my dream or at least most of it.  I have circus practice three days a week, and every time I’m there it’s like another chapter in my dream story. When I perform, it’s like I am that person in the Cirque show that made me want to become what I am today.

Bravo girl!  I am proud of you and excited for you to see your full dreams come true.

Love, Mom 

I received this in the email today.  I have no idea if it is true and decided that I really didn’t care if it was true or not as the message is a powerful reminder about the choices we make.

Enjoy and Happy Monday!

Washington, D.C.  Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007.
The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes.
During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

I hate football.  So let’s just get that out of the way.  I could write at least 10 posts on my reasons but I’ll spare you.

The Minnesota Gopher’s (for those who love football as much as I, they are the football team for the University of Minnesota) just got a brand new stadium.  It looks, from all the pictures, to be a grand and glorious stadium and there is sure a lot of hub bub about it.  In fact, one coach went as far as saying having the new stadium will give them greater recruiting opportunities.  Really?  Whatever.

But this I LOVE!  Meet Grace Weet.  Grace lives in a quiet suburb of St. Paul and is 89 years young.  Grace attended the U of M as a freshman and in 1938 went to her first ever Gopher’s football game in the old Memorial Stadium.  She was a freshman then and decide to purchase season tickets.  Grace has purchased season tickets EVERY YEAR since 1938 and has attended every single home game that has ever been played - regardless of it’s venue.  She hasn’t missed a one.  Not one!  I don’t know how many games are in a season but I can figure out that she has been attending games for 71 years.  I certainly hope the Gopher’s honor her in some way for her steadfast dedication.

I just think, what would the world be like if everyone committed to something positive for 71 years (or however long they are around) and held onto the passion and determination that Grace Weet has displayed?  Wow, what a wonderful world we would live in!

Enjoy the game Grace.  For your sake I hope they win and I hope you are given the best seat in the house.  Heck, for that matter, they should give you a thrown for attending all those games!  Rock on girl!

Many of the world’s most successful people will tell you to feel gratitude on a daily basis.  It’s great advice for sure.  But what is even better is to simply FEEL that gratitude without any prompting.

I have the incredible good fortune to be part of something great.  Really great.  And it’s not something I take for granted.  I KNOW I am extremely fortunate and one phone call to a person who is looking for a business, relaying how challenging it is to have a difficult boss, just solidifies those feelings.  You see, I am part of our teams leadership group.  I love that name - it sounds all fancy schmancy.  Like the President himself will be calling me any day for advice.  And no doubt our group could offer some.  From 6 perspectives.

Our leadership group consists of a core group of 6 women.  These are some of the brightest, most caring, most courageous, most generous and funniest women I know.  They are my brainstorm partners, they are my comic relief, they are my personal cheerleaders and most importantly they are my friends.

Most of us live hundreds of miles away from each other yet we know each other better than our next door neighbors. 

We may not know all the stories.  We may not know all the history.  But we know the character of each as well as we know our own.  One of our members - and I guess it is a membership, sort of a club not unlike our clubs as children with goals and commonalities - but I digress - asked us to list 5 unique qualities about her today.  I love her to death but I had to laugh.  This woman is uber talented but wanted something unique?  Geez, some people.

So I encourage you, if you aren’t already part of something great, to find something great to be a part of.  It is immensly rewardinig and the gratitude will come so naturally you will need no prompting whatsoever.  It really doesn’t matter what the something great is.  Something in your community, something you have always had an interest in, something in your spiritual life, something in your home life - just find something to be a part of - something that is great.  And never forget what an honor it is to be a part of your something big.

Thanks ladies!  Banana slugs on me!  (Sorry, that’s a story for another post.)

Michael Clouse is smart and generous man.  In addition to publishing his own material, he freely shares the material of other professional network marketers on a regular basis.  Today he sent the following post.  I simply couldn’t have said it any better.  Enjoy!

Success Is Easy To Do
by Jim Rohn

People often ask me how I became so successful in such a relatively short period of time while many other people in our company did not. The answer is simple: The things I found easy to do, those other people found just as easy not to do.

For example, I found it easy to set the goals that could change my life. They found it just as easy not to set goals. I found it easy to read the books that could affect my thinking. They found it just as easy not to read. I found it easy to attend the classes and the seminars and to get around other successful people. They said getting around other successful people wouldn’t help…

So what happened? Well, a few short years later I’m a millionaire and those other people are still blaming the economy, the government, and their company’s policies…while continuing to neglect the basic business-building activities that are easy to do.

In fact, the primary reason most people are not doing as well as they could, and should, can be summed up in a single word: neglect.

It’s not the lack of money—banks still have money. It’s not the lack of opportunity—much of the free world continues to offer the most unprecedented and abundant opportunities we’ve seen in the last six thousand years of recorded history. And it’s not the lack of how-to information either—because the basic MLM systems we need to achieve success have already been created.

Indeed, everything we need to succeed is well within our reach. The major reason, again, that only a few people every take advantage of what is already available is simply, neglect.

Neglect is like an infection. Left unchecked it will spread throughout everything we do and eventually lead to a complete breakdown of a potentially joy-filled and prosperous human life…

Not doing the things we know we should be doing causes us to feel guilty, and that guilt then leads to an erosion of self-confidence. As our self-confidence diminishes, so does our level of activity. And as our activity diminishes, our results inevitably decline. As our results suffer, our attitude begins to weaken. And as our attitude begins the slow shift from positive to negative, our self-confidence diminishes even more.

Therefore, if you want to reverse the downward-spiral of neglect and become successful, my suggestion is this: The next time there is a choice between, something that is easy to do and something that is just as easy not to do, choose the easy to do business-building activities that, over time, will allow you to create the Network Marketing business and the life you really want!

To Your Success,

Jim Rohn

P.S. If you’re ready for something that is easy to do and will make a BIG difference in your Network Marketing business, then you’ll want to follow the suggestions on this CD program, How to Build the Network Marketing Business YOU Really Want, as it walks you through a very effective five-step formula for success and explains how to put together the MLM success plan that’s right for YOU!   Visit www.Nexera.com

© 2009 by Jim Rohn International. All Rights Reserved.

About the author: Jim Rohn is considered to be America’s Foremost Business Philosopher, with a career that has spanned over 37 years and touched the lives of over three million people worldwide. He has been internationally hailed over the years as one of the most influential thinkers of our time and has helped motivate an entire generation of personal development trainers as well as hundreds of executives from America’s top corporations. He’s been described as everything from a master motivator, to a modern day Will Rogers, to a legend!

I have been thinking about people and their dreams a lot lately.  Then I came across an interesting statistic that, well, frankly made me sad.  Seventy-Three percent of Americans want to start their own home business but are afraid to take the plunge.  That seems fair.  Starting anything new can cause uncertainty and many people come with lots of self-defeating thoughts.

But then you have to wonder.  If 73% of Americans are too afraid to take the plunge, what happens to their dreams?  Surely they have them.  Maybe they want to be home for their children.  Maybe they want some of the finer things in life.  Maybe they want to help their church or an organization on a grand scale.  So the dreams do exist.  But when you match that with most people’s reality, the two shall never meet.

With unemployment and underemployment at all time highs, frozen wages, bankruptcies at very high levels, how can most people achieve their dreams if they can’t “take the plunge?”  But what is worse - and often overlooked - is that these statistics, these 73% are real people.  With real stories.  With real dreams.  It truly saddens me to think that all these faces, names, real people are so paralyzed by fear that their dreams and reality will never be one in the same.

A good friend of mine gave me a mug when I was probably 20 years old that said “No Guts, No Glory” and had a picture of a dragon and dragon slayer on it.  I have looked at that mug many times over the years and have grown to appreciate it more and more each time.  I am so grateful that I have chosen to be in the 27% who DO take the plunge.  Because with action there is at least a chance that my dreams and my reality will merge.

What choice did you make?  Can you see your dreams coming true?  Can you see yourself on the top of a mountain taking in the fresh air and scenery?  Can you see yourself on the most beautiful beach in the world?  Can you see yourself attending all your children’s events - without having a cell phone and laptop distracting you from what’s really important?

The best news?  If you are in the 73% group, today is a new day and TODAY you can make a different choice.

My daughter came home from school today and told me that she had a story to tell me about.  She was excited because the story had to go with goals.  And she proceeded to tell me the story of Billie Mills.

Do you know Billie Mills?  Many of you may not.  I certainly didn’t.  Billie reached his goal the year I was born.  1964. 

If you read yesterday’s post you know it was about using “the situation” as an excuse.  Well Billie had plenty of opportunities to use “the situation” but had been taught - challenged even  - to follow his dreams, reach for his goals, and succeed in life.  Billie’s life wasn’t easy.  He is a Oglala Lakota (Sioux) who was grew up in South Dakota.  His mother died when he was just 7 and his father died when he was 12, leaving him to grow up in an orphanage.

Young Billie was a boxer who was running as part of his training.  Over time he found that he enjoyed running more than boxing and began to place his focus on improving his running.  And  continued running until he eventually qualified for the olympics to be held in 1964 in Tokyo, Japan.

Billie had not been expected to win anything.  Some were surprised he was even running.  No American had ever won this event.  But what they didn’t know was that Billie had long used visualization and had seen a young Lakota boy winning the 10K event.    He had written GOLD MEDAL in his notebooks.  And when negative thoughts or doubt crept in he spent hours making sure his goal was firmly and positively back in place in his mind.

But when the time for the race came, the two top contenders raced ahead.  As Billie ran, he paced himself and kept steady and everyone expected the two top guys to get the Gold and Silver.  Billie, in his mind, would not accept Bronze.  As the end neared and the stands were filled with mostly quiet Japanese citizens, something changed.  Billie started edging closer and closer to overcoming the two contenders and the crowd went wild!  Billie kept his pace and won the Gold Medal - even breaking a new world record.  Billie had a goal and had accomplished the goal he had set.

To this day, no American has won the Gold Medal in the 10K  event except for Billie Mills.

In Lakota culture, when one has achieved success, it is customary to have a “giveaway.”  In the spirit of the culture, Billie helped found Running Strong for American Indian Youth, an organization that provides many services to underserved American Indian communities.

To learn more about Billie Mills or the Running Strong for American Indian Youth organization, visit:  http://www.indianyouth.org/

Hang on to those dreams - spend time on your goals.

No, it’s not New Years. No, I am not talking about the superficial goals - or rather wishes - that we throw about sometimes. I am talking GOALS!

There was an interesting study that was done (maybe - more on that later.) In this “study”, Harvard MBA students were asked if they had clear, written goals for their future and plans to achieve them. Only 3% stated they had clear, written goals with plans. Another 13% stated they had goals in their head and a whopping 84% had no goals whatsoever (makes you wonder what they teach at Harvard!)

Ten years later, the former MBA students are reinterviewed about their goals and accomplishments. Among the results are that the 13% who had goals (but not written) were earning twice as much as the 84% who didn’t have goals. But - and here’s the message - the 3% who had written goals were earning 10 times as much as the 97% put together!

That alone should have you reaching for paper and a pencil.

So why doesn’t everyone have written goals?

• They don’t realize the importance of written goals.
• They don’t know how to write goals or write goals that are too general.
• They fear failure.
• They fear rejection.

Just do it! You really have nothing to lose and EVERYTHING to gain.

If you really don’t know how to write goals or realize the importance, there are a couple of great resources. My favorite is a little book - truly a gem - called The Oracle’s Secret by Anthony Fernando. It is one of the best investments I ever made and it’s easy enough that the whole family can get in on goal writing - or scroll writing as the case is with this book. You can pick this up at www.Nexera.com

Of course there is Brian Tracy’s GOALS as well. The library or local bookstore should have a copy on hand for you.

Now, remember how I said earlier that there was a “study” done? Well, as it turns out, there may not have ever been that study. It has been cited as happening at Yale in 1953 in some sources and Harvard in 1979 in other sources. Some claim to have thoroughly researched the history and found neither actually did this study.

But here’s the bottom line - who cares. If the study was done then great. If the study hasn’t been done then it should be. But regardless, there isn’t a personal development expert anywhere that will tell you, “just keep your goals in your head.”

• Write them. And make plans.
• Review them daily.
• Achieve them and enjoy.

That’s the recipe for success!